ABC is to appeal a $1.4m Federal Communications Commission fine for an episode of NYPD Blue that showed a woman's buttocks and the side of her breast.

The regulator announced its intended punishment for the "multiple, close-up views" last month following argument since the episode was broadcast on February 25, 2003.

The row will now continue after ABC, and its affiliates that broadcast the show, said they would dispute the fee.

The network said in a statement: "ABC strongly opposed the proposed fine, noting that when the brief scene in question was telecast almost five years ago, this critically acclaimed drama had been on the air for a decade and the realistic nature of its story lines were well known to the viewing public, and arguing that the FCC's action was inconsistent with the commission's own indecency standards, procedural requirements, and prior decisions, with the indecency statute, and with the First Amendment."

Ray Cole, chairman of the ABC Affiliates Association, which represents the 50 non-network-owned stations involved, added: "ABC affiliates believe that the process and procedures employed by the commission in the handling of this matter were deeply flawed and violate well-settled legal standards."

The FCC said the episode was "indecent". The fine is $27,500, the maximum possible under the law at the time, multiplied by the 52 stations.