Concerned Women for America - FCC Counts Nearly 7,000 “Victoria’s Secret” Complaints as One

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FCC Counts Nearly 7,000 “Victoria’s Secret” Complaints as One 4/2/2003
By Martha Kleder

Despite Curious Math, Indecency Filings Still Show Rise

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received nearly 7,000 indecency complaints against one program – CBS’s Victoria’s Secret Lingerie Show – and counted them as a single consolidated complaint.

According to FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Spokesman Warren O'Hearn, “We've also had quite a few complaints about NYPD Blue but nothing like that,” he told Culture and Family Report, referring to the volume of complaints filed over the primetime network lingerie show

Nonetheless, broadcast indecency and obscenity complaints increased slightly from 93 complaints in the third quarter of 2002, to 97 complaints for the final quarter. The new figures are from the FCC’s Quarterly Report of Consumer Inquires and Complaints, released March 27.

“The Commission received at least 6,900 correspondences regarding one specific program, and the Enforcement Bureau has accounted for these correspondences as one consolidated complaint in its complaint counts this quarter,” read the report.

”Sweeps” generate complaints

Due to that consolidation, the total number of informal complaints for October, November and December was only 97. (That’s 96 plus 6,900). The majority of those complaints, 41, were filed in November, during the television ratings sweeps. In October, 39 complaints were filed and 17 were filed in December. Complaints about broadcast indecency and obscenity for the previous quarter were 93 according to the FCC’s Third Quarter 2002 report.

The next highest number of complaints received by the FCC this quarter, 4,853, involved telephone billing and rates.

“Nearly 7,000 complaints were received by the FCC on the issue of broadcast indecency and obscenity, and the commission has chosen to acknowledge less than 100 of them,” said Robert Knight, director of the CWA’s Culture and Family Institute.“This report makes it clear that the FCC seemingly will do anything to keep from enforcing broadcast decency laws.”

“If the FCC wants to provide an accurate gauge of consumer complaints, then all telephone billing and rate complaints against a company should be lumped together and counted as one complaint as well,” he added.

The lax treatment given to indecency and obscenity complaints by the FCC was a recent topic of discussion between FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin (R) and pro-family industry watchdogs, including Concerned Women for America and CWA’s Culture and Family Institute. The meeting was arranged by Penny Nance of Kids First Coalition, and included the Southern Baptist Convention, Parents Television Council, Family Research Council and Empower America.

But rather than challenge the quarterly report, produced by the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Martin chose to address the root of the problem. He called on broadcasters to take action to clean up the airwaves.

“To the dismay of many parents, the increased competition for viewers has led many networks to increase the amount of coarse programming targeting an adult audience, and to decrease the family-friendly programming they provide their viewers,” Martin said.

FCC’s Martin: cable must be addressed as well

“This shift is particularly notable during primetime viewing hours, when families are most likely to gather around the television together,” he added. Martin also noted that much of the coarsening of broadcast television can be attributed to broadcasters’ attempts to compete for viewers with cable networks, which are not held to the same decency standards.

“We will not make real progress on the issue of broadcast indecency unless cable and broadcast are addressed jointly,” he told pro-decency activists at a March 26 meeting.

In recent meetings with industry leaders, Martin has issued two challenges to broadcasters and television executives: First, he has called for the networks to reinstate the “Family Viewing Hour” and second, he has called on cable and satellite television operators to provide a family-friendly programming package.

The quarterly report of consumer complaints includes both informal and formal complaints, and formal complaints sent directly to the Enforcement Bureau for action.

A complaint regarding indecency or obscenity during a specific program, and which includes the station and time of broadcast, as well as a transcript or detailed description of the offending material, is considered a formal complaint.

To file a complaint, see the CFI paper, "So, You Want to File a Broadcast Indecency Complaint?"