A pornographic clip that interrupted thousands of local Comcast subscribers' Super Bowl broadcast was the result of an "isolated malicious act," a company spokeswoman said Monday.
In light of the incident, Comcast says it will issue a $10 credit to any customers who say they viewed the 30-second clip, which featured full male nudity.
"While this credit won't change what happened, we hope it'll demonstrate to the customers and the Tucson community how seriously we're taking this situation," spokeswoman Kelle Maslyn said.
Company officials have yet to determine how the signal was interrupted, though any sort of equipment malfunction has been ruled out, Maslyn said.
"We did an extensive preliminary check on our technical systems, and everything appeared to be working properly when the incident occurred," Maslyn said. "We're aggressively pursuing all leads until we come to a resolution."
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Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix said it is looking into the interruption.
"We take this matter seriously," spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said. "We're working with appropriate agencies to review the incident."
The Federal Communications Commission, which is responsible for policing content on radio and television stations, said as of Monday afternoon that it wasn't aware of any formal complaints made regarding the porn clip, FCC media relations director David Fiske said.
Kevin R. Kemper, an assistant professor in the University of Arizona's School of Journalism, said someone will need to be held responsible, though.
"What happened was grossly inappropriate, unethical and likely illegal," said Kemper, whose law of the press class includes discussions on FCC violations and obscenity laws.
It is still unclear how many viewers saw the clip from a porn movie that was being shown on Shorteez, an adult cable channel offered by Comcast on a pay-per-view basis.
Only Comcast subscribers who received a standard-definition signal could see the clip, Maslyn said. Those who watched the game on high-definition TVs weren't affected.
"We don't know how many people were watching," Maslyn said.
Comcast is Southern Arizona's second-largest cable provider, with more than 80,000 customers in unincorporated Pima County, Marana and Oro Valley.
The Star newsroom was flooded with calls Sunday night from irate viewers who said that the porn cut into the game with less than three minutes left, just after Arizona Cardinals player Larry Fitzgerald scored on a touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to put the team ahead.
Callers said that the clip showed a woman unzipping a man's pants, followed by a graphic act between the two.
The Super Bowl was being shown locally on KVOA. The station sends its signals — both standard definition and high definition — to Cox Communications, which then sends the signals to Comcast, station president Gary Nielsen said.
KVOA's signal didn't have porn on it when the station sent it over to Comcast, Nielsen said. He said his station has received no complaints from viewers who watched the game on Cox, on satellite providers such as DirecTV or Dish Network, or from people who saw it through an over-the-air signal.
"This did not emanate from us," Nielsen said. "We are dismayed that this had to happen."
The porn clip was actually the second interruption Comcast's standard-definition subscribers saw, Maslyn said. A few minutes earlier, a short clip showing the closing credits of a movie on another adult channel, Club Jenna, was shown.
Club Jenna and Shorteez are channels offered by Spice Entertainment, Playboy TV Network's Web site says.
What happened?
Comcast's standard-definition signal was interrupted twice Sunday night during the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl when clips from pornographic pay-per-view channels were shown instead of the game.
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