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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT:  April  8,  2004  Janice  Wise  at  (202)  418-  8165 
 COMMISSION  PROPOSES  STATUTORY  MAXIMUM  FINE  OF  $495,000  AGAINST  SUBSIDIARIES  OF  CLEAR  CHANNEL  COMMUNICATIONS,  INC.  FOR  APPARENT 
 MULTIPLE  VIOLATIONS  OF  INDECENCY  RULES 
 Washington,  D.  C.  -  Today,  the  Commission  issued  a  Notice  of  Apparent  Liability  for  Forfeiture  against  Clear  Channel  Communications,  Inc.,  for  apparently  willfully  broadcasting 
 indecent  material  in  connection  with  the  “Howard  Stern  Show”  program  over  Stations  WBGG(  FM),  Fort  Lauderdale,  Florida,  WTKS-  FM,  Cocoa  Beach,  Florida,  WTFX-  FM, 
 Louisville,  Kentucky,  KIOZ(  FM),  San  Diego,  California,  WNVE(  FM),  Honeoye  Falls,  New  York,  and  WXDX-  FM,  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania.  The  Commission  proposed  a  total  of  $495,000 
 in  forfeitures  against  these  Clear  Channel  stations,  representing  the  maximum  statutory  amount  of  $27,500  for  each  of  eighteen  total  apparent  indecency  violations. 


 The  Commission  proposed  imposition  of  a  forfeiture  for  the  maximum  statutory  amount  because  of  parent  Clear  Channel’s  recent  history  of  airing  indecent  programming. 
 The  Commission  concluded  that  the  material  in  these  broadcasts  appeared  to  meet  the  agency’s  indecency  definition.  Specifically,  the  program  materials  included  repeated,  graphic  and  explicit 
 sexual  descriptions  that  were  pandering,  titillating  or  used  to  shock  the  audience. 
 Action  by  the  Commission,  April  7,  2004,  Notice  of  Apparent  Liability  for  Forfeiture  (FCC  04-  88).  Chairman  Powell  and  Commissioners  Abernathy,  Copps,  Martin  and  Adelstein. 
 Commissioners  Copps  and  Adelstein  issuing  separate  statements. 
 Enforcement  Bureau  contacts:  Janice  Wise  at  (202)  418-  8165  and  Lisa  M.  Fowlkes  at  (202)  418-  7450. 


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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 Re:  Clear  Channel  Broadcasting  Licenses,  Inc.,  Licensee  of  Stations  WBGG(  FM),  Fort  Lauderdale,  Florida,  WTKS-  FM,  Cocoa  Beach,  Florida,  and  WTFX-  FM,  Louisville,  Kentucky; 
 Citicasters  Licenses,  L.  P.,  Licensee,  Stations  KIOZ(  FM),  San  Diego,  California,  and  WNVE(  FM),  Honeoye  Falls,  New  York;  and  Capstar  TX  Limited  Partnership,  Licensee  of 
 Station  WXDX-  FM,  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  Notice  of  Apparent  Liability  for  Forfeiture 
 I  have  long  advocated  that  the  Commission  use  all  of  the  tools  it  has  to  tackle  indecency  on  the  public’s  airwaves.  Today’s  decision  is  a  step  forward  towards  imposing  meaningful  fines. 
 For  the  first  time,  the  Commission  assesses  a  fine  against  more  than  a  single  utterance,  rather  than  counting  an  entire  program  as  one  utterance.  In  addition,  the  Commission  makes  clear  that 
 its  indecency  enforcement  will  address  not  only  the  station  that  is  the  subject  of  a  complaint,  but  also  any  other  station  that  aired  the  same  programming.  I  therefore  vote  to  approve  this  decision. 
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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  JONATHAN  S.  ADELSTEIN 
 Re:  Clear  Channel  Broadcasting  Licenses,  Inc.,  Licensee  of  Stations  WBGG-  FM,  Fort  Lauderdale,  Florida,  WTKS-  FM,  Cocoa  Beach,  Florida,  WTFX-  FM,  Louisville, 
 Kentucky;  Citicasters  Licenses,  L.  P.,  Licensee  of  Stations  KIOZ(  FM),  San  Diego,  California,  WNVE(  FM),  Honeoye  Falls,  New  York;  Capstar  TX  Limited  Partnership, 
 Licensee  of  Station  WXDX-  FM,  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania;  Notice  of  Apparent  Liability  for  Forfeiture 


 I  support  this  Notice  of  Apparent  Liability  for  the  broadcast  of  indecent  material  at  a  time  when  children  may  be  in  the  audience.  By  issuing  this  NAL,  we  step  up  to  our  responsibility  to 
 enforce  statutory  and  regulatory  provisions  restricting  broadcast  indecency.  For  the  first  time,  we  impose  fines  based  upon  separate  utterances.  While  this  is  not  the  most  egregious  case  that  I 
 have  seen,  the  material  broadcast  is  indecent  under  our  standards  and  the  fines  appropriately  account  for  the  violation  of  our  rules. 


 Since  I  arrived  at  the  Commission,  we  have  greatly  stepped  up  our  enforcement  against  indecent  broadcasts.  I  expect  that  stepped-  up  actions  like  those  we  take  today  will  convince 
 broadcasters  that  they  cannot  ignore  their  responsibility  to  serve  the  public  interest  and  to  avoid  the  broadcast  of  indecent  material  over  the  public  airwaves. 
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