..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

January 9, 2004

Statement Re: Tape Delay
From AMPAS President Frank Pierson

At their February 3 Board meeting, the Academy governors considered a request from the ABC network to impose a five-second delay on the telecast of the 76th Academy Awards that would allow the network to delete unscripted and objectionable language from the show. The Academy Awards have never been subject to a tape-delay, and in fact have a 50-year track record of maintaining high standards of taste and decorum.

The governors found themselves balancing a pair of crucial concerns. Even a very brief tape-delay introduces a form of censorship into the broadcast - not direct governmental control, but it means that a network representative is in effect guessing at what a government might tolerate, which can be even worse.

There was also a concern about just how slippery a slope the Academy might be setting its foot on. This year's five-second delay would be aimed at individual words. Once the principle of a delay has been accepted though, how much broader a scope might be sought in subsequent years, and how long before not only words, but ideas become subject to deletion?

The First Amendment concerns were weighed against the Academy's own longstanding objective of offering a tasteful, sophisticated event which parents can encourage their children to watch without concerns about elements of coarseness.

The threat of massive fines of dubious legality present ABC with a serious financial, legal and moral dilemma, and we're sympathetic with them.

But our resolve is absolute. A "live" show is either alive or not. Free speech is free or it is not. Viewers are free to use their remote or Tivo. Parents are responsible or they are not.

The Academy has no contractual ability to refuse the network's decision to bow to government pressure. But we cannot endorse a delay. We will present the show live, a celebration of achievement, with a little glitz, a little glamour, as always. If it comes with a bleep, we are all losers.