May 5 (Bloomberg) -- CBS's television-station affiliates said many of them will have to cancel their news programs if the U.S. Federal Communications Commission doesn't change a March indecency rule.

``The order, if it is not corrected, will fundamentally alter the manner in which local broadcasters engage in newsgathering,'' the CBS Television Network Affiliates Association, which consists of about 200 local stations, said in a petition to the FCC.

The FCC's decision, which changed federal rules, found singer Bono uttered a profanity by using an adjective referring to sex during a live broadcast of the Golden Globe awards. Viacom Inc.'s CBS, General Electric Co.'s NBC and News Corp.'s Fox petitioned the FCC last month to overturn the ruling.

The affiliates said many would cancel morning, afternoon and evening news shows rather than risk a penalty for airing an obscenity during a live news event such as a demonstration.

The U.S.'s 357 public TV stations also supported the petition, saying they ``have spent inordinate amounts of time'' reviewing news and programs for possible use of profanity.

``For the first time, producers and broadcasters of public television programming have engaged in significant self- censorship out of fear of government penalty,'' the Association of Public Television Stations petition said.

FCC spokesman David Fiske declined comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Neil Roland in Washington at nroland@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 5, 2004 17:50 EDT