Zechs
02-12-2004, 06:19 PM
Under intense scrutiny following Janet Jackson's breast-baring performance during the Super Bowl, MTV has quietly plucked a number of its edgiest music videos out of its daytime rotation.
The Viacom Inc.-owned cable network, which produced the Super Bowl halftime extravaganza, notified several major record companies that at least eight of their videos would now be played only during overnight programming, generally between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., sources said.
MTV shifted most of the videos -- including recent clips from Britney Spears, Maroon 5 and Blink 182 -- because of their sexual content.
But the list also included a politically charged clip from the rock band Incubus; the video for the song "Megalomaniac" depicts an Adolf Hitler character with angels' wings flying over a crowd, and later shows a nameless politician ordering police to halt a protest.
An MTV spokeswoman confirmed the move, but downplayed the idea that the channel was engaging in self-censorship. "We support the creative community, but we have to take into account what's in the culture right now," she said. "It's part of our responsibility as broadcasters."
The Jackson episode touched off a firestorm of protest and prompted a national dialogue over indecency on television. The Federal Communications Commission reported that upset TV viewers had filed more than 200,000 complaints with the agency about Jackson's act, in which part of her clothing was ripped off by singer Justin Timberlake.
FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell has vowed an investigation of the incident, branding it a "classless, crass and deplorable stunt."
Representatives of the acts whose MTV videos have been consigned to little-watched overnight play couldn't immediately be reached.
Label executives declined to comment, though some groused privately that MTV's decision could undercut promotional plans for music acts that had no involvement with the Super Bowl.
MTV has tweaked its video airplay in the wake of controversy before.
The channel, sources say, decided against playing clips from R&B crooner R. Kelly on its flagship "Total Request Live" program in the wake of his 2002 indictment on child pornography charges
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/7921996.htm
Looks like the FCC has MTV on their P's and Q's
The Viacom Inc.-owned cable network, which produced the Super Bowl halftime extravaganza, notified several major record companies that at least eight of their videos would now be played only during overnight programming, generally between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., sources said.
MTV shifted most of the videos -- including recent clips from Britney Spears, Maroon 5 and Blink 182 -- because of their sexual content.
But the list also included a politically charged clip from the rock band Incubus; the video for the song "Megalomaniac" depicts an Adolf Hitler character with angels' wings flying over a crowd, and later shows a nameless politician ordering police to halt a protest.
An MTV spokeswoman confirmed the move, but downplayed the idea that the channel was engaging in self-censorship. "We support the creative community, but we have to take into account what's in the culture right now," she said. "It's part of our responsibility as broadcasters."
The Jackson episode touched off a firestorm of protest and prompted a national dialogue over indecency on television. The Federal Communications Commission reported that upset TV viewers had filed more than 200,000 complaints with the agency about Jackson's act, in which part of her clothing was ripped off by singer Justin Timberlake.
FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell has vowed an investigation of the incident, branding it a "classless, crass and deplorable stunt."
Representatives of the acts whose MTV videos have been consigned to little-watched overnight play couldn't immediately be reached.
Label executives declined to comment, though some groused privately that MTV's decision could undercut promotional plans for music acts that had no involvement with the Super Bowl.
MTV has tweaked its video airplay in the wake of controversy before.
The channel, sources say, decided against playing clips from R&B crooner R. Kelly on its flagship "Total Request Live" program in the wake of his 2002 indictment on child pornography charges
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/7921996.htm
Looks like the FCC has MTV on their P's and Q's