McDowell Seeks Indecency Guidance From Broadcasters
There’s a window for broadcasters to come up with their own guidelines on indecency standards amid regulatory and judicial uncertainty over FCC enforcement of the current rules for radio and TV, Commissioner Robert McDowell said Thursday. Before the courts sort out the commission’s authority, “this is an opportunity for the broadcasters to step into the breach,” he told industry executives and lawyers at the NAB radio show. “So I would call upon you to do that."
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A government request for the entire 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York to review a recent ruling by a three-judge panel in Fox v. FCC -- that the commission lacks authority to censure a broadcaster for airing a single, unscripted curse word -- is all but certain to be rejected, McDowell said. That view is in line with industry executives’ and lawyers’ expectations. The Supreme Court could hear the case, and its ruling could come in mid-2012, giving “us clarity on this issue,” McDowell said. “In the interim, we are in this limbo, no-man’s-land as to what the rules are."
"That’s why I think this is an excellent point in time for broadcasters to let consumers know what the standards should actually be,” McDowell said. “And I think the commission would welcome it.” Previous Supreme Court rulings that spectrum scarcity gives the FCC authority to regulate speech on radio and TV could be raised by broadcasters, he said. “I think spectrum scarcity, the future of it, is actually in question,” he continued. “I'm not making predictions for what the Supreme Court will do. … But it’s an interesting point in broadcasting history now as to whether or not that doctrine will survive."
With a backlog of about 1.5 million indecency complaints on about 14,000-15,000 shows, the FCC should whittle down the number as promptly as possible, McDowell said. The commission has reduced the number of broadcast license renewals held up by enforcement proceedings, such as over indecency, to less than 1 percent of renewals, he said. “It is my hope that we continue to be as efficient and as transparent as possible,” McDowell said. “I would hope there’s not the same quid pro quo as in the past in connecting those proceedings'” disposition or extending the time the FCC has to decide on complaints in exchange for agency approval of license transfers when stations are sold, he said. “I'd like to make sure we get license renewals done as quickly as possible,” which is “just a matter of good government.”