Remembering How ‘Nipplegate’ Changed Radio

In 2004 the tidal wave that crested with Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl had little impact on the medium where it was broadcast. Radio stations racked up record fines but only three TV stations had ever been fined by the FCC for indecency by April 2004, despite the Golden Globes and “Nipplegate.” (CBS was later fined $550,000 for the halftime show but a federal appeals court tossed the fine.) Radio operators felt there was a double standard in Washington and Inside Radio carried headlines such as “TV Skates Free Again, While Radio Gets Spanked For Indecency.” Read more below.