FCC fines are in

[23Scadoo]

This is from Sexbagel from Foundry Music.


Well folks, looks like those dreaded FCC fines are coming for the now infamous 'SFS3' broadcast.

From ALL ACCESS:
"BROADCASTING AND CABLE magazine reports that its sources say the FCC staff has recommended that the indecency fine for WNEW/NEW YORK's broadcast of the OPIE AND ANTHONY ST PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL incident somewhere more than the minimum $7,000. indecency fine but less than the maximum $27,500. The number is likely to be received poorly by anti-indecency crusading Commissioner MICHAEL COPPS, who is likely to push for a higher fine by counting the broadcasts of the incident on O&A affiliates as separate violations."

Or

Straight From The Source 'Broadcast & Cable Magazine'
FCC mulls fine for WNEW sex stunt
Bill McConnell
Broadcasting & Cable

The Federal Communications Commission staff believes that the penance for having sex in a cathedral should be between $7,000-$27,500, although that is likely to be too little for some commissioners.

According to FCC sources, the Enforcement Bureau is recommending that the FCC fine Infinity Broadcasting Corp.’s WNEW(FM) New York for an August 2002 broadcast of a phoned-in description of a couple allegedly (KEY WORD HERE!) having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

DJs Greg ('OPIE') Hughes and Anthony ('ANTHONY') Cumia instigated the stunt for their Opie & Anthony show. They were fired as a result. (Actually they werent. Canceled. Not fired! Big difference, yet no one in the media seems to pick up on that.)

The sources would not reveal the amount of the fine other than to say that the figure is more than the minimum $7,000 typically levied for indecency violations but less than the $27,500 maximum that a single indecency incident can draw.

It's now up to the five commissioners to decide over the next couple of weeks whether to accept the staff recommendation and issue a notice of apparent liability -- the first step in the agency's complex fining procedure.

Commission and industry sources expect the staff recommendation to be accepted, but not without at least one commissioner -- Michael Copps -- attempting to impose a stiffer penalty. The broadcast prompted public outrage in New York and among Catholics around the country.

Officials at Viacom Inc., Infinity's parent company, had little comment on reports of the recommendation. "After a decision is announced, Infinity intends to formulate a response," a spokesman said.

Copps, for whom tougher enforcement of indecency rules is a priority, has charged that FCC sanctions are little more than slaps on the wrist that do little to stem raunchy programming on the radio dial.

He is likely to view the fine in a similar vein, and he could argue for increasing it well beyond the $27,500-per-incident limit on the grounds that WNEW's Aug. 16, 2002, broadcast was reaired on other stations and that similar escapades were chronicled on previous Opie & Anthony programs.

Some points to ponder...
1. Notice how we havent heard of complaints from other markets, only the one in NYC. Can one be fined for other areas if no one complained?
2. Can you be fined for other incidents that happened years ago, where again, people didnt complain?

I do not have the answers to those, but, Hmmm. So that fine could just be for the NYC complaint? That's all it'll take to clear this mess up? Let's start passing that collection plate around now. Refer to George Carlin if you need to know how to get rid of those counterfit bills, though.