THERE'S NO SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

[Matt Higgs]

True. Here in Canada, I think SPR aired already on either CTV or
Global. Hearing an "F-bomb" is rarely an issue. I'm sure the CRTC
recieves some complaints, but never anything major. Janet Jackson
didn't get any complaints that I know of. The local Global station did
recieve 3, but they were about not being able to see Superbowl
commericals.

Matt


On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 19:48:46 -0500, Scott Fybush <scott@fybush.com> wrote:
> At 04:35 PM 11/11/2004 -0800, John Bolduc wrote:
> 
> 
> >WMUR-TV Channel 9 Manchester NH announced in their 6:00pm newscast that
> >both they and Channel 5 Boston would not be showing Saving Private Ryan
> >tonight. To cut to the chase, they were worried about swear words before
> >10pm and getting sued/fined over it.
> >
> >I would think they could just locally bleep the f-words ? ? ?
> 
> Not if they don't want to get in trouble with ABC. ABC's deal with
> Spielberg is that the movie runs unedited, period. ABC has already turned
> down several Midwestern affiliates that wanted to delay the movie to 10:35
> PM CT.
> 
> The affiliates - and there are many of them, including WMTW and WGGB as
> well - that are preempting the movie are going to have a tricky scheduling
> job when it comes to rejoining the network later tonight. The movie runs to
> 11:21 PM ET, there's a 35-minute hole for news, and Nightline is scheduled
> for 11:56 PM.
> 
> The whole thing's a political statement of sorts, trying to make the case
> that the FCC's enforcement of content rules has become so unpredictable
> that a station could indeed be fined for the language used in Saving
> Private Ryan. And indeed, the FCC has declined to give stations any sort of
> advance guidance, saying that would run afoul of prior-restraint issues.
> The Parents Television Council, meanwhile, in its self-appointed role as
> guardian of America's airwaves, has itself issued a statement saying it has
> no intention of filing any complaints about the language used in the movie.
> Trouble is, the PTC doesn't have a monopoly on filing those complaints, and
> it only takes one to trigger a huge fine these days, especially in a
> circumstance like this one in which no ABC affiliate can claim to be taken
> by surprise by what's coming down the network in a few minutes.
> 
> This would not be an issue in Canada.
> 
> s
> 
>