'Naked Twister' Broadcast Nets FCC Fine

'Naked Twister' Broadcast Nets FCC Fine

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators on Wednesday proposed a $220,000 indecency fine against the owner of two Kansas radio stations for broadcasting a ``Naked Twister'' game with local strippers and graphic interviews with porn stars.

The Federal Communications Commission said the material, which aired during the ``Dare and Murphy Show,'' was indecent and clearly intended to ``pander to and titillate the audience.''

The commission cited four broadcasts during April and May of 2002. They aired on stations KQRC-FM in Westwood, Kan., and KFH-AM in Wichita, Kan. - owned by Entercom Communications Corp., based in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

The agency proposed a $27,500 fine - the maximum allowed at the time - for each of the four broadcasts by the two stations for a total penalty of $220,000.


The commission said the ``Naked Twister'' broadcast dwelled on descriptions of female genitalia and breasts in an explicit and graphic manner. Other broadcasts the FCC reviewed included interviews with porn actors Ron Jeremy and Dave Cummings.


The commission also noted Entercom's history of prior indecent broadcasts. In September 2002, the FCC fined the company $12,000 for broadcasting indecent material on a Seattle station.


No one from Entercom was available for comment Wednesday. A receptionist said management would be out of the office until Jan. 3 and could comment then. Calls to two numbers listed for KQRC were unanswered Wednesday.


At KFH-AM in Wichita, program manager Tony Duesing declined to comment on the fine but said the station has not aired the show for the past six months, dropping it after it became too cost prohibitive. The show had already been replaced when the station learned about the FCC investigation a month or two ago, he said.



12/23/04 20:41


© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.