Viacom To Pay $3.5M To FCC

Viacom agreed Tuesday to pay $3.5 million to end investigations by the Federal Communications Commission into allegations of indecency in its radio and television programming.

The fine, one of the largest in FCC history, settles three pending FCC investigations, one involving shock jock Howard Stern and two involving Opie and Anthony, who lost their Viacom-owned New York radio show after it featured a couple purporting to be having sex inside St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan.

Viacom agreed to install audio delay equipment at its radio stations that air live programming, and to train its broadcasters and employees about indecency laws.

"This consent decree allows us to move forward and to focus our efforts in this area by serving our viewers and listeners with techniques to safeguard live broadcasts, such as cutaways and video and audio delays," Viacom said in a statement.

These are not related to the FCC's $550,000 fine levied against Viacom after the exposure of singer Janet Jackson's breast during the CBS Super Bowl Halftime show in January. Viacom is contesting that fine.

Viacom is the corporate parent of CBS News and CBSNews.com.