Station fined over slap contest

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer called the settlement a "wake-up call"

A New York radio station has been fined $240,000 (£134,480) over an on-air contest called Smackfest, in which women slapped each other to win prizes.

Part of WQHT Hot 97's settlement - the maximum for the offence - will go to a domestic violence awareness charity.

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer investigated the station for a potential violation of state law on promotion of a combative sport.

Hot 97 recently fired employees over an offensive song about the Asian tsunami.

The Attorney General and the Athletic Commission said the station ran the contest, in which young women "violently" slapped each other, between April 2004 to January 2005.

Prizes on offer included concert tickets and up to $5,000 (£2,802) cash. Footage of the contests was made available on the station's website.

The law establishes set boundaries that cannot be crossed to protect our community's health and safety Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General

"This agreement should be a wake-up call to all those in the entertainment industry who think outrageousness is a clever marketing strategy," Mr Spitzer said.

"The law establishes set boundaries that cannot be crossed to protect our community's health and safety."

Emmis Radio, which owns hip hop station Hot 97, said the contestants were all volunteers but noted "it was not our finest hour, and New York City deserves better".

As part of the settlement, the station will also advertise domestic violence charity Safe Horizons on its website and publicity events for five months.

Earlier this year the station came in for heavy criticism when it played a spoof song about the devastating Boxing Day tsunami, written by one of its producers.

A producer and presenter were sacked for playing the song, which Emmis admitted was "morally indefensible".