• Ad Age, Wednesday, August 9, 2006 12 PM

The broadcast networks are accusing the Federal Communications Commission of trying to improve chances of having its fines upheld in court by making sure the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident is the first one to get appellate review. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia will hear CBS's challenge to the FCC's $550,000 fine for that fuss. But Fox Television stations and CBS are accusing the FCC of attempting to put off another indecency case in New York in hopes of the first being upheld. Fox and CBS are trying to overturn a March 15 FCC action ending a series of indecency cases with an omnibus order. After they appealed, "the FCC took the unusual step of asking the appellate court to delay any proceeding, so as to let it reconsider part of its ruling," Ad Age notes. "The FCC's tactics raise a serious question as to whether the commission is attempting to manipulate the judicial process to obtain a decision [on the Super Bowl incident] prior to any judicial review relating to fleeting expletives [in the other cases]," according to a petition by CBS and Fox that was joined by other broadcasters.

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