"... Viacom President/COO Mel Karmazin vowed to haul the FCC into court over indecency -- if the opportunity ever availed itself. One day later, Karmazin took what could be the first step in that long legal process by contesting the Commission's $27,500 proposed fine against Howard Stern. ...." A War Brewing? When the FCC brought a fine against Clear Channel for $495,000, Clear Channel COO John Hogan complied. In fact, Clear removed Stern from the six Clear stations that carried Stern to protect themselves from the possibility of further indecency fines. But Viacom COO Mel Karmazin is making a fuss over a $27,500 fine on one of their stations for a Stern broadcast The war is about to begin. It has been the talk of media insiders that a very large fine will be coming down from the FCC on Viacom/Infinity Broadcasting in the days ahead. Don't look for Viacom to respond as Clear Channel's John Hogan. Mel Karmazin has been regularly stating he doesn't believe that his man, Howard Stern, has violated indecency standards. FMQB on April 26, 2004 reported: During Thursday's Q1 conference call, Viacom President/COO Mel Karmazin vowed to haul the FCC into court over indecency -- if the opportunity ever availed itself. One day later, Karmazin took what could be the first step in that long legal process by contesting the Commission's $27,500 proposed fine against Howard Stern. The challenge comes in the form of Infinity's formal response to a March 18 Notice Of Apparent Liability served on WKRK/Detroit for a July 26, 2001 Stern show.  When Infinity responded to the Commission's initial Letter Of Inquiry, it maintained that the cited material wasn't actionably indecent and didn't contain any description or depiction of sexual or excretory organs or activities in a patently offensive manner. Infinity also argued that the Commission's generic indecency definition is unconstitutional. Now, in a 64-page filing, the company claims that the Commission has "abruptly and systematically altered almost every aspect of indecency enforcement in ways that dramatically undermine the lawfulness of the overall scheme." ... http://fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=23497 FMQB on April 28, 2004 reported: Mel Karmazin continued to poke holes in FCC indecency enforcement efforts at a Tuesday morning breakfast in New York, expanding his criticism to include Republicans and journalists. Billed as "A Conversation With Mel Karmazin," the wide-ranging Q&A was conducted by New Yorker media columnist Ken Auletta and sponsored by Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications..... ... Asked by Auletta if he condoned Stern discussing anal sex, Karmazin invoked the First Amendment, saying America is a country where people are free to say what they want. "We are fighting in Iraq for freedom," Karmazin said. "If it doesn't appeal to you, shut the radio off. Just because you don't like the words 'anal sex,' doesn't make it indecent." Echoing earlier remarks, Karmazin said, "As long as Howard Stern conforms with our standards, we'll stand by him." ... http://fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=23706 FMQB on April 23, 2004 reported:  ... (Karmazin) added that the company considers the FCC's use of its power to influence programming content "a very slippery slope." However, Karmazin acknowledged that since Viacom is a station licensee, they must follow the rules. "We are adjusting the programming, we're putting things on delays, we're putting on things to protect us, while at the same time we are aggressively going to take the FCC to court if the opportunity presents itself, because we believe what they are doing is not appropriate." ... http://fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=23391 MEL KARMAZIN DEFENDS 'ANAL SEX' RADIO BROADCASTS http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=40374 All this has a familiar feel.  Viacom is acting like the pornography industry. The pornography industry becomes very aggressive when there are new efforts to enforce the law against obscenity. They bring in the  big guns. They bring in their "brothers" and "sisters" in the fight - film makers, the record industry, the American Library Association, paid off "community standard" experts.  And the media is reporting that Stern's listenership ratings are up. Up. Up. Stern, of course, is feeding his listeners with anti-censorship talk - claiming to be a martyr. If we lose the battle for decency with the FCC after all of the high profile attention and the FCC backs down to Viacom, Mel Karmazin, Howard Stern then the floodgates of filth will be opened for now and ever more. ADA response? (1) We have been filing complaints with the FCC on Howard Stern's daily radio including lengthy segments where Stern discusses perverse sex acts, etc. (2) We have resumed monitoring Howard Stern's daily radio show in several markets. We believe that it is imperative that we keep America's corporations sensitive to decency. It is vital that we urge them to keep their advertising dollars away from programs that undercut American civility and public morality.  (3) Urging others to stand with us in writing corporate America. Make a few calls and/or write a few emails expressing concern that these corporations would empower Howard Stern's filth.  America Online, Frito Lay, Toyota, AAMCO, Geico. Contact as many of them as possible. (See link below) These are each regular advertisers of the Howard Stern Show on WXRK, New York City - Stern's flagship station Below are the advertising results for the Howard Stern radio show for April 13-16 on his flagship station, WXRK, New York City http://www.americandecency.org/wxrksternads04.13-16.04.htm