So it turns out that being a racist homophobic prick, who doubles down on said prickery, does not translate into ratings gold:
Did the controversy surrounding Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson take a toll on the show’s appeal? A&E’s flagship reality series clocked 8.5 million viewers Wednesday night, snapping a streak of ratings records and posting its first season-to-season drop. Among adults 18-49, the premiere averaged 4.2 million viewers, down 33%. Those are still huge numbers for a cable series, but the Season 5 opener was down from the show’s Season 4 debut, which drew nearly 12 million to become the No. 1-rated nonfiction series telecast in cable history. It edged the Season 4 finale, which was watched by 8.4 million. More recently, the one-hour Duck Dynasty Christmas special logged nearly 9 million viewers.http://www.deadline.com/...The two back-to-back episodes were the first appearance on A&E of the Robertson family since patriarch Phil’s controversial comments about gay men and blacks in a GQ interview that caused A&E to suspend him. After the rest of the family indicated they would not do the show without him, and religious organizations and a legion of conservatives stood by him, A&E reversed its decision, lifting Phil’s suspension.
Two back-to-back episodes that did slightly better than last year's season finale. A 33% drop in the much-coveted 18-49 demographic.
That is the shabby results of Phil Robertson's and feckless A&E's cynical attempt to hate-bait their way to record ratings.
Well at least the stars of the show got something out of all the controversy.
The gunmaker Mossberg has teamed with Duck Commander, the company owned by "Duck Dynasty's" Robertson clan, to release nine different shotguns, as well as two semiautomatic rifles and a semiautomatic pistol.http://money.cnn.com/...