"Heaven and hell" is how Eileen O'Neill describes her first year at the helm of TLC, the cable network that is home to the controversial hit reality show "Jon & Kate Plus 8."
"Heaven" is TLC's spectacular growth over the last 12 months, with its prime-time audience leaping 43% and now pulling in an average of more than 1 million viewers every night. And "hell" is that the show driving much of that growth has become a lightning rod for critics who say that TLC is profiting from a family's misery and obsession for publicity.
The controversy over the role that the show may have played in the deterioration of the Gosselins' marriage and how its demise will affect their children could undercut TLC's brand and turn away advertisers.
Launched in 1980 as the Learning Channel and known for educational programs, the channel, like many other cable networks, has gradually shifted away from its original mission and has embraced entertainment to boost ratings. In TLC's case, that now means a heavy emphasis on reality fare, a format that has mushroomed in recent years on cable and broadcast TV.
"There is a very fine line between guarding your brand and getting a ratings point," said Brent Poer, senior vice president at MediaVest USA, which buys commercials for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co.
So far, TLC appears to be doing a good job of walking that line. "The channel is as hot as it could be," said Andy Donchin, director of media investments at Carat, which buys ad time for companies including Pfizer Inc. and Papa John's International Inc. Most advertisers, Donchin said, want their commercials on "Jon & Kate," and he credits the network with "focusing on the family and not exploiting the controversy."
On Monday, "Jon and Kate Plus 8" returns with new episodes after a six-week break. The show, which follows the lives of the small-town central Pennsylvania family of Jon and Kate Gosselin and their eight children, has been on for a little more than two years.
But it caught fire only last spring when cracks in the couple's marriage began to appear. The reality program went from timid to tabloid as the Gosselins' woes played out on the small screen -- as well as in every gossip magazine at the supermarket checkout line. The media scrutiny became so severe that TLC decided last month to put the show on production hiatus while the couple began divorce proceedings.
