Outspoken rocker and hunter Ted Nugent will not be returning to the Discovery Channel.
In the aftermath of the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting rampage , Discovery has decided to discontinue Ted Nugent’s Gun Country , which premiered on October 10.
This follows a decision by the network to cancel the series American Guns , a reality show that followed a family of gun makers in Colorado. Discovery has not given an official reason for the cancellation of either program. After last Friday’s horrific school massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, however, the network did get inundated with social media comments about taking firearms-related shows off the air.
Although the Sandy Hook tragedy may have played a significant role in this programming decision, Nugent’s show wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire in the ratings, according to the Raw Story website:
“Speaking to Raw Story in remarks specified as ‘not for attribution,’ a spokesperson admitted that Ted Nugent’s Gun Country didn’t do very well when it aired in October, even with fellow firearms fashionistas. Nielsen Ratings placed the viewership at about 864,000 people in all.”
The cancellation perhaps came as a surprise to Nugent, according to Fox News , who was apparently under the impression the one-time special would become a part of Discovery’s ongoing schedule:
“Nugent did not respond to a request for comment, but he had said on a radio program in October that Discovery wanted to air his show ‘as a regular feature. We expect that there will be at least a dozen shows a year.’ “
Do you think Discovery’s programming decisions insofar as gun-culture content are appropriate in light of recent events?