CBS lands the show twice in the key ratings period. Clem was suspended from his morning show on WXTB-FM for slaughtering a pig live on the radio, in a stunt copying the ''Survivor'' pig kill of player Michael Skupin. The station was deluged by protest letters and advertisers who dropped ads over the live radio pig slaughter. It raises the question of why CBS didn't face similar protests. Outside of complaints from animal rights groups, there was almost no general public disgust expressed over the ''Survivor'' pig kill, which was just as gratuitous.
Reality TV is only what the network shows of reality.
Skupin has told reporters it took him a couple hours to kill the pig, stabbing it four times with it twice charging him. Show that on network TV and you've got serious protests. Instead, ''Survivor'' viewers saw only a supposed ''quick'' kill that lasted a few seconds. Not to defend Clem's stunt, but by all accounts his kill was probably more humane. The Cincinnati Post , an E.W. Scripps newspaper.