Viacom settles indecency inquiry

WASHINGTON — Viacom Inc. agreed Tuesday to pay a record $3.5 million to settle dozens of government investigations into allegations of indecency in its radio and television programming.

The settlement closes investigations by the Federal Communications Commission dating to 2001. One involves shock jock Howard Stern, and two others focus on Opie and Anthony, who lost their Viacom-owned New York radio show after it featured a couple purporting to have sex inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.

Viacom agreed to implement a companywide compliance plan aimed at preventing future violations of federal indecency statutes. The plan includes installation of audio delay equipment at radio stations that broadcast live programming and training broadcasters and employees about indecency laws.

“This consent decree allows us to move forward and to focus our efforts in this area by serving our viewers and listeners with techniques to safeguard live broadcasts, such as cutaways and video and audio delays,” Viacom said in a statement.

The settlement is not related to the FCC’s $550,000 fine levied against Viacom after the exposure of singer Janet Jackson’s breast during the CBS Super Bowl halftime show in January. Viacom is contesting that fine.

The agreement cancels investigations into about 50 radio and television shows, said Richard Diamond, an FCC spokesman. The shows were broadcast by Viacom-owned stations across the country, including some in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, California, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, Massachusetts and New York.

Viacom has five days to pay the $3.5 million fine, according to the agreement. Diamond said it was the FCC’s largest-ever settlement.

Infinity Broadcasting, which is owned by Viacom, paid fines totaling $1.7 million in 1995 to settle FCC violations by Stern.

Stern said last month he was moving from traditional broadcasting to satellite radio network Sirius starting in January 2006 after his contract with Infinity expires.