Open Mike
By Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/12/2004 7:00:00 PM
Play by the Rules
“Pay for Play”? Your editorial [12/29, page 39] should have read, “Since We Don't Police Ourselves, the Government Will Do It For Us.”
It seems to some in the network hierarchy that they cannot compete in today's entertainment environment unless they continue to push the violence, speech and nudity envelope. Foul language and graphic violence are cheap, easy ways to shock viewers. When viewers grow numb, the entertainment divisions inch closer to the line drawn in the FCC's sand. And eventually, they will cross it again. And again.
Each time, stations and networks are fined, and each time, they blame the “prudes” at the FCC. Is it possible that the FCC is not the problem? Maybe the FCC understands that people don't welcome being embarrassed watching television or listening to the radio with their children or their parents.
The networks know the rules; they know the penalties for breaking them. To claim that Viacom and others cannot survive unless they pay “protection money” for breaking the rules is a lot like saying that the Steelers can't win a football game unless they pay off the officials.
Can network TV survive? Of course it can—and it can thrive as well. The networks can thrive by producing high-quality shows, by producing shows that don't cross the FCC's line in the sand.
Dave Morrison, WPXI-TV Engineering, Pittsburgh
Congratulations
Hum the Birthday Song while you read:
Congratulations to you
Congratulations to you
Congratulations, new B&C
Congratulations to you!
The new look, format, class and writing style are absolute winners.
I designed one version that lasted from Sol [Taishoff] to Son and had the delightful experience of working with Don West when we did that revision/update.
Congrats to you and the designers and daily art directors. It holds up and has made me a new fan of the oldest broadcasting trade in America.
Thanks.
Arthur Hecht, Former president of Hecht, Higgins and Petterson, Naples, Fla.
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