Fox Television Stations, Inc., et al., Respondents
Carter G. Phillips, Counsel of Record
During Fox Television’s broadcast of the 2002 and 2003 Billboard Music Awards, several celebrities used obscene language that was broadcast live over the air. In 2006, Fox was cited by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as in violation of a new policy it had established that prohibited even the “fleeting use of obscene language in over-the-air broadcasts between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. In the same order, the FCC also cited programming by American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), although in all instances it declined to impose sanctions against the networks because the policy…
