RADIO INDECENCY Stations install delay equipment

The FCC can penalize the station and the person talking.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
MIAMI -- Radio stations are scrambling to install equipment that enables them to ax obscenities before they hit the airwaves in the wake of the government crackdown on broadcast indecency.
The country's two swamped manufacturers of audio delay devices say they're struggling to keep up with demand.
"We've had a year's worth of orders in a month," said Paul Roberts, sales coordinator for Symetrix of Mountlake Terrace, Wash. "We've had to dramatically increase production."
Neither he nor his competitor, Eventide of Little Ferry, N.J., would say how much sales have increased, but both companies said they're operating under 30-day backlogs.
"We're largely catching up now," said Ray Maxwell, Eventide's vice president of sales and marketing.
The $2,200 to $3,400 digital machines work by delaying broadcasts up to 20 seconds, giving time for technicians to slice out any offensive material. The standard delay is 7.5 seconds.
Until now, the devices have typically been used by talk stations that handle many unpredictable calls from listeners or stations that broadcast live a lot, said Tom Taylor, editor of M Street/Inside Radio newsletter.
But with the recent drive by the Federal Communications Commission to clean up the airwaves, all kinds of stations now want the equipment -- just in case.
"A station could be going live from a car lot and someone walking by could say something that gets picked up by the mike," Taylor said.
Clear Channel Communications, the nation's largest radio broadcaster, announced last month that it was buying $500,000 worth of delay equipment for its stations.
The move came after the FCC walloped the San Antonio-based company with a $755,000 fine in January for racy shows by Bubba the Love Sponge, who was later fired.
The FCC fined the company an additional $495,000 last Thursday for the raunchy antics of Howard Stern, a popular syndicated "shock jock," aired on six stations last April.
Clear Channel immediately dropped the show.
The radio industry is worried that the FCC will toughen up even further, said newsletter editor Taylor.
Besides punishing the broadcaster, the agency can also penalize the person with the foul mouth. For one utterance, the person can be fined $11,000 and for continuous violations, $87,500.
"It has not happened so far," said Janice Wise, FCC spokeswoman. She could not comment as to whether the agency is considering enforcing that statute.
In the meantime, the manufacturers of the delay equipment envision the devices as growth industry.
Eventide's Maxwell said the company is updating the equipment to accommodate 40 seconds of delay to slash a string of expletives or a lengthier off-color segment.
Clear Channel also said it is creating its own technology to enable longer delays.
"Business is up significantly," Maxwell said. "I don't think it's over yet."