Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing - Television Advertisements

Television Advertisements

In October 2006, the film's distributor, The Weinstein Company, announced that NBC had refused to air the TV advertisements for the film, stating that it was following a "policy of not broadcasting ads that deal with issues of public controversy". NBC publicly acknowledged the decision but claimed that it was willing to work with Weinstein to find an acceptable alternative. At the same time, the distributor also claimed that The CW had refused to air these advertisements, citing "concerns we do not have appropriate programming in which to schedule this spot". That network later said its statement was merely an opinion on whether its target audience would respond to the ad, and that it would have accepted the ads if Weinstein had actually bought commercial time.

At the time, CBS was the only major television network to have agreed to air the ads for the film, according to a Weinstein spokesperson, who said the company was also waiting on responses from ABC and Fox. It is not clear which decision either network ultimately made. However, individual stations affiliated with all five networks, including some owned by NBC, aired the ad during local ad time.