Parents Television Council Victories

2004 Accomplishments

November/December 2004:

To coincide with the release of an FCC report on cable choice, the PTC hand-delivered copies of its Special Report, Basic Cable Awash in Raunch to dozens of Congressional offices. The report shows that cable television is rife with the most licentious, decadent and perverse content imaginable. Obscene language, horrific violence and graphic sexual content are readily available on advertiser-supported basic cable during all hours of the day. The PTC is urging lawmakers to review the sort of content coming into America's living rooms as part of a basic cable package and to consider holding cable to the same decency standards as the broadcast networks or to allow consumers the option of paying for and taking only the cable channels they want coming into their homes.

The PTC's Special Report on Religion on Television made the national news, with feature stories in every major national newspaper. The PTC's findings were also reported on dozens of television and radio programs.

The PTC made headlines nationwide for its efforts to get the FCC to do its job. Time, Newsweek, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, the Washington Post, and dozens of other print, radio, and television outlets ran stories about the PTC's efforts to clean up TV. Time magazine had this to say about the PTC's work:

"1.1 million: Estimated number of indecency complaints to the FCC this year; 540,000 are related to the Super Bowl half-time show.
99%: Percentage of the non-Super Bowl complaints lodged by one source, the Parents Television Council."

September/October 2004:

"Shock-jock" giant Howard Stern has been driven off the public airwaves! Stern shook the radio world on October 5, 2004 by declaring that he will be leaving the public airwaves and moving move his long-standing cavalcade of coarseness to the subscription-based Sirius Satellite Radio for a cool $100 million a year in cash and stock, beginning in January 2006, when his current contract with Infinity Broadcasting expires.

In a very real sense, this is a huge victory for the defenders of decency on the public airwaves. Don't underestimate the role the PTC and its members had to play in Stern's decision. In announcing his move, Stern cited the increased threat of punishment from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

More Victories Against Indecency

"The watchdog Parents Television Council-the group getting primary credit for spurring the Federal Communications Commission to fine Fox Broadcasting Co. and its affiliates a record $1.183 million in indecency fines last week-has emerged as the nation's undisputed champion of indecency enforcement, generating more than 100,000 FCC complaints this year alone." -- Television Week

The PTC is now recognized nationally as the leader in the fight against indecent television content. Newspapers from coast to coast, magazines, talk radio, television news – even the entertainment industry itself – acknowledge the power and influence of the PTC.

Look at what's been happening with the FCC over the past few months. The FCC has handed down more indecency fines against television stations for airing offensive material in the past six months than in the entire previous history of the agency. Why? Because of the tremendous pressure brought to bear by the PTC and our nearly one million members.

In October the FCC issued its highest fine ever for a television broadcast. It announced a $7,000 fine for every Fox affiliate that aired Married by America. With 169 affiliates being issued a Notice of Apparent Liability, the total fine to Fox and its television network was $1,183,000. And the PTC made it happen. Over 4,000 PTC members filed indecency complaints with the FCC over an episode of that raunchy show that contained repeated scenes of wild sex parties at an hour when millions of children were watching television.
In a formal statement after the historic fine was announced, PTC president Brent Bozell said, "The FCC is finally starting to listen to an outraged public. We applaud the FCC for holding all Fox affiliates responsible for airing the filthy and indecent broadcast. We've been demanding this for years and it's high time that every licensee is held accountable for their actions."A fine of $1,183,000 should make Fox and other networks sit up and take notice. Fox should pay the fine for any of their affiliates that were not given an advance viewing or advance notice of the content. This gross violation of the law must been considered by the FCC when it reviews station license renewal requests."
For more than a year, the PTC has been leading the charge demanding the FCC start doing its job by enforcing the broadcast decency laws. Until the PTC started this campaign, the FCC had never fined a single television station in the continental United States for violations of broadcast decency laws. Now, because of the pressure brought to bear by the PTC and its nearly one million members, the FCC is finally starting to crack-down on indecent television broadcasts. This is a tremendous victory, not only for the PTC, but for all American families. The broadcast networks are now on notice that the FCC is looking at complaints and will use its enforcement authority to penalize broadcasters who violate common-sense decency laws.
The PTC has opened a new front in our battle against indecency and already we're rocking the industry with it. Every radio and television broadcast station in the country periodically has to renew its license with the FCC if it wishes to continue broadcasting. If the station has repeatedly violated FCC regulations, the commission can refuse to renew a station license. The FCC has never before considered indecency grounds to refuse a television station license… until now.
In September the PTC filed a petition with the FCC to hold-off on renewing station licenses for a Fox and NBC affiliate in the Washington, D.C. area because of pending indecency complaints. The FCC took our petition seriously, and even went a step further. The FCC announced that it is holding up the license renewals of 50 TV stations in Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia while the Commission reviews outstanding complaints and petitions filed against the stations.
Although both Fox Television Stations and NBC asked the FCC to dismiss the PTC's petitions against their stations, their licenses were not renewed by the expiration date of October 1, and will be held until the outstanding complaints have been considered.

The FCC is finally beginning to listen to parents and exercise its legal responsibility to uphold community standards and punish indecent broadcasts. Assessing fines at license renewal time does more than clear the regulators' docket. It also might concentrate some station managers' minds on the need to confront Hollywood's anything-goes pitchmen. It's time for them to start listening to their audiences who are fed up with the abuse, instead.

Advertisers/Networks

We awarded our advertiser Seal of Approval to General Mills in recognition of the corporation's commitment to advertising on family friendly programs.

The following are excerpts from a statement given by Lara Mahaney, Director of External Affairs with the PTC, at the General Mills shareholder meeting held in Minneapolis, MN:
"Thousands of clinical studies have shown what we all instinctively know to be true: Children are influenced by the messages they see and hear through the media. And television is the most powerful medium in the world. It can be a wonderful way to educate, inspire and entertain America's youth. Instead, it often undermines the positive values that we, as parents, attempt to instill in our children at the very earliest age. "That's why it is so important for me, on behalf of the PTC's nearly one million members across this nation, to award General Mills the Parents Television Council's Seal of Approval, an award given to a select few corporations that consistently advertise on programs that are free from violent or negative content and that are safe for the entire family to view.

"The PTC conducts annual reviews of corporate sponsorship behavior and General Mills consistently appears at or near the top of the PTC's list of responsible advertisers, a listing that identifies corporations that have demonstrated their commitment to underwriting quality family programming.

"Many corporations ignore the social consequences of sponsoring programs filled with gratuitous sex, violence and foul language. This, however, is not the case with General
Mills. The actions of this corporation directly and positively reflect corporate values rooted in honor, integrity and leadership."

Article from the Minneapolis Pioneer Press: A week after absorbing disappointing first-quarter financial results, General Mills shareholders probably were in the mood for some good news Monday at the company's annual meeting.

The bright spot was the announcement that the Los Angeles-based Parents Television Council presented the food company its Seal of Approval for advertising on family-friendly programs.

Lara Mahaney, director of external affairs for the Parents Television monitoring group, used the annual meeting's question-and-answer session to present General Mills its award and thank the company for advertising on programs that are "free from violent or negative content and that are safe for the entire family to view."

The Parents Television Council said it has a million members across the nation and selects a few family-friendly corporations to salute each year. >> More

Media Coverage

See the "PTC in the News" Page

July/August 2004:

Advertisers/Networks

PTC Members contacted the Fox Network to protest their decision to have Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie host the Teen Choice Awards. When Hilton and Richie hosted the Billboard Music Awards in December, Richie went off script and used the "f-word" and "s-word" during the live broadcast. Her obscenities found their way into millions of homes. Yet despite this shameful performance, Fox rewarded the duo by inviting them back to host the Teen Choice Awards. Our members responded by the thousands, making their voices heard at Fox. Network executives contacted our offices directly, and they promised to take every precaution to make sure nothing inappropriate would air during the broadcast. The show aired and, as promised, it was entirely free of indecent material. Fox executives lived up to their word, and for that we are extremely grateful.

Since last month, PTC members have sent an astounding 92,000 letters of complaint to the sponsors of FX's pornographic series, Nip/Tuck. And the effect of that activism is being seen and heard in a powerful way!

According to the Los Angeles Times, at least five major corporate sponsors have announced that they will not underwrite obscene content. A recent newspaper article said: "Nip/Tuck, one of the hottest shows on television, is sewing up an enviable audience of young, free-spending viewers - and scaring off most of corporate America... The show has plenty of commercials too. But many mainstream advertisers - Cingular Wireless, Orkin Pest Control, Progressive Casualty Insurance Co., Gateway Inc. and Ben & Jerry's ice cream - bailed out after getting an earful from channel surfers and a parent watchdog group."

We awarded our advertiser Seal of Approval to the J.M. Smucker Company in recognition of the corporation's commitment to advertising on family-friendly programs. Our Executive Director, Tim Winter, presented the Seal of Approval to Smucker's Chairman, Timothy P. Smucker, and to its President, Richard K. Smucker, both of whom graciously accepted the award. Tim Smucker made the following statement during the J.M. Smucker Company's Q1 2005 earnings conference call "I think it's important to share with you that at our recent shareholders meeting we were presented a seal of approval award by the Parents Television Council in recognition of our commitment to advertise only on family-friendly programs. Reactions from consumers to this award has been astounding with over 2300 e-mails received to date. Recognition such as this is particularly gratifying since it is at the core of how we build brands. High quality messages reaching our consumers and defining our products."

FCC/Congress/Indecency

PTC Launched New Website to Facilitate Filing and Tracking FCC Indecency
Complaints www.cleanup.tv

Grassroots

A new PTC Chapter in Cincinnati, OH was formed. >> more

Research

08.05: PTC Reveals 2004 Annual Top 10 Best and Worst Broadcast TV List

08.30: Hispanic TV Networks Polluted with High Levels of Sexual Content

May/June 2004:

FCC/Congress/Indecency

The US Senate voted 99 to 1 to increase broadcast indecency fines to as much as $275,000 per incident and up to $3 million per day. The Senate also approved amendments that would extend the FCC's indecency prohibitions to violent TV programming and require the agency to consider the size of a station when levying indecency fines.
The FCC is finally starting to penalize broadcasters who violate decency standards on TV and radio. Earlier this week it was announced that the FCC was proposing a $550,000 fine against Viacom-owned CBS stations for the Janet Jackson Super Bowl flash, and today, Broadcasting and Cable reported that the FCC may soon be hitting Howard Stern with more than $1 million in fines. Some minor, positive movement is better than no movement at all. But we remain concerned that the FCC is not doing its job as directed by Congress and as demanded by the American public. We will continue our unrelenting pressure on the FCC to hold broadcasters accountable for violating the law. >> more

Research

Our latest special report, Reality TV: Race to the Bottom made national headlines in dozens of newspapers and was used in feature stories on MSNBC and Fox News. This report is important to every family in America, as it calls direct attention to a growing concern over the shockingly graphic content of reality television - the fastest-growing genre of programming on network television. >> more

Advertisers

We are continuing to hold corporate sponsors accountable for the content of the programs they support with their advertising dollars. PTC representatives attended national corporate shareholder meetings for Target, Capital One, Circuit City, Yum! Brands, and Viacom (5 of the top 10 worst advertisers) to ask them to discontinue their sponsorship of some of the most offensive content on television. We also attended the J.C. Penney shareholder meeting to applaud the company for making responsible sponsorship decisions.

Viacom (Worst) - On May 19, Our President Brent Bozell and Advisory Board member C. DeLores Tucker spoke at the annual Viacom meeting and demanded that President Mel Karmazin and Chairman Sumner Redstone stop the corporation's rampant hypocrisy when it comes to decency issues. >> more
Target (Worst) - At their annual shareholder meeting on May 19, Target, in a cowardly move, denied Tim Winter, our Executive Director the opportunity to speak or ask questions regarding the corporation's advertising policies. >> more
YUM! Brands (Worst) - We Called on the Yum! Board to Adopt Family Friendly Advertising Guidelines. Tim Winter, our Executive Director spoke at the annual YUM! Shareholders' meeting held on May 20th in Louisville, KY. YUM! brand includes Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, A&W, KFC and Long John Silver. >> more
JCPenney (Best) - Our Director of Entertainment and Corporate Affairs Lara Mahaney and two Dallas Fort Worth Chapter members (the chapter director and the chapter's advertiser liaison) attended the JCPenney shareholder meeting on May 14. After the meeting, during which they awarded JCPenney our Seal of Approval for its commitment to family programming, they spoke with JCPenney's VP of Marketing.>> more

Press

Fox News, TV's highest-rated cable news network ran a feature story on the Parents Television Council. The story showed how influential the PTC has been in bringing the issue of TV indecency to the fore. This is an impressive endorsement coming form the nation's highest-rated cable news network.

Media Coverage

See the "PTC in the News" Page

Seal of Approval

The PTC is making significant inroads in our effort to applaud wholesome, family-friendly entertainment. Movie studios are clamoring for the PTC's highly-coveted Seal of Approval. Radio and print ads for such major motion pictures as New York Minute, Ella Enchanted, and Two Brothers have featured the Seal. >> more

April 2004:

FCC/Congress/Indecency

"Shari Anne Brill, director of programming at media buyer Carat USA, said racy programs have not lost their popularity, but networks are becoming more wary of being labeled indecent." (April 12, 2004)

The PTC has just scored another major victory in the fight to clean up TV. The Wall Street Journal reported that Victoria's Secret cancelled plans to televise its annual fashion show this year. Ed Razek, Chief Creative Officer for Limited Brands (parent company of Victoria's Secret) told the Associated Press: "We had to make the decision probably six or eight weeks ago when the heat was on the television networks." (April 12, 2004)

John Hogan, president of Clear Channel Radio, said the government's crackdown on indecency has gotten his company's attention. "Mr. Stern's show has created a great liability for us and other broadcasters who air it," said Hogan, who suspended Stern in February from the six Clear Channel stations that carried him. "The Congress and the FCC are even beginning to look at revoking station licenses. That's a risk we're just not willing to take." (April 8, 2004)

Media Coverage

See the "PTC in the News" Page

March 2004:

FCC/Congress/Indecency

The broadcast industry met with regulators and critics behind closed doors to discuss ways of responding to growing complaints about indecent programming.
The daylong summit came as the FCC promised a crackdown and lawmakers prepared to raise the fines for indecency on over-the-air television and radio.
"I have never seen such broad consensus on an issue," said L. Brent Bozell III, president of the Parents Television Council, a conservative advocacy group. "People have just said, 'Enough is enough. These are our airwaves. You are violating a trust and we have the right to knock you off for doing this.'"
Bozell was one of several speakers addressing the broadcasters in a closed meeting Wednesday. (March 31, 2004)>> Broadcasters to Hold Indecency Summit

Senator John McCain Mentions the PTC at Senate Hearing on Cable (March 25, 2004)

In a bid to keep "locker room language" off the airwaves, Performance Radio Network broadcasted NASCAR Nextel Cup Golden Corral 500 with a seven-second delay. (March 14, 2004)

The FCC proposed a $247,500 fine against Clear Channel Communications for sexually explicit material that aired on the "Elliot in the Morning" show last March. (March 12, 2004)

CBS is considering a delay for live segments of several of its reality shows. (March 12, 2004)

Fox is striving to improve its standards department by adding employees to monitor "American Idol" and other reality shows. (March 12, 2004)

MTV will begin using a delay for the "Video Music Awards." (March 12, 2004)

ABC will incorporate a five second delay during Janet Jackson's performance on "Good Morning America" later this month. (March 12, 2004)

The orgy scene on "America's Next Top Model" will leave much more to the imagination than originally planned. In the aftermath of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident and congressional action on indecency fines, UPN has ordered executive producer and host Tyra Banks to cut out portions of next week's raunchy show. (March 11, 2004)

By a 391-22 vote, the House passed legislation to significantly increase fines for airing indecent material. $500,000 from the current $27,500 for each offense. The existing fines have been criticized by FCC Chairman Michael Powell as "peanuts" to broadcasters who he said view it merely as the cost of doing business. "The House has sent a strong bipartisan message to the entertainment industry that it had better a clean up its act and a strong message to the FCC that it had better start doing its job," PTC President Brent Bozell said. (March 11, 2004)

The White House has shown support of the new anti-indecency legislation. "This legislation will make broadcast television and radio more suitable for family viewing by giving the FCC the authority to impose meaningful penalties on broadcasters that air obscene or indecent material over the public airwaves."

Proposed Amendments to Anti-Indecency Legislation:

On March 4, 2004, Brent Bozell sent Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) a letter concerning cable indecency. A short time after, McCain drafted an amendment that would require cable operators and direct-broadcast satellite carriers to offer a la carte pricing under regulations established by the FCC within six months. According to a draft of McCain's amendment, the FCC would have 90 days to initiate, and 180 days to conclude, "a proceeding to require cable-system operators to offer subscribers the opportunity to obtain access to each channel available from such operators on a per-channel fee basis."

Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) filed an amendment that would apply broadcast-indecency rules to cable programming on the expanded-basic tier until the FCC determines that 85% of households with children are using the V-chip or similar technology to block offensive programming, or have affirmatively said they don't want blocking capabilities (this amendment was later defeated 12-11).

Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) has filed amendments that would, based on bare-bones descriptions of them, promote "family tiers" on cable and satellite and would give consumers the right to block cable and satellite programming. His amendment passed and will levy fines on cable for transmitting violent programming during nonexempt times if the FCC determined that blocking technology and content ratings failed to protect children from exposure to "excessive or gratuitous" TV violence. Pay-per-view and premium channels are exempt.

Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.) have jointly drafted amendments that would overturn the FCC's decision last June to allow for greater cross-ownership of radio, TV and newspaper properties in the same market. House majority leader, Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), called for increased pressure on the cable industry over programming indecency.

The FCC crackdown on broadcast indecency continues in full force. They refused Infinity Radio's request to reduce the $27,500 fine imposed in December against WKRK-FM Detroit's Deminski & Doyle show. Nearly a dozen more proposed fines are on the way, some for six figures. The investigations include indecency complaints about Infinity's Howard Stern as well as broadcasts by Clear Channel stations. (March 5, 2004)

The House Energy & Commerce Committee asked the FCC to answer a host of questions on the viability of putting excessive violence in the same category as indecency, which can be regulated by the commission. (March 5, 2004)

Comcast Corp. promised Congress that it will redouble its efforts in assisting parents who want to protect their children from TV shows containing sex, violence and harsh language. (March 4, 2004)

Clear Channel Communications paid the $755,000 FCC fine incurred by indecent broadcasts of "Bubba the Love Sponge". "We fully accept our responsibility for airing inappropriate content, and our company will accept the consequences," says Clear Channel Radio CEO John Hogan, explaining the company's decision not to challenge the proposed fine. Clear Channel "does not want to be associated with indecency," says Hogan. "We know we can deliver great radio without compromising our integrity." (March 4, 2004)

Popular radio commentator, Sandra Tsing Loh, was thrown off a Los Angeles public radio station for using the "f" word. KCRW-FM's general manager said that Loh made calculated use of obscenity in a politically charged time. "It is the equivalent of the Janet Jackson performance piece and there is not a radio or TV programmer today who does not understand the seriousness involved to the station." (March 4, 2004)

Media Coverage

See the "PTC in the News" Page

February 2004:

FCC/Congress/Indecency

PTC members filed over 65,000 FCC Complaints on the NFL Super Bowl XXXVIII Half Time Show that aired on February 1, 2004 which got the attention of FCC, Congress, and the media.

Two congressional hearings on broadcast decency were held on February 11, 2004: first, in the morning, in the United States Senate; and second, in the afternoon, in the United States House of Representatives. The resounding message coming from both houses of Congress went far beyond the Janet Jackson stunt. Rather, the clear message is the near-universal public outrage over the tide of sex, violence and profanity that is pouring into our homes at every moment of every day.

In April of 2003, we met in person with three of the five FCC Commissioners to present a list of demands; issues we wanted the FCC to address immediately or face Congressional hearings. It took a while, but we got our hearings and we also got the FCC to consider our demands. Every single item on our list was addressed by the Commissioners, Senators and/or Members of Congress during yesterday's hearings.

But that's not all. There's even more good news:

FCC Chairman Michael Powell called on the broadcast industry to revive and adhere to a broadcasting code of conduct. "True and lasting change will only be achieved if the broadcast community recommits to its public service roots and its tradition of abiding by community standards of decency," Mr. Powell wrote

The National Association of Broadcasters is convening a summit on responsible programming for early this spring.

The merest threat of action from the FCC was enough to get several broadcast and cable networks to clean up their acts:

After Firing Bubba the Love Sponge who incurred a $755,000 indecency fine from the FCC, Clear Channel Communications asked their affiliate radio stations and subsidiaries to follow new "zero tolerance" rules that would establish self-regulated broadcast decency guidelines. Clear Channel proved their commitment to this new zero tolerance policy a day after implementing it. Howard Stern's Tuesday morning broadcast (Feb. 24, 2004) contained a flood of graphically sexual, vulgar and racist remarks. They suspended the broadcast of Howard Stern's radio show from its six stations for the indefinite future.

CBS has ordered the producers of a new TV movie about murder-mastermind Charles Manson to slice most of the gore out of the film.

During a recent appearance on a daytime talk show, Survivor host Jeff Probst said the producers were ordered to enlarge the digital blur over perennially naked contestant Richard Hatch.

NBC was planning to show footage of a woman's exposed breasts during an episode of ER. Under pressure from its affiliates, NBC decided to edit the scene to obscure the exposed breasts.

CBS aired the Grammy awards show on a five minute tape delay to prevent the inadvertent broadcast of indecent material and made Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's appearance at the Grammy's contingent on a public apology for what happened at the Super Bowl.

ABC aired the Academy Awards on a five second delay.

ABC darkened a sex scene in the March 2, 2004 episode of NYPD Blue because the scene would air before 10:00 in the Central and Mountain time zones.

TNT delayed the entertainment portion of the NBA All-Star Game, which featured Beyonce, OutKast, and Christina Aguilera.

Grassroots

Because the PTC continues to be an integral/active force in local communities, five new grassroots chapters have been initiated - Carbondale, Illinois/Paducah, Kentucky, Central Illinois, Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, New York City Metro, New York, San Francisco Bay Area, California. >> more

Research

02.03.04: Dereliction of Duty: How the Federal Communications Commission Has Failed the Public

Media Coverage

See the "PTC in the News" Page

January 2004:

FCC/Congress/Indecency

President Brent Bozell delivered a scathing indictment of the FCC's failure to enforce broadcast decency laws in his testimony to the US House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. This was just the first in a series of promised hearings in both the House and Senate to look at the FCC's failure to do its job in upholding broadcasting standards.

PTC San Antonio chapter director Ray Rossman's impassioned testimony at the January 28 FCC hearing in San Antonio, TX brought down the house. Ray told the five commissioners and more than 500 spectators that local broadcasters are not serving their communities because they're not standing up for their community's standards of decency. Ray's testimony was interrupted twice with resounding applause and concluded literally with a standing ovation from the standing-room-only audience.

The FCC handed down its first-ever fine against a television station in the 50 states for broadcast indecency!

FCC Proposes Fining Clear Channel

4) Because of pressure brought to bear by the PTC and our 850,000 + members, FCC Chairman Michael Powell has announced that he wants to reverse the FCC Enforcement Bureau's October Golden Globes ruling in which the FCC declared that the "F-word" is not indecent if used as an adjective. The matter is now being reviewed by the five FCC commissioners, and a decision is expected at any time.

FCC Chairman wants to overturn decision on Bono's expletive

FCC Chairman Michael Powell is calling for stiffer penalties against stations that air indecent or obscene material. In response, Representative Fred Upton introduced legislation (H.R. 3717) to increase penalties for violations by television and radio broadcasters of the prohibitions against transmission of obscene, indecent, and profane language. The legislation would increase fines from $27,500 to $275,000 for individual offenses and up to $3 million for repeated offenses. The White House has promised to support this legislation.

White House Backs Anti-Smut Bill

After PTC members filed more than 50,000 complaints with the FCC about Nicole Richie's use of two four-letter expletives during Fox's live broadcast of the Billboard Music Awards in December, Fox announced that it will delay live programs up to five minutes to prevent future problems.

The General Assembly of Pennsylvania unanimously passed House Resolution 446, urging the Federal Communications Commission and the major broadcast networks to curb or eliminate the growing amount of profanity on television.

Approved Pennsylvania State House Indecency Resolution (HR 446)

The US Senate passed a resolution condemning the FCC for failing to vigorously enforce laws designed to protect children from indecent and profane broadcasts. The House of Representatives is now considering a similar resolution.

Approved Senate Indecency Resolution (HR 500)

2003 Accomplishments

It Was A Very Good Year!

2003 has been perhaps the most successful year ever for the PTC. I'm happy to report about the tremendous strides the PTC has made in the past year to make America's demand for family-friendly programming a reality.

In 2003, the PTC set out to make an impact in four major areas: Grassroots Activism; Advertiser Awareness; Research and Studies; and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). And we succeeded on all four fronts.

The PTC's grassroots operation grew by leaps and bounds. We now have a total of thirteen active and growing grassroots chapters around the country. Our San Diego Chapter Director has recruited more than 700 chapter members. The dedicated men and women that serve the PTC as grassroots volunteers are on the front-lines in our ongoing battle to clean up television, and let me tell you, they are moving mountains.

On the advertiser front, the PTC launched a massive national campaign to educate companies about the content on several incredibly offensive new programs. We've seen literally dozens of companies changing their advertising policies and practices because of the PTC. Companies are steering clear of shows with offensive messages and content, refusing to advertise on raunchy reality shows, and funding the development of new family friendly series.

We've also made a tremendous impact this year with our research and our studies. PTC studies garnered significant national media coverage and even triggered reactions from the entertainment industry and lawmakers. The PTC is the nation's leading source of information and research about television programming because of the high standards maintained by our research department. In fact, the PTC's reputation for thoroughness and accuracy is so great that the Federal Trade Commission and a number of national news programs have called upon us to provide research.

Finally, the PTC has made great strides in its efforts to hold the FCC accountable for its failure to enforce broadcast decency laws. The PTC formed a broad-based coalition to work together to hold the agency accountable for failing to uphold common-sense decency standards. We've publicly challenged the FCC's dismissal of legitimate indecency complaints. We've publicly shamed the FCC for handing out laughably puny fines against giant media behemoths, and then failing to collect those fines.

We've testified before Congressional committees with oversight of the FCC to the fact that the commission has never fined a single television station in the continental United States for airing indecent material. And we've worked with Capitol Hill lawmakers to halt the FCC's plans to give even more control of the broadcast airwaves to a handful of powerful mega-corporations. On and on it goes. In short, we've made the FCC a national issue.

I hope you'll enjoy sharing in our success stories, because none of it would have been possible without your continued support and commitment to the PTC. Thank you for all that you've done, and continue to do on behalf of the PTC.

L. Brent Bozell
Founder and President

Advertisers

July: PTC advertiser campaign gets results. Gateway apologizes for advertising on offensive episode of Keen Eddie, and issues remorseful response for their sponsorship of the program. >> more
September: The PTC and its members take action against the sponsors of FX's Nip/Tuck by launching an e-mail and letter-writing campaign. In less than two months, more than 46 advertisers announce their withdrawal of sponsorship for Nip/Tuck, 14 of which specifically cited the PTC as the reason for their action. >> more
October: Two shows, NBC's Coupling and Fox's Skin, were targeted for their sleazy, sex-obsessed plot lines early-on by the PTC, its members and grassroots chapters. Both shows were cancelled by their respective networks. >> more

FCC/Congress

May: The PTC releases The State of the Industry Report on Sex on TV at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol. The report stated that every broadcast network except for the relatively small WB has experienced a decrease in sexual content during the Family Hour (8-9:00 p.m. ET/PT, 7-8:00 p.m. CT), and every network but the WB and UPN has shown improvement during the second hour of prime time (9-10:00 p.m. ET/PT, 8-9:00 p.m. CT).
June: Two of five FCC commissioners respond to PTC demands for decency enforcement. Federal Communications Commissioners Michael Copps and Kevin Martin both commend the PTC for asserting public pressure on the agency to get results.
July: PTC's message is being heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill. Founder and President Brent Bozell's testimony to a Senate Committee simultaneously documents the network's disregard for community standards and the public's recognition of the PTC as the leading advocacy group to restore family values to primetime television. >> more
August: In response to the PTC's pressure, senate leadership asked the PTC for guidance in drafting legislation to increase penalties imposed on broadcasters for broadcast decency violations.
October: The FCC addressed PTC complaints regarding the airing of the F-word on national primetime network television. The enforcement bureau initially rejected our complaints, stating the word was not inappropriate when used as an adjective. The PTC has appealed this outrageous interpretation of the law to the full five-member commission while also creating heightened scrutiny by Congress.

Grassroots

Because the PTC continues to be an integral/active force in local communities, five new grassroots chapters have been initiated. Chapters in Salt Lake City, Houston, Southeast Michigan, South Bend, Indiana and Fort Myers, Florida now join existing chapters in Atlanta, Kansas City, Miami, Massachusetts, Peoria, San Antonio and San Diego. >> more

July: Tim Maupin, Kansas City Chapter Director, in response to a PTC national initiative, sent a letter to the local Fox network affiliate complaining about the Keen Eddie show. The station manager sent a reply to the chapter director which has been dubbed, "The Smoking Gun" by Congressional leaders in the fight to reduce media ownership of local outlets. In the letter, the station manager states, "The network, not WDAF (the local affiliate) decided what shows go on the air for the Fox-owned and operated television stations." >> more
September: In Salt Lake City and South Bend, two of the PTC's newest and most active grassroots cities, a loud outcry initiated by grassroots chapter directors led to the preemption of NBC's sex-laden sitcom Coupling.
October: In response to PTC national publicity generated by the FCC action, the grassroots office received more than 40 inquiries on how to start a chapter or become involved in an existing one.
October: ITV cable television plans to host a 30-minute week television show with the Southeast Michigan chapter director, Rich Coleman. Current plans call for a Ebert and Roeper-type format, spotlighting the PTC Seal of Approval films and television shows.
October: When a local Michigan radio show announced the opening of the Southeast Michigan chapter, the newly-created chapter e-mail was so flooded with responses to join, that it crashed the server of a local internet provider!

Research

September: As a direct result of the PTC's 2002-2003 Top Ten Worst Shows publication, CSI producers announced their plan to reduce some of the steamier plot lines in this season's script. CSI now intends to emphasize the science of crime solving in an attempt to be considered more fit for family viewing, and in hopes to remain off the PTC's Top Ten Worst Shows list.
September: PTC issues The State of the Industry Report on Foul Language During Primetime, documenting a 100% increase of profanity over a four-year period. This study generates enormous media coverage: eight national television network news pieces, 38 radio pieces and 150 print media articles.
October: PTC releases a study on the marketing of violence to children. The findings are presented during the FTC Conference on October 31st.
October: Pennsylvania State Representative Marie Lederer introduced a resolution in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives urging the Federal Communications Commission and major television networks to curb or eliminate the growing amount of profanity on television, especially during the "family hour." Within the resolution, they cite the PTC's State of the Industry Report on Foul Language During Primetime.
December: PTC releases TV Bloodbath: Violence on Prime Time Broadcast TV

We're bringing back family friendly programming.

In 2002 we continued to put pressure on sponsors about the content of the programs they're advertising on, and we're getting results. We are now in constant communication with more than 200 of the country's top TV sponsors. We've challenged them to put their money behind family-friendly programming, and some companies are heeding our call. Johnson & Johnson is partnering with TNT to create family movies. McDonald's made a $30 million commitment to support ABC's efforts to establish a Family Hour. More and more of the shows on the primetime lineup, including series on ABC, the WB, and NBC were developed with funding from the Family Friendly Programming Forum.

Six months after the PTC held a nationally televised press conference demanding that Hollywood restore the TV family hour, ABC announced its plans to do just that. One look at the WB's primetime schedule will show that they are also setting aside one hour several nights a week for family shows. We've even seen some improvements on NBC (even though they publicly declared that they had no interest in programming for families). We kept the drumbeat going, and now more and more people in the media, public policy and religious leaders, and others are joining us in calling for a Family Hour.

Media outlets across the country are also taking note of the trend. The Washington Post's Lisa deMoraes noted, "The hot new trend of the next television season is an old one straight out of TV's flickering past: programs about families, for family audiences. After years of chasing the same hip young urban single childless viewers, and sending everyone else to cable, the broadcast networks are lining up a solid block of dramas and comedies about moms, dads and their kids next fall."

The term "Family Hour" has been used in the media over 1,000 times in the past year. By comparison, a decade ago, there were only eighty-nine references to the Family Hour in all of 1992. The phrase "family friendly," which the PTC started pushing back in 1996, was used more than 1,000 times in a 60 day period alone.

We had a huge impact with our research.

2002 was the year when the PTC's state-of-the-art research operation was everywhere. The PTC released several new studies and special reports, reporting on everything from the state of reality TV shows, to original cable programming, to the marketing of violent video games. These studies are critical to the work of the PTC. It's no longer a matter of opinion, as Hollywood loves to claim. When the PTC makes a charge, we back it up with hard evidence. It is why the PTC has become nationally recognized as the leading authority on television content.

Each of the PTC's studies serves as a landmark to show where our culture stands today, how it compares to years past, and where it is headed. The PTC's studies play an important role in helping us achieve our mission. Industry insiders know our studies instigate change by setting the agenda for the PTC and its members, for lawmakers on Capitol Hill, for countless like-minded organizations, for the sponsors, and ultimately for Hollywood itself.

In February, the PTC released Brought to You By…, a groundbreaking study that for the first time linked companies with the content of the programs they support with their advertising dollars.
On Father's Day, the PTC released an analysis of TV families, focusing in particular on the involvement of TV dads in the lives of their children. After many years of TV series marginalizing fathers, producers seem to be placing a renewed emphasis on the important role fathers play in rearing their children, as eighty-three percent of TV children have an active and involved father figure. However, the television industry still has a long way to go in upholding the value of the traditional nuclear family, with both mother and father married and living with their children – fewer than half of TV children live with both parents.
On June 28, the FTC released its latest report on the marketing of violent entertainment to children. To coincide with the FTC's report, the PTC announced the release of its own study on the marketing of violent video games to children through television advertisements. The PTC found that three broadcast networks – Fox, UPN and the WB – are the worst offenders when it comes to airing ads for M-rated video games during programs in which children are likely to be in the viewing audience. Our study found that of all video game advertisements aired during programs children might be expected to watch, a full 30% of those ads were for M-rated video games.
In July the PTC released our first annual listing of the Top Ten best and worst shows on expanded basic cable as well as our annual listing of the Top Ten best and worst shows on broadcast television. Our Top Ten lists serve a valuable function. With many cable channels specifically targeting pre-teen and teen viewers, it is becoming increasingly difficult for parents to protect their children from violent and vulgar entertainment. Similarly, with so many channels available, the job of ferreting out family friendly series also has become a challenge. These lists are intended to help parents identify those programs on both broadcast TV and expanded basic cable that they can feel comfortable letting their children watch, and to help them steer their young children and teenagers away from programming with graphic and gratuitous violence, sexual content, and foul language. The lists also let advertisers know which programming they can count on to be family friendly.
In September, the PTC released a landmark new study examining the content of so-called "reality" TV shows. This is not merely the PTC's first analysis of these shows; this is the first study ever to look exclusively at reality TV. Why focus on reality shows? Quite simply, reality shows are the fastest growing trend in entertainment programming. They're cheap to produce and immensely popular. "Reality" shows are the unscripted series that follow the day-to-day activities of celebrities or ordinary people, usually in a producer-contrived setting. These programs are, in fact, little more than an effort to cash in on the conflict and sexual interaction captured by the ever-present cameras. So this new trend in television programming warrants careful examination. The statistics compiled by the PTC documents conclusively that reality programming is adding significantly to the already outrageous level of sex and foul language on television – particularly on expanded basic cable. If trends aren't reversed, we expect the level of outrageous content to increase over time.
On November 6^th, the PTC released a major new report documenting exactly how the studios are promoting adult movies to youngsters. They're bombarding children with ads for R-rated movies during the Family Hour. The PTC found that out of 3,603 movie ads that aired during the Family Hour during the study period, nearly one in four were for R-rated movies. UPN, NBC, and FOX were responsible for airing the most ads for R-rated movies during the Family Hour.

We're having an impact with corporate sponsors.

When we learned about the obscene content on FX's new cop drama, The Shield, the PTC took action. We launched a national campaign to educate the program's sponsors about the nudity, explicit sex, obscene language, and graphic violence featured on the program. To date, more than twenty companies have decided that the offensive content on The Shield does not reflect their corporate values, and have withdrawn their advertising support. They include Combe, Brink's Home Security, Philips Oral Healthcare, GEICO, Cingular Wireless, W.C. Bradley, Budget Rent a Car, XM Satellite Radio, the U.S. Navy, Subway, Tricon Global Restaurants, WD-40 Company, LendingTree.com, Palm (according to The Wall Street Journal) and, according to Variety, the U.S. Army, Subaru, Honda Power Equipment, Gillette, MCI 1-800-Collect, Burger King and Office Depot. Although The Shield has already been picked up for another season, the Tampa Tribune reports that "FX could lose up to $26 million on the first 13 episodes" because of advertiser attrition. The PTC is responsible for making this a national issue.

PTC representatives continue to hold sponsors accountable for programs they support and their impact through our Advertiser Awareness Campaign. We're meeting with advertisers' decision makers, and using all available PTC vehicles (press releases, Insider newsletter, website, grassroots chapters) to communicate our message to advertisers. Conversely, the PTC continues to publicly congratulate and promote those sponsors that have made the conscious decision to support family friendly fare.

We're using our website to impact the culture.

Our website ( www.parentstv.org ) is the primary tool for providing users with up-to-the-minute information about the PTC and our campaigns. It provides evolving resources, extensive educational tools, and serves as gateway for grassroots activism. It contains customized sections for parents, activists, advertisers, the creative community, and the media. We have expanded resources for parents to include a new and improved Family Guide to Primetime Television, as well as TV show, movie, and videogame reviews. The website provides tools for the PTC's grassroots activists: "E-Alert" with up-to-the-minute information on current PTC campaigns, proactive call-to-action items, the latest special reports, and a Members Forum for members to interact and exchange ideas with other members. Further, visitors can access a complete database of TV advertiser contacts.

We have had an impact with our grassroots efforts.

Our National Grassroots Director has been crisscrossing the country and has already established ten new PTC chapters – in Southern and Northern California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia, Texas, and Missouri. Other chapters are in the process of being formed in at least a half dozen other states.

PTC grassroots chapters impacted their local communities by raising PTC concerns and issues to local advertisers, church groups and civic organizations. They wrote letters to the editor in their local papers and contacted their affiliates.

Watch this development closely. You'll be hearing much more on this front in 2003, as our grassroots operations become the heart of our membership activism. In 2003 we will establish, equip and activate 10 new grassroots chapters nationally to fight for our cause. We will activate those chapters as centers of membership recruitment, community education, and implementation of national PTC projects at the state and local level. They will provide an ever-expanding support structure for PTC volunteers to work with local network affiliates and to hold corporate sponsors responsible. The PTC's national grassroots office will provide ongoing training and support to the chapters and work with them to formulate an effective plan of local action to help clean up TV in their community.

We're having an impact on Capitol Hill.

PTC representatives are meeting regularly with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, sharing our research about the effects of violence and other offensive messages on television aimed at children. Dozens of lawmakers are now joining the PTC in a national call for Hollywood to shape up its act, and are now taking our issue to their own constituencies directly. Dozens of government officials joined the PTC in calling on the networks to return the Family Hour, the first hour of prime time programming in which parents could watch television with their children without fear of their children being exposed to sex, foul language or violence.

We're having an impact with the FCC.

On May 23rd, The PTC and representatives from 17 other religious and family organizations met with FCC Chairman Michael Powell about the agency's history of ignoring citizen complaints and its failure to enforce existing decency regulations. During the meeting, I presented the thousands of complaints filed by PTC members in response to our March 18th E-Alert about NBC's Leap of Faith. The episode, which aired on February 28th during the family hour, contained raunchy sexual content, dialogue, and situations, including references to pornography. And yet the FCC did not respond to a single citizen complaint.

In November, CBS aired the raunchy Victoria's Secret Fashion show, in which scantily clad models paraded around in thong under and lingerie. The morning after the broadcast, the PTC issued a call to action, encouraging our members to file a formal complaint with the FCC. We set up an official complaint form on our website to make it easier for parents to electronically forward their complaints to the FCC. The FCC received thousands of complaints from PTC members. In fact, according to news reports, the FCC received so many electronic complaints that they were having problems with their computer mail servers.

Within hours, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps was publicly calling for a review of the commission's enforcement of indecency standards for radio and television broadcasters and urged the agency to revise the definition of indecency. During a press briefing, Copps said, "The current definition of indecency to me should be capturing for enforcement purposes some of these programs and it is not. We are only having a paucity of enforcement actions against programming that is palpably and demonstrably indecent."

When I met with Commissioner Copps in February, I offered him access to the vast PTC video archive. Shortly after the Victoria's Secret show, Commissioner Copps called me and asked the PTC to compile a videotape consisting of raunchy, violent and foul mouthed examples for his review. He intends to pass along copies of the video to Commissioners on the FCC, Senators and Congressional representatives to show them the graphic, gratuitous programming on network television.

We're honoring the best in family friendly programming with the Parents Television Council's Seal of Approval.

The goal of the PTC Seal of Approval is to encourage television producers and film studios to create – and take pride in creating – high quality, family friendly entertainment. It is important for Hollywood to see that the PTC is not just about complaining about bad content, but also praising the positive movements we see taking place within the industry.

On November 14^th, The PTC gave its 2002 Seal of Approval awards at a special dinner in Los Angeles. This year's honorees were the ITV television series Doc, the ABC Family Channel series State of Grace; and the feature film The Emperor's Club. Doc co-creators Dave and Gary Johnson were on hand to accept the award for their family friendly series about a small town doctor working at an HMO in New York City. Hollis Rich and Brenda Lilly, creators and executive producers of State of Grace, accepted the Seal of Approval for their series about the childhood friendship of two girls growing up in 1960s North Carolina. Screenwriter Neil Tolkin accepted the award for The Emperor's Club, a film about an impassioned, principled Classics professor who sees it as his responsibility to not only educate his pupils, but to mold their character as well.

We're having an impact with our national spokespeople.

In 2002 the PTC recruited Congressman James Greenwood and Father Val J. Peter, Executive Director of the Girls and Boys Town, to our national Advisory Board. PTC Advisory Board members are speaking out publicly on our behalf and having a tremendous impact promoting our message nationally through media interviews and op-eds.

In October, the PTC kicked off a brand new nationwide newspaper ad campaign featuring former Education Secretary and PTC Advisory Board member Dr. William Bennett. Picking up where the ads featuring our late Honorary Chairman Steve Allen left off, we are calling attention to the ongoing problem of companies paying to corrupt a generation by sponsoring filth, sex, and violence on TV. The new campaign is reaching a whole new audience with the message that something needs to be done to restore a sense of decency and responsibility to the entertainment industry. In just a few short weeks, the ad has already appeared in 20 newspapers reaching over 3 million households.

We're putting pressure on Hollywood to stop marketing adult-rated entertainment to children.

It's not just that Hollywood is poisoning the minds of children. It's that Hollywood is poisoning their minds deliberately. Two huge films, 8 Mile starring controversial rapper Eminem and Jackass the Movie were released this fall. Both were rated R because of their adult content. Yet both were deliberately and massively marketed to children. And the PTC proved it.

In October the PTC kicked off "Stop Targeting Our Children," a nationwide campaign to publicly shame companies responsible for marketing adult entertainment to children. Since the Columbine shootings, the music, movie, and video game industries have all come under intense scrutiny for continuing to market violent entertainment to children. Endless Congressional hearings have examined the issue, and some improvements have been made. But little has been done to put a stop to this disgraceful practice once and for all. In the weeks and months ahead, the PTC will be challenging the entertainment industry on several fronts to end Hollywood's subversive efforts to encourage minors to go to movies and to buy video games and music with explicit adult content.

The PTC's first initiative under this campaign was to make a national issue of Universal Pictures' efforts to market 8 Mile, an R-rated movie starring controversial rapper, Eminem, to minors. The PTC called the studios to task for marketing the films to children and sent letters to every major theater chain in the country, urging them to take every possible precaution to keep minors out.

On opening weekend for 8 Mile, the PTC conducted spot checks around the country to see how well the age restrictions were being enforced. The results were mixed. Teenage volunteers in Los Angeles, CA; Alexandria, VA; and Miami, FL were able to purchase tickets and gain admittance to the film. In Kansas City, MO; Chicago, IL; South Plainfield, NJ; Mountainside, NJ; and Boise, ID children sent to theaters were not able to get in.

In response to the PTC's efforts, some theaters have taken additional steps to keep minors away from R-rated movies. Crown Theaters, Kerasotes Theaters and Krikorian Theaters told the PTC that they would post additional employees at each theater entrance to check ticket stubs so minors would not gain admittance.

The PTC's national efforts made headlines in major media outlets across the country.

Over the last year the PTC has appeared in almost every top ten paper in the country including the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Associated Press, NY Daily News and the NY Post. We've been in Newsweek, Broadcast & Cable, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and dozens of other publications.

PTC Advisory Board Members Lead the Charge to Hold Hollywood Responsible for Marketing Violent and Sexually Graphic Entertainment to Children

PTC Advisory Board members Senators Sam Brownback and Joseph Lieberman participated in Senate Commerce Committee hearings on the findings of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report which established that the movie, music, and electronic game industries have "routinely target[ed] children under 17 as the audience for [products] that their own rating or labeling system say are inappropriate for children or warrant parental caution due to their violent content."

Senator Brownback entered into the record, an analysis of R-rated movies advertised during the network television Family Hour. Of the 54 movie advertisements that aired during the Family Hour, 45, or 83%, were for R-rated films.

The steady decline in broadcast television standards that tens of millions of viewers observed during the 1990s - a decline which caused many of those viewers to turn away from prime time TV as a source of entertainment - has now been quantified by the Parents Television Council in its illuminating new study, What a Difference a Decade Makes.

The report compares and contrasts four weeks of prime time programming from the fall of 1989 with four weeks of programming from this past fall.

What a Difference a Decade Makes points out that as networks have increasingly attempted to reach relatively small niche audiences, television's largest audience - parents and their children - has wound up underserved.

This year, our National Advertising Campaign has been keeping the issue on the front burner and in the public eye. Since May 1998, the PTC has been running full-page ads featuring Steve Allen in papers around the country in order to raise awareness of the problem of declining TV standards and to bring attention to the PTC's solutions. To date, ads have been placed in over 280 newspapers across the country reaching 110 million homes, including major newspapers like the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, Miami Herald, Dallas Morning News, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, and hundreds of other papers around the country.

Finally, to keep PTC members in the loop and on the ball, we've also continued highlighting good and bad sponsors in our monthly membership newsletter, the Insider, on the PTC website, and in E-Alerts, and we have forwarded our findings to sponsors.

The PTC's members are at the heart of our success. PTC members writing and making calls to corporations with specific information provided by the PTC is what has made the corporate projects a success. Getting members the right information at the right time through all our expanding means of communication has been a major goal of the PTC. That also includes the Family Guide for the 1999-2000 season. Updated weekly, the Family Guide provides the tools parents need to make informed viewing decisions for themselves and their children, with an easy-to-read red-, yellow-, and green-light rating system for each show.

The PTC's Year-Long Campaign Against The Howard Stern Radio Show concludes with the Special Report: How and Why Howard Stern's TV Show Failed

Following a year-long campaign by the PTC to shame the sponsors of this sleaze, this report documented a declining show plagued by dwindling ratings, stations, and advertisers -- showing that sheer smut doesn't sell.

The report was the capstone to one of our many sponsorship campaigns. The Stern Campaign catalogued the appalling content of the Howard Stern Radio Show and highlighted the show's sponsors each week for a full year. Results -- 72 percent of the sponsors contacted by the PTC quit advertising on the Stern show by year's end. Forty-two percent pledged to stop in response to PTC press releases, calls and letters, while another 30 percent simply ceased airing spots. Moreover, Stern's ratings dropped by 67 percent from his debut episode, and the show was dropped by a whopping 33 stations of its original 79.

The PTC launched the highly successful Take Out the Trash Thursday program, a response to the raunchiest night in broadcast history, scheduled for this past fall on Fox. Of those Thursday shows, Manchester Prep was canceled before it premiered after PTC learned of a protracted and explicit teen masturbation scene, which was previewed on Entertainment Tonight. During the ET segment, PTC advisory board member John Carvelli commented as a parent regarding the scene, and PTC members swung into action to protest the show to Fox top brass. The universally offensive Family Guy was also pulled indefinitely, while the fervently foul made-for-HBO series Action was removed from the schedule for the November sweeps after its horrendous Nielsen ratings performance - showing again that the public is not clamoring for more smut on TV.

PTC Releases Special Report: The Family Hour: Worse Than Ever and Headed for New Lows

This study of the "family hour" confirmed why the PTC's efforts are more important than ever, as the amount and explicitness of sex, foul language, and violence increased dramatically in the short span of a year and a half.

PTC releases its annual list: Top 10 Best & Worst Family Shows on Network Television

In keeping with our mission to help families identify the good, as well as the bad and the ugly, on TV, the PTC published its annual assessment of the best and worst family viewing on the networks.

Unintended Consequences: With Ratings System in Place, TV More Offensive Than Ever

This study found that for three consecutive years (two of them subsequent to the advent of the age-based TV ratings) prime time programming grew consistently worse - bearing out the PTC's concerns and our prediction that the ratings would be used as a cover for objectionable material.

PTC Releases Ground Breaking Special Report : Brought to You By…The Sponsors of Prime Time's Most and Least Family-Friendly Programs

Brought to You By… fired a warning shot across the bow of corporate America by identifying the best and worst of television's sponsors, and putting the latter on notice that they will be held accountable for the shows they subsidize.