FCC Fines 4 Radio Stations for Indecent Broadcasting

WASHINGTON —  The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday fined four radio stations it accused of broadcasting indecent material in the daytime and said it was considering action against four more.

The fines were assessed by the FCC’s mass media bureau.

In another indication that the commission, under new Chairman Alfred Sikes, will draw the line at 8 p.m. on what it considers indecent broadcasting, the bureau said it had cleared out a two-year backlog of indecency complaints by dismissing 87 cases, with 51 cases against 40 stations dropped because the purportedly indecent material was broadcast after 8 p.m.

Among the stations fined was KFI-AM in Los Angeles, licensed by KFI Inc. It was fined $6,000 for allegedly indecent material during the Tom Leykis telephone talk show between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Nov. 12, 1988.

The FCC announcements came on the same day the commission voted 4 to 0 to launch an inquiry into establishing the 24-hour ban on indecent broadcasting Congress ordered last year.

The commission defines broadcast indecency as language or material that “depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory activities or organs.” It will take action when there is a “reasonable risk” that children may be in the audience, the FCC said.

The other three radio stations that received fines are:

--WIOD, Miami, licensed by Cox Broadcasting, a $10,000 fine for five alleged instances of indecent programming on the Neil Rogers Show between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The material included sexual innuendo in songs.

--WZTA-AM, Miami, licensed by Guy Gannett Publishing Co., fined $2,000 for allegedly broadcasting a song with sexual innuendo during the Neil Rogers Show at about 6 a.m.

--KLUC-FM, Las Vegas, licensed by Nationwide Communications Inc., fined $2,000 for broadcasting an allegedly indecent musical recording, “Erotic City,” by Prince at 7:53 p.m.

Four other stations were sent letters asking for comment on complaints about them. They are KCCL-AMFM of Paris, Ark.; KSD-FM of St. Louis; WWWE-AM of Cleveland; and WXRK-FM of New York.