FCC fines CBS $550,000

Even some conservative broadcasters are against any form of censorship and oppose this kind of intervention by the FCC. Pesonally, I think this kind of behavior has no place on the public airwaves and the act was an affront to everyone who tuned in for what was supposed to be family programming. I was working with kids at the time and I have to tell you, some very young kids were all abuzz with this "wardrobe" malfunction."

I remember the Superbowl of 1971. I had been invited to the home of a fellow Marine for Sunday dinner and to watch the game. We were all seated around the dinner table, parents, kids, Marines, when one of the field mics picked up someone yelling at the top of his lungs, "Hit me again, you [Female Parent Copulator]." Dinner conversation ceased for a very long moment and then resumed without comment. It was a priceless moment. This was an obvious "live TV moment," whereas the "wardrobe malfunction" was obviously deliberate.

FCC fines CBS $550,000
for Super Bowl show

Penalty is largest fine levied
against a TV broadcaster

Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" during last February's Super Bowl halftime show has proven very costly for CBS.

The Associated Press

Updated: 2:19 p.m. ET Sept. 22, 2004

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators on Wednesday fined CBS a record $550,000 for Janet Jackson�s �wardrobe malfunction,� which exposed the singer�s breast during this year�s Super Bowl halftime show.

The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to slap each of the 20 CBS-owned television stations with the maximum indecency penalty of $27,500. The total penalty of $550,000 is the largest fine levied against a television broadcaster. Most of the FCC�s bigger fines have been against radio stations.

�As countless families gathered around the television to watch one of our nation�s most celebrated events, they were rudely greeted with a halftime show stunt more fitting of a burlesque show,� said FCC Chairman Michael Powell. �The show, clearly intended to push the limits of prime time television.�

msnbc.msn.com...

[edit on 04/9/26 by GradyPhilpott]

Ads for erectile dysfunction and a beer commercial where a horse's flatulence is lit on fire is family entertainment, but a woman's breast with the nipple covered is abhorrent? I need to find a job overseas, my fellow Americans are driving me nuts!

EDIT: The kids were 'abuzz' because the parents were running around in hysterics.

[edit on 22-9-2004 by curme]

Originally posted by curme
Ads for erectile dysfunction and a beer commercial where a horse's flatulence is lit on fire is family entertainment....

I haven't seen the horse commercial, but clearly there is much that is tasteless on TV. One does not justify the other.

[edit on 04/9/22 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

Originally posted by curme
Ads for erectile dysfunction and a beer commercial where a horse's flatulence is lit on fire is family entertainment....

I haven't seen the horse commercial, but clearly there is much that is tasteless on TV. One does not justify the other.

[edit on 04/9/22 by GradyPhilpott]

True, but why go after one and not the other? (The flatulent horse was a Budweiser commercial, the horse's gas lights a woman on fire while she is being pulled on a sliegh with her boyfriend)

I watched every second of the last Super Bowl (the same thing as every year) with the exception of the half time show. I haven't watched the half-time show since I don't know when. I take a break and fix sandwiches or other snacks in preparartion for the second half. When I seen all the publicity surrounding Janet Jackson's "exposer", I realized why I don't watch the half-time show. The reason being, these so called "entertainers" get up there and "strut their stuff" has nothing to do with football. Why don't the commentators come on and give a first half analysis of key plays? IMO, $550,000 is a slap on the wrist at what I would have charged, not only CBS, but MTV also, along with Janet Jackson. The producers, especially Janet Jackson knew exactly what was going to happen. What woman wears 'pasties' as under garments? I say good for them. People like them bring so much indecency to television, I don't see how anyone with a half-a-moral can stand to watch them, let alone spend money on them.

i do not consider it indecency. it is human nature. when we hide the facts of the world it leaves people confused. expose everyone to the bad side of things is healthy for your soul, it shows you that the world is not a clean place and as a child prepares you for the hardships of becoming an adult. its appauling that they would fuss over something like nudity, it is showing that being in touch with yourself is evil, which is not the case. i think the FCC just wants to fill up their pockets. there is nothing indecent about real life. any men who would complain about seeing janet jacksons breast is gay, and any women who complains is probably jealous. so you see it is our own insecuritys that turn us into bitter blame everyone else for societys ills complainers.

That amount of money is nothing for the big corporation as CBS. They can afford a few more "wardrope malfuntions"

Originally posted by Intelearthling
The producers, especially Janet Jackson knew exactly what was going to happen.

Even without the "pasty," every man who has ever tried to wrest a mammary from its garmented confines knows that this was premeditated from the drawing board all the way to the moment of exposure.

Originally posted by sturod84
...any men who would complain about seeing janet jacksons breast is gay, and any women who complains is probably jealous. so you see it is our own insecuritys that turn us into bitter blame everyone else for societys ills complainers.

You're fifteen and male, aren't you?

[edit on 04/9/22 by GradyPhilpott]

im 20, what are you getting at? i dont think things like that are a big deal. cmon demanding that absurd amount of money for something that caused no harm to anyone is ludacrous!

Originally posted by sturod84
im 20, what are you getting at? i dont think things like that are a big deal. cmon demanding that absurd amount of money for something that caused no harm to anyone is ludacrous!

Well, there are a lot of folks who feel that it caused harm. The harm was not so much the exposure of a body part as it was a breech of the social contract that we all share. It is supposed to be understood that people have a right to control what they and their children are exposed to. In this particular instance, a group of people decided to turn what was supposed to be a "wholesome" football half-time show into a cheap floorshow.

It was offensive, not so much because of the exposure, but because it was a betrayal of trust and the FCC thought that it was a violation of the FCC regulations. The airwaves are considered to be public property and, as such, they belong, not the broadcasters, but to you and me. You might think that this intentional act was humorous or perhaps even erotic, but of those whose children were exposed, most considered it to be an affront.

Broadcasters are required to show that they provide a public service and are required to run a certain amount of public service announcements at no cost, in order to maintain their licenses. They do not have free reign of the airwaves. The public does and the FCC is the regulatory entity that provides the oversight. For the time-being, the majority of folks, don't like that kind of thing and feel the FCC is doing their work, in this instance, at least.

And don't give me the First Amendment argument, because there is nothing that must be expressed with either profanity or nudity. I am proud that ATS shares this value.



[edit on 04/9/23 by GradyPhilpott]

[edit on 04/9/23 by GradyPhilpott]

It is supposed to be understood that people have a right to control what they and their children are exposed to.

i understand the legality of it all. just look at it from a world wide view, think about in a different land. where war ravages the streets, poverty reigns supreme, and moral values are all but extinct. when a child walks outside his house he is exposed to the great evils of human kind. nothing will censor them from the horrors of war which are so easily dismissed by our society as snipets on the 10 oclock news. a brief summary of hell for us, is these peoples daily lives.

we are perhaps the most privlaged society in the world. sheltering our children from reality is not healthy. it will deem them out of touch and out of sync with the rest of the world. when grown up and confronted with a disturbing situation it will put them into a state of anxiety and confusion. exposing our children to every facet of life from day one is the best favor we can do them. it will not desensatize or imoralize them, it will only open their eyes to what this world is all about.

my parents tried their hardest to shelter me from everything "bad" in the world. when i finaly got into the world, the cooruption i witnessed my peers indulging in was mind boggling. curiosity overwhelmed me, so i lashed out, evuntualy getting arrested 1 month after my 18th birthday. if i had been acustom to these troubling scenarios before hand, i might not have ended up in the situation i did.

I won't argue that too much sheltering can cause an over-rebellious reaction when one is finally on one's own. I don't this incident falls into that realm. Even parents who want their kids to have a taste of the wild side, don't necessarily want it shoved down their throats and what they might deem approprite for their fifteen year old, they might not deem appropriate for their nine year old.

Responsible people want some control. If I want to see nudity, I can visit my lady friend, look some up on the internet or buy a magazine. I don't want to tune into CBS and have it thrown in my face.

[edit on 04/9/23 by GradyPhilpott]

I don't want to tune into CBS and have it thrown in my face.

i hardly consider seeing .75 seconds of grainy imagry is having it thrown in your face.

: /

Wow, a tit! The world will collapse because we saw someones tit! OMG! I am falling! Faaaaaaaaaallllllliiiiinnnnggggg! Anyways, WTF!?! It was a tit, now I know to some people sex is wrong, evil, a naked woman is a sin, she should never be naked, even when taking a shower she should be wearing a full outfit. But the rest of us realize a tit does not have evil mind powers that make one go out and kill or something. Like guns, people act like a gun is bad, uses mind control to kill people, when it is just a gun. Oh well, maybe CBS shouldn't have allowed those documents on tv.(conspiracy/corruption again, no fine, no fine, CBS has documents criticizing Bush, fined)

accutly according to leagdon A breast can make men go out and kill .
Ever hear of healion or troy whos beauty lunched a thousand ships?
Ps so she flashed everone anyone hear rember the 70ds? strekers.
Pss going freak out seeing a niple then better turn off national geographice .
Pss when I was 14 it wasent easy to get play boy but geo mag was ever were .

Okay, we know what you think. Most people don't agree with you and it will be highly unlikely that you will hold the same position in a few years. It's easy to be progressive when you are throwing off the yoke of parental oppression and quite another when you have something at stake such as children.

In fifteen years or so, you will begin to see things that will begin to cross your threshold of acceptability.

Well, lets see, in 15 years hope a breast can be on tv without the society collapsing. It is sad something as small as a tit(or as big) is enough to make people go insane.

The fact that she flashed, is secondary in my opinion, to the fact that they staged an obvious publicity stunt during the SB. It wasn't about the day, SB is important to a lot of people, it was about 2 artists on their way out, let's face it their careers are over, staging this thing. "Look at me." The fact that we are still talking about it means that it worked. I wish it hadn't.

Ads for erectile dysfunction and a beer commercial where a horse's flatulence is lit on fire is family entertainment, but a woman's breast with the nipple covered is abhorrent? I need to find a job overseas, my fellow Americans are driving me nuts!

I have to agree...silliness...