Only in America could one of the biggest media news stories centre on Janet Jackson revealing 85% of one of her breasts during the Superbowl. But such was the outrage among middle America at Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's raunchy Superbowl midshow routine (the latter, initially rather flippant about the whole incident, quickly distanced himself from the boob revealing thing, ever the gentleman he opted for the line "it was all Janet's fault"). Media regulator the FCC received record numbers of complaints, and they in turn handed out record fines against US TV network CBS, who had broadcast the show, and whose sister network MTV had produced it.
Whether Nipplegate really made the FCC ever more puritan, or whether it was just a very public demonstration of how strict they had become, we're not sure. Certainly the easily offended in America took it upon themselves to be offended whenever possible. The FCC used that to justify being ever more draconian, and the media owners - all too aware of how costly Nipplegate had been for CBS - became ever more cautious.
The result of all this? American TV, and especially American radio, began to lose its edgier programming. But this is the land of opportunity, and the wider media's loss was the satellite broadcaster's gain. As subscription based satellite TV and radio is less regulated in the US, the shows the mainstream media were too scared to air found a new home on those satellite stations - giving the satellite broadcasters a new USP. The biggest winner was probably satellite radio network Sirius who managed to recruit two of America's most controversial figures - Eminem and Howard Stern. Their arrival on satellite radio is good news for everyone who likes their provocative style, bad news for those of us who enjoy watching that provocative style being used to piss off middle America.