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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  03-  233 
 SEPARATE  STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  JONATHAN  ADELSTEIN 
 Re:  AMFM  Radio  Licenses,  LLC,  Notice  of  Apparent  Liability  for  Forfeiture 
 This  Notice  sends  the  unmistakable  message  to  Clear  Channel  and  other  broadcasters  who  violate  our  indecency  rules:  We  are  stepping  up  our  enforcement.  Once  again,  we  give  fair 
 warning  that  the  Commission  can  and  will  avail  itself  of  a  range  of  enforcement  sanctions,  including  the  initiation  of  proceedings  that  could  result  in  the  revocation  of  these  stations’ 
 licenses.  I  will  not  hesitate  to  consider  such  revocation  proceedings  for  serious  violations  that  occur  after  the  explicit  notice  we  provided  in  April  in  WKRK-  FM.  Similarly,  as  broadcasters 
 were  explicitly  notified  in  April,  I  will  also  support  on  a  going-  forward  basis  an  approach  that  treats  each  indecent  utterance,  such  as  distinct  conversations  or  program  segments,  as  a  separate 
 violation  under  our  rules.  This  will  substantially  increase  our  fines,  which  by  statute  are  capped  at  an  inadequate  level,  so  they  will  be  more  commensurate  with  the  offenses. 


 The  Commission  reached  the  obvious  conclusion  that  AMFM  Radio  Licenses,  whose  corporate  parent  is  Clear  Channel,  broadcast  indecent  material  and  should  be  liable  for  the  full 
 statutory  maximum  forfeiture  amount.  It  took  far  too  long  for  us  to  reach  this  conclusion,  and  I  hope  we  will  act  more  swiftly  in  the  future  to  send  a  clear  message. 


 AMFM’s  actions  here  were  unquestionably  willful  and  egregious.  Hosts  of  the  “Elliot  in  the  Morning”  program  repeatedly  probed  school  students  about  sexual  activity  conducted  inside  a 
 Catholic  high  school  and  actively  solicited  calls  from  other  students  to  elicit  similar  information.  The  hosts  amplified  their  sexual  banter  by  simulating  the  act  of  oral  sex  with  numerous  sound 
 effects  broadcast  over  the  air.  Goading  school  children  in  a  pandering  manner  to  discuss  sexual  activities  of  students  and  administrators  in  a  school  setting  shows  a  deliberate  attempt  to  heighten 
 the  shock  to  listeners.  The  broadcasts  clearly  offended  community  standards. 
 Unfortunately,  the  statutory  constraints  on  our  ability  to  level  fines  are  currently  inadequate,  as  the  low  fines  can  be  considered  by  broadcasters  as  a  cost  of  doing  business  and  not 
 a  serious  deterrent.  In  this  case,  a  fine  below  the  statutory  maximum  would  not  accurately  reflect  the  circumstances  and  AMFM’s  culpability.  I  believe  strongly  that  our  fines,  or  other  appropriate 
 enforcement  actions,  should  be  sufficient  to  deter  broadcasters  from  broadcasting  indecent  material  on  the  public’s  airwaves  at  a  time  when  children  are  listening.  Today’s  action,  while  an 
 important  step  in  that  direction,  must  be  followed  by  more  stringent,  swifter  and  stricter  enforcement  of  our  statutory  obligation  to  prevent  indecent  broadcasts  over  the  public  airwaves. 
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