FCC to Review Petition to Ban 'Redskins' On Air

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced Tuesday the organization will consider a petition to ban the Washington Redskins nickname from broadcast radio.

The FCC, which oversees indecent programming violations, made the announcement in response to a petition from legal activist John Banzhaf III, who asked that local radio station WWXX-FM be stripped of its broadcasting license due to its use of the team’s name. Banzhaf said using the name “Redskins” while broadcasting is “akin to broadcasting obscenity,” Reuters reports.

“We’ll be looking at that petition, we will be dealing with that issue on the merits and we’ll be responding accordingly,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told reporters. “...There are a lot of names and descriptions that were used over time that are inappropriate today. And I think the name that is attributed to the Washington football club is one of those.”

Wheeler did not offer a timetable for a ruling, The Associated Press reports. He has previously voiced concerns over the name, calling it ”offensive and derogatory.”

Wheeler said he hoped Redskins owner Dan Snyder would change it without formal action, though Snyder has repeatedly vowed never to change the name, defending it as a term of endearment and a “badge of honor.”

A panel of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office cancelled the team’s trademark registration in June, citing concerns that the team’s name and logo were disparaging to Native Americans. The team has since appealed the decision in federal court.