'Sopranos' Undergoes Cosmetic Surgery for Basic Cable

'SOPRANOS' UNDERGOES COSMETIC SURGERY FOR BASIC CABLE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jacques Steinberg]
As "The Sopranos" moves to the A&E Network, hundreds of scenes from the first five seasons of shows are being sanitized. Though A&E, like HBO, is exempt from the Federal Communications Commission guidelines on nudity, violence and coarse language that apply to the broadcast networks, it differs from HBO in two critical respects: it is advertiser-supported, and, because subscribers do not pay a premium to receive it, it is available in three times as many homes as HBO. And so, just as TBS did when it began showing syndicated episodes of "Sex and the City," with ads, in 2004, A&E has been pruning "The Sopranos" of material that it fears may be too risqué or vulgar or grotesque — not only for basic-cable viewers but also for the luxury car companies, soft drink manufacturers and other advertisers that may eventually choose the series as an opportunity to reach consumers. A&E, which is available in about 90 million homes, will begin selling those ads next month. In choosing to strike a balance between censoring itself, and not diluting a series that relies heavily on its grittiness, Bob DeBitetto, executive vice president and general manager of A&E Network, said that he and his colleagues are relying as much on gut feeling as anything else. Among the test questions they have asked themselves about potentially problematic moments are: "What's the use of it in the context of the shot? Is it gratuitous?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/09/arts/television/09sopr.html
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