Editing of Stern Show Admitted : Radio: Tom Milewski, an executive at Greater Media Inc., which owns KLSX, says it is deleting some of Howard Stern’s show pending a ruling on its challenge of FCC fines.

Officials at Greater Media Inc., the company that owns KLSX-FM (97.1), have admitted that the company has been editing the raciest portions of Howard Stern’s top-rated morning show since the Federal Communications Commission slapped the company with a $105,000 fine for indecent broadcasting last October.

The editing came to light after a raunchy, hourlong interview with Jessica Hahn was deleted from the Stern rebroadcast on KLSX Wednesday. Prior to that, the program trims appeared to have been limited to a phrase or two, or a song parody.

“You’ve noticed the difference, so how can I deny it?” Tom Milewski, Greater Media Inc. executive vice president, said in a telephone interview. “It’s our program. It’s our radio station. We feel everything we’ve done to date is defensible.”

The reason for the editing: “We wish to avoid further complaints to the FCC during the pendency of the litigation,” he said.

The first three hours of Stern’s New York-based comedy/talk show are heard live from 3-6 a.m. on KLSX, then the program is broadcast in its entirety from 6 a.m. to about 10:30 a.m. Milewski, who is based in New Jersey, said he monitors the program when it starts at 6 a.m. EST and then decides what to edit for the full rebroadcast on KLSX at 6 a.m. PST.

Milewski declined to explain how he decides what to leave in and what to take out but admitted that it is a purely subjective process.

“It’s very difficult,” he said. “I’ve never done anything more difficult.”

From most accounts, it appears that what is getting cut are references to sexual acts or organs. The FCC’s definition of indecent broadcasting is “material that depicts or describes in a manner that is patently offensive, under community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory functions, activities or organs.”

Milewski would not say whether Stern is aware of the editing policy, and calls to Stern, his producer and agent were not returned. Stern in the past has denounced any practice of editing his show and has publicly excoriated station officials whom he believed may have deleted any part of his broadcast.

When a listener from Los Angeles called Thursday to ask Stern why his show ended early Wednesday, Stern replied: “I don’t want to talk about it. I work with imbeciles. We had a little mix-up.”

Some avid Stern fans who listen to or tape both broadcasts each day have reported hearing different material on each show since about December.

One listener said that last week Stern was critiquing a Cher interview in TV Guide, then went on to discuss sexual acts he fantasized with her; that discussion was cut out of the later broadcast. Similarly, Stern’s sexual fantasies involving Kathie Lee Gifford and Connie Selleca, the latter in the form of a song parody, were also deleted.

The Hahn interview began with her discussion of a Playboy videotape and went into a lurid discussion on the state of her sexual organs.

The material cited by the FCC in its $105,000 fine against KLSX--which the company has challenged--included references to masturbation, castration, rectal bleeding and fantasies about having sex with Michelle Pfeiffer. The FCC subsequently levied a $600,000 fine against Infinity Broadcasting Corp., which distributes the Stern show and carries it on three stations the company owns, for broadcasting the same material.

Despite the editing practices, plenty of salacious Stern material still makes it into the taped broadcast on KLSX. On Thursday, for instance, Stern discussed the sex life of actress Martha Raye and her husband, who is considerably younger. On other recent shows he has discussed the sexual prowess of singer Tom Jones, the sexual acts of a lesbian caller and the number of times per month in which he masturbates.

In addition to the sexual material left in, there is controversial commentary on other matters during Stern’s broadcasts. On Wednesday, discussing his lack of sympathy for Rodney G. King, he said, “If he doesn’t want to get beaten, he should stay home.” The host has also wished cancer upon several prominent people who he felt have interfered with his career progress.

One Stern fan who had heard differences between the first and second broadcasts was unhappy about KLSX’s editing. “I think it’s a great disservice to the L.A. fans who made Howard No. 1 in the city,” said Mark Olmos, a 32-year-old chemical engineer. “I feel cheated that the last two hours have been edited and I’ll never know what they are.”

Milewski said that because he has deleted portions of the broadcast does not mean he or Greater Media Inc. find the material objectionable.

“It’s not fair to come to the conclusion that because something doesn’t air in L.A. we’ve made the determination that it’s indecent,” he said. “It’s a sensitive area.”

As to why it would be OK for the material to be aired during the first broadcast but not the second, Milewski noted that the FCC’s so-called “safe harbor” policy--meant to protect children from indecency--runs from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The 3-6 a.m. portion is not subject to the same restrictions.

The FCC official in charge of the Stern case explained in a telephone interview that “altering broadcasts” is taken into account by the commission and could result in a lowering of fines against a broadcaster.

“The commission will consider as a mitigating factor remedial actions taken by the licensee,” said Bob Ratcliffe, assistant chief of law in the FCC’s mass media bureau. “If you mess up and say, ‘Now that you’ve pointed it out I’ve taken actions to conform my conduct to what the commission feels is required,’ we will certainly take account of that in assessing the penalty. . . . Remedial action doesn’t excuse you from liability, but it may affect how much we fine you.”

Ratcliffe pointed out that such editing “also addresses the possibility of future complaints. (Broadcasting companies) don’t want to be in the position to have it happen again. In general, (a practice of editing) avoids further violations and demonstrates a reasonable attitude on the part of the licensee in responding to our directives. How far they go in editing is up to them.”

Greater Media and Infinity have filed formal objections to the FCC’s fines, and Infinity has vowed to fight them in court if the commission sticks to the penalty. Officials at the regulatory agency said that because of the importance of the issue and the volume of material that must be considered--legal pleadings as well as studies conducted by the broadcasting companies--it may be three months before a final decision is made.

What could slow down the FCC’s decision-making process is a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by a coalition of broadcasters, programmers and trade associations seeking to enjoin the FCC from enforcing the indecency rules and asking that the court throw out all pending indecency cases. The suit argues that indecent speech, unlike obscene speech, is protected by the First Amendment.