The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has ordered a group of ABC Television stations to pay a $1.4-million US fine over an episode of NYPD Blue that showed nudity.

In a notice filed Friday, the FCC said it would fine 52 ABC affiliate stations in the Central and Mountain time zones for airing the episode.

The agency said it had numerous complaints over a 2003 show in which a boy surprises a woman as she prepares to take a shower.

The episode of the long-running police show included multiple shots of the woman's naked buttocks, the FCC said.

The FCC found the nudity qualifies as indecent because "it depicts sexual organs and excretory organs."

ABC had argued against the fine, saying the buttocks are not a sexual organ and that fans of NYPD Blue would be well aware of the "realistic nature of its storylines."

ABC, owned by the Walt Disney Co., plans to appeal the ruling.

Stations in the Eastern and Pacific time zones were exempt because they broadcast the episode at 10 p.m. local time, while the affiliates being fined broadcast it at 9 p.m.

The $1.4 million well exceeds the $550,000 US levied against CBS over Janet Jackson's breast-baring incident during the 2004 Super Bowl. The station is challenging that decision in federal court.

With files from the Associated Press