• by Paul Gough , March 9, 2004

The broadcast networks need to start policing themselves, or else they're going to face heavier government regulation, said a veteran television industry executive.

After the controversy over the Super Bowl halftime show that aired a portion of Janet Jackson's breast, shows like "Jackass" on MTV and "Fear Factor" on NBC, and the endless problems over whatever comes out of Howard Stern's mouth, Congress and federal regulators have been taking a closer look at what's happening on the nation's airwaves. Viacom, Clear Channel, and other major media companies have faced fines for what the FCC has called indecency. Congress has held hearings on the matter, bringing executives of major media companies like Fox and Viacom to testify.

"This Janet Jackson-Fear Factor phenomenon is an inch away from some serious controls on content. [House Majority Leader] Tom Delay is just waiting in the woods for this to get a little more out of hand," said Leo J. Hindery Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of the YES Network.

Hindery and three others spoke Tuesday morning during a forum on decency and pro-social values in midtown Manhattan. The forum, sponsored by the International Radio and Television Society, was moderated by CNN business correspondent Susan Lisovicz.

Hindery said that the network chiefs should quickly figure out a way to stem the slide or "dumbing down," as he called it, on three levels: sex, violence, and the debasing of women and people of color.

"If these network executives don't start acting fairly fast, they're not going to like the action" that will be taken by the federal government.

Viacom was lauded for its companywide initiative to battle HIV/AIDS, particularly in the former Soviet Union. Viacom was also criticized for some of the programming it runs on MTV. Carl Folta, senior vice president of corporate relations at Viacom, didn't disagree, but said that some of the concerns about programming are generational. He said that there are probably many people over the age of 15 who don't understand what's entertaining about "Jackass." But he said that MTV knows its audience and what it wants to see.

"They want to push the envelope," Folta said. "That's why they come to us." But that doesn't mean that there haven't been internal debates within Viacom about the programming, or shock over some things like the halftime show at the Super Bowl that was produced by MTV and ran on CBS, both Viacom outlets.

Folta said that MTV provides information on safe sex, voting, and other public service messages.

Hindery said that television will always fall to the lowest common denominator in a highly competitive environment, using sex and violence to gain ratings share. And he pointed to NBC's "Fear Factor" as an example, where he said a recent show featured contestants stepping on worms and then drinking the liquid produced.

"What we need to ask ourselves is: how does a show like 'Fear Factor' end up in broadcast television?" Hindery said.