KSL/Salt Lake City Says No To "Playboy Club"

[nomadcowatbk]

@nomadcowatbk: SportsBeat Saturday, a sports wrap-up program, remains from the CBS days.

I also should note that The Book of Daniel, the other controversial religious program NBC aired in the last five years, was cleared on KSL despite not airing on the NBC affiliates in markets like Little Rock and Tupelo.

Will "Playboy Club" air in Tupelo? In a small market, a local preacher can get enough people to complain about a show to make a station scared. I guess Book of Daniel aired in Salt Lake because it didn't insult Mormons. When WFAA in Dallas turned down NYPC Blue it aired on what was then the Fox station

 

[BRNout]

If I were at NBC, and got say, KUCW to carry The Playboy Club, I would ask them, "Would you like some Football with that?"

I think that they still take some - one Sunday in October when LDS General Conference is on KSL wall to wall.

 

[TroyG]

I might have a strong feeling that KSL 5 could go Independent, just like KJZZ-14. (K-JAZZ) KSL has strong ties with The Mormon Church, and KJZZ happens to be owned by The Family of The Late Larry Miller, who happens to be a devout Mormon. KSL refuses to carry SNL after it picked up the NBC affiliation from KUTV, sending it over to KUCW. KSL can't show anything racy or something that might have some adult crude humor/language, like the aforemention SNL. What's next for NBC: The 2011 Miss USA & The Miss Universe Pageants, in which female contestants shows off their bodies in the swimsuit competition. And I believe KSL won't be showing it.

 

[bpatrick]

I'll be interested in seeing how many NBC affiliates in
the South reject "Playboy Club." We had quite a few ABC
ones refuse "NYPD Blue" when it was new; also, I seem to
recall WSMV Nashville and KARK Little Rock turning down
"The Book Of Daniel." And some will pre-empt specials
management thinks are offensive; I still remember when
CBS aired a Victoria's Secret special and WFMY turned it
down.

But if a station is supposed to serve "the public interest,
convenience, and necessity," and KSL feels "Playboy Club"
would offend a substantial part of the Salt Lake City market,
then it has to do what it has to do, and that's pre-empt it.
Also watch and see what the NBC affiliates in some other
high-Mormon-population markets (mostly in the Mountain time
zone, like Boise) do with it.

 

[Sammi Brie]

I'll be interested in seeing how many NBC affiliates in
the South reject "Playboy Club."  We had quite a few ABC
ones refuse "NYPD Blue" when it was new; also, I seem to
recall WSMV Nashville and KARK Little Rock turning down
"The Book Of Daniel."  And some will pre-empt specials
management thinks are offensive; I still remember when
CBS aired a Victoria's Secret special and WFMY turned it
down.

But if a station is supposed to serve "the public interest,
convenience, and necessity," and KSL feels "Playboy Club"
would offend a substantial part of the Salt Lake City market,
then it has to do what it has to do, and that's pre-empt it.
Also watch and see what the NBC affiliates in some other
high-Mormon-population markets (mostly in the Mountain time
zone, like Boise) do with it.

Yes, KARK did preempt The Book of Daniel. It aired on KWBF-42 (now KARZ, sister station to KARK) and the station had to hire security due to threatening correspondence it received.

I might have a strong feeling that KSL 5 could go Independent, just like KJZZ-14...

UPN, which KJZZ aired, would have been a bust in SLC anyways. Too "black urban" for the market. Wikipedia states that "in 1995, KJZZ became a charter affiliate of [UPN]. However in October 2000, KJZZ made national headlines when it warned it would assert its contractual right to back out of its UPN contract if UPN increased its "urban/ethnic programming" to more than two hours per week. From KJZZ's perspective its designated market area has about the lowest percentage of African American demographic for any DMA in the United States. UPN officials were outraged at this demand and considering UPN's national programming strategy, the two parties parted ways [and UPN went to another station]".

 

[jsu5381m]

I'm suprised The Office aired on KSL.

 

[DToTheJ]

...I also should note that The Book of Daniel, the other controversial religious program NBC aired in the last five years, was cleared on KSL despite not airing on the NBC affiliates in markets like Little Rock and Tupelo.

Then there's the short-lived animated series "God, The Devil and Bob" that I believe only a few NBC stations batted an eye at - not sure if KSL was one of them...

 

[trusty]

"The show that is banned in Salt Lake City." Just how much is that a PR boost for NBC?

 

[azumanga]

Wikipedia states that "in 1995, KJZZ became a charter affiliate of [UPN]. However in October 2000, KJZZ made national headlines when it warned it would assert its contractual right to back out of its UPN contract if UPN increased its "urban/ethnic programming" to more than two hours per week. From KJZZ's perspective its designated market area has about the lowest percentage of African American demographic for any DMA in the United States. UPN officials were outraged at this demand and considering UPN's national programming strategy, the two parties parted ways [and UPN went to another station]".

That "other station" being KPNZ, which was a rather-new, two year old station when they picked up UPN in 2000. The station would later drop UPN's programming during the network's final months on air, in retaliation to being passed over for the new CW network (which went to KUCW). KPNZ is now owned by Liberman, as an Estrella TV, which no doubt airs programming that would rankle many a Mormon (such as "José Luis Sin Censura").

"The show that is banned in Salt Lake City." Just how much is that a PR boost for NBC?

In 1979, NBC did a similar trick with its version of "Number 96", saying in its ads that it was "Banned in Australia", never mind that the original version there had nudity and aired with little objection. The NBC version was canned after a few weeks.

Of course, I wonder if KSL is pre-empting "The Playboy Club" based on the name alone? I recall back in high school in the 1980s when my English teacher showed the 1971 film "Macbeth" in class -- on the video cover and label, she placed a label over the copyright, as it was co-produced by Playboy (the film itself was Rated R, but for violence, as it had no frontal nudity or sex).

Along the same token, did any Utah stations show "Playboy After Dark" in 1969-1971?

 

[searadiofreak]

The percentage of LDS in Utah is declining. It is currently around 60% in the state, and in Salt Lake County it is just 50%

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705266634/LDS-population-of-Utah-declining.html

As for SNL, it is odd that while they don't run the regular Saturday night show, they do run SNL's prime time specials. Or atleast in the past they have.

 

[kenglish]

The main thing that was mentioned is the "brand" tie-in with Playboy. I have to wonder, if the show had been named, simply, "The Club" and had used some other (fictional) nightclub and (less recognizable) costuming, perhaps with some guarantee from NBC of what the plot would be about, would KSL have looked at it differently?
A show that looked more at interpersonal relationships and the effects of the unorthodox work that the people did, minus the tie-in to the existing Playboy brand, might have stood more of a chance.
That's my own take on it all.

As it is, KSL plans to locally produce a new "magazine" show, to fill the time slot. If "Playboy Club" tanks in five episodes, only management knows what they will do.

 

[Nate Wesley]

"The Jay Leno Show" was a guaranteed smash hit, airing five hours a week.

Whaaaaa? It was a disaster in just about every way possible. And nothing was guaranteed!

Your sarcasm meter needs calibration.

 

[nick p]

NBC chief is confident KSL will be the only station to boycott "The Playboy Club

 

[Ultimajock]

Then there's the short-lived animated series "God, The Devil and Bob" that I believe only a few NBC stations batted an eye at - not sure if KSL was one of them...

...it was. KJZZ picked up God, The Devil & Bob on (IIRC) a two- or three-day delay...

 

[azumanga]

Then there's the short-lived animated series "God, The Devil and Bob" that I believe only a few NBC stations batted an eye at - not sure if KSL was one of them...

...it was. KJZZ picked up God, The Devil & Bob on (IIRC) a two- or three-day delay...

Surprisingly, KJZZ's owner, Larry Miller, is a Mormon, who owned the station since 1993 -- as for why one Mormon institution dumped that show and was picked up by another Mormon institution, I have no idea.

Today, as KSL controls KJZZ in an LMA, KJZZ is disqualified from picking up anything that KSL rejects on moral grounds.

 

[kenglish]

KSL only operates the technical facility for KJZZ...Satellite downlinks, program ingest/playback, commercial insertion.
The video and audio are then handed off to KJZZ at the Delta Center, for insertion of live programming (D.C. Studio), and transmission.
KJZZ makes their own programming decisions, and makes their own Program Logs.

 

[TexasTom]

When WFAA in Dallas turned down NYPC Blue it aired on what was then the Fox station

No, it ran on KTXA, channel 21, which was an independent station at the time (it was subsequently UPN, and is now independent again). The Fox station at the time was KDAF, channel 33.

 

[DToTheJ]

...In 1979, NBC did a similar trick with its version of "Number 96", saying in its ads that it was "Banned in Australia", never mind that the original version there had nudity and aired with little objection. The NBC version was canned after a few weeks...

Boy, this is the first I'm hearing of this show... sounds like a better selling point than that of their "Stressed Eric" animated British import - remember the ads proclaiming Eric was "badder than Bart" and the show being "spicier than South Park"? I bet KSL rejected this, too, based on the ads alone...

 

[rgseark2009]

I'll be interested in seeing how many NBC affiliates in
the South reject "Playboy Club." We had quite a few ABC
ones refuse "NYPD Blue" when it was new; also, I seem to
recall WSMV Nashville and KARK Little Rock turning down
"The Book Of Daniel." And some will pre-empt specials
management thinks are offensive; I still remember when
CBS aired a Victoria's Secret special and WFMY turned it
down.

KTHV Little Rock preempted The Victoria's Secret Fashion show from 2001-2003 (no show in 2004) and 2005-2009. It was only in 2010 that KTHV relented and allowed it on the air. Ironicly, it was also the first year that WXVT Greenwood MS started broadcasting CBS programming in HDTV and I got to see the show on both stations (WXVT via tropo scatter). The last major preemption for KARK was the Book Of Daniel fiasco in 2006---it got shifted to KWBF-TV which today is KARZ, a sister station of.....KARK since 2009. Actually, the preemption king in the Little Rock market is KATV but its usually for sports, or infomercials.

I don't think there will be an issue with KARK running TPC, or KTVE. But I think it could be a question mark for WNBD-LD the new Greenville-Greenwood MS NBC affiliate or WTVA Tupelo MS. I hope WTVA runs the show just to give a finger to the bullies of the Wildmon Gang (aka American "Family" (boycott) Association).

 

[Al Timiter]

I think it's hilarious that these various "family values" groups critisize shows that they haven't even seen and thus give the show and the network showing it, free publicity, almost guarenteeing it will debut with high numbers. How ironic.