The Parents Television & Media Council, the nonprofit watchdog group that made its name in the early to mid 2000s advocating against what it saw as indecent content on TV, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
The Burbank-based organization filed the paperwork (read it here) late last week in Delaware Bankruptcy Court. A total of 26 creditors were sent notices of the filing Thursday, according to court documents. The court has set meeting of those creditors for November 5.
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At the time of filing, the organization, formerly known as the Parents Television Council, claimed $91,873.93 in assets and $284,823.58 in liabilities. It had been leasing an office in Burbank.
The PTC was founded in 1995 by L. Brent Bozell III as an offshoot of his conservative Media Research Council with the goal of “protecting children against sex, violence, and profanity on television,” which it saw as being on the rise at at that time. Its main focus was on primetime content on the public airwaves, and near its peak had more than 1.3 million members.
The group was aggressive mounting campaigns against what it saw as indecent content. In 2001, it organized a boycott of the then-World Wrestling Federation, claiming its shows incited violence in children. The next year, the renamed World Wrestling Entertainment sued the PTC for libel and eventually won a $3.5 million settlement.
The zenith of the PTC’s advocacy came in the aftermath of the infamous 2004 Janet Jackson Super Bowl Halftime Show on CBS, which was airing live when the singer’s bare breast was exposed on camera during the performance alongside Justin Timberlake.
The PTC launched a campaign urging its members to complain to the Federal Communications Commission, eventually claiming responsibility for 65,000-plus complaints to the agency out of 540,000 filed. Despite protestations of a “wardrobe malfunction” suffered by Jackson, CBS eventually was fined a record $550,000, though the fine was eventually thrown out on appeal.
The council’s press releases would become commonplace following that, leading campaigns to elevate complaints about everything from ER to CSI to Big Brother and the Emmy Awards.
The group eventually added “Media” to its name to keep up with the migration of content to new platforms.
Its most recent press release was issued last month, urging tech platforms to provide safeguards on AI products that can be used by children.
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