It's not the fact that this program has gay black men as subject matter. When a program contains language that we don't knowingly schedule, we won't air that program. To be more specific, the 'F' word is not a word that we schedule. Stations not airing the program include a member of the consortium that presents the series, South Carolina ETV, and Oregon Public Broadcasting, WPTD in Dayton, KRMA in Denver, KUHT in Houston, WKNO in Memphis, WMVS in Milwaukee, WHRO in Norfolk and KETA in Oklahoma City. But he acknowledges regional differences in attitudes may make some programs unsuitable in some places.
Stations routinely move or reject programs for reasons having to do with their local markets.
I think the stations recognize that P.O.V. is being consistent with its mandate. The experiences of the stations that showed Tongues , quotes from reviews, a letter from the head of the National Black Programming Consortium about why they were presenting the film, answers to some anticipated questions about the film, a biography of filmmaker Riggs and what awards it has won. Producers followed that with a sample letter to station public information departments that could be used to respond to viewer questions. Weiss said he expected some reaction to the program after stations previewed it via satellite feeds earlier this year. Producers have received some telephone calls and letters from stations.