I'm pretty sure you can't get Comedy Central on over-the-air TV, so I don't believe that there's a 'requirement' that they be censored. I think they just do it because the 'beep' gets more attention than the actual profane word.

Hefty fines attract more attention, at least on the part of network executives. If there was a way to simulcast a censor track—akin to closed captioning or second audio programming—that was active by default on new TVs, I'd be for it. Or perhaps it's the excised material that should be simulcast, so it can be reintroduced by willing audiences.

I think the bigger problem, though, are those people who don't know how to change the channel when something objectionable comes along, or who don't take advantage of existing discretionary tools. They're the ones forcing the FCC's hand.

I thought I read about some chip that could do real-time bleeping of bad words.

Looking back, it probably would be a lot easier to just broadcast an alternate audio track. Default would be "clean" audio, along with "full" audio for those who choose. Now to get the content makers to agree to this...

censor war not language