Cable TV ratings for the A&E Network have plummeted since it canceled the hit police reality show “Live PD” on June 10, according to the Wall Street Journal.
After the death of George Floyd and unrest led by “Black Lives Matter” across the country, A&E Network gave in to demands to cancel the law enforcement program by saying in a statement:
“This is a critical moment in our nation’s history and we have made the decision to cease production on Live PD. In the future, we will determine if there is a clear path to tell the stories of both the community and the police officers whose role it is to serve them. And with that, we will meet with community and civil rights leaders, as well as police departments. ”
The awakening movement turned out to be a devastating financial mistake. The average primetime audience for A&E between June 11 and July 19 this year was 498,000 people, representing a 49 percent decrease from the same period last year. In addition, for key demographic data for adults 18-49 and 25-54, the declines are 55 percent and 53 percent, respectively. Before A&E pulled the show, its primetime viewership increased 4 percent from the same period in 2019.
Ironically, the program promoted police transparency, one of the reforms promoted by BLM and others, by following officers on their rounds in cities across the country. “Live PD” averaged about 1.9 million viewers for its Friday and Saturday night episodes and re-broadcast episodes on other days. It inspired several successful derivative programs, which A&E also canceled.
When it includes Live PD’s now canceled sister programs “Live PD: Police Patrol” and “Live PD Presents: PD Cam,” the Live PD universe accounted for more than 85 percent of A&E’s daily programming.
In 2019, the “Live PD” empire generated $ 292.6 million in advertising, according to ad tracking firm Kantar Media. For the first quarter of 2020, the programs sold $ 95.8 million in advertising.
A&E told the Journal that they expected this “temporary ratings success” given the success of “Live PD” and that it has mostly been replaced by reruns. The network expressed its confidence in being able to “find new successes and reinvent itself.”
Fans of “Live PD”, calling themselves “Live PD Nation”, have been actively encouraging an A&E boycott until “Live PD” and its spin-offs return to the network.
Last month, Paramount Network canceled “Cops” Another police reality show that follows the officers. There are even screams to cancel “Paw patrol“, One of the most popular children’s cartoons of today, a show about six puppies that includes Chase, a German Shepherd Police Dog. The intention of the show, according to nickelodeon, is to promote safety, heroism and show children what it is to work as a team. However, critics expressed concern about the positive image of law enforcement projected by the children’s animated series.
Networks and production companies have become very aware of their representation of law enforcement since the BLM riots. Media reinforcing positive perceptions of law enforcement are now considered dangerous by the leftist mafia narrative of systemic racism, particularly when it comes to criminal justice.
The move to disburse and even abolish Police departments went from being a radical and marginal idea to a culturally acceptable, if not common, idea in progressive cities and in the Democratic party.
Evita Duffy is an intern at The Federalist and a third-year student at the University of Chicago, where she studies American history. She loves the Midwest, JRR Tolkien, writing, and her family.
