I have been wondering something for a long time. Why is it that some obscenities are aloud airtime and some are not. How do you rate a four letter word if it is just that and not a racial slur or what not?
I assume (yea, yea, I know) it’s how shocking the word is to the straight laced members of the population or words you wouldn’t say around kids. “Hell” isn’t likely to bother many people of F*&% would.
If I recall correctly*, it’s a more practical matter.
The FCC doesn’t go out looking for stations that are violating laws by broadcasting profanity. They wait for complaints to come in. At that point, they might consider fining the station or revoking their license, or they may file the complaint away until the station’s license is up for renewal (Admittedly I’m not too clear about the process.) If there aren’t any complaints, there aren’t any problems. Because of this, one station might be called onto the carpet for a relatively minor incident while another station is broadcasting “All Potty Mouth, All the Time.”
Years ago, I remember hearing KPFT in Houston broadcast George Carlin’s “Seven Words You Can’t Say on Radio”. This was one of the milder things they did. They got away with it mainly because practically no one listened to Public radio in Houston at the time. A few years later, word got out among more prudent souls about the stuff that was being done on their talk shows; someone complained to the FCC, and the programming director had to rein everyone in and I believe run several people off in order to keep the station’s license.
*Ok, all of you acronym-haters, I want you to notice the extra effort I put in to write it that way!
I was a broadcasting major in college. In my radio production class we were told that pretty much anything that wasn’t “obscene” (and that’s a moving definition) was ok from midnight to 5am. I don’t think too many commercial stations take advantage of this, but we had one guy who worked the late-night shift on our college station that had a penchant for playing a little ditty called “Too Drunk to F*ck.” Real Beavis and Butthead type.
I know one time a low rated independent TV station showed “The Deer Hunter” movie and left in all the “bad” words. They did it to get some publicity - this was 20 years ago. I think so few people watched it I don’t think anyone even bothered to complain. A lot of people have complained about Howard Stern and his station has been fined, but I think they just consider that a normal business cost.
Ah…too drunk to F*ck…The Dead Kennedys rock. (stop doing your spoken word tours, Jello Biafra, and run for frigging president!!)
WEBN in Cincinnati is constantly playing unedited versions of songs. An hour’s worth of listening could easily net you 5-10 references to the baddest of the bad words.
I have always heard it explained that they have so much money that any FCC fine they get is piddly,…like giving millionaires speeding tickets.
Save me, Jeebas…
-Glen
If that Cincy station is owned by Clear Channel, that company now owns 1000 stations. A $50,000 fine to them is pocket change. There are other mega radio companies now that also don’t care about fines at that level. BTW, Clear Channel is headquarterd in Cincy. They are total sleazebags and are making radio worse on a daily basis - it was bad 5 years ago and it’s even worse now. They own 6 stations where I live. Thank God for my car CD player. Also luckily we have 2 rock stations they don’t own - at least not yet.
yeah…it IS owned by clear channel.
Clear Channel rocks- Before they bought out stations, the local “pop” stations played nothing but total crap, half of the songs were very old. Clear Channel radio stations have better contests, better DJs and better commercials than the stations they replaced. At least thats how I feel (I listed mostly in very rural areas…)
Yeah it is a cost of doing business if they get fined.
Howard and Opie and Anthony are constantly saying Dck and Pu**y on the air. I don’t know or care if they get fined. I think they may have a loophole b/c Dck is short for Richard and Pu**y is a cat.
Side Note (not attempting a Hijack):
It is a sad state of affairs when you judge a radio station by its contests, DJs and commercials. Commercials!?
Whatever happended to the music they play? Give me control of the airwaves and you would hear a real variety. Not these cut and paste playlists you hear today.
I remember in University (in Canada) when I was helping out at the local radio station we were talking about what they could put on the air at night, and I was told that the only regulation that they had in the wee morning hours was to not advocate the violent overthrow of the government. I know that this rule wouldn’t fly in the US where the violent overthrow of your government is a constitutional right, but I thought it was funny.
I think now most stations view the music as something to fill time between commercials and the moron DJ’s babbling on. They also seem to think idiotic stunt contests are funny too.
Clear Channel is great if you like to hear the same 10 songs 10 times a day. Some people do like that so that’s why they are making a lot of money.
I believe the loophole is this: They are allowed to say those words when using them as an insulting term for a person.
OK: “I hate that guy. He’s a total d—.”
OK: “You ran out of town like a baby when the WTC collapsed. You big p----.”
BUT, referring to anatomy using those words is NOT OK.
BAD: “I hear that Milton Berle has a 12-inch d—.”
BAD: “I’m going out to the bars tonight, looking for some p----.”
Wow. I’m not much of a prude or anything, but for some reason I feel like I need to go wash my hands now. Excuse me.
Actually, it’s a crime punishable by death. In the Constitution under “treason.”
Anyhoo . . . it is certainly correct that radio broadcasters can, if they so wish, curse or broadcast profane material whenever they want, at the risk of a complaint to the FCC and a fine.
And, yes, behemoth ownership groups like Clear Channel (which hardly rocks, but that’s for another thread) can absorb pretty hefty FCC fines as part of the cost of doing business. (Although some DJs may have contracts which forbid them from placing the owners in the position of having to pay FCC fines.)
But keep in mind that radio licenses have to be renewed every eight years. They aren’t good forever. And if the FCC, at license renewal time, sees a thick file of complaints about your station, they might be inclined not to renew your license and to start accepting new applications for FM licenses in your market. What’s more, if an ownership group shows a clear pattern of complaints and fineable offenses and a lot of their stations, the FCC can yank them all.
Finally, stations are required by law to maintain a file of all correspondence from and with the public, available for inspection upon request by the public or by the FCC. Even if people aren’t complaining directly to the FCC, if the FCC inspects your station, looks at your public file and sees a lot of complaints, they might remember that at license renewal time.
I should mention I worked at 2 college radio stations when I was a student and a friend of mine worked in commercial radio. In general the business is pretty sleazy but Clear Channel has taken it to a new low. Radio stations will lie to you without thinking twice about it. One time a station did a petition drive to bring the Police to town for a concert when they were real hot (around 1983). Of course they were already coming to town so it was a scam. They didn’t count on MTV announcing the tour dates a week before the worthless petition drive was over!