Disagree. The FCC is a highly political organization. This is pretty much well known. That alone gives this particular tirade of Stern's (don't really like him much) more substance than others.
So far, the FCC has received at least 1900 filings about the language used on Oprah. http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/20183.htm May 5, 2004 -- Faithful fans of Howard Stern are washing Oprah Winfrey's mouth out with soap - they've filed 1,900 letters with the FCC complaining that the Queen of Daytime Talk is filthier than the King of All Media. The angry missives, which demand Winfrey be fined or banished from TV for a sexually explicit show aired March 18, represent the second-largest number of complaints the FCC has received against a single program. "How can you allow Oprah Winfrey to discuss [anal sex] on a nationally televised show at 4 p.m. when children are home from school, and then persecute Howard Stern for doing no worse at 8 in the morning?" reads one complaint obtained by thesmokinggun.com. Another writer fumes: "My twin 9-year-old boys . . . heard a description of how to best please a man orally. Get on the ball and fine Oprah. This show was obscene." FCC enforcement agent Suzanne Tetreault told The Post yesterday the agency has received 1,900 filings or more against Oprah's show. That makes it the second-most complained-about program after the Super Bowl, where Janet Jackson bared her breast during the halftime show, which got half a million complaints. Bono uttering the f-word on the Golden Globes got about the same number of complaints as the Oprah show, the FCC said. On the controversial Oprah show, a writer for the host's O magazine explained in graphic detail what she said were the popular sexual pastimes of America's teens, including oral and anal sex practices. Stern's anti-Oprah campaign began six weeks ago, after he complained on his national radio show and Web site that the FCC is guilty of hypocrisy for hitting stations that air his show with multiple obscenity fines while letting Oprah slide. Clear Channel, which has since dropped Stern from six of its radio stations, was whacked with a $495,000 penalty for indecency in one of his sexually charged shows. The FCC last night would only say that "the complaints against the Winfrey show are still pending." Lisa Halliday, a spokesman for Winfrey, said: "We have not been notified by the FCC of any indecency investigation."
