Let FCC know your outrage of S.B. Half-Time X-rated "Show!"

[danamco]

Parents Television Council E-Alert February 2, 2004

Take Action Against CBS' Outrageous Super Bowl Stunt

Millions of Children Watch Bare-Breasted Half-Time Performance

During last night's broadcast of the Super Bowl on CBS, more than 140 million Americans, including millions of children, saw pop-star Janet Jackson's exposed breast during her half-time performance with Justin Timberlake.

The Parents Television Council - America's most influential advocacy organization protecting children against sex, violence and profanity - is calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to levy a hefty fine for every affiliate that aired the egregious half-time show.

We need your immediate help to flood the FCC with thousands of indecency complaints. The FCC must know that CBS crossed a line and they need to be held accountable for it.

Please take action today by:

1) going to http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/action/superbowl/main.asp and filing an official indecency complaint with the FCC;

2) writing to your lawmakers on Capitol Hill by going to http://congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/to let them know that something must be done today to stop this flood of indecent material coming into our living rooms on a nightly basis. We have a form letter that you can use up at http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/action/superbowl/formletter.htm;

and

3) forwarding this message to everyone in your address book.

Together we can make a difference! As a direct result of your action, for the first time in years, the FCC is starting to get serious about enforcing broadcast decency laws.

Below is a statement issued today by PTC President Brent Bozell in response to this latest outrage by CBS:

"Despite promises from MTV that the live half-time show would feature something outlandish, CBS took no steps to prevent Justin Timberlake from exposing the breast of mega-pop-star Janet Jackson during the live performance. The performance, including the offensive material, was obviously scripted. In fact Jackson's people promised that there would be "shocking moments" in the performance. We find Justin Timberlake's apology and explanation to be dishonest and disingenuous.

"We do not accept the apology of CBS, nor do we accept the statements of regret by MTV. It is absolutely reckless for CBS to claim that it had no prior knowledge that such activity was likely to take place. MTV is known for exactly this type of conduct. MTV and CBS are both owned by Viacom. Whether or not CBS executives did or did not know in advance is irrelevant; Viacom executives had the duty to know.

"To those who insist that a parent's sole remedy for such filth is to simply 'turn the channel,' we ask this: Does this mean that parents shouldn't allow their children to watch football games anymore?

"Advertisers who bankrolled this insult to every parent, every woman and every child in America, deserve to have their money refunded in full by CBS. And in fact every advertiser deserves to have their sponsorship dollars refunded in full so long as indecent material is included in live network television programming. Perhaps then the networks will take broadcast decency standards seriously.

"The FCC is absolutely correct to launch an immediate investigation into yesterday's live broadcast of the Super Bowl. Chairman Michael Powell accurately stated that "Our nation's children, parents and citizens deserve better." We urge the FCC to leave no stone unturned in its investigation. We urge the FCC to find notices of apparent liability. We urge the FCC to impose the maximum fine allowable under the law to every CBS affiliate airing this offense. And we urge the FCC to consider license revocation as a real option should this outrage ever be repeated."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Media Appearance Alert

PTC spokesmen will be making a number of TV appearances tonight to discuss this incident, including:

PTC Founder & President L. Brent Bozell will be appearing on:

ABC World News Tonight, 6:30 p.m. ET http://abcnews.go.com/

CNBC - News with Brian Williams 8:00 p.m. ET http://moneycentral.msn.com/Content/CNBCTV/TV_Info/GuestList.asp

CNN - Lou Dobbs Tonight 6:00 p.m. ET http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/

[danamco]

Did you see the whole "Show," or you just happened to "heard" about it like the rest you claim you "heard about? Where do you get your facts from? The usually dim's Talking Points,Umh?

[farmfriend]

Yes, but I would rather boycott CBS and their advertisers to ensure that this never happens again. Do away with the government hand in this.

[SoDak]

Agreed, and well said

[Central Scrutiniser]

What is amazing is how many conservatives who claim to be in favor of the free market and defend enormous gifts to huge corporations, but when it comes to something that offends them (god forbid we live in a society where everything is okey doeky to the the most non offensible) they have no problem in calling in the huge federal government to make sure that their sacred cow doesn't get injured? I take the Lassiez-Faire approach, it affects me in no tangible way, so I don't care, I didn't watch it or give a flying crap about it before nor after, and I sure as hell don't need a Federal agency to get involved to make sure that I don't get offended in the future.

I watched the Super Bowl, they announced who was doing the halftime show, I changed channels because I thought the talent was crap (woulda liked to see a tribute to the Grateful Dead) so I missed the 2 seconds of exposure of 92% of a half of a part of the female anatomy that evidently all women have. Yawn. Try watching German late night game shows! Nothing of any lasting importance here, just a fading star jumping up and down demanding that we pay attention to her. No thanks, you ignore idiots, they go away...

[Keith in Iowa]

>>Sure, I'm outraged by the rubbish I saw in the Superbowl halftime and all that. But "X-rated"? Please...

Dittos.

[Central Scrutiniser]

No, its not a monopoly, all the networks had the opportunity to bid on the transmission of the Superbowl. It was offered equally to all parties that wished to bid for it, CBS paid the market value, so they aired the game. Come on, surely you understand economics better than that!

[farmfriend]

Amen!

[Central Scrutiniser]

The difference between us and liberals is that we chose to establish our morality OURSELVES. We demand that freedom for ourselves, and the cost of that freedom is that others get it, too.

Baloney, the only difference is what subjects each side wants to censor. How about this: both the liberals and conservatives back away from asking the government what to censor and what not to censor, and they each can make individual decisons on what to watch and not to watch. Each side can program their TV's to show just what they deem is acceptable to their families and what to censor. But neither side needs to gum up the government with countless whines about what should or shoulden't be on TV.

After all, we all have an on and off switch on our TV, don't we?

Common sense, its so simple and so natural.

[Paleo Conservative]

It was offered equally to all parties that wished to bid for it, CBS paid the market value, so they aired the game. Come on, surely you understand economics better than that!

They indeed did have to bid on their contracts. But once they one the multiyear broadcast contract with NFL which gave them the right to broadcast the Super Bowl, they in fact did have a monopoly of the particular Super Bowls they broadcast. Perhaps you stopped your economics courses at the sophomore level. There are in fact times when markets are not perfectly efficient. Perfect competition isn't a bad model for commodity products that are nearly identical and are produced by many producers which are all price takers and bought by large numbers of consumers who are also price takers.

[thoughtomator]

If there were real markets in the broadcast and music industries, rather than the corrupt and inbred industries currently there, we wouldn't be having this problem in the first place.

When Joe Decent doesn't buy porn, doesn't consume sleaze entertainment, doesn't buy products that sponsor those, and still can't be reasonably free of being an unwilling spectator to this garbage, we have a serious problem.

As a serious football fan, I am quite upset myself that I couldn't watch the entire championship game without getting sick to my stomach. (I did not actually see the breast incident, thankfully, as I was already repulsed away from the TV by the gangsta rap and Kid Rock's flag desecration.)

What do I do next year? Watch middle-aged pole dancers revive their careers by getting raped and sodomized on live TV? Or not watch the Superbowl?

[Central Scrutiniser]

No, its not a monopoly, they won the rights to the sole broadcast of the game, in competition with the other networks. They were awarded the contract based upon their bid.

Now, If the NFL awarded a contract to CBS and Fox or CNN or NBC or ABC then showed the game, then there would be no need for the competitive process would there? The contracts are set a few years out and if they are mulityear contracts so be it, that is how the contracts are awarded, its not a monopoly, the bidding process is open to all networks.

As for your understanding of economics and how the free market operates, I figure you never made it to college. Its not a commodity as one station is awarded the rights years ahead of time, and it is not awarded to the other stations due to the bidding process.

Think, with your head, not your heart.

[Central Scrutiniser]

I assume you have never entered into a contract? A multi year contract is just that. Or maybe you live in bizzaro world?

[kiki p]

What is amazing is how many conservatives who claim to be in favor of the free market and defend enormous gifts to huge corporations, but when it comes to something that offends them (god forbid we live in a society where everything is okey doeky to the the most non offensible) they have no problem in calling in the huge federal government to make sure that their sacred cow doesn't get injured? I take the Lassiez-Faire approach, it affects me in no tangible way, so I don't care, I didn't watch it or give a flying crap about it before nor after, and I sure as hell don't need a Federal agency to get involved to make sure that I don't get offended in the future.

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!! There's nothing to add here - you said it all.

[Central Scrutiniser]

Explain how a multi year contract which clearly covers the years of the contract for a network to air the game equals a monopoly? If you sign an exclusive multiyear contract, that means that you have the rights for the time specified in that contract, thus negating your silly admonition of a monopoly.

I think that your only concept of monopoly came from playing the board game.

[Central Scrutiniser]

Well, some of us can make our own decisions, some have to go running to big bubba government to whine for protection every time they feel inadequate.

[Central Scrutiniser]

You all read my posts, my defense of my point, but that wasn't enough for the overly moral poster Paleo Conseravative. Here is the e-mail he sent me regarding this subject. (I X'ed out the more profane parts)

Re: Let FCC know your outrage of S.B. Half-Time X-rated "Show!"

From Paleo Conservative | 02/07/2004 12:33:10 AM PST replied

XXck you!

[Central Scrutiniser]

You sent me an obscene email consiting of the F word. Now, you want the Federal government to rid us of all kinds of things that are offensive to you. Well, you send me the F word in a Freepmail, thats pretty offensive, doncha think?

But, I guess that censorship is just what you think it is huh? Nice try, you are a classless individual.

[RIGHT IN LAS VEGAS]

screw futboll, hillary rodhan clinton is a nasshole

[kiki p]

LOL!!! Maybe you should ask the government to protect you from emails like that. Unreal................