Raleigh Station Pulls `Temptation Island'

WRAZ-TV General Manager Tommy Schench said the decision to take "Temptation Island" off the air demonstrates WRAZ-TV's opposition to the fact that one of the participating couples has a child.

Schench said the original program did not bother WRAZ-TV, but the involvement of a child causes the show to take on a new image.

"Fox network assured us they did a background check," he said.

Schench said the background check was intended to bar people who have sexually transmitted diseases, are married or have children.

He said that when Fox discovered a couple on the show did have a child, network executives agreed to bar the couple from the island.

"To knowingly try to separate two parents of a child is something we did not want to be done in a reality context," he said. "We just think this is crossing the line."

But avid watchers of "Temptation Island" need not worry -- the show will still be aired.

Schench said the show will be carried by another Fox station, WKFT-TV in Fayetteville.

He said the only impact the move will have is a change in the channel on which it airs.

Robert Salat, vice president of the general manager at WKFT-TV, said WKFT-TV picked up "Temptation Island" when WRAZ-TV dropped it because of different company philosophies.

Salat cited his station's philosophy that the show should air because the couples involved with the show are adults in a program designed for an adult audience.

Salat also said the show's popularity was another factor in the station's decision to air it.

But Schench said the decision to discontinue broadcasting the show was a programming decision and has nothing to do with violation of the First Amendment or censorship.

And Joan Bertin, executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship, said the owner of a TV station generally can show what he or she wants.

Bertin added that it is not a violation of the First Amendment for a private entity to make these types of choices.

"It doesn't sound like a First Amendment case," she said.

But Schench said most of WRAZ-TV's viewers agree with the decision, expressing their support via e-mail.

"We're not a bunch of morality police or a bunch of prudes," he said. "We like to have fun."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.