BROADCASTERS RUNNING SCARED...

This whole thing of decency on the airwaves now has broadcasters running scared and having second thoughts after a couple of things in the past couple of weeks:

- The whole "Saving Private Ryan" issue. ABC aired the Steven Spielberg movie on Memorial Day, as they did twice before, uncut. That included about 20 instances in which the "F-word" was used. The network was not permitted to do any editing per their contract with Dreamworks SKG, Spielberg's production company. While ABC and it's affiliates experienced few complaints as a result of it's two previous airings, 66 of it's 240+ affiliate stations refused to broadcast the movie this time, citing the more aggresive enforcement and record fines being assessed by the Federal Communications Commission.

- Monday Night Football's "tease" at the beginning of it's broadcast. The Phildelphia Eagle's Terrell Owens did the "tease" with one of the actresses from the hit ABC show "Desperate Housewives", in which she dropped her towel in front of him at the end. The National Football League was upset, the Eagles put out a statement saying they wish it had not aired, and ABC apologized. Pretty tame for prime time, but it aired at 6:00 PM on the West Coast, 7:00 in the Rocky Mountain states...a little early for the suggestive banter.

- Fellow Tampa Bay blogger Blogwood was suspended indefinately by Tampa community radio station WMNF after a listener heard the "F-word" once on his 4:00 - 6:00 AM programme. He was apparantly featuring songs that had the "Seven Dirty Words" of George Carlin fame, in the title. The one "F-word" apparantly got by, as the other titles were either insturmentals or the lyrics were incomprehensible onair.

The bottom line is that, in the more conservative climate of 2004, radio and television broadcasters will find themselves stressing more about how the content of their programming is perceived. I am not saying that any of these instances were proper or not, although the "MNF" tease was inappropriate on the Pacific Coast where it was seen at the dinner hour. And Blogwood may have a point as his programme is heard before daylight and prior to many children getting up to start the day. But it is further evidence that the far right, including the conservative Christian community, have the upper hand in at least some issues for now. The message is...push the envelope at your own risk.