Academy President Assails TV Delay Plan

In a sharp rebuke of ABC’s decision to impose a five-second delay on the Feb. 29 Oscars telecast, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Frank Pierson said the precaution was insulting to an awards show that has been broadcast for more than 50 years -- without incident.

ABC’s decision to enact the delay came after government pressure in the wake of the Super Bowl halftime show, during which singer Janet Jackson’s breast was bared. Although ABC uses a delay for many of its live events, the Academy Awards show has always been broadcast without one.

Pierson sent a letter to all members last week asserting that “if [the show] comes with a bleep, we are all losers.” He said the delay amounted to censorship.

“A ‘live’ show is either alive or not,” Pierson said. “Free speech is either free or it is not. Viewers are free to use their remote or TiVo. Parents are responsible or they are not.”

He said that though the academy’s board of governors was sympathetic to ABC’s “financial, moral and legal dilemma,” the board’s opposition to the decision was “absolute.” Pierson conceded that the academy had “no contractual ability to refuse the network’s decision to bow to government pressure.”

ABC representatives had not seen the letter and had no comment.

-- Patrick Day