CBS Radio . . . the new defenders of civility

AH, YES. CBS RADIO, newest defender of civil discourse over the public airwaves. One of CBS Radio's New York stations, Free FM (92.3 WFNY), features a popular talk-show duo, Opie & Anthony (Gregg Hughes and Anthony Cumia).

BUT OPIE & ANTHONY worked for CBS Radio before (on WNEW-FM), back when it was called Infinity Broadcasting. Like Don Imus, they got themselves fired by the CBS suits. Remember "Sex for Sam"?

Here's some of what that Dynamic Duo was up to in 2002, which garnered the attention of the Federal Communications Commission:

II. BACKGROUND

2. The complainants allege, and Infinity does not
dispute, that Station WNEW(FM) aired the ``Opie & Anthony
Show,'' on August 15, 2002, during which the hosts conducted
a contest entitled ``Sex for Sam'' which involved
participants having sex in ``risky locations'' throughout
New York City, including St. Patrick's Cathedral, a zoo,
Rockefeller Center, the Disney Store, and the FAO Schwarz
toy store. According to the transcript of the broadcast
that Infinity provided to the Enforcement Bureau, the
contest was a competition among five couples who were vying
for the opportunity to accompany station personnel to the
Sam Adams Brewery in Boston, Massachusetts, for a live
broadcast. The object of the contest was for the couples
to earn the most number of points by having sex in as many
of the places specified by the station as possible. Each
couple was accompanied by a station ``spotter,'' who
assigned his couple points based upon the nature of the
location and the activities in which the couple engaged.
For example, two points were awarded for ``a balloon-knot
action,'' and the on-air personalities referred repeatedly
to the accomplishment of achieving those two points for the
``balloon-knot action'' as a ``two-point conversion.''
The station aired the contest over at least a one-hour
period, during which the hosts and the ``spotters'' engaged
in descriptions and discussions of the sexual activities of
five participating couples in a variety of publicly visible
locations.

3. The complainants allege that the broadcast
material contains either obscene and/or indecent references,
that it was intended to titillate, pander to, or shock the
audience, and that the Commission should levy strong
sanctions against Infinity for the station's broadcast of
the subject contest. One complainant submitted a 14-
minute transcript excerpt of the contest portion of the show
and argues that it demonstrates that Station WNEW(FM)'s
program hosts made broadcast references to specific apparent
sexual activity in the Cathedral.

4. The full transcript of the broadcast that Infinity
submitted to the Commission provides the context of this
particular segment and reveals that the hosts of the ``Opie
& Anthony Show'' participated in extended discussions about
sexual activity with the station ``spotters." Of
relevance to the instant complaints, the transcript
indicates that one participating couple engaged in actual or
simulated sexual activity inside St. Patrick's Cathedral
while the program hosts and ``spotter,'' Paul Mercurio,
discussed that activity on the air. The on-air banter and
discussion was a running commentary that continued well
after the sexual activity appears to have ended. Mercurio
described the couple's sexual activity in the Cathedral with
detailed and specific comments. The station also broadcast
dialogue of a confrontation at the Cathedral between a
security or law officer and Mercurio which also included
descriptions of, or references to, sexual activity. The
full transcript also memorializes, among other things, the
commentary of one ``spotter'' describing the sexual activity
of a couple at a zoo and of another spotter observing a
couple preparing for sexual activity in an elevator at
Rockefeller Center when four children entered the
elevator.

5. The Enforcement Bureau sent Infinity a letter of
inquiry on August 22, 2002. In its responses dated
September 20 and October 11, 2002, Infinity acknowledges
that Station WNEW(FM) broadcast the contest in question
during the hours of 3 through 7 p.m. on August 15, 2002, and
aired that broadcast over WNEW(FM) and 12 other affiliated
stations. Infinity also admits that the show's hosts ``at
least made it appear to the listeners that a participating
couple had engaged in some sort of sexual activity in St.
Patrick's Cathedral." Infinity maintains, however, that
the aired material was not obscene and did not contain ``any
description of sexual or excretory activity that would fit
within the Commission's indecency definition.'' Infinity
acknowledges that it found the station's broadcast of the
``Sex for Sam'' program ``fundamentally unacceptable'' and
contrary to its own programming standards. Infinity
represents that, as a result of Station WNEW(FM)'s
broadcast, it immediately cancelled the ``Opie & Anthony
Show'' program and suspended those personnel responsible for
the station's broadcast of the ``Sex for Sam'' contest.

SO . . . if CBS Radio can rehire Opie & Anthony, why not Don Imus when things cool down a bit? Les Moonves can wax poetic about dignity and respect and "the effect language like this has on our young people," but that doesn't make CBS Radio about anything other than the money.

And, remember, the big money today is in programming to our worst vices, not our better instincts.