Unsurprisingly, MTV has canceled its racy teen drama Skins, the network said Thursday.
Skins, an
adaptation of a British series, premiered to 3.2 million total viewers in
January after MTV gave it a big push by running it out of Jersey Shore. Its second episode dropped off to 1.58 million
viewers though, before sinking to 1.16 million for its finale in March.
The series also encountered problems with advertisers due to
its portrayal of teens' habits relating to sex and drug use. After its debut
episode, Taco Bell, General Motors and Wrigley, among others, promised never toadvertise in the program again following complaints from the Parents Television
Council.
Skins' TV-MA
rating also meant the network couldn't repeat it around the schedule to attract
a larger audience.
"Skins is a global
television phenomenon that, unfortunately, didn't connect with a U.S. audience as
much as we had hoped," MTV said in a statement. "We admire the work that
the series' creator Bryan Elsley did in adapting the show for MTV, and
appreciate the core audience that embraced it."
In a statement Friday, PTC President Tim Winter said of Skins' cancellation: "The shocking content was trumped only by the fact that the program featured teenage actors and was marketed to teenage children. We are grateful to every member of the public who helped us drive an economic stake through the graphic content on the program, the likes of which never deserves to see the light of day again."
