Feds sue to get TV indecency fines

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Government lawyers Friday sued FOX Television and eight of its stations to force payment of FCC fines imposed for broadcasting "titillating and shocking" sexually oriented material during prime time.

In lawsuits filed in four cities, Justice Department attorneys asked the court to order each of the stations to pay $7,000 -- or a total of $56,000 -- in fines for a 2003 episode of the reality program "Married by America."

The FCC found the program was "patently offensive" and aired before 10 p.m., when families are presumed to be watching.

The program featured wild bachelor and bachelorette parties in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"The whole point of the strippers' performances appears to be to titillate the brides- and grooms-to-be, and by extension, the audience," the government said.

The court papers described in graphic detail the program that prompted viewer complaints in several cities where it was aired.

The episode featured semi-nude male and female strippers "luring partygoers into engaging in sexual behavior," the government document said.

"Pixilation of the nude body parts in the scenes did not obscure the overall graphic nature of the depictions to the average viewer," the lawsuit said.

A suit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington names FOX TV stations and individual broadcasters as defendants. The stations are WTTG in Washington; WJBK in Detroit, Michigan; WDAF in Kansas City, Missouri; WTVT in Tampa, Florida; and KMSP in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Separate suits were filed simultaneously against individual stations -- KDSM in Des Moines, Iowa; WZTV in Nashville, Tennessee; and WVAH in Charleston, West Virginia.

Justice Department officials had no comment on the case beyond the court filings, but FCC spokeswoman Mary Diamond said the commission is obligated "to protect our children" by enforcing indecency laws.

"For four years News Corp. has failed to take responsibility for airing indecent programming during 'Married by America,'" she said. "It is long past time for the company to accept responsibility and pay its fines."

Fox Television Stations is owned by News Corp., which also owns FOX News, FOX Broadcasting and 20th Century Fox.

The fines are minimal compared with the original FCC plan to levy a fine of $1.2 million or $7,000 fines for each of the 169 FOX-owned and affiliated stations that aired the episode.

However, after lengthy talks, the FCC reduced the fines to only stations that received viewer complaints.

In response to the government lawsuit, a FOX statement said, "We look forward to the opportunity to present the full factual and legal arguments in the 'Married by America' case to an impartial and open court of law."

The court action comes as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to consider later this year a separate lawsuit filed against FOX Television Stations for the uttering of a prohibited four-letter word during live awards show broadcasts in 2002 and 2003. E-mail to a friend

All About U.S. Federal Communications Commission • Television • News Corporation Ltd.