FCC stays out of Ryan dispute, so will PTC

More than 20 ABC affiliates decided to stay away from the airing of an uncut version of "Saving Private Ryan" last night. The FCC declined to make a ruling on the movie's decency in advance. Meanwhile, at least one leading exponent of the anti-indecency movement, the Parents Television Council, has stated that it will not dispute the airing.

Stations owned by Citadel, Pappas, Belo, E.W. Scripps, Cox, Hearst-Argyle, Tribune and Sinclair were among those with cold feet.

Uncut versions of the film have aired over ABC in 2001 and 2002. Its inclusion of the f-word was said by the FCC to have drawn one complaint, which was denied. However, the use of the f-word by rock group U2 frontman Bono in 2003 on NBC led to an FCC ruling which made it seem that any broadcast of the word, under any circumstances, would be liable for punishment.

Greg Stone, VP/GM at Cox's WSB-TV Atlanta, brought up just that point. "This is not about whether the movie is worth airing in prime time," he said. "It is extremely worthwhile programming. However, the FCC's recent decision in the Bono case reversed years of prior policy that the context of language matters. At this point, the local broadcast community cannot get any contemporaneous clarification from the FCC that this movie is not in violation of the Commission's newly articulated standard."

Stone said ABC would not grant it permission to either delay the showing to safe harbor, which begins at 10:00 PM, nor was it allowed to edit out questionable language.

Pappas Telecasting, which decided to replace the movie on its Lincoln NE station, issued a statement, saying, "Many ABC affiliates are airing the extraordinary film 'Saving Private Ryan' Thursday night in Prime-time. However, Pappas Telecasting Companies has decided that the interests of the viewers of KHGI, in the Lincoln-Hastings-Kearney, Nebraska market, are best served by pre-empting this program. This decision was made reluctantly, and only after Pappas Telecasting sought permission to edit profane language from this fine film, and such permission was refused. Other ABC affiliates have reportedly made this same decision for the following reasons. As our viewers know, Pappas Telecasting and its management have been in the forefront of regulatory efforts to eliminate profanity, indecency, and gratuitous violence from network programming, particularly during times when children may be watching. Moreover, as is evidenced by recent decisions of the Federal Communications Commission, stations that air network programming with indecent or profane content are subject to significant fines and the threat of license revocation."

Parents Television Council has led the fight against indecency programming. According to President Brent Bozell, it will not protest the airing of this movie. Bozell said, "Context is everything. We agreed with the FCC on its ruling that the airing of 'Schindler's List' on television was not indecent and we feel that 'Saving Private Ryan' is in the same category. In both films, the content is not meant to shock, nor is it gratuitous. We applaud ABC for letting viewers know ahead of time about the graphic nature of the film and that the film would be uncut."