FPN NEWS: Gordon, Earnhardt Echo FPN Call for Broadcast Delay
FAMILY POLICY NETWORK: Gordon, Earnhardt Echo FPN Call for Broadcast Delay
NEWS ADVISORY: For Immediate Release – April 2, 2006
NEWS CONTACT: Joe Glover – 202-656-5084
(FPN – 4/2/06) – Two of NASCAR’s most popular drivers are saying television producers should ensure their broadcasts don’t include profanity. Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon and popular Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. both expressed opinions consistent with those of Family Policy Network (FPN) in separate interviews with reporters writing for NASCAR.COM. The drivers voiced their opinions just days after FPN President Joe Glover filed an official FCC complaint against FOX Television for airing profanity during a NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Producers for NASCAR on FOX admitted making an error during their broadcast of the March 26 “Food City 500″ race in Bristol, causing them to air a four-letter expletive on live television. Glover filed an official complaint with the FCC later that evening. On Monday, his group Emailed an FPN Action Alert to thousands of supporters nationwide, with instructions for those who had seen the incident to do the same.
On Tuesday, Glover called on NASCAR to require its race broadcasters to institute a 5-second delay during future race broadcasts in an interview with the NASCAR Channel on XM-Satellite Radio. Glover said NASCAR should force broadcasters, including FOX, to implement
the delay if they are unwilling to do it voluntarily.
On Wednesday, Jeff Gordon seemed to echo FPN’s position in a teleconference interview hosted by FOXSports.com. When asked about the profanity controversy by NASCAR.COM’s David Newton, Gordon initially said he didn’t personally have a problem with broadcasters airing in-car radio transmissions. He then clarified his statement by saying that the networks have a responsibility to make their broadcasts appropriate for minors in the audience by using a delay:
I think if they want to tape live broadcast video and then link it to live broadcast radio, that’s fine. It should have delays because you’ve got to understand, everybody’s intensity level is so high, the heat of the moment, and I don’t care what sport you’re in out there, you’re going to come across moments when there’s things that are said that aren’t appropriate for minors. Our sport is no different there. I feel like we do a really good job of being very family oriented, but there are times when it’s not appropriate. So I think they definitely need to have a delay on it…”
On Saturday, driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. joined FPN and Gordon in saying the networks should censor terse conversations from in-car radio transmissions. NASCAR.COM reporter Dave Rodman wrote that he “didn’t mince words at Martinsville when asked about a curse word that made it onto FOX Sports’ broadcast of last weekend’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.” He quoted Earnhardt as bluntly saying:
“They’re spending millions of dollars on it on the TV program and they can’t even keep that from happening? – – That is ridiculous. Somebody is a real moron.“
Despite many complaints to the FCC and plenty of controversy, FOX Sports appears unwilling to institute Glover’s call for a 5-second delay. According to a report in the Greensboro, NC News-Record, Fox doesn’t plan to add a brief delay to its coverage. The paper reported Fox spokesman Lou D’Ermilio as saying, “While we review our policies all the time, I know of no intention to change the way we broadcast sports events.”
RELATED LINKS:
Transcript of FOXSports.com Teleconference with Jeff Gordon:
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/9-0&fp…
NASCAR.COM: “Junior Critical of TV”:
http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/headlines/cup/04/01/dearnhardtj…
Greensboro News-Record:
http://news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060329/NE…
FPN Action Alert on Bristol Incident, FCC Complaint vs FOX:
http://familypolicy.net/us-a-p-421
FCC Action vs TV Stations Airing Profanity:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-264344A1.pdf
FCC Guidelines on Obscenity, Indecency and Profanity:
http://www.fcc.gov/eb/oip/
Family Policy Network:
http://familypolicy.net/