The Internet may have been worked up into a frenzy over LeBron James possibly exposing his penis to millions of viewers on live television Thursday night, but the Parents Television Council doesn’t think the potentially indecent footage, broadcast during ABC‘s live coverage of the NBA Finals, is that big of a deal and the watchdog group says it won’t be encouraging its members to file complaints.
“After reviewing the video clip at issue, we find nothing that reasonably violates the spirit or the letter of the longstanding law against broadcasting indecent material over the public airwaves between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.,” PTC president Tim Winter said in a statement. “We will absolutely not be encouraging our members to file complaints, as we feel it is much ado about nothing.”
The PTC previously encouraged people to file complaints about a February episode of Fox’s Family Guy in which a character was on trial for statutory rape, saying that the show’s sexual content, including explicit dialogue, violated indecency standards.
The FCC prohibits broadcast television stations from airing indecent material between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when it says there is “a reasonable risk that children may be in the audience.” ABC zoomed in on James adjusting his shorts, and possibly flashing the camera, shortly before the beginning of Game 4. ABC’s coverage of the game began at 8:31 p.m. Eastern time.
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The FCC’s website states, “Material is indecent if, in context, it depicts or describes sexual or excretory organs or activities in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium. In each case, the FCC must determine whether the material describes or depicts sexual or excretory organs or activities and, if so, whether the material is patently offensive.”
It’s unclear yet how many viewers watched ABC’s coverage of Game 4, but preliminary data reveals that the broadcast was the highest rated Game 4 in more than a decade.
ABC and the FCC both declined to comment.
Check out a Vine of James possibly flashing the audience below.
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