NY DAILY NEWS SMACKFEST HOT97 Fined

BY AUSTIN FENNERDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERHip-hop station Hot 97 was slapped with a $300,000 bill yesterday for a twisted contest called "Smackfest" - and admitted the brutish gimmick wasn't its "finest hour."The station aired two dozen bouts of the game, which featured mostly female contestants competing to see how hard they could barehand each other in the face.State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer went after the station with a civil suit, claiming the contest violated the laws on combative sports.Hot 97's parent company, Emmis Communications, agreed to pay $240,000, plus $60,000 to the anti-violence nonprofit group Safe Horizons, to settle the case."Despite the fact that the contestants voluntarily participated in what was supposed to be harmless entertainment, it was not our finest hour, and New York City deserves better," Emmis Radio President Rick Cummings said.Hot 97 launched Smackfest in April 2004, inviting listeners to take shots at each other for concert tickets and a grand prize of $5,000.The station streamed video of the battles on the Internet, showing women cocking their arms to take open-handed slaps at their opponent's face.Barred from blocking the smacks, participants had to stand up straight and brace themselves for a crescendo of stinging blows.Spitzer said he hopes the price Hot 97 paid for its stunt will send a message to other broadcasters who push the envelope for ratings."This agreement should be a wakeup call to all those in the entertainment industry who think outrageousness is a clever marketing strategy," he said.Hot 97 has courted controversy before. The station came under fire this year for a racially charged parody of tsunami victims.