In the news|May 29, 2015 09:15 EDT
'19 Kids and Counting' Josh Duggar News Update: Advertisers Jump Ship & Ditch the Series
After the scandal of Josh Duggar's molestation allegations, viewers have been in suspense about whether or not TLC will be keeping the reality television show on the air. For those that may not know, the show 19 Kids and Counting revolves around Duggar family and their daily life.
It appears the network may consider keeping the show, but advertisers do not seem to have any interest in doing the same.
As of Tuesday night, four of the show's advertisers, Walgreens, Payless Shoesource, Choice Hotels International and General Mills, pulled away from the reality show, according to reports from Reuters.
The family, which is large and Christian, risked losing the show, which has been popular up to this point, after Josh, the family's eldest son was accused of molesting five underage girls between the ages of 14 and 15 years old.
Josh later admitted to the crimes and issued a public apology for his actions as a young teenager.
Sources say that TLC is in fact considering keeping the reality television show on the air, but nixing Josh, who is now 27 years of age.
The network will think carefully about its decision, as the show does garner high ratings, according to a prediction made by Jeff McCall, a media studies professor at DePauw University in Indiana, to Reuters.
That can all change in the face of the scandal, but fans will just have to wait and see. The last season of 19 Kids and Counting averaged 3.5 million viewers per episode.
"Right now there may be a lot of outrage, a lot of concern," said McCall. "On the other hand, the American audience is pretty forgiving."