The Parents Television Council president Tim Winter says the new MTV scripted drama “Skins” doesn’t push the envelope on coarse programming. It shreds it.
“The content of the show is as egregious as anything we’ve seen on broadcast and basic cable,” says Winters, whose group battles back against an increasingly adult fare shown on television. While MTV maintains it will stick by the racy show, which depicts the lives of hedonistic teens in a very mature fashion, Winter says his group has only begun to fight.
The first episode, which aired Jan. 17, drew 2.7 million in the 12- to 34-year-old demo, according to The Hollywood Reporter. But advertisers are fleeing the program despite solid, albeit shrinking, ratings in subsequent weeks. So far, Taco Bell, Wrigley gum, General Motors, Subway, H&R Block and Schick have all pulled their ads from the show, an American take on a hit British show.
“Every major sponsor we contacted and said, ‘is this the kind of content that reflects their corporate values?’ has pulled out,” Winter says. He adds the network has trimmed some of the more salacious content from recent episodes in the hopes of luring advertisers back into the fold.
Winter says it doesn’t matter how much material MTV snips out of the show, which airs at 10 p.m. EST Monday nights.
“So long as the program glorifies children having sex with other children, glorifies children having sex with their teachers and engaging in drug use and alcohol,” we’re against it, he says.
What’s worse, the music network “has chosen to overtly, directly market the show to teenage children and younger,” he says, citing ads for the show running on the web site teen.com. “How many adults go to teen.com?”
Winter says MTV’s press release following the first episode boasted the number of 12-year-old children in the audience, adding the show’s producer said the program isn’t intended for kids but later boasted how it delivers the important teen demographic.
“It’s hypocrisy of the highest standard,” he says.
Previous TV shows and films depicting sexually charged teens employed actors over the age of 18 to tell their tales. Some “Skin” cast members are younger than 18, with at least one being 15 years of age, Winter says.
“That gives potential rise to child porn allegations,” says Winter, adding the PTC has encouraged legal authorities to investigate the show on those grounds.
On Feb. 2, the PTC released a statement asking its members and other concerned citizens to contact their state attorneys general regarding “Skins” to investigate whether local cable and satellite providers have violated state and local laws by distributing the explicit content.
MTV released a statement shortly after the imbroglio began saying, “We are confident that the episodes of ‘Skins’ will not only comply with all applicable legal requirements, but also with our responsibilities to our viewers.”
The network did not return a message for comment on this interview.
Supporters of the show either claim it’s a free speech issue or contend the programming won’t affect the minds of young viewers.
That’s not how the television model works, Winter says. Advertisers buy commercial time to change consumer behavior. So it’s disingenuous to say a show glorifying teen sexuality doesn’t influence young minds, he says.
“The media messages impact everyone every single day … it’s why advertisers spend money to promote their products,” he says.
The “Skins” issue points up to a problem traditional-minded consumers have with their cable outlets. Without access to a la carte programming options, where audiences can pick and choose the stations they wish to watch and support, issues like “Skins” will keep flaring up.
Part of a cable consumer’s monthly bill goes to MTV – “you can’t unsubscribe to it,” he says.
Winter says he’s disheartened when TV talent decide to green light a show like “Skins” in the first place.
“It demonstrates just how egregious some folks are in Hollywood … they want to be the coolest guy at the party as opposed to being responsible,” he says. “If MTV truly wanted to be responsible, they’d be doing a lot of things differently.”
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