Citizen Staff Writer
SHERYL KORNMAN and
FERNANDA ECHÀVARRI
news@tucsoncitizen.com
Comcast is investigating what it calls an “isolated, malicious act” in which 30 seconds of pornographic content was aired during its telecast of the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Corporate affairs manager Kelle Maslyn said the cable company has “some leads” and will “aggressively pursue” them “until we come to a resolution.”
The incident affected only customers not watching the high definition broadcast. It’s not known how many customers saw the porn clip, she said.
Comcast is offering $10 credits to any customer in Tucson “who was impacted,” she said in a statement issued Monday afternoon. To get the credit, customers should call 888-315-8219.
“We are appalled by (the) Super Bowl interruption,” her statement read.
“The Super Bowl is a family viewing event and (Sunday) night was even more special here in Arizona as we were all cheering for the Cardinals.
“While this credit won’t change what happened, we hope that it will demonstrate to our customers, and to the Tucson community, how seriously we are taking this situation.”.
Just after Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald scored a dramatic touchdown in the fourth quarter, some Comcast cable TV customers saw a video clip with full-frontal male nudity. It originated from Shorteez, an adult pay-per-view channel, Maslyn said.
“We were, like, in shock,” said Cardinals fan Alice Soto, 53, who was watching the game with her 11-year-old daughter and 80-year-old mother.
She said the clip was of a man and woman on a sofa. The man unzipped his pants, revealing his genitals.
A second clip, which also aired during the telecast, showed about 10 seconds of end credits for Club Jenna, another adult pay-per-view channel.
Comcast’s systems were otherwise working properly, Maslyn said.