U.S. Senator Urges Indecency Rules for Cable-TV Shows

U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, whose panel oversees the communications industry, said cable-television programs should be subject to the same rules on indecency as over-the-air broadcasts.

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the main lobbying group for cable-TV companies such as Comcast Corp., believes that ``we don't have any authority to deal with cable on indecency,'' Stevens, an Alaska Republican, told reporters in Washington today. ``We'll take them on and let the courts decide.''

Efforts to subject cable to indecency fines may escalate friction between the government and the TV industry. On Feb. 16, the House of Representatives passed a bill to raise the maximum indecency fines against broadcasters to as much as $500,000 for each violation, from the current $32,500. A measure to raise fines to $325,000 has been introduced in the Senate.

``A five-year-old doesn't know if they're watching cable or over-the-air,'' Edward Fritts, president of the National Association of Broadcasters, said in an interview today. The NAB represents TV broadcasters and has advocated that cable should be subject to the same indecency rules.