MTV's Racy 'Skins' Sheds Viewers, Advertisers

NEW YORK (AP) — The audience for MTV's racy drama "Skins" plunged to 1.6 million Monday night, a drop-off of more than half from its premiere a week earlier, according to Nielsen Co. ratings.

The viewer slump may signal a triumph of the Parents Television Council, a watchdog group that had blasted the series' content and condemned MTV for aiming the show at young people.

Since its initial airing, a number of advertisers had pulled their commercials from the program, which depicts teens engaging in sexual activity as well as drug and alcohol abuse.

Criticism was further inflamed by a newspaper story suggesting that scenes with underage actors might violate federal child pornography laws.

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