Friday night was anything but normal for network TV.
ABC’s “20/20” hosted by David Muir and Elizabeth Vargas had to abruptly switch gears as all hell was breaking loose in Paris. The show was devoted to the terrorist attacks. The interviews were not predictable.
During one interview with Ginnie Watson, a French eyewitness who had been in the Bataclan Theatre, the woman was clearly distraught when describing what she saw.
“What the fuck was that?” she asked, describing what she had said to her friend upon hearing gun shots. She quickly realized that she should not have said “fuck” on international TV and said, “What the hell was that?”
But it was too late. The network hadn’t bleeped out the word — a word that can get a network fined by the Federal Communications Commission. According to the FCC website, the law is as follows:
It is a violation of federal law to air obscene programming at any time. It is also a violation of federal law to broadcast indecent or profane programming during certain hours. Congress has given the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the responsibility for administratively enforcing the law that governs these types of broadcasts. Among other things, the FCC has authority to issue civil monetary penalties, revoke a license, and deny a renewal application. In addition, a federal district court may impose fines and/or imprisonment for up to two years on those who are convicted of criminal violations of the law.
Vargas later apologized to viewers, saying it had been an understandably extreme situation and the woman was being honest about her feelings.
Fortunately for “20/20,” the program may be in luck since it airs at 10 p.m. “It is a violation of federal law to air obscene programming at any time or indecent programming or profane language from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.” reads a tip sheet on profanity and TV.
Vargas, too, was generally flustered. At one point she greeted someone she was interviewing by saying “good night” and the interview hadn’t even begun.