NBC Cools On "Predator" After Advertiser Complaints, Lawsuits

New York Times:

So why does NBC seem to be scaling back its commitment to "To Catch a Predator"? The network has filmed only one sting operation so far this year, compared with seven in 2006. In several ways, the high ratings for "Predator" have come at a high price for NBC. Some advertisers say they are wary of being associated with the show's content, in which men lured to a house by the promise of a sexual encounter are instead surprised by Mr. Hansen and then arrested.

Critics have also raised ethics questions about the series because NBC coordinates the investigations with a private watchdog group and local police departments. And two lawsuits are pending against the network, one by a former producer and another by the sister of a man who committed suicide as police officers approached his house, accompanied by NBC camera crews.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[SouthJerseySteve]

02:07 PM on 08/28/2007

Yes, I know, there were no actual minors but a security team posing as minors, but the intent was still to solicit a minor for sex.

[SouthJerseySteve]

02:05 PM on 08/28/2007

I watched this show several times--it is illegal to solicit a minor for sex online; these jerks stupid enough to show up at the house already broke the law, which is why the police are there to arrest these guys. It is not entrapment, the law was already broken before they showed up.

[PoliticalRockChick]

04:34 AM on 08/28/2007

HELLO People. Dateline did not set these pervs up. They chatting with underage children. If the child states I'm 13 years old, as an adult, they should be oh I'm sorry you're too young, get off the internet.

Also, for advertisers not wanting to advertise their products during To Catch a Predator is pretty stupid. They rather advertise to racist, sexist pigs' shows like Imus, Limbaugh, O'Neil, Hannity, but not to a show that's catching sex crimes right before our eyes. What hypocrites.

[Portnoy]

12:09 PM on 08/27/2007

I've wondered about all those predators online that were responding to emails from teens, showed up at the house only to find that NBC WASN'T there.

If these were the guys being caught, how many are NOT being caught and actually going through with it?

[JScott]

10:48 AM on 08/27/2007

I'm just waiting for someone who poses as a 'predator' and NBC finding they aren't realizes they've been 'punked' by someone who just wants to get their 15 minutes of TV fame.

Or if they get sued by someone who isn't a 'predator'.

Let's remember that NBC ruined Richard Jewell's life because they determined that HE caused the Atlanta Olympic bombings, which later was proved FALSE.

Besides the premise to the show is really really thin, seems like it could get very BORING after a while, they'll only show the ones that were successful, not the one's that didn't.

[Desiderata]

05:42 PM on 08/27/2007

Some of those guys were so young__like kids themselves__that I actually felt sorrow for them. To be actually labeled as a sexual offender at 18,19,20 or 21; before the legal drinking age in most states seems somewhat tragic to me.

"Predator" already bores me, along with the rest of MSNBC's "Doc Block". Move it all to CourtTV and I'll accept reruns of MSNBC's 7-10
est fare.

[mrcontinental]

10:34 AM on 08/27/2007

Call it what you want but every one of those bastards were ready and willing and would have been having sex with underaged teens, girls and boys. The hell with that segment of the population. Pedophiles deserve whatever they get as a result of these probes. This could have just as easily been your child targeted by these freaks.

[phall]

01:51 AM on 08/27/2007

To me the real "predator" in this has always been NBC.

They really crossed a line.

P.
www.warriorpriestess.com

[andyg]

01:36 AM on 08/27/2007

it's about protecting pervert, who want to have sex with children.

[jackejett]

12:29 AM on 08/27/2007

When you begin to let people make money from entrapement, when and where will it stop under this current Nazi administration.

Someone invites you over to smoke a joint and that little perv Chris Hanson is their with his crew.

Slippery slope.

jack

[Portnoy]

12:13 PM on 08/27/2007

My company was recently hit with a rash of theft coming from our mailroom. Because we are a non-profit, we get a ton of donations in the mail everyday. We noticed that some donations were not making up to our offices for recognition.

So we mailed several letters over the course of a month with money inside and installed hidden cameras in the mailroom.

We found our thieves.

Entrapment? Probably. But the responsibility is completely on the head of the thief, or the pervert in NBCs case.

I will never steal money. Therefore I will never get caught by a sting operation looking for people who steal money.

[Powderhound522]

06:40 PM on 08/28/2007

"I don't talk about anything illegal, so why should I worry about the government tapping my phones?"

There are reasons for privacy and entrapment laws! Your little "sting" would not fall under them, because it did not induce an otherwise-innocent person to commit crimes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrapment