Consumer protests about broadcast indecency and obscenity fell to a comparatively small 306 filings in December of 2006, according to statistics released by the Federal Communications Commission today. That's a 533 percent drop from September, when 163,533 consumers wrote in to complain.

These numbers may not reveal much about consumer mood in general. FCC indecency complaint trends are notoriously unpredictable, producing roller coaster statistical patterns. In December of 2005, 42,190 TV watchers and radio listeners felt strongly enough about something they saw or heard to submit a gripe.

But 2003 wins the prize for December filings. 76,987 consumers submitted comments that month, around the same time that Nicole Richie made her famous comment on the Billboard Music Awards: "Have you ever tried to get cow shit out of a Prada purse? It's not so fucking simple."

The FCC subsequently ruled that Richie's remarks were indecent. Fox Television has appealed the decision to a Federal court. which heard oral arguments on the case last December.

The all time complaint record remains February of 2004. On the first day of that month Janet Jackson revealed her right breast during a dance routine with Justin Timberlake at Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Over the next 28 days 543,255 people wrote to the FCC to express concerns about TV and radio indecency.