Viacom Bows To The FCC Altar

The media giant Viacom, which owns CBS, UPN, and Infinity Radio, among other properties, has agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle a raft of “indecency” charges brought by the newly prickly Federal Communications Commission. “The consent decree with the Federal Communications Commission resolves, among other things, complaints about shock jock Howard Stern and the radio team of Greg ‘Opie’ Hughes and Anthony Cumia.” More significant than the fine, which won’t hurt Viacom much at all, are the non-monetary elements of the consent decree, under which Viacom has agreed to install delay equipment in its radio stations, and to immediately suspend any employee the FCC accuses of indecency in the future.