Televisions stations affiliated with CBS Corp. have asked the Federal Communications Commission to drop a $3.3 million fine for alleged violations of federal broadcast standards for indecent content.
At issue is a fine levied by the agency against the network and its affiliates for airing a 2004 episode of the show “Without a Trace” which involved references to a teenage orgy and flashback sequences of young people in sexually suggestive positions, but with no nudity, MediaWeek reported Monday.
The affiliates said in their appeal to the agency that none of the e-mailed complaints to the FCC were from actual viewers but were instead e-mails sent by members of the conservative groups Parents for Television Council and from the American Family Association.
The stations cited the fact that the episode was a repeat airing of a show that drew no complaints when it was originally aired.
The FCC had fined each of the 103 CBS stations $32,500 for allegedly showing “broadcast material graphically showing teenage boys and girls participating in a sexual orgy.”
L. Trent Bozell, Parents Television Council president, said the 11,679 complaints sent to the FCC through his group’s Web site were legitimate.
About 8.2 million people saw the Dec. 31, 2004 episode, but complaints about the show did not begin arriving at the FCC until Jan. 12.
Today, President Bush signed a bill calling for an increase in fines for broadcasters who violate indecency regulations from $32,500 to $325,000.
