February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The commission based its action on more than 500 complaints regarding the Aug. 15, 2002 broadcast of a “Sex for Sam” contest on the “Opie and Anthony Show” on WNEW-FM.
The contest, which sparked a national uproar and a continuing boycott of Sam Adams beer products by some Irish-American bar owners in and around Boston, involved participants having sex in “risky locations” throughout New York City while station “spotters” called into the show with eyewitness accounts. The sex encounters occurred in various places, including the cathedral, Rockefeller Center, a zoo and a toy store. The grand prize was a trip to Boston for a rock concert sponsored by Boston Beer Co., brewers of Sam Adams beer.
Jim Koch, co-founder of Boston Beer Co., was in the studio during the stunt and joked on-air about the sex acts, describing the couple at the cathedral as “awesome.” He has since publicly apologized in numerous newspapers, including the Irish Echo.
So-called “shock jocks” Opie and Anthony were fired by Infinity one week after the incident and the station employee who called into the show with an eyewitness account pled guilty to disorderly conduct and was ordered to perform community service. One of the participants, Brian Florence of Virginia, died of a heart attack last month. His girlfriend was expected to plead guilty to a minor offense to avoid jail time.
The chairman of the FCC is Michael Powell, son of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. He and three other members of the commission voted for the proposed fine, while the fifth member, Michael Copps, issued a blistering dissent, saying that the fine was a “slap on the wrist.” He called for license-revocation hearings.
Copps wrote that the FCC has repeatedly warned Infinity Broadcasting about the broadcast of indecent material but has done little to punish the company other than propose “tepid” fines. He wrote: “Infinity/Viacom could pay this entire fine by tacking just one more commercial into one of its prime-time TV shows and probably pocket a profit to boot. Some punishment.”
“If this situation does not meet the majority’s test for repeated violations, I fail to understand what would,” Copps wrote. “The time has come for us to send a message that we are serious about enforcing the indecency laws of our country and that we will be especially vigilant about the actions of repeat offenders. . . . Instead, we turn an apparently incurable deaf ear to millions of Americans who are fed up with the patently offensive programming sent into their homes so regularly. Today’s decision does nothing to discourage such programming.”
Infinity Broadcasting is owned by CBS. The network in turn is owned by Viacom, which also runs UPN, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, TNN, MTV, VH1 and a billboard company. Infinity now has 30 days to pay the fine or appeal.