MTV's "Skins" Lost Half of Audience Monday, after Sponsor Pullouts Amid Uproar About Sexual Content
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) The audience for MTV's racy teen drama "Skins" plunged to 1.6 million Monday night, a drop-off of more than half from its premiere a week earlier, amid concerns that the show's sexual content may risk breaking the law, and after several sponsors pulled out.
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The viewer slump may signal a triumph for the Parents Television Council, a watchdog group that had blasted the series' content and accused MTV of aiming the show at underage viewers.
The furor was further inflamed by a newspaper story suggesting that scenes with the series' teenage actors, some of whom are minors, might violate federal child pornography laws. Last Thursday, The New York Times reported that unnamed executives at the network were concerned that the show might cross the line legally as well as graphically.
Based on an acclaimed British series of the same name, MTV's Americanized "Skins" depicts teens engaging in sexual activity as well as drug and alcohol abuse.
The premiere was seen by 3.3 million viewers, 1.2 million of them under 18. Since then, a number of advertisers - including Schick, Taco Bell, L'Oreal and the Subway sandwich chain - have pulled their commercials from the program.
The show's producers had been ordered to make changes to "tone down some of the most explicit content," the Times reported.
In response, MTV said in a statement, "We review all of our shows and work with all of our producers on an ongoing basis to ensure our shows comply with laws and community standards."
Monday's episode, which contained depictions of two brief sexual encounters, aired unchanged from the preview version shared with critics last month.