Janet Jackson's Super Bowl breast-baring is starting to have a nipple -- er, ripple -- effect on other networks.

NBC has decided to cut a few seconds of footage from Thursday's (Feb. 5) episode of "ER" that showed an elderly woman's breast in the background of a scene. The woman's body is exposed as doctors are giving emergency care to her.

The network says it made the decision after hearing concerns from its affiliates. "Though we continue to believe the shot is appropriate and in context ... we have unfortunately concluded that the atmosphere created by this week's events has made it too difficult for many of our affiliates to air this shot," NBC says in a statement.

"ER" executive producer John Wells says he's not happy with the decision, moreso for what it may say about network politics than what the cut does to the episode.

"It's really not about this," Wells tells The Hollywood Reporter. "We could've easily cut the small piece of the breast, and it does no damage to the show whatsoever. But the chilling effect of having this one incident now affect programming content across all the networks, that's what I'm concerned about."

Jackson's sort-of accidental striptease at Sunday's Super Bowl prompted a howl of media outrage and made the broadcast the subject of an FCC investigation.

NBC's affiliate board first raised concerns about the "ER" scene at an industry convention last month. In the wake of the Super Bowl incident, board chairman Roger Ogden of Denver's KUSA says the affiliates decided "it wasn't in the best interest of the network or the affiliates to include the shot."