Rural purge
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Rural Purge was a series of decisions taken by CBS executive Fred Silverman in 1971 cancelling several still-popular shows because they were thought to be of most interest to people living in rural areas. Silverman did this in response to a new method of research called "demographics," which indicated where the majority of advertising dollars potentially spent on sponsors' product were mostly from. In this case, it was from wealthy, affluent viewers in the urban areas of America (i.e., major American cities). Silverman, fearing that CBS was being referred to off-handedly as the "Countrified Broadcasting Sysytem," and realizing that he could increase his advertising rates with programming appealing more to those in urban centers, decided not to renew long-running shows such as, The Beverly Hillbillies, Toast of the Town, Mayberry R.F.D., Green Acres, and, after just one season, Hee Haw. Petticoat Junction had been canceled the year before after ratings tumbled following the death of star Bea Benaderet. Hee Haw survived another twenty years in syndication.
