TV, RADIO TO ISSUE DECENCY GUIDE THIS SUMMER

From Jeremy Pelofsky of Reuters:
U.S. television and radio broadcasters on Tuesday said they plan this summer to issue guidance on how to avoid violating decency standards with an eye to heading off further regulation by Congress.

A National Association of Broadcasters task force is gathering best practices for member stations and plans a consumer awareness effort to try to calm Congress and parent groups growing more concerned about racy programs.

"We believe by doing (this) that is saying to the government 'let us have a crack at this'," said Gary Chapman, president and chief executive of LIN TV Corp.. "We certainly would like to be self-regulated than government- regulated."

The task force plans to have the guidelines ready for the organization's board to consider in June, he told reporters at the group's annual convention. The education campaign would focus on ratings and technology to block undesired shows.

Broadcasters have been under fire since a series of high- profile incidents on television and radio, including a couple accused of having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York and singer Janet Jackson's exposed breast during the 2004 Super Bowl.

Lawmakers have proposed raising fines on stations that violate decency limits to as much as $500,000 per violation from $32,500. They have also proposed that regulators consider revoking a station's license after three violations and are weighing extending the rules to cable and satellite services.

Radio and television stations are barred from airing obscene material and can only air indecent content, typically sexual material or extensive profanity, late at night when children are less likely to be in the audience.

A new survey by the Pew Research Center found that 69 percent of Americans supported higher fines and 60 percent believed cable services should adhere to broadcast decency limits. The poll of 1,505 people was conducted in March.

But David Kennedy, president of Susquehanna Media Co., said that, while he hoped they could influence lawmakers, "none of us expects that we can head something off."

Some broadcasters at NAB's annual convention admitted that some of their shows had crossed the line in the past, such as Fox's "Married By America," but standards varied by community, making it difficult to appease all viewers and listeners.

"That was not our finest moment in television," Tony Vinciquerra, president and chief executive of Fox's network group, part of News Corp. . "It was not something we're proud of, but it was not an actionable scene."

He said the sexually explicit and graphic scenes in the matchmaking reality program, including a topless woman straddling a man and whipped cream being licked off a woman's bare chest, stayed in because of late review and editing.

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed fining 169 Fox stations $1.18 million for the show, but the stations have appealed.

Stations have instituted training programs for staff and introduced delays in live shows to avoid profanity or other unsavory material making it into broadcasts.

Broadcasters have also called on Congress and regulators to soften their crackdown on indecent content, citing free speech rights.

But if the government does not let up, broadcasters have said that the same decency standards should apply to cable and satellite because consumers do not discriminate between the source of the channels.

"It's frustrating not to have a level playing field, but I worry does that mean we impose First Amendment restrictions on other people," Chapman told reporters.