Janet Jackson’s breast flash costs CBS USD 930,000

US regulator imposes fine, saying the singer’s stunt on prime-time TV was deliberate and flouted indecency rules

WASHINGTON - Airing a glimpse of pop singer Janet Jackson’s right breast during the nationally televised Super Bowl football game earlier this year will cost 20 CBS television stations a record total of USD 930,000 for violating indecency rules.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on Wednesday that it had officially voted to fine the CBS stations, owned by conglomerate Viacom, USD 27,500 each for airing the incident.

‘The US Constitution is generous in its protection of free expression, but it is not a licence to thrill,’ said FCC chairman Michael Powell.

‘The context of the half-time show leads us to conclude that the breast-baring finale was intended.’

Ms Jackson’s fellow singer Justin Timberlake ripped her costume, briefly exposing her bejewelled breast, during the half-time show at the National Football League’s championship game on Feb 1, sparking about 542,000 complaints filed with the FCC.

According to Nielsen estimates, about one in five American children aged between two and 11 were watching the show then.

‘The song’s lyrics leave little doubt where the show was going: ‘Hurry up, cause you’re taking too long…better have you naked by the end of this song.’ Well, (Timberlake) certainly did and, judging by the complaints, it had its intended shocking effect - and drew a penalty flag in the process,’ Mr Powell said.

To help prove its case that CBS is culpable, the FCC noted that Mr Timberlake fondled the buttocks of British singer Kylie Minogue on a national televised awards show in that country last year, an event that, coupled with the racy content of his and Ms Jackson’s recordings, ’should have given CBS cause for caution’.

Viacom has 30 days to decide whether to pay the proposed fine or contest it.

The agency decided against fining the other 200-plus CBS affiliates that aired the show but are not owned by the network, stating that they were not involved in the planning, selection or approval of the half-time festivities.

CBS countered that it had no advance knowledge of the stunt and did not believe indecency rules had been violated. ‘We are extremely disappointed in the ruling,’ the CBS network said. ‘We are reviewing all of our options to respond to the ruling.’

It has been a rough week for CBS, which admitted earlier this week that its news division had been deliberately misled about the authenticity of documents it aired in a story challenging US President George W. Bush’s military service.

The Jackson incident also prompted a crackdown by the FCC on the antics of television and radio stations to the point that many broadcasters are now instituting tape delays of live events to ensure they do not run foul of the rules.

The USUSD 27,500 fine is the maximum currently allowed by law though Congress is contemplating legislation to raise that to as much as USUSD 500,000 per incident.

FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein dissented from the decision only to fine the CBS-owned stations, noting that the fine was paltry compared to the USUSD 2.3 million on average the network took in for a 30-second commercial during the game.