FCC Asks About '60 Minutes' Blackout

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Chicago Tribune

The Federal Communications Commission is investigating why an Alabama television station went dark during a Feb. 24 broadcast of a "60 Minutes" installment.

The blackout occurred on WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Ala., during a segment on imprisoned former Gov. Don Siegelman that suggested he was the victim of a Republican conspiracy. The station blamed the outage on equipment failure.

Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Tuesday that the agency had received "some 20-odd complaints" regarding the broadcast and had told staff to send a letter asking for an explanation of the incident. A "letter of inquiry" is routine when reviewing complaints against a station and is the first step in an investigation of a broadcast licensee.

The letter was sent by mail and by fax Tuesday afternoon. The station has 30 days to respond.

WHNT general manager Stan Pylant has said the problem was caused by a malfunctioning receiver.


Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-fcc-60-minutes-blackout,0,7208242.story

[snappyturtle]

1. K&R

....."Stan Pylant has said the problem was caused by a malfunctioning receiver."

Con-veen-ient!

[FlyingSquirrel]

14. oops

wrong place

[singilarpoint]

2. What is there???????

What is there to ask about? Do you ask a guy standing over a
body with a bloody knife, if he killed the person he is
standing over. Everyone knows what happened, and everyone
knows nothing will be done. Nothing Nothing Nothing....!!!
Nothing will ever change, only get worse! It will never end!!

[corkhead]

4. Not True!!!!

Cary Grant was innocent in N by NW !!!

[bulloney]

7. It seems more than a coincidence that ONE market had a blackout during that report.

And doggone it! It just happened to be a market in the state from which the incriminations originated.

[FlyingSquirrel]

15. Welcome to DU, fellow Seattleite!

:hi:

[A HERETIC I AM]

3. Breaking! Exclusive pic of the "malfunctioning receiver"

No wonder it wasn't working. Not enough gigawatts.

[Truth2Tell]

5. Here's their backup reciever

So they have no excuse.

[JerseygirlCT]

6. Oh right. They're going to get right on it. And they got "20" letters

Probably need to add a few zeroes there, don't you think?

There will be a perfunctory look at best, after which they will remarkably conclude that it was all a malfunctioning receiver. Anyone want to bet otherwise?

[bagrman]

10. They probably rounded up, Americans to lazy to get off ass to save themselves.

[JTG of the PRB]

11. "As everybody knows, one letter equals a BILLION people!...

...So 20 BILLION people found last night's telecast offensive in some way! Gentlemen, we have a problem."

[rpannier]

8. While everyone knows otherwise

It's gonna be hard to prove it.

Unless you can get someone to some forward and say the station is lying, there probably isn't anyway of knowing or proving it.

[Deny and Shred]

9. The transcript may be the key to exposing this Rove-driven farce.

The FCC is probably ideology-driven at this point, like every other agency over which Bush has had appointment control. This Administration is very good at giving us just enough to think its still on the up and up.

Supposedly (and I'll believe it when I see it), the transcript of the Siegelman trial, after 1 1/2 years, is ready, and will be available soon.

Scott Horton, journalist working on this case, had this to say:

http://firedoglake.com/2008/03/03/first-monday-the-siegelman-case-a-political-prosecution-exposed/

I pulled it from another DU thread today.

[Xipe Totec]

12. malfunctioning deceiver n/t

[Seedersandleechers]

13. Oh Please

Just more of the same nothing...I guess it makes for good copy.

[WoodyM]

16. Perhaps I am wrong

but I though TV stations had back up equipment just to overcome such problems with operating equipment. They do not want to be off the air. They are not making any money when off the air.

[Seedersandleechers]

17. Welcome

to DU :hi:

[Seedersandleechers]

18. My guess

money was indeed made.

[guitar man]

21. welcome to DU

:hi:

Indeed they do have backups. The station in question had 4 IRDs (integrated receiver/decoder) for CBS. It stinks to high heaven.

[singilarpoint]

19. JUST WONDERING

IS IT ME, OR DO THE TALKING HEADS FROM THE CLINTON CAMP THAT I WATCH ON MY T.V MACHINE SOUND AN AWFUL LOT LIKE REPUBLIKANTS????

[Festivito]

20. Dear judge and prosecutors, Can you say RICO? /nt