Posted on 02/04/2004 1:49:01 PM PST by IonInsights
To: All Viacom Employees
From: Mel Karmazin
Date: February 03, 2004
RE: Super Bowl Half Time Show
As you know, the incident during the Super Bowl's Half Time Show on Sunday has received a significant amount of attention both in the media and in Washington, D.C. Because of the speculation and misinformation about what transpired, I want to update you on the facts and also on what we are doing to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.
First let me say that everyone at Viacom, CBS and MTV was shocked and embarrassed about what transpired at the end of our half time performance. Ms. Jackson's unrehearsed, unplanned and unapproved display went far beyond the bounds of what is acceptable under our broadcast standards. We apologized immediately and publicly to our viewers for the incident.
We also conducted an investigation and are satisfied that we handled the creation and staging of the half time show responsibly and that both CBS and MTV reviewed all planned aspects of the performances in detail and in advance. We have established that no one in our company was aware in advance of any plan to rip Ms. Jackson's clothing. Executives from MTV, CBS and the NFL attended all rehearsals and nothing like this was included in the show, which was verified by our review of videotapes from the rehearsals. Moreover, I have been assured that we would never have allowed the incident to take place had we known in advance. Janet Jackson has now publicly admitted that she and her choreographer came up with the idea after the last rehearsal and that no one at MTV or at CBS had any knowledge about her plan.
In order to prevent future incidents, we are immediately taking steps to minimize and hopefully eliminate the vulnerability inherent to live television.
F
irst, we are redoubling our already thorough oversight of all live performances -- to be sure that the standards of our networks are upheld and that what is presented is appropriate for the intended audience. Second, in addition to our longstanding policy to employ audio delete technology on live entertainment broadcasts, we will begin a video delete capability with the February 8 broadcast of the Grammy Awards on CBS. We believe that this new procedure will allow us to keep unplanned and unscripted-accidental or otherwise-incidents from occurring in the future.
Other aspects and segments of the half time show are being debated and criticized and will no doubt continue to be discussed over the next several weeks. We support the right of people to disagree with the choices we make just as we value and take seriously the public trust that is given to us. And we will continue to do everything we can to assure that our live broadcasts adhere to the same high standards as the programming we air every day.
The rest of the performance didn't bother them? Crotch grabbing, standing lap dancing, almost nekkid girls, suggestive lyrics are all OK?
Americana at play?
Aim for the ground and you will hit it every time.
Actually, I think internalmemos.com gets internal memos that are leaked.
Let's go to the videotape! What was intended? Was there red lace covering her booby in rehearsal? The world wants to know ( at least until Laci Peterson or Kobe or MJ takes over the "news" again)
To my way of thinking, the cumulative effect of all the skimpy costumes, S&M gyrations, nasty lyrics, virtually naked booty shaking and American flag desecration is way more offensive than a two second peek at Ms. Jackson's nipple covered breast.Another way of looking at this... if it's MTV, it's automatically nasty, vile and disgusting. They know no other way.
I trust the NFL will slap CBS upside the head and next year we'll have a true, family friendly half time show.
And thanks for the mammaries.
I agree. Let's hope the FCC's investigation of the entire show implicates the NFL as well Viacom. Then maybe, maybe, this won't happen again, though I don't know if I'll ever watch another Super Bowl halftime show again.
You said it. The networks and the performers and MTV are all protecting the NFL. Why? - because the NFL has the product and they decide who gets the television rights and the half time freak show. The NFL holds all the cards except one. They want to avoid what happened to baseball. The NFL doesn't want its product to be perceived as an old fogey sport that the previous generation watches. That's why MTV is involved in the half time show. Its MTVs job to deliver the next generation of viewers. So just remember who you are Fathers. You may think you are passing a tradition - football - to your sons and daughters. But, the moneymakers who protect the NFL franchise couldn't care less about you.
But from this quote from the memo:
"Executives from MTV, CBS and the NFL attended all rehearsals..."
it's obvious that the NFL knew in advance of the S&M theme and all of the other sordidness. Someone needs to slap the NFL upside the head!
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