As Fox, CBS, and NBC are locked in a legal battle with the Federal Communications Commission over harsh new indecency rules, Fox's entertainment president has accused the agency of creating "a chilling effect on creativity."
The TV industry is particularly worried about violating decency standards because fines are now $325,000 per incident, 10 times the penalties until a new law was signed last month.
"The rules are murky and none of [the broadcast networks'] business plans are designed to handle such huge fines," Peter Liguori said Monday during Fox's portion of the Television Critics Association's summer press tour.
Fox, along with CBS and NBC, is urging speedy court review of an FCC decision finding some of their shows violated decency standards, opposing a delay sought by the government.
The networks are challenging the FCC's March decision that profanity uttered on ABC's NYPD Blue, CBS's The Early Show, and the 2002 and 2003 Billboard music awards shows on Fox was indecent. However, the agency did not propose or issue fines.
Fox's record proposed fine of $1.18 million for the reality series Married by America was eclipsed earlier this year by the $3.6 million sanction proposed for CBS's drama Without a Trace.
let them hear it FOX.
let them hear it FOX.