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WB Offers ‘Bedford’ Online Despite FCC Concerns

Mar 23, 2006  •  Post A Comment

With the specter of FCC decency fines hanging over it, The WB is making available the premiere episode of its new drama “The Bedford Diaries” on its Web site Thursday. The network has decided the premiere must be edited before it debuts in broadcast next Wednesday.

The first episode of the series, which profiles a college sexuality class, had been approved by The WB as suitable to air weeks ago. But in light of the multimillion dollar fines levied on CBS and other broadcasters last week, the network asked “Bedford” creator Tom Fontana trim additional scenes.

As part of a compromise with Mr. Fontana, The WB agreed to stream the first episode online for free without the additional cuts.

“The WB takes its responsibility as a broadcast network very seriously and we have always been mindful of the FCC’s indecency rules,” the network said in a statement. “While we believe that the previous version of ‘The Bedford Diaries’ is in keeping with those rules, out of an abundance of caution, we decided to make some additional changes to the premiere episode of the series.”