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Broadcasters get brownie points for cleaning up the airwaves

The members of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet are taking credit for cleaning up the airwaves, even before getting its first piece of legislation on the matter out the door. Between its first effort on the topic 1/28, the Super Bowl and now, it has seen a major ruckus grow to epic proportions, with almost universal positive reaction from the broadcast community.

Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) noted much of this in his opening remarks. "Mel Karmizan, Chairman of Viacom, who testified before this subcommittee on February 11th, appears to have heard the message loud and clear," said Upton. He went on to describe Karmazin laying down the indecency law in his widely-chronicled 2/19 Infinity Radio conference call.

Upton was also able to point to numerous examples of precautions taken by the networks for live programming events.

Clear Channel gave him a wealth of actions to point to in the days and hours leading up to yesterday's hearing.

None of this will be enough to call off the dogs, however. "Networks are being proactive in the effort to clean up the airwaves," said Upton. "But these steps do not lessen the need for our legislation to increase the fines significantly for those who violate the FCC's indecency standards. Although I do not question the merits of the actions by broadcasters to clear up their act, will they still be as vigilant without the eyes of Congress staring down on them?"