Fox affiliate spurns ‘Daddy’

WRAZ-TV has taken another stand against reality television.

The decision to preempt Fox’s “Who’s Your Daddy” on Monday marked the fourth time the Raleigh-Durham station has bucked its network’s reality programming. It previously was the nation’s only Fox affiliate to refuse to air “Married by America,” and it also decided against “Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire” and “Temptation Island.”

WRAZ general manager Tommy Schenck said the station had concerns from the moment it heard the premise of the show, which offers a $100,000 prize if an adoptive daughter can pick her birth father from an eight-man lineup. If she guesses incorrectly, the man she picked gets the money.

The decision was sealed after managers received an advance copy of the program last week. Their conclusion: “We just don’t think adoption is a game show,” Schenck said in a telephone interview Monday.

Fox does offer positive reality programming, he said, pointing to “American Idol” as an example. But Schenck said some shows go too far.

The National Council for Adoption had asked all Fox affiliates not to air the reality special. WRAZ was the only station known to have responded.