FCC considers banning Redskins name on TV and radio

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- A push to get the Washington NFL team to change its name may get a big boost from the nation's top broadcast regulator.

The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday it would consider banning the use of the name "Redskins" by blocking the renewal of federal broadcast licenses to those stations who use the name.

Responding to a petition from legal activist John Banzhaf III, a George Washington University professor who helped get cigarette advertising blocked from TV and radio in the 1970s and improved school bus safety standards, the FCC may brand the word indecent.

"There are a lot of names and descriptions that were used over time that are inappropriate today," said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. "And I think the name that is attributed to the Washington football club is one of those."

A broad on-air ban would come on the heels of an increasing number of publications and news outlets refusing to use the word in their coverage. CBS Sports' lead analyst Phil Simms said in August he would stop using the team name, as have papers such as the Kansas City Star, Detroit News, San Francisco Chronicle, the New Republic, the Washington City Paper, the New York Daily News and Charlotte Observer. The Washington Post stopped using the name in editorials, but continues to use it in other parts of the paper.

President Obama has weighed in, advocating for the change; in June, the U.S. Patent and Trademark office cancelled six Redskins trademarks, a decision the team has appealed.