House OKs large fines for indecency

The House overwhelmingly passed legislation Thursday substantially increasing the maximum fine for radio and TV indecency.

The vote was 391-22. Similar legislation is pending in the Senate.

The bill would raise the maximum fine for a broadcast license-holder from $27,500 to $500,000. The fine for a performer would jump from $11,000 to $500,000.

Edward O. Fritts, president of the National Association of Broadcasters, noted that the industry has already scheduled an indecency summit for March 31.

"NAB does not support the bill as written, but we hear the call of legislators and are committed to taking voluntary action to address this issue," Fritts said.

Paul Keener, director of marketing for KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, said he "would like to see broadcasters police themselves and not have Congress get involved."

However, radio station KRCU's general manager Dan Woods said he believes the fines keep radio and television in check, and the increases will do a better job of this.

"For a lot of these huge corporations, when the fines were so small they would just pay it, it was small change," he said. "Now they'll take a bigger hit in the pocket book."

The measure picked up momentum after the now-infamous Feb. 1 Super Bowl halftime show when singer Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson's breast to 90 million viewers.

-- Staff writer Kathryn Alfisi contributed to this report