The Simpsons to gain more airtime in Bolivia after protests

World Today

Screen capture from the Facebook video.

“Thank you Bolivia! Muchas, muchas gracias,” was the message The Simpsons creators sent to Bolivians after they protested earlier this month to demand the animated show be reinstated to their nightly TV programming. The TV station in focus ended up increasing showtime for the popular series by more than an hour

Creators posted a video to The Simpsons’ official Facebook page that shows a cartoon mob in the show’s setting of Springfield, marching with lit torches which dissolves into video of the march in La Paz, Bolivia this month that shows a massive crowd that gathered yelling “we wants The Simpsons!”.

The Facebook video has been viewed more than 4 million times showing the massive popularity of the animated series.

Nearly 2,000 people went out into the streets of three major Bolivian cities on February 6 demanding the return of the cartoon after Bolivia’s Unitel TV network cut the show from its prime time lineup.

The network has since reinstated it and has decided to increase it’s time slot from 45 minutes to two hours.

Bolivian media reported that the demonstration was the first major protest conducted by viewers opposing a change in a television schedule in that country.