Admittedly, this is a column I've been thinking of writing for a while. I've been listening to Howard Stern's last few weeks on terrestrial radio and hearing how restrained he was, I thought back to what started this whole mess. We're almost at the four year mark since Janet Jackson flashed a nipple and started a world of problems for both radio and television broadcasters. I was sitting in front of the tv and told my friend, "she just showed her fucking tittie!!!" We rewound the DVR and watched it a couple of times to make sure that we saw what we saw. We laughed at the time, but looking back, there wasn't a goddamn thing funny about that in retrospect. Fred Norris said it best in the "History of Howard Stern" on Sirius: "Who knew that a nipple would start the firestorm that it did?." In retrospect, one nipple almost killed free speech in America. Let's look back at some of the events of the last four years that the FCC has ruled on and some of the procedures that both Radio and Television have put into place to prevent these events from happening again.
Most radio Broadcasters now have more of a delay than they did before 2004. Even television broadcasters have put some sort of delay into live progamming now. Most radio stations are on a :30 delay while some programs such as Kidd Chris in Philly are now at a 1:00 delay to prevent the seven dirty words from going out on air.
At the television station I work for, we now have a :30 delay on our local sports show that runs Sunday mornings as well as a delay for all the local UT sports shows. That's fucking ridiculous. Television is supposed to be the three "L's" Live, Local, and Late Breaking. The live is lost now thanks to the FCC.
Most radio morning shows now employ a full time dumper. That is a person who dumps objectionable content. Howard Stern's dumper became famous. Stern used to get dump reports via email everyday and some of the things that were dumped were just ridiculous.
Fines since Nipplegate
Bubba the Love Sponge receives the largest fine in FCC history: 755,000 dollars and loses his contract with Clear Channel in the process. He's off the radio for two years until Howard Stern and Tim Sabien give him the afternoon shift on Howard 101 on Sirius.
Howard Stern receives multiple fines from the FCC and Clear Channel decides to pull him from several stations. Howard becomes the most dumped personality on radio and thanks to Janet Jackson, several bits that were once allowed were now outlawed on regular radio due to fears of FCC retribution.
CBS TV and it's affiliates teeter on the edge of fines for both the Janet Jackson infraction as well as a now famous orgy scene in the show "Without a Trace".
Let's look at the double standard of the FCC. Here's just a few items that should have been violations but thanks to the double standard of the FCC, they were passed over and ruled as non-violations.
Bono says "fuck" during the Grammys and the FCC decides that it was a non-profane use of the word.
Oprah discusses tossing salad, rainbow parties, and other sex terms on her show but is not fined by the FCC nor did they even look into it.
What is the end result of Nipplegate?
Stern moves to Sirius in 2006 and hasn't looked back. He's in a much better place now and the show is as good as it ever was.
Opie and Anthony move to XM in October of 2004 after the whole "Sex for Sam" fiasco.
Radio and Television stations now cower in fear to the mighty FCC
The FCC has become the indecency police and now regulates all content on the radio and television. The commisioners rule with an iron fist.
What can be done to fix the FCC problems?
We need more leninent and understanding FCC commissioners.
We need commisioners who won't bow to the pressure of the religious right and to the "so called morality police of America". These groups lean on the idea that children could be listening. Why are the children listening? Do these programs not carry a warning at the beginning of programs that some material could be objectionable to children.
It all comes down to good parenting. My parents knew what I was listening to, what I was watching, and knew what I was doing at all times. There's no personal responsibility in this country. No one is responsible for what they do. Everything is blamed on the media, television, radio and video games. If there were responsible parents out there, there would be no need for an indecency division of the FCC.
I hope you've enjoyed this column. I really feel that the FCC is ruining entertainment in this country and it all comes down to one event. Nipplegate. Thanks alot Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake for inspiring the FCC to take an almost socialistic approach to radio and television.
Addendum:Links to the FCC fine documents
Without a Trace CBS Broadcast
Nipplegate FCC doc
Howard Stern fine
Another Stern fine
755,000 Bubba the Love Sponge Fine
Opie and Anthony's now Infamous Sex for Sam incident
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