PETITION TO NBC: PLEASE DROP KSL-TV AS AN AFFILIATE, IMMEDIATELY!

 

I wrote in my last blog entry how KSL-TV in Utah had chosen not to air "The New Normal," Ryan Murphy's new show on NBC about a gay couple and their surrogate having a child. The station is owned by Bonneville International Corporation, which is a company owned and created by the Church of Jesus Christ for Latter-Day Saints, through a for-profit arm of the  church called Deseret Management Corporation. In the past, the station refused to air NBC's show, "The Playboy Club," and short-lived American version of "Coupling" and they also, I learned today, they don't air "Saturday Night Live". They also change a few times for their shows on a regular basis, like the last hour of "Today" and "Days of Our Lives". Alright, I can't take this anymore, I said earlier that I didn't understand why NBC had this station as one of it's affiliates before, but now, I'm just calling for it. Consider this blogpost a petition to NBC for them to cut KSL-TV as an affiliate.

Ellen Barkin, who stars on "The New Normal," calls KSL-TV's actions, censorship, and she's right. There's no legitimate reason for banning these shows. I'll go a step further, I don't think affiliates should have the right to not air a program. I mean, what-the-hell is the point of being an affiliate of a network, if you're not gonna air the network's shows? It's not like NBC doesn't have a choice here, they can easily switch affiliates with an Independent channel in Utah if they wanted, or  they don't have to have an affiliate in Utah at all, if they didn't want to. I wouldn't if one affiliate was gonna keep treating the channel like those two guys in "Good Morning, Vietnam," that kept editing out the news of the war, so the troops don't hear anything about the war going lousy, as those they wouldn't know to begin with. The local CW station, KUCW is basically acting as NBC's version of BBC2 by airing all the programs KSL-TV refuses to air, why not switch to another channel. I don't know what the difficulties are involved with that, or if there's some kind of contract agreement that they have to get out of from that, but whatever-the-hell it'd take, I'd do it first chance I'd get. Why should an affiliate TV station have that much power over NBC, I don't get it? Especially this station, which is blatantly blocking selected programs. (And stupid personal and political purposes they are, I might add) It's very selective by the way, because KSL-TV does allow programs like "Law & Order: SVU," which is about rape and murder every episode, and has even broadcasted "The Book of Daniel," which was banned from many NBC affiliates, especially in the South. It is simply, by the way, 'cause gays having kids, this isn't even a new thing to see on TV. "Modern Family"'s been on the air for it's fourth season! "Will & Grace" was on NBC, they had a kid at the end of that series, as far as I can tell, they didn't ban that show at all. Hell, there have been gay characters having kids on TV since "Soap"!

Alright, I realize I'm starting to let my disgust take control of me, and make my thoughts come out in irrational spouts of anger, but this really so beyond stupid...- How can I explain this? Here we go, it shouldn't be the affiliate or the stations job to tell us what to watch on TV. That's my job. I'm an audience member. Maybe I'll like "The New Normal," maybe I won't, (Actually, considering what I generally think of Ryan Murphy's crap, I probably won't.) but once NBC announces that they've bought episodes, and they're putting their show on the Fall schedule, it's my job, to watch, or change the channel. (Or turn off the TV if there's really nothing on.) I can't stand Murphy's "Glee" for example. I think's it's a terrible show. One of the worst of all-time actually. I can't even understand how to respond to that show. Is it a parody of the "High School Musical" thing, is it supposed to be taken seriously, is it a comedy, are they actually singing or is it in their mind,- I seriously try watching, and am so confused by the whole concept, that I can't even understand enough to hate it, really. More than "Lost," even, that show completely loses me, in the most basic understanding of concept. Saying that, I would gladly defend Glee's right to be on TV, if one of the FOX stations decided not to show it. An affiliate, is not a brand, like KSL-TV is trying to claim it is,  it's a messenger. NBC is the brand. Affiliates have certain controls over programming, but they shouldn't have the kind of power to abuse these controls like this. The keyword in that last sentence is "Affiliates", with an S. When affiliates, have a problem with a program, then they may have an argument. This happened with NBC famously a couple years ago, when they decided to put Jay Leno on at ten o'clock, affiliates started complaining to NBC. Why, you may ask were they complaining about Jay Leno, and why this beef was legitimate? The 10 o'clock hour is crucial for most affiliates, because it's the lead-in to their local news, which is how most affiliates make their money. The advertisements on the news programs, usually brings in the the most amount of money for an affiliate than any of the other programs on the channel. Since affiliates produce the news programs themselves, they have to charge a higher adbuy-rate for the advertising, so getting higher ratings is crucial for your news programs, especially the late-night news, is incredibly critical. By-the-way, I was the one, who loved Leno's 10 o'clock show. Watch almost every episode, loved Conan at 11:30pm, thought it was great, but it basically kept most of the format from "The Tonight Show", unlike, a drama series on at 10pm, which is usually intense, and involves a story that requires people watching the entire episode. What was happening with Leno was that people were tuning out on Leno, especially later in the show, when they'd have guests. So, the channels that had, the higher-rated drama series at ten o'clock, after the show, the news would be on, and most people, don't change the channel to a specific news channel they may prefer, especially at 11, NBC's affiliates started complaining about their primetime news's ratings going down, because of Leno. That's really what caused the major late shift Leno-Conan clusterfuck a couple years ago. since it wasn't just one either, it was a bunch of them complaining. That's where affiliates have power, money. When affiliates don't make money, well, then there's no channel, so NBC wouldn't have a station or a 100 anymore, and that could've been catastrophic. (Alright, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it wouldn't been good.) Now, if I was an NBC affiliate, anywhere, I'd be calling NBC to put back-to-back episodes of "The New Normal" on at ten o'clock, because now the show has basically been lifted to the stratosphere because of this controversy, and now most everybody's gonna want to see it. KSL-TV is one affiliate that is acting like NBC, and NBC shouldn't take it.

NBC, you're one of the major networks in America. KSL-TV is refusing to broadcast your content, without any legitimate just cause and aren't acting in the best interests of NBC or themselves as a broadcasting station. If you need anymore proof of that by the way, KSL-TV still, (at least until recently) signs off for an hour and a half once-a-week. That's right, they shut down and show color bars. Couldn't put on a paid program and make a little extra money? I strongly advise that you sever all ties with KSL-TV as soon as possible.

If anybody else feels the same way, I'd recommend contacting NBC and tell them the same thing, as I am. Hey, I said this was a petition. Comment on the blog by typing your name below. It'll be considered a signature.