CHARLOTTE -- WSOC-TV did not air the ABC Movie presentation of “Saving Private Ryan” on Thursday, November 11, 2004. Instead the station did air local programing.

“The movie is a powerful depiction of World War II and certainly well-produced ,” said WSOC-TV Vice President and General Manager Lee Armstrong. “We have, however, received complaints when the film was aired in 2001 and 2002, particularly about the use of language in the movie. Now, after much concern and discussion about family viewing over past months, and with Americans at war across the world, it is the vivid depiction of violence combined with graphic language proposed to begin airing at 8:00 PM that has forced our decision.”

“Recent rulings by the Federal Communications Commission have clearly reinforced the “safe haven” family viewing concept until 10:00 PM., including imposing fines on stations airing certain language,” Armstrong said further. “We requested permission from the network to edit out language that has been deemed unacceptable for broadcast in the early hours of prime time. The network’s contract with filmmaker Steven Spielberg prohibits any alteration of the film. We then asked ABC for permission to begin the movie at 10:00 PM, removing it from the safe haven time period. They denied our request. We were left with no alternative except to pre-empt the network on this night.”

WSOC’s program schedule on Thursday night was a local weather special, “Severe Weather Center 9: Carolina Cold,” at 8:00 PM, followed 8:30-11:00 PM by “Coming to America,” starring Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall.

WSOC-TV is a Cox Television Station. Cox Television includes 15 TV stations, 3 national television sales representation firms, a television production company, and a Washington D.C. news office. Cox Television is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, Inc., based in Atlanta.

WSOC-TV will not broadcast “Saving Private Ryan” at a later date.

If you would like to contact the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) about this issue, you can do so at: fccinfo@fcc.gov.

Complete WSOC-TV program listings.