ITV

Tag: Michael J. Copps

  • Bush chooses Republican regulator Tate to fill vacant FCC position

    Bush chooses Republican regulator Tate to fill vacant FCC position

    MUMBAI: US President George Bush, has nominated Deborah T. Tate, a Republican regulator from Tennessee, to fill a vacant seat on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC regulates America’s media and telecom industry.

    Bush also appointed Democrat, Michael J. Copps, to another five-year term at the regulatory authority.

    Tate has been a director on the Tennessee Regulatory Authority and previously served as its chair for one year. She is set to fill the vacancy created by the elevation of FCC commissioner ,Kevin J. Martin, to chairman in March. Martin, a Republican, succeeded Michael Powell, who left the agency in the spring after a four-year stint.

    FCC chairman, Kevin J. Martin, said, If confirmed, Debi Tate, will be an excellent addition to the Commission. She has a distinguished career in state government, and she has worked closely with the Commission in her role as Director of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority.

    “Also, if confirmed, I look forward to continuing to work closely with Commissioner Copps. He has served admirably at the Commission for the past four years, and I respect his insight and thoughtfulness on issues before the Commission. I welcome both,Debi and Michael, and I appreciate their continued dedication to public service.

  • Tinsel Town TV’s Hasan to address Natpe conference

    Tinsel Town TV’s Hasan to address Natpe conference

    MUMBAI: The National Association of Television Producers and Executives (Natpe) announced the lineup of speakers for its annual conference to be held in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Convention Center from 25-27 January, 2005.

    Joining Ted Turner and FCC Commissioner Michael J Copps on the docket is Tinseltown TV CEO Sheeraz Hasan, who has made waves with his multi-award-winning show which reaches 500 million people in 130 countries.

    Hasan has one of the most remarkable rags-to-riches tales in show business, and he will be telling the story of his journey- from selling milkshakes in his London cafe to hosting and producing a globally-broadcast television show in the space of less than two years. Moving rapidly from local to national distribution, to global on his newly-launched WebTV channel Tinseltown.tv, Hasan has made history as the first Muslim to conquer Hollywood, and the secrets of his success will be divulged at the three-day conference that will be attended by every television executive in the world.

    The circumstances that brought this dynamic young go-getter to the forefront of the biggest gathering of television movers-and-shakers is equally incredible: Natpe CEO Rick Feldman was on a flight from the UK to LA when he picked up a copy of the London Times newspaper and saw Hasan on the cover, accompanied by an in-depth article about his remarkable success story. Reading the praise lavished on Hasan by Creative Artists Agency founder Rowland Perkins, Feldman knew that here was someone who could inspire the younger generation to break into the television industry, and so he called Perkins immediately upon landing. Vouching for Hasan’s dynamism and integrity, Perkins encouraged Feldman to book Hasan as a speaker, and put the two of them in touch.

    Hasan will be speaking at 2:45 pm on 27 January in the Presentation Theater of Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas at the Natpe 2005 Conference.

     

  • Viacom’s Infinity fined for indecent content

    WASHINGTON DC: Media conglomerate Viacom’s radio unit Infinity Broadcasting has drawn the ire of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
    The media watchdog has fined the company $357,500 for airing in August last year, a segment on the Opie and Anthony Show featuring a Northern Virginia couple having sex in a Roman Catholic church.
    FCC issued a release stating that this was the highest amount permitted by the Communications Act on the facts of this case. The Commission took the decision because of the egregious nature of the material, the involvement of many Infinity employees and managers in planning the marketing event, and Infinity’s recent history of the airing of indecent or apparently indecent broadcasts.
    FCC based its action on more than 500 complaints regarding Infinity’s 15 August 2002, broadcast of an Infinity-hosted contest Sex for Sam. This involved participants having sex in “risky locations” throughout New York City, including St Patrick’s Cathedral, a zoo, Rockefeller Center and a toy store.
    However FCC Commissioner Michael J Copps felt that the fine imposed was inadequate. He said, “I dissent from the Commission’s decisions to provide no more than a slap on the wrist to Infinity rather than take serious action to address indecency on our airwaves. Today, the majority proposes a $27,500 fine for each incident of airing what the majority agrees appears to be indecent programming at a time when children likely composed a significant portion of the audience.”
    Copps continued, “In the case of Infinity/Viacom, 13 stations ran the Opie and Anthony Show which contained a broadcast of sexual activity at St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York as part of an on-air stunt. In this stunt Sex for Sam, couples received points for having sex in public places. In addition to St Patrick’s Cathedral, the broadcast described sexual activity at restaurants, at the Disney Store and at FAO Schwartz.”
    Cops said he defied anyone to read the transcript and argue that the broadcast does not violate the statutory prohibition against airing indecent material. “And I defy anyone to argue that a $27,500 fine to each of the stations owned by a multi-billion dollar conglomerate is adequate to address this clear violation of federal law. Infinity/Viacom could pay this entire fine by tacking just one more commercial onto one of its prime-time TV shows and probably pocket a profit to boot. Some punishment!” he said.
    The commissioner went on to point out that this was not the first action against a station owned by Infinity. Infinity stations paid $1.7 million in 1995 to settle a series of indecency cases. As part of that settlement, Infinity had agreed to take steps to prevent further broadcast of indecent material. More complaints involving other Infinity broadcasts followed.
    He explained, “Last April, this Commission issued another tepid proposed fine against another station owned by this same company – WKRK-FM in Detroit – which had aired some of the most vulgar and disgusting indecency that I have had the misfortune to examine. In that decision, the majority warned that repeated serious violations by Infinity could result in the revocation of station licenses. The majority repeats that same warning again in this decision.”
    The release adds that two months before the airing of the Sex for Sam episode the FCC had cited the same show for three separate apparent violations of the indecency statutes. These shows aired between November 2000 and January 2001.
    In one instance, a graphic song showcasing a father having oral sex with his young daughter was broadcast. In the second instance, the Opie and Anthony Show aired another graphic song by a man seeking girls between the ages of two and three for sex. In the third instance, the show provided detailed and vulgar instructions to a teenager.
    The commissioner added, “If this situation does not meet the majority’s test for repeated violators, I fail to understand what would. The message to licensees is clear. Even egregious repeated violations will not result in revocation of a license. Rather, they will result only in a financial penalty that doesn’t even rise to a serious cost of doing business. I wonder when this Commission will finally take a firm stand against the “race to the bottom” on our airwaves.”