Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, told the Commerce Committee of the United States Senate today that the now-infamous "nipplegate" incident during the Super Bowl halftime show on CBS was a "new low" in primetime television.

More than 200,000 complaints have been registered with America's media regulator in the wake of the incident, although this is a small number compared to the approximately 144m Americans who tuned into the Super Bowl.

Powell said:

"The now infamous display during the Super Bowl halftime show, which represented a new low in prime-time television, is just the latest example in a growing list of deplorable incidents over the nation's airwaves."