FCC Indecency Compliance and how Volicon can help
Indecency Complaints on the rise: In the latest quarterly report from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), published statistics show that for Q1 ‘09, complaints increased 246% over Q4 ‘08 to 245,241 – a large percentage of which were indecency complaints: 179,997.
Why so many complaints? With a growing number of public interest groups forming (i.e. Parents Television Council) to monitor indecency infractions, plus the availability of web-based tools such as pre-scripted complaint forms to the FCC, are now available to any viewer. This means that a controversial show (Family Guy) or live event (Super Bowl) could generate a random fluctuating pattern in the number of indecency complaints.
What makes broadcast programming “indecent”? According to the FCC website, “Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 1464, prohibits the utterance of “any obscene, indecent or profane language by means of radio or broadcast communication.” FCC decisions also prohibit the broadcast of profane material between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. At the same time, the FCC must be mindful of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Section 326 of the Communications Act, which prohibit the FCC from censoring program material, or interfering with broadcasters’ free speech rights….”
What is the cost risk? In 2006, then-President George Bush signed a bill to increase the penalty tenfold for indecent broadcast programming from $3,250 to $325,000 for each individual action, capping it at $3 million per program. Recent infractions include the Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 (Janet Jackson), a $3.6 million penalty against CBS for an episode of “Without a Trace”, and several other complaints for on-air profanities.
What can you do to protect your station? Is your station informed and prepared to defend itself against such allegations? If not, your station is vulnerable and may not be performing at its best. Solve these and many other real-world broadcast challenges with Volicon’s Observer media intelligence platform. With well over 4,000 channels of Observer deployed and in use worldwide, the biggest names in broadcast and cable rely on Observer every day to reduce cost, improve performance, lessen risk, increase competitiveness, verify compliance and generate revenue. Now is the time to invest in your station’s future and help ensure long-term prosperity for your station. Volicon’s Observer is a low-cost, enterprise-wide solution that directly benefits news, executive management, sales, traffic, engineering and virtually every department within the broadcast organization.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-293273A1.pdf
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13166836/
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