Quote:
Originally posted by onetime2
It is exactly as simple as that. They can choose to air things or not air things for almost whatever reasons they choose. The viewing public can stop supporting them if it's an issue.
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No, they can't. Public airwares are a shared resource tightly regulated by the FCC. In exchange for a license to those airwares, TV stations agree to a whole host of government rules.
Not so long ago, for example, there were clear "equal access" laws for political campaigns. That has mostly gone away now, but the idea that a TV station can air whatever they want, when they want is far from the truth.
But anyway, this censorship had the opposite effect. The ratings for the broadcast were much higher than the network thought they would be. So in reality Sinclair took what looks to be a non-political broadcst (to me) and turned it into a big win for the anti-Bush crowd.
Not exactly what he wanted, I think.
