NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
The FCC is about to hit Infinity Broadcasting with a fine of more than $100,000 for a show by radio shock jock Howard Stern, according to a published report.
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| The FCC is expected to announce a new six-figure fine against the Howard Stern show within a week, according to a published report. |
The trade publication Broadcasting & Cable said that the fine against the Viacom unit Infinity is expected to be handed down within a week.
It said the fine will be the first one involving Stern that will hit the broadcaster with a separate fine for each indecent "utterance" during a program. Previously, broadcasters were hit with a single fine no matter how many times a program crossed the line. But the commission put broadcasters on notice late last year that they would now face possible multiple fines on the same program.
Infinity has stood behind Stern in the past, paying a record $1.7 million fine from the FCC in 1995 for various comments he made on the air. The current maximum is $27,500 for each instance judged to be obscene, but that fine is levied against each station which airs the show. Congress is moving to raise the maximum fine to $500,000 for each instance. The bill raising the fine passed the house and awaits action in the Senate.
Clear Channel Communications, the nation's largest radio broadcaster, pulled Stern's radio show from its six stations that aired his syndicated program in February. But since the commission's enforcement actions generally trail a broadcast by months if not years, it is likely that the Clear Channel stations will face any new fines handed down on Stern's show.
Stern's show is still heard on 35 other stations. Stern himself will not be subject to the fines. The fines are assessed on broadcasters, not on-air personalities or performers who are found guilty of the fines.
Spokesmen for Stern and Infinity were not immediately available for comment on the Broadcasting and Cable report. A spokesman for the FCC said he could not comment on the report.
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