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A&E Network cancels Live PD

No more episodes in the current Live PD format will be made

A&E Network has cancelled its ratings-winner show Live PD amid the ongoing protests against police brutality sparked by the killing of George Floyd.

The US cable network had already pulled the show, which had been renewed recently for an additional 160 episodes, from its schedule and has now confirmed no more new episodes of the show in its current format will be produced.

News of the cancellation came after it emerged earlier this week that Live PD had been filming when a black man named Javier Ambler died in police custody in Austin, Texas, last year. Footage of the incident never aired and was later deleted.

An A+E Networks spokeswoman said: “This is a critical time in our nation’s history and we have made the decision to cease production on Live PD. Going forward, we will determine if there is a clear pathway to tell the stories of both the community and the police officers whose role it is to serve them. And with that, we will be meeting with community and civil rights leaders as well as police departments.”

Produced by Big Fish Entertainment, Live PD follows police departments across the US in real time as they patrol their communities. The live broadcast has previously dominated the Friday and Saturday night schedules on A&E and sparked a spate of live-factual commissions across rival US cablenets.

Its success led to New York-based Big Fish Entertainment being acquired by MGM in 2018.

Live PD’s cancellation comes as broadcasters and streamers reassess their schedules and libraries in the wake of continued anti-racism protests, which were sparked by the killing of Floyd in the US.

Floyd, an African American, died when white Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into his neck for almost nine minutes while attempting to arrest him.

Long-running US reality series Cops has been cancelled by Paramount Network after 32 seasons, while HBO Max has temporarily removed Gone With the Wind from its service. This is in order to add “a discussion of its historical context and a denouncement of those very depictions,” according to the WarnerMedia-owned streamer.

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