The Humble Passion of Howard Stern
FCC Fines Clear Channel $495,000 for Stern Antics

April 9, 2004

Impelled by Janet Jackson's split-second Super Bowl halftime nipple-flash, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday socked radio syndicator Clear Channel with a hefty fine over an April 9, 2003 broadcast of the Howard Stern show.

According to the FCC, the program was cited for "repeated, graphic and explicit sexual descriptions that were pandering, titillating or used to shock the audience."

"For the first time," said FCC Chairman Michael Copps, "the commission assesses a fine against more than a single utterance, rather than counting an entire program as one utterance."

Clear Channel responded by suspending Stern from syndication until further notice.

John Hogan, the president and CEO of Clear Channel, said "...Stern's show has created a great liability for us and other broadcasters who air it."

"The Congress and the FCC are even beginning to look at revoking station licenses," Hogan said in a statement. "That's a risk we're just not willing to take."

"This is not a surprise," Stern responded in a statement found on his website. "It is pretty shocking that governmental interference into our rights and free speech takes place in the U.S. It's hard to reconcile this with the 'land of the free' and the 'home of the brave'."

Stern has compared his plight with Clear Channel and the FCC to that of the Crucifixion of Jesus, and is currently running an online parody of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ with himself in the role of Jesus.