Concerned Women for America - 'Victoria's Secret' Indecency Complaints Crash FCC's E-Mail System

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'Victoria's Secret' Indecency Complaints Crash FCC's E-Mail System 11/22/2002
$7-Million Lingerie Show on CBS Places Third in Ratings
By Martha Kleder

$7-Million Lingerie Show on CBS Places Third in Ratings

The e-mail system at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) crashed Thursday, as the commission received a flood of complaints about Wednesday night's airing of The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, according to CNN.

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps personally received over 300 e-mail complaints about the show in time to note this at a Thursday breakfast meeting with reporters.

The flood was aided by the Parents Television Council, which posted a direct e-mail link on its Web site to facilitate complaints about the show. Along with the FCC, e-mail complaints were also sent to the White House and CBS Entertainment President Les Moonves.

"The current definition of indecency to me should be capturing for enforcement purposes some of these programs and it is not," Copps told reporters at the briefing. "We are only having a paucity of enforcement actions against programming that is palpably and demonstrably indecent."

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which aired at 9 p.m. EST on CBS, cost the lingerie maker $7 million to produce. The hour-long show also featured musical acts Phil Collins, Destiny's Child and Marc Anthony.

But despite heavy promotion, the show, described as "high-tech striptease" by Concerned Women for America's Chief Counsel Jan LaRue, placed third in the ratings. The parading, thong-clad harem was bested by ABC's season finale of The Bachelor, and NBC's The West Wing.

"It's no secret - Americans are fed up with trash TV," LaRue said. "Mr. Copps understands it. Maybe even FCC Chairman Michael Powell will get it - broadcasting strip shows in prime time isn't in the 'public interest.' And coming in third, maybe even CBS will get the message; we're sick of mindless TV for brain-donors who've already given."

Calls for Change
Copps also proposed a remedy to what he calls the "race to the bottom" in broadcast decency.

"It's time for the Commission to change its definition of indecency," he said in a November 21 press release. "Too many indecency complaints from customers and too many truly indecent broadcasts are falling through the cracks."

Of the more than 500 formal indecency complaints received by the FCC's Enforcement Bureau last year, Copps said, "only a tiny number have resulted in any action. If our definition leads to that result, then our current definition of indecency just isn't getting the job done. Our definition must better protect our kids against indecent material."

Copps also proposed including wanton violence in the FCC's definition of indecency.

"Compelling arguments have been made that excessive violence is every bit as indecent, profane and obscene as anything else that's broadcast," he said. "I think those arguments are strong enough to compel our looking into them."

Copps' press release also announced his plans to host hearings on the impact of media ownership consolidation on broadcast indecency issues:

"Why is it that we seem to be in the midst of a 'race to the bottom' at the same time that the industry is in a race to consolidate? Has consolidation led to an increase in the amount of indecent programming? When programming decisions are made on Wall Street or Madison Avenue, rather than by local broadcasters on Main Street, does indecency grow more pervasive?"

Copps, a vocal opponent of broadcast indecency, is currently the Commission's sole Democrat. The second Democratic seat will soon be filled by Jonathan Adelstein, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 15. In his confirmation hearing Adelstein expressed concerns over the media's negative impact on children.

Of the three Republican FCC Commissioners, only Kathleen Abernathy has expressed concerns over broadcast indecency.