MTV is not having a good week. Yesterday it was announced that several major advertisers pulled their ads due to the content of the show. Today – it was reported that ‘Skins‘ plunged 52% in the ratings for it’s second episode. The series premiere last week drew in 3.3 million – and last night’s episode delivered 1.6 million viewers. Ouch. EW explains why they think the show dropped so drastically:

– No Shore. The Skins premiere had a 7-million-plus lead-in from an original episode of Jersey Shore, while last night only had a Shore repeat. With that kind of huge initial push, the network expected at least some ratings decline.

– The controversy: Could accusations that the show is basic cable kiddie porn have hurt the numbers? Controversy can often improve a show’s turnout, but in this case, there may be an “ick factor” that did Skins more harm than good.

– The show itself: Ken Tucker noted last night’s episode came off “more like a mediocre episode of Degrassi” than the terrific British version (despite one character masturbating to a poster of Audrey Hepburn).

Yesterday, Skins creator Bryan Elsley defended the show as “rather old fashioned” while more advertisers dropped out. So far, MTV is weathering the storm and waiting to see what happens next.

I agree with one commenter who posted on ICYDK earlier. She said despite all the controversy – the show is just plain bad! It’s not acted well, it’s not written well – it’s obvious the main goal here is to “shock”.

I’m thinking ‘Skins’ won’t be around much longer. Did you watch last night’s episode? Was it any better?

Tags: Jersey Shore, MTV, Skins