The Walt Disney Co. and its ABC television network were hit with
complaints from viewers over the weekend that Thursday night’s
Victoria’s Secret special was indecent. Many of the complaints — some
200, according to the Wall Street Journal — were addressed to
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, who has frequently accused the
television networks of flouting government regulations on indecency. (No
formal complaint was filed.)
Bloomberg News on Friday quoted Copps as
saying, “We need to be rigorous — more rigorous than we have been in
our enforcement proceedings.”
ABC issued a statement saying, “This
special was approved by our broadcast standards and practices
department, and aired with a ‘TV-14 D, S, L’ parental guidance label.
… As with any other program, viewers have a choice to tune in or not.”
The special, which aired opposite CBS’s CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation, NBC’s Will & Grace and Just Shoot
Me, and Fox’s Temptation Island, came in third (ahead of
Island) with an 8.3 rating and a 12 share — significantly higher
than the numbers that Who Wants to Be a Millionaire had racked up
in the same period during recent months.
