Shifting 'Reagans' to Cable Has CBS Facing New Critics:
"CBS's decision yesterday to drop its mini-series about Ronald and Nancy Reagan, after an impassioned campaign by Republican and conservative groups, roiled the television industry, infuriated some Democrats and liberal groups, and left CBS executives open to criticism they had caved in to political pressure."

CBS executives, who declined to be identified by name, denied that they were capitulating to pressure from Republicans and conservative groups in moving "The Reagans" to the pay cable channel Showtime, a sister network at Viacom. The decision, they argued, was instead "a moral call," reached after concluding that the four-hour television movie carried a liberal political agenda and treated the Reagans unfairly.

The decision by the CBS chairman, Leslie Moonves — less than two weeks from the broadcast of the first part of the mini-series and after CBS executives had approved the script — is the most significant turn in the development of "The Reagans." What had seemed like a calculated bid for a little controversy to boost ratings has backfired, as CBS underestimated the fierce and organized reaction from Reagan loyalists.

Now, as conservative groups cheer CBS's decision, the network has to deal with a backlash from Democratic politicians like Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota and members of the Hollywood community, including Barbra Streisand. "Indeed, today marks a sad day for artistic freedom — one of the most important elements of an open and democratic society," Ms. Streisand, the wife of James Brolin, who plays Ronald Reagan in the television movie, said in a statement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/05/business/media/05TUBE.html?pagewanted=all&position=