WARM UP

The FCC:
The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international communications by
radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
An independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress, the Commission is the federal
agency responsible for implementing and enforcing Americas communications law and regulations.

As a group research these positions at the FCC: Chairman, Commissioner. Provide the names of the
staff employed in these positons.
In your opinion, what significance does the FCC play in television and radio?
Provide your answer based off of information provided in this description.
( Answer in 2-4 complete sentences)
Censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or
other information that may be considered objectionable, harmful,
sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by
governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or
institutions.
Federal law prohibits obscene, indecent and profane content from
being broadcast on the radio or TV. That may seem clear enough, but
determining what obscene, indecent and profane mean can be
difficult, depending on who you talk to.
Censorship (cont)
In the Supreme Court's 1964 landmark case on obscenity and
pornography, Justice Potter Stewart famously wrote: "I know it when I
see it." That case still influences FCC rules today, and complaints from
the public about broadcasting objectionable content drive the
enforcement of those rules.
Obscene content does not have protection by the First Amendment.
For content to be ruled obscene, it must meet a three-pronged test
established by the Supreme Court: It must appeal to an average
person's prurient interest; depict or describe sexual conduct in a
"patently offensive" way; and, taken as a whole, lack serious literary,
artistic, political or scientific value.
Censorship (cont)
Indecent content portrays sexual or excretory organs or activities in a
way that does not meet the three-prong test for obscenity.
Profane content includes "grossly offensive" language that is considered
a public nuisance.
Factors in determining how FCC rules apply include the specific nature
of the content, the time of day it was broadcast and the context in
which the broadcast took place.
Censorship (cont)
Broadcasting obscene content is prohibited by law at all times of the
day. Indecent and profane content are prohibited on broadcast TV and
radio between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when there is a reasonable risk that
children may be in the audience.

WHY WOULD IT BE INAPROPRIATE FOR LAW AND ORDER TO AIR ON CW

22 OR MY NETWORK AT 7AM MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY?

WHAT TYPE OF CONTENT WILL BE SUITABLE AT THAT TIME ON THOSE

NETWORKS?
TV RATINGS
The TV Parental Guidelines are a television content rating system in
the United States that was first proposed on December 19, 1996, by
the United States Congress, the television industry and the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), and went into effect by January
1, 1997
THE NIELSEN RATING
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems operated by
Nielsen Media Research that seek to determine the audience size and
composition of television programming in the United States.

AS A GROUP, RESEARCH 5 SIGNIFICANT SERVICES THAT NIELSEN

PROVIDES FOR TELEVISION AND DATA.