Group urges ‘America's Got Talent' ad boycott

Los Angeles: A tele-vision watchdog group has urged advertisers to boycott hit TV show America's Got Talent, saying the addition of shock jock Howard Stern to the panel of judges will "likely result in a sharp increase in explicit content."

Before Stern makes his debut on the NBC show, the Parents Television Council (PTC) said it had written to 91 companies who have previously run commercials or sponsored America's Got Talent asking them to place their ads elsewhere.

The PTC said Stern, a radio DJ with satellite broadcaster SiriusXM, has a reputation for "sleaze and misogyny" and a "decades-long penchant for profanity."

"The risk of associating your hard-earned corporate brand image with such ‘shock' is not worth the cost involved — a cost not just in terms of wasted media dollars, but also in terms of countless millions of dollars in customer goodwill," PTC president Tim Winter wrote in the letter.

‘Vile antics'

"I assure you that every advertiser on America's Got Talent will be held publicly accountable for underwriting any of the inevitably vile antics of Howard Stern," Winter added.

Stern has built a reputation over decades as a radio show host. During his career, he has taken his show to TV, wrote a book and even produced a movie.

NBC did not respond to calls for comment on the PTC letter.