bill was targeted at stern is just goofy. Sharing the fine is a negotiated part of his contract, he makes 12-17 million a year.
To a company like Clear Channel or Viacom, $27,500 is about the equivalent of the daily company-wide bill for breakfast danishes and donuts. A fine of that size has zero impact on a company of that size. Therefore, raising the amount of the maximum fine seems quite reasonable to me. And a review of the past three years of FCC fines shows that, even now, the actual fines issued rarely approach the maximum. <snip>
http://www.photodude.com/weblog/2004/march/08_dead_man_talking_and_talking_and_talking.shtmlThe only thing that’s really new is that his corporate bosses may be weighing the balance sheet differently this time. However, Infinity has been willing to suck down millions in fines, for a guy they pay $12-$17 million a year, as a cost of doing business with their cash cow. They’ve been doing it over a decade, and I see no reason to expect they’ll change.
But if they do, it’s a business decision. And it will be because of penalties over long established law, specific statutes that were written ... and used against Howard ... long before Bush approached the federal level.
There’s nothing new here. <snip>
So, you say, this time will be different, as it will be a huge fine sure to make his corporate bosses quake.
They rarely have before. Howard has cost his employers millions of dollars in FCC fines, over the course of the past 12 years:
1992: “Radio’s Howard Stern racked up $1.7 million in fines in 1992 from the Federal Communications Commission for talking dirty. The comment that led to the FCC’s fine was a syrupy comedy routine involving fantasies about pancake maven Aunt Jemima.”
1995: “The FCC ... decided to fine WBZU in Richmond, formally, WVGO, for something deemed offensive from a broadcast of Howard’s show.”
1997: “He has had a running battle with the Federal Communications Commission over free speech issues. He is currently fighting FCC fines totaling over $1.5 million.”
1997: “Well, this week the Stern hit the fan with a $6000 fine when Howard’s flagship station, WXRK FM, 92.3 K-Rock, was hit with a Notice of Apparent Liability (a fine) for having aired segments of the Stern show that were found to be indecent enough by the FCC to fine WBUZ in Richmond and WEZB in New Orleans both $10,000 late last year.”
1999: “He had a man play the piano with his penis, which resulted in the first of Stern’s many FCC fines for indecency. He also asked porno star Jenna Jamison’s father to identify his daughter’s vagina from a lineup of five vagina photos, which Jamison’s father did. The staff applauded, and a Stern affiliate was fined. While breaking social mores, Stern has cost his parent company, Infinity Broadcasting (a division of CBS), more than $1 million in FCC fines. Technically Infinity’s payouts are ‘donations’ to the U.S. Treasury, something to ensure it can purchase more radio stations. For Infinity Broadcasting, the fines are a small cost of doing business. Stern is its cash cow.
Re-read those last two lines. Infinity feels Howard’s controversial acts and FCC fines ... millions of dollars ... are a cost of doing business, with their “cash cow.” They profit from it.
Obviously, Clear Channel has made a different business decision, perhaps as a result of the sting from a $755,000 fine over another of their “talents.”
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