C-SPAN Seeks to Cover Profanity Re-Argument

By John Eggerton
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

C-SPAN has put in a request with the Second Circuit Court of
Appeals in New York
to televise the oral re-argument in the Fox vs. FCC profanity case Jan. 13, according
to spokesman Peter Kiley, who says the cable channel has not yet heard back
from the court on whether it will grant the request.

If the appeals court follows its own precedent, the answer
will be yes.

C-SPAN televised the first oral argument in the case, which
involved the FCC's indecency finding against swearing on Fox awards shows.

It did not bleep the language in the hearing, though it did
air warning crawls. Kiley said it planned to take the same approach this time
around.

Kiley said C-SPAN was also planning to ask for expedited
audiotapes of the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake Super Bowl reveal case, which
is being re-argued Feb. 23 in the Third Circuit.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.