The Federal Communications Commission is reversing itself over part of its controversial March indecency decision against television networks for airing profanity and will now allow network affiliates to voice their arguments against the commission after initially barring them.
In its complicated March 15 decision which resolved indecency complaints against nearly 50 shows that aired between February 2002 and March 2005, the commission ruled that only the networks could voice arguments against the agency, Ad Age Magazine reported.
But this new reversal allows affiliates to also voice their comments or court arguments on current and future issues.
The March decision maintained that CBS had represented indecent material when it broadcast the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show in which Janet Jackson exposed one of her breasts.
The commission also fined CBS stations for airing a “Without a Trace” episode that allegedly contained graphic sexual images of a teenage orgy scene that was deemed “impermissible” by the FCC.
