bluecat
March 31st, 2001, 10:12 AM
Dr. Laura gets the Axe from Paramount Studious ...
Paramount Ends Dr. Laura's TV Show Amid Controversy
March 30, 2001 5:25 pm EST
By Sarah Tippit
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The struggling TV talk show hosted by Dr. Laura Schlessinger, whose outspoken commentaries outraged homosexuals and spurred ratings declines, taped its final episode on Thursday, Paramount officials said.
The announcement on Friday came seven months after the syndicated "Dr. Laura" show premiered amid an uproar in the gay and lesbian community. At issue were Schlessinger's comments on her syndicated radio show referring to homosexuality as "deviant" and "a biological error" which spurred a vigorous campaign urging advertisers to drop her shows and an almost immediate ratings decline.
In a statement, Schlessinger said, "I have mixed feelings about the show ending after one season. On the one hand, I'm relieved, because taping a one-hour show for television and then doing three live hours of radio every day was exhausting. On the other hand, I'm very proud of the show and sad we won't continue."
Schlessinger added: "We set out to create a program that offered daytime audiences a true alternative and we succeeded. I believe it could have earned a substantial audience in time, but the television advertiser boycott precluded that."
Officials at Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Domestic Television Declined to comment on the move, but said in a statement that the show finished taping its production commitment for the 2000/2001 season and would be available for the 232 stations on which it has aired nationwide.
"While the daily taping schedule for this season has concluded, original episodes will continue to be edited and will be available for broadcast by stations through September, 2001," Paramount said. "We commend Dr. Laura, her producers and staff, for their desire to create an alternative program for daytime viewers, and are proud of their efforts to do so."
After the show premiered last year Schlessinger's detractors mounted a vigorous campaign urging advertisers to drop sponsorship of both her programs. More than 90 sponsors across the U.S. eventually dropped ads to the TV show.
By November the show had been bumped to the graveyard shift by CBS-owned stations in seven big cities -- a sign that the end was near for the broadcast moralist's foray into television. Paramount is a sister company to CBS since Paramount's parent Viacom acquired CBS in a 1999 merger.
Gay and lesbian advocates on Friday cheered the show's demise saying it sends a strong message to broadcasters about the content of their programming.
"I think that this has been a culmination of our work of education and advocacy over the last couple of years," said Joan Garry, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "The gay community has sent a very strong message that we're no longer an easy mark. We hope that the lesson learned here is that media outlets will think twice before giving a platform to anybody who is provocative at the expense of our community."
Garry added that "We respect Laura's right to have an opinion but nobody has a First Amendment right to a television show."
Schlessinger's syndicated radio show, where she dispenses advice that reaches an estimated 18 million listeners, often railing against abortion, divorce and interfaith marriage, remains stable, said Keven Bellows, senior vice president and general manager at the show's syndicator, Premiere Radio Networks. "Her ratings are way up, audience way up, radio show flying high," Bellows said Friday.
Schlessinger repeatedly denied being anti-gay or intending to foment intolerance, saying her most controversial remarks "were used in a clinical context" that were not meant to disparage homosexuals.
Let's see what happens next!
Steve
Paramount Ends Dr. Laura's TV Show Amid Controversy
March 30, 2001 5:25 pm EST
By Sarah Tippit
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The struggling TV talk show hosted by Dr. Laura Schlessinger, whose outspoken commentaries outraged homosexuals and spurred ratings declines, taped its final episode on Thursday, Paramount officials said.
The announcement on Friday came seven months after the syndicated "Dr. Laura" show premiered amid an uproar in the gay and lesbian community. At issue were Schlessinger's comments on her syndicated radio show referring to homosexuality as "deviant" and "a biological error" which spurred a vigorous campaign urging advertisers to drop her shows and an almost immediate ratings decline.
In a statement, Schlessinger said, "I have mixed feelings about the show ending after one season. On the one hand, I'm relieved, because taping a one-hour show for television and then doing three live hours of radio every day was exhausting. On the other hand, I'm very proud of the show and sad we won't continue."
Schlessinger added: "We set out to create a program that offered daytime audiences a true alternative and we succeeded. I believe it could have earned a substantial audience in time, but the television advertiser boycott precluded that."
Officials at Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Domestic Television Declined to comment on the move, but said in a statement that the show finished taping its production commitment for the 2000/2001 season and would be available for the 232 stations on which it has aired nationwide.
"While the daily taping schedule for this season has concluded, original episodes will continue to be edited and will be available for broadcast by stations through September, 2001," Paramount said. "We commend Dr. Laura, her producers and staff, for their desire to create an alternative program for daytime viewers, and are proud of their efforts to do so."
After the show premiered last year Schlessinger's detractors mounted a vigorous campaign urging advertisers to drop sponsorship of both her programs. More than 90 sponsors across the U.S. eventually dropped ads to the TV show.
By November the show had been bumped to the graveyard shift by CBS-owned stations in seven big cities -- a sign that the end was near for the broadcast moralist's foray into television. Paramount is a sister company to CBS since Paramount's parent Viacom acquired CBS in a 1999 merger.
Gay and lesbian advocates on Friday cheered the show's demise saying it sends a strong message to broadcasters about the content of their programming.
"I think that this has been a culmination of our work of education and advocacy over the last couple of years," said Joan Garry, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "The gay community has sent a very strong message that we're no longer an easy mark. We hope that the lesson learned here is that media outlets will think twice before giving a platform to anybody who is provocative at the expense of our community."
Garry added that "We respect Laura's right to have an opinion but nobody has a First Amendment right to a television show."
Schlessinger's syndicated radio show, where she dispenses advice that reaches an estimated 18 million listeners, often railing against abortion, divorce and interfaith marriage, remains stable, said Keven Bellows, senior vice president and general manager at the show's syndicator, Premiere Radio Networks. "Her ratings are way up, audience way up, radio show flying high," Bellows said Friday.
Schlessinger repeatedly denied being anti-gay or intending to foment intolerance, saying her most controversial remarks "were used in a clinical context" that were not meant to disparage homosexuals.
Let's see what happens next!
Steve