Editing will prove tricky when 'The Walking Dead' moves to broadcast TV

The dead will rise, but the zombies might be ripping off fewer body parts when “The Walking Dead” comes to network TV this fall.
An edited version of the hit AMC cable show — arguably one of the best dramas currently on television — will make the difficult leap from cable to broadcast TV. “Walking Dead” repeats will air on the Fox-owned MyNetworkTV stations across the nation, including locally on WWOR/Ch.9.
It’s not going to be an easy transition. Cable, after all, is not bound by the same FCC content regulations that broadcasters are compelled by law to follow.
“Dead” is indeed one of the darkest, most violent shows on TV. That makes sense since it follows a group of people fighting to survive in a postapocalyptic world. Most of the population has turned into flesh-eating zombies — monsters who ooze ichor and slough off bits of rotting meat as they hunt.
Sources at the station group admit they are wrestling with how to edit the show for a broadcast network. But they assure anyone who asks that the series will conform to TV-14 standards. The FCC defines those like this: “Parents are cautioned against letting children under the age of 14 watch unattended.” See more