No Apologies: NBC Allows Another “F-word” to Air Unbleeped

 

LOS ANGELES (September 28, 2009) – The Parents Television Council® responded to the news that an actress on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” used an unbleeped “f-word” on the show last night.

 

“An ‘f-bomb’ after midnight is hardly a surprise coming from one of the parties suing to use that very same word on broadcast TV at any time of the day, even in front of children,” said PTC President Tim Winter.

 

“This instance of profanity aired after 10:00 pm, and therefore the FCC has no legal authority to sanction the network.  Regardless, NBC had every reason to expect something like this would happen; and they had every opportunity to take reasonable steps to prevent it, such as instituting a 5-second time delay.  But instead they chose not to. 

 

“The ‘f-word’ on ‘Saturday Night Live’ is just the latest example of NBC telling its audience, its affiliates and its advertisers that it really doesn’t care if harsh profanity like this makes it to air.  Remember that NBC still has not come clean about other instances, such as during the Beijing Olympics when a male commentator referred to a female commentator using the ‘c-word’; and during recent broadcasts of the ‘Today’ show when the ‘c-word’ and ‘s-word’ were aired. 

 

“If NBC and other broadcast networks are successful in winning the right to air explicit language, sadly, the floodgates would be opened to unlimited profanity at any time of day, no matter the audience.”