the CBS "rural purge"

[treky]

when CBS di their "rural purge" in the early 70s, one of the shows they cancelled was "HEE-HAW" in 1970. But instead of leaving TV entirely it moved into first-run syndication and ran for years. (I think until the early 80s) Anyone know why this one did and none of the others?

[Regulus]

Lassie was another victim oif their "Purge", but it also was was syndicated for two years.

[IllinoisTVFan]

Because apparently syndicators saw it being useful. I remember my parents watching Hee Haw long after the show went off network. Many shows go into syndication because they have better chances of being successful. A few who had better success in syndication: Baywatch, Charles In Charge and Hee Haw. There are more.

[TMC]

In 1970, something momentous happened on American television: series set in the Wild West and quiet rural villages were swept away. But not because of a drop in ratings… no, no. They were literally purged.

In this video I tell you the absurd, fascinating and at times tragic story of how CBS (and company) decided to revolutionize the schedules, and why for years American TV seemed obsessed only with cowboys and perfect families.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Hee Haw was relatively new show - just finished two seasons - that had good ratings, so its prospects seemed better than a lot of other shows.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by TMC

In 1970, something momentous happened on American television: series set in the Wild West and quiet rural villages were swept away. But not because of a drop in ratings… no, no. They were literally purged.

In this video I tell you the absurd, fascinating and at times tragic story of how CBS (and company) decided to revolutionize the schedules, and why for years American TV seemed obsessed only with...perfect families.

Oh, yes, much better to be obsessed with gutter talk and toilets flushing.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by TMC

This presentation is largely Hokum. It's not even worth reviewing, the content creator isn't familiar enough with the topic.

I wanted to briefly comment on an area he got completely wrong, westerns. Although there is an overlap between the western audience and the audience targeted in the purge it is inaccurate to suggest westerns were eliminated because of the purge. The western fad had largely run its course by the end of the 1960's, the audience by and large had grown tired of the genre. In 1959, there were 30 westerns on the primetime schedule, by 1965-66 there were 13, by 1968-69 there were 10. The number of primetime hours devoted to westerns made up only 15.7% of all programming hours in 1968-69. The number of western movies produced by Hollywood was also dwindling, so it was more an audience choice than anything else.