Missouri NBC Affiliate Pulls 'Fear Factor'

[John]

Missouri NBC Affiliate Pulls 'Fear Factor'
Wed, Jan 8, 2003 05:01 PM PDT

by Rick Porter
Zap2it, TV News

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - An NBC affiliate in Missouri pre-empted Monday's (Jan. 6) episode of "Fear Factor," in which contestants were asked to eata piece of horse rectum.

Mike Scott, president and general manager of KYTV in Springfield, Mo., says the decision was made Monday. He acknowledges that the stunt show regularly pushes the envelope of good taste, but the horse-rectum stunt "seemed over the line."

"I don't look at it as censorship," Scott tells Zap2it. "Our station has an image that we try to develop in the community, and this didn't fit with what we want to portray." Scott also says he thought the episode should have carried a stronger rating than the TV-PG it was assigned.

KYTV made the decision to pull the episode Monday. Because of the abbreviated time the station had to find replacement programming, Scott says, reruns of old shows "Dragnet" and "McHale's Navy" ended up running in its place.

Scott says he notified NBC of the decision, and the network didn't object. The station's affiliate contract allows it to pre-empt programming it deems unsuitable, Scott says.

Viewers seem to agree with the decision. As of Wednesday (Jan. 8), response to KYTV was running about 60-40 in favor, Scott says. In hindsight, however, he says he might have aired the episode in late night so viewers would at least have some chance to see it.

NBC has no comment on the matter.

Springfield is a city of about 150,000 in southern Missouri. KYTV serves about 400,000 households in the country's 73rd-largest TV market.

KYTV's removal of the show didn't have much effect on the national ratings. "Fear Factor" had its best performance since March 2002, drawing 15.1 million viewers.

[fluff]

Sorry, but this is kind of amusing coming from a station called KYTV.

I would be annoyed if I were an FF fan living there.
I think it's up to the individuals to censor their viewing of the stunt, vote with your remote. I don't like that the network made the decision.

[JR.]

Great, someone else deciding what's good for everybody. I hate when people do this.

[fluff]

Me too JR.
The program always has warnings, plus I doubt there are many people who don't know what to expect from the show.

I would rather decide for myself what is suitable viewing for me.

[Leo]

I think the affiliate forgot that there's such a thing as an "off" switch. :rolleyes

[fluff]

Exactly.
I just don't think it's their place to censor in this way.

[Lander]

Well, keep in mind that the local station is owned by somebody, adn their agreement with the network allows them to pull programming that they don't want to show. The owner of the station has every right to decide what they want to offer on their station, just like the owner of the local corner store has every right to decide if they want to offer something for sale or not.


While I disagree with pulling the show entirely (they could have offered it up in a later time slot, like after midnight or something), I fully support the local stations right to air what they feel is quality programming. My local ABC station, years ago, preempted an entire series because they disagreed with the content. While I disagreed with them doing it, they fully had that right. I personally would like to see FF skip all this food challenge garbage, it adds nothing to the show and is basically disgusting, but until then, I have ff on my TiVo.

[nofx242]

I dont think they should have the right to change what is on the schedule. If I was NBC I would tell them no unless it was for a local special they were airing. Did they think they were going to corupt some young minds. Some 8 year watching saying umm those Horse rectums sure look tasty I think Ill go try one.

[Lander]

I'm fairly certain that network affiliates can pull anything they want for any reason they want. And to me, this is a good thing, as, like politics, it should all be local.

[eny]

Hey Springfield was the hometown of Bachelor 2 Aaron Buerge. Lucky thing he applied for bachelor instead Of FF.
Where is spey ? I know she's from there as she gave us Aaron updates.

All they have to do is air it with a suitable disclaimer if they feel uncomfortable with the contents, and let the viewers make their own choice.