Va. station faces $325,000 fine for airing explicit material

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - Federal regulators have proposed fining a Roanoke television station $325,000 for airing sexually explicit material.

WDBJ President and General Manager Jeffrey Marks says in a statement that the material’s inclusion was unintentional. He says it was a small picture outside the video editing screen’s viewing area.

Marks says WDBJ will oppose the fine.

The Federal Communications Commission says the fine would be the largest issued for a single indecent broadcast on one station.

The FCC announced the fine against WDBJ-TV on Monday in a news release. The agency says sexually explicit images were in a news story the station aired in 2012 about a former adult film star who joined a local volunteer rescue squad.

Marks says the image was visible for less than three seconds on some TVs.