Advertisement

Apr 14, 2008

LA Times: FCC indecency rules 'all bleeped-up'

The Supreme Court will soon consider a complaint by Fox against the FCC about a proposed indecency fine, leaving the commission in legal limbo until the Court hands down a decision -- its first indecency ruling in three decades -- probably early next year, the Los Angeles Times reports. The FCC and broadcasters have gone back and forth in federal court since the 2003 Bono ruling and early 2004 Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction ushered in a more aggressive campaign against on-air naughtiness. Pubcasters have taken a number of steps to stay out of harm's way, but at least one, KCSM in San Mateo, got caught in the FCC's dragnet. An appeal on that case is still pending.

Magliozzis' wrench ready to turn

Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns, the animated TV version of NPR's popular Car Talk, has its first 10 hour-long episodes in the can and is ready to debut in PBS primetime in July. The idea for an animated Car Talk series floated around for years but picked up momentum -- and crucially, funding -- after Paula Kerger arrived as president of PBS.