Disney: prim, or just wily?(Walt Disney Studios)(Brief Article)

Broadcasting & Cable, March, 2005

The entire cable industry vowed to fight Congress following Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens' recent call to impose broadcast indecency restrictions on cable nets. Well, almost the entire cable industry, anyway. A Disney executive tells B&C that, as the owner of ABC Family, ESPN as well as the ABC broadcast network, the House of Mouse actually favors indecency limits on extended-basic lineups. That prospect alarms other companies--shows like South Park and Nip/Tuck would have to be cleaned up or aired only after 10 p.m.--but Disney's fine with it. "Ultimately, all the attempts to distinguish cable from broadcast will fail," says the Disney exec.

Of course, any time you hear a media company volunteering for tighter government controls, it sets off the old Follow the...

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