Super Bowl Episode Prompts CBS to Heighten Safeguards for Grammys

Stung by outrage over Janet Jackson’s breast-flashing episode during Sunday’s Super Bowl, CBS said Tuesday that it would use an “enhanced delay” during its Sunday telecast of the Grammy Awards so that any “inappropriate” audio or video could be cut before reaching viewers.

The network, in collaboration with the Grammys’ governing organization, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, said it was working on the new procedure, which would be “put in place to safeguard against any unexpected and inappropriate content being broadcast during the awards ceremony.”

CBS announced its plans after being criticized Monday by viewers, network affiliates, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and other government officials.

Television and radio broadcasters customarily use a delay of several seconds to give themselves time to edit out offensive language during live programs. In its statement, CBS noted that its previous five-second delay guarded only against offensive language but did nothing to stop visuals. The exact form of the new audio and video delay has not been worked out, CBS said.

FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell called the Super Bowl incident “deplorable” Monday and told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he was ordering an investigation into Jackson’s performance with singer Justin Timberlake and the whole halftime program. The program included performances by rock-rapper Kid Rock and rap star Nelly. It was produced by MTV, which, like CBS, is a unit of Viacom Inc.

“I personally was offended by the entire production,” Powell said, “and I think that most of the complaints we have received are much broader than that final incident.”

Viacom President Mel Karmazin, quoted Tuesday in a staff memo obtained by Reuters, said an internal probe showed that no one at CBS, MTV or Viacom knew of Jackson and Timberlake’s plans.

“Executives from MTV, CBS and the NFL attended all rehearsals, and nothing like this was included in the show, which was verified by our review of videotapes from the rehearsals,” Karmazin’s memo said.

CBS’ affiliates board, among others, has asked for assurances that the Grammy program would meet CBS broadcast standards.

A CBS spokesman declined to comment on whether Timberlake and Jackson would participate in the Grammy broadcast as planned. But a spokesman for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences said no changes in the talent lineup were being considered “currently.”

The NARAS spokesman also said CBS had exerted no pressure to drop the two from their scheduled roles. Timberlake is slated to perform a song with hip-hop band Black Eyed Peas in addition to a solo slot, and Jackson has been tapped as an award presenter.

Despite an admission Monday from Jackson that she had planned the stunt without CBS’ knowledge, CBS’ affiliates board sent a strongly worded letter to the network asserting that the entire halftime show, not just “one incident,” “was in poor taste and reflected poor judgment.” The network, the letter said, “let us down and embarrassed us in front of our public.”

Huge Fines Possible

Although the FCC has only rarely fined TV broadcasters over decency issues, CBS’ 200 affiliate stations combined could face $5 million in fines if the commission found they were in violation of broadcast standards.

The affiliates’ letter went on to ask CBS for “full and immediate information about your own efforts to identify where the planning and implementation of the halftime show went awry and the steps CBS is taking to assure that no episode of this kind will ever occur again.”

A CBS spokesman said, “We’re just as outraged as our affiliates are.”

“CBS is doing what they feel they need to do to be responsible and to avoid what happened on Sunday,” Ron Roecker, senior director of communications for NARAS, said about the plans for the Grammy Awards telecast. “They were open with us about it. We want to make sure everyone is having a good experience with the show as well, but we’re not changing anything in our lineup currently.”

Veteran Grammy show writer-producer Ken Ehrlich also dismissed reports that Jackson and Timberlake were being cut from the show.

“We’re planning on moving ahead and doing the show the way we always do it,” he said Tuesday.

As to specific changes resulting from the Super Bowl controversy, “We’ll probably need a couple more days or so to figure out what we’re going to do,” Ehrlich said. “We’re not ignoring the situation; it’s just that our show is a lot different.”

Test of ‘Enhanced Delay’

A CBS spokesman said the Grammy show was the only immediate use planned for the enhanced delay, but added that the system would be under consideration for other uses after Sunday.

Apologies have come from Jackson, Timberlake and MTV, which produced the finale of Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show, for the climactic moment of the pop singers’ duet, in which Timberlake yanked Jackson’s costume and revealed her right breast to the 89 million viewers who were tuned in to the game.

Jackson claimed that another garment was supposed to be under the part stripped away by Timberlake, who described the incident as “a wardrobe malfunction.”