PTC Asks CBS Stations To Preempt 'Swingtown'
PTC Cites Dexter, MMA Fights In Raising Concerns Over CBS.
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/9/2008 5:09:00 PM
The Parents Television Council has urged stations to preempt CBS' new couples-swapping drama Swingtown. It joins the American Family Association in calling on stations to pass on the show, which debuted last week.
“The CBS Television Network appears determined to reinvent itself as a cable network," said PTC President Tim Winter. He also complained when CBS aired the off-cable Dexter, taking the opportunity Monday to renew that criticism and add CBS' new EliteXC Saturday Night Fights to the list of shows that concerned the group.
"They [CBS] also appear determined to ignore common sense broadcast decency standards," said Winter in a statement Monday. "We are asking all CBS affiliates to consider pre-empting this show or to air it later in the evening if they believe the show’s content is not compatible with their community standards of decency."
It was PTC’s campaign complaining about CBS’ Janet Jackson Super Bowl half-time reveal that helped push that issue onto the front pages.
B&C received several e-mails over the past few days from what appeared to be the American Family Association (formerly the National Federation For Decency), asking that we [mistaken for a TV station] "refuse to air the show," as well as a similar letter from someone identifying herself as a member of the Center For Moral Clarity in Ohio.
B&C confirmed that AFA has launched such a campaign, but the Moral Clarity group had not returned a call at press time.
