The Super Bowl may bring CBS super headaches

Last night's Super Bowl was one of the most exciting NFL championships in years. But executives at CBS (CBS), which broadcast the big game, may not feel much like celebrating.

The Parents Television Council, a conservative media watchdog group, has called on the Federal Communications Commission to take action against the network for airing Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco's unedited moment of profanity shortly after his team's triumphant victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

The FCC doesn't take action on indecent material aired between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time since children are less likely to have seen it. Flacco's expletive, however, was heard before that window began in some parts of the country.

"The incident was after 10 p.m. on the East Coast, so there is no possible liability for the Eastern time zone," telecom attorney Andy Schwartzman tells MSN Money. "As to the other time zones, the situation is very unclear. . . so I doubt the FCC would try to press the issue."

CBS declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for the FCC. The parents' council argues that CBS could have easily avoided the problem.

"It should come as no surprise that celebrating football players would use profane language," said the PTC's Dan Isett in an interview. That raises the question of why CBS didn't use a tape delay as it did in earlier parts of its broadcast, he added.

The networks have promised for years to take steps to prevent incidents such as Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" from happening again, but have failed to do so, he said.

CBS's other headache was the 35-minute stoppage in play Sunday caused by a power outage at the Superdome in New Orleans. The network basically stopped running commercials during that time. It did honor its commitment to advertisers, who shelled out an average of $3.8 million for a 30-second spot.

As Ad Age noted, some advertisers used the blackout to their advantage. Also, the audience stuck around because the game got a lot more interesting as the 49ers nearly staged an epic comeback. Preliminary Nielsen data released last night by CBS showed the game set a ratings record, according to the Washington Post.

--Jonathan Berr has a small position in CBS. Follow him on Twitter @jdberr.

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