I don’t have cable TV and have never watched the 19 Kids And Counting reality show of the Duggars, a family of devout Christians (Independent Baptists) who frequently discussed values of purity, modesty, and faith in God. But I know about them.
This is for Duggar fans.
Radar Online reports, July 28, 2015, that “Thanks to their former lucrative TLC contracts, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are reportedly millionaires.”
In May, however, the family’s vocally-Christian image took a hit when a leaked police report revealed that son of Jim and Michelle and father of four Josh, 27, had been accused of molesting five minor females, including at least two of his sisters, when he was a teen in 2002 and 2003.
Two months later, TLC officially cancelled the moneymaking TV show— leaving the family without their main source of income.
Now the Duggars are begging fans for financial support. On their official YouTube page, Duggar Studios, the family is asking for donations so the kids can create “fresh quality content” on their video site — “Every contribution is helpful, big or small.”
But Radar Online maintains the videos, featuring the children playing basketball and going to the dentist, don’t seem to require much of a budget. Also, video clips are only uploaded to the account once every few months.
Daughter Jill, 23, and husband Deryck Dillard, 26, recently were criticized for asking fans for financial donations for their first long-term mission trip— but refused to divulge details on how the money would be spent.
19 Kids And Counting (and its former incarnations 17 Kids and Counting and 18 Kids and Counting) aired on the cable channel TLC for 7 years. The show was TLC’s most popular, averaging 2.3 million viewers per new episode in Season 10, and scoring in the Nielsen “Cable Top 25″.
People magazine says TLC paid the Duggars $25,000 to $45,000 per episode and that the family made $25 million a year from TLC, endorsements, speaking engagements and book deals. According to an entry in Wikipedia that cited various sources, in addition to the income from their reality show, the Duggars also have income from rental proceeds of commercial properties they own.
And yet they’re trawling fans for donations!
~Éowyn