FCC will consider petition to ban 'Redskins' name from airwaves: Report

It looks like opponents of the nickname Redskins may have found a way to hit NFL team owner Daniel Snyder where it is heard most — the airwaves.

The head of the Federal Communications Commission says the agency will consider a petition to ban the Washington Redskins name from the public air frequencies.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said Tuesday that the commission "will be dealing with that issue on the merits, and we'll be responding accordingly."

A law professor has challenged the use of the name on broadcast television, saying it violates FCC rules against indecent content. Native American and other groups have demanded the name be changed, calling it a racial slur.

The FCC, which enforces broadcast indecency violations, received a petition from legal activist John Banzhaf III, asking that regulators strip local radio station WWXX-FM of its broadcasting license when it comes up for renewal for using the name "Redskins."

Banzhaf says the word is racist, derogatory, profane and hateful, making its use "akin to broadcasting obscenity."

Wheeler did not offer a timetable for a ruling on the matter. He has previously said he finds the name "offensive and derogatory," but that he hoped Snyder would change it without any formal action.

Snyder has vowed never to change the name.