WASHINGTON – The "Opie and Anthony" show, WNEW-FM's popular afternoon drive-time program, has been cancelled after its disk jockeys allegedly broadcast a live, eyewitness account of a couple having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral, a WNEW Radio spokesperson has told Fox News.
Unnamed new programming will replace the program beginning tomorrow.
The nation's top communications regulator also ordered an investigation Thursday into complaints about the broadcast.
A Virginia couple was arrested Aug. 15 after allegedly having sex in a vestibule just a few feet from worshippers in the landmark Manhattan church. The encounter was described as it happened during the "Opie and Anthony" show, WNEW-FM's popular afternoon drive-time program.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell directed the agency's enforcement bureau to begin an investigation immediately, spokesman David Fiske said.
If the FCC finds that a station violated federal indecency laws, the penalty is typically a fine ranging from $5,000 to $30,000, Fiske said. The amount can be higher depending on the case, he said.
The broadcast was part of a regular feature on the program where couples can win prizes for having sex in risky places. The couple's attorney has said they were just simulating sex.
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps has said he received hundreds of outraged phone calls and e-mails about the broadcast. He said the agency should consider revoking the station's license.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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