'Huge fines' for US TV indecency

Frozen attitudes

Photo: Rapper Kid Rock's Stars and Stripes poncho looks a little tame by comparison.

But on a scale of terrible things that happen in public, is a fleetingly bare breast so terrible? Janet and Justin were not alone in exhibiting questionable taste during the Super Bowl. The telecast also featured sexed-up commercials for beer, an advert starring a flatulent horse and others for erectile dysfunction drugs. But, apparently, they do not compare with the impact of an exposed body part. "Maybe when we left the old country we somehow froze certain attitudes," explained Mr. Thompson. "While other attitudes began to evolve elsewhere we held to many of them very carefully. There is this paradoxical part of the American character where we are simultaneously arguably the most obsessed about sex of anybody else in the entire planet and at the same time the most uptight about it." Television's most TiVo replayed moment has provoked a level of debate that is unprecedented and there have been many calls for sweeping changes in the way broadcasters are regulated. While the Jackson breast expose easily upstaged the entire Super Bowl event, the commercials, Iraq and the presidential election campaign, the underlying issue is nothing new for US broadcasters.

Regulation

Photo: Janet Jackson's name is up in lights as a glitzy half-time show gets under way at Super Bowl XXXVIII.

"There has been this dynamite in the culture wars, the idea of what is appropriate, what isn't appropriate on the public airwaves and it's been sitting around waiting to go off for a long time," said Mr. Thompson. "This two seconds of exposed breast seems to have really been the fuse that in fact is now going to start all of these much larger discussions than simply the breast or not," he added. The next big challenge for American television will be the notoriously unpredictable broadcast of the Grammy awards on Sunday. Once again, CBS has the honour and headache of hosting the event. US newspapers have reported that the network is under pressure to ensure that Jackson and Timberlake do not appear. She is scheduled to be a presenter while he is a nominee. Not withstanding any possible changes in the law, American television is expected to introduce tougher policing of its live broadcasts. Events such as award shows are likely to be transmitted on a five or 10-second delay. This would allow network censors to bleep or blur out potentially offensive material. "People deciding whether to cut off one of the delayed broadcasts are going to err on the conservative side," said Mr Thompson.

Scantily-clad

As for next year's half-time show at the Super Bowl, it is highly unlikely the entertainment will be produced by MTV. "Maybe a clown making balloon animals might be more in order," said Mr. Thompson. But would anyone watch? Network television is a reasonably reliable indictor of the average American's tastes and comfort levels with popular culture. Reality TV continues to dominate the schedules because people watch it in huge numbers. During primetime viewing periods it is often difficult to avoid the antics of scantily-clad contestants on dating shows. And the 180% spike in viewership, as recorded by TiVo users immediately after the Jackson moment, was hardly due to indignant and unimpressed viewers. Indeed, since Sunday, America's late-night TV comedians have had a field day making light out of the embarrassing Super Bowl concert. "In spite of the controversy, how many guys are glad they bought that big screen, high definition TV now, yeah!" joked Jay Leno. -Peter Bows/BBCNews.