A&E caves - reinstates Duck Dynasty Patriarch, Phil Robertson - Granite Grok

A&E caves – reinstates Duck Dynasty Patriarch, Phil Robertson

I haven’t written as much as I should have about this – that’s what this weekend will be set for as the underlying issues are what are important and not just that a TV network suspending one of the stars of its best show.  That said, I am betting that this info had quite a bit to do with their white flag surrender:

According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, in the days after the Duck Dynasty patriarch was benched for his anti-gay remarks to GQ writer Drew Magary, A&E experienced a significant downturn in its deliveries. In the week of Dec. 16-22, A&E averaged 1.51 million viewers in prime time, down 13 percent from 1.73 million in the year-ago period.

The target demos took a bigger hit, as adults 25-54 dropped 22 percent to 678,000, while members of the 18-49 set fell 18 percent to 646,000.

Total-day deliveries also slumped, as overall viewers were down 11 percent to 792,000, while adults 25-54 dropped 20 percent to 361,000. A&E’s standing among adults 18-49 declined 15 percent to 367,000.

Those are huge numbers – and in just one week; a total meltdown across the board.  The article doesn’t say, but I’m betting their “Duck Dynastyapalooza” over Christmas gave them several lumps of coal – I am a fan (was hooked when I saw how they ended each program) and I can tell you that I skipped ALL of the shows on A&E.  So, who was A&E willing to cave to?  The stars of its #1 hit series (who really don’t need A&E in the first place)? The Gaystapo who thought they could get these swamp people to knuckle down to their brand of  Political Correctness (hey, it’s worked almost every other time)?  The viewers (who were acting towards the PCness of A&E like the TEA Party going after wayward RINOs)?

Or their real customers – their advertisers?  And when those advertisers saw those plummeting numbers, you can bet that A&E started to sweat.  All they could see in their near future was their commercial pricing going in an even steeper downward slope.

 

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