FCC drops affiliate fines
Nets excused from paying penalties
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Without explanation, the commission issued a terse notice Wednesday stating that the stations -- among a total 111 fined for airing an episode of CBS' "Without a Trace" that regulators deemed indecent -- were off the hook for $32,500 each.
Move comes as no surprise, however, since five of the stations, located in Indiana, aired the show at 10 p.m. local (Central) time, when so-called indecent material can appear. (FCC prohibits indecent content only between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., theoretically the period when children are most likely watching.)
Most Indiana stations air the broadcast locally at 9 p.m. Fines against them still stand.
Other three stations are in Tennessee, which is on Eastern Time -- meaning they, too, aired the broadcast at 10 p.m. Why the FCC didn't realize this before the notice didn't say.
