When Janet Jackson’s breast was exposed during the halftime show of the Super Bowl in 2004, viewers were livid.
So imagine the reactionary letters sent to the Federal Communications Commission and Comcast Broadband when about 10 seconds of pornography was displayed immediately following Larry Fitzgerald’s touchdown reception Sunday.
Not sure just how much pornography that is? Count to 10-Mississippi in your head right now. We’ll wait.
The clip, which was fed to the homes of Comcast subscribers in Tuscon, Ariz., was described as explicit, hardcore porn. Representatives for the company suspect foul play as NBC’s feed to KVOA – the NBC affiliate in Tuscon – was clean.
This incident is undoubtedly one of the most pathetic, ridiculous lapses in judgment in the history of sport. And that’s saying something considering the Jackson-Timberlake fiasco four years ago.
It is shocking and inexcusable to think KVOA and representatives at Comcast allowed this to happen. If it was a Tuesday night rerun of “Gilmore Girls,” perhaps something like this could be forgiven. But this is the Super Bowl – the most-watched sporting event in the world.
Even if it was completely unforeseen – which it appears it was – authorities at the company still need be all-hands-on-deck in situations like these.
It is despicable that pornography was displayed during a primetime event with thousands of children watching, but perhaps even more depressing is the duration of the interruption.
How on earth was it allowed to go on for 10 seconds?
The problem is that it has become a shock value competition for television pranksters. Broadcasters need to be more aware of the people they have working the feed and need to provide more supervision – especially on Super Bowl Sunday.
Just imagine the things that could go out onto public airways next year.