In the early 1970s, white men in Congress thought a great way to curb  progressive television content (Norman Lear & the like) was to threaten funding  for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). 

Powerless to dictate  content, the FCC demanded ABC, NBC and CBS somehow reduce sex and  violence on prime-time TV. The result was The Family Viewing Hour, the development, life and abrupt death of which is but a blip in television history.

But in essence, it was the conservative movement attempting to flex its muscle, both regulatory and economic, against the right of free speech. Television executives and writers who also wielded incredible power, were up for the fight.

If you find  this as fascinating as I do, you’ll like Geoffrey Cowan’s (1979) See No Evil: The  Backstage Battle Over Sex and Violence in Television. Cowan had a front row  seat and wrote this accessible, enthralling, 300 page read.