Media Groups Again Ask
<br />FCC to Clarify `Indecency'
<br />by Jaaevhlns Avarsa
<br />WASHINGTON — The Big
<br />Throe broadcast networks anti
<br />14 other media groups asked
<br />the U.S. Cohn of Appeals
<br />here to order the Federal Com-
<br />munications Commission to
<br />clarify it policy on "indecent"
<br />programming
<br />The parties contend that the
<br />agency's nearly 1-year-old in -
<br />deep
<br />W policy is overly broad
<br />and constitutionally vague,
<br />thus treading on broadcasters'
<br />First Amendment right.
<br />In their brief filed with the
<br />noun, the parties charge that
<br />the FCC's policy is confusing
<br />to broadcasters because they
<br />don't know what specific
<br />words or pictures or other con-
<br />tent considerations in a pro-
<br />gram would constitute a viol-
<br />ation of the agency's rules.
<br />The case will be argued
<br />Turner Outlines TNT Plans
<br />For Hollywood Producers
<br />LOS ANGELES — Though
<br />he said he is willing to pay
<br />adwork rates or even more
<br />for „uplifting" program-
<br />ming for his proposed new
<br />basic cable octwork, Ted
<br />Turner came away from his
<br />meeting last week with lfol-
<br />lywood rsudio producers
<br />with no definitive agree-
<br />ments for shuwp, for Turner
<br />tirtwurl Television
<br />UA, Heritage Sign
<br />As TNT Affiliates
<br />ATLANTA — Turner
<br />Broadcasting System Inc
<br />last week announced of-
<br />filiste agreements for TNT
<br />with two top-20 multiple
<br />systems operators. United
<br />Artists Communications
<br />Inc arud Heritage Commu-
<br />nications, both of which are
<br />majority -owned by Tele-
<br />Communications Inc., the
<br />nation's Largest MSO.
<br />The two signings bring
<br />the current commitments to
<br />a total of about 3 million
<br />subscribers, according to
<br />Terence McGuirk, Turner
<br />Network Sage president
<br />About 10 other MSO agrre-
<br />ments are pending, he said
<br />UA agreed to commit
<br />over oil percent of its basic
<br />subscribers, br about
<br />700,000 subs. TBS said
<br />The systems will phase in
<br />TNT, with the bulk of them
<br />on line within six months of
<br />the Oct 3 Launch date, Mr
<br />McGuirk said Heritage,
<br />which has over 1 million
<br />subscribers, said it will re-
<br />view channel lineups to de-
<br />termine where it can put
<br />TNT on.
<br />As for United Cabe Tek-
<br />vision, which has agreed to
<br />nwrge with UA, Mr
<br />McGuirk said separate
<br />DegtA-Lions are —going
<br />Mr. Turner made a 45-
<br />minute presentation to the
<br />filmmakers, be said, asking
<br />them to pmpoee "informa-
<br />tive, educational, inspiring,
<br />enlightenirtR, entertaining"
<br />miniseries and special
<br />events for TNT, which is
<br />scheduled to launch Oct. 3.
<br />As examples of the type of
<br />programming he'd lilac to
<br />emulate, Mr Turner
<br />named Hoots. Shogun, and
<br />The Sound o/ Music
<br />., I t w a s v e r y
<br />positive no one got up
<br />and walked out," be said at
<br />the meeting. Many
<br />prtoducers anpressed interest
<br />and future meetinga will be
<br />scheduler) with TNT ex-
<br />ecutives, htr Turner said
<br />The board of the new
<br />venture has approved s38
<br />million for or4Wsl pro-
<br />gramming for the Oust full
<br />year of operation of the net-
<br />work, an amount that might
<br />seem small by Hollywood
<br />standards, he conceded
<br />But he added that TNT will
<br />be using 2,t1W films of those
<br />in the MGM library for its
<br />programming Statistic
<br />show that these films are
<br />more popular with viewers
<br />than ofl-network reruns or
<br />cut-rate game shows, he
<br />said. TNT's initial goal will
<br />be to air one bkhckbtustes
<br />event a month, he said
<br />Seri" arc Dcx a pan of the
<br />programming plan, be
<br />added
<br />Shows oxh TNT will be�
<br />free from the "tyranny
<br />ratings" because half of
<br />network's revenue will coat
<br />from subscribers, be said
<br />That will Alec" the netwcr
<br />to be programmed wit
<br />&bows that have "high sa
<br />faction quoxients" ituated of
<br />pandering to the lowest
<br />common denominator, much
<br />as the bnoadcmst &bows
<br />Fa{eoa Crew or Dallas. he
<br />Mullrchannel News - April 4, 1988
<br />before the court on June 1.
<br />So-called indecent material
<br />is protected by the First
<br />Amendment, although the fed-
<br />eral courts for years have had
<br />trouble defining what indeceny
<br />is, the FCC has said
<br />Last summer, several broad-
<br />casting groups asked the FCC
<br />to reconsider its policy Upon
<br />doing so, the agency largely
<br />affirmed its new standards.
<br />The parties, which include
<br />the National Association of
<br />Broadcasters, the Assccisdo
<br />of Independent Television Sta-
<br />tions, The New York Times
<br />Co. and the watchdog group
<br />Action for Children s Tele-
<br />vision, said the FCC's policy
<br />has the potential of chilling
<br />news and public affairs pro-
<br />grams because the policy
<br />doesn't exempt programs that
<br />may be deemed "patently of-
<br />fensive" but have serious liter-
<br />ary, artistic, political or scien-
<br />tific value.
<br />Even potentially obucene
<br />speech — which is not protect-
<br />ed by the First Amendment
<br />can be defended in awn if it
<br />has serious literary, artistic,
<br />political or scientific value, the
<br />U S Supreme Court has said.
<br />The FCC's definition of in-
<br />deceny is "material that de-
<br />picts or describer, in terms
<br />patently offensive an mea:,ured
<br />by asntempurary community
<br />standards for the broadcast
<br />medium, sexual or excretory
<br />activities or organs "
<br />That definition is similar to
<br />one of the three conditions that
<br />must be present in refining
<br />obwene materiel
<br />Before the FCC adopted this
<br />definition, it used the "seven
<br />dirty words" standard to judge
<br />whether a program was inde-
<br />cent
<br />"Under the commission's
<br />standard, audio and visual
<br />broadcasts of angry political
<br />demonstrations or even strong
<br />expressions of views in inter-
<br />views or in more ametu re d
<br />dialogue might sometimes
<br />have to be censored. no matter
<br />how important that particular
<br />Language might be to a proper
<br />understanding of the penw-ns,
<br />viewpoints and events being
<br />reported," the media gawps
<br />told the court
<br />"In the long run, the
<br />greatest impact will be on
<br />broadcasts concerning highly
<br />sensitive issues, such as infor-
<br />matkxtal programs about
<br />serious hoalth 6aucs such ale
<br />AIDS and on the broadcast
<br />of news and public affaim pro-
<br />grammittg involving those per-
<br />sone who . regularly and pub-
<br />licly use language which some
<br />might consider inap-
<br />propriate,." they saki
<br />The media groups also at-
<br />tacked the FCC for replacing
<br />the to p m -6 am "safe
<br />harbor," the period where
<br />r., I ..,, -.,e.r, .,,. ,,,
<br />night-6 a.m. slot.
<br />They said the agency pres-
<br />ented no factual record for
<br />choosing midnight as the be-
<br />ginning of sale harbor. The
<br />FCC said it picked the time
<br />because less children would be
<br />in the audience, an assertion it
<br />did not support by TV view-
<br />ership data.
<br />Indeed, FCC Commissioner
<br />Patricia Diaz Dennis question-
<br />ed the agency's decision as to
<br />the midnight hour and said it
<br />did not reflect a "reasoned
<br />analysis. "
<br />Nielsen statistics, cited by
<br />the media groups, found that
<br />by 10 p.m. more than half of
<br />the adult viewership is no
<br />longer in the audience. Said
<br />the media groups: "Tine oom-
<br />mission's decision effectively
<br />bars material from the large
<br />majority of the adult audience
<br />and reduces adults to seeing
<br />and hearing only materal that
<br />is fit for children. "❑
<br />"Wrestlemania N' Sets
<br />With 1 a 1 M Homes
<br />hey N. Thom" Wnsts"
<br />NEW YORK — The World
<br />Wrestling Federation said
<br />Wrestfmania IV broke its own
<br />pay -per -view sales record,
<br />reaching about 1.1 million
<br />homes via an estimated 10.8
<br />percent buy rat. The March
<br />27 event was seen on 725 cable
<br />systems, said James 'Troy,
<br />senior vice president of inter-
<br />national and PPV operations,
<br />Titan Sport, a division of the
<br />WWF.
<br />The WWF also announced
<br />that it will file it lawsuit against
<br />two Michigan bar owner~ for
<br />pirating the event.
<br />The event outdistanced last
<br />year's Wresdnu tits 111, which
<br />averaged a national buy rate of
<br />10 percent, but reached only
<br />650,W0 %aware due to a
<br />smaller universe.
<br />"It was a huge, huge suc-
<br />cess, definitely the most suc-
<br />cessful industry event to date,"
<br />said Mr. Troy. Ile added that
<br />the live event from Atlantic
<br />City, NJ, was shown on 725
<br />systems.
<br />Mr. Troy cited particularly
<br />strong sales from Cableviaion
<br />Systems Corp. in the New
<br />York suburbs of Westchester
<br />and Long Island, with boy
<br />rates of 36.1 and 22.3 respec-
<br />tively. reaching a tool of
<br />67,000 Ixwaeholds .
<br />However, NYT Cable TV's
<br />Texscan Renews
<br />NASDAQ Trading
<br />SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Tex -
<br />wan Corp. has renewed
<br />trading on the NASDAQ over-
<br />the- xxtnter market, the com-
<br />pan y noted .
<br />"Our new NASDAQ listing
<br />reaffirms our belief that Tex-
<br />acan - will continue to be re-
<br />cognized as a revitalised eosn-
<br />pany with a stronger balance
<br />sheet and reliable product
<br />line," said William H.
<br />Lambert, cbaitman, president
<br />and chief executive offcer.
<br />The cable television equip-
<br />ment producer reorganised
<br />Cherry Hill, NJ. system, noted
<br />for its high PPV numbers in
<br />the past, reported a "dimp-
<br />pointing ' 7 7 rate and S8,000
<br />homes, he said.
<br />Mr. Troy also said that the
<br />W W F and General instrument
<br />Corp 'a VidecrCipher Division
<br />will file Lawsuits against two
<br />Michigan bars who illegally
<br />showed Westkmania IV. G
<br />Ken Krushel Named
<br />Think Entertainment
<br />President and CEO
<br />STUDIO CITY, CA — Ken
<br />Krushel has been namrd by
<br />the board of cable-opecaum-
<br />funded Think Entertainment
<br />as company president and
<br />chief operating officer.
<br />Mr. Krushel was formerly
<br />with American C:ablesystems
<br />Corp. as an executive in the
<br />Dew services group, which
<br />oversaw business development
<br />in such areas as pay -per -view
<br />and satellite roaster antenna
<br />television, he said. He began
<br />with the operator in 1982.
<br />Chher memben of the man-
<br />agement team are founder
<br />Shelley Duvall, chairman; Jim
<br />Mullany, formerly with Wells
<br />Fargo Bsnk, chief financial of-
<br />ficer; and Bridget Terry, a co-
<br />producer of Faerie Tale
<br />Theater, vice president of
<br />ereative affairs.
<br />Mr. Krushel said be thinks
<br />the company already has an
<br />irientity based on Ma. Duvall'&
<br />successful cable programs, but
<br />added that the firm is open to
<br />developing all kinds of pro-
<br />gramming: documentaries,
<br />long -form drsmo and aeries
<br />' Ow one challenge is not to
<br />do trance television, but di,-
<br />tinctive productions," he said
<br />The company is ab-ersdy talk-
<br />ing with all cable program.
<br />ming services and hopes to
<br />have some agreements to an.
<br />nounce soon The only wrinkle
<br />in the pro mse is the Writers
<br />Guild strike, he said, which
<br />will delay work on exiati
<br />—.... I .I.. I .. r
<br />
|