PTC Slams NBC for Airing Yet Another Unbleeped Profanity on the Today Show

PTC Slams NBC for Airing Yet Another Unbleeped Profanity on the Today Show

LOS ANGELES (September 11, 2008) – The Parents Television Council™ called out NBC for its clear pattern of flouting the broadcast decency law after airing yet another unbleeped profanity on the Today show this morning.

Today, guest Hans Lange, a Norwegian base-jumper, used an unbleeped “s-word” in an interview with host Matt Lauer, who chuckled after Mr. Lange said the word. The word was aired on Today at approximately 7:37 am EDT.

“We condemn NBC for its arrogance in choosing not to bleep this profanity, and for its arrogance in choosing not to apologize to its viewers, many of whom included children. NBC continues to show a clear pattern of contempt for the broadcast decency law by airing yet another unbleeped profanity on its morning show. The PTC is filing an indecency complaint and is urging its members to speak out about NBC’s utter disregard for decency over the public airwaves,” said PTC President Tim Winter.

NBC aired an unedited version of a four-letter word for female genitalia spoken by Jane Fonda during an interview on the Today show in February 2008.

“NBC could have prevented the ‘s-word’ from being aired by using a 5-second delay, but it clearly didn’t want to. NBC obviously thought that the ‘s-word’ was inappropriate to air since it scrubbed the word from broadcasts to the Central, Mountain and Pacific Time zones. So why then does NBC believe they can sweep this under the rug for those families in the Eastern Time zone? There is no excuse, especially coming on the heels of Ms. Fonda’s unbleeped and offensive profanity. NBC would rather shrug it off rather than take responsibility,” Winter continued.

“The public is entitled to the expectation that television is not going to assault their families during certain times of day and NBC violated that expectation again. We hope viewers speak out about this and we hope the network is held accountable.”

► TAKE ACTION! If you live in the Eastern Time zone, click here to file a formal indecency complaint with the FCC.

To speak with a representative from the Parents Television Council, please contact Kelly Oliver (ext. 140) or Megan Franko (ext. 148) at (703) 683-5004.

The Parents Television Council™ (www.parentstv.org®) is a non-partisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment. It was founded in 1995 to ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence and profanity on television and in other media. This national grassroots organization has more than 1.3 million members across the United States, and works with television producers, broadcasters, networks and sponsors in an effort to stem the flow of harmful and negative messages targeted to children. The PTC also works with elected and appointed government officials to enforce broadcast decency standards. Most importantly, the PTC produces critical research and publications documenting the dramatic increase in sex, violence and profanity in entertainment. This information is provided free of charge so parents can make informed viewing choices for their own families.