Following the death of George Floyd and riots led by "Black Lives Matter" across the country, A&E Network capitulated to demands to cancel the law enforcement show saying in a statement:
"This is a critical time in our nation's history and we have made the decision to cease production on Live PD. Going forward, we will determine if there is a clear pathway to tell the stories of both the community and the police officers whose role it is to serve them. And with that, we will be meeting with community and civil rights leaders as well as police departments."The woke move turned out to be a devastating financial mistake. Average prime-time viewership for A&E between June 11 and July 19 of this year was 498,000 people, which is down 49 percent from the same period last year. Additionally, for key demographics of adults 18-49 and 25-54, the declines are 55 percent and 53 percent, respectively. Before A&E pulled the show, its prime-time viewership was up 4 percent from the same period in 2019.
Ironically, the show promoted police transparency, one of the reforms championed 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-aired episodes on other days. It inspired several successful spinoff shows, which A&E also canceled.
When you include the now-canceled sister shows of Live PD, "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 brought in $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 they expected this "temporary hit in the ratings" given the success of "Live PD" and that it has been mostly replaced by reruns. The network expressed its confidence in being able to "find new hits and reinvent ourselves."
Comment: The CEOs responsible for this decision need to be fired.
"Live PD" fans, self-named "Live PD Nation," have been actively encouraging a boycott of A&E until "Live PD" and it's spin-offs return to the network.
Last month, Paramount Network canceled "Cops," another police reality show following officers. There are even cries to cancel "Paw Patrol", one of the most popular kids cartoons of our day, a show about six pups including Chase, a German Shepherd police dog. The show's intent, according to Nickelodeon, is to promote safety, heroism, and show children what it's like to work together with a team. However, critics expressed concern about the positive image of law enforcement projected by the kids animated series.
Networks and production companies have become hyper-aware of their portrayal of law enforcement since the BLM riots. Media reinforcing positive perceptions of law enforcement are now seen as dangerous by the woke leftist mob's narrative of systemic racism, particularly regarding criminal justice.
The movement to defund and even abolish police departments has gone from a radical, fringe idea to a culturally acceptable, if not mainstream idea in progressive cities and in the Democratic party.
Evita Duffy is an intern at The Federalist and a junior at the University of Chicago where she studies American history. She loves the Midwest, J.R.R. Tolkien, writing, & her family.
Reader Comments
Get woke, Go broke.
Don't be forsaken, instead, Awaken!
R.C.
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This network also censors the word "Jesus" at times. Which is just idiotic and shows their luciferian natures.
I was with my GF and her family when a Cops scene was shown, and I literally could not stop laughing for ten minutes to explain what it was I was laughing at. (I did manage to convey, in response to queries, "Yes, it was something I just saw on Cops that was causing my grand mal seizure of laughter.")
Back then, when doing criminal defense, almost every single defendant would come into one's office and offer to trade their 'sure-fire!" civil suit claim against the cops in exchange for the fees payable for their undeniably necessary criminal defense. Uniformly, their civil suit was directly related to the fact that, after they were handcuffed, and as they were being placed in the back seat of the cop car, their head would be intentionally smashed against the open door's upper framework (where it connects with the roof/ceiling of the car.)
I routinely had to explain that we couldn't do that, we needed to get paid, etc.
Then, around that time, I that night saw on Cops, (I didn't own a TV) some pig putting some poor SOB in the back seat, and carefully protecting the SOB's head, and SAYING 'Watch your head now..." Why? Only one reason: the camera.
I fell apart.
Ah, the value of a camera.
RC
Yes, I got arrested with my brother when I was a kid. Not my fault, no results.
THEN, around age 40? I got framed up and arrested by three different pig agencies in three different places three times in a two week period, each and all for nothing! Why? Because about a year previous to that, I did not legally kill two pigs who were breaking into my office at 1a.m., (long story omitted) but one of the bitches pissed all over my damn office.
I am still on the pigs' covert shitlist. See gangstalking, infragard, et al.
RC
BTW, whenever you read of a pig killing his wife and kid(s)? It is uniformly because they are breaking up and she has threatened to expose the standard lies and scams (especially of the drug war) against him.
RC
Consistently, that's where 'God gets in the details.'
(The uninator was the third.)
RC
R.C.
*Overstatement for humor is different, and I'm confident that I do not deceive about my past in telling my tales. Like Kent in Lear, I do my damnedest to not embroider, but to state, 'just so.'
RC
Such a classic film (I have it on DVD.) HILARIOUS! (But, in contrast, the bimbette pig did not come into my office intending to pee, to miterate, rather, fear created that., post entry) What great, witty dialog!
R.C.
Now this reminds me of a time where a random, not mine, asswipe criminal defendant, (which is redundant on almost all violent criminal defendants) started raising hell in a courtroom, the judge (a great guy) said, (after WAY too long) "Deputies, detain,arrest that man for contempt!", which they did while the scumbag resisted, screaming threats and imprecations, et al.
As he was still screaming and thrashing and they were just trying to hurry him out the door, (they had NO intent but to do what the judge had ordered) he decided to do a body flex (gut muscles, like a situp) as he was being walk/carried by the two bailiffs/deputies out of the courtroom.
When his head hid the doorjamb, the boom was super loud - a subtle shaking of the wall - and I had to stifle the volume of my laughter. It did seem to have a temporary 'calming' effect on the SOB, but only shortly, for about 3 seconds after the door closed, you could hear him screaming again at the bailiffs.
R.C.