If California's Mount Wilson Broadcasters have anything to say about it, Howard Stern and just about anyone else won't be able to escape the Federal Communications Commission's decency standards, actual and alleged, by shifting to satellite radio.
Mount Wilson has reportedly filed a petition for rulemaking with the FCC, saying indecency regulations apply to all expression transmitted by means of radio communication, "and satellite radio is, well, radio communications [and] should be subject to the same content restrictions," according to Broadcasting & Cable, a broadcasting trade journal.
The journal added that Mount Wilson says satellite radio being a subscription service is all but irrelevant to the issue. Mount Wilson attorneys reportedly said that, if the FCC anticipated satellite radio being a blend of free and subscription outlets, it still means the FCC has the power to impose programming and public interest rules on satellite radio, including indecency rules.
Stern will move his controversial syndicated radio program to Sirius in 2005.
Adam Thierer, the director of telecommunications studies at the Cato Institute, the Washington-based libertarian think tank, said the battle over traditional indecency rules and sanctions against cable and satellite broadcasters isn't even close to being over, despite the U.S. Senate failing by a vote to pass an amendment imposing those traditional rules and sanctions.
"Several members of Congress such as Rep. (Joseph) Barton (R-Texas), have hinted that they will continue to push for traditional broadcast regulation to be imposed on new, subscriber-based media outlets," Thierer said, in an October policy statement after Stern announced his move to Sirius.
"If Congress or the FCC try to impose traditional content regulations on Stern – or anyone else operating in the new media space (cable, satellite or the Internet) – it will force the constitutional question of whether government can and should censor the media in the future," Thierer continued. "Whether Howard knows it or not, he may be ushering in a revolution in censorship policy and First Amendment law."
Mount Wilson Broadcasters owns three Southern California radio stations, an FM station that plays classical music, and two AM stations (one in San Diego, one in Los Angeles) that play extended oldies formats.
