The future of "19 Kids and Counting," TLC's long running family-friendly reality show, still remains unclear more than a month after the network pulled out all remaining episodes of the show. The move was prompted by news that Josh Duggar, 27, the eldest of Jim Bob and Michelle's brood, molested several girls when he was a teenager. Since then, the show's future has been uncertain.
With TV shows dependent on advertisers' dollars, there is a chance that "19 Kids" could be permanently cancelled after many major advertisers such as Virgin Mobile, Geico, and State Farm pulled out their sponsorship from the series. However, there are reports circulating online about several options that could keep "19 Kids and Counting" from going the same way as TLC's "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," "Sons of Guns" and "Cheer Perfection." All three shows were cancelled after certain cast members were revealed to have been involved in similar scandals.
There was talk of excluding Josh from future episodes, as well as a spin-off starring Jill and Jessa Duggar and their spouses. But will a spin-off be as successful as the original series, and will it have the same appeal on its audience?
Branding expert Jeetendr Sehdev, a professor of marketing at USC, told Fox411 that advertisers might think twice before backing a "19 Kids" spinoff.
"It has less to do with social media backlash and more to do with the serious nature of the molestation revelations and whether the scenarios could have been prevented that really has America rethinking the Duggar appeal," said Sehdev, as reported by Fox News.
Meanwhile, Howard Bragman, chairman and founder of Fifteen Minutes Public Relations, told The Wrap that a spin-off focusing on Jill and Jessa has the potential to succeed.
"They may try it, because it's not a particularly expensive show to produce, but at the same time, it's hard to imagine it will have the same appeal," said Bragman.
In an exclusive interview last month with Fox News' Megyn Kelly, Jim Bob and Michelle defended the way they handled the situation years ago and said that right now, their top priority is their family and that they'll be fine whether TLC continues to film them or not.
Jessa Duggar-Seewald echoed her parents' sentiments and told Kelly that "life goes on, really. We're not a TV family; we're a family that just happened to be on TV."
As of now, neither TLC nor the Duggar family has made a statement whether a new season will premiere sometime this year or not.
