Is TV viewing getting a lot tamer? I wouldn’t have thought so, but it looks like there’s not as much “indecency” on the tube as we might imagine. That’s if we’re counting the number of complaints filed with the FCC, the watchdog of our airwaves.

According to its quarterly report, indecency and obscenity complaints against broadcast TV and radio dropped from 157,016 in the first quarter of this year, to 6,161 in the second. That’s an incredible change in only three months. That latter figure compares to 272,818 complaints in the second quarter of 2004.

The drop since January has also been precipitous, from 138,652 in January to 14,480 in February, to 3,884 in March, to approximately 2,000 per month from April through June. January and February totals were boosted by Parents Television Council complaints against CBS' CSI (infantilism) and Without a Trace (teen orgy).

So does all this mean that broadcasters are taking a closer look at what they’re airing, as well as educating viewers about the ratings system, v-chip, parental-control devices and warnings of adult material at the start of programs? Or is it that the public is getting inured to more violence, more sex, more of what many consider offensive language?

I lean toward the former, although from the TV programs that I watch, I haven’t noticed any watering down of content. I’m looking at shows like Will & Grace, Boston Legal, Sex in the City, and Nip/Tuck, to name a few. If what I’m watching has been sanitized, I’d love to see the pre-edited versions.

I really believe that this drop in complaints is due to the fact that those complainers have watched all the shows, found those offensive to them, and have made up a list of what not to watch for themselves and their children. It’s simply a case of what you don’t see or hear, you can’t very well complain.

Not that entertainment companies aren’t keeping a close eye, especially those that have had to settle complaints with either money or promises to crack down on indecent material, which runs, I’m told, from frequent use of the F-word to Janet Jackson baring a breast, despite it being a very fine breast.

Of the 6,161 complaints filed this past quarter, I would have thought 6,000 of them would have been against Howard Stern. Even I find his show offensive. I tune in to Howard about once a week to see if anything’s changed, but there he is, as obnoxious as ever, demeaning women, trying to get laid or blown and making insensitive remarks to anyone who’s willing to stand there and take it. Any jerk can do that if they don’t have a conscience. But I guess there’s a lot of guys out there who think it’s cool.

As I’ve said in a previous blog, I enjoy adult entertainment, as long as it’s well-written and well-acted. As for sex scenes, violence and use of foul language, if it is integral to the storyline, and a warning is issued at the top of the program, I don’t see why anyone would complain. Maybe those people who complain about too much sex on television just aren’t getting enough.