Frankly, I agree with CBS.
I think it is the first step in a gradual process to where it (and the other nets) will find a way to offer their programming more directly to consumers.
I don't see why cable nets should pay $2.50+ per sub to ESPN and get CBS/NBC/ABC/Fox etc for free.
Especially when Disney uses ESPN and NBC uses CNBC and its cable nets as clubs over MSOs and DBS providers.

Paul Winchell, 82
TV Host and Film Voice of Pooh's Tigger, Dies
By JULIE SALAMON The New York Times June 27, 2005

Paul Winchell, the ventriloquist creator of the puppet Jerry Mahoney, who later became famous as the animated voice of Tigger, Winnie-the-Pooh's exuberant friend, died on Friday at his home in Moorpark, Calif. He was 82.

His death was announced by a family friend, Burt Dubrow, a television producer.

Mr. Winchell not only gave Tigger a voice to match his bounce in the animated versions of A. A. Milne's classic, but also his signature phrase, "Ta-ta for now."

Paul Wilchin was born in New York City on Dec. 21, 1922. He was a master ventriloquist and an early star of television; in 1950, he had his own show, featuring Jerry Mahoney. He later built another dummy sidekick, the dimwitted Knucklehead Smiff, who appeared with him and Jerry Mahoney on various shows in the 1950's and 1960's.

His creativity was not limited to show business, however. He studied hypnotism, acupuncture and theology and was fascinated by the ways things worked. He was an enthusiastic inventor and developed 30 patents. These included one for an early artificial heart, which he built in 1963 and then donated to the University of Utah for research.

Mr. Winchell also claimed credit for a wide variety of other inventions, including a flameless cigarette lighter, battery-heated gloves and an invisible garter belt.

He was classically quixotic in many ways. In the 1980's, he testified before a Congressional committee with other celebrities, including Ed Asner and Richard Dreyfuss, trying to obtain financing for the Tilapia Project, a plan to cultivate production of the tilapia fish, which thrives in brackish water, as a source of protein for undernourished people in sub-Saharan Africa. The project failed to interest Congress.

Becoming a performer was not an obvious path for Mr. Winchell: his own Web site, paulwinchell.com, describes him as a shy child with a stutter, whose parents were opposed to his career. But at 13, he made a radio appearance on "Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour" doing imitations of Edgar Bergen and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy. He made his television debut in 1947.

Ed Sullivan gave him a significant boost and national exposure by inviting him to appear on his show from time to time. His long television career covered variety and children's shows, as well as on-camera guest appearances on series like "The Beverly Hillbillies," "The Lucy Show," and "The Brady Bunch."

Mr. Winchell's distinctive voice became popular in numerous animated roles for film and television cartoons. He began playing Tigger in 1968, in the Walt Disney's "Winnie-the-Pooh and the Blustery Day," which earned an Academy Award for best animated short film. In 1974 he, Sebastian Cabot and Sterling Holloway won a Grammy for the best children's recording of the year for "Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger Too."

He continued playing the Pooh's bouncing buddy on television and in movies until 1999, when Jim Cummings, the current voice of Pooh, took on Tigger's part as well.

Mr. Winchell also supplied voices for Boomer in "The Fox and the Hound," for the Siamese cat in Disney's "Aristocats," and also for many Hanna-Barbera characters, including the evil Gargamel of "The Smurfs."

He was married three times, and is survived by his wife of 31 years, the former Jean Freeman, as well as five children. Mr. Winchell gave his wife Jean, who was British by birth, credit for Tigger's "Ta-ta for now" line. He wrote an autobiography, called "Winch," after his nickname.

Though the book describes the emotional traumas in his life, Mr. Winchell had a sense of humor. Describing the ill-fated Tilapia Project on his Web site, he tells of stopping in Manhattan after the hearings in Washington with Mr. Dreyfuss and Mr. Asner. They bumped into the comedian Alan King, who was walking on 49th Street carrying a tuxedo over his shoulder.

"When he saw us he did a triple take," Mr. Winchell wrote. "We asked him where he was going. 'I got a club date at the Waldorf tonight,' he grinned, 'and thought I'd walk.' We broke up and laughed like a bunch of kids and not a soul passing by recognized any of us. So go ahead and be a celebrity.' "

Frankly, I agree with CBS.
I think it is the first step in a gradual process to where it (and the other nets) will find a way to offer their programming more directly to consumers.

Fine ... OTOH, is it fair to make cable/satellite subscribers pay for CBS and not the free OTA viewers - or is the evil plan to eventually make everyone pay? :D
Furthermore, at what point do "local" broadcasters become completely irrelevant in this scheme?

HBO Moves Burial Plots
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

HBO will move “Six Feet Under” back to Sunday at 9 p.m. beginning July 10.

Why? Becuase it had discovered that only one in 100 of its subscribers knew the funeral home drama had been airing on Monday in this, its fifth and final season, according to the network, and because it didn't have enough original content to back up.

HBO had been trying to launch Monday as a second destination-viewing night for originals.

Although Six Feet’s episodes this season have tripled the network’s Monday time period ratings to 2.2 million total viewers, the premium network does not have enough other content to build an entire night around the show.

Six Feet aired on Sundays its first four seasons. Last season’s new episodes, which aired June through September, averaged 3.7 million total viewers

The new Sunday night lineup will be Six Feet at 9 p.m., Entourage at 10 p.m. and The Comeback at 10:30 p.m. On Monday, HBO will rerun the shows in reverse – The Comeback at 9 p.m., Entourage at 9:30 p.m. and Six Feet Under at 10.

Tonight’s episode (June 27) of Six Feet is the fourth of 13 this season.

HDTVChallenged.

Good points.

It is probably as fair to make cable/satellite folks pay for networks as it is to make them all pay for ESPN (or CNN or MTV).

Frankly, I think local TV has to a great extent, outlived its usefulness.

Certainly as regards six-seven network channels, all competing for the same prime-time turf and syndication fare.

I know there are still many local stations around the nation which take their community obligations very seriously -- especially as it regards local news coverage. But they are a dwindling breed, dwarfed by the growing number, run for large non-local corporations, which don't care a whit about their communities. And just run whatever they can get their hands on cheapest.

I say let people buy their content from whjom they want. If the local broadcaster is relevant, he'll be a factor. But if it isn't, it will, like afternoon newspapers, eventually die.

At the moment, much of local broadcasting is being propped up by government mandate and more than a half century of tradition. The technology exists to allow consumers to have about any content they want when they want it. They should be allowed to use that technology.

It is similar to Southwest Airlines, forbidden by law, from flying to more than a handfgul of states fro Love Field in Dallas. The time has past to protect old companies using outdated technology who are simply hanging on. Airlines, broadcasters and a host of others, it seems to me, fall into that category.

But it is just my opinion and I try not to let it color what I post here.

Actually, is it possible to progress and still use local broadcasting? I hope so.

Back in the early 70's our city had cable because of a dearth of programming. All we had OTA was one CBS, one NBC, one PBS. The city (not the county) had the option of a few stations microwaved in from Atlanta, including a fledgling independent station called WTBS where one could see reruns of the Munsters and the zany antics of Bill Tush. We also had a weather channel comprised of an oscillating camera and weather instrument dials.

That was the city. Being in the county with just those three channels we still enjoyed TV immensely -- sure we were missing some things but we had some options. With hundreds of choices on cable I'm wondering if I'm enjoying the model of having those hundreds of choices.

The networks, during the broadcast era, used to present a wide range of programming in primetime such as documentaries and arts, along with the standard comedy, drama, and variety fare. Now with cable, the networks and other channels have become so focused, the diversity which defined the networks has now mostly disappeared -- replaced by this huge thing called "cable". Despite the hundreds of choices, I find that the majority of what is watched is still from the major networks. I watch the few HD channels and leave the overwhelming, vast majority of the SD channels untouched. Because the content is so broken up, I wonder if I'm watching, overall, less diverse programming than before. That would be ironic.

I hope the broadcast model continues. As the major network broadcast HD programming increases cable will look less attractive to me. If for no other reason we need, in my opinion, a free broadcast television model so that there is a choice for television other than having to wire up one's home.

IMHO

Paul

At the moment, much of local broadcasting is being propped up by government mandate and more than a half century of tradition. The technology exists to allow consumers to have about any content they want when they want it. They should be allowed to use that technology.

Only if they can afford it. Now if satellite/cable offered a la carte programming rather than two or three tiers of programming than this wouldn't be an issue.

CMT Snags “Miss America” Pageant
By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable

There she is, Miss America, there she is, on CMT.

The Viacom-owned country music cable channel will be the new home of The Miss America Pageant thanks to a multi-year deal with The Miss America Organization to air the pageant in January 2006 and 2007, with options through 2011.

The network, one of several cable nets eying the ratings-challenged pageant, says it will launch a multi-million dollar promotional campaign to drum up interest in Miss America, including pageant-themed programming on fellow MTV Network, VH1, promos on CMT Radio and CMT.com, and a major grassroots marketing campaign.

Miss America comes to CMT after it struggled in recent years on broadcast TV. ABC, which most recently broadcast the pageant, chose not to renew its contract with Miss America after the Sept. 18, 2004 broadcast pulled in a record low of 9.8 million viewers.

In an effort to retool the pageant, the Miss America Organization has been pitching the show with some sort of reality component attached.

CMT is considering various strategies to increase viewers’ attachment to the contestants including interstitials, promos or even an entire separate reality series, said a representative for the network. The last option could be tough to pull together before the 2006 pageant, however.

CMT, which averaged 253,000 total viewers in prime in May, is a logical fit for the historical pageant, given the network’s appeal to viewers between the coasts. The network now reaches 77 million homes, and will likely use Miss America to broaden its reach beyond country music fans.

CMT Wins Rights to “Miss America”

By James Hibberd TVWeek.com June 27, 2005

Country music channel CMT has reached a two-year agreement to televise the "Miss America Pageant," the network announced Monday.

As reported in Monday's issue of TelevisionWeek, CMT and WE were finalists in the bidding for the annual pageant, which has aired on broadcast networks for 50 years.

Viacom-owned CMT plans a multimillion-dollar promotional campaign across MTV Networks, including "Miss America" support programming leading up to the pageant on VH1. The pageant traditionally takes place in September, but due to delays in finding a network home the show has been pushed back to January 2006.

"Miss America's move to cable will give it the proper promotion and attention it deserves," said Art McMaster, president and CEO of the Miss America Organization. "Our brand is rich in both philanthropy and history, and this new multiplatform partnership not only will preserve this institution, but in fact build the Miss America Organization as we begin this new chapter."

Mr. McMaster pitched networks on a revitalized Miss America complete with an accompanying reality series showing the lead-up to the pageant. WE agreed to the reality series along with the pageant, while CMT offered to televise the series and a "reality component," possibly referring to the support programming planned for VH1.

"'Miss America' is one of this country's great enduring institutions, and creatively we are introducing new ways to honor the pageant's rich tradition while also exploring some of the great behind-the-scenes stories that our audience will be able to experience for the first time," said Paul Villadolid, VP of programming and development for CMT.

CMT is available in 77 million homes. For first quarter 2005, the network was up 12 percent among all viewers for total-day programming but slipped 9 percent in prime time.

Changes keep coming at CNN
But new Chief says it could be two years before ratings improve

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

Cap Gang has been capped.

In another major move, new CNN/U.S. chief Jon Klein pulled the plug Thursday on The Capital Gang, the 16-year-old weekly political roundtable. Its finale was Saturday. Earlier this month, on Klein's orders, Crossfire ended its 22-year run.

The Gangsters "are intelligent, well-respected people," Klein says. "Each of them is virtually an institution. But everything has its season. They've had a good, long run. It's time to explore other ways of informing our audience."

The Gang lineup: syndicated columnists Robert Novak and Mark Shields, Time magazine's Margaret Carlson, Kate O'Beirne of the National Review, and Bloomberg News' Al Hunt.

Lone survivor is Novak, host of the Saturday Novak Zone and soon-to-be contributor to Wolf Blitzer's forthcoming Situation Room. The rest "will move on. They all have real jobs," Klein says.

An expanded On the Story will take over Gang's 7 p.m. Saturday slot as of July 9. Like Crossfire, Story will be produced with a studio audience at Washington's George Washington University.

CNN international ace Christiane Amanpour will host via satellite from London (when she's not in the field reporting), with a rotating series of cohosts at GWU.

Klein hopes to have Amanpour available about twice a month. If necessary, she will pretape her segments the day of the show.

Story launched in January '03 as a forum for CNN's female reporters to discuss stories they covered that week. The new hour-long Story will include, gulp, men, as well as audience questions.

Klein says he has nothing against estrogen. (What a guy.) He only wants to "showcase all of our capabilities." As for correspondents getting quizzed by the audience, he labels the prospect "tantalizing."

Klein's first wave of big changes is over, and he says he has no plans to cancel any other shows.

"Everything we're doing is organic to CNN. All the programming moves are getting us back to our roots of covering real news. It's not like we're creating a reality show or adding a live band."

Klein says he has no timetable for CNN to overtake ratings rival Fox News Channel, saying only that "it could be two years before there's meaningful and sustainable growth."

Legal pit bull Nancy Grace continues to be a ratings rocket at CNN Headline News, but Klein insists he's not recruiting her.

"She's got a gig. She's outstanding, but we've got outstanding people, too. My preference would be to grow our own hit show rather than pluck one from somewhere else."

Besides, Klein adds, "we have to see how she holds up, long term... . Her show is new. We don't know yet whether Nancy is consonant with the CNN brand."

Regardless, Klein defends Grace against criticism that she acts like an overzealous prosecutor on the air.

"Pardon us, but we've got a hit show on our hands. Live with it. Part of the [critics'] sport is to knock down front-runners. It's a shame, but obviously the audience enjoys what Nancy's doing."

Summerland Finale

The WB announced Monday that the final episode of “Summerland” will be broadcast Monday July 18 at 9 PM ET/PT. The show has not been picked up for 2005-2006, so this will be the series finale.

Summer viewing's on the rise with 'Empire'
By MELANIE MCFARLAND SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER TELEVISION CRITIC Tuesday, June 28, 2005

High school history books have no problem rendering unto Caesar Augustus his due. Known as the first and greatest of all ancient Roman emperors, the grand nephew of Julius Caesar, born Gaius Octavius, ushered in the Pax Romana.

During his reign he united the empire, became a patron to poets and historians, and built magnificent structures throughout his lands. Aside from the general ruthlessness required of your more esteemed emperors, Octavius tends to be considered a swell guy.

What earned him respect through the ages makes him a total snooze in the entertainment world, where the golden rule is to never follow stronger acts such as, say, cute kids, talented animals or relatives stabbed to death by an entire governing body.

That's because Octavius didn't do anything that would be considered ratings friendly, such as lose his mind, sleep with his sisters or set fire to the capital city for entertainment's sake. In addition to that, his reign is eclipsed in popular memory by Jesus' birth and Cleopatra and Marc Antony's legendary whoopee.

Just a few reasons why it has taken this long for television to grant the emperor his own epic, although you may wonder whether ABC's five-part "Empire," kicking off with two hours tonight in HD at 9 PM ET/PT, befits Augustus' grandeur. (Subsequent episodes are an hour long, airing at 10 p.m. Tuesdays.)

But then, the story isn't about the most glorious portion of the emperor's rule, but the transitional period after Julius Caesar's death. There aren't many tales circulating about how power transferred from Julius to Octavius, but given the way the elder was retired from office, it couldn't have been smooth.

Aesthetically speaking, ABC delivers the story in grand style, with a production set in Rome and southern Italy. A multinational cast includes recognizable names and faces such as Trudie Styler, Colm Feore and Dennis Haysbert, and among the executive producers are respected telefilm whizzes Craig Zadan and Neil Meron ("Chicago," "The Reagans").

The writers spike the tale with smart dialogue and, to the delight of action fanatics, aren't shy to give us heads on pikes, exciting swordplay and those classic Roman standbys, three-ways and orgies. All of this is rendered as tastefully as possible, making most of the series light on explicit gore and skin. Still, be warned that some scenes aren't for the weak of stomach.

"Empire" commences right before the murder of Julius Caesar (Colm Feore), when the 18-year-old Octavius (Santiago Cabrera) was still a studious, studly youth untested in politics or on the battlefield. (Accent on the studly.) Make no mistake, this is no "A.D." or "I, Claudius," peopled nearly exclusively with mature, Shakespearean actors gliding around in robes. "Empire" has its share of those guys -- you couldn't do a Roman epic without them, could you? The main focus here is on the teen dream boy emperor and his fictional gladiator bodyguard and father figure, Tyrannus (Jonathan Cake). Filling the damsel-in-distress role is the creamy-skinned, somewhat psychic Vestal Virgin of his dreams named Camane (Emily Blunt), who serves both as doe-eyed love interest and the series narrator.

Cassius (Michael Maloney) and Brutus (James Frain), the lead conspirators in the mass knifing, believe Rome will see them as liberators from Caesar's tyranny, and are surprised to find differently. Caesar's loyal pal and military leader Marc Antony (Vincent Regan) thinks the throne is his by right, and both parties seek to sever the Julian line by putting a price on Octavius' head. But Caesar had a will and, as he dies, charges Tyrannus with protecting his heir, shaping him from a toga-chaser into a ruler in the process.

To anyone who loves a hot epic in the summertime, "Empire" does the job nicely. It has intrigue, romance and just enough action to keep your attention.

Still, it doesn't help things that Cabrera looks, and acts, like an actor who auditioned against Tom Welling for "Smallville," and lost. If you have seen Welling in action, you know that's not a compliment. Cake does a better job with less -- he doesn't have to do much more than brood and swing swords -- but he and every other entertainment gladiatorhave the misfortune of being overshadowed by Russell Crowe or Kirk Douglas.

And while "Empire" is more intelligently organized and easier to digest than "Into the West," it's also a touch boring at times. Hard to decide from where this dullness stems; is it the ersatz seriousness with which the directors and actors tend to approach classic tales? Everyone's moves are stilted, and the delivery of each line in the standard British accent follows that pattern.

Honestly, though, what else is demanding your attention right now, what with all the burn-offs, repeats and cheap reality shows out there? True, if it were better, it would be on during the regular season. But the success of "Into the West" on cable's TNT proves there's still an audience for sweeping, multiple-week tales. Besides, "Empire's" more satisfying than that and, thank the gods, only half as long.

Justices Reinstate Suits on Internet File Sharing

By LINDA GREENHOUSE and LORNE MANLY The New York Times June 28, 2005

WASHINGTON, June 27 - The Supreme Court handed a major victory to the entertainment and recording industries on Monday by reinstating a copyright-infringement suit against two file-sharing services.

In a unanimous opinion, the court strongly suggested that the services, Grokster and StreamCast Networks, should be found liable for the vast copyright infringement committed by those using their software to download music and movies.

Two lower federal courts in California had ruled in favor of the two, dismissing the lawsuit without a trial on the basis of a legal analysis that the Supreme Court found seriously flawed.

In his opinion for the court on Monday, Justice David H. Souter suggested that when properly evaluated, the evidence against Grokster and StreamCast was, in fact, so strong that the entertainment-industry plaintiffs might be entitled to summary judgment.

At the least, he said, MGM Studios and the other plaintiffs - including the Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America and a class of 27,000 music publishers and songwriters - were entitled to a trial to prove their accusations that the two companies were in business primarily to enable and induce computer users to find and download copyrighted material.

In the Supreme Court's view, the plaintiffs have effectively made that case already. Justice Souter called the record "replete with evidence" that the two companies "acted with a purpose to cause copyright violations by use of software suitable for illegal use." The opinion referred to "evidence of infringement on a gigantic scale" and said that "the probable scope of copyright infringement is staggering."

The movie and music industries, even armed with a decision affirming their legal recourse, have a long way to go to capitalize on it, and they plan new efforts to persuade or force those actually doing the downloading to desist. Digital rights advocates, while somewhat relieved that the court did not go further, were concerned that the ruling could invite a deluge of lawsuits and a risk that they would inhibit innovation.

There is no dispute that individual users violate copyright law when they share files of copyrighted material, and the industry has had some modest success in seeking fines from college students and others. But with millions of users downloading billions of files each month, retail prosecution proved inefficient, so the music and entertainment industries turned their attention several years ago to the commercial services that make the file sharing possible.

That effort led to the Supreme Court's most important copyright case since its ruling in 1984 that shielded the manufacturers of the videocassette recorder from copyright liability for possibly infringing use by home consumers. The court based its decision then, in Sony v. Universal City Studios, on a finding that the VCR was "capable of substantial noninfringing uses," like time-shifting, in which home users simply recorded programs for viewing later.

In ruling last year for Grokster and StreamCast, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, relied on the Sony decision, finding that the file-sharing software had possible noninfringing uses. Because the software operates in a decentralized way without using a central computer, the appeals court found, Grokster and StreamCast could not track users and had no direct knowledge of any specific instance of infringement.

The Supreme Court on Monday held that the appeals court had misapplied the Sony decision by focusing only on the technology, without regard to the business model that the technology served. "One who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties," Justice Souter wrote.

Movie and music industry executives hailed the decision. "If you build a business that aids and abets theft, you will be held accountable," said Dan Glickman, chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America, the lobbying organization for the major Hollywood studios. BMI, representing more than 300,000 songwriters and composers, called the decision "good news indeed for the creative community whose work has been blatantly infringed."

Both the movie and music industries had warned that file sharing was not only hurting their bottom lines, but could ultimately inhibit the creation of content. The recording industry has blamed song-swapping over the Internet for its decade-long sales slump.

While movies and television shows are more difficult to trade online because of the size of their files, technological advances are making that movement easier and threatening the rich source of cash that DVD sales have become for the studios.

On the other hand, groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Consumers Union, the Consumer Electronics Association and other elements of the computer and technology industries had warned the court that too broad a rule of contributory copyright infringement would stifle innovation if there was a possibility that consumers might put a product to an infringing use.

It was clear from the opinion, Metro-Goldwin-Mayer Studios Inv. v. Grokster Ltd., No. 04-480, that the justices had taken note of that argument and tried to draw a line that would protect both copyright holders and innovators. The court identified the line as "inducement" - deliberately urging consumers to make illicit use of the product or showing them how it could be done.

"Mere knowledge of infringing potential or of actual infringing uses would not be enough here to subject a distributor to liability," Justice Souter said. He added: "Nor would ordinary acts incident to product distribution, such as offering customers technical support or product updates, support liability in themselves.

The inducement rule, instead, premises liability on purposeful, culpable expression and conduct, and thus does nothing to compromise legitimate commerce or discourage innovation having a lawful promise."

James Gibson, a professor of intellectual property and computer law at the University of Richmond School of Law, applauded what he called a balancing act between artistic creators and technological innovators.

By putting so much weight on proving companies' bad behavior, he said, the decision could create more legal expenses and unpredictability for technology companies. At the same time, he added, it should provide peace of mind to creators of technology that could be used for both legitimate and infringing uses.

But several technology advocates expressed concern, saying innovators would now be saddled with the befuddling notion of "intent." Matthew Neco, StreamCast's general counsel, said the ruling turned Hollywood and the recording industry into "thought police."

Michael Petricone, vice president for technology policy at the Consumer Electronics Association, said that without clear guidelines from the court on what a company must do to avoid being held liable for contributing to copyright infringement, "the legal clarity has decreased and the risk of litigation has increased."

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said he was pleased the court had "determined that those who intentionally induce or encourage the theft of copyrighted music, movies, software or other protected works may be held liable for their actions." The Bush administration joined the argument in support of the studios.

While the Supreme Court's judgment was unanimous, the justices did not share the same view of how useful the Sony precedent remained after more than 20 years of changing technology.

A concurring opinion by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joined, suggested that the Sony case's reference to "substantial noninfringing use" was too easily misunderstood by lower courts and might have to be tailored for different types of technology. The file-sharing software might be used to swap large numbers of noninfringing files, Justice Ginsburg said, but even a big number would be "dwarfed by the huge total volume of files shared."

Justice Stephen G. Breyer, in a concurring opinion also signed by Justices John Paul Stevens and Sandra Day O'Connor, said the Sony decision had basically achieved its "innovation-protecting objective" and struck the right balance between protecting copyrights and technology. It should be retained, he said.

(Linda Greenhouse reported from Washington for this article, and Lorne Manly from New York. Jeff Leeds and Tom Zeller Jr. contributed reporting.)

In TV, First Looks Can Be Deceiving

By Dusty Saunders Rocky Mountain News TV Columnist June 27, 2005

TV critics normally are quick on the trigger when assessing new series. We normally review one, maybe two episodes and then move on to praise or bury another new entry. But there are times when repeat visits produce a change of critical heart.

I didn't particularly like the premiere episode of Fox's House, thinking it was just another predictable hospital drama, featuring an arrogant doctor (British actor Hugh Laurie) whose bedside manner has all the charm of a session with a tax collector.

I've gone back and found that the abrasive personality of Dr. Gregory House is really an antidote for all the feel-good doctor dramas that dot the schedule.

House's prickly personality, along with sharp writing, has produced a different style of medical drama, which, in its own way, pays homage to hard-working doctors and hospital personnel. Of particularly high quality was the season finale, which featured Sela Ward as a love interest from House's past. The chemistry - romantic, not laboratory - really worked.

When CBS premiered Two and a Half Men in the fall of 2003, I was at my glib best - or worst - predicting that the series would (or should) die after 2 1/2 episodes. After returning a few times this past season, I determined that either my initial analysis was wrong or the comedy had been upgraded.

Built around a pair of decidedly different brothers (Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer), Two and Half Men offers a raunchy sense of humor that sets it apart from most of television's predictable family-oriented comedies. (The "half" is Augus T. Jones, as Cryer's wisecracking son.)

But top billing should go to Holland Taylor, as the brothers' salty- tongued mom, who's worthy of an Emmy nomination every time she steps in front of the camera.

I've taken a different tack with The Closer, TNT's new Monday-night drama starring Kyra Sedgwick as the sweet-talking Los Angeles police officer with a reputation for closing cases by getting the bad guys to admit their crimes. Impressed with the June 13 premiere, I previewed two future episodes to see whether the series holds up.

It does, mainly because of the performance of Sedgwick and the writers, who have given Brenda Johnson, her character with a Southern drawl, an idiosyncratic personality to go with her crime-solving abilities.

Last Monday's second episode, dealing with the murder of a high-profile model, offered subtle spoofs on the L.A. lifestyle, which included our heroine's frantic efforts to navigate the city's convoluted web of streets.

The plot of Monday's episode (10 PM ET/PT) dealing with the murder of a high-priced call girl and the Russian mob, isn't as concise as the first two scripts.

Actually, ongoing script problems could loom on the horizon. As Brenda shows her detective skills in unraveling high-profile murders, she gets sarcastic resistance from her burly male peers. How long can that continue?

Still, the quirky personality and style (an antique Atlanta wardrobe) make Sedgwick's character one of the most intriguing in TV's overcrowded cop squad room.

A reminder: starting tonight on ABC (in HD.)

Empire
A Review by John Maynard The Washington Post

(“Empire” Debuts Tuesday at 9 PM ET/PT on ABC; regular time is Tuesdays at 10 PM.)

The tagline you'll never see: Shaky history lesson. Solid entertainment.

The basics: The year is 44 B.C., and all is not well in the Roman Empire. Julius Caesar (Colm Feore) lords over a dissatisfied and restless republic, while a corrupt Senate thinks its leader has grown too big for his britches. But you can't simply vote a guy like Caesar out of office -- so the senators take matters into their own hands with a little group stabbing (filmed wonderfully in dramatic slow motion). Then the gang sets its sights on Caesar's nephew and heir apparent, Octavius (Santiago Cabrera), a lad who's had his share of ladies but has never engaged in battle. In other words: He's a lover, not a fighter. Enter Tyrannus (Jonathan Cake), a fictitious muscled gladiator, who had promised Caesar that he would protect young Octavius at all costs. Octavius and Tyrannus get the heck out of Rome, and the gladiator trains his protégé in the art of war.

The lowdown: It's a minor miracle that "Empire" made it to the little screen at all. The production was plagued with budget cutbacks (ABC ultimately cut the series from eight to six hours), work stoppages and a massive fire last summer that destroyed the set. "Empire" producers also clashed with those from HBO's own Roman Empire series, debuting this fall, which was filming on location in Rome at the same time. Most damning for the series, however, is that the public's appetite for ancient dramas seems to have been sated. "Gladiator" conquered Hollywood in 2000, but more recent movies such as "Troy" and "Alexander the Great" have flopped at the box office.

Reality check: Despite the budget cuts, ABC still managed to drop a cool $30 million on "Empire" -- and it shows. Lusciously filmed in Rome, the series isn't afraid to show off Italy's beauty whenever it can. But beyond its lavish scenery, the miniseries is wonderfully acted by a cast of actors who are far from being household names. A glance at their credits shows they are well-versed in performing ancient dramas, be they on stage or in film. Oh, and there also are some darn good swordfights -- three in the first hour alone.

“Beauty and the Geek” Marathon

The WB has announced it will help out all of you who may have missed one or more episodes of “Beauty and the Geek”. It is rerunning all five episodes (including the one set to air this Wednesday, June 29) on Sunday July 3.

Then the sixth episode will follow in its usual Wednesday time slot; Here’s the schedule:

Sunday, July 3 5 PM ET/PT Episode 1
Sunday, July 3 6 PM ET/PT Episode 2
Sunday, July 3 7 PM ET/PT Episode 3
Sunday, July 3 8 PM ET/PT Episode 4
Sunday, July 3 9 PM ET/PT Episode 5
Wednesday, July 6 8 PM ET/PT Episode 6

Summer Secrets

By Marc Berman mediaweek.com

If you are not a fan of the reality format but still look to the broadcast networks as your main source of television entertainment, I have a few suggestions to get you through the long, hot summer. Sometimes a repeat or an occasional original telecast is not so bad if you choose the right show to watch.

Although we have to wait until September for the multiple cliff-hangers to—hopefully—be resolved on ABC's Lost (an eternity for any die-hard TV fan), trust me when I tell you that each episode of this adrenaline-inducing drama is worth watching a second (or third) time. You will discover things about the explosive, invigorating and Emmy-worthy Lost that you didn't notice the first time around. What J.J. Abrams manages to cram into each episode—every scene—is truly amazing. No wonder there are Lost conventions popping up all over the place.

Since ABC is airing repeats of Lost in the more convenient Wednesday 10 p.m. hour, it's easier to get acquainted, or reacquainted, with the series. As for the Emmy buzz, I am willing to bet that several actors will be nominated, including Matthew Fox (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series), Evangeline Lilly (Lead Actress), Yoon-jin Kim (Supporting Actress), and Dominic Monaghan and Terry O'Quinn (both for Supporting Actor). In addition, the show should receive a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series and, of course, a Directing nod for Abrams. Move over Desperate Housewives, it's not just about you!

Also particularly worthy of a second glance is UPN's Veronica Mars , which is even better than Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, the show everyone compares it to, because series star Kristen Bell can actually act. Emmy, have you noticed? This wanna-be sleuth actually has talent.

Since the Big Three networks have given up even trying to program on Saturday, ratings for 48 Hours Mystery this season were not surprising. No one was watching. But now that CBS has added a second telecast of the newsmagazine-turned-unscripted-crime-solving drama into the Tuesday 10 p.m. hour this summer, you don't want to miss it. 48 Hours Mystery is the best-kept secret of the prime-time schedule. It's the CSI of the newsmagazine genre, and you will go to bed on Tuesday unraveling in your head what you just saw unveiled on the program. As an added incentive, the show has dropped dull-as-dishwater Leslie Stahl as host, going instead without one.

Also worthwhile: ABC's veteran 20/20 on Friday, even without the weekly presence of Barbara Walters, who still manages to pop in for an occasional visit. It's less pretentious and more enjoyable than CBS' 60 Minutes.

I have never understood why CBS' King of Queens has never received any accolades. Now that the competing American Idol is over for the season, this is your chance to catch up with the sitcom. Although ABC's competing Dancing With the Stars has busted loose (over 15 million viewers per week), if you're not into C-level personalities trying to cut a rug, check out this overlooked gem. Now that corporate cousin Everybody Loves Raymond is history, it's time to discover Doug (Kevin James), Carrie (Leah Remini) and outspoken Arthur Spooner (veteran Jerry Stiller). The cast's on-screen chemistry is truly unique, and it has been for seven seasons.

Another hidden gem is UPN's sassy and classy Girlfriends , the anchor of the network's Monday-night lineup. Anyone who thinks this is just another urban-oriented sitcom has not seen Tracee Ellis Ross, Golden Brooks, Persia White and Jill Marie Jones in action. Since Girlfriends faced Raymond for three straight seasons, and that show is unofficially over, Raymond viewers can now discover what they have been missing. It's reminiscent of female-buddy comedies Living Single and Designing Women.

Last, but certainly not least, are original—yes, original!—episodes of Fox's rejuvenated Family Guy and the recently introduced American Dad on Sunday. Both animated series have given the network an unexpected ratings boost, and both are reasons to believe Fox is finally becoming more than just a one-hit wonder.

If you are not interested in any of these suggestions and crave something in the original scripted arena, switch over to cable network TNT for two of the biggest hits this summer: miniseries Into the West and the Kyra Sedgwick crime drama The Closer. With Wanted, another original drama, scheduled to debut on the cable network on Sunday, July 31, TNT is the true home of must-see summer TV. Kudos, Steve Koonin.

For a new take on Caesar, lend an ear to 'Empire'
Channel Surfing By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune[ staff reporter June 28, 2005

It's difficult to find anything major to criticize about "Empire," ABC's lavish new mini-series about ancient Rome (9 PM ET/PT tonight on ABC in HD ).

The sets and costumes are top-notch, the acting is mostly credible, and though the script compares unfavorably to Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," it's passable, as toga-and-sandal epics go.

So why does watching "Empire" feel like such a slog?

In the first half of the two-hour premiere, the "Empire" filmmakers try to build suspense around a senatorial plot to do away with Julius Caesar, whom they view as power-mad and bent on taking away their power.

But the plotting of the senators on the Ides of March doesn't hold much suspense for anyone who has ever read the Bard's take on the doings of Caesar, Brutus and Cassius. Suffice to say, things don't exactly go well for the supreme leader.

One gets the sense that the creators of this series were trying, at times, to evoke the visual lyricism and electricity of the film "Gladiator." But instead of Ridley Scott-style pyrotechnics, viewers get lingering shots of sets filled with smoky lighting and lots of scenes of guys in togas fighting. That's not really a substitute for a gripping story.

And though they're competent, none of the actors -- most of whom are Brits and unknown here -- brings Russell Crowe's simmering charisma to the screen. This series also concerns a gladiator slave, a fictional character called Tyrannus, who is charged by the dying Caesar with protecting his callow nephew, Octavius, whom Caesar has chosen over the warrior Marc Antony as his successor.

As Octavius, Santiago Cabrera is indeed callow, and not quite up to the job of making Octavius so compelling that the viewer will want to trudge through all six hours of the mini-series (after a two-hour premiere, "Empire" airs weekly on Tuesdays). It's not entirely his fault: The dialogue is a bit on the stiff side. For his part, Jonathan Cake gives his all as the gladiator/bodyguard Tyrannus, but his character is given little depth.

The mini-series does have its moments: Colm Feore is a terrific Caesar; James Frain, who recently guested on "24" as Paul Raines, is a compelling Brutus; and Michael Maloney gives a worthy performance as the devious Cassius.

Still, one wishes this mini-series had a little of the venom of the classic 1975 BBC series "I, Claudius." Better yet, friends, Romans, countrymen -- if you have six hours to spare, look up Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." He had a few things to say about the uses of power and the plots of the men who wished to rule Rome's empire.

ABC crosses the Rubicon to film pricey 'Empire'

By Kelly Carter Special for USA TODAY

ROME — As the workday ended, a hot, weary and filthy Colm Feore, wearing the same leather breastplate worn by Richard Harris in Gladiator, tugged at the dusty Roman sandals strapped tightly around his calves. He looked around the dirty back lot at Roma Studios and wondered aloud whether he was surrounded by the dust and ashes of old Romans.

Far-fetched, considering how many centuries have passed, but point taken. Certainly ABC's decision to make Empire, its five-part drama set during the Roman Empire, in Rome and southern Italy rather than on a soundstage in Los Angeles adds verisimilitude to the ambitious $33 million project.

And the decision provided an environmentally charged energy boost to the actors, including Feore, who portrays Julius Caesar, during last summer's production. Empire premieres Tuesday with a two-hour special (9 ET/PT). Four more hour-long episodes air Tuesdays through July 26 (10 ET/PT).

For a while, it seemed as if ABC might let Empire turn to dust and ashes. First there was the budget: Some feature films are fortunate to have $33 million. This is television, where low-cost reality is the rage.

Once production was underway, it became apparent that even $33 million was not enough to make eight hours, the original plan. To stay within budget, and to appease executives after the departure in April 2004 of ABC chairman Lloyd Braun, who pitched the project in 2002, the series was trimmed to six hours.

Then there was the question of the series' quality. Original plans called for Empire to air last winter, although a date was never set. Then it was pushed back to summer, a low-viewership period when networks traditionally "burn off" their less-successful efforts.

"It wasn't moved because we weren't happy," said ABC senior vice president Quinn Taylor. "There was no scandal behind it opening now. ... There was no way it was ever going to be ready in winter."

Although television critics so far have been less than wowed with the final product, Taylor said he and others at the network are satisfied. "It was extraordinarily ambitious and a lot more manpower than anyone ever imagined. Given where it started and how it came out in the end, we are pleased. No project is ever 100%. It's a good 87% to 92%. The value is on the screen."

Filming in Italy is often difficult for U.S. companies because Italians work at a notoriously leisurely pace and don't believe in overtime. Executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the duo behind the Oscar-winning Chicago, didn't make it any easier by using locales where filming had never or rarely taken place, such as in a church built in 400 B.C., a 2,000-year-old villa and Romulus' fourth-century tomb.

Some of the filming, including a piazza/arena for the gladiator fights, took place at Roma Studios.

"I don't think it can be done anywhere else" except Rome, Feore said during a break on the set. "There's a certain amount of the atmosphere of Rome that is instilled in the actors just by being here. They all have time off to visit the prime locations of interest, to develop a feel for it and to have a deeper thinking about this stuff actually happening and what it means. There's an enormous value in being here."

And to think, in the beginning Greg Yaitanes, who directs the first two episodes, thought of nothing more than the Colosseum and the Forum when he learned production would take place in Rome.

"I've seen a lot of things lately on TV that are of this period; I just think they look cheap and fake," said Yaitanes, sitting in the gladiator ring. "You can't beat this. You could have all of the money in the world and you'd never build something as amazing as what we've been able to shoot here."

Trudie Styler, who plays Servilia, Caesar's favorite lover and the scheming mother of Brutus, said, "It doesn't feel like a TV production. It feels like we're making wonderful cinema.”

Bye-Bye Pax TV, Sort Of. We Think.
Pax TV Becomes "i"
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

Paxson Communications says it is changing its name to "i"--for "independent broadcast platform for producers and syndicators," starting July 1 (that’s Friday)..

During a transition phase--Paxson didn't say how long--both the old Pax TV and the new "i" brands will appear onscreen, after which the Pax TV brand, though just what the programming linup will be is unclear, will continue on one of the digital multicast channels of its owned stations (it is multicasting on 45 of its 60 stations).

That news came out in a release late Monday night, and a spokeswoman for Pax/"i" (it is not clear whether the quote marks are part of the brand) had not returned calls at press time. A spokeswoman for NBC, a third owner in the network, was not aware of the changes.

Some change had been expected from the network.

Paxson Chairman Bud Paxson last month said the net was not reducing its entertainment fare in favor of paid programming, calling reports that the company was dropping or even reducing its entertainment programming "totally incorrect."

But, Paxson also said that "as we approach the new fall season, the entertainment programs on our schedule may change to allow the company to give its shareholder a better return on their investment."

Just how the new Pax/"i" model does that isn't clear, though the new independent channel could conceivably be a home for paid entertainment programming rather than infomercial. Big nets also sell their time to outsiders, for kids blocks, say, or NBC's coverage of the Lacrosse Championship, which the league paid it to air.

Paxson's programming defense last month followed the filing of an arbitration claim by NBC two weeks before.

NBC was also under the impression Paxson was cutting back on entertainment fare and loading up on paid programming and said such a move breached a contractual agreement.

Paxson responded with a petition to the FCC to block NBC from influencing its programming, claiming the Peacock was trying to take "illegal control" of the the 57-station TV group.

Paxson also told the SEC: "We are not currently investing substantial additional amounts in new entertainment programming and are evaluating other programming strategies and opportunities that might be available to us that could improve our cash flow."

In February Paxson axed 50 staffers, many in the programming department.

"i" = infomercial

That would be my guess, too, CPanther95.
I think the FCC should just confiscate the Pax/"i" stations immediately.
What a disgrace.

Monday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

NBC Cancels 9/11 miniseries

Financial considerations force rethink of project

By JOSEF ADALIAN Variety.com

NBC is putting the kibosh on its ambitious eight-hour 9/11 miniseries from scribe Graham Yost and Imagine Television.

Decision comes late in the game: Scripts for the project had been completed and pre-production had begun. Indeed, barely a month ago, Peacock execs made a big deal of the mini at their presentation to advertisers, touting the involvement of exec producers Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and David Nevins.

But according to industry insiders familiar with the net's decision, financial considerations -- as well as competitive pressure from a rival 9/11 project at ABC -- caused NBC to rethink its project, which was to have been a co-production between Imagine and NBC Universal Television Studio.

NBC and Imagine both declined comment.

ABC's project, which has never been officially announced by the net, is said to be still on track. Marc Platt ("Legally Blonde") is exec producing, and several actors -- including Harvey Keitel -- have been approached about the project, though no major deals are yet locked.

As for the NBC project, mounting an eight-hour miniseries at any broadcast net is an expensive and risky proposition, which is why broadcasters tend to limit their multipart pics to four hours these days. The "9/11" undertaking likely would have cost NBC at least $20 million, given the auspices behind it and some of the A-level talent said to be interested.

The fact that ABC was competing for talent and looking to get its Platt-produced mini on the air at the same time added another element of risk into the equation.

Upfront deflation

What's more, it may not be a coincidence that NBC execs halted the 9/11 project just weeks after it became clear the Peacock would lose up to $1 billion in the upfront market vs. its 2004 take.

Industry insiders said NBC might have been loath to spend so much coin on a project that could end up being the second 9/11 mini into the marketplace. Rushing the project to beat ABC might have been even more disastrous; thus, in the end, halting the project emerged as the best option.

As it is, NBC's investment in the project has been relatively modest. Net will have to pay for Yost's scripts and possibly some consultancy fees.

Yost has been disappointed by NBC before, with network chief Jeff Zucker killing Yost's "Boomtown" early in the show's second season, despite critical acclaim for the skein's frosh season.

Decision to table the Imagine "9/11" miniseries couldn't have been easy for Zucker or entertainment prexy Kevin Reilly. Peacock had done all it could to get out in front of the project, even rushing out an announcement of the project last fall before Imagine had come on board (Daily Variety, Oct. 28) -- amid speculation that ABC was readying its own 9/11 mini.

Net then quickly lined up top producers and consultants, including the New York Times and former ABC News correspondent Peter Lance.

NBC still owns the scripts and the rights to the project, which was to have been based on the official 9/11 Commission report. As a result, the net could decide to revive the mini, though that seems unlikely any time soon.

Shocker: TV viewing is actually rising
Americans spend more hours in front the tube
By Kevin Downey medialifemagazine.com June 28, 2005

Everyone knows that TV viewership has taken a big hit because of other media competing for viewers’ attention, especially the internet.

Too bad it's not true.

TV viewership is actually up over the past four years, according to new research from Turner Broadcasting, and it’s been climbing over the very same years that internet penetration has grown. People may be using the internet more, but they’re also turning on their TVs more.

And they’re watching more broadcast as well as more cable.

Indeed, while the presumption has long been that broadcast is suffering at the hands of cable, the reality is that they’re both doing well.

“People are watching more television than ever before,” says Jack Wakshlag, chief research officer at Turner. He notes that while his analysis focuses on a comparison of viewing this year to 2001, the average amount of time people spend watching TV has steadily been increasing.

“What’s happening is that the total amount of television viewing keeps going up, despite what other media types say or what people believe or what people tell you when you ask them in a survey.”

In the just-concluded broadcast season the networks halted audience erosion in the 18-49 demographic on a season-to-season basis for the first time in as long as most people can remember. Among households broadcast's share stayed the same while cable rose.

According to Turner, the average person watched 30.7 hours of television each week in second quarter through June 19, up 10 percent from 27.9 hours four years earlier.

Viewing in the highly sought-after 18-34 demographic in that timeframe increased to 26.3 hours, up from 24.3 hours. Adults 35-49 watched 31.8 hours compared to 28.3 hours in second quarter 2001. Viewing among people 50 years or older jumped to nearly 40 hours in an average week, from 36.3 hours.

Within the growing television audience, the networks this past season, on the strength of programs such as ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” CBS’s “CSI” and Fox’s “American Idol,” lost a scant 264,000 primetime viewers in the 18-49 demographic. That was essentially flat at down only 1 percent, compared to a 6 percent loss of 1.33 million viewers a season earlier.

At the same time, cable TV’s 18-49 audience was up 1.2 million people over last season. That came on top of an increase of 580,000 adults 18-49 the previous season.

Wakshlag attributes cable’s growth and the broadcast networks’ relatively good performance to more and better programming to keep viewers tuning in.

“It’s because there are more choices, more options, more [television sets] and people are simply turning on the television more than ever before,” he says. “There has been an aggressive campaign to try to get advertisers to move money away from television. Other media are claiming there are losses. But the only data they’ve ever been able to show is that people think they are watching less television, but we know they’re not.”

This summer, in the first three weeks since the regular broadcast season ended in late May, cable TV has averaged about 60 percent share of the primetime household audience, up from roughly 57 percent the same time last year. The network share has slightly dipped to about 34 percent from nearly 35 percent.

Wakshlag says cable TV is off to a strong summer because of original programs like FX’s “The Shield” and TNT’s “The Closer.”

“This is an ongoing trend,” he says. “You have larger cable networks investing the money they’ve been making in big-time original programming. And there has been a pretty good batting average for cable hits in the past few years.”

Maybe that's why movie revenue is off this year! People are watching TV!

This was predicted by Hollywood in the 50's. Maybe they're right. ;)

Paul

Historian, Novelist Shelby Foote Dies at 88
Was Major Force in PBS Series “The Civil War”
From The Associated Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Novelist and historian Shelby Foote, whose Southern storyteller's touch inspired millions to reads his multivolume work on the Civil War, has died. He was 88.

Foote died Monday night, his widow, Gwyn, said today.

Foote, a Mississippi native and longtime Memphis resident, wrote six novels but is best remembered for his three-volume, 3,000-page history of the Civil War and his appearance on the PBS series "The Civil War."

He worked on the book for 20 years, using a flowing, narrative style that enabled readers to enjoy it like a historical novel.

"I can't conceive of writing it any other way," Foote once said. "Narrative history is the kind that comes closest to telling the truth. You can never get to the truth, but that's your goal."

That work landed Foote a leading role on Ken Burns' 11-hour Civil War documentary, first shown on the Public Broadcasting Service in 1990.

Foote's soft drawl and gentlemanly manner on the Burns film made him an instant celebrity, a role with which he was unaccustomed and, apparently, somewhat uncomfortable.

Foote attended the University of North Carolina for two years and served in World War II, though he never saw combat.

Foote's first novel, "Tournament," was started before the war and published in 1949. Then came "Follow Me Down" in 1950, "Love in a Dry Season" in 1951, "Shiloh" in 1952 and "Jordan County" in 1954.

That same year, Random House asked him to write a one-volume history of the Civil War. He took the job, but it grew into a three-volume project finally finished in 1974.

In 1999, the Modern Library ranked Foote's "The Civil War: A Narrative" as No. 15 on its list of the century's 100 best English-language works of nonfiction.

Reading, he said, was as much a part of his work as writing.

After finishing his sixth novel, "September, September," in 1978, he took off three years to read.

Though hardly a recluse, Foote had long been known around Memphis as having little interest in parties and public gatherings. And he was often outspoken about his likes and dislikes.

"Most people, if the truth be told, are gigantic bores," he once said. "There's no need to subject yourself to that kind of thing."

Invited to speak in 1995 at a conference on tourism in Greenville, Miss., Foote advised his audience to take care in holding on to their hometown ways.

"I never enjoyed the company of tourists," he said. "I do not go where they go, and I do not want them coming where I am."

Foote was born Nov. 7, 1916, in Greenville, a small Delta town with a literary bent. Walker Percy was a boyhood and lifelong friend, and Foote, as a young man, served as a "jackleg reporter" for Hodding Carter on The Delta Star. As a young man, he would also get to know William Faulkner.

During World War II, he was an Army captain of artillery until he lost his commission for using a military vehicle without authorization to visit a female friend and was discharged from the Army. He joined the Marines and was still stateside when the war ended.

"The Marines had a great time with me," he said. "They said if you used to be a captain, you might make a pretty good Marine."

He tried journalism again after World War II, signing on briefly with The Associated Press in its New York bureau.

"I think journalism is a good experience, having to turn in copy against deadline and everything else, but I don't think one should stay in it too long if what he wants to be is a serious writer," Foote said in a 1990 interview.

Early in his career, Foote took up the habit of writing by hand with an old-fashioned dipped pen, and he continued that practice throughout his life.

He kept bound volumes of his manuscripts, all written in a flowing hand, on a bookshelf in a homey bedroom-study overlooking a small garden at his Memphis residence.

Though facing a busy city street, the two-story house was almost hidden from view by trees and shrubs.

"If I were a wealthy man, I'd have someone on that gate," he said.

Foote said writing by hand helped him slow down to a manageable pace and was more personal that using a typewriter, though he often prepared a typed copy of his day's writing after it was finished.

Married three times, Foote has a daughter, Margaret Shelby, and a son, Huger Lee. He and Gwyn married in 1956, three years after he moved to Memphis.

No More “Fathom”

NBC announced today its fall series “Fathom”, scheduled for 8 PM Mondays, will now be called “Surface”.

Why The New Name for NBC's “Fathom”
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable

After NBC’s upfront sales ended $900 million down compared to last year, it was not hard to predict changes to the Peacock’s fall lineup.

But when NBC announced Tuesday it was lifting the name of new undersea drama Fathom in favor of Surface, the motivation was not just strategic, but legal.

The change was spurred by an unnamed company claiming it owned the rights to the name Fathom. While NBC maintains they had good chain of title, they didn’t think it was worth it to go to court.

"We are completely confident we could go with it if we wanted to," says NBC spokesman Curt King.

Slotted for Mondays at 8 p.m. beginning in the fall, the show revolves around mysterious sea creatures that pop up in the depths of the ocean.

No More “Fathom”

NBC announced today its fall series “Fathom”, scheduled for 8 PM Mondays, will now be called “Surface”.
One of the "creatures" on this show is Lake Bell... :)

BTW, is it just me or does the TV.com site suck compared to the old TvTome...? I liked the old site much better...

I agree, the old one was vastly superior.
I rarely go to the new one, and visited the old site at least a couple of times a day.

Hey, Les Moonves: now that you’ve cancelled “Judging Amy” and “JAG”, what else can you do to appeal to that 18-39 demographic?
Chuck Norris rides again in 'Walker' telepic
Actor, CBS, web saddle up for new 'Texas' project

By JOSEF ADALIAN variety.com

CBS is hopping back in the saddle with Chuck Norris, greenlighting production on a new "Walker, Texas Ranger" telepic.
Project, which begins lensing July 20 in Dallas, has Norris reprising his title role for the first time since the actioner wrapped its eight-year run on CBS back in 2001. Brother Aaron Norris will helm the two-hour pic, dubbed "Walker, Texas Ranger: Ring of Fire"; he'll work from a script by original "Walker" scribes John Lansing and Bruce Cervi.

Series regulars Sheree Wilson and Judson Mills have inked to reprise their roles as Alex and Gage, respectively. Al Ruddy, Leslie Grief and the Norris brothers will exec produce via Paramount Network Television.

Aaron Norris said he doesn't consider the new pic a reunion but rather a potential fresh start for the "Walker" franchise. "Reunions are more about one-offs," he said. "I would like to do more of these."

To that end, action in "Ring of Fire" will pretty much pick up "as if we've been doing the show the whole time," with Walker simply doing what he's always done: collar criminals and kick bad-guy butt (and not necessarily in the that order).

Plot of "Ring of Fire" has Walker investigating whether one of his Ranger buddies is a serial killer -- or just being framed. He'll also try to track down a teen on the run from a crime syndicate.

Still, some changes are in the works.

"Our last (episode) was before 9/11, and the Texas Rangers, in reality -- and on our show -- are using more technology" to fight crime, Norris said. He adds "Walker" will feel a bit more urban than in the past, with more action taking place in Dallas.

Lensing in Texas rather than in California or Vancouver was important to both Norris brothers, Aaron Norris said.

"My brother and I are trying to show that you can shoot in Dallas and shoot big," he said. Indeed, the Norris brothers are in the process of opening a production facility in the city.

Eye has only greenlit one "Walker" telepic, but in success, it's possible net could make more, as it did a few years ago with "Murder, She Wrote." While crix never much warmed to the series, "Walker" always had strong heartland ratings appeal and was one of the last scripted series on any network to make an impact on Saturday nights.

Why The New Name for NBC's “Fathom”
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable

After NBC’s upfront sales ended $900 million down compared to last year, it was not hard to predict changes to the Peacock’s fall lineup.

But when NBC announced Tuesday it was lifting the name of new undersea drama Fathom in favor of Surface, the motivation was not just strategic, but legal.

The change was spurred by an unnamed company claiming it owned the rights to the name Fathom. While NBC maintains they had good chain of title, they didn’t think it was worth it to go to court.

"We are completely confident we could go with it if we wanted to," says NBC spokesman Curt King.

Slotted for Mondays at 8 p.m. beginning in the fall, the show revolves around mysterious sea creatures that pop up in the depths of the ocean.

The unnamed company is probably Aspen. They publish comics. Their signature title is "Fathom" about a female oceanographer who is part sea creature and a war is brewing between a race of sea creatures and man. It is an interesting book, but really hasn't been published in a while.

Thanks, Beacon, for the info.
(And welcome to the thread!)

Peacock Peeved at Pax Makeover
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

NBC Universal was not happy with Paxson's announcement Tuesday that it was morphing its network into something completely different and would be moving its Pax TV programming to the as-yet little-watched digital space. NBC is a one-third owner in the network

"NBC Universal was not informed in advance of today's programming announcement issued by Paxson," said the company in a statement. "While we have no direct input regarding Paxson programming, we continue to disagree with the direction Paxson management is taking the company.

"Our concern is that Paxson's strategy will erode our financial investment and, in our opinion, is not in the best interest of any Paxson stakeholder."

"We are doing what is best for our company," Paxson President Dean Goodman told B&C before NBC issued its statement. Goodman says the move was to make its operating structure more efficient and its programing more flexible.

Paxson Communications is changing its name to "i"--an "independent broadcast platform for producers and syndicators," starting July 1.

During a transition phase, both the old Pax TV logo and the new "i" brands will appear onscreen, after which the Pax TV brand will continue on one of the digital multicast channels of Paxsons owned stations (it is multicasting on 45 of its 60 stations). Goodman says the new independent channel will be "a mix of original series, movies, specials, sports and news that appeals to a variety of interests. Supported by our broad distribution platform, we want to evolve our primary network as a strongly branded television destination for all viewers and for producers and syndicators seeking a national venue for their programs."

Goodman told B&C that the model for i would include both programming that Pax owns and time it would sell to syndicators and other producers. For example, a small syndicator could buy its way onto a 60-station national launch pad for a show, then sell all the time in it.

Goodman would not say what the ratio of programming it paid for to programming time it sold would be, nor, citing ongoing litigation with NBC, how the move jibed with that network's charge that migrating to a paid programming model violated its contract.

The remake may be what is best for Paxson, but for the family-friendly Pax TV, it means a move to digital, where there are currently few TV sets to receive it, though it will get some cable carriage as well. Its fate likely depends on the government requiring cable to carry broadcasters' multicast channels. "That will be crucial to the entire industry," said Goodman, not just to Pax TV.

Goodman wouldn't give a timetable for the transition from Pax TV to "i" (the actual channel logo will not have quotation marks around it), but said it would be within a year.

Some change in the network structure had been expected, and advertised.

Paxson Chairman Bud Paxson last month said the net was not reducing its entertainment fare in favor of paid programming, calling reports that the company was dropping or even reducing its entertainment programming "totally incorrect."

But, Paxson also said that "as we approach the new fall season, the entertainment programs on our schedule may change to allow the company to give its shareholder a better return on their investment."

Just how the new Pax/"i" model does that isn't clear, though the new independent channel could conceivably be a home for paid entertainment programming rather than infomercial. Big nets also sell their time to outsiders, for kids blocks, say, or NBC's coverage of the Lacrosse Championship, which the league paid it to air.

Paxson's programming defense last month followed the filing of an arbitration claim by NBC two weeks before.

NBC was also under the impression Paxson was cutting back on entertainment fare and loading up on paid programming and said such a move breached a contractual agreement.

Paxson responded with a petition to the FCC to block NBC from influencing its programming, claiming the Peacock was trying to take "illegal control" of the the 57-station TV group.

Paxson also told the SEC: "We are not currently investing substantial additional amounts in new entertainment programming and are evaluating other programming strategies and opportunities that might be available to us that could improve our cash flow."

In February Paxson axed 50 staffers, many in the programming department.

"Fathom" is also the name of a James Franciosa / Raquel Welch adventure movie.

Paul

Last week’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

TNT: More June Viewers than UPN or The WB
“The Closer” gives TNT first ever monthly cable win over broadcast net
By JOHN DEMPSEY Variety.com

NEW YORK -- More people watched TNT during June than either UPN or the WB, marking the first time that a cable network beat two broadcast networks, albeit weblets, in total primetime viewers and adults 18-49 for an entire month.

Steve Koonin, executive VP of TNT and its TBS sibling, said TNT's performance is "remarkable" because of a considerable disadvantage: TNT reaches only 89.8 million households, compared to the nearly 100 million homes that receive the two youngest broadcast nets.

The programming that drove TNT to its record Nielsens for both the month and the entire second quarter included a number of NBA Playoff games, the first six hours of the 12-hour epic "Into the West," the first two episodes of the Kyra Sedgwick police drama "The Closer," theatrical movies like "Gladiator" and multiple reruns of "Law & Order."

Addressing the bigger picture, Tim Brooks, head of research for Lifetime TV, said cable networks as a category also scored a historic first, chalking up a 60% share of audience during June and sending the broadcast networks to below a 40 share.

Brooks also said only two of the top 10-rated ad-supported cable networks showed a decline in total primetime viewers during the second quarter: ESPN, which fell by 18%, and TBS, which slipped by 3%.

The big winner among the top 10 networks quarter to quarter in primetime was Spike, which soared by 66%. The engine of Spike's powerhouse second quarter was the two-hour Monday night "Raw," produced by World Wrestling Entertainment. Unfortunately, Spike couldn't come to an agreement to renew the WWE contract, so wrestling will shift to the USA Network in the fall.

Other individual cable programs that drew sizable auds during the second quarter include three Nextel Cup NASCAR races on FX, the return of USA's "The 4400" as a regular series, Nickelodeon's "Kids Choice Awards," the three-hour docu blockbuster "Supervolcano" on Discovery Channel, the Lifetime original movie "Odd Girl Out," TBS' cablecast of "Spider-Man" and the "2005 MTV Movie Awards."

Nickelodeon exercised its bragging rights outside primetime, wrapping its 10th consecutive year as the No. 1-rated cable network in total day.

In primetime, double-digit gainers for the second quarter, in addition to Spike, were (in order of their overall finish): AMC (up 16%), TV Land (up 17%), Hallmark Channel (up 18%), Lifetime Movie Network (up 17%), CNN Headline News (up 63%) and TV Guide Channel (up 15%).

Also: Discovery Health (up 44%), National Geographic Channel (up 60%), Speed Channel (up 11%), Toon Disney (up 11%), WE: Women's Entertainment (up 13%), the regional Turner South (up 129%), Outdoor Life Network (up 39%), Noggin (up 43%) and Biography Channel (up 175%).

The networks falling off by double digits in the second quarter in primetime, in addition to ESPN, were: MTV (down 12%), Discovery (down 15%), CNN (down 13%), TLC (down 30%), Bravo (down 18%), WGN (down 14%), CNBC (down 25%) and Fuse (down 35%).

Maybe this is not the right place for this.. but if anyone can figure it out.. fredfa can :)

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/s_347802.html

This is what confuses me... are they saying no highlights except for nbc until midnight?? So no sunday primetime or espnnews for that matter?? That cant be!!

"Another plus for NBC is that no one, including ESPN, will be able to air any NFL highlights until midnight or after on Sunday. "So people will be tuning into NBC for highlights," said McCarley.
To ensure the best games, whichever network (CBS or FOX) has the Sunday doubleheader game, they will be able to protect only one of those games. That protection announcement will come some two weeks prior giving NBC the choice of the second best game for Sunday night. The flexible scheduling will also allow for more compelling and competitive games over the final seven or eight weeks of the season."

Jacko Trial Fuels 'On The Record' Surge to No. 2 Spot

FNC’s 'Greta' grabs second place as audience soars to 1.81 mil

By MICHAEL LEARMONTH Variety.com

NEW YORK -- Fox News Channel's "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren" became the second-ranked cable news show in June, with ratings fueled by the Michael Jackson trial and the missing teen in Aruba. Van Susteren's audience grew 45% to 1.81 million viewers in June, lifting the show into the second spot behind Fox's "The O'Reilly Factor" (2.25 million) and ahead of "Hannity & Colmes" (1.79 million), according to Nielsen Media Research.

And last week, Van Susteren even beat O'Reilly for three straight nights as she reported from Aruba on the case of missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway. For the quarter, Van Susteren's audience grew 34%.

The steamy jurisprudence beat also helped Headline News' Nancy Grace, whose numbers have helped make CNN's sister net the fastest-growing cable news network. Grace drew an average of 648,000 viewers in June, up from 191,000 a year ago. For the quarter, Grace averaged 530,000 viewers, a 183% increase from 187,000 in the second quarter last year.

Grace anchored HLN's revamped primetime lineup, which has three fast-growing shows: "Nancy Grace," "Prime News Tonight" (up 36%) and "Showbiz Tonight" (up 54%).

Headline News averaged 223,000 total viewers during the quarter, up 19% from last year, compared with MSNBC's 210,000. In primetime, HLN widened its lead over MSNBC, with 368,000 average total viewers compared with 311,000.

Maybe this is not the right place for this.. but if anyone can figure it out.. fredfa can :)

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/s_347802.html

This is what confuses me... are they saying no highlights except for nbc until midnight?? So no sunday primetime or espnnews for that matter?? That cant be!!

"Another plus for NBC is that no one, including ESPN, will be able to air any NFL highlights until midnight or after on Sunday. "So people will be tuning into NBC for highlights," said McCarley.
To ensure the best games, whichever network (CBS or FOX) has the Sunday doubleheader game, they will be able to protect only one of those games. That protection announcement will come some two weeks prior giving NBC the choice of the second best game for Sunday night. The flexible scheduling will also allow for more compelling and competitive games over the final seven or eight weeks of the season."

You have it right, enjoy NFL Primetime on Sunday while it lasts this year then see what NBC serves up in 2006.

wow.. as usual we the fan will get screwed.. wonder how this effects the local affiliates and their 6pm newscasts...

Maybe this is not the right place for this.. but if anyone can figure it out.. fredfa can :)

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/s_347802.html

This is what confuses me... are they saying no highlights except for nbc until midnight?? So no sunday primetime or espnnews for that matter?? That cant be!!

"Another plus for NBC is that no one, including ESPN, will be able to air any NFL highlights until midnight or after on Sunday. "So people will be tuning into NBC for highlights," said McCarley.
To ensure the best games, whichever network (CBS or FOX) has the Sunday doubleheader game, they will be able to protect only one of those games. That protection announcement will come some two weeks prior giving NBC the choice of the second best game for Sunday night. The flexible scheduling will also allow for more compelling and competitive games over the final seven or eight weeks of the season."
Interesting, don't recall ever reading that before.

OK, let's figure this out logically.

Right now ESPN has the 7-8 p.m. NFL show leading into its own Sunday Night Game.

But, starting in 2006, it just doesn't make sense for the NFL to allow ESPN to, in effect, use NFL highlights to program against NBC's pre-game show (7-8 PM ET) or to use them during the Sunday Night Game itself.

Networks often have exclusive rights to various events.

ESPN has been famous for not allowing others to play in their sandbox. In 2000, after it had been announced the Fox and NBC/TNT would split the NASCAR coverage starting in 2001, ESPN literally banned Fox reporters from any race track.

(When the tide turned in 2001, it was ESPN crying foul, of course.)

But usually the big boys find out a way to make themselves all happy. There is too much money at stake not to work it out.

In this case, NBC is paying hundreds of millions of dollars and, in effect, giving the NFL four hours of network programming on the most watched night of the week. (And remember, NBC reaches 109+ million TV homes. ESPN reaches just over 90 million.)

It only makes sense that the NFL does its best to protect its Sunday Night broadcast partner as best it can. And that is what is happening. NBC has paid its money, and is making sure it gets every dollar's worth of NFL.

John Fiedler, 80
Character Actor Best Known for Distinctive Voice
By Dennis McLellan Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 28, 2005

John Fiedler, a veteran character actor best known for playing Mr. Peterson, the henpecked therapy patient on "The Bob Newhart Show," and the longtime voice of Piglet in Walt Disney's animated "Winnie the Pooh" stories, has died. He was 80.

Fiedler, a Brooklyn resident, died of cancer Saturday at the Lillian Booth Actor's Fund Home in Englewood, N.J., where he had been a patient since November, said his brother, James.

As an actor whose 50-year-plus career spanned the stage, screen and television, Fiedler had a face made familiar by his many roles. He played meek, mild-mannered characters — mousy men who occasionally harbored a mean streak.

But it was his breathy soprano that was the most memorable aspect of the short, balding, often-bespectacled actor.

Fiedler's distinctive voice was once described as "the sound of an old child, tentative yet seasoned, breathless yet weary."

"People will come up and say, 'Gosh, I thought it was you,' " Fiedler once told The Times. " 'Then I heard your voice, and I knew.' Nine times out of 10, they don't know the name."

As an actor who played Medvedenko in a 1954 off-Broadway production of "The Sea-gull," starring Montgomery Clift and Judith Evelyn, Fiedler knew early on that he would be a character actor.

"With my voice and my looks, I got the milquetoast, nerd parts," he told the Hartford Courant in 1996.

He played Juror No. 2, the unassuming bank clerk, in director Sidney Lumet's classic 1957 film of the Reginald Rose courtroom drama "12 Angry Men," starring Henry Fonda.

He played Vinnie, one of the poker-playing buddies in the original Broadway production and the movie version of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple."

On Broadway, he also played the only non-African American character in Lorraine Hansberry's landmark 1959 drama "A Raisin in the Sun," starring Sidney Poitier and Claudia McNeil.

Fiedler virtually owned the role of the gentleman from the neighborhood "improvement association" who offers to give the black family a large sum of money if they don't move into his middle-class, predominantly white neighborhood: He also played the part in the 1961 film version, the 1986 off-Broadway revival, the 1986 Kennedy Center production in Washington, D.C., the 1987 touring company production and the 1989 "American Playhouse" production on PBS.

Over the years, Fiedler appeared in numerous films, including "Kiss Me, Stupid," "That Touch of Mink," "The World of Henry Orient" and "True Grit," and had roles in scores of television shows such as "Gunsmoke," "Bewitched," "The Twilight Zone" and "Star Trek."

He made 17 appearances as the likably ineffectual Mr. Peterson on "The Bob Newhart Show" in the 1970s. And in the '80s, he played Woody, the mousy stage manager in "Buffalo Bill," the short-lived sitcom about an arrogant talk show host starring Dabney Coleman.

The son of an Irish-German beer salesman, Fiedler was born in Platteville, Wis., in 1925. His family moved to Shorewood, a suburb of Milwaukee, when he was 5, and he nurtured his dream of becoming an actor by staging productions in the family garage with other children in the neighborhood.

After graduating from high school in 1943, he enlisted in the Navy. He served stateside during World War II, then moved to New York City, where he studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse. In the early 1950s, Fiedler had a stint playing Homer on NBC Radio's "The Aldrich Family."

His distinctive voice was a natural for animated films.

On Monday, James Fiedler recalled his brother telling him that in the 1960s, when Walt Disney was casting voices for the 1968 theatrical short "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," Disney heard Fiedler's voice and said, "That's Piglet."

Over the next four decades, Fiedler supplied the voice of Piglet repeatedly in features, shorts, TV series, specials and videos. His most recent credit as the character is "Pooh's Heffalump Movie," a feature film released this year.

"He was a very, very sweet man, and when you're that nice of a guy, it's easy to play Piglet," Jim Cummings, a longtime voice of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, told The Times on Monday.

Cummings said Fiedler's kindness extended to his vocal delivery for the character: "It was kind of like the wind blowing through tall grass. It sounded homey, and it sounded comforting."

Over the years, Fiedler also provided voices for characters in "The Rescuers," "Robin Hood" and "The Fox and the Hound."

Of all the characters he played on stage, screen or television, Fiedler told the Hartford Courant, "there are elements of Piglet that are me: the shyness and the anxieties and fears. Even after all these years. The more you know, the higher your standards are and the more you have to lose."

In addition to his brother, of Madison, Wis., Fiedler is survived by his sister, Mary Dean, of Milwaukee.

Writers Union Plans to File Suit for Reality TV Workers

By SHARON WAXMAN The New York Times June 29, 2005

LOS ANGELES, June 28 - In the end, it wasn't the 18-hour days, the job instability, the lack of health care or pension benefits that sent Todd Sharp, a 44-year-old Hollywood writer, into the arms of a labor union. In the end, it was the missing loggers.

The reality-show producer, responsible for coming up with a story line for a one-hour episode of the ABC series "The Bachelor" this year, found that the production had eliminated the low-level clerks, called loggers, who catalogue the contents of hundreds of hours of video taken of the contestants.

"They were trying to save money," said Mr. Sharp, who said he subsequently had to wade through the tapes himself and try to remember where the most interesting moments lay. Editors stitched it all together to create the show. "It's definitely getting worse," he said.

Mr. Sharp is one of nearly 1,000 writers, editors and producers who have signed with the Writers Guild of America, West, to try to force reality production companies and the networks that present the shows to negotiate a union contract. As inducement, guild officials said they would file a lawsuit next week against some networks and production companies, charging breach of California's overtime laws.

While the reality genre has matured, creating shows that commonly compete in the ratings with scripted entertainment, conditions for those who work on the shows have worsened, not improved, those workers say. Although the most popular reality shows compete with scripted entertainment, the genre remains a seat-of-the-pants culture, with some shows taking only weeks, rather than months, to be bought, produced and appear on the air.

This has made for intense competition among reality-show producers. Budgets and shooting schedules are being squeezed by the networks, producers say. And the burden, say those who work on the shows, is falling on them.

"It's the Wal-Mart model," Mr. Sharp said. "The networks offer a low amount of money, and if one production company can't do it, they'll go to another production company. And it's all coming down on us."

ABC declined to comment for this article, as did the other major networks. Mike Fleiss, whose company, Next Entertainment, produces "The Bachelor," also declined comment, as did all other reality show producers contacted. The production companies themselves have not organized into an association of any kind.
J. Nicholas Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, who negotiates with the unions on other labor matters, said the issue was not a simple one. Because the reality genre was so diverse, ranging from bare-bones shows like MTV's fantasy-fulfillment program "Made" and Fox's ratings behemoth "American Idol," it was impossible to come up with standards to apply across the industry, he said.

"My point of view is this has to be handled on a production by production basis," Mr. Counter said, adding that this was the course agreed upon by the networks and the Writers Guild during their negotiations last year. A guild official responded that the production companies have ignored their formal requests for negotiations.

Working on a show-by-show basis, the Directors Guild of America has struck agreement with about 35 reality shows, but an official declined to disclose the names of the shows. "Part of our approach to working with producers is in not going public with the deals that we have," said Warren Adler, national executive director for that union. "It's our job to help them make the transition to becoming an organized industry."

Mr. Counter added that reality workers shouldn't complain. "A lot of people in this country would love to have the work these people are doing, and the rates of pay that they receive, millions of people," he said. "Sports people work long hours. News people work long hours. It's a business that basically adjusts to the needs of production, and hopefully people get time off later."

But that's exactly what editors and producers in the reality genre say that they do not get. On scripted shows, they said, writers work abnormally long hours during the year, but have long hiatuses between seasons. And their compensation is commonly twice what reality show producers - the people who devise the story lines, but who are rarely called "writers" in the credits - earn.

Salaries for producers and editors on reality shows vary widely, and often depend on the production company, though network shows tend to pay more than cable. One show may offer $2,500 a week for a field producer, while another may offer $1,600 a week. By comparison, the minimum guild rate for a writer on a prime-time, 13-week scripted show is $3,477 per week.

"What I found almost from the beginning is this across-the-board fury about the circumstances people got into," said David Young, organizing director for the Writers Guild, who has been working on the issue for a year. "It's a burnout lifestyle. Sometimes it pays O.K., a lot of times it doesn't. There are no benefits. It requires people to work on compressed schedules. Something will be supposed to take 16 to 20 weeks, and then they hear, 'The network wants it in 12 weeks.' "

Interviews with numerous editors and producers reflected similar complaints. David Rupel, a veteran reality producer of shows from "Temptation Island" to "Big Brother," recalled that in 2003, NBC would extend the length of the show at the last minute on "Meet My Folks."

"A week before they would say, 'We want you to be 90 minutes,' and you'd have to work seven days a week to do that," he said. "But my paycheck didn't change. They think of us as filler. You'd never call John Wells a week before 'ER' and say, 'We want it to be 90 minutes.' " Mr. Wells is the executive producer of "ER." Mr. Rupel added: "And when NBC was supersizing 'Friends' and 'Will & Grace,' they had to pay everybody extra money."

The comment underscores a delicate question in the organizing effort of the Writers Guild: Is the work done by producers and editors on reality shows really the same as writing? From a creative standpoint is it comparable to the efforts of writers on scripted shows like "ER" and "CSI"?

Mr. Sharp and others say it certainly is. "We have to take all the little bits and give it a clear story arc, give it structure, out of what in reality might be a big mess," he said. "That, to me, is writing." Several talked about the common practice of "Franken-byting," in which the unpaid contestants on reality shows were made to say things by editing together individual words to make up an invented sentence.

Rebecca Hertz, a 28-year-old story producer, said that after three back-to-back stints on reality shows, she was exhausted, and disgusted. On "Big Man on Campus" for WB, "I'd often wrap at 1 a.m. and need to be on another shoot at 8 a.m.," she said. Postproduction on Fox's series "The Swan," she said, was worse. On a crash schedule, there was a day editor and a night editor, but only one producer, she said. "I'd be there from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m., and then have to be back," Ms. Hertz recalled. "It would be dawn and I'd be going home."

Mr. Sharp, a father of two and a former screenwriting professor, finds himself completely demoralized between reality gigs when he goes home, he said. "I can't keep doing this much longer if the conditions don't improve," he said. "I can see the end of the road for me. I just hobble in, and I've been gone for weeks, and I don't have anything to show for my disappearance. You're working years and years, and you're not putting anything away."

The NY Times obit of a remarkable man.

Shelby Foote, Historian and Novelist, Dies at 88

By DOUGLAS MARTIN The New York Times June 29, 2005

Shelby Foote, the historian whose incisive, seasoned commentary - delivered in a drawl so mellifluous that one critic called it "molasses over hominy" - evoked the Civil War for millions in the 11-hour PBS documentary in 1990, died on Monday at a Memphis hospital He was 88 and lived in Memphis. His death was reported by his wife, Gwyn, The Associated Press said.

Mr. Foote's 89 cameo appearances in Ken Burns's series "The Civil War" were informed by his own three-volume history of the war, two decades in the making, that blended his practiced novelist's touch with punctilious, but defiantly unfootnoted research. His mission was to tell what he considered America's biggest story as a vast, finely detailed, deeply human narrative. He could focus on broad shifts in strategy or on solitary moments of poignancy, like the tearful but still proud Robert E. Lee picking his way through the ranks of his vanquished army to surrender.

"He made the war real for us," Mr. Burns said.

His goal was to emulate the authoritative narrative voice of the 18th-century British historian Edward Gibbon. Mr. Foote's books carried a great plot, and as academic historians increasingly saw themselves as social scientists armed with the tools of quantitative analysis, he turned to Shakespeare for metaphors and to colloquialisms for literary impact.

"What sort of document was this anyhow?" he wrote of the Emancipation Proclamation, before going on to discuss it.

Facts, Mr. Foote said, are the bare bones from which truth is made. Truth, in his view, embraced sympathy, paradox and irony, and was attained only through true art. "A fact is not a truth until you love it," he said.
Critics suggested that Mr. Foote played down the economic, intellectual and political causes of the Civil War. Some said that Mr. Foote may have played down slavery so that Southern soldiers would seem worthy heroes in the epic battles he so stirringly chronicled.

Mr. Foote is survived by his third wife, the former Gwyn Rainer, whom he married in 1956, and two children, Margaret Shelby and Huger Lee.

Shelby Foote was born on Nov. 17, 1916, in Greenville, Miss., the cultural center of the Mississippi Delta. He was the only child of Shelby Dade Foote, a local businessman, whose roots ran deep in American history, and Lillian Rosenstock Foote. Among the Shelby-Foote direct ancestors was Isaac Shelby, a frontier leader in the Revolution and the first governor of Kentucky. Mr. Foote's great-grandfather, Capt. Hezekiah William Foote, a slave owner, fought for the Confederacy at Shiloh (where, he reported, his saber was bent and his horse's tail was shot off) and later became a judge. Less respectable was his grandfather, Huger Lee Foote, a planter who gambled away what would have been a substantial inheritance.

Under the influence of William Alexander Percy, a local author and the uncle of young Shelby's best friend, Walker Percy, the boy took to books, discovering abiding favorites from Shakespeare to Dickens. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he wrote short stories and poems for the campus literary magazine before dropping out in 1937 without taking a degree. But he did find occasion, with Walker Percy, to visit William Faulkner in Oxford, Miss. The pair were cordially received.

In 1940 Mr. Foote entered the United States Army and served as a battery captain of field artillery in Europe before his Army career ended abruptly in 1944, when he was caught sneaking off to Belfast, Ireland, to see a girlfriend. The Marine Corps recruited him, but the war ended, and in November 1945 he was discharged. He found odd jobs, including a stint as a reporter for The Delta Democrat Times, whose publisher, Hodding Carter, felt he spent too much office time writing fiction. In 1946 he sold his first short story to The Saturday Evening Post, and after rejections and rewrites he sold his first novel, "Tournament," to the Dial Press.

Drawn from his own family history, the tale of a Delta planter who gambles away the family fortune was greeted, somewhat unoriginally, as a promising first novel. Not all critics felt that the promise was redeemed in the four novels, all set in the South, that followed. A New York Times reviewer wrote that "Follow Me Down" (1950), about a Mississippi farmer who murders a teenage girl, showed more virtuosity than depth, but a later reviewer had kind words for "Love in a Dry Season" (1951), a gritty Delta tale. "Shiloh," (1952), which became his best known novel, and a hint of his future achievements, offered an affecting account of the famous Civil War battle through the monologues of soldiers in the blue and the gray. And in 1954 came "Jordan County," seven Delta stories set in reverse chronological order, from 1950 to 1797. He wrote all these books in the garage behind his mother's house. His last major novel, "September, September," set in Little Rock, Ark., during the 1957 school-integration turmoil, appeared in 1978.

In their six-decade friendship, Mr. Foote and Walker Percy exchanged scores of letters about their work. Mr. Foote, who was a few months the junior, played the mentor, but it was Percy who made the more impressive literary mark with his first novel, "The Moviegoer," which won a National Book Award in 1962. Mr. Foote was at his friend's bedside at his death in New Orleans in 1990.

Mr. Foote's novels were treated respectfully: Southern literary journals carried long analyses, with at least one essayist faulting the literary establishment for its shameful neglect of his achievement, and French critics found resemblances in his experiments with time and points of view between the Foote world of Jordan County and William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County). But it was nonfiction that brought him widespread attention.

What began as a Random House proposal for a short account of the Civil War as its centennial approached turned into an opus. Writing in an ornate script with an old-style dip pen in his rambling magnolia-shaded house in Memphis, where the Footes had moved in 1953, he produced the 2,934-page, three-volume, 1.5 million-word military history, "The Civil War: A Narrative." At 500 to 600 words a day, with times out to visit battlefields on the anniversaries of the battles, it took him 20 years. The volumes appeared between 1958 and 1974.

Carrying readers from Fort Sumter to Appomattox, the work was greeted by most reviewers in the spirit of the New York Times Book Review contributor who called it "a remarkable achievement, prodigiously researched, vigorous, detailed, absorbing." Others used words like "monumental," "comprehensive," and "even-handed."

In The New York Review of Books, C. Vann Woodward complimented the author on capturing the "intimacy of combat" with his "impressive narrative gifts and dramatic purposes."

Responding to the observation that it took him five times as long to write the war as its participants took to fight it, Mr. Foote pointed out that "there were a good many more of them than there was of me." Inspired by the works of Tacitus, Thucydides, Gibbon and, more surprising, Marcel Proust, Mr. Foote's own specially prized writer for prose style, psychological insight and the sweep of his vision, he created a history as written by a novelist, with due bows to a line that included Tolstoy, Stendhal and Stephen Crane.

In treating North and South evenhandedly and covering the campaigns in both east and west, Mr. Foote accepted the historian's standards of evidence without the baggage of footnotes, for which he was faulted by some academics, who also criticized his sketchy attention to politics, economics and diplomacy. But most were grateful. Louis D. Rubin Jr. summed up in The New Republic: "It is a model of what military history can be."

Among the most vivid scenes was the description of Gen. Robert E. Lee's slow ride after his surrender: "Grief brought a sort of mass relaxation that let Traveller [Lee's horse] proceed, and as he moved through the press of soldiers, bearing the gray commander on his back, they reached out to touch both horse and rider, withers and knees, flanks and thighs, in expression of their affection."

The work brought its author three Guggenheim Fellowships, a Ford Foundation grant and considerably more in royalties than any of his novels had earned, and he was admitted to a distinguished company of Civil War historians that included Bruce Catton, Allan Nevins and Douglas Southall Freeman. "They call you Gibbon and you know that's silly," he told an interviewer. "But if they don't call you Gibbon you get a feeling they're holding back."

Still, it remained for television to carry him to fame. In 1985 Ken Burns, planning his television documentary on the war, called on Mr. Foote, who had been recommended by his fellow Southern writer Robert Penn Warren, to be a paid consultant. The choice of an accomplished stylist steeped in Southern lore was made to order, and Mr. Foote readily established himself as the viewers' surrogate.

The series, a smash hit for public broadcasting, attracted an audience of 14 million over five nights and turned Mr. Foote into a prime-time star. His fans learned that he was a pipe smoker who loved Mozart and Vermeer and Proust (he said he had read "Remembrance of Things Past" from start to finish nine times) and drank bourbon outdoors and scotch indoors. His dog, Booker, an akita, dozed nearby as he wrote. At one point Mr. Foote was getting 20 calls a day from admirers who just wanted to have him over for dinner. He took a page from Ulysses S. Grant who, in reply to the remark "You must get lots of mail," said, "Not nearly so much as I did when I answered it all." Mr. Foote stopped writing back.

(Walter Goodman, who died in 2002, contributed reporting and analysis for this article.)

OK, let's figure this out logically.



When they say nobody, does that include local CBS and FOX stations during their evening news? Meaning no NFL highlights from earlier in the day...? That seems a little odd to me..I must be reading it wrong. It must exclude news broadcasts.

The NFL can be pretty strict.
Just because a game has aired doesn't mean the NFL doesn't still retain all rights to it.
I would assume the rules would allow some limited highlights of a local team in local newscasts.
But since I haven't read it, I don't know what the NFL/NBC contract says.

NBA sizzles; bride fizzles
Weekly Ratings Notes
By Gary Levin USA TODAY

•Last hoops. The NBA Finals finally ended with Thursday's seventh game, which topped the Nielsen charts with 19 million viewers. The entire series — the first to go seven games since 1994 — averaged 12.5 million viewers. That's down 30% from last year's 17.9 million, but up from 2003's record-low 9.9 million.

•Runaway bride, not ratings. Katie Couric's Dateline interview with Jennifer Wilbanks, the would-be Georgia bride who bailed, averaged a mere 8.7 million viewers Tuesday.
The special won its time slot, but the latest big "get" of a newsmaker hardly lit up the Nielsens.

•Checking out of this Hilton. Paris' mom got a reality series of her own, but Tuesday's I Want to Be a Hilton was no Simple Life. Just 6.8 million viewers tuned into Tuesday's fourth-place premiere, in which manners-conscious contestants chased a "trust-fund" prize.

•Hit Me again. NBC's Hit Me Baby One More Time hit a new-low 5 million viewers Thursday, while ABC's Dancing with the Stars (15.5 million) Wednesday took its first, if slight, dip.

•Ticking. CBS' 60 Minutes was Sunday's most-watched program with 9 million viewers. But a rerun of ABC's Desperate Housewives, in a new 10 ET/PT time slot, claimed just 5.8 million, finishing third.

•Hundreds. The latest American Film Institute special, 100 Years 100 Quotes, averaged a respectable 9 million viewers Tuesday as CBS spent three hours highlighting memorable movie lines.

•Cable newbies. MTV's The Real World: Austin, the reality series' 16th season, premiered Tuesday with 3.7 million viewers, up 13% from last season's opener. FX's Rescue Me returned for a second outing Tuesday with 2.9 million, matching last summer's first season. Food Network set a series record of 2.7 million for Sunday's finale of Next Food Network Star. And ABC Family drama Wildfire notched 2 million Monday, its second-best original-series premiere behind State of Grace. But none could close the gap with TNT's The Closer, the week's top cable program with 5.6 million.

DirecTV to File Complaint Over Fees
By JOE FLINT Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL June 29, 2005; Page A3
Satellite broadcaster DirecTV is accusing a programming consortium owned by three cable giants of setting up an illegal pricing structure aimed at hurting its business.

The accusations -- marking the latest salvo in the battle between cable and satellite companies -- target In Demand, a pay-per-view and video-on-demand programming service owned by Comcast Corp., Time Warner Inc. and Cox Communications Inc. Specifically, they concern In Demand's two high-definition channels, INHD and INHD2, which offer cable subscribers programming such as movies and sports in the nascent but growing high-definition digital format.

DirecTV, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and has 14.5 million subscribers, doesn't carry the two channels, claiming In Demand's pricing for INHD favors cable over satellite. DirecTV says this puts the partnership in violation of a Federal Communications Commission regulation known as the program-access rule that prohibits cable companies that own content from depriving satellite competitors access to that same content.

In Demand charges cable and satellite operators a fee for the two channels based on how many digital subscribers they have. DirecTV claims that because all satellite TV is by nature delivered by digital signals, In Demand treats all of its customers as potential high-definition customers. DirecTV says its customers require additional equipment to receive high-definition programming, so it should be charged according to how many subscribers have high-definition equipment.

"By structuring its pricing in this way, In Demand would charge DirecTV 4½ times the price it charges Comcast, and at least 3 times what it charges Time Warner for their INHD subscribers," DirecTV's complaint says. The approach, the company said, appears to be "facially neutral pricing" but is discriminatory in practice. The complaint is expected to be filed today with the FCC.

In Demand dismissed DirecTV's charges. "We have had numerous discussions with DirecTV about carriage of our high-definition networks INHD and INHD2, and we believe that the allegations in the company's complaint are completely without merit," the company said, adding that it is "confident that the FCC will find in our favor."

The spat between DirecTV and In Demand is the latest sign of the growing tensions between the rival distribution services. Since Mr. Murdoch took control of DirecTV 18 months ago and began to aggressively ramp up its marketing and woo cable customers, the satellite broadcaster has been increasingly confrontational.

The battle over program access so far has primarily been in sports. DirecTV points to Philadelphia, where Comcast owns a sports channel that it won't make available to satellite broadcasters. While the FCC requires cable operators that own programming to sell it to everybody, the rule applies only to channels that are transmitted via satellite. In the case of the Philadelphia channel, its signal is sent terrestrially.

In Demand's fee structure, DirecTV contends, doesn't follow standard industry practice. As an example, the satellite broadcaster said in its complaint that Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN HD, a high-definition version of the cable sports channel, charges distributors a rate based on the number of their subscribers who actually receive the channel and not the number of potential subscribers the channel could have. Time Warner's HBO, DirecTV added, also charges distributors for the amount of people that actually buy the service, not those who could buy it but choose not to subscribe.

Cuoco under spell of WB's 'Charmed'

Tue Jun 28,10:03 PM ET


"8 Simple Rules" star Kaley Cuoco will next tackle the rules of witchcraft on the WB Network's "Charmed."

The actress is joining the cast of the veteran drama as a regular next season, playing a young witch under the tutelage of the Charmed ones (Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan).

In addition to Cuoco, the upcoming eighth season of "Charmed" will feature Sugar Ray singer Mark McGrath, who signed on to do a multiepisode arc.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

I hope it helps.
I think "Charmed" is one of those programs, that, if it were on a major network, would get some serious national attention.
But stuck in the WB schedule, (where it ranked tied for 133rd this season with 3.5 million viewers) it probably will never get much notice. That is a pity.
It also lost 19% of its viewers last year and perhaps this move can help stop that exodus.

I hope it helps.
I think "Charmed" is one of those programs, that if it were ion a major network would get some serious national attention.
But stuck in the WB schedule, (where it ranked tied for 133rd this season with 3.5 million viewers) it probably will never get much notice. That is a pity.
It also lost 19% of its viewers last year and perhaps this move can help stop that exodus.


Well, I never watched Charms before, but I was a big 8 Simple Rules fan. I love to watch Kaley Cuoco, so I will watch Charmed this year.

I hope it helps.
I think "Charmed" is one of those programs, that if it were ion a major network would get some serious national attention.
But stuck in the WB schedule, (where it ranked tied for 133rd this season with 3.5 million viewers) it probably will never get much notice. That is a pity.
It also lost 19% of its viewers last year and perhaps this move can help stop that exodus.

Wow! I'm suprised to hear this from you. Maybe it's just me, but "Charmed" is a show with THE worst acting and THE worst story lines on modern day TV. I'm amazed this dead horse keeps kicking!

If you ran the WB, what else have you got, Carl? ;)

To clarify, I was not making a reference to the show quality, just that if it were visible some place where a lot of people would see it, I think it would do a lot better.

I am not sure I would describe it quite as harshly as you do, but I understand your point.

True! True!! I guess my harshness comes from my wife watching this show for two seasons while I sat there and endured. Finally, she gave up, either because she got tired of my moaning or finally decided for herself it was a train wreck!!

Soundstage Season 3 starts tomorrow (6/30). If you've never seen a Soundstage concert on PBS in HD check it out. Quality is top notch.

(borrowed from BFG at satellite guys . us)

Figured I'd post this before I forget

Soundstage Season 3 will be starting on PBS and PBS HD on Thursday, June 30 at 10PM EDT.

The first show features Michael McDonald with Special Guests Toni Braxton, India.Arie, Take 6 and Billy Preston.

Here's the Set List:

Second That Emotion
I Was Made To Love Her (Billy Preston)
What’s Going On (Billy Preston)
Grapevine
Stop Look Listen (Toni Braxton)
Tracks of My Tears (Take 6)
Since I Lost My Baby (Take 6)
Loving You Is Sweeter
You’re All I Need (India.Arie)
Ain’t No Mountain (India.Arie)
Real Thing (India.Ari)


Here's other artists lined up for season 3:

June 30 - Michael McDonald Motown featuring Toni Braxton, India.Arie, Take 6 and Billy Preston
July 7 - John Mayer with special guest Buddy Guy - Part 1
July 14 - John Mayer with special guest Buddy Guy - Part 2
July 21 - The Wallflowers
July 28 - Heart
August 4 - America
August 11 - no show during pledge week
August 18 - Ringo Starr and the Roundheads with special guest Colin Hay
August 25 - Antigone Rising and Fountains of Wayne
September 1 - Chris Isaak, Greatest Hits
September 8 - Lindsey Buckingham with special guest Stevie Nicks

Tuesday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

I know this is off topic, (way off topic) but please indulge me one more time on today's 100th anniversary of Moonlight Graham’s only Major League appearance.

Doc's legacy
On the 100th anniversary of Archibald 'Moonlight' Graham's only appearance in the major leagues, his acts of kindness remain a source of pride in Chisholm, Minn
TOM POWERS St. Paul Pioneer-Press

It remains one of the most emotional movie scenes ever: Moonlight Graham, played by Burt Lancaster, steps over the line to help young Karin Kinsella, who is choking on a hot dog.

Of the many poignant moments in "Field of Dreams," that one tops them all. I don't know of anyone who didn't choke up a bit as the suddenly old Doc Graham walks off into the cornfield after saving the girl.

"In his baseball uniform, when he steps over the line to save the little girl, that hit every single one of us," said Veda Ponikvar, a longtime friend of the real Archibald "Moonlight" Graham up in Chisholm, Minn. "He was helping children like that all the time. When they didn't feel well, or maybe there were problems in the home — maybe the father was out of a job — they'd send those kids to see Doc Graham."

For many longtime Chisholm residents, the memories of Doc Graham, who died in 1965, remain vivid.

"After school, he'd go down to the baseball field," Ponikvar said. "He watched the kids. He'd go out there and show them a few things. He and Alicia never had any of their own. All of us were their kids. Later in the evening, the older men came. Doc Graham used to stand there and watch them through the fence. But pretty soon he'd be right out there playing."

Today marks the 100th anniversary of Moonlight Graham's only appearance in the major leagues — a half-inning as a late-game replacement in right field for the New York Giants. Graham never got a chance to bat, switching careers from baseball to medicine after the season. He was a doctor in Chisholm for a half-century, the school doctor for almost as long. To commemorate Graham's big-league appearance, the Twins are holding "Moonlight Graham Day" in conjunction with today's game against the Kansas City Royals.

For many years, Ponikvar, 85, was publisher of Chisholm's weekly newspaper. She grew close to the Grahams, Doc and his wife, Alicia.

"It's unbelievable," she said. "It's phenomenal. That great man lived his whole life, and now we are honoring him."

Well, the rest of us are honoring him. Graham always has been revered in Chisholm, almost ever since he saw an ad in a medical journal — Chisholm (Mn.) looking for doctor — and hopped a train from his native North Carolina in 1911.

Now there are banners on Lake Street welcoming visitors to the home of Moonlight Graham.

"There is always somebody coming to Chisholm to see where he lived," said Mike Kalibabky, who helps run the Doc Graham Scholarship Fund. "We affectionately refer to that area as the Graham Apartments. And I have a growing collection of things that people send me in the mail. They go online and see the scholarship fund, and they send me things out of the blue. For example, a guy from Cincinnati sent me a photocopy of a page from a minor league yearbook with Doc Graham in a Scranton uniform."

I had always wondered if Burt Lancaster really bore a resemblance.

"Yes, in many respects he did," Ponikvar said. "He had his stance. He had character and a presence. He had the black coat and black hat as if he were our own Dr. Graham."

And just like in the movie, Graham couldn't resist buying blue hats for Alicia. Local merchants would see him strolling down the sidewalk and quickly place their best blue hats in the storefront windows.

"After he died, they cleaned out his office and they found many boxes of blue hats," Ponikvar recalled. "He'd go out and buy them to take home to Alicia."

Every year, two high school graduates receive a Doc Graham scholarship. Kalibabky, a semiretired writer, came up with the idea of selling Moonlight Graham baseball cards to help fund a scholarship program. No official baseball card ever was issued of Graham.

"Veda is sort of the matriarch of the community," Kalibabky said. "She had a photo of Doc Graham in his New York Giants uniform. Alicia Graham gave it to her after his passing. We had 5,000 printed up at a dollar a pop. Within two weeks they were gone."

That was about three years after "Field of Dreams" hit the big screen in 1989. Today the cards still are being sold to fund the scholarships, with most purchases coming at the souvenir stand at the Field of Dreams site in Dyersville, Iowa. This year's scholarships will be presented today at the Metrodome.

"When the movie came out, it didn't surprise the people here," Ponikvar said. "Here was something they lived with all those years, and now it was coming out. They were very thrilled. Totally mesmerized. So much of it was absolutely true."

Ponikvar will be in attendance today, as will many other residents of Chisholm. She has been active in the community for many years and was portrayed in "Field of Dreams" by actress Anne Seymour. She says there is one more thing she'd like to do.

"Somewhere along the line, we'll have a statue for Doc Graham," she said. "We're going to get one. I'm getting old, but I've got to do that before I die."

Bush's Iraq speech tanks with public
Only 19 million tune in across four networks

medialifemagazine.com---When the White House said Monday that President Bush would be giving a speech Tuesday night, several networks balked, wondering if carrying the speech would be worth rearranging their entire schedule. NBC, Fox and CBS finally relented late yesterday, but the speech did indeed throw off television viewership, with low numbers for the speech and low numbers for several premieres.

President Bush's 8 p.m. update on the war in Iraq averaged just 19.13 million total viewers on the big four broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, according to Nielsen overnights. That’s down 41 percent from the 32.75 million who watched Bush on the Big Four during a primetime press conference in April, though that speech took place on the first night of May sweeps, when television viewership overall was higher.

Last night’s address drew 21.8 percent fewer viewers than Bush’s State of the Union address in January, which brought in 26.6 million total viewers via the Big Four.

For NBC the speech forced a quick switch for the premiere of “Average Joe: The Joes Strike Back,” which moved from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the East Coast. The change definitely hurt. "Joe" averaged a third-place 2.0 adults 18-49 rating last night, less than half the rating for its third-season finale last year.

ABC's "Empire" also premiered to poor numbers without a strong lead-in. It averaged just 6.4 million total viewers and a 2.0 18-49 rating.

For the presidential address, CBS led the away among the Big Four with 5.77 million total viewers, followed by NBC’s 5.30 million, ABC’s 4.97 million and Fox’s 3.09 million.

HBO Scoops Itself With Rome VOD
By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable

In an effort to build an empire of as many viewers as possible for its upcoming epic drama, Rome, HBO has moved its premiere date up from September to Aug. 28.

That’s so it debuts closer to a free preview the network is offering the next weekend, which will include Rome’s first three episodes on HBO On Demand for all digital cable customers.

As a result of the scheduling move, episode three will actually be available on demand before it runs on the linear network – a first for HBO. The preview weekend, during which digital cable subscribers receive all content on both the linear and on demand channels, is Sept. 3-7. Episode three premieres on the linear network Sept. 11.

HBO invested a whopping $100 million in the 12-episode season of Rome, a co-production with the BBC, and says this campaign for viewers is the largest it has done around a new series. To woo subs, the premium network regularly offers free preview weekends, although it does not usually schedule new show premieres to coincide with the freebies.

But with Sex and the City gone and Six Feet Under and The Sopranos soon to depart, HBO is hungry for a new hit.

The network also finds itself in the position of having some of its thunder stolen, debuting the period piece after ABC’s summer Rome miniseries Empire, although that show did not make much of a runble, premiering last night to a modest 6.5 million total viewers and falling short of CBS’s Fire Me…Please and 48 Hours.

New episodes of Rome will premiere Sunday at 9 p.m. after a re-run of the previous week’s episode at 8.
HBO will also schedule each of the first three episodes so they can be seen any day of the week on either HBO or spin-offs HBO2 and HBO Signature.

Are you listening ABC and HBO? :)
How to create a winning miniseries VOD
You need four ingredients to attract big audiences
By Ed Robertson medialifemagazine.com

Wherever we turn these days there's huge promotion for a TV miniseries, this week with ABC's “Empire" and a month ago when CBS aired "Elvis."

But for network TV the great era of the miniseries is in fact long past. Their time was the '70s and '80s with mega-productions such as “Rich Man, Poor Man,” “Holocaust,” “Centennial,” “Shogun,” “Lonesome Dove” and of course “Roots.” The miniseries allows for stories of depth and complexity not possible within the confines of the traditional half-hour or hour-long TV series.

Two things have happened to the miniseries that explain why we are seeing fewer of them on broadcast. First, their huge expense has gotten harder to justify. Before cable, when there were only three networks, a miniseries was sure to pull a huge turnout. People talked about them. That's far from a safe bet these days.

But the big thing that's happened is that the miniseries has been co-opted as a form of storytelling by the likes of HBO, Showtime and FX. “The Sopranos” and “Six Feet Under” are weekly dramas in one sense but their structures and sheer complexity are really those of the classic miniseries, even if they are not thought of as such.

Why do some miniseries bomb and others pull huge ratings? Why did last night's "Empire" only pull 6.4 million total viewers, for example? Did it have the wrong stuff?

Looking back at the great minis of earlier decades we can discern four characteristics of the successful series. Here's a brief look at each, along with charts of the top minis of all time, and ratings.

High Concept

Like a blockbuster movie, a TV miniseries is an epic story with larger-than-life characters. The stories that drive most miniseries are based on historical figures (“Into the West,” “Empire”), legendary celebrities (Elvis, Marilyn, Michael Jackson) or top news stories (“Helter Skelter,” “Fatal Vision”).

The concept also has to be something the networks can hook viewers with in 10 words or less: “How the West was really won.” Or “Roots … the saga of an American family.” Or “Jesus … like you’ve never seen Him before.”

Big Names

High concept means big budget. And big budget means big talent, or better, big-name talent. By that we usually mean screen actors who don't ordinarily do TV. They're attracted to the project because of the money but also the cachet, the idea of a project that's equivalent to a motion picture role.

“Angels in America” drew Oscar winners Al Pacino, Emma Thompson and Meryl Streep, not to mention director Mike Nichols. “Empire Falls” featured Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Ed Harris.

Robert Mitchum had never done anything of substance on TV until 1983, when he starred in “The Winds of War.”

In addition to big-name actors, viewers can expect to find big-name writers. Many miniseries are based on best-selling novels, and the novelist’s name is often attached to the project as a selling point (“Stephen King’s ‘The Langoliers,’” “Armistead Maupin’s ‘Tales of the City’”).

The advantages are twofold. Network executives know that an author’s vast readership will almost assuredly tune in, at least for the first episode. And if the production is half decent they'll stay with it. Also, actors who are fans of the author are more likely to sign on for the project.

Strategy

Miniseries are usually part of a network’s strategy for the television season. Minis are such major undertakings that there has to be a longer-term goal that network executives can hang their expectations on.
Many minis air during sweeps, and here the goal is obvious: pushing up ratings for the local affiliates.

For other minis, those airing outside of sweeps, the strategy may be less obvious but it's still there.

With summer the domain of cable, it made sense for TNT to launch “Into the West” this month instead of last. Also, it makes a big statement about the network's ambition as a destination for original programming, and to media buyers as well as viewers.

In the late '70s, NBC was trailing CBS and ABC, and it turned to minis, under the umbrella “Best Sellers," to boost its image as a quality network. It still finished the season behind but it accomplished a successful image polishing with the likes of “Captains and the Kings,” “Aspen” and “Once an Eagle.”

Back in 1977, ABC aired "Roots,” TV’s highest-rated miniseries, and it did so in January to build a strong lead for the midseason. Back then, January signaled the start of what was then known as the second season, and it was a time when networks rolled out high-profile premieres. ABC handily outdid the competition with "Roots" and went on to win the season.

Richard Chamberlain

The last rule of the mini is to cast Richard Chamberlain or find someone who looks an awful lot like him. He's good luck. Chamberlain has headlined five major minis, more than any other actor, including three of the most successful: “The Thorn Birds,” “Shogun” and “Centennial.”

Which means that even if a miniseries doesn’t feature Chamberlain, chances are he was approached for it because he has done so many of them.

Another plus: Chamberlain sat on the panel that selected the top 10 minis of all time for the recent Trio documentary “Epic TV.”

Below, in chart one, are Trio's choices for the top 10 minis. In chart two are the 20 top-rated minis of all time.

TOP 20 RANKING OF ALL NETWORK MINI-SERIES TELECAST
Rank MINISERIES Date of 1st Episode No. of Episodes Household Rating Share
1-----Roots (ABC, 1977) 1/23/77 8 44.9 66
2-----The Thorn Birds (ABC, 1983) 3/27/83 4 41.9 59
3-----The Winds of War (ABC, 1983) 2/6/83 7 38.6 53
4-----Shogun (NBC, 1980) 9/15/80 5 32.6 51
5-----How The West Was Won 2/6/77 3 32.5 50
6-----Holocaust (NBC, 1978) 4/16/78 4 31.1 49
7-----Roots: The Next Generations (ABC, 1979) 2/18/79 7 30.2 35
8-----Pearl (ABC, 1978) 11/16/78 3 28.6 45
9-----Rich Man, Poor Man (ABC, 1976) 2/1/76 8 27.0 43
10----Master of the Game (CBS, 1984) 2/19/84 3 26.7 39
10----79 Park Avenue (NBC, 1977) 10/16/77 3 26.7 40
12----The Godfather Saga (NBC, 1977) 11/12/77 4 26.5 41
12----Masada (ABC, 1981) 4/5/81 4 26.5 41
14----Scruples (CBS, 1980) 2/25/80 3 26.3 40
15----Lonesome Dove (CBS, 1989) 2/5/89 4 26.2 39
16----North & South (ABC, 1985) 11/3/85 6 26.0 38
17----The Blue and the Gray (CBS, 1982) 11/14/82 3 25.9 39
18----East of Eden (ABC, 1981) 2/8/81 3 25.7 37
19----Roots (ABC, encore presentation of original 1977 miniseries) 9/5/78 5 25.5 42
20----V: The Final Battle (NBC, 1984) 5/6/84 3 25.1 37
Source: Nielsen Media Research

(Ed Robertson is a television historian and a regular contributor to Media Life)

DirecTV to File Complaint Over Fees
By JOE FLINT Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL June 29, 2005; Page A3
Satellite broadcaster DirecTV is accusing a programming consortium owned by three cable giants of setting up an illegal pricing structure aimed at hurting its business.

The battle over program access so far has primarily been in sports. DirecTV points to Philadelphia, where Comcast owns a sports channel that it won't make available to satellite broadcasters. While the FCC requires cable operators that own programming to sell it to everybody, the rule applies only to channels that are transmitted via satellite. In the case of the Philadelphia channel, its signal is sent terrestrially.


I wonder if this has anything to do with the local SF bay area FSN HD feed not being on DirecTV...

As far as the complaint, the INHD folks know dang well that not all of DirecTV's customers are HD subs, and being that these 2 channels are HD only, just being a digital sub does not guarantee the sub is HD as well, I hope the FCC buries the cablecos on this.

maybe i'm slow but, if they're offering the same deal to cable companies, what's the issue here? for example not all iO (Cablevision's digital service) customers have HD boxes. to be clear, i agree that pricing should be based on actual as opposed to potential subscribers, but agian, if the same fee schedule is used for both companies, what's the problem?

to my mind, the only way that this could be a legitimate complaint is if DirecTV has a substantially greater number of total subscribers than cable companies have digital subscribers. or am i missing something else?

to my mind, the only way that this could be a legitimate complaint is if DirecTV has a substantially greater number of total subscribers than cable companies have digital subscribers. or am i missing something else?
I haven't seen the numbers lately, but it could be close, there are far less digital cable subs than one would think. With Comcast, out of 23M subs, only about 6-8M of them are digital, if that, IIRC.

All of DirecTV's 14.5+ million subs are digital. (The same with Dish's 11 or so million.)
Most MSOs are still at fewer (many far fewer) than 1/3 of their subs on the digital tier.

Good Time For a Break

By David Bianculli New York Daily News Wednesday, June 29th, 2005

Exactly one month ago, on the last Wednesday evening in May, I rushed home to have ABC baffle me with the season finales of "Lost" and "Alias" - and I loved it. A month later, things are different.

I don't have any sense of urgency about TV this summer - no need, as with the aforementioned shows, or with "Desperate Housewives" - to watch programs the very second the networks broadcast them. Most shows are bad or dull, and the ones that aren't, for the most part, are easily stacked up on videotape or TiVo until I get the time and inclination to catch up.

This isn't new, but my reaction to it is. Instead of getting the summertime blues, and carping about the sorry state of warm-weather television, I find myself being grateful for the break.

I'm not talking professionally, in my role as TV critic. In that regard, I'm still panning for gold this summer, and glad to see, especially on cable, such watchable offerings as "The Closer" on TNT and "Entourage" on HBO.

I'm talking personally - about how nice it is to have the night off, almost every night, without feeling like there's a show I can't wait to watch or have to juggle my schedule not to miss. Sunday nights last season, with "Housewives," and Wednesdays with "Lost," basically were lost to me.

Much as I love that intensity and dedication during the year, and much as I hated it when the momentum of those shows was disrupted by unwanted reruns, I'm glad we're in a quieter cycle now.

Perhaps there's a biological rhythm to television - the summer equivalent to a sleep cycle, when viewers can recharge and regroup. Perhaps that's why the Fox network's experiment last season, with a 52-week schedule, proved about as popular as chili in August.

The advent of time-shifting technology is at an all-time high. Viewers can now pop a season's worth of episodes of a show they were too frazzled to watch during the year, such as "Scrubs" or "Arrested Development," and watch them at their leisure, without commercials, on DVD.

Or with DVRs, viewers can retain shows they want to watch, from this summer or long ago, on their hard disks, and group and watch them whenever they want. On mine, I have everything from obscure old movies to the last three weeks of WB's "Beauty & the Geek" on my DVR, stacked up like airplanes in a holding pattern, waiting for me to give them clearance to leave the runway.

When your friends aren't talking about TV shows the next morning, there's no urgency to keep up the night before.

Even with the summer's big hit, "Dancing With the Stars," I have no problem catching up late - and with most of the summer's new shows and old repeats, I find a very viable and attractive action is to not watch at all.
I'd rather store my energies for the fall, and hit the ground running when the shows come back in force - and, let's hope, with some forcefulness.

To everything there is a season, turn, turn, turn - and when it comes TV, I've finally decided, there's a time to turn, turn, turn it off.

Spotlight: TiVo's most-recorded shows of the week
Week Ending June 26
Rank Show title Pct. of TiVo Owners
1----Dancing With The Stars (ABC) 11.1
2----NBA Finals, Game 7: Pistons/Spurs (ABC) 10.0
3----Family Guy (Fox) 8.4
4----NBA Finals, Game 6: Pistons/Spurs (ABC) 7.4
5----NBA Finals, Game 5: Pistons/Spurs (ABC) 7.1
6----Hell's Kitchen (Fox) 6.7
7----CSI (CBS) 6.7
8----House (Fox) 6.6
9----Dateline: Katie Couric Special (NBC) 6.5
10---Hit Me Baby One More Time (NBC) 6.3

Source: TiVo & USAToday

Viacom takes leap with its gay channel
Logo network debuts Thursday in about 10 million homes. Some expect a backlash

By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 29, 2005

Any company that broadcasts such shows as "Jackass" and "Beavis and Butthead" can't get overly worried about controversy. But Viacom — the corporate giant behind CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon and numerous other networks and media properties — might be taking its biggest TV programming gamble yet with Logo, the long-awaited gay cable channel.

On Thursday, the media giant will roll out the network in roughly 10 million U.S. homes, becoming the first widely available, advertiser-supported channel for the community known by the acronym LGBT — lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. (In Southern California, Logo will be carried digitally on certain Adelphia systems, with Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and RCN providing coverage in other markets nationwide.)

Brian Graden, the MTV programming whiz hired to oversee Logo, envisions the network eventually becoming a "lifestyle brand" as essential (and inescapable) for gay people as MTV is for teenagers or Nickelodeon is for preschoolers.

"That's the hope," Graden — perhaps best known for backing such water-cooler fare as MTV's "The Osbournes" — said in a phone interview, adding that a major Internet and radio presence for Logo is likely down the road. "Our philosophy is, in an age of 400 channels, you better 'super serve' " the target audience.

Some analysts believe Viacom stands a good chance of success, especially given its track record at MTV, VH1 and other networks. Many marketers say up to 7% of American adults identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual, making a potentially huge audience for a cable network.

"They've got a clear target market that is receptive to a dedicated channel," said Jack Myers, a TV industry forecaster and editor of www.mediavillage.com who estimates that Viacom will spend at least $70 million to launch the channel (an MTV Networks spokesman declined to comment on the figure).

Early advertisers include online travel service Orbitz and car maker Subaru.

Still, Logo faces one stumbling block most start-ups never have to contend with: To some, its very existence might prove offensive.

"Logo needs to become synonymous with the gay lifestyle, just as MTV has become synonymous with the music lifestyle," Myers said. But "they're launching the network in the face of a governmental and regulatory environment which is anti-gay."

In fact, since Viacom announced plans for the network, which was originally scheduled to launch in February, conservative politicians have intensified their focus on measures vehemently opposed by many gay rights groups, most notably a constitutional amendment, supported by President Bush and others, that would ban gay marriage.

Earlier this month, syndicated columnist and Parents Television Council founder L. Brent Bozell strongly criticized Viacom for launching Logo and celebrating "tolerance and diversity" while airing a program on its Showtime pay-cable network that featured magicians Penn & Teller using scatological terms to make fun of Mother Teresa. (A council spokesman did not return a call seeking comment.)

Some TV veterans said that Viacom may face an uphill battle in wooing mainstream advertisers. Paul Colichman, who makes gay-oriented fare through his Regent Entertainment and runs the Here! video-on-demand service for gay viewers, said he had disconcerting experiences with advertisers who insisted on "ghettoizing" gays and lesbians by, for example, assuming that each member of the community thinks and makes purchases in the same way.

But, he added, "if the advertisers can evolve in their thinking, it can be done."

The head of one rival TV service said that Viacom risked going too far in its bid to make Logo available to most cable subscribers. "The backlash is coming," said Frank Olsen, president and chief executive of Q Television Network, a private, 11-year-old gay cable outlet with about 1 million subscribers. Olsen said he deliberately made Q a network that customers must specifically order rather than a basic cable channel, which he believes helps protect the service from conservative pressure groups.

"Sometimes you cannot push your agenda too far," Olsen added. "I don't know how you can be a gay station and not offend people.... I don't know if the Christian right is willing to accept this."

Graden, who is openly gay, shrugged off such concerns. "The dialogue [on gay issues] in corporate America is well ahead of the political dialogue" reported in newspapers, he said. And as for such favorite pressure-group tactics as advertiser boycotts, he scoffed: "Not a single successful boycott of this nature has ever been effective."

Of course, it's not uncommon for start-up channels to take years to tweak their identities; some well-known players, such as Spike, which targets a decidedly male audience, and Oxygen, with its focus on women, are still finding their way. But given the sensitivities involved, Viacom seems to be going out of its way to tread lightly — for now. Few of Logo's early shows look destined to be as flamboyant as, say, Bravo's make-over hit "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."

A glimpse at Logo's lineup over the summer and early fall reveals a mix of gay-themed theatrical movies ("The Birdcage," "Kissing Jessica Stein"), a few original series (such as the comedy-drama "Noah's Arc," about black gay life in West Hollywood) and some straight-ahead documentaries, such as "The Evolution Will Be Televised," which traces gay Americans' rise to public prominence over the last 35 years and whose broadcast will officially inaugurate the channel at 9 p.m. Thursday.

Instead of focusing on one genre of programming, Graden said, "the channel is more like a Rubik's cube" of many different styles, although programs will be grouped thematically on certain nights, and of course, all of them will highlight the gay community in some way.

Reality TV veteran Scott Stone is producing "The Ride," Logo's seven-part documentary focusing on participants in the AIDS/LifeCycle 4 bike trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles earlier this month. Logo "is the only place to really tell the story the way we're telling it," he said. "This is not a big moneymaker for me or my company. It's more a labor of love."

That's precisely the kind of programming Graden said he wants. When he first told people about the network, some said he should acquire rights to "The Golden Girls," the 1980s sitcom about a quartet of wisecracking elderly women. "My friends said it was the gayest show on TV," Graden recalled with a laugh.

"But we stayed away from anything that might be called camp," he said, adding that he and other programmers decided to seek out fresher material that focused specifically on the experience of gays and lesbians. "We call it the 'Golden Girls' rule."

From the “Surprise” category comes….
TNT Renews The Closer
By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable

TNT has renewed its blockbuster summer drama, The Closer, for a second season of 15 episodes.

The original crime series, starring Kyra Sedgwick, has notched sky-high ratings for Turner’s TNT since its June 13 premiere became the highest-rated showing ever for a basic-cable original scripted series with a 4.8 household rating and 5.26 million households.

The episode, which earned 7.03 million total viewers, was the second most viewed basic-cable program in second quarter, with subsequent episodes averaging 5.46 million total viewers.

Ten of this season’s 13 episodes have yet to air.

The Closer is produced by The Shephard/Robin Company (Nip/Tuck) in association with Warner Bros. Television. New episodes debut Mondays at 9 p.m.

More specifics on the "Logo" launch.
Logo Signs Launch Deals
By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable

Viacom’s gay-themed digital network, Logo, has inked carriage deals with Charter, Cablevision and satellite service DirecTV.

The deals will put Logo in 13 million homes when it launches tomorrow, June 30, according to a representative for the network. DirecTV will carry Logo in its Total Choice Plus and Total Choice Premiere monthly subscription packages on channel 263.

Logo, which will target members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, had postponed its launch date from February to buy time to increase its distribution.

Prior to the most recent deals, the MTV Networks channel had inked carriage deals with Adelphia, Time Warner, RCN, and Massachusetts-based Atlantic Broadband.

No Neighborhood Welcome

ABC has cancelled its controversial six-segment series “Welcome To The Neighborhood” two weeks before it was to begin.

The show made a number of advocate groups nervous because it exposed, in its early episodes, overt acts of racial prejudice and homophobia as it trailed three families given a chance to choose a new neighbor for a house on their street in Austin, TX.

"Welcome to the Neighborhood" demonstrates what happens when people are forced to "confront preconceived notions of what makes a good neighbor," the network said.

"However, the fact that true change only happens over time made the episodic nature of this series challenging, and given the sensitivity of the subject matter in early episodes we have decided not to air the series at this time."

ABC hasn’t announced what will fill the “Neighborhood” time slot. It was scheduled to debut July 10.

ABC Drops Show After Complaints by Civil Rights Groups

By FELICIA R. LEE The New York Times June 30, 2005

Under pressure from civil rights groups, ABC Television yesterday canceled plans to broadcast a reality show that let the white suburban families living on a Texas cul-de-sac decide which of seven families - including one black, one Asian, one Hispanic and one gay couple - would move into their community.

The show, "Welcome to the Neighborhood," was to be a summer replacement for the top-rated "Desperate Housewives," which is set on a fictional cul-de-sac, Wisteria Lane, where no one can keep her nose out of anyone else's business.

The one-hour reality show, developed by MGM and the producers behind such shows as "Extreme Makeover" and "The Road to Stardom With Missy Elliot," was to have begun a six-episode run on July 10 at 9 p.m.

In the shows - all of them have been completed - seven diverse families seek votes from three white families in a development called Circle C Ranch, outside Austin. The white families, through a series of interviews, competitions and social interactions, award a 3,300-square-foot, four-bedroom, 2½-bathroom home to the winner - a neighbor, the families say, who will fit in with the community's mostly Christian and Republican values.

Critics of "Welcome to the Neighborhood," which ABC had promoted heavily, said it violated the letter and certainly the spirit of fair housing laws by allowing factors like religion to be a consideration in awarding the house.

A statement released by ABC yesterday said that the intention was to show "the transformative process that takes place when people are forced to confront preconceived notions of what makes a good neighbor, and we believe the series delivers exactly that."

"However," the statement continued, "the fact that true change only happens over time made the episodic nature of this series challenging and given the sensitivity of the subject matter in early episodes we have decided not to air the series at this time."

An earlier ABC press release promoting the show said in part: "Will the resident neighbors be able to see past their own ideals and accept all of the families as people instead of stereotypes? Eventually some eyes and hearts open up, opinions change and a community is transformed."

In the first two episodes, some members of the voting families are seen making disparaging remarks about the gay family (two white men with a black child), questioning whether a Korean family was foreign-born and rejecting a white family who practiced Wicca, a pagan religion. One family was to be rejected each week until the last remaining family won the house.

"The show directly violated the federal Fair Housing Act by rejecting families because of their race, color, national origin or the presence of children," said Shanna Smith, president and chief executive of the National Fair Housing Alliance, consisting of more than 100 private nonprofit housing agencies across the country.

The Washington-based alliance led a campaign asking housing agencies and civil rights groups to urge ABC not to broadcast the show. Ms. Smith said she had also been in talks with network executives.

"I'm elated," Ms. Smith said of the cancellation. "There'll be no copycat shows by the other networks. Also, ABC understands there are civil rights issues and understands the implications."

Some alliance members contended that even though the families willingly entered the competition and were seeking to win a house rather than purchase it, the law stipulates that characteristics like race or religion cannot be considered, even in giving away property. The members also said they worried that the program sent a message that bigotry was tolerable.

As for the show, "It's hilarious and had me in stitches," said John C. Brittain, chief counsel for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonprofit civil rights organization. "If it weren't so discriminatory, it would be great."

As an example, Mr. Brittain cited as discriminatory a remark by one person on the show who said the Wiccan family would not be selected because of their religion. "I'm a member of the A.C.L.U., too, so I'm loath to come down on entertainment shows," Mr. Brittain said. "I wouldn't mind it too much if it were "M*A*S*H" or Archie Bunker. But this is real."

I wonder if the winner got to keep the house, since the whole thing may be illegal. We'll never know.

I think ABC will probably tell us.
The entire program was in the can, so I assume that includes the final vote of the three families.
Or, the network might just award "consolation" prizes to everyone.

Fox News draws more viewers

QUICK TAKES Matea Gold The Los Angeles Times June 30, 2005

Three years after surpassing CNN as the top-rated cable news channel, Fox News continues to enjoy growing viewership.

Fox had an average prime-time audience of 1.5 million people in the second quarter of 2005 — a 9% gain over the same period last year. In June, the network posted its best ratings of the year, attracting an average prime-time audience of more than 1.7 million. The last time Fox drew more viewers was in November, when an average of 2.1 million people tuned into its election coverage.

CNN, by comparison, dropped 13% for the quarter, pulling an average viewership of 721,000 people during prime time.

However, its sister channel, CNN Headline News, recorded significant growth, expanding its average prime-time audience for the quarter to 322,000 — a 63% hike over the same period last year. It edged out MSNBC, which drew an average prime-time audience of 310,000 viewers for the quarter, a drop of 4% from 2004.

Wednesday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Sweet sashay for 'Dancing With Stars'
Up 20 percent in total viewers heading into finale

medialifemagazine.com--A dip in ratings last week had people wondering if ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” had already worn out its welcome with viewers. It turns out it hasn’t. Last week was a very temporary hiccup.

Last night “Dancing” averaged a 5.4 rating among viewers 18-49 and 18.04 million total viewers, both series highs, according to Nielsen overnights. That sets up high expectations for next week’s finale, when John O’Hurley and Kelly Monaco and partners square off for the title. Last night New Kids on the Block’s Joey McIntyre was booted.

Yesterday’s 18-49 rating is 17.4 percent higher than “Stars'” 4.6 average this season. Among total viewers it was up 20 percent over the 14.94 million viewers it’s averaged. Week-to-week, “Dancing’s” 18-49 rating increased more than 20 percent from last week’s 4.4. It was also up nearly 3 million total viewers.

The show made a number of advocate groups nervous because it exposed, in its early episodes, overt acts of racial prejudice and homophobia as it trailed three families given a chance to choose a new neighbor for a house on their street in Austin, TX.

Oh my, we wouldn't want to expose the ugly underbelly of Uhmerican culture would we? :rolleyes:

I'm surprised that 'Civil Rights' groups would be the folks objecting to this one. :confused:

Oh my, we wouldn't want to expose the ugly underbelly of Uhmerican culture would we? :rolleyes:

I'm surprised that 'Civil Rights' groups would be the folks objecting to this one. :confused:

Do they name the civil rights groups? For all we know the complaints were made by the KKK :eek:

yes, among others:
"...the National Fair Housing Alliance, consisting of more than 100 private nonprofit housing agencies across the country.

The Washington-based alliance led a campaign asking housing agencies and civil rights groups to urge ABC not to broadcast the show. Ms. Smith said she had also been in talks with network executives..."

So it wasn't civil rights groups but the National Fair Housing Alliance that got the show booted. I've never heard of them before.

I don't think there would have been a problem if the show were scheduled for a cable channel, but to broadcast it OTA, showing (apparently) clear violation of Fair Housing Laws, became a bit sticky.

For all the “Alias” fans

Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner wed
By César Soriano USA TODAY

Actor Ben Affleck and pregnant actress Jennifer Garner — aka Bennifer II — were married Wednesday on the white sandy beaches of the Turks & Caicos Islands, Us Weekly first reported.

Affleck, 32, and Garner, 33, tied the knot on Parrot Cay, an exclusive island resort that is a favorite with celebrities.

Affleck, 32, and Garner, 33, tied the knot on Parrot Cay, an exclusive island resort that is a favorite with celebrities. The National Enquirer photographed Garner arriving on the island with her Alias co-star, Victor Garber.

Affleck spokesman Ken Sunshine would not confirm or deny the report. "We are not commenting on his personal life. I'm not confirming, I'm not denying, I'm not commenting." Garner spokeswoman Leslie Sloane Zelnick did not immediately return messages.

The quiet wedding is a polar opposite of the stars' previous relationships. Affleck and pop diva Jennifer Lopez, dubbed "Bennifer" by celeb watchers, called off their September 2003 wedding after a highly-publicized romance. Garner's brief marriage to Felicity costar Scott Foley ended in divorce last year.

Though Garner is sporting an obvious "bump," her reps will not confirm she is pregnant. But in May, Alias creator J.J. Abrams inadvertently spilled the beans that Garner was pregnant.

Affleck and Garner co-starred in the 2002 action flick Daredevil. She has been in Vancouver shooting Catch and Release.

Parrot Cay, where villas start at $1,595 a night, is a hot spot for celebs such as then-couple Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis, who owns a condo there.

Do they name the civil rights groups? For all we know the complaints were made by the KKK :eek:

Actually, according to the story over at "Zap2it," it appears that folks on all sides of the equation were miffed. Mentioned specifically were GLAAD and FRC (Family Research Council.)

I don't think there would have been a problem if the show were scheduled for a cable channel, but to broadcast it OTA, showing (apparently) clear violation of Fair Housing Laws, became a bit sticky.
I was thinking exactly the same thing when I read the article, maybe ABC could sell it to one of the cable channels as I don't think they would want to be associated with it anymore at this point.

It does give a bit of an indication that just maybe they've gone just a little too far with this reality show stuff. With this show, they actually created something that could only happen fictionally yet they used real people and real settings, incredible.

Enough of this garbage already...

I don't think there would have been a problem if the show were scheduled for a cable channel, but to broadcast it OTA, showing (apparently) clear violation of Fair Housing Laws, became a bit sticky.

Just found some more info on this:

"Groups ranging from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to the conservative Family Research Council lodged complaints about the series, saying that while they understood the goal of the show was to challenge people's beliefs and foster acceptance of differences, early episodes could have sent the opposite message to viewers. Fair housing groups also expressed concern about the show."

Liberals and Conservatives actually AGREEING on something?! This could be the end! ;)

For all the “Alias” fans

Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner wed
By César Soriano USA TODAY

Actor Ben Affleck and pregnant actress Jennifer Garner — aka Bennifer II — were married Wednesday on the white sandy beaches of the Turks & Caicos Islands, Us Weekly first reported.

Affleck, 32, and Garner, 33, tied the knot on Parrot Cay, an exclusive island resort that is a favorite with celebrities.

Affleck, 32, and Garner, 33, tied the knot on Parrot Cay, an exclusive island resort that is a favorite with celebrities. The National Enquirer photographed Garner arriving on the island with her Alias co-star, Victor Garber.

Affleck spokesman Ken Sunshine would not confirm or deny the report. "We are not commenting on his personal life. I'm not confirming, I'm not denying, I'm not commenting." Garner spokeswoman Leslie Sloane Zelnick did not immediately return messages.

The quiet wedding is a polar opposite of the stars' previous relationships. Affleck and pop diva Jennifer Lopez, dubbed "Bennifer" by celeb watchers, called off their September 2003 wedding after a highly-publicized romance. Garner's brief marriage to Felicity costar Scott Foley ended in divorce last year.

Though Garner is sporting an obvious "bump," her reps will not confirm she is pregnant. But in May, Alias creator J.J. Abrams inadvertently spilled the beans that Garner was pregnant.

Affleck and Garner co-starred in the 2002 action flick Daredevil. She has been in Vancouver shooting Catch and Release.

Parrot Cay, where villas start at $1,595 a night, is a hot spot for celebs such as then-couple Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis, who owns a condo there.

Wow...Daredevil married Elektra... :eek:

Sweet sashay for 'Dancing With Stars'
Up 20 percent in total viewers heading into finale

[

Ah yes, Eeeellaiiiinnnnne...

OK, CNBC and MSNBC are doing so well, let’s combine them with NBC News! And let’s move the whole operation from NBC HQ at 30 Rock to NJ!
(Bad Shows. Bad Ratings. Bad Ideas. Bad Ad Sales. Is NBC having a bad year, or what?)

NBC EYES MERGING NETWORK & CABLE NEWS

By TIM ARANGO The New York Post

NBC is weighing a plan to put its network news division and its cable channels CNBC and MSNBC under one roof and base the operation in New Jersey, The Post has learned.

NBC is searching for an executive to run the combined operation, who would report to Jeff Zucker, president of the NBC Universal Television Group, sources said.

About a month after reports surfaced that NBC News boss Neal Shapiro was on the way out, he remains on the job — although sources say Shapiro is likely to vacate his post by the end of the summer.

As part of the shuffling, MSNBC — the 24-hour cable news network co-owned with Microsoft — could be renamed the NBC News Channel.

A switch in the name has long been rumored, and NBC has been in discussions with Microsoft for some time about altering their partnership to include the name change.

MSNBC chief Rick Kaplan reports to Shapiro, but CNBC President Mark Hoffman reports to Zucker.
A spokeswoman for NBC News said, "Neal Shapiro is president of NBC News."

One source said that while the combined news operation is likely to be based in New Jersey — where MSNBC and CNBC are housed — the network's nightly news show and the "Today" show would remain in Manhattan.

NBC is in the midst of an upheaval amid falling ratings for its primetime network.

During the recent upfront season, NBC saw its ad sales fall $900 million from the year-ago period.

At the news division, reports of Shapiro's imminent exit came on the heels of the firing of the "Today" show executive producer, Tom Touchet. "Today," the leading morning show, has seen its ratings edge over ABC's "Good Morning America" narrow.

NBC-Microsoft Seeking Divorce?

Mark Glaser of Online Journalism Review in a lengthy story about the success of MSNBC.com, reports that NBC and Microsoft will soon be heading their separate ways:

“…MSNBC TV has struggled in the cable news ratings, dropping to fourth behind Fox News, CNN and even CNN Headline News during the second quarter of this year. Microsoft has been trying to get out of the media-creation business since its mid-'90s splash (and subsequent burn), shedding Slate and trying to focus more on software and technology. One source with inside knowledge told me the TV joint venture is likely to end in the next three to six months, but the complicated 99-year deal between Microsoft and NBC is quite expensive to break up. Microsoft has invested more than $500 million in the TV venture.

"Both [TV channel] partners are motivated to change the relationship and will do so soon," the source said on the condition of anonymity. "The deal is pretty much impossible to get out of or modify without the consent of both parties. If that weren't the case, it would have cratered long ago’…”

http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050628glaser/

From Cynthis Turner’s Cynopsis:

NBC has cast Angie Harmon in the lead role of Inconceivable (Touchstone TV / Tollin-Robbins Prods.), as one of the fertility doctors in the clinic. The series also stars Ming-Na and Jonathan Cake. Also joining the cast is Reynaldo Rosales, in the role originally played by Kevin Alejandro in the pilot.

ESPN has ordered 8 eps of a new reality series called Bound for Glory (Reveille / Actual Reality / Full Circle Ent). The show focuses on a Pennsylvania high school football team that will get a total makeover - beginning with a new coach: Dick Butkus. It's the old story - hapless team finds new hope, new inspiration, and with any luck at all, will make good football and good TV.

Thursday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.
(Happy July 4th weekend!)

NASCAR to seek top dollar for rights

By Bill Griffith The Boston Globe July 1, 2005

If we were talking horse racing, this would be a big-money claiming race. You put your heart and soul into sculpting a winner, only to have someone buy it for top dollar.

That's the position Fox and NBC find themselves in with NASCAR.

Five years ago, the auto racing folks opted to leave cable and cast their lot with the Fox-NBC partnership. The result has been spectacular for NASCAR. In the national ratings, it's the No. 2 sports property, trailing only the National Football League. Remember, there are no local rights with NASCAR as there are with MLB, the NBA, and the NHL.

The Fox and NBC deals run out after next season. NASCAR has opted not to exercise its two-year option to extend the Fox half of the deal. That opens the way for a profitable (for NASCAR) bidding war among ABC/ESPN, Fox, and NBC. Even Viacom (CBS) could get involved to boost its male-oriented Spike TV (the old Nashville Network) cable channel.

''We love the partnership with NASCAR and hope it continues," said NBC spokesman Mike McCarley, ''but NBC also has a track record under Dick Ebersol of being prudent financially."

In the past, NBC has eschewed overpaying for properties, and it may find NASCAR's price too rich to continue. However, it will reap the benefits of NASCAR-NFL doubleheaders next year. NASCAR races on Sunday afternoons, including the season-ending Chase to the Nextel Cup series, which will be NBC's lead-in to its inaugural season of ''Sunday Night Football."

ABC and ESPN want back in, and Fox Sports president Ed Goren said last week on a national conference call that ''five years ago, NASCAR decided to move to broadcast TV at the time the NBA went from a predominantly network sport to a predominantly cable sport. We were believers when we got into this. We're confident we can work out a new deal. We continue to talk. That's always healthy."

Fox wrapped up its half of the season Sunday on the road course at Sonoma, Calif., one race where NASCAR drivers have to turn right as well as left. Left behind with that checkered flag is analyst Darrell Waltrip's race-starting calls of ''boogity, boogity, boogity" and ''crank it up." Coming is NBC's more restrained approach with its ''through the field" updates.

For its 13 weeks, Fox averaged a 6.0 rating (14 share) nationally, a 7 percent increase over 2004's 5.7 rating. This year's signature event, the Daytona 500, did a 10.9 rating, tying for its highest.

More on those NFL highlights on Sunday nightsw starting next (2006) year.
A few days ago in this thread we had a spirited discussion based on an apparently erroneous story published in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (bassically that no highlights would be allowed by the NFL while NBC was broadcasting Sunday Night Football.
We had some lively posts, my own included, based on what appears to be bad information.
(The posts in question begin at #3573 of June 28, if you are keeping score.)
But rather than chat about a story that seemed to him to be pretty suspicious, Ray Frager on the Baltimore Sun went to NBC and the NFL to get the facts first hand. So here, to hopefully clear things up, is what Frager found out regarding NFL highlights and Sunday nights (beginning when NBC gets Sunday Night Football in 2006).

Contrary to report, it's status quo for rules of NFL's highlights show

Ray Frager Baltimore Sun July 1, 2005

A recent report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review about NFL highlights has stirred things up in certain corners of the Web (if the Web has corners, that is). The report said the NFL's new television deal with NBC for the Sunday night package includes a provision that prohibits anyone else from airing NFL highlights until after midnight.

That's not quite true.

What actually happens -- according to spokesmen for NBC and ESPN -- is that the NFL's current rules continue to apply, with the only change being the network shifts from ESPN to NBC in 2006. The league permits only one network to air an NFL highlights show on Sunday night. However, other networks or local stations are permitted to carry highlights from any Sunday game that has finished during their regular sports news shows. And CBS and Fox will continue to present highlights in their halftime and post-game studio programs.

Therefore, starting in 2006, ESPN no longer can air NFL Prime Time at 7 p.m. Instead, NBC will have the highlights program leading into its Sunday night game. But during the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. SportsCenter airings, ESPN still can carry highlights of any games that are over, just as any other Sunday night sports show could.

And maybe ESPN puts on an NFL highlights show that starts at midnight.

So, you can't believe everything you read on the Web. Unless, of course, that's where you're reading this column.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-sp.frager01jul01,1,1773204.column?coll=bal-artslife-tv

(My thanks to Ray Frager for getting the facts straight and allowing us to set the record straight here, too.)

(My thanks to Ray Frager for getting the facts straight and allowing us to set the record straight here, too.)
Absolutely, not to mention it makes far better sense. Wonder what the Pittsburg reporter was smoking... :eek:

Friday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

ABC Contemplates Next Step for “Dancing”
New hit leads revival of summer reality TV; avoiding the 'Millionaire' fate
By Jim Benson Broadcasting & Cable

With 14.9 million viewers on average watching Dancing With the Stars every week, ABC is pondering the prospect of trying to turn the No. 1 new show of the summer into a long-term franchise. But the network is moving carefully, mindful of the painful lessons learned six years ago when another hot-weather hit, the game show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, roared out of summer on its way to overexposure and oblivion a few years later.

The WB, meanwhile, has already greenlighted Ashton Kutcher's reality hit, Beauty and the Geek, for the 2005-06 season.
After a three-year drought, new reality shows are enjoying somewhat of a summer renaissance. Fox's Hell's Kitchen is doing well, though not on the scale of Dancing in viewers and overall demos. (Kitchen is drawing 7 million viewers per week, with a 3.4 rating and a 9 share in the key 18-49 benchmark; Dancing is scoring 4.6/13 in 18-49.) Fox seems pleased enough with Kitchen. But ABC and The WB are faced with the delicate task of translating summer hits into regular-season franchises.

The WB's strategizing over how to handle Geek began before it had ever aired, when test audiences responded strongly. “We actually talked long and hard about whether we should launch [the show] in the fall or in the summer,” says WB Entertainment President David Janollari. “I was really torn about it.”

Janollari ultimately chose 8 p.m. ET Wednesdays this summer for round one, and the slot has worked well. Not only is the show performing extremely well in its core young-adult demo (2.2/8), Geek has made the adult 18-49 race uncharacteristically competitive for The WB, with its average 1.8/6 rating. The WB is weighing the best time to bring the show back during the regular season and is also flirting with a summer 2006 incarnation.

As for Dancing, Andrea Wong, ABC's executive VP of alternative programming, is “very optimistic” the network can build a long-term franchise for the 9 p.m. ET Wednesday show, which pairs B-list stars with professional dancers in a competitive elimination format. It is “entirely possible” Dancing will wind up in the regular season, even during sweeps months, Wong says, since a show like that “will work anywhere, any time of year.”

Competitors, naturally, aren't so sure. While they figure Dancing may have a future as a regular season counter-programming tool against dramas and news magazines, a common perception is that the show is unlikely to be a long-standing hit on the magnitude of the four previous gigantic summer reality series: Millionaire (1999), CBS' Survivor (2000), NBC's Fear Factor (2001) and Fox's American Idol (2002).

Average Median Age: Over 50

An executive for a rival network notes that while the early numbers for the first edition of Idol were “surprisingly close” to Dancing's ratings now, “Idol was building toward a climax. People now are not buzzing on the street, asking, 'Do you think John O'Hurley will win?'”

Another jab at Dancing is that it skews too old. Although it leads in total viewers and all key demos, including young adults, its average median age through June 28 was nearly 51, ranking it among TV's oldest-skewing series this season.

But there will be no lemons for Wong, only lemonade. “One of the great things about it is that it appeals to everybody,” she says.\ “There's something for young people, there's nostalgia and a love of dancing for older people. It is great to be able to do a show that is really inclusive.” The demographics will bear watching if Dancing tries its moves against tougher regular-season competition.

Fred, this is what I was trying to show you, see what's in my signature..it makes more sense if you see it here..pretty sure you can use different fonts, sizes and colors as well..

Now I understand, Jim. Thanks!

My pleasure... :)

why aren't the empire ratings too hot?

Big Nascar Ratings Pressure TV Partners

By John Consoli [B[MediaWeek Magazine[/B]

Nascar officials may have backed off a little on their initial demand, quietly asked for earlier this year, for a 50 percent fee increase from the television rights holders on the next rights package. But in the aftermath of record household ratings for the first half of the season on Fox, those officials expect to be appropriately rewarded by whichever networks win the next package, which will take effect at the start of the 2007 season.

"In a market where it has become increasingly difficult for sports to maintain their ratings, Nascar continues to grow its ratings, and we expect to get a fair value back from our partners for this growth," said Dick Glover, Nascar's vp of broadcasting and new media.

Fox finished the first half of Nascar telecasts on June 26 averaging a 6.0 household rating, up 5 percent from the 5.7 it averaged during the same period last year. NBC and Turner Broadcasting, which share the season's second half, begin airing Nascar Nextel Cup races over the July Fourth weekend.

But the TV partners may not be so quick to open their wallets much wider. "I can understand the Nascar folks saying, look at the growth, but they also have to look at the reality and economics," said Ed Goren, president of Fox Sports. He believes the current TV partners may have overpaid a bit five years ago under the existing agreement, because advertisers were slow to recognize the value of the Nascar telecasts and brand.

"Five years ago, Madison Avenue did not embrace [Nascar] right away, and we were forced to start out with a low ad base," Goren said. That lack of demand (and revenue) left the networks with production deficits for covering the Nascar races, from which they're just about recovered, so too large a rights-fee increase would put them back to square one.

While Nascar will be touting the hike in household ratings and total viewers, and that ratings remained even among women 18-49 (2.6), Fox might counter that ratings among men 18-34 (3.2) and women 18-34 (2.0) were down 9 percent and 10 percent, respectively. That would indicate that audience gains came from older viewers. But Nascar will counter that during the first half of the season, the traditional "stars" of Nascar, drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, were lagging behind in the points system, possibly resulting in some tune out, and that they should rebound in the second half of the season, which will restore a portion of those lost younger demos.

Fox and NBC/Turner each currently pay Nascar $200 million per year under their six-year deals, which expire after the 2006 Nascar season, and the incumbents all want to renew their deals. Waiting in the wings in case Nascar cannot reach an agreement with its partners is ESPN/ABC Sports, whose president, George Bodenheimer, has publicly said Nascar is the one sport he would like to add to his portfolio.

The presence of an interested third party ordinarily puts pressure on the current rights holders to increase their offers. But Goren believes that Nascar is "well-served with its current marriage with Fox and NBC," adding, "Both [TV networks] love the product, and I am confident we are going to work out a new deal."

Glover—at least at this point in the negotiations, which are still in the "discussion" stage—said he fully expects Nascar will reup with Fox and NBC/Turner. "Ideally, we would like to keep our current partners, with pretty close to the same type of packages," Glover said, acknowledging that "part of [Nascar's] rating growth is attributable to everything [Fox and NBC/Turner] have done." Glover said a new rights deal could either stretch another six years "or it could be five or seven."

Any deal tweaks may include moving the Saturday Busch Series races from Fox's sibling cable network FX (where they currently air, along with a handful of Sunday Nextel races), over to another sibling, Speed Channel. It is well known within Fox parent News Corp. that David Hill, chairman of Fox Sports, has been pushing hard to get the Busch races on Speed Channel, but others in the company stick by the theory that the races have helped FX grow audience and should therefore stay there.

Glover has his own pros and cons about shifting those races to Speed. FX, he said, has attracted new, nontraditional race viewers to the telecasts by promoting the races in original programming like The Shield. But he concedes that the telecasts on Speed would make a better fit, blending in with other Nascar-related programming. "This is just one of those details that has to be worked out," Glover said.

As far as renewing with NBC, Glover said Nascar is excited about the possibility of leading into NBC's new Sunday Night Football telecasts. "That could be a hell of a sports package for NBC on Sundays," he said, "and Nascar can help drive audience to the games."

Glover said barring rain delays during the Nascar Sunday telecasts, the races should end well before the 7 p.m. NBC pregame NFL shows. "We are starting our races earlier, some at noon and some at 1 p.m., and most are over by 5," he said. "We have also added a few Saturday-night races. We're confident that the conflicts [for NBC] are potentially very few and will be easily managed."

There has been talk that Nascar would seek a heftier increase from NBC/Turner for the second-half rights under a new agreement because the new "Chase for the Cup" point system puts added emphasis on viewer interest on the later races of the second half, that last year increased ratings significantly. Glover declined to comment on any rights-fee specifics.

There were also rumors that NBC, because it paid a hefty $650 million for its NFL TV rights, might drop Nascar if the asking price is too high. But NBC officials say they are still talking with Nascar and remain interested.

Glover said there is no rush to get the new deals done, and he doesn't expect to finalize new agreements until late November or early December, after the current season ends.

neeshu89:

I don't know, but perhaps stretching it out over five summer weeks wasn't the best strategy.

On the other hand, Roman period pieces don't tend to do too well, especially when all the actors speak with upper class British accents. And the story isn't precisely new or previously untold -- even though the fictional gladiator has been added.

There is also the problem (at least to many critics) that scenes presumably from the Coliseum seemed to have been shot in someone's rather cramped backyard and the street scenes from Rome often look like they are from a rather small ancient village.

But all that aside, perhaps a generation or two ago, when more of the viewing audience had studied ancient history in school it would have done better. As it is, it seems to be doing better with older viewers.

I really can't give you a better answer, so this is all just my opinion.

It also got screwed and had the low-rated and older-skewing Pres. Bush speech as the show that started off the night, then was lead-in by a rerun of George Lopez.

New “Neighbors” Can Keep Home

By Don Kaplan New York Post

THE winners of ABC's controversial reality show, "Welcome to the Neighborhood," will get to keep their prize, a new home — even if the series is never broadcast.

After heavily promoting "Neighborhood," ABC yanked the show Wednesday, just days before it was set to debut, after the network came under attack from civil-rights groups who argued that the show violated federal fair-housing laws. Despite the controversy, ABC has left the door open to return the series to its schedule at a future date.

On the show — something of a cross between "Desperate Housewives" and "The Bachelor" — seven diverse families try to win a home on a cul-de-sac near Austin, Texas, by wooing the three families who already live there. Through a series of interviews and competitions, the neighbors decide which family would fit in best with the community's mostly Christian and Republican values.

The entire series was taped months ago.

Among the families who attempted to win the 3,300-square-foot, four-bedroom home were:

* The Wrights, two white gay men with a young, adopted black boy.

* The Lees, a foreign-born Korean family who were the first to be eliminated after residents were turned off by their broken English

* The Morgans, a picture perfect family — except the mom is secretly a stripper

* The Eckharts, a white family who practices Wicca, frequently confused with witchcraft

* The Gonzalezes, a loud, boisterous Hispanic family

* The Sheets, a white family covered in tattoos — who are staunch Republicans

* The Crenshaws, a religious black family.

The Wrights made it at least as far as the second episode, but ran into problems with the cul-de-sac residents because they were gay.

At a meeting of the residents to talk about the candidates, there was an argument between the cul-de-sac adults and kids, who ripped their parents for being close-minded about gay people, according to show sources.

The parents were furious over the debate and one couple, the Daniels — an extremely devout Christian family — actually cried at the thought of allowing gays to move into the neighborhood.

Among the various challenges the applicants were put through was a re-enactment of a fire that once tore through a home on the street. The goal was to see how the wannabe-neighbors would react.

Sorry for the holiday weekend delay, but Saturday’s prime-time ratings have now been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

As for the freshman class of summer 2005,

-The Inside (Fox): Wed. 9 p.m.
Viewers: 3.86 million (#73); A18-49: 1.6/ 5 (#61t)
Grade: D-



From a link provided by AVS member Brock Samson in The Inside thread. Keep in mind that this is speculation from the creator of the show. I don't know if FOX has made any announcement.

News from Tim(Minear) on "The Inside" and Comic Con (www.timminear.net/archives/the_inside/000089.html)

"Posted on July 3, 2005 |

Okay, gang, here's what I do know...While the network hasn't said to me that they won't order more episodes, it sure does shake out that way. On Thursday they needed to extend their options on the cast and decided not to. Considering it would have been chump change for them, it basically means we're done.

I'm not ready to start hawking the 13 episode DVD set -- because I'm hoping it's gonna be a 15 episode set, including the two, you counted right, TWO! unaired pilots.

I'm pretty convinced the same thing that happened with a lot of the non-believers here with Wonderfalls and Firefly will happen if they get a chance to see the full 13 (well, 15).

I'm told by the network that they're "still supporting the show" and that we will continue to air. Which, if my experience tells me anything, means catch it while you can. If you wanna, I mean. I'm gonna make my bet right now that we'll have, not including any unaired pilots, six unaired episodes featured on that DVD set.

When I spoke to one my cast members about this, he offered that I must "be crushed." I'm not. This is pretty much what I expected, which doesn't mean I didn't pour every bit of energy, time and care I had into 13 episodes for the last year. I never consider it a waste of time. Or a waste of, well, their money. DVDs have changed a lot. If I end up being some little Americanized BBC, churning out limited series for DVD, and the people who employ me want to keep handing over 20 or 30 million dollars for me to do that, then I'll be perfectly content. There's something nice about being able to go from a hard drinking space western to a hard drinking whimsical comedy to a hard drinking abyss peering noir.

One final note, this press release for ComicCon is a bit premature. With things being what they are, that panel looks to be falling apart, so if you were going to make any plans based on it, don't. However X and the Plimsouls are playing that night in Orange County. Pretty sure I know where I'll be.

Tim"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

What is with FOX and chopping these shows off at the knees before they even have a chance to build an audience? There is far worse on TV than the 'The Inside".

ABC holds up without Jennings
"World News Tonight" hangs on to second
as anchor changes aren't reflected in the ratings
By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 4, 2005

NEW YORK -- When ABC's Peter Jennings was forced to leave the anchor chair in April to seek treatment for lung cancer, the already topsy-turvy world of network evening news seemed poised for more chaos.

Dan Rather had retired from the "CBS Evening News" a month earlier, replaced temporarily by Bob Schieffer. And NBC had just gone through its own transition, when Brian Williams succeeded Tom Brokaw in December.

The shift at ABC was more jarring. After announcing his diagnosis, Jennings immediately took a leave to begin chemotherapy. With no sense of when he will return, the network has relied on Charles Gibson and Elizabeth Vargas as substitutes on the anchor desk.

Despite the uncertainty caused by his illness, "World News Tonight" has held its own. The gap between the top-rated "NBC Nightly News" and the ABC broadcast has remained essentially the same — an average of 224,000 viewers in June compared with 220,000 in March, according to Nielson Media Research. NBC has led by 673,000 viewers this season compared with 704,000 at this point last season.

All the newscasts have lost viewers overall since last year, which network officials attribute to an expected drop-off after a presidential election year. But the dynamics of the evening news competition remain largely unchanged.

NBC continues to lead in the season averages, with ABC a close second and CBS a more distant third.

In the last six weeks, "World News Tonight" actually won the largest share of younger viewers, ages 25 to 54, the key advertising demographic for news programs. (This year NBC has held the lead among these viewers overall.)

That ABC has remained strong has forced the network into a difficult balancing act: touting the competitiveness of a show that is missing its leading man.

"It's absolutely awkward for them," said New York-based analyst Andrew Tyndall, who monitors network news.

"Conventional wisdom would say that a leaderless newscast — when people don't know who is going to be reading the news from one day to the next — would be one that would be jeopardized," he said.

"The fact that the ratings have proved that isn't happening is a real lesson about why people watch — for the news, not the anchor."

But ABC News officials maintain that the program's strength is because of Jennings' ongoing involvement. The anchor frequently participates in the 9 a.m. editorial conference call and weighs in with suggestions throughout the day, executive producer Jon Banner said.

"We're still putting on his broadcast," he said.

ABC has not been shy about touting its standing. Last month, the network ran a full-page ad in the New York Times on the occasion of its latest Edward R. Murrow Award and proclaimed the evening broadcast "America's Number One Network News." (Small print at the bottom of the page explained that the title referred to its recent lead in the key demographic.)

Banner said he believes the show's ratings are the result of changes he and Jennings began making two years ago, when he first came aboard to produce "World News Tonight." Since then, they have put more emphasis on investigative pieces and stories about the nation's culture wars.

"Viewers don't respond to those changes overnight," he said. "I think it takes time to build up."

ABC News President David Westin also stressed Jennings' continual influence on the program, adding that he is counting on the anchor to return as soon as he is well enough. He would not comment on his prognosis, except to acknowledge the seriousness of his illness.

"He is an optimist," Westin said. "He has shown great strength and grace, but he's battling a very, very difficult disease."

There's no doubt Jennings' presence is still felt, even though he has only been able to make occasional visits to the newsroom.

Many ABC employees — including Westin — began wearing yellow "Live Strong" bracelets after his diagnosis. And the network was flooded with letters and e-mails from viewers offering their support.

In late April, Jennings posted a letter on ABC's website.

"Thousands of you have spoiled me rotten with your attention in the last couple of weeks," he wrote. "Whether you have a cancer connection or not, your anecdotes, mementos, home recipes and general all-purpose guidance and concern have all been so deeply appreciated."

Jennings' forced absence came when he had hoped to be challenging NBC for its No. 1 ranking, a title it has held since the 1996-97 season. With Brokaw retiring, many analysts thought ABC had an opening to climb back on top this year.

But Williams maintained NBC's lead even before Jennings' departure.

"NBC Nightly News" has attracted the largest average audience every week since he took over the anchor desk Dec. 2. If it places first again in Tuesday's weekly ratings report, the newscast will have racked up an unusual 52-week winning streak.

"Brian is doing a terrific job," said Steve Capus, senior vice president of NBC News. "I see us in a very strong competitive position when nearly every expert said we wouldn't be here."

He dismissed ABC's recent gains among 25- to 54-year-old viewers, noting that the newscasts have swapped the lead in that demographic for the last three years.

But Capus admitted to some discomfort about touting NBC's wins, considering the changed landscape. "All I've thought about in Peter's absence is that I wish him well," he said. "I feel the normal competitive games are secondary."

For his part, Williams had hoped to measure himself against Rather and Jennings, "the two lions" of the business.

"I would give anything for this current set of circumstances not to exist," he said.

The 46-year-old anchor said the most apt description of his situation came from a co-worker who, in an allusion to the changed New York skyline, reacted to Williams becoming the dean of network news: "That's a lot like calling the Empire State Building the tallest building in New York. It's for all the wrong reasons."

Finally, a reality show so bad it never got aired
Would-be neighbors trigger prejudice, bias
By Joanne Ostrow Denver Post TV Critic July 4, 2005

In television's reckless race to the bottom, producers have shown us our baser selves in a range of disheartening "reality" series. By now we are accustomed to shows that play on human frailties, rely on deviousness, make contenders feel inadequate or encourage them to be just plain mean.

Some capitalize on adolescent fears and grossness ("Fear Factor") or focus on physical defects ("The Swan"). Others specialize in backstabbing ("Survivor," "The Apprentice"). A few use sex as a competitive tool ("The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette") or combine money and sex as motivators ("Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?"). Only now have we arrived at a reality series so "real," it has been deemed too awful for broadcast.

ABC's "Welcome to the Neighborhood," a competition for a four-bedroom, three-bath estate on a cul-de-sac near Austin, Texas, depicts bigotry in all its unadulterated ugliness. The series was pulled before its scheduled Sunday broadcast after it was suggested the elimination game violated the Fair Housing Act. The National Fair Housing Alliance launched a campaign against the show, but ABC blinked. The project could be reworked and kept alive.

Gauging by the first two episodes, which were sent to critics, "Welcome to the Neighborhood" is awful, all right, but hardly worse than the usual "reality" debasement. In fact, this morality play has a positive point to make.

Contenders for the suburban McMansion are unlike the uniformly white, Christian, adamantly Republican residents we see "protecting" their Lone Star neighborhood. Arriving one family at a time, the contestants are Hispanic, gay, African-American, Wiccan, heavily tattooed, Korean - plus one nice-looking Caucasian family (oops, Mom is a stripper).

The competition is about more than dating or prize money. This is a series that looks into the mainstream American soul and finds ignorance and darkness there. It's about prejudice, bigotry and the trouble with first impressions. The judgmental cul-de-sac residents come across as uneducated and shameful as they size up the contenders upon arrival.

"Omigod," one mutters at the sight of a heavily tattooed couple. "My first impression is I don't like what I'm seein'."

"I want a family similar to what we are," states another.

"I don't understand it, neither do I care to understand it," says another about the self-described Wicca priestess.

At the end of six episodes, the narrow-minded families evolve to accept the contenders as people, beyond race, ethnicity, religion, national origin or body art. But we'll never see that part.

ABC released a statement acknowledging the problem: "Our intention with 'Welcome to the Neighborhood' was to show the transformative process that takes place when people are forced to confront preconceived notions of what makes a good neighbor, and we believe the series delivers exactly that.

"However," it continued, "the fact that the true change only happens over time made the episodic nature of this series challenging, and given the sensitivity of the subject matter in early episodes, we have decided not to air the series at this time."
Besides, they could have been sued.

One family got the house, but we don't know which one. So for now, reality TV will stick to less-tricky forms. Back to one-upsmanship, scheming, lying and petty treacheries.

[QUOTE=fredfa] Finally, a reality show so bad it never got aired
[B]

This should apply to EVERY reality show :D

I think I pretty much agree, dturturro, although for a while a few seasons of "Survivor" were my own dirty little secret.

Sunday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

If The Amazing Race was in HD I would probably watch it, otherwise, my sum total of reality show viewing comes to about 15 mins of American Idol waiting for 24 to start.

If The Amazing Race was in HD I would probably watch it, otherwise, my sum total of reality show viewing comes to about 15 mins of American Idol waiting for 24 to start.

24 isn't on the same night as Idol......you can say you're a fan of AI ;)

24 isn't on the same night as Idol......you can say you're a fan of AI ;)
It had to be a couple of nights...maybe it was House I was waiting to see... :p

It had to be a couple of nights...maybe it was House I was waiting to see... :p


When AI was three nights a week I believe it overlapped.

Some TV Notes
Just in case, some fresh faces on the bench for 'Today'

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

Talk about a hot investment.

Alexis Glick, who three years ago was managing more than 200 floor traders at the New York Stock Exchange, is being mentioned as a possible successor to Today coanchor Katie Couric. Since crossing over from CNBC to NBC's Today as a correspondent a year ago, Glick is getting increasing face time. She's seen almost daily in the 9-to-10 a.m. segment.

Couric, 48, has been Today's coanchor since April '91. Her estimated $12 million-a-year contract is up in May. Glick, 32 and, like Couric, a mother of two, is a far less costly TV newbie. Do the math.

"Nonsense," new Today boss Jim Bell says. "It's summer. People are taking time off. Alexis is getting experience in the 9 o'clock hour - a place we really want to use to build our bench."

Smoothie Natalie Morales, an MSNBC anchor since '02, appears frequently in Today's first two hours and sometimes sits in for Couric. (Glick hasn't subbed for Couric yet.)

The boys' side of the bench includes MSNBC's Lester Holt, weekend Today coanchor, and David Gregory, NBC's chief White House correspondent and a weekend fill-in for Holt. There could be more, Bell says. Before joining CNBC in April '03 as senior trading correspondent for its popular weekday morning show Squawk Box, Glick was a rising star on Wall Street.

At Morgan Stanley, she became the first woman to manage the stock-exchange floor operation of a heavyweight Wall Street firm.
Glick "is a fresh face," Bell says. "She's smart, a mom, worked on Wall Street. She has a unique background. We can use her for lots of different stories. She's doing great. She's getting experience to be part of the best team in morning TV."

Bell is looking to infuse "a different sensibility and feel" to Today's 9 a.m. hour, formerly a hodgepodge of disparate elements without much of a personality. It features the same on-air talent as the 7-to-9 a.m. show - Couric, Matt Lauer, Ann Curry and Al Roker.

To help give the 9 a.m. segment a distinct look, Bell recently named former Maury executive producer Amy Rosenblum as senior producer for Today's third hour. "Having fresh eyes and fresh ideas is a good thing," he says.

Also a good thing, for Today, is its June ratings surge. In the most recent weekly Nielsens (June 20-24), Today averaged 5.5 million viewers - 700,000 more than ABC's Good Morning America. CBS's Early Show had 2.3 million viewers. It was Today's 498th consecutive weekly blue ribbon, and the fourth straight week it beat rival GMA by more than 475,000 viewers, NBC says.

Holm plays Pope.

Ian Holm is going from The Lord to the lord. Holm, who played Bilbo Baggins in the big-screen The Lord of the Rings trilogy, will portray Pope John Paul II in CBS's forthcoming four-hour mini-series about the late pontiff, the network confirms.

Pope John Paul II (tentative title) will follow Karol Wojtyla from his high school days in Poland through his death in April. The '81 assassination attempt will be included. Holm will play Wojtyla beginning with his election to the papacy in 1978. No casting yet for the younger pope-to-be.

The mini-series, to be shot in Italy and Poland, is targeted to air in November. Historians at the Vatican were consulted on the script, and the producers have been granted access to St. Peter's Square.

Fertile ground.

In other casting news, Law & Order alum Angie Harmon, who just had her second baby, is headed to a fertility clinic.
Come again?

Harmon will join NBC's new fall drama Inconceivable as Dr. Nora Campbell, a brilliant (what else?) reproductive specialist who becomes a loose cannon at the fictitious Family Options fertility clinic. On NBC's L&O, Harmon was tough-as-titanium assistant district attorney Abby Carmichael from '98 to '01. Inconceivable, set for 10 PM ET/PT Fridays, costars ER's Ming-Na and Jonathan Cake (Falling) as bickering clinic cofounders.

Some TV Notes
Just in case, some fresh faces on the bench for 'Today'

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist



Fertile ground.

In other casting news, Law & Order alum Angie Harmon, who just had her second baby, is headed to a fertility clinic.
Come again?

Harmon will join NBC's new fall drama Inconceivable as Dr. Nora Campbell, a brilliant (what else?) reproductive specialist who becomes a loose cannon at the fictitious Family Options fertility clinic. On NBC's L&O, Harmon was tough-as-titanium assistant district attorney Abby Carmichael from '98 to '01. Inconceivable, set for 10 PM ET/PT Fridays, costars ER's Ming-Na and Jonathan Cake (Falling) as bickering clinic cofounders.
Just listening to hear voice causes my cell count to skyrocket... :)

Monday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

As you know, I usually take down the old daily ratings as soon as the new ones are posted.
I am assuming many didn't get a chance to see them because of the holiday wqeekend, so I'll leave the Friday-Sunday numbers up until tomorrow.

TV in kid's room hurts academics
Johns Hopkins study tracked 3rd-graders
By Jonathan Pitts Baltimore Sun Staff Writer July 5, 2005

American households with children have an average of 2.8 televisions. Ninety-seven percent of those households have one or more VCRs or DVD players. Two-thirds have at least one computer.

If you think American kids are media-saturated, you're right. But if a new study conducted by the Bloomberg School of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University is to be believed, it's not the quantity that matters; it's where kids are being saturated.

"We looked at the way kids use media and how it related to academic achievement," says Dina Borzekowski, lead author of "The Remote, The Mouse, and the No. 2 Pencil," a research paper on the project that was published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine yesterday. "We had one very clear finding: Kids who have a TV in their bedroom do worse, academically, than kids who don't.

"Even allowing for the limitations of our study, we recommend that parents not allow televisions in children's bedrooms, or that they remove them if they are already present."

The project - funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - tracked nearly 400 California third-graders during the 1999-2000 school year, taking note of the number and placement of TVs and computers in each child's home and recording the students' performances in math, language arts and reading on their Stanford Achievement Tests that year.

Children who had televisions in their bedrooms - which amounted to 64 percent of the sample - scored 8 points lower in math and language arts, and 7 points lower in reading. Kids whose homes featured a computer (59 percent) scored 6 points higher in math and language arts, and 4 percent higher in reading.

"The effects were much greater than we expected," says Borzekowski, an assistant professor at the school of public health.

Borzekowski, a Baltimore mother of three, discussed the project with The Sun.

What surprised you about the study?

We figured it'd be a matter of how much time kids spent [consuming], more than the media environment itself. But that wasn't as great a factor.

Why do bedroom TVs have a harmful effect?

That's a bit beyond the scope of the study, but ... well, I'm not one of those people who hate TV. There are wonderful programs available for kids and their families. But I do believe that media should be a shared experience, so parents and kids can discuss and enjoy what's being watched together. That's more likely to happen if the media is in the family room than in the bedroom.

Whether it's cause and effect or not, we can't say. Our study only shows that there's a relationship between these variables [TV location and academic achievement].

Why do so many kids have TVs in their bedrooms?

Have you ever had an old TV set? What do you do with it? It's hard to leave those things out on the curb. Often, we leave them in a spare bedroom, or put them in a child's bedroom.

One concern is that it's the old media that get put in the kids' rooms. New media have a very effective remedy: the V-chip. But most people leave their new technology in the family room or living room and put old media in the bedrooms.

You've studied kids and the media for years. Why?

I watched a tremendous amount of TV as a child. I saw wonderful programming - I grew up on Sesame Street and The Electric Company - and saw some lousy programming, too. I saw that TV could be a wonderful resource for reaching people, hopefully with positive messages. But [my interest] does come out of watching way too much as a child.

Every study has limitations. What would you like to have looked at that you didn't?

The big thing is content. However, it's hard for a child, or even an adult, to report on what they've watched. What happens if they've watched five minutes of one thing, half-hour of another? And when do they watch? We don't know if a child watched his three hours in the afternoon, or behind a closed bedroom door when he or she ought to be sleeping. Those things could be important, too.

The study showed a reverse correlation between time spent on homework and performance on tests. How do you explain that?

If you ask a kid who's having a harder time in school, it's possible that that child may have to spend more time on homework. The child who's doing well might finish his homework in five or 10 minutes. That's one possible explanation.

How might you build on your findings?

Well, our results suggest we ought to look at the content [of viewing] ... Either that or [do] intervention, where we'd have an experimental design in which we look at kids who start [the year] with TVs in their rooms, then remove them and look at what happens as a result.

But I'm not going to do it the other way around. I'm afraid I'm not willing to put televisions into kids' bedrooms. Research shows that places them at risk in a number of ways. After all, I'm a mother.

The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine is online at http://archpedi.ama-assn.org and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is online at www.jhsph.edu

'Live 8,' so hot, but the 4th was hotter
Averaged only 2.9 million viewers for Saturday airing

medialifemagazine.com---Yes, it’s a good cause, and yes, we all want to save Africa. It was even a great concert, with top-drawer talent like Madonna and Paul McCartney, and a great venue, an outdoor setting on a very humid Saturday.

But even that couldn’t lure Americans to the television on July 4 weekend. While Live 8 was a huge draw in other countries, attracting up to a third of all TV viewers, it bombed in the U.S. According to Nielsen overnights, Saturday’s two-hour Live 8 highlights show on ABC averaged only 2.9 million total viewers.

While NBC averaged a 3.8 household rating and 9 share for the Pepsi 400 from 8 to 10 p.m. Saturday, “Live 8” finished fourth in the timeslot with a 2.0/5. Even a repeat of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” at 10 p.m. did better for ABC, averaging a 2.7/6.

It’s not that Americans weren’t interested in the concert; America Online reported some 5 million Live 8 footage downloads. They just weren’t interested in watching it on TV. Indeed, July 4 weekend traditionally is one of the low points in the TV season. There’s so much to draw people outside, such as fireworks, picnics and other start-to-summer activities, that no one wants to stay inside with the tube, no matter how interesting a show sounds.

Saturday is already the least-watched night of the week on broadcast. But even the promise of U2, the Who, Green Day and Coldplay, who all had nervous censors working bleeping hard, didn’t draw. In fact, Live 8 finished behind a CBS repeat of “NCIS” among households Saturday, when the Big Four broadcast networks combined for just a 30 share.

The event, which consisted of 10 worldwide concerts, was a much bigger draw abroad. Concert organizer Bob Geldof claimed that 3 billion people caught at least part of the broadcasts, though that seems extremely doubtful.

Canada and the U.K., where the flagship concert originated, did particularly well. From 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., BBC2 attracted 4.2 million total viewers, about one-third of its potential audience. Coverage on BBC1 at 6 to midnight drew 7.8 million total viewers, more than 40 percent of the available audience. Canada’s CTV attracted 10.5 million total viewers, about one-third of the available audience.

France and Italy also aired live broadcasts. France’s M6 average 1.9 million total viewers at its peak for the 10 hours of coverage. The network said most of those were in the 15-34 demographic. In Italy, RAI 3 drew 2 million total viewers for Live 8. German TV mostly ran updates on the concert, though regional public broadcasters did carry some live footage.

Still, even those who didn’t want to watch the concert were interested in its music. The McCartney-U2 song that opened the British show, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” rocketed to No. 1 on the British, Canadian, Irish, German, Italian and Belgian iTunes charts. As of this morning, it sat at No. 8 on the American iTunes chart.

Comcast, Time Warner Fight Must-Carry
By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com

Cable’s leading operators are voicing concern about a plan supported by Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin that would allow TV stations to demand mandatory carriage for either their analog or digital signals.

Last week, representatives from Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable met with top FCC staff, including Martin’s media adviser, to spell out their differences with Martin’s plan. The MSOs are concerned that the plan -- which Martin wants to pass at the agency’s July 14 public meeting -- would lead to back-door dual must-carry for an unknown period of years. The FCC has twice formally rejected dual must-carry in the past four years.

Current rules permit must-carry for the analog signals, while digital carriage is negotiated until the analog signal is returned to the FCC.

Martin’s plan would allow stations to opt for digital must-carry and negotiated analog carriage. Cable sources have said that because they have so many analog-only customers, carriage of TV stations in analog and digital would become a certain reality except for truly weak stations with puny ratings. TV stations that opted for digital must-carry would not forfeit the right to negotiate analog carriage.

In a July 1 letter filed with the FCC, Comcast said permitting digital must-carry prior to return of the analog spectrum would conflict with federal law and prior FCC rulings. The MSO added that the policy would likely diminish broadcaster interest in the speedy return of the analog spectrum.

In a separate letter, Time Warner said Martin's so-called either/or must-carry approach clashed with the agency’s votes in 2001 and 2005 that dual must-carry would violate cable’s First Amendment rights.

FCC sources said Martin’s plan would not involve government-imposed dual must-carry, adding that carriage of a TV station’s analog and digital signals would be a discretionary act by cable companies.

Comcast and Time Warner are taking issue with a major Martin proposal at the same time that the two companies are asking Martin to approve their $17.6 billion acquisition of Adelphia Communications Corp.

Comcast, Time Warner Fight Must-Carry
By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com


This was expected, in fact, I think we talked about it in another thread..? Or was it here..

Anyway, I don't think Martin's proposal is going to fly...

Thefutoncritic.com has some in-depth looks at two new fall series, “Bones (Fox) and “The Unit” (CBS mid-season).

While written in an overdramatic (and a bit self-important manner IMO), the report is interesting reading at:

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/rant.cgi?id=20050705

keenan: I agree.
Although personally I think must-carry is an abomination, I am always amazed the MSOs, who wouldn't even exist without OTA (especially in the early years of cable), fight so hard against ever having being forced to carry stations or to pay them for carriage.

Yeah, we think alike, if cable service was free, or a not-for-profit setup, then the MSOs might have a point, otherwise they take a somewhat one-sided position...

Ebersol Proud as a Peacock Over NBC and the Games

By RICHARD SANDOMIR The New York Times

In June 2003, Dick Ebersol bet $2 billion of NBC's money on the 2010 and 2012 Olympics. Part of his strategy was a hope that one of the two would be staged in North America. A month later, he got his wish: the International Olympic Committee selected Vancouver, British Columbia, as the host city for the 2010 Winter Games.

"But there was a hiccup and a tightening of the muscles when we heard how close it was," Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports, said yesterday by telephone from Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. In the first round of voting that day in Prague, the big surprise was Pyeongchang, South Korea, which received 51 votes to Vancouver's 40 and Salzburg's 16; in the second round, with Salzburg, Austria, eliminated, Vancouver won with 56 votes to Pyeongchang's 53.

As the I.O.C. prepared to choose a host city for 2012 in Singapore this morning, NBC was faced with a set of circumstances that broke its way. There was no candidate in Asia, where the time zone difference would dampen ratings - as occurred in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, and will almost certainly affect NBC in 2008 in Beijing - and the other candidates were from the United States and Europe.

"At the time of our bid, all five cities were known, and we studied carefully the possibilities of '10 or '12," Ebersol said. Back then, Rome, Havana, Istanbul and Leipzig, Germany, were also in the 2012 fray. An Olympics in New York would generate the most viewers (the top-rated ones since the freakish height of the Tonya-Nancy Games in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway, were in Atlanta and in Salt Lake City). Paris, the presumptive favorite heading into the election, London, Madrid and Moscow rounded out the 2012 field, and European cities attract the second-highest viewership in the United States.

"If we end up where we can televise live from New York, then, sure, it's a nice little advantage, but all four European cities are major metropolitan areas," Ebersol said. "There are no issues with hotels or television infrastructure, and over the years, we've done programs from all four."

If New York won, NBC would be headquartered at the International Broadcast Center in Willets Point, near the new stadium in Queens that would be downsized to become a new home for the Mets.

NBC has committed to pay $820 million for the Vancouver Games and $1.18 billion - the most for an Olympics - for the 2012 Games. Another $190 million will come from General Electric, NBC's parent company, whose global Olympic sponsorship will start next year at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and continue through the 2012 (Pick Your City) Games.

The total investment of nearly $2.2 billion from NBC and G.E. far exceeded the $1.3 billion bid by Fox and the revenue-sharing offer by ABC and ESPN.

The primary difference to viewers between a New York and a European Olympics would be that the former would have a lot of live events in prime time, the latter little or none. But the debate over what's live and what's not was largely mitigated last year when NBC vastly expanded its coverage from Athens far beyond its broadcast network to CNBC, MSNBC, USA, Bravo and Telemundo.

In all, the seven networks carried 1,210 hours and reached 203 million viewers.

"No matter where the Olympics will be in 2012, more than half will be live across all platforms, but it's just what prime time will be," Ebersol said. "The main sports - swimming, gymnastics and track - we'll hold them in some form for prime time because that's where the audience will be."

Ebersol said that in addition to the television networks that will carry the 2012 Games, there will most likely be a wireless component and an expanded Internet site. Even if NBC Universal acquires any other networks, there is no guarantee that they would carry the Olympics. "We've come close to maxing out on the numbers of sports that are interesting to the television viewer," Ebersol said.

The contest to become the 2012 host is the first Olympic event since Ebersol sustained serious injuries in the private jet crash in November in Montrose, Colo., that killed his youngest son, Teddy, and injured his eldest, Charlie. His recovery ensured that Ebersol would produce the Turin Games in February, his sixth since becoming the head of NBC Sports in 1989. Turin is the fourth of five that he and NBC acquired in a two-part buying binge in 1995 that cost $3.5 billion.

"Let's say that my eagerness for February to come is enormous," he said. "But with the addition of the N.F.L. deal, I'm excited about what exists in front of me and all of us between Torino and Beijing."

The 2012 Games - which will be staged when Ebersol is 65 - is the last that NBC has the rights to carry, which does not preclude deals before then.

Television Suffers From Loss Of Independent Producers
With Just a Few Companies Creating
Content, Prime-Time Line-Up Blurs
THE SMALL SCREEN By Joe Flint The Wall Street Journal July 6, 2005

Last week, independent television producer Carsey-Werner Co. said it was shutting down most of its operations. Though the news garnered scant attention, the demise of this once-powerful shop says volumes about the troubles facing network television.

Carsey-Werner earned its stripes as the creator of such hits as "Roseanne," "The Cosby Show" and, more recently, Fox comedy "That 70's Show." But in recent years, its fortunes had been on the wane, a consequence, in part, of the trend by the big broadcast networks to produce their content in-house, or, failing that, to buy shows from one of the other big media conglomerates.

In the last decade, deregulation has led to sweeping consolidation in the television business, granting greater production muscle to the networks and shrinking the need for independent suppliers -- producers that have no financial or distribution ties to a major studio or network. Financially, this might have given the networks a boost, at least in the short run. But on any given evening, the end result is easy to see: a network television line-up so homogeneous that it is sometimes difficult to tell one show from another.

Until the mid-1990s, regulatory restrictions on broadcasters forced the networks to go outside their own operations for most of the shows they put on the air. But 10 years ago, the Federal Communications Commission phased out the so-called financial interest and syndication rules. The elimination of the rules, known as fin-syn, paved the way for the networks to create their own production shops, and to merge with television studios.

Thus, Walt Disney Co., already a powerful producer of TV shows in the 1990s such as "Home Improvement," was able to acquire ABC. Viacom Inc., which owns Paramount Television merged with CBS, and so on.

Since then, the six broadcast networks have increasingly made programming choices primarily based on who owns the show, with a strong preference for buying in-house content, rather than on the quality of the material. Most networks today produce or co-produce half of their own shows, up significantly from five years ago. At a time when the networks are struggling to keep audiences from fleeing to cable and other entertainment outlets, the dearth of independent creative forces isn't a trivial matter.

Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner founded their company in the early 1980s after a long stint at ABC, where as programming executives they played a key role in shepherding the network's comeback. As an independent operator, Carsey-Werner got lucky its first time up at bat with "The Cosby Show," which became a huge hit for then-struggling NBC. That was followed by the popular ABC shows "Roseanne" and "Grace Under Fire," as well as the moderately successful "Cybil" on CBS and "Third Rock from the Sun" for NBC.

But as the networks acquired the freedom to generate their own series, many of the most prominent independent suppliers began to vanish or be gobbled up. MTM, producer of classics "Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Bob Newhart," closed down. Spelling Entertainment ("Beverly Hills 90210" "The Love Boat") aligned itself with Paramount, and even major studios such as Sony Corp. and MGM phased out much of their TV operations. The networks, in turn, acquired the clout to demand ownership stakes from outside suppliers in return for ordering their shows.

As the new conventions took hold, Carsey-Werner found itself struggling to land talent and material. Compounding its difficulties, the company was notorious for being very stubborn about holding on to its shows. That hurt its influence with the networks, who looked elsewhere for shows and nudged Carsey-Werner series to less-appealing time slots. At one point in the late 1990s, NBC bounced Carsey-Werner's "Third Rock from the Sun" all over its schedule, while accommodating the network's home-grown series.

Compounding Carsey-Werner's problems, the company's founders gradually became less engaged in their company. Tom Werner focused on baseball, where he acquired the San Diego Padres and, later, a stake in the Boston Red Sox. The company also had a reputation for allowing some of its creative talent, including Roseanne, Cybil Shepherd and Brett Butler of "Grace Under Fire," to run roughshod over producers and network executives, making their sales pitches a little tougher.

In a statement, Carsey-Werner said, "We have managed to navigate the waters of this ever-changing business and run a very successful company for 25 years. Neither one of us is leaving the business; but the time has come for us to attack the challenge of being an independent in this environment in a slightly different way. The changes we are making reflect what has to be done as we move forward from this point on."

A former partner in Carsey-Werner, Caryn Mandabach, said in an interview that the difficulty in getting quality shows on the air has prompted her to all but abandon the U.S. television business in favor of the U.K., where independent shops retain some clout. Last year, the U.K.'s version of the FCC adopted a rule requiring that 25% of the BBC's programming come from outside suppliers.

"Why are the people who are trained and hard-working and love the medium of broadcast comedy, and aren't primarily trying to build a company … why are they and people like me no longer giant forces?" she asks.

Now an independent producer with a deal to develop shows for the BBC, Ms. Mandabach lamented the impact of deregulation on sitcoms in a recent column in the U.K.'s Guardian. "In the old days, British audiences saw shows produced by American independents such as "Mork & Mindy," "Roseanne" and "Seinfeld. Now there are no independents left and the sitcoms you acquire from the U.S. broadcast networks all look a lot like 'Joey,'" she wrote.

The networks still do turn out successful and skillful shows: NBC comedy "Will & Grace," which was developed by NBC Studios, has been a hit with critics and audiences. But it is also clear that the number of popular comedies has declined over the past 10 years, creating a vacuum that, for one thing, has made it possible for reality television to flourish.

This past spring, much was made about how the networks bought more shows from outside suppliers than in previous years. It's true. Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros., which owns the WB, has shows on every network. News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox has comedies on both CBS and NBC, as well as several new shows for its own Fox network. Of the five new shows on ABC's fall schedule, only two are from parent Disney. By comparison, last year Disney provided four of ABC's seven new shows.

While that's encouraging, the reality is that five major conglomerates – General Electric Co.'s NBC-Universal, Viacom, Disney, News Corp. and Time Warner -- are developing the vast majority of television fare. As Ms. Mandabach notes, it is big buying from big, essentially little more than "horse trading." In other words, the conglomerates, while competitors all over the globe, are also in business together and strive to maintain good relationships with each other, in part by buying each other's shows.

Meanwhile, the void left by Carsey-Werner's demise remains unfilled. "No one really has the coin to back something independently," says Jordan Levin, former head of the WB Network. He notes that if Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and occasional television entrepreneur, wanted to form a company, he certainly could. But the consolidation has taken much of the joy out of making television.

"Nobody's having fun anymore," Mr. Levin says, citing the lack of creative freedom for writers and program executives. "It really has caused people to ask, do they really need to do this anymore … do they really want to do deal with layers of BS and numbers people."

For viewers, it's impossible to know what shows the networks have passed on over the years in favor of their own product, or what shows never even were produced because of the roadblocks facing smaller creative enterprises. And no one knows whether independently produced programs would have been any more successful than what is on the air now. But one thing seems certain: They couldn't have done much worse.

CBS News explores storytelling
The project is one of the first indications of how CBS might restructure the evening news
By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 6, 2005

NEW YORK -- Faced with a mandate to remake the network's nightly news broadcast, CBS News President Andrew Heyward has commissioned staffers to come up with specific approaches that would favor more of a storytelling style over the traditional format that generally recaps the news of the day.

Heyward told correspondents and producers, whom he's pulled in to help develop the project, about the new concept for the "CBS Evening News" in a meeting held at the network's West 57th Street headquarters Thursday and again in a smaller gathering Tuesday, a CBS News executive confirmed.

"We're experimenting this summer with new, interesting ideas for how to tell stories in a more interesting and compelling way," said Marcy McGinnis, senior vice president for news gathering, who declined to give further details about the meetings.

According to two editorial employees who were at the meetings, the news president asked the staff to gather additional material as part of their current assignments that can be used to experiment with various styles of storytelling. He plans to present the sample idea to CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves in the coming months, with the hope that details about the revamped nightly news broadcast could be announced by the fall.

Heyward's project is one of the first indications of how CBS might restructure the evening news, which has long lagged behind NBC and ABC in the ratings and has been under even more scrutiny since veteran anchor Dan Rather stepped down in March, following a much-criticized report he did last year on President Bush's National Guard service for "60 Minutes Wednesday."

The network has used Bob Schieffer, another veteran staffer, to temporarily fill the anchor spot while it ponders a new format for the program.

Moonves has made it clear that he wants CBS to rethink the approach of the broadcast, which, like other network news programs, has steadily lost viewers in the last decade.

Thus far, news executives have been vague about their plans. At a CBS affiliates meeting in Las Vegas last month, Heyward told station representatives that the broadcast was in a "process of evolution."

He told them that the revamped newscast will rely heavily on a team of correspondents and put less emphasis on "a dominant anchor surrounded by a bunch of people you don't know and don't care about."

In the meetings with the staff, Heyward said that he hopes to develop a new version of the show that plays to the network's strengths — an experienced team of correspondents and its ability to do "great storytelling."

"What people walked away with was that we still have a commitment to news — we just have to package it differently," said one of the employees, who did not want to be named discussing internal conversations.

The new broadcast Heyward proposed would dispense quickly with the news of the day and focus on deeper investigative and feature stories, modeled after the kind of storytelling done on "60 Minutes," arguably CBS' most successful news program.

He also said the newscast could provide a measure of "transparency" by providing viewers a glimpse behind the scenes. An assistant producer could use a hand-held camera to film a correspondent making calls, for example.

The new "Evening News" could also include more on-screen graphics to give viewers a quick sampling of facts about a subject, Heyward suggested.

Looks like 60 Minutes staffers are going to be working overtime. So that's where 60 Min. Wednesdays went..... Works for me as long as they don't get the Morning Show (or whatever it's called) into the act. I can just see the evening news team sitting on couches joking about the lead in to the next story....
GT

Looks like 60 Minutes staffers are going to be working overtime. So that's where 60 Min. Wednesdays went..... Works for me as long as they don't get the Morning Show (or whatever it's called) into the act. I can just see the evening news team sitting on couches joking about the lead in to the next story....
GTMaybe they could do some of that shaky camera stuff in the newsroom or chase after the reporters ala "Cops". ;)

Ebersol Congratulates London
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

NBC now knows where it will be sending Bob Costas and company in 2012: London.

NBC President Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, sent his congratulations Wednesday after the International Olympic Committee picked the city as the site of the 2012 games.

NBC has the rights to the Olympics through those 2012 games.

New York had been in the running to host the Olympics, but its chances took a hit when the city failed to approve the building of a new stadium in Manhattan.

Cablevision, which owns Madison Square Garden, had bitterly opposed the new stadium, fearing it would draw business away from the Garden.

Tuesday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Looks like 60 Minutes staffers are going to be working overtime. So that's where 60 Min. Wednesdays went..... Works for me as long as they don't get the Morning Show (or whatever it's called) into the act. I can just see the evening news team sitting on couches joking about the lead in to the next story....
GT

How about just giving the news? I'm tired of this forced, witless banter that these failed actors spew out for no reason what so ever. Could anyone picture Cronkite doing this trash you see on TV?

How about just giving the news? I'm tired of this forced, witless banter that these failed actors spew out for no reason what so ever.
That's what local news is for, all that jocularity and banter, helps make you feel they are buddies just down the street locally.. :p

Could anyone picture Cronkite doing this trash you see on TV?
No, and it's because what passes for "news" today is primarily entertainment first with actual hard reporting a distant secondary consideration.

Uugghh!! :eek:

For 'Empire,' a story of decline and fall
ABC series slides to a dismal 1.8 among 18-49s
medialifemagazine.com

ABC was hoping the disappointing debut of the miniseries “Empire” last week came from having President Bush's low-rated address as its lead-in.

No such luck.

Last night’s second edition of the miniseries averaged just a 1.8 rating among viewers 18-49, according to Nielsen overnights, down 10 percent versus a 2.0 overnight for last week’s two-hour premiere. In terms of total viewers “Empire” dropped even more, slipping 19 percent week-to-week from 6.4 million viewers to 5.16 million.

It was the second-lowest-rated show of the night in 18-49s among the Big Four networks.

Why ABC expected anyone to watch a high-concept drama about ancient Rome in the middle of the slow, laid-back summer months isn't quite clear. Perhaps ABC wanted to rush the long-in-development show on the air before HBO's similarly themed "Rome," which premieres later this summer. Or perhaps it realized it had a turkey and wanted to burn off the six-hour series when it didn't matter.

Whatever the reason, the ABC series clearly lacks what it takes to draw viewers to a miniseries as outlined by Media Life's Ed Robertson in a feature last week. While the concept of "Empire" is certainly high--the story of Rome--it lacks big names of the sort that are associated with hit miniseries (notably Richard Chamberlain).

The series might also do better earlier in the evening, at 9 rather than 10.

ABC's Live 8 show falls into Saturday night's black hole

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

Live 8 was dead on arrival at ABC.

The prime time highlights special from Saturday's concerts - featuring such heavy hitters as U2, Paul McCartney, Coldplay, The Who, Green Day and Pink Floyd - averaged a paltry 2.9 million viewers from 8 to 10 that night.

Viewers had plenty of chances to catch the concerts live earlier in the day on MTV, VH1 and mtvU, and on AOL. Still, some industry experts were surprised by ABC's underwhelming performance.

Brad Adgate, head of corporate research for Horizon Media, had predicted the special would draw about 10 million. Why? The lineup of performers would appeal to boomers, who are more likely to be home Saturday night.

Time out for a quick reality check: Saturday is the least-viewed night of the week, and historically viewership on summer holiday weekends is on life support. "Saturday is just a rotten night," Adgate concedes. "Networks don't put anything on Saturday nights, even in the fall."

Going a step further, Mediaweek TV analyst Marc Berman labels Saturday night and July 4th weekend "a lethal combination."

How bad were ABC's numbers? Let us count the ways.

1. Live 8 was the least-watched original program on ABC since an episode of the improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway? on Aug. 8, with 2.1 million viewers.

2. It was the least-watched original program on ABC in the 8-to-10 p.m. Saturday slot since the Latino Alma Awards on June 1, '02.

3. In the most recent weekly Nielsens (June 20-26), Live 8 would have ranked 84th, just above a repeat of Girlfriends on UPN.

4. It finished a distant fourth in the time slot, almost two million viewers behind No. 3 Fox, with Cops and America's Most Wanted. It was beaten by repeats of 48 Hours and NCIS on CBS.

"For a Big 3 network to get under three million viewers is really bad," Mediaweek's Berman says.

Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University's Center for the Study of Popular Television, says that broadcast-TV coverage of such events as Live 8 will go the way of beauty pageants. (Dumped by ABC, Miss America recently went to cable's CMT.)

"There's not a broad-enough appeal. A good portion of the broadcast audience doesn't know who or what Coldplay is. The real future for these things is 9 to 10 a.m. Fridays on Today's summer concert series."

Even if Woodstock had been broadcast live in '69, "it probably would have been beaten by a weekly episode of the Beverly Hillbillies or Green Acres," Thompson adds.

Experts agree that cable is a perfect fit for Live 8 and similar programs, because it targets niche audiences and can devote numerous hours to live coverage. Moreover, the impressive response to AOL's Live 8 streaming "proves that you don't have to go to a TV set to watch TV anymore," Berman says. "It's a testimonial that there's some shifting going on."

Live 8 wasn't all bad news for ABC, however.

The special was a "time buy," which means the concert producers had already sold the advertising before the show aired. They "rented" the airtime from ABC - a win-win for the network. ABC usually does one "time buy" per year, a rep says.

Symbolically, Live 8 scored major points for ABC as a goodwill gesture. "They'll be able to bring it up when they need to apologize for other things," Thompson says, alluding to its controversial new reality series, Welcome to the Neighborhood.

Amid charges of racism and homophobia, ABC pulled the plug last week, just days before its scheduled launch.

For 'Empire,' a story of decline and fall
ABC series slides to a dismal 1.8 among 18-49s
medialifemagazine.com

Or perhaps it realized it had a turkey and wanted to burn off the six-hour series when it didn't matter.
That's what my bet would be..

The series might also do better earlier in the evening, at 9 rather than 10.
I think winning the lottery would be a better bet..

For New Man at 'Today,' Puzzles Big and Small

By JACQUES STEINBERG The New York Times July 7, 2005

The Hutchinson River Parkway was largely deserted as the black sedan headed south through Westchester County, its only interior light provided by the glowing screen of a Blackberry e-mail device in the rear passenger seat. It was just after 4 last Thursday morning, and Jim Bell, the new executive producer of the "Today" show on NBC, was already fiddling with what he calls "the puzzle."

"So we have to kill something," Mr. Bell said into the microphone of his cellphone, a coffee cup in his left hand and the voice of a producer who had worked the overnight shift in his right ear. "Eminent domain and puppies are gone."

Loosely translated, here's what he meant: the lineup for the first hour of that morning's program - including a primer on a Supreme Court decision affirming the seizure of people's homes and a feature about the theft of a dozen puppies that was recorded on a pet store Webcam - was now being upended by breaking news. In this case, it was the contention of several former American hostages that Iran's new president was actually one of their captors.

As he commuted from his Connecticut home, it ultimately fell to Mr. Bell to somehow find room in the first half hour for a three- to four-minute interview with one of those hostages, presuming it could be arranged in the next two hours, while dealing with the ripple effect on the rest of the broadcast.

That would be a daunting assignment for any producer, let alone for a 37-year-old who had been handed the reins of the most profitable program on network television only on April 20, and whose previous experience was mostly in control rooms for NBC Sports. But such split-second calculations are, in many ways, the easiest part of his job. The hard part has been finding ways to breathe new life into an all-star on-air cast that has dominated the morning-show wars for a decade but, over the last year, has yielded precious ground in the all-important Nielsen ratings to its hard-charging principal competitor, ABC's "Good Morning America."

Mr. Bell - a longtime senior producer of the network's Olympics coverage and a protégé of Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports and Olympics - got the "Today" job when his predecessor, Tom Touchet, was fired last spring with the blessing of Jeff Zucker, the president of NBC Universal Television Group, principally over those flagging ratings. Mr. Bell is the third person to hold the executive producer's job in the four years since Mr. Zucker gave it up after two tours, the last of which lasted six years.

Lest there be any doubt about the pressure he was under, Mr. Bell got a firsthand reminder during the week of May 9: during those five days, the lead "Today" had built over "Good Morning America," a margin of nearly two million during the 2000-1 television season, had dwindled to an average of just 45,000 viewers a day, its lowest in nearly a decade.

But since that scare, "Today" has widened its lead over "Good Morning America" considerably, to an average about 400,000 viewers a day over the last two months. And yet that summertime surge has hardly given "Today" or NBC or Mr. Bell much comfort, largely because it has come at a time when ABC's revived prime-time lineup (with its promotional opportunities) is in reruns.

The next heat in the race between the two programs will not begin in earnest until September, when the new prime-time season starts. And that has provided Mr. Bell with a honeymoon, however anxious.

In last two months, he said, he has spent most of his time learning people's names and listening - to his hosts, his bosses and his staff behind the scenes - while watching episodes of "Today" going back 10 years. It was while fast-forwarding through those tapes that Mr. Bell conceived what has been his primary contribution to the show thus far: carving out dedicated time, perhaps as much as a minute or so toward the end of each hour, for Katie Couric and Matt Lauer, the program's hosts, to talk to each other without benefit of a teleprompter.
As he watched those tapes, Mr. Bell said, he was struck by how tightly scripted the two hosts seemed in recent years and how extemporaneous they had so often been in their early years together.

Of those early moments, Mr. Bell said, "Whether they were talking about something they had just watched or what one of them had done the night before, you wanted to hear what they had to say."

Among the topics they have discussed recently are that puppy caper (the segment wound up running), their respective reviews of the Tom Cruise movie "War of the Worlds" (Mr. Lauer liked it, despite a widely seen confrontation with Mr. Cruise), and a Discovery Channel program (with Mr. Lauer as host) that crowned Ronald Reagan "the greatest American."

Asked to tick off the reasons that "Today" - with an average of about 5.7 million viewers a day over the last two months - had recently managed to widen its lead over "Good Morning America" - with about 5.3 million - Mr. Lauer said he could not point to anything in particular.

"On a daily basis here, we're not any different," he said, already wearing a suit and tie and sitting at his dressing-room desk before 5 last Thursday morning. Indeed, Mr. Lauer made a point of saying he had no quarrel with Mr. Touchet, who joined "Today" in November 2002. "He was caught in an unfortunate cycle of circumstances," Mr. Lauer said. "That's the business."

In a separate interview, Ms. Couric was more critical of the program's approach during the period it was overseen by Mr. Touchet. "The show has gotten a little newsier now, a little harder, a little less tabloidy," she said. "A lot of the shows we were doing, I wasn't thrilled about."

Asked to provide an example, Ms. Couric cited some of the program's coverage of Britney Spears - including her Las Vegas wedding and pregnancy - which she likened to "the freakish accident of the day."

Ms. Couric contrasted that coverage with recent interviews she had done with the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice (nearly 10 minutes, as compared with fewer than 5 on "Good Morning America") and Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations.

Mr. Bell first drew attention at NBC by literally carrying one of its executives on his back.

A 6-foot 4-inch, 270-pound defensive tackle (and government major) who graduated from Harvard in 1989, Mr. Bell had joined the network the next year as a go-fer. His first assignment: to push a wheelchair ferrying Randy Falco, then an NBC sports executive recovering from a ruptured Achilles' tendon, as he crisscrossed Barcelona in preparation for the 1992 Olympics.

"I knew Barcelona wasn't necessarily handicap-friendly, but at a certain point Jim just picked me up and threw me over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes," said Mr. Falco, now a top NBC Universal executive and himself 6-foot-4. Soon, Mr. Bell was noticed by Mr. Ebersol, who would direct him, as an Olympic researcher, to travel the world researching profiles of athletes. Eventually, Mr. Bell was given substantive production roles in the network's Olympic control rooms, including at the 1996 summer Games in Atlanta, as well as last year's summer Games in Athens.

Mr. Ebersol said: "This will probably put Jim in a tough position, but other than Roone" - Roone Arledge, the visionary sports and news executive at ABC - "Jim has the greatest sense of curiosity of anyone I've been associated with."

Mr. Ebersol said that it was he who first suggested Mr. Bell's name to Mr. Zucker as a possible replacement for Mr. Touchet, knowing that Mr. Bell had demonstrated an ability to "tell stories well and to keep many story lines going simultaneously." In a sign of how long Mr. Touchet's role had been tenuous, the conversation took place last July.

Among those with little doubt that Mr. Bell can execute his new assignment is Joe Restic, the longtime Harvard football coach, who once watched him play 15 minutes with a broken arm before taking himself out of a game. Mr. Restic said he imagined that the experiences of playing college football and overseeing the "Today" show would not be all that different for Mr. Bell.

"He needs to be strong, he needs to be quick, he needs to be able to take punishment," Mr. Restic said, by phone from his home in Massachusetts, of both jobs. "If anything happens to Jim down there, I don't care what it is, he's been through it."

After a holiday weekend delay, last week’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

In Ratings, Live 8 Was Dead Weight for ABC

By John Maynard Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, July 7, 2005; C07

How little interest was there in ABC's Saturday night broadcast of Live 8 concert highlights? NBC's coverage of the rain delay of NASCAR's Pepsi 400 in the same time period drew nearly double the audience.

ABC's two-hour summary of the 10-city mega-concert to pressure G-8 summit leaders to address world poverty drew a paltry 2.9 million viewers, making it the third least watched show last week among the big four networks. (The rain delay managed just over 5.2 million.) Live 8 drew even fewer viewers on cable. During the day, nearly 1.5 million watched it live on MTV from noon to 8 p.m.; another 800,000 tuned in on VH1.

Only America Online had something to brag about, with an estimated 5 million people logged on to the concert via AOLmusic.com at some point during the day.

It was a low-rated week in general for the broadcast networks as people abandoned their televisions in the lead-up to the holiday weekend. While CBS won the Nielsen ratings race for total viewers, ABC once again delivered the highest-rated show of the week, "Dancing With the Stars."

The penultimate episode of the hit ballroom dancing competition garnered its largest audience yet last Wednesday as 18.6 million people watched Old Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre get the boot.

BET scored its highest ratings ever last Tuesday as 6.6 million watched the fifth annual BET Awards, outperforming all six broadcast networks for the night. The past three awards shows have drawn the network's three largest audiences in its 25-year history.

And Bravo proved last week that we remain a nation of rubberneckers just looking for a car wreck. The debut of singer Bobby Brown's reality show "Being Bobby Brown" drew a respectable 1.2 million viewers Thursday, more than doubling what the network drew with various programs last month in that 10 p.m. slot.

Wednesday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

'Monk' keeps it interesting
By Dusty Saunders Rocky Mountain News

Any cop show with an early scene featuring dumbstruck detectives hesitantly examining a bag of dog poop at a crime scene is certainly worth watching.

And there's another reason for viewing Friday's fourth-season premiere of Monk, starring Tony Shalhoub as brilliant San Francisco detective Adrian Monk, whose life is ruled (in humorous style) by his obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The talented Jason Alexander - George Costanza to his many Seinfeld fans - shows up as Marty Eels, Monk's rival crime-solver.

Eels is a slovenly, down-on-his- luck private eye who gives new meaning to the term disheveled. As a direct antithesis to Monk, Eels adds a wildly humorous touch to the hour, indicating that creator Andy Breckman and his crew are constantly looking for new ways to add story-line vigor to a format that, after three seasons, could become stale.

The story line, about a jewel robbery and murder, is, predictably, secondary. The fun (and it is that) is watching Shalhoub and Alexander legitimately trying to upstage each other.

The aforementioned bag sets the investigative stage after police gathered the dog's doings as a possible crime-scene clue. Monk, who would repelled by the bag under any circumstances, is particularly wary because he'd stepped into the contents after arriving on the crime scene. While other San Francisco cops reluctantly examine the bag, Eels dips his nose into it, determining that the contents are about 90 minutes old.

This clue helps Eels "solve" the crime, much to the dismay of Monk, who claims his rival has "cheated."

Alexander, after starring in two inept series, as a motivational speaker (Bob Patterson) and a sportswriter and TV personality (Listen Up), is right at home as a nebbish of a man whose insecurities are covered by a false sense of comedic bravado.

At first glance it would seem that Alexander's role as the inept private eye could be a spin-off for a regular series. But on second thought, Eels is best-enjoyed in small doses. The end of the premiere hour does leave the door open a crack for his return in a future Monk episode.

While Alexander's appearance gives Monk an extra glow, Shalhoub remains in top form, deftly adding to Monk's personality. Fans of the series will note the subtle physical movements of Shalhoub, who keeps Monk completely in character. The scratch of an arm. The recoil from everyday noise. The shielding of his eyes as if to shut out the frightening world.

All contribute to Shalhoub's superb portrayal of a man who, while seemingly scared to be alive, copes with life in human and humorous ways.

Shalhoub's supporting cast returns intact, including Traylor Howard, who last season replaced Bitty Schram as Monk's personal assistant - much to the distress of Schram fans. But judging by the season-opening episode, Howard's character is fitting in nicely.

As Monk moves through its 13-week season, Breckman and the writers seem to be working on offbeat scripts designed to keep the character fresh. Included is one in which viewers will meet Monk as a teenager, thus showing his early background.

Monk can't be described specifically as a cop show. And it's not a comedy. This lack of categorization in the straitjacketed world of television is a major reason for Monk's success.

Big 6 networks show their ages

By Gary Levin USA TODAY

Losing Friends didn't just send NBC into a ratings spiral; it also aged the network's remaining audience. A study released today by ad firm Magna Global USA reveals that the network's prime-time audience in the 2004-05 season hit its highest median age ever: 48.

And for the first time, UPN supplanted WB as the broadcast network with the youngest audience. Its median age dropped to 32.9, and WB's jumped to 35 behind older-skewing hits such as 7th Heaven and Reba. Fox's audience also grew older, and although CBS reversed an aging trend, it remains the oldest-skewing network.

Median age reflects the midpoint of a network's viewership: Half its audience is older, and half younger. Advertisers, and the networks that depend on them, value younger viewers more highly. But the overall population's median age, at 37.9, is now younger than all of the Big 4 networks'.

The median age of NBC's Joey viewers was 43.9 (four years older than for Friends), and 46% of the network's overall prime-time audience was over 50. NBC and WB have aged the most over the past five years.

Newsmagazines tend to attract the oldest viewers; reality appeals to the youngest.

The networks, oldest to youngest:

•CBS
2004-05 median age, 51.8; last season, 52.9.
Youngest series: The Amazing Race, 43.5
Oldest series: 60 Minutes Wednesday, 59.2

•NBC
2004-05 median age, 48; last season, 45.9
Youngest series: Father of the Pride, 37.6
Oldest series: Dateline (Friday), 56.4

•ABC
2004-05 median age, 45.3, same as last season.
Youngest series: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, 39.8
Oldest serie: Primetime Thursday, 50.8

•Fox
2004-05 median age, 38.2; last season, 36.4
Youngest series: American Dad, 24.2
Oldest series: House, 44.6

•The WB
2004-05 median age, 35; last season, 33.4
Youngest series: One Tree Hill, 27.1
Oldest series: Everwood, 42.4

•UPN
2004-05 median age, 32.9; last season, 34.2
Youngest series: Road to Stardom 26.5
Oldest series: Enterprise, 42.9

Youngest, oldest cable-channel audiences

Youngest
Cable Channel / Median Age
Nick at Nite--------15.4
Fuse---------------19.7
MTV2--------------20.2
MTV----------------21.5
BET----------------26.2
VH1----------------28.1
Comedy Central-----30.1
ABC Family----------35.2
TBS-----------------37.1
FX-------------------37.4

Oldest
Cable Channel / Median Age
Fox News---------61.8
CNN--------------61.2
Hallmark---------58.5
MSNBC-----------57.5
Biography-------57.2
Game Show-----56.6
Headline News---56.1
BBC America----53.9
TV Land----------53.7
HGTV-------------53.4

Source: Magna Global USA analysis of the Nielsen Media Research data, prime-time 2004-05 season, excludes channels targeted at children

All network news systems are 'go' (in SD) for the shuttle launch
(But you can tune to HDNet to see it in HD!)

By RICHARD HUFF TV Editor July 7th, 2005

When NASA sends the Space Shuttle Discovery soaring skyward next week, all the major broadcast networks will interrupt regular programming to carry the liftoff.

As of yesterday, NASA was still on target for a 3:51 p.m. launch next Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

ABC, CBS and NBC plan on breaking into their network feeds in the afternoon to cover the launch.

[B](Note: Only HDNet will be there in High Definition, beginning at 11 AM ET, 8 AM PT.)

The Fox News Channel will also provide live coverage to Fox stations, with each station deciding to carry the broadcast or not. Locally, WNYW/Ch. 5 officials said yesterday the station will air the launch.

It has been more than two years since the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated shortly before it was due to land, killing all of the astronauts on board. As a result, the upcoming launch will get extensive coverage throughout the mission.

Brian Williams will anchor NBC's coverage of the launch from New York, while "Today" host Matt Lauer will be stationed in Florida.

Charles Gibson will anchor for ABC, with Bob Woodruff at the Kennedy Space Center.

Elsewhere, Rene Syler from CBS' "The Early Show" will be at the Kennedy Space Center Wednesday morning. On Thursday, she'll report live from the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The all-news cable networks - CNN, FNC and MSNBC - will also provide wall-to-wall coverage of the preparations for the launch as well as the liftoff and landing.

Each of the cable networks also has pre-launch specials planned.

MSNBC will air a one-hour live special Sunday at 8 p.m. anchored by Chris Jansing.

The Fox News Channel will air a special hosted by Jon Scott Saturday at 9 p.m.

And CNN will do a segment each day on "American Morning" reported by Miles O'Brien.

The shuttle is scheduled to land July 25 at 11:01 a.m.

One side effect of the live coverage on the broadcast networks will be the disruption of some afternoon programming, specifically the back end of the daytime soaps.

MTV Stung by Live 8 Criticism

By Geoff Boucher and Chris Gaither Los Angeles Times Staff Writers July 7, 2005

Bruised by harsh criticism and soft ratings, MTV executives Wednesday acknowledged missteps in their broadcast of last weekend's Live 8 concerts and hinted that they might retool the program and show it again.

Some kind of do-over is "not the craziest idea," said MTV Executive Vice President Van Toffler, who quipped that the Allman Brothers song "Whipping Post" best described his office's post-show morale.

Ratings released Wednesday show that the eight-hour live broadcast of Live 8 performances that aired Saturday on both MTV and sister station VH1 had an average viewership of only 2.2 million viewers — less than the average audience for the Saturday afternoon airing of the 1999 film "Toy Story 2" on the Disney Channel.

MTV's handling of the concerts — staged in London, Philadelphia and eight other cities — was faulted for frequent cutaways from key musical moments to go to commercials, offstage banter or less compelling performances elsewhere.

"Knowing what I know now, I probably would have made the decision to go commercial-free," Toffler said.

Unfortunately for MTV, its performance also was juxtaposed with a widely praised showing by AOL, which offered comprehensive coverage on its music website, AOL Music.

Ken Ehrlich, who produced the Live 8 show in Philadelphia and is a veteran producer of the Grammy Awards, said the AOL event would be remembered as a defining moment in online music consumerism.

"This is a template for the future," he said. "Not to negate the importance of television, but I really think the Internet generation has come of age and the numbers have multiplied to a point of real change…. AOL opened the door here and once it's open it ain't going to close."

AOL bought the exclusive rights to the Live 8 shows for an undisclosed amount and then licensed them to MTV, XM Satellite Radio and Premiere Radio Networks. The shows also were carried across the globe by regional networks.

Kevin Wall, executive producer of Live 8, said the combined television and Internet audiences probably topped 1 billion and greatly amplified the discussion of its cause: relieving debt and poverty in beleaguered nations in Africa.

"MTV was a big part of it, not just on the air but in making the whole thing happen," Wall said. "There were disagreements creatively on some points, but you won't find anyone involved in this who has anything bad to say about MTV."

That was not the case on the Internet, where irate viewers vented loudly about MTV cameras leaving key moments such as the Pink Floyd reunion. Critics weighed in too.

But Toffler said the channel was hemmed in by decisions made in the four weeks leading up to the show, as the bill of performers was still taking shape. In retrospect, he said, MTV should not have placed such a high priority on showing so many acts, at the expense of airing complete sets by key artists.

A combined average of 2.2 million total viewers watched from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday on MTV (1.4 million) and VH1 (762,000), according to Nielsen Media Research.

Toffler said getting an estimated 18 million viewers to tune in for at least six minutes of the broadcast was "a brilliant success" for MTV and also for the "social cause."

Two hours of Live 8 moments also aired on ABC during prime time Saturday and drew an average of 2.9 million viewers. ABC's concert was the night's least-watched program on the major broadcast networks.

"It was a pretty horrible performance … [but] it was on Saturday night, which is a throwaway night for the broadcast networks," said Brad Adgate of Horizon Media Inc.

As for AOL, its online broadcast of Live 8 was designed to promote a major strategic shift for the world's biggest Internet service provider.

As its number of subscribers declines, the Time Warner Inc. unit is vying for a bigger piece of the $10 billion that advertisers spend online annually by offering free of charge many of the services once reserved for paying members. Video and music are key components of its efforts.

Jim Bankoff, AOL's executive vice president of programming and products, said more people watched this event than any other streamed event on AOL, including the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Five million unique users visited AOL Music for its free streaming video from the concerts. At peak moments, the site was streaming 175,000 simultaneous video broadcasts, which AOL said was an Internet record.

"It was a tipping point," Bankoff said. "It's the biggest step so far and a pretty big leap forward."

Schieffer's anchor stint at 4 months, with no end in sight

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

After four months, 68-year-old CBS Evening News interim anchor Bob Schieffer still has no idea how long his hitch will last. Ever the good soldier, he's not complaining, but...

"Obviously, there has to be some sort of endgame here one of these days... . I've told them I'll do this for a while. Theyve given me no guidance as to how much longer it's going to go on."

Initially, Schieffer, who survived an aggressive bout of bladder cancer two years ago, envisioned the anchor stint lasting two to three months. "Clearly, we've run past that. I'm trying to be supportive."

The moderator of CBS's Face the Nation has been working without a timetable since taking over for Dan Rather on March 10.

Even with an open-ended calendar, Schieffer insists he's enjoying the tale of two cities - Face is in Washington; Evening News in New York.

"It's fine. So far, so good. It's very interesting work. I'm trying to help in every way I can. I signed on to do this. They asked me to do it, and I told them I would."

Cutting back his work week has helped. Schieffer began taking off Fridays last month, and is on vacation this week. (John Roberts, still considered a front-runner for an anchor slot, is subbing for him.)

No comment from CBS about the premiere of Evening News' new format.

What that format will be is still very much a mystery to the troops. Some are pushing for multiple anchors, others for a solo replacement.

Newest name making the rounds is that of recent CNN departee Bill Hemmer. Coanchor of American Morning and a 10-year CNN veteran, Hemmer left June 17 "to pursue other opportunities." He couldn't be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, Evening News remains mired in third place in the weekly Nielsens.

Evening News averaged 6.6 million viewers last week, compared with 7.7 million for ABC World News Tonight and 8.1 million for leader NBC Nightly News.

It was NBC's 52d consecutive victory, and 30th under new anchor Brian Williams, a WCAU alum. Nightly's last 52-week streak was in '00-01, with Tom Brokaw.

Smasheroo finale for ABC's 'Dancing'
Limited-run reality series ender tops 21.8M

medialifemagazine.com--“Dancing With the Stars” may not be the next “American Idol,” but it’s pretty close.

According to Nielsen overnights, last night’s finale of the ABC reality show averaged 21.8 million total viewers, just 0.7 fewer than “Idol’s” finale drew in its first season on Fox three summers ago. “Stars’” 6.5 adults 18-49 rating, a series best, was up 20 percent over last week’s 5.4 and 32 percent over a 4.4 two weeks ago.

“Dancing” even out-delivered the recent finale of another reality heavyweight. CBS’s “Survivor: Palau” averaged 20.8 million viewers in May.

Viewer interest in “Dancing with the Stars” grew as its six-episode season went on, culminating with last night’s win for “General Hospital” star Kelly Monaco. The finale's total viewers rose 39.4 percent from the 15.67 million the show had been averaging, and its 18-49 rating was up 34.5 percent from its season average.

By comparison, last year the season finale of season two of Fox’s “The Simple Life,” the summer’s biggest reality hit, earned a 4.6 among 18-49s and averaged 9.93 million total viewers.

ABC has not officially okayed a second season, but it’s sure to do so soon. The network is reportedly pondering whether to bring it back during the regular season, perhaps as a sweeps stunt or winter filler when other shows are in reruns.

Other summer shows such as “Survivor,” “Idol” and ABC’s own “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire” have transitioned from summer, though all had stronger ratings than “Dancing.”

If you are keeping track of such things, UPN announced today it is changing the title of its Tuesday 9 PM ET/PT series "Sex, Lies & Secrets" to "Sex, Love & Secrets".

(Of course, so you don't have to bother with such minutiae, I have you covered with of all the updated network fall schedules at the bottom of the first post in this thread.)

you da man fredfa! as always, thanks for the work you do keeping this thread rockin!

jim

RE: Space Shuttel Launch
(Note: Only HDNet will be there in High Definition, beginning at 11 AM ET, 8 AM PT.)

Well, I know what channel I'll be tuned to then.

OK, I know this isn't in HD, but for you golf fans ----

CNBC To Cover Female Golf Phenom
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable

CNBC will pitch in Friday to help NBC Universal bring viewers 15-year-old golfing phenom Michelle Wie's entire second round in the John Deere Classic on the men's PGA tour.

Plans for the move began when NBC Universal learned that Wie would not tee off until 2:48 pm ET on Friday, meaning her round is expected to finish well after co-owned USA Network's tournament coverage ends at 6 pm. CNBC will pick up coverage at 6 and stay until Wie completes her round, probably between 7:30 and 8.

Wie shot a 1-under-par 70 in Thursday's first round, bringing buzz to an event that is missing most of golf's big stars, who are preparing for next weekend's British Open.

This is the third time Wie has played in a PGA event, but she has yet to make the cut.

Oops. The FCC Chairman’s Top Priority (Hint: It isn’t Digital TV)
United States of Broadband

By KEVIN J. MARTIN An Op-Ed piece in The Wall Street Journal July 7, 2005; Page A12
(Mr. Martin is chairman of the FCC.)

Broadband access is essential to an expanding Internet-based information economy. Creating a policy environment that speeds the deployment of broadband throughout the U.S. is my highest priority as the new chairman of the FCC.

We recently received two pieces of encouraging news on the spread of broadband. First, the Supreme Court affirmed the FCC's decision to refrain from regulating cable companies' provision of broadband services. This was an important victory for broadband providers and consumers. Cable companies will continue to have incentives to invest in broadband networks without fear of having to provide their rivals access at unfair discounts. The decision also paves the way for the FCC to place telephone companies on equal footing with cable providers. We can now move forward and remove the legacy regulation that reduces telephone companies' incentives to provide broadband.

Second, today, the FCC will release its most recent broadband deployment report. The dramatic growth in broadband services depicted in this report proves that we are well on our way to accomplishing the president's goal of universal, affordable access to broadband by 2007.

The report contains two key findings. First, the U.S. leads the world in the total number of broadband connections with 38 million subscribers. And we are signing up new subscribers at an incredible rate. In 2004, broadband subscribership increased by 34%, with a 45% increase in DSL subscribership, and a 30% increase in subscribership to cable modem. Second, broadband platforms are engaged in fierce competition. In addition to telephone and cable providers, broadband access is increasingly being delivered to consumers via satellite, wireless, and fiber or powerline providers. In 2004, satellite and wireless connections to the Internet increased by 50% and fiber or powerline connections by 16%. This competition is leading to broadband providers offering customers faster and faster connections at lower and lower prices.

Most Americans today can choose between several competing broadband service providers and service packages. Telephone companies, wireless carriers, cable TV service providers and satellite providers are aggressively getting into the broadband business. New technology platforms are also growing. Increasingly, users of "Wi-Fi" technology can get high-speed Internet connections at "hot spots" located at coffee shops, hotels, airports, city parks, streets, and squares. These proliferating service providers are increasingly competing with each other, and that holds down prices, increases consumer choice, and creates a vast new array of services.

Although last December's report by the OECD ranks the U.S. 12th with respect to broadband subscribership per 100 inhabitants, there is more to the story: broadband growth in the U.S. is exceptional and leads the world. Unfortunately, our OECD ranking does not match the reality. For example, in terms of size, the U.S. has more than twice the population of the other countries ahead of it on the OECD list. And, no other country has as many urban areas or as many remote and widely-dispersed rural areas spanning huge distances.

If you compare the broadband penetration rates of some "leading" countries with comparable U.S. states with similar population density, you see similar penetration rates. For example, Japan, which ranks 8th in the OECD report has a population density of 350 inhabitants per square kilometer and has 15 broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants. These numbers are very similar to Massachusetts which has a population density of 317 inhabitants per square kilometer and 18 broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants.

Although we have seen billions of dollars of new investment in broadband networks, there is still more that the government must do to spur broadband deployment. We need to place all broadband providers on equal footing so that they can fairly compete in the marketplace. This means that we must treat all such providers in the same manner -- free of undue regulation that can stifle infrastructure investment. This does not mean, however, that the government should have no role in the broadband market. To the contrary, we must be vigilant in ensuring that public safety, law enforcement and consumer protection needs continue to be met.

Now that the Supreme Court has provided much-needed clarity, the ball is in the FCC's court. I welcome the opportunity to address the remaining obstacles in the path to universal, affordable broadband access to ensure that all Americans are empowered for success in tomorrow's economy.

It is my pleasure, Jim.
And thanks, again, for the kind words.
They are much appreciated.
I'm only sorry that during July and at least the early part of August, interesting TV news seems to slow down so much.
But I'll update the new season schedules with which shows will be in HD in the next few weeks.

Thursday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

After debacle, MTV, VH1 will rerun Live 8 shows
Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - After a drubbing from critics, MTV and VH1 will rerun 10 hours of coverage of the Live 8 concert events without commercials on Saturday.

VH1 will carry the first five hours from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., while MTV will carry the second leg from 3-8 p.m.

MTV was roundly assailed by pundits and critics for the frequent commercial breaks and other interruptions during its live coverage of the July 2 concerts.

"In the wake of our coverage, our viewers have resoundingly told us online they want to see full performances from their favorite artists," MTV Networks Music Group president Van Toffler said Thursday.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

It is so good to see you still contributing, f44! :)
(Have you heard anything about the remaining "Eyes" episodes running this summer?)

It is so good to see you still contributing, f44! :)
(Have you heard anything about the remaining "Eyes" episodes running this summer?)


There are remaining Eyes eps that are going to be shown?

There are remaining Eyes eps that are going to be shown?
According to TV.com, there were 13 filmed with only 5 ever being aired.

I'd guess, like Karen Sisco, they'll end up on HDNet.

OK, I know this isn't in HD, but for you golf fans ----

CNBC To Cover Female Golf Phenom
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable

CNBC will pitch in Friday to help NBC Universal bring viewers 15-year-old golfing phenom Michelle Wie's entire second round in the John Deere Classic on the men's PGA tour.

Plans for the move began when NBC Universal learned that Wie would not tee off until 2:48 pm ET on Friday, meaning her round is expected to finish well after co-owned USA Network's tournament coverage ends at 6 pm. CNBC will pick up coverage at 6 and stay until Wie completes her round, probably between 7:30 and 8.

Wie shot a 1-under-par 70 in Thursday's first round, bringing buzz to an event that is missing most of golf's big stars, who are preparing for next weekend's British Open.

This is the third time Wie has played in a PGA event, but she has yet to make the cut.

Although I'm still at work and can't watch, I've been keeping up with the scoring on the 'net. She's just finished her first nine at -4, cut is going to be at -3. She's playing well, 3 under on the day, and if she can hold it together (something she couldn't do during the last round of the Open) she's going to make the cut in a PGA tournament. A 15 year old girl.

Wow! :eek:

We can only hope CSPAN will carry these hearings.
Commerce Committee Releases DTV Witness List

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable
The Senate Commerce Committee has released the witness list for its two hearings on the digital television transition, scheduled for July 12.
The first panel will comprise representatives from broadcast, cable and satellite, while the second will feature tech types, a consumer activists, and first-reponders.

Both the House and Senate are working on bills to deal with a range of DTV-related issues, from cable carriage of TV stations' digital signals to a hard date for the rerturn of analog spectrum to a subsidy for DTV -to-analog converter boxes.

Following are the two hearing times and witnesses:

10:00 a.m.
Edward O. Fritts, President & CEO, National Association of Broadcasters
Manuel Abud, Vice President & General Manager, KVEA-TV in Los Angeles (Telemundo)
Kyle McSlarrow, President & CEO, National Cable & Telecommunications Association
Patrick Knorr, Vice Chairman, American Cable Association
Richard Slenker, Executive Vice President, DirecTV
John M. Lawson, President & CEO, Association of Public Television Stations

2:30 p.m.
Harlin R. McEwen, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Communications & Technology Committee Chairman
Charles Townsend, President & CEO, Aloha Partners
Mike Kennedy, Senior Vice President, Motorola
Gary Shapiro, President & CEO, Consumer Electronics Association
Gene Kimmelman, Senior Director Public Policy, Consumers Union
Michael Calabrese, Vice President & Director, Wireless Future Program, New American Foundation

We can only hope CSPAN will carry these hearings.
Commerce Committee Releases DTV Witness List


Boy, I would like to see this, a real "Murderer's Row" of DTV big shots... :D

TiVo time out

Washington Times— Even the nation's TiVo machines are taking a break this summer.

An analysis of TiVo viewing data by New York-based media agency MPG finds that over the past two weeks, the majority of the top 25 broadcast network shows viewed by TiVo users weren't recorded but instead were seen live, Reuters News Agency reports.

TiVo is a popular digital video recorder (DVR) that enables users to record programs digitally to be seen later.

"It seems like the DVR usage is seasonal," Nina Kanter, director of communication analysis at MPG, told Reuters.

The top 25 included live sports (ABC's NBA Finals were seen during prime time), first-run shows such as ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" and Fox's "Hell's Kitchen," and repeats of CBS' "CSI" and ABC's "Lost." Only four shows — Fox's "Family Guy," "House, M.D." and "American Dad," along with The WB's "Beauty and the Geek" — were primarily viewed at a later time.

That's contrary to a corresponding TiVo survey from the week of May 8, when most of the shows were still first run.

Miss Kanter said it appears that most summer viewing is spontaneous.

"Television usage usually declines in the summer and, for the most part, it's not appointment viewing like we see in the fall and during the regular television season," she says. "That might be a plus for summer programs, because most of that viewing is live."

Media agencies, the networks, TiVo and other companies are still trying to understand the usage of digital video recorders and how they change viewing patterns. Some agencies have taken deep dives into DVR data to find out which shows are being recorded and how many viewers skip past commercials.

Nielsen Media Research will soon begin releasing regular data from DVR households, which will add another layer to the tracking of viewer usage.

At HBO, the bonfire of the vanity projects
Shows with a wry peek inside Hollywood just keep coming, partly because the network so attracts the showbiz player
ON TV By Paul Brownfield Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 10, 2005

HBO, so bulletproof when it was in the midst of two signature series, "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City," has seen its image and its ratings suffer lately from a string of semi-flops or fizzes: "The Comeback," starring Lisa Kudrow; "Unscripted," from the executive producer team of George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh; and "Entourage," starring three unknowns and Kevin Dillon evoking the early Hollywood life of the show's executive producer, Mark Wahlberg. Still to come is "Extras," a series debuting Sept. 25 about movie extras starring Ricky Gervais, co-creator/star of the BBC hit "The Office."

OK, so maybe the pay cable network's comedy development has become oddly myopic, evoking that scene in Robert Altman's "The Player" where studio executive Griffin Mill draws a laugh when he asks his lunchmates: "Can't we talk about something other than Hollywood for a change? We're educated people."

Surely, HBO remains an enviably profitable machine, and when you hear about an upcoming series such as "Rome," about the ancient empire, starting Aug. 28, and the Tom Hanks-produced "Big Love," about a polygamous clan in Utah, starting in the fall, there's still the fleeting notion that we'll be getting something bigger than a mere TV show, somehow.

The unhurried, uncorrupted approach to making and airing series television is part of HBO's lore. As the narrative goes, that system is what made possible innovative series like "Deadwood" and "The Wire" and allowed "Sex and the City" to become a risque crowd-pleaser. As a result, HBO, whose subscriber base stands at roughly 28 million, has become the network of choice for high-powered Hollywood talent.

But maybe being the network of choice for high-powered talent is its own kind of trap.

The ultimate model for the HBO auteur is not David Chase, a respected series creator but not at the top of anyone's list before HBO picked up his oft-rejected pilot of "The Sopranos"; it's Larry David, who was fabulously wealthy after the success of "Seinfeld" and came to HBO to film a little special on his return to stand-up comedy. That little special ended up being about the fear of doing a special. The special about the fear of doing a special led to a series, "Curb Your Enthusiasm," about being Larry David.

Which is roughly where the trouble began. Because David, seemingly just by virtue of being himself, made it all look so easy and self-evident and, most especially, creatively rewarding, he made getting a semiautobiographical show on HBO feel like the ultimate expression of the freedom to do what you wanted to do.

Power playing

AS the network's cachet has grown, there are grumbles that HBO has gotten more leverage in the traditional demand for first position on the writer of any pilot scripts it buys. That means a writer, once he's sold a script idea to HBO, is less free to get other work around town, with rival studios and networks worrying that his or her services will no longer be available should HBO decide to order a series.

David, of course, didn't need to worry about this, nor do the stars and creators — Wahlberg, Clooney, Kudrow, "Six Feet Under's" Alan Ball — of the network's current series, for whom HBO is more like taking a break between movies to do summer stock theater.

The fifth season of "Curb" debuts Sept. 25 to an audience now awash in knockoffs, like so many copycat memoirs about tortured childhoods post-"Angela's Ashes." This month and next, across the dial, get ready for Pauly Shore's "Curb," and Kathy Griffin's, and Howie Mandel's.

But HBO has both the gold standard and the series that seems to have brought the genre to a tipping point, Kudrow's "The Comeback."

It's not exactly "Curb," because Kudrow doesn't play Kudrow — she plays her doppelganger, Valerie Cherish, a character who seems to be suffering, week to week, every indignity that can be known to an insecure and once-famous B-level sitcom actress.

Comedy is hard, so the pairing of Kudrow, hot off of "Friends," and Michael Patrick King, hot off his run as head writer of "Sex and the City," seemed like the kind of deal only HBO gets to pull off. But the brittle reaction to the series has betrayed a certain pent-up frustration among critics and viewers about the genre as a whole, and it has left HBO in a position to which it is not accustomed: on the wrong end of a television trend.

In recent weeks, "What's wrong with HBO?" stories have popped up in the press about its programming slump and downturn in viewers, if not profitability (a Wall Street Journal story, citing a source that had HBO making a whopping $1.1 billion in profit last year, said 20% of its revenue is now generated by ancillary businesses, most notably DVD sales).

Like any network, then (say, NBC), HBO finds itself living off the fumes of past hits (they're sweet fumes, mind you, with A&E reportedly buying syndication rights to rerun edited episodes of "The Sopranos" for a record $2.5 million each). The jaded view is that the "It's Not TV" tagline now seems less a distinction of class than a haughty boast that doesn't hold up, quite.

It's lost its way by going too inside Hollywood, the chorus goes, but HBO has always been inside Hollywood and in fact has benefited from the image, dating back to the critical and cult-hit evisceration of showbiz, "The Larry Sanders Show."

And for every 100 viewers alienated by "The Comeback" or "Unscripted," another A-lister who wouldn't do television under any other circumstance (e.g., Sarah Jessica Parker) signs on to develop a show there.

Great expectations

It's not TV, it's a creative-writing class for the famous. Write what you know. At HBO, where the mantra has long been that the executives leave you alone, stars have used the freedom to unburden themselves about — guess what — being a star. So Clooney, the movie star, spearheads a show that harks back to Clooney, the workaday actor, trudging to auditions. Kudrow, the sitcom star, dares to lampoon the pedestal of "Friends" with a character who is an insecure hack, aging out of the business.

But the perception that HBO has made a wrong turn isn't likely to abate at this week's semiannual gathering of TV critics, where HBO will be talking up the Sunday night pairing of Gervais' "Extras" and the new season of "Curb."

"It is very possible to have success create a mind-set where you are trying to measure up to an idea that is actually created by people talking about you than about you doing the work that you did," HBO Chairman Chris Albrecht was quoted by the Associated Press recently.

I think he meant what comedian Bob Odenkirk meant when he told The Times four years ago: "My biggest fear is that they'll develop a brand. If you attract this whole big crowd of people, you're going to want to keep them. And to keep them you have to give them what brought them there" in the first place.

Odenkirk paired with comedian David Cross on the old HBO sketch comedy series "Mr. Show," back when the network seemed more in the discovery business, and when not knowing what "Six Feet Under" or "Curb" was all about was to feel left out of a conversation. Getting Ricky Gervais is a coup, I guess; at this point he's an undeniable talent. But that move has now come to feel so HBO — less exhilaratingly counterintuitive than just whom you'd expect the coolest network in town to be able to land. HBO needs to remind us of its ability to identify and nurture a TV series that becomes a new kind of presence in the culture. Put another way: It should give someone I haven't heard of a shot.

Network summer slate proves a turn-off

By Gary Levin, USA TODAY

The big broadcast networks started their fresh summer programming earlier than ever this year, but viewers smelled staleness and stayed away.

With the exception of WB's Beauty and the Geek, which averaged nearly 4 million viewers (a hit by that network's standards), and ABC's Dancing with the Stars, which snared about 22 million viewers with Wednesday's finale, it's another summer of doldrums. "Nothing else has struck a chord with viewers," says Starcom Media's Laura Caraccioli-Davis.

A rash of reality series —Hit Me Baby One More Time, I Want to Be a Hilton, The Scholar, Average Joe 4 and The Cut —are duds. Scripted network leftovers Empire and The Inside also left viewers yawning.

Some network shows have been eclipsed by usually lagging basic-cable fare. Ratings standouts have included such dramas as The Closer, The 4400 and Into the West. Weak network programs might be at fault. And the early start might have caught viewers by surprise. "The audience kind of enjoys a little breather at the end of the season," says CBS scheduling chief Kelly Kahl.

But what's missing this year is a broad new phenomenon such as Survivor or American Idol, which lit up past summers. Last year, a similar wave of copycats fizzled, leaving established holdovers The Amazing Race and The Simple Life as the top draws; both are absent this summer.

But hope springs eternal. Thursday brought the sixth-season premiere of CBS' Big Brother, and Sunday brings three more entries: VH1's The Surreal Life (9 ET/PT) and Hogan Knows Best, starring newly domesticated wrestler "Hulk" Hogan (10 ET/PT); and Fox's The Princes of Malibu (8:30 ET/PT), about the spoiled stepsons of music producer David Foster.

And the new wave of midsummer programming brings hoped-for hits with CBS singing competition Rock Star: INXS, which premieres Monday, and Fox's So You Think You Can Dance (July 20), a contest from Idol producers.

Also due: ABC's Brat Camp, designed to straighten out wayward young people (Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET/PT); Hooking Up, ABC News' documentary series about online dating (Thursday, 9 p.m. ET/PT); NBC's The Law Firm, producer David E. Kelley's first reality series (July 28); and the return of Biggest Loser, the dieting contest that was one of NBC's bright spots last season (Aug. 9).

What you won't see: ABC's Welcome to the Neighborhood. Due Sunday, it was yanked last week after protest groups and fair-housing advocates objected to white Texas families' bigoted reactions to the gay and minority couples competing to be their neighbors.

Totally OT, but…
Michelle Wie Update

Michelle just double-bogeyed the sixth hole (her 15th of the day) to go to two-under for the tournament, one-under today.

The cut apparently will be at minus three.

CNBC is carrying the tournament until Wie finishes her final three holes.

(Final) Michelle Wie Update

A double bogey on her 15th hole and a bogey on her 16th pulled Michelle Wie to a final-round of even par 71 which left her at one-under for the tournament and two shots from making the cut.

---And now CNBC returns you to Jim Cramer.

Bummer, AIUI, she would have been the first female in 60 yrs to make the cut..?

I'd guess, like Karen Sisco, they'll end up on HDNet.

Karen Sisco wound up on UniversalHD since Universal made the show. Eyes is made by Touchstone.

Karen Sisco wound up on UniversalHD since Universal made the show. Eyes is made by Touchstone.
..so maybe Eyes will show up on ESPN...? :p

As usual, f44, you are right.
My bad.
Karen Sisco is on Universal HD.
And they are getting their money's worth showing and reshowing the episodes continually.

'Monk' returns for a fourth season
Star Tony Shalhoub says role helps him understand those with intense phobias

By Tom Jicha South Florida Sun-Sentinel July 8, 2005

Tony Shalhoub has spent so much time in Monk's head that the obsessive-compulsive detective has gotten into the actor's head. "I never had a problem shaking hands," Shalhoub said. "Now I do."

As the USA series enters its fourth season, it hasn't quite gotten to the stage where Shalhoub whips out a tissue to wipe his hands after shaking someone else's, Shalhoub said. "But I do have the ugly thoughts." Monk's ugly thoughts, a product of every conceivable phobia, make for some of the most beautifully unconventional detective work this side of Columbo.

Not only is Monk one of the most successful series in basic-cable history, but also the character has become a folk hero to people afflicted with OCD. "People who have this problem have taken [Monk] as their hero," Shalhoub said.

This hasn't prevented less sensitive souls from making sport of Adrian Monk's demons. "People have made drinking games out of Monk's phobias," Shalhoub said. "I've heard some fans talk about having Monk moments or 'Monking' out."

Monk moments again will be doled out in two blocks: nine episodes this summer, seven more
during the winter. The split season annoys some, since the show seems to have just arrived when it disappears again. Shalhoub has heard the complaints but says these viewers fail to see the bright side. "They don't have to wait so long between seasons."

The fourth season gets off to a rousing start with Monk seemingly meeting his match, a disheveled loser of a private eye with an uncanny knack for uncovering clues. Jason Alexander, doing his finest work since Seinfeld, plays Monk's rival.

Before the season is out, Shalhoub said, fans will be provided insights into what made Monk the person he is. "We'll get a glimpse of Monk in junior high and see him with his mother. There will be a glimpse of that dynamic. There also will be a lot revealed about Monk's father and a peek into the relationship of Adrian and [his brother] Ambrose."

What there won't be is any romance between Monk and his new assistant Natalie, played by Traylor Howard. "We've talked about it," Shalhoub said. "I won't rule anything out but I think it's better to keep a certain amount of tension between Monk and Natalie."

For the time being, Shalhoub said, it's more interesting to have both of them insinuating themselves into one another's personal life.

The one thing Shalhoub remains less than forthcoming about is the true Hollywood story about what led to the departure of Bitty Schram, who played Monk's original assistant, Sharona Fleming. One version had Schram wanting her part enhanced. Another had Shalhoub unhappy that Schram had become too big a presence.

Shalhoub hinted it was more the former. He complimented Schram for doing a great job, then said she had become disenchanted with her place in the series.

Of course, that's his side of the story. Schram has yet to tell hers. So what really happened remains a mystery. Alas, it's one even a crack detective like Monk wants no part of.

Networks' Summer Show and Tell
Critics to preview new fall series

By Jim Benson Broadcasting & Cable Additional reporting by Anne Becker

This week marks the beginning of an expensive, surreal 2½-week PR marathon known as the Television Critics Association summer press tour (TCA), which is designed to highlight new shows for the fall season.

While TCA is officially intended to preview new series, critics will most likely focus on the six broadcast networks' most talked-about sitcoms, including UPN's Chris Rock childhood chronicle Everybody Hates Chris and NBC's My Name Is Earl, and dramas like ABC's Commander in Chief, not to mention the Jerry Bruckheimer-inspired crime procedurals.

During TCA, which runs through July 29 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, the broadcast and cable networks dole out an estimated $350,000-$750,000 each to simultaneously entertain and hold hostage a couple hundred critics and reporters who cover television.

While the costs have raised some eyebrows, especially when advertising is flat or down, the networks still believe that the often derided event—along with a slimmed-down version in January—is worth it and cheaper than paid advertising.

“TCA has always been—and remains—an extremely effective platform to introduce new programs to the press,” says The WB spokesman Paul McGuire. “With the glut of representative print, electronic and online media, we can showcase our network in the best possible light to a concentrated audience interested in the business of television.”

The price list includes what's known to some as the “annual shrimp-and-swine fest”—lavish parties, meals, marketing reels, review episodes, and room, board and travel for a spate of logistically challenged stars.

Moreover, the networks must contend with a media gaggle that grows increasingly restless and cranky with each passing week and hors d'oeuvre. The questions directed at stars, producers and executives can turn awkward or even downright ugly. Publicists hope to collect positive quotes, which they pass on to network marketing departments for on-air promos. Sometimes positive stories, which carry the aura of objectivity, stand out more than paid advertising.

Chris Ender, senior VP of communications for CBS and UPN, sees press tour as a valuable promotional tool but acknowledges he is concerned about how much his networks' three-day event costs. “When we're putting together the press-tour schedule,” he says, “there are sessions you have to have [involving the new shows], there are sessions that are interesting [like the one this year looking at the convergence of television and the Internet and how consumers get their news in today's digital world] and network priorities.”

For CBS, that includes convincing critics that Two and a Half Men can anchor its Monday-night comedy block and hyping critically disregarded King of Queens, which will move back to Mondays to lead off the night at 8 ET.

Borrowing from the success of a certain ABC hit, CBS will bill the original ladies of Knots Landing as the “original Desperate Housewives” to promote an upcoming reunion special.

Press tour is perhaps more vital for smaller cable networks, which need their shows to stand out amid the offerings on hundreds of digital channels. Most of them are forced to campaign for a spot on the tight TCA schedule each year.

Even critics' darling BBC America, for example, got passed over its first year. Now seven years old, the network has presented at the past dozen press tours and relies on them to get the word out about high-priority shows—this year, those are the crime drama/musical Viva Blackpool and hospital drama Bodies.

Says Jo Petherbridge, the network's senior VP of communications strategy and online, “It's a great opportunity to bring our talent over to meet writers face to face and expose U.S. journalists to a whole array of British accents.”

Friday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Summer: No Vacation From Reality

The Washington Post Sunday, July 10, 2005; Y06

ABC and Fox are trotting out three new unscripted series this week. One reality show has spoiled siblings dodging gainful employment, while another tackles troubled teenagers who slog through boot camp in Oregon. Finally, ABC's news department -- yes, news department -- delves into the world of online dating.

The Princes of Malibu
Sunday at 8:30 p.m. on Fox
The tagline you'll never see: Pop's loaded -- and we're lazy.
The basics: The stepsons of music producer David Foster are accustomed to partying hard, sleeping late and enjoying their stepdad's wealth, with flashy cars and unlimited funds. But Foster wants Brandon, 24, and Brody, 21, to be responsible, to get jobs or get out of the mansion. Their mother, Linda Thompson, a former Miss Tennessee who dated Elvis and was previously married to Olympian Bruce Jenner, lovingly defends her sons' slacker lifestyle. The boys, Jenner's sons, display no ambition, and the show promises no prizes for the princes, so their only incentive to shape up -- or camp it up -- is for the ever-present cameras.
The lowdown: Fox is pulling a fast one with "Princes." These royal slackers do have jobs -- they're actually the show's co-creators. Faced with Foster's ultimatum to find work, they approached pal and executive producer Brant Pinvidic with the idea for this show. So just like "The Simple Life," another Fox program that caters to the rich and famous (or infamous), there's little "reality" in this reality show. The six-episode series replaces reruns of a second "Simpsons" episode on Sundays, but it seems unlikely that the Jenner boys can maintain the laugh level guaranteed by sassy sibs Bart and Lisa.
Reality check: : The boys' adventures may not amuse those who groaned at the exaggerated "Simple Life" exploits, but it's fun to watch their apparent cluelessness: In the first episode, singer Chaka Khan is irate and late for an appointment with Foster, thanks to the roadblock formed by the boys' carwash. Brandon and Brody's reaction: "Chaka who?" But this family's semi-comic reality is more watchable than some sitcom families' values.
-- Kathy Blumenstock

Brat Camp
Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC
The tagline you'll never see: Spawn of "Supernanny."
The basics: Drug addicts and runaways are among the nine out-of-control kids sent by their fed-up parents to a "therapeutic wilderness camp" in Oregon. At least that's what one counselor calls it -- essentially, this is a boot camp where it's early to bed and early to rise with back-breaking hikes in between. The goal: Set these kids straight as they learn to live with the harsh realities of camp life.
The lowdown: : "Nanny 911" begot "Supernanny" begot "Brat Camp." The modest popularity of these shows seems to make ABC think there's an audience out there who enjoys watching children behave badly. ABC puts this sometimes-hard-to-take reality show in the time slot previously occupied by the summer's surprise feel-good hit, "Dancing With the Stars," but the two shows couldn't be more different.
Reality check: The first episode, which introduces the troubled teenagers, resembles a "My Kid Is Out of Control!" episode of "Jerry Springer." But the series quickly finds its groove as the kids arrive at camp. The problems these youngsters face are genuine, and it appears none of them is mugging for the camera. The camp counselors, who go by names such as "Cougar" and "Glacier Mountain Lion," come out looking like the real heroes here, as they take a tough-love approach with these hard-to-handle kids.
-- John Maynard

Hooking Up
Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC
The tagline you'll never see: Desperate mousepads.
The basics: ABC News takes on the hard-hitting issue of . . . Internet dating. Tens of millions of Americans have used an online service in their search for a mate, making it the multibillion-dollar industry it is today. This five-part series follows 12 Internet-savvy Manhattan women who hope to point-and-click their way to a husband. The subjects include Amy, a 28-year-old real estate broker who "wants to make babies," and Lisa, a 36-year-old gynecologist who's fond of lying about her occupation and name on the first date. Cameras closely follow the gals as they engage in this 21st-century mating ritual.
The lowdown: Terence Wrong, who produced the terrific "24/7" series for ABC News that profiled politicians, hospitals and the police, sexes it up a bit with his latest series. Though critically acclaimed, his past efforts for ABC News have failed to deliver much of an audience during their summer runs. "Hooking Up" carries more viewership potential, but it also faces tough competition in its time slot: CBS's "CSI" repeats this summer are doing just fine, often winning the week in the Nielsen ratings race.
Reality check: : Despite the ABC News name, "Hooking Up" comes across as a polished version of "Blind Date" or any number of syndicated dating shows. Its emphasis is less about how these women select potential mates online and more about the dates themselves. While it does capture some genuine dating moments -- the thrill of making a connection, the agony of a dud -- the participants seem all too aware that the cameras are rolling.
-- John Maynard

TV At The British Open
Calling The Shots From All Angles

BRITISH OPEN
Thursday through Saturday on TNT; Saturday on ABC

By Leonard Shapiro Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, July 10, 2005; Y07

Golf on network television has come a long way since that August day in 1953 when the Dumont Network carried pictures coast to coast of Washingtonian Lew Worsham beating Chandler Harper in Chicago's Tam O'Shanter World Championship.

It was the first nationally televised golf event, and Jay Randolph, then a fine amateur player, was watching at the Bethesda Country Club. Worsham, trailing Harper by a stroke, was about to hit his approach to the 18th green.

"So Lew hits the shot, and it bounces a couple of times and goes in" for the victory, Randolph recalled years later in an interview with The Washington Post. "At which point [sportscaster Jimmy] Demaret says into the mike, 'I'll be a son of a bitch.' That was on live TV."

ABC's coverage of the British Open this week from St. Andrews in Scotland likely won't include such language, barring a microphone's picking up an epithet from a player. And unlike the early days of golf on TV, when large studio cameras were positioned at only a few key holes, every nook, cranny and pot bunker on the Old Course will be covered.

Technology "allows us to be anywhere we want to be, anytime we want to be there," said Mark Loomis, who will produce this week's coverage on TNT and ABC.

Networks have departed from the traditionally subdued approach employed well into the early 1990s, when announcers often spoke in hushed tones and were reluctant to criticize. Johnny Miller at NBC is the most outspoken of the new breed of announcers, often using the dreaded C-word -- as in choke. Even the usually restrained Lanny Wadkins on CBS has started to speak his mind.

"Ken Venturi used to criticize players, but in a little nicer way," said Lance Barrow, the lead producer of golf and NFL football for CBS. "But Lanny was a competitor as a player, and he's a competitor as an announcer. He wants to see players play a certain way, and if they don't, he has been critical."

The three major networks have similar coverage philosophies: Show as many players and good golf shots as possible in the early rounds, then home in on the leaders and big names such as Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson or Vijay Singh, even if they're not in the hunt. CBS puts many of its announcers in towers around the course with several analysts walking with the leading groups; NBC and ABC give their main voices in the booth at the 18th hole more air time, though they also have announcers walking the course.

ABC overhauled its golf coverage two years ago, adding two prominent former players, major championship winners Paul Azinger and Nick Faldo, as analysts working with play-by-play man Mike Tirico. They'll all be in the booth for ABC this week, supplemented occasionally by Ian Baker-Finch and Peter Alliss, on loan from the BBC. Azinger and Faldo, once rivals during Ryder Cup competitions, have a crackling on-air chemistry, and neither has been hesitant to express his opinion, a rarity from broadcasters who still compete.

ABC has the only female analyst doing men's golf on a regular basis, former LPGA player Judy Rankin, who is as adept in talking about distance to the pin and club selection as she is in handling interviews off the 18th green.

The networks try to get in as much live action as possible, which is not always easy because so many players are scattered over so many acres.

"I came from the Frank Chirkinian school of golf broadcasting," said Barrow, referring to the now-retired longtime golf producer for CBS. "His philosophy -- and it's mine, too -- was always never to let anything get in the way of the competition. You show live golf as much as possible. On the weekend, you try to tell the story, the drama of the event. I don't think that's ever changed.

"One of the things I think too many critics miss is the fact that there are times we do have to go to tape and say, 'Moments ago, so-and-so had this putt for birdie,' and then show it on tape. Unlike football, where there's only one ball and you go to commercial and they stop playing the game, in golf, you can't cover everything. People have said we're trying to trick the viewer, but it's silly to make such a big deal out of it. That's just golf."

Saturday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Reality takes swings
Long-running unscripted shows go for twists, turns to keep viewers guessing

By JOSEF ADALIAN Variety.com

Making folks eat bugs for cash or stab their neighbors in the back just ain't what it used to be.

Five years after TV's modern reality boom kicked off with "Survivor" and "Big Brother," producers of long-running unscripted hits find themselves working overtime to invent fresh twists and turns to their games.

That's why, for example, the latest bunch of lab rats to move into CBS' "Big Brother" house last week found themselves settling into a lavish new two-story house filled with enough secret rooms, passages and hidden surprises to keep them occupied -- and viewers guessing -- for weeks to come.

Other unscripted staples are following suit:

** NBC's "Fear Factor," the first modern reality competition skein to make it into off-net syndication, will go interactive with a weekly "Home Invasion" segment. Families who ask for the chance will get the opportunity to perform a crazy stunt for cash.

** Emmy winner "The Amazing Race" will make its biggest change yet with a family edition featuring teams of four traveling the globe, instead of the usual couples matchups.

** UPN's "America's Next Top Model" is replacing two of its judges, including the Simon Cowell-esque Janice Dickinson.

** In addition to one of its most exotic locales yet -- the ancient ruins of Guatemala -- "Survivor" is likely to have a couple of twists this season. True to form, ever-mysterious exec producer Mark Burnett won't say just yet what they are.

For many reality shows, extreme makeovers aren't a problem. That's because a big chunk of the genre seems reserved for flash-in-the-pan attention-getters that hit hard but quickly disappear (think "Joe Millionaire" or MTV's "Newlyweds").

Some skeins, however, aspire to have the sort of longevity enjoyed by scripted shows like "Law & Order" or "The Simpsons." And it turns out that, after several seasons on the air, changing casts or moving to a new location isn't enough to keep audiences coming back for more.

Burnett says reality producers face the same dilemma as a "writer of series like 'Dallas' or 'Dynasty,' shows that had serialized elements they had to keep fresh."

"There are no writers or preordained storylines on 'Survivor,' " he says. "What I'm in the business of is situational drama. I have to come up with the situations that create organic drama."

Burnett compares it to getting a letter from a loved one every week.

"The envelope and the handwriting are the same, but the letter inside is a new journey every week," he says. "You've got the same framework, but you've got new people, new locations and subtle twists that keep people guessing."

"Fear Factor" exec producer Matt Kunitz says when the show first came on, "People would say, 'Oh my God, I can't believe they did that.' Now people are used to it, so we're constantly looking for ways to make the show bigger and badder."

But reality producers actually have two audiences to serve when thinking up changes: The audience at home -- and the casts signed up for their shows.
"These are games. You don't want it to be p
redictable," says Allison Grodner, who is in her fifth season exec producing "Big Brother" with Arnold Shapiro. "It's important to have new elements to keep (the cast) on their toes."

"Amazing Race" co-creator and showrunner Bertram van Munster says he'll sometimes take "extreme measures" to make sure contestants don't get too comfortable with a game they think they know from having watched previous editions. Nonetheless, the players "always think they know the game," he says.

Upping the ante even further for reality producers is the ever-increasing number of unscripted competitors.

"Big Brother's" Shapiro, for example, notes that for its first two seasons, his show was virtually the only bit of new programming on the major nets during the summer. Now, the Big Four all launch at least three or four unscripted skeins in the off-season. "In order to distinguish yourself, you need to stand out," he says. "You just can't say, 'We're back.' "

David Kelley makes case for reality TV
He used to view it as a nemesis, but the creator of legal dramas courts the genre in "Law Firm."
By Maria Elena Fernandez Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 11, 2005

For years, David E. Kelley had lived with the fear. The lawyer-turned-writer/producer, known for his evocative fictional legal eagles and his prolific way with words, sensed it was only a matter of time before the booming reality genre he so despised crossed into the television world he had created.

"When reality television was proliferating, I was a great champion of the idea — I so loved it — that I thought, 'Oh, my God, what's gonna happen next?" the creator of "Ally McBeal," "The Practice" and "Boston Legal," said facetiously.

"Somebody's gonna come along and do what I'm doing on 'The Practice' for real," he said. "And I thought if somebody did come along and told those little stories, not necessarily the A-murder stories but the little stories that we tell in the practice of law, the stakes are just exponentially bigger when you know those clients aren't actors. It would be far more compelling than anything we could offer. So it really was a fear that I lived with."

The fear turned into reality in more ways than one. Enter David Garfinkle and Jay Renfroe, partners at Renegade 83 and the producers of "The Surreal Life" and "Blind Date," who were seeking to make reality television "more real." The duo had conceived a legal-based unscripted series that would pit 12 civil litigators against one another as they tried real-life cases in front of judges and juries whose verdicts were binding. But the producers were missing one element:

"If we could somehow work it out where lawyers were really trying cases on TV, where there are real consequences and real verdicts and real people, we thought that could be an incredible drama," Garfinkle said. "And the guy who created all the dramas in the '90s and in the year 2000 is David Kelley. What better person to partner up with?"

That might have made absolute sense if Kelley hadn't been so public about his anti-reality sentiment, even dedicating one episode of "The Practice" in 2003 to slamming unscripted fare with a story line about a woman so obsessed with reality television that she kidnapped CBS top honcho Leslie Moonves (who played himself) to get her 15 minutes of fame.

"Renegade came up with the concept, which coincided with my biggest fear, if you will," Kelley said. "But what appealed to me about it was that it was not going to be a forum to exploit or take advantage of the contestants, which is where I find reality television at its worst. It just degrades the people and the television medium as well. But where reality television can be more noble is when it offers its contestants the opportunity to succeed, such as what an 'American Idol' does or even 'The Apprentice.' Where those shows work best is when those contestants come on and surprise you with their talent and their intelligence. And this endeavored, at least, in the conceptual stage, to be such a show."

So Renegade and David E. Kelley Productions joined forces to create "The Law Firm," which premieres on NBC on July 28. And the first order of business became hiring a managing partner who would run the law firm, evaluate the performance of the lawyers and decide who got to stay and vie for the $250,000 cash prize. Kelley's top pick: prominent trial attorney and legal analyst Roy Black, who has represented high-profile clients, such as William Kennedy Smith and Rush Limbaugh.

"I'd always been a fan of his, not just as a lawyer — he's a great lawyer — but I was also very impressed by his television acumen," Kelley said. "I've watched him on the 'Today' show for years, and he has a very finely tuned sense of getting into the center of a conflict and the issue. That's obviously something important in television: someone who can articulate it quickly and hold the interest of the viewers."

Black was intrigued when he first spoke to Kelley, but it wasn't a fast sell. A trial lawyer for 35 years and a professor at the University of Miami law school, Black asked for personal guarantees from Kelley and NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker that "The Law Firm" would be a sophisticated, legitimate courtroom show that would give viewers an inside look at the work entailed in preparing a trial without embarrassing or humiliating the participants.

"What I was really interested in was showing how the lawyers really are, not the sort of image the public has," Black said. "The public has no idea how much work lawyers do behind the scenes. They don't know it takes 50 hours of preparation for every hour in court. They think we all show up in a nice three-piece suit and start talking in the courtroom, without knowing the kind of work it takes beforehand."

To set up the law firm, producers sorted through 5,000 civil cases in alternative resolution banks across the country, seeking a broad spectrum of topics as well as levels of difficulty. For each case, both parties had to agree to have their case televised and to be bound by the court's findings. The cases were tried in front of retired judges who applied the laws of the states where they originated, following California trial procedures.

The lawyers, selected from 1,000 candidates, were assigned cases such as neighbor disputes, 1st Amendment issues and wrongful deaths. Winning didn't guarantee staying at the firm, Black decided, because "in the law, it's not always the best lawyer that wins the case. No lawyer should be penalized because the facts of their case were not as strong as their opponents'."

Black's deal included another caveat: As managing partner of the firm, he wanted to be the sole evaluator of the contestants. That is, producers were not allowed to whisper in his ear to keep the most charismatic lawyers in the mix for the sake of good storytelling.

"Roy would have none of that, nor did I want it either," Kelley said. "So it preserved the integrity of the show and also offered the potential of a bust. What would happen if the four best lawyers lived up to everybody's preconceptions of lawyers and that is, you know, boring and verbose? As it turned out, I think we were protected because litigators are the most dynamic trial lawyers, but Roy had a free hand. He wasn't interested in making television stars here. He wanted at the end of the day to hire lawyers that people at home would hire if they got into a legal jam."

As a result, the producers created a contest stylistically reminiscent of "The Apprentice" but with a heartbeat the entrepreneurial competition has never achieved. The 12 lawyers of "The Law Firm" range in experience and pedigree, as do the cases Black assigned them.

" 'The Apprentice' is about business, but the people are not practicing their professions on the show," said Jeff Gaspin, president of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment and Cross-Network Strategy. "On this show, the stakes are higher because they're not being judged on whether they can come up with a good campaign for a product even though they might not be in advertising. They're being judged on what they do for a living, and the stakes are much higher for them."

Not surprisingly, much of the series' drama harks back to Kelley's fictional world of imperfect lawyers and colorful characters, though Kelley admits that even his imagination could not conjure the people and cases portrayed on "The Law Firm."

When a dog owner whose two mastiffs attacked a neighbor's three-legged dog declares in court, "You could cut all the legs off and he'd be a menace to society," one opposing lawyer makes a blunder that leaves all the lawyers in the room with their mouths agape. In another heart-pounding episode, one set of lawyers discovers its client's case is based on lies, and the drama that ensues is both engaging and poignant in its revelation about the flaws in the justice system.

"Invariably, every lawyer encountered a particular subject matter outside his or her area of expertise, and that definitely was challenging because you have comfort zones as lawyers, and when you're presented with a new subject matter, it's just another obstacle to overcome," said Aileen Page, 35, a solo civil practitioner in Atlanta. "But being on this show made me a better lawyer and a better person. It's the ultimate test for a trial lawyer in terms of courtroom skills, endurance and being able to function and thrive in an intensely stressful, hot-pressure situation."

A former prosecutor who graduated from Georgia State University College of Law in 1996, Page was horrified that her sister had entered her in the contest.

"There was no way I was going on a reality TV show," she recalled. "I'm a professional woman. I'm a serious lawyer. That is ridiculous. When I found out it was a David E. Kelley show, it immediately had credibility and legitimacy because not only is he a lawyer but so much of his career has been dedicated to exploring the lives and experiences of lawyers. I know he loves the law and he loves lawyers."

Page had a change of heart, but has Kelley? Has reality television's Public Enemy No. 1 turned the corner on the road that leads toward little grooms and bachelors and bachelorettes?

"No!" Kelley gasped. "But I did think I might do one on a Nielsen family because all I would need is for those families to watch."

WB Kids Block Grows Up
July 11, 2005

The WB will air repeat episodes of drama ER and sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter in its revamped 3–5 p.m. weekday block beginning in January. ER will air from 3–4 p.m., and two episodes of 8 Simple Rules will air each day from 4–5 p.m. The shows will fill the time period currently occupied by two hours of Kids WB programming.

WB execs plan to make use of both shows’ mainly female audience—women 18–49 for ER and women 12–34 for 8 Simple Rules—to promote a broader range of the network’s prime-time programs than it can during the current kids block. Ad time for the shows will be sold nationally, with each WB affiliate getting about 20 percent of local ad avails to sell, similar to WB’s prime-time split.

“I think these shows will help us increase the WB footprint and drive more adults to our prime-time shows,” said Bill Morningstar, WB executive vp of media sales. “And I think there will be a lot of interest in these shows. This will be ER’s first weekday broadcast clearance, and it will be 8 Simple Rules’ first airing outside of [ABC’s prime-time], including all the John Ritter episodes.” (ER runs off-network on TNT during the day.)

Brad Turell, WB executive vp of network communications, said the deal with Buena Vista for 8 Simple Rules works not only for the WB but also for the studio. Only 76 episodes of Rules exist, much fewer than it needs for a run in syndication. “Our deal allows the show a second life and benefits us both,” Turell said.

The WB has announced it will air episodes of Reba—a 20th Century Fox show that now airs in prime time on the WB—weekdays from 4–5 p.m. starting in fall ’06. Reba will debut after Rules ends its run in September.

Morningstar said he will begin selling ad time on the new block immediately. “Ideally, we would have liked to have sold it in the upfront. But the good news is that the block has been well received by advertisers, it targets a specific audience and it is a concept they should be able to get their hands around.”

Morningstar said he is still unsure what cost-per-thousand rate the block will attract, or how much money advertisers have set aside following the upfront for a buy like this, but said he will tout the value of getting into the block on the ground floor. “To be able to buy two shows like this nationally, on a day-date basis in daytime, should be very attractive to them,” he said.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000976381

Sunday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

(From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column of Monday July 11, 2005 at Mediaweek.com)
Fox in 2005-06: Series Premiere Dates:

Fox has set the fall premiere dates for its new and returning series. The two-hour debut of drama Prison Break will get an early launch on Monday, August 29, while That ‘70s Show and Stacked will debut in late fall after baseball season ends. In late night, Mad TV will kick-off its new season on Saturday, Sept. 17.

What follows are the dates in chronological order:

Monday, Aug. 29:
8:00 p.m. Prison Break (series premiere, two-hours)

Monday, Sept. 5:
8:00 p.m. Prison Break (time period premiere)

Thursday, Sept. 8:
8:00 p.m. The O.C. (season premiere)
9:00 p.m. Reunion (series premiere)

Saturday, Sept. 10:
8:00 p.m. Cops (season premiere)
9:00 p.m. America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back (season premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 11:
8:00 p.m. The Simpsons (season premiere)
8:30 p.m. The War at Home (series premiere)
9:00 p.m. Family Guy (season premiere)
9:30 p.m. American Dad (season premiere)

Tuesday, Sept. 13:
8:00 p.m. Bones (series premiere)
9:00 p.m. House (season premiere)

Wednesday, Sept. 14:
9:00 p.m. Head Cases (series premiere)

Saturday, Sept. 17:
11:00 p.m. MADtv (season premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 18:
7:30 p.m. King of the Hill (season premiere)

Monday, Sept. 19:
8:00 p.m. Arrested Development (season premiere)
8:30 p.m. Kitchen Confidential (series premiere)

Friday, Sept. 23:
8:00 p.m. The Bernie Mac Show (season premiere)
8:30 p.m. Malcolm in the Middle (season premiere)
9:00 p.m. Killer Instinct (series premiere): formerly titled The Gate

Royal shrug for Fox's new "Princes"
Debut averages a ho-hum 2.6 among 18-49s

medialifemagazine.com--We’ve seen reality shows with spoiled rich kids work with “The Simple Life,” but it appears interest in such shows stops at Paris and Nicole.

Last night Fox premiered the new reality series “The Princes of Malibu,” which follows the two twentysomething stepsons of music producer David Foster. According to Nielsen overnights, the show posted just a 2.6 average rating among viewers 18-49, down 7 percent from its “Simpsons” lead-in.

It was also off 50.8 percent from the 5.9 18-49 rating “Simple Life” earned in its Fox premiere in December 2003, and down 40.8 percent from the 4.9 “Simple Life 2” earned for its premiere last summer.

“Princes” did okay comparatively in its 8:30 timeslot among 18-49s, with ABC and NBC each averaging a 2.7 during the half hour, but it bombed among total viewers. Just 4.97 million people tuned in, placing it in a distant fourth among total viewers.

The show features Brandon and Brody, the two spoiled kids of Foster’s wife, Linda Thompson, from her marriage to Bruce Jenner. The premise is that Foster wants them to shape up or leave his house.

Fox billed the show as a real-life comedy a la “Simple Life,” but Brandon and Brody don’t have quite the goofy spark of Paris and Nicole.

The Coming Retransmission War

Cable may yank networks as feuds simmer
By Paul DavidsonUSA TODAY

Acrimonious contract disputes between sports channels and cable TV systems that deny fans the chance to watch their favorite team are almost as routine as Yankees-Red Sox brawls. Next year, though, such squabbles may take an alarming turn.

Come January, simmering feuds between broadcasters and cable companies threaten to yank even good old CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox stations from at least a smattering of cable systems across the USA.

Such blackouts are already happening. Since January, a flap between Nexstar Broadcasting and two cable companies has left about 170,000 cable subscribers in Texas, Louisiana and Missouri without several network affiliates.

The problem: Broadcasters say that they crank out the most-watched TV shows, and that cable companies should pay to carry the stations, just as they pay for ESPN and Discovery. Now, after years of threats, several large station owners are set to press those demands this fall, when talks begin for new three-year channel-carriage deals starting in January.

"We're going to a subscription-based world," says Nexstar Chief Operating Officer Duane Lammers. "Why shouldn't we be paid for content just like everybody else?"

Cable companies, meanwhile, have long vowed never to shell out cash for programs that are free to anyone with an antenna. "We don't think we should pay cash for no incremental value," says Fred Dressler, programming chief for Time Warner Cable, the No. 2 cable operator.

The controversy has prompted Emmis Communications to try to sell its 16 TV stations to a larger broadcaster with more bargaining clout, says CEO Jeffrey Smulyan.

The American Cable Association, which represents small cable companies, says broadcasters want per-subscriber fees of 30 cents to 75 cents a month per channel. Bills for many customers would rise $2 to $5 a month next year if the companies bowed to the demands, says ACA head Matthew Polka.
Cable guys seek leverage

The battle has become so pitched that Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said last month that he will hold a hearing on the topic. The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing an ACA request to give cable operators more negotiating leverage. They want the right to carry a broadcast signal from another town if the local station plays hardball and mandatory arbitration if the two sides can't agree.

The donnybrook can be traced to a 1992 federal law that allows broadcasters to either require cable systems to carry their signals for free or to enter into negotiations. Armed with the most popular programs, nearly all large broadcasters choose negotiations. But from the outset, cable companies refused to pay cash. So most of the big TV networks, which also own the local stations that air their shows in many large markets, used the talks to launch new cable channels. Their offer: If you want the broadcast station, carry our cable channels.
The strategy helped Fox-parent News Corp. to launch FX, ABC-parent Disney to hatch ESPN II and NBC-parent General Electric to start MSNBC, ACA says. The big networks also got per-subscriber license fees of about 10 cents to 50 cents monthly for each channel.

Yet cable companies often resented having to offer channels they didn't want. In 2000, Time Warner Cable had to drop ABC stations in 11 big markets for 39 hours when it refused to carry Soapnet and Toon Disney. Eventually, Time Warner agreed to the demands.

Meanwhile, unlike the big networks, owners of network affiliates, such as Sinclair Broadcast Group and Emmis, had no cable channels to wield as bargaining chips. Typically, cable companies agreed to buy ads on their local stations in exchange for channel-carriage rights.

Now, however, broadcasters, which have lost viewers and ad revenue to cable, are taking a tougher stance and demanding cash outright. That's partly because they are launching fewer cable channels and existing ones are locked in via long-term deals.

Also, cable is no longer the only pay-TV option, giving broadcasters leverage. The USA's two satellite providers, as newcomers, always had to pay for local stations, and, with 25 million subscribers, now offer a viable alternative, says analyst Craig Moffett of Sanford C. Bernstein. He adds that big phone companies are entering the TV business and will likely capitulate to cash demands.

At Viacom's annual meeting early this month, company co-Chief Operating Officer Les Moonves said CBS will seek cash for cable carriage after Viacom completes its planned split of its cable and broadcast properties.
Most of the cash demands this year will likely come from non-network owners of affiliates. Early this year, Cable One and Cox Communications had to drop six ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates in towns such as Shreveport, La.; Abilene, Texas; and Joplin, Mo. The cable firms rejected demands from the stations' parent, Nexstar, for a per-subscriber fee of 30 cents a month for each channel.

Satellite TV sees gains

Both sides are making the most of the skirmish. Nexstar commercials urge viewers to defect to satellite. Cox and Cable One gave away antennas and switches so customers can toggle between cable and over-the-air services. Nielsen ratings show an audience drop of up to 50% for Nexstar stations, Multichannel News reported. Nexstar's Lammers disputes that and contends the cable systems lost up to 20% of their subscribers to satellite. The cable companies say the figure is lower.

After Cable One dropped CBS affiliate KLST in San Angelo, Texas, this year, David Elliott, 49, would regularly hook up an antenna to watch a grainy version of Survivor. But now, he says, "When I look at the TV guide, I don't look at CBS. You get used to not having it."

Both combatants say they are willing to endure losses. "This is a game-changer that needs to happen," Lammers says.

Cox programming head Debbie Cullen says, "If we pay cash in one market to one broadcaster, it will spread."

That will boost cable rates, adds Cable One's Tom Basinger.

Kagan Research analyst John Mansell thinks some of the looming face-offs could be resolved without cash payments. For example, cable companies might agree to carry broadcasters' new digital TV channels.

Those most likely to pay up are small cable companies that have little leverage because they serve a few thousand customers or less, says Polka of the cable association.

Yet Dressler says even Time Warner is facing cash demands from Nexstar and Sinclair in larger cities such as Kansas City and Minneapolis. "We have intention to remove our stations in all markets if we have to," says Lammers of Nexstar, which owns or operates 46 TV stations in 27 markets.

Dressler retorts, "If they are hellbent on getting cash, then we are hellbent on disaster."

TV critics trapped in hotel with TV execs
(no, it's not some twisted new reality show)
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Monday, July 11, 2005

Beverly Hills -- It's a tight table for eight in a cramped restaurant, and a very powerful television executive is holding court. This is a good table. Across the room, someone is talking about reality television. One table over, you could talk to the head of comedy development. Somewhere else in here, past the pasta and the inappropriately cut waitress dresses, someone is discussing scheduling matters.

But at this table, we're getting a good look at how the sausage is made. Because no decision at this network gets made without this executive signing off on it. And the question hovering in the air just now is about quality, which floats tentatively out of a reporter's mouth and lands gently, like a golf ball off a tee. "I don't care if a show is any good," the executive says. "I care if people watch."

Those are great moments. They almost make up for the times some flack for a middling, artless actor corrals you and -- before you can say, "Who drank my wine?" -- you're being introduced and must then dance the dance of disinterest.

That happens a lot.

It's the Television Critics Association press tour, also known as the Death March With Cocktails, as Tom Jicha, an insightfully blunt veteran critic for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, is credited with calling it. Apt, really. For there are few other events where captains of industry are called on the carpet twice a year and asked to confess crimes when they really want to spin lies. All in the hermetically sealed confines of a luxury hotel -- this time the Beverly Hilton -- where all six networks, plus PBS and countless cable channels, will gather to pitch their goods.

It's a strange little dance, this one. For nearly the next three weeks, a little more than 200 television critics from across the country and Canada will ask questions like, "How early in the process did you realize this was terrible?" while the entire cast sits stunned and appalled. Then, six or seven hours later, these same critics will be drinking spirits and holding tape recorders to the faces of starlets whose pictures may possibly sell newspapers.

One and two and spin around ...

There's hard-won truth among the beauty down here (and there's more beauty than they know what to do with). How can you not love an executive who introduces a star-studded panel for a new fall show and proclaims its greatness, only to whine over a cold beer -- six hours later and off the record -- about how god-awful the thing really is? It's sausage, people. And this conversation is real: "So why did you pick it up?"
"Because it was our highest-testing show." "But it sucks." "I know. But people loved it."

No, they didn't. It was canceled last season in a real, shameful hurry.

This is not to say that television executives are clueless. In fact, most of the very powerful executives are impressively smart, incredibly knowledgeable about their industry and good people. Their Achilles is fear. These are jobs you get fired from at an alarming rate. It takes enormous courage and a well-padded bank account to reject a sitcom you know is bad when it tests off the charts with people decidedly not like you, meaning people who watch TV uncritically.

There are all kinds of transforming moments during the Death March With Cocktails. They are not always of the inside-baseball variety. Many times, against your wishes, they are the stuff of People magazine fodder.

Like when you meet a no-name actress like Evangeline Lilly from "Lost" and you know, instantly, she's going to be a star. She's in a little black dress and she's got sparkles on her face and just before you crush the image by projecting her three seasons ahead, holding out for a pay raise and avoiding the press like pus-filled zombies, she says, "You guys wanna smoke a cigar?"

Or there will be a press session -- that's essentially all there is at this thing, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. -- where a producer named Marc Cherry, given a second chance, manages to reaffirm your belief in brilliant individuals changing the face of corporate-run television.

The thing is, we may be a jaded, badly dressed, often drunk and hungry mob unafraid to shred someone's art for very low pay, but the bulk of us are also believers. You have to be. You can't hate television and be a TV critic. At least not a good one. It's easy to say everything is terrible and lo, what a sad, embarrassing medium.

Hell, even a movie critic could do that. And as much as 19 or so days listening to badly concocted spin might hurt one's sense of the industry being an asset to humanity, you simply have to hope for miracles.

Television is the shared experience of our country. Just because it's populist doesn't make it low art. So there's a duty to be done here, a reason to partake in the Death March With Cocktails -- beyond the booze and Heather Graham being in a new show; beyond speaking truth to power in a posse of 200 ("Honestly, how do you sleep at night making this rubbish?"); beyond palm trees and Hugo Boss suits and insanely short skirts.

We are here for the restaurant chatter that peels back the Entertainment Weekly behind-the-scenes glibness and reveals -- sausage. We are here to hold network presidents accountable; to listen dubiously to writers and assess whether they can make 22 strong episodes as well as one good pilot; to document surprising leaps in creativity and to mock transparent spin.

We are here to stay strong for the long slog. To find five great shows in a pile of heaping bleakness; to counter broadcast and cable hope with informed cynicism. And if we get the occasional shrimp and a little pool time, all the better. March on.

and at the end of the day... it is we the viewer that gets screwed!!

and its all now about the benjermans!

and at the end of the day... it is we the viewer that gets screwed!!

and its all now about the benjermans!
Always has been, really..

"We're going to a subscription-based world," says Nexstar Chief Operating Officer Duane Lammers. "Why shouldn't we be paid for content just like everybody else?"

While I don't relish the idea of paying even more than I do now, the above statement would seem to be fairly valid, especially as reliance on OTA continues to diminish, the money is in subscription based programming if only for the reason that 80% plus of the country already pays for their TV content through satcos and MSOs. I firmly believe the future will be a pay-TV model for quality(HD) content.

Fox Returns to September Launches

By Jim Benson Broadcasting & Cable

Trying to avert another slow start to the season, Fox will roll out the majority of its prime time schedule prior to its extended coverage of Major League Baseball playoffs and the World Series in October.

Following the two-hour series premiere of Prison Break at 8 p.m. Aug. 29, it will settle into its regular 9 p.m. Monday berth Sept. 5; the Thursday night schedule debuts Sept. 8, with the return of The O.C. at 8 and the premiere of Reunion at 9; Saturday staples Cops and America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back debut Sept. 10; and the Sunday night animated block returns Sept. 11 (with the exception of King of the Hill, which returns Sept. 18).

On Sept. 13 comes the new Tuesday night series, Bones, at 8 and the return of House at 9; the new Wednesday series Head Cases debuts at 9 p.m. Sept. 14; Saturday night’s MADtv debuts Sept. 17, and Monday’s Arrested Development and new series, Kitchen Confidential, are slated for 8-9 p.m. Sept. 19.

On Friday night, Sept. 23, The Bernie Mac Show, Malcolm in the Middle and Killer Instinct (previously titled The Gate) roll out.

That ‘70s Show and Stacked will return on unspecified dates after baseball, Fox announced.

“We have an incredible slate this season, and we’re getting out of the gate early with our new series and returning favorites in order to create maximum buzz among viewers,” Fox Entertainment President Peter Liguori said.

Last fall, the network held off most of its new shows until November, after the World Series. Fox wound up struggling before American Idol and House rode to the rescue in January.

We can only hope CSPAN will carry these hearings.
Commerce Committee Releases DTV Witness List

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable
The Senate Commerce Committee has released the witness list for its two hearings on the digital television transition, scheduled for July 12.
The first panel will comprise representatives from broadcast, cable and satellite, while the second will feature tech types, a consumer activists, and first-reponders.

Both the House and Senate are working on bills to deal with a range of DTV-related issues, from cable carriage of TV stations' digital signals to a hard date for the rerturn of analog spectrum to a subsidy for DTV -to-analog converter boxes.

Following are the two hearing times and witnesses:

10:00 a.m.
Edward O. Fritts, President & CEO, National Association of Broadcasters
Manuel Abud, Vice President & General Manager, KVEA-TV in Los Angeles (Telemundo)
Kyle McSlarrow, President & CEO, National Cable & Telecommunications Association
Patrick Knorr, Vice Chairman, American Cable Association
Richard Slenker, Executive Vice President, DirecTV
John M. Lawson, President & CEO, Association of Public Television Stations

2:30 p.m.
Harlin R. McEwen, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Communications & Technology Committee Chairman
Charles Townsend, President & CEO, Aloha Partners
Mike Kennedy, Senior Vice President, Motorola
Gary Shapiro, President & CEO, Consumer Electronics Association
Gene Kimmelman, Senior Director Public Policy, Consumers Union
Michael Calabrese, Vice President & Director, Wireless Future Program, New American Foundation

It looks like C-SPAN is carrying these hearings, sort of, I'm not sure if C-SPAN3 even has TV carriage anywhere, but it appears it will be available as a webcast..

http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/fullschedule.csp?timeid=211987908707
C-SPAN: Full Schedule

Check the 10:00am and 2:30pm, EDT times in the third column...

Broadcasting & Cable Critics Poll

By Mark Lasswell and Rob Biederman Broadcasting & Cable 7/11/2005
With the start of the Television Critics Association confab and the announcement of the Emmy Awards nominations this week, B&C thought this would be the ideal time to canvass some of the most TV-saturated experts of all—TV critics and journalists—to find out what they prized most about the 2004-05 season. B&C quizzed 103 of these mavens, soliciting their views on half a dozen categories, from the best show overall (Desperate Housewives) to the worst (Fear Factor).

For the six categories we asked critics about, we’ve listed the top vote getters, as well as some other notable favorites, and the percentage of the total vote that each received.

As you might have heard, folks who write about TV can be a rather headstrong bunch. Just because they rave about a show (Arrested Development, for instance), doesn’t mean the public will follow, and their critical brickbats somehow can’t put a dent in viewership of some stalwarts, such as, say, CBS’ Yes, Dear. Not that critics speak with one voice: As you will see, although the winners in our poll were usually clear-cut, none of them succeeded in winning a majority of votes.

The editors were delighted by the enthusiastic response to our questions and appreciate the time and thought that went into making the selections.

The B&C Critics Poll 2005 is the first entry in what promises to become an exciting summer rite at the magazine.

BEST SHOW: Desperate Housewives

Critics have been raving about Desperate Housewives all season long, and in the B&C poll, creator Marc Cherry’s convention-bending, hour-long comedy emerged as their pick for the best show of the year. Not only did it revive Teri Hatcher’s career, but it also got critics using superlatives to describe an ABC series again.

Housewives “has found a way of playfully mixing comedy, mystery, drama and soap opera into an engaging hour. It’s life, slightly over the top, and I can’t wait for its return,” Jay Handelman of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune noted on his ballot.

“Housewives is just what TV needed,” said Dave Walker of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Indeed, Ed Martin of The Meyers Report said the show is just what devoted TV viewers needed: “It’s television for people who love television, written and produced by people who truly understand and respect their audience.”

Bob Laurence of the San Diego Union-Tribune appreciates that the show is “always fun and irreverent,” but he did sound a cautionary note going into the second season: “It’ll be interesting to see how long they can keep it fresh.”

CHOICE COMMENTS

Critics don’t always agree, of course, and there wasn’t anywhere near unanimity on which is TV’s top show. Here’s a sampling of other voices:

•Lost, because it was a simple idea—a cliché, really—told brilliantly, … because it renewed my faith in the viewing public.”—Alex Strachan, CanWest News Services

•The Daily Show With Jon Stewart “is the one show I cannot miss. Funny, smart, aware, current, idiotic. What’s not to like?” —Rick Kushman, Sacramento Bee

•SportsCenter on ESPN hands down. Oh, scripted stuff? Arrested Development.” —Tim Goodman, San Francisco Chronicle

BEST DRAMA: Lost

We heard over and over again from critics that this is a “golden age” of drama. And the show that glowed brightest in their estimation was Lost, with a seemingly unpromising stranded-on-an-island premise that its inventive creator, J.J. Abrams (with Damon Lindelof), has turned into giant hit.

“Lost takes an improbable concept and makes it fascinating by structuring the narrative in a breakthrough and thoroughly absorbing fashion,” said TV Guide’s Matt Roush, who lauded Lost’s trade­mark flashbacks as an ingenious way for the show to “change tone week to week as it explores the secret lives and past torments of its well-cast ensemble.”

Ed Bark of the Dallas Morning News echoed that sentiment, saying that Lost’s “genius is in accompanying the island’s 'mythology’ with intriguing backstories that put its characters in ever changing contexts.”

Linda Haugsted of Multichannel News called the show “challenging, frustrating, unconventional. Despite the critical blogs dissing the lack of answers in the season finale, I like having to try to figure out what will happen next.”

Still, Shelley Gabert at Emmy magazine urged the producers to start tying up storylines: “They had better answer more questions and soon, as they are trying many regular viewers’ patience.”

CHOICE COMMENTS

Some other favorites were touted as best drama:

• Right now, no drama is doing better than HBO’s Deadwood. Profoundly profane, beautifully acted and willing to take risks with its storytelling, this Western just finished a second season that was unmatched by any other series.”—Charlie McCollum, San Jose Mercury News

• “House on Fox. Each story is written with intelligence, surprises and—oddly—moments of genuine humor.”—Mike Hughes, Gannett News Service

• The Wire alone is worth the price of HBO. It’s smart, intriguing and filled with one great performance after another.”—Sonia Mansfield, San Francisco Examiner

BEST COMEDY: Arrested Development

Critical kudos (and an Emmy Award) helped save the ratings-challenged Arrested Development from cancellation last year. Audiences still haven’t found the Fox show, but the critics remain loyal to this hilarious saga of the nutso Bluth family in Orange County, starring Jason Bateman and a bevy of loopy co-stars that includes the reliably wonderful Jeffrey Tambor.

“It’s consistently funny on the surface, but repeat viewing tends to bring out even more laughs, something that hardly any live-action show seems capable of at the moment,” said Rick Porter of Zap2it.com.

Indeed, the added value of repeat viewings was a common theme (“This rare and fragile comedy is laugh-out-loud funny and grows with each viewing,” said the Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s Jay Handelman), as was continuing concern about Arrested’s ratings.

The “woefully underloved show,” said the New Orleans Times-Picayune’s Dave Walker, has “a terrific cast, ballsy premise and ultra-sophisticated composition.”

Even if they were unrestrained in their praise of the show, some critics were not hopeful about its prospects for survival. “I don’t expect it to be around much longer than Christmas,” predicted Glenn Garvin of the Miami Herald.

CHOICE COMMENTS

Other respondents to our poll eagerly touted non-Arrested comedy favorites. A sampling:

• Everybody Loves Raymond left the air on a high note, exhausting every tirade left in the Barone household for its best season ever.” —Neal Justin, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

• The Daily Show is consistently the funniest program on television. The ability to be so on-target with this level of satire is almost frightening.” —Rick Bentley, Fresno Bee

• Reno 911!. Seriously. Or, actually, unseriously. Minute to minute, for pure laughs and complete escapist irreverence, I just love Reno 911! (I never said I was mature).” —Rick Kushman, Sacramento Bee

BEST REALITY: The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race ran away from the competition as far as critics were concerned, although their reasons for citing the CBS Tuesday-night reality hit were as varied as the locales that the contestants sprint through in pursuit of the million-dollar prize.

Bill Goodykoontz at the Arizona Republic liked the fact that Amazing Race, even with this season’s nasty duo of Rob and Amber, is “still not as mean-spirited as most. The fun here is picking a team to root for (or, in Rob and Amber’s case, to root against), not watching people demean themselves for (relative) fame and (in rare cases) fortune.”

Victor Balta of The Herald in Everett, Wash., admired both the show’s exceptional production values and the fact that “the competition combined with the worldwide trek that actually teaches viewers a little something about places they may not have known before.”

The San Jose Mercury News’ Charlie McCollum describes the show as “one of those rare reality series that might have a shelf life in repeats.”

Seeing the show in reruns probably would be fine with Sonia Mansfield at the San Francisco Examiner: Amazing Race is “the only reality show that makes me yell at the TV in a good way: 'Run, run, run!!!’”

CHOICE COMMENTS

Other critics (at least those who didn’t disparage the entire genre and decline to cast a vote) touted some other reality favorites:

• “Starting Over definitely deservies its Emmy Award. The stories are always watchable and relateable.” —Shelley Gabert, Emmy magazine

•American Idol. The people have voted. Simple, yet compelling.” —Mark McGuire, Times Union (Albany, N.Y.)

•Survivor, the granddaddy, is still the best. It’s not mean, and everybody involved still seems to remember that it’s just a game.” —Chase Squires, St. Petersburg Times

WORST SHOW: Fear Factor

Although critics love to champion TV shows they dearly love, there’s one thing they seem to relish even more: shredding really bad television. Enough of our respondents were so heartily sick of the stomach-churning challenges of NBC’s Fear Factor that the show eked out a “victory” in this category.

Tom Jicha, veteran critic for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel was one of the voters who went nuclear: “Fear Factor demeans and dehumanizes weak souls by taking advantage of the knowledge that some people will do anything to be on TV.”

But TV, alas, is a veritable banquet of contenders for the “worst” distinction, so we thought we’d just provide a sampling of the shows that had writers unsheathing their sharpest knives:

• The Insider is puerile, mean-spirited, manipulative, celebrity-obsessed, unfair, hypocritical—all while being spectacularly lightweight and brainless. The Insider is absolutely horrific, and everyone involved should be embarrassed.” —Rick Kushman, Sacramento Bee

• Trading Spouses. Worst example of mates as commodities, cast for maximum trailer-trash values. Barf.” —Linda Haugsted, Multichannel News

• The Simple Life. I’m not sure what bothers me more: the fact that this obviously scripted, or at least highly staged, show is passed off as 'reality,’ in some way, or the contempt that both Paris and Nicole and the behind-the-camera people seem to have for the everyday folks with whom they come in contact. It’s really depressing to watch.” —Rick Porter, Zap2it.com

• Britney & Kevin: Chaotic. I watched it for one episode, and I don’t think I ever regained the IQ points that drained away during those 30 minutes.” —Melanie McFarland, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

• Television is littered with soul-sucking lameness. There’s just too much failure even to contemplate. It’s a miracle no critic has leapt from a building or a bridge.” —Tim Goodman, San Francisco Chronicle

“Winner”: Fear Factor, NBC, 11%
The Simple Life, NBS, 9%
Britney and Kevin: Chaotic, UPN, 8%
American Idol, FOX, 7%
The Bachelor, ABC, 7%

BEST UPCOMING SHOW: Everybody Hates Chris

Several of the writers we polled declined to pick the best of the fall crop, pleading (understandably) that they hadn’t seen all the pilots yet and didn’t want to be unfair to some as-yet-undiscovered gem. But those critics who did venture an opinion showed a strong preference for UPN’s off-beat comedy Everybody Hates Chris, which features comedian Chris Rock’s voiceover narration of his hardly idyllic but comedy-rich childhood.

“Everybody Hates Chris is spit-take funny,” said Times Union’s Mark McGuire, a sentiment shared by many people who’ve been able to snag one of the tapes of the pilot, which have been passed around like mad in newspaper and magazine offices around the country for the past couple of months.

“I call it the anti-Everybody Loves Raymond. It’s wise and funny and, as with Arrested Development, brilliantly constructed,” said CanWest News Service’s Alex Strachan.

And then there was the response from the San Francisco Examiner’s Sonia Mansfield: “UPN’s Everybody Hates Chris. Hilarious. I’m sure it will be cancelled immediately.”

Other shows that critics are looking forward to include NBC’s My Name Is Earl, about a cretinous ne’er-do-well trying to right a lifetime of wrongs, and ABC’s Commander in Chief (“Geena Davis and Donald Sutherland are spectacular together,” says Myers Report’s Ed Martin).

B&C contributor Paige Albiniak sums up the outlook for this fall by recognizing that critics might have been spoiled by 2004-05: “We can only dream of having another TV season this year like last. It’s rare to have so many break-out hits in one year on one slumping network like ABC. It just shows that broadcast TV isn’t going away.”

Winner: Everyone Hates Chris, UPN, 27%
My Name Is Earl, NBS, 15%
Commander In Chief, ABC, 9%
Invasion, ABC, 5%
Prison Break, FOX, 4%
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A Series With Chutzpah:
Desperate Housewives is a fun series with extraordinary writing. You never know what’s going to happen, and, just when you think you have it figured out, the series throws you a curve. It’s never too heavy and never too light. It offers a terrific balance of comedy and, yes, unexpected drama. Never dull and a number-one attention grabber, Desperate Housewives is unusual enough it may become one of the very best series of all time.
Who could predict that this series would create such a sensation that viewers would all but quit talking about when Sundays would be rescued by The Sopranos’ return to HBO?
It’s difficult to discover finely honed, ingenious writing on television that never loses an audience’s interest. Desperate Housewives keeps an audience on its toes. Writer/creator Marc Cherry even manages to achieve suspense with hilarity. And without beating around the bush, the series depicts what millions of women often secretly wish to say or do but don’t have the chutzpah to pull off.
--Rodi Alexander, television critic for the Bergen (N.J.) Newspaper Group.

Winner: Desperate Housewives, ABC, 19%
Lost, ABC, 17%
Deadwood, HBO, 11%
The Daily Show, Comedy Central, 7%
Gilmore Girls, The WB, 5%
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Lost crushes the clichés:
Lost is the endpoint of some evolutionary moment in TV history, where the complications that we learned to handle in reality TV finally informed the most fantastical scripts.
Think of all the old saws that are disproved through one show: Audiences won’t tolerate subtitles; mysteries need to be quickly resolved; characters have to be American in appearance and accent and travel only to familiar places; and you can’t allow flashbacks to be a regular feature. Lost dispensed with any such executive objections. (ABC even dispensed with the executives who dispensed with such objections, but that’s another story.)
The dozen or so interwoven storylines prove the theory, popularized in Steven Johnson’s new book (Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter), that TV-trained brains can juggle many different backstories and subplots. The casting of unknowns has resulted in a troupe of actors who seem eager but appropriately uncomfortable in their surroundings.
The only problem: Runaway plotlines threaten a fantastically shaky narrative. (In the finale, I’d have been happier if that cracked-open hatch led not to a limitless tunnel but instead to a shallow grave for those dopey polar bears—two wacked-out mysteries done away with at once!) By midseason, the show’s panting fans and doubting critics clamored for some character to be killed off. But this was not bloodlust, since there are plenty of places to view the escalating prime time body count. It was a plea to stop the contrived teases that crop up in the last five minutes with yet another major character rescued from death’s clutches. This kind of story-telling threatened to turn a vivid survival story into a comic book.
The show does best when it learns from its true ancestor, Survivor, where contestants endure true physical anguish, slowly reveal their biases and motives, and tread carefully in a weird new world—and where anybody can be eliminated at any time.
--Ned Martel frequently writes about television and is the deputy editor of Men’s Vogue.
Winner: Lost, ABC, 26%
Deadwood, HBO, 23%
Rescue Me, FX, 8%
The Wire, HBO, 7%
24, Fox, 6%
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Cruel, and Funny Too:
Arrested Development isn’t just the best comedy on television right now; it’s one of the best ever.
If you go by what show makes you laugh the most—a reasonable requirement for best comedy, seems like—there’s just no contest. Like The Simpsons in its glory days, Arrested Development is so dense with jokes and gags that it rewards repeated viewings. And these aren’t just little “aha!” moments, but laugh-out-loud discoveries that Mitchell Hurwitz and his team of writers cook up week after week.
I’ve got a theory that, with great shows, your favorite character changes from time to time, maybe even from week to week. That’s certainly the case here: One week, failed “illusionist” Gob (Will Arnett) is my favorite; another week, momma’s boy Buster (Tony Hale), another, self-obsessed matriarch Lucille (Jessica Walter). And Jason Bateman is always a great anchor of (almost) sanity as Michael, who, if he doesn’t exactly hold the family together, at least keeps it from falling completely apart.
Arrested Development, unlike so many other comedies on the air, doesn’t use the half-hour format as just a joke-delivery system; instead, it’s a show that’s actually about something—in this case, a twisted-beyond-repair family. We care about these characters and want to see them again, even if it’s only so that they can fall on their faces (or worse) again.
And if that’s laughing at someone else’s misfortunes, well, so be it. At least it’s laughing, which is more than what you can say about the reaction you get from most of today’s television’s comedies.
--Bill Goodykoontz is the television critic for The Arizona Republic.
Winner: Arrested Development, FOX, 29%
Desperate Gousewives, ABC, 17%
Entourage, HBO, 10%
Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 8%
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Smart Is Its Own Reward:
Amazing Race is an ingenious format—part travelogue, part psychodrama—with less emphasis on backstabbing and intentional humiliation and more attention to positive human interaction. Thankfully, it’s less focused on yuppie values than The Apprentice, less preoccupied with sex as a competitive weapon than the dating shows, and less obsessed with instant stardom than too many others are.
Race rewards smarts, trust and collaboration. And the ages, body types and orientations of the players defy predictions.
Now if we could just get the contenders to understand that screaming in English won’t make them better understood by the non-English-speaking natives of the countries they’re racing through.
---Joanne Ostrow is the television critic for The Denver Post.
Winner: The Amazing Race, CBS, 45%
Survivor, CBS, 11%
American Idol, FOX, 9%
America's Next Top Model, UPN, 4%
Project Runway, FOX, 4%

TV Week’s Summer 2005 Critics Poll
'Lost' Reappears Atop Favorites 'Housewives' No. 2;
'Chaotic' Voted Worst; Struggling NBC Least Improved Again
By James Hibberd TVWeek.com

Repeating its January performance, ABC's character-driven sci-fi drama "Lost" topped TelevisionWeek's semiannual Critics Poll, again besting runner-up and ABC stablemate "Desperate Housewives."

The continued critical praise for both shows helped ABC win honors as the most improved network for the second consecutive poll. NBC was named least improved, also for the second time in a row.

UPN's "Britney and Kevin: Chaotic," a collection of amateur home movies shot by pop singer Britney Spears and husband Kevin Federline, was voted worst show by the critics, who had no shortage of scathing critiques.

"Amazing Race" was once again named favorite reality series, while NBC's "Fear Factor" was voted the least favorite.

Cable TV dominated the list of the best movies, while broadcast dominated the list of the worst.

Sixty-two television critics weighed in for the 42nd installment of the survey, which ranks the best and worst series; movies, miniseries or specials; reality shows; and the most improved and least improved networks.

Last winter, "Lost" led the series poll a scant few months after its debut. This time critics returned to praise the show's blend of eerie storytelling and compelling characters. Some, however, tempered their comments with criticism of the show's May finale.

"For its many complex, resonant characters, its lush look, its tight innovative storytelling, and for being so totally different," wrote Rob Salem of The Toronto Star, explaining why the show was his No. 1 choice. "All that being said, the finale really ticked me off."

Countered TV Guide's Matt Roush: "Some people were put off by the season finale, which naturally refused to answer almost any of the show's many ongoing questions. But I wasn't frustrated, I was mesmerized. From the triumphant pilot episode through the spooky, scream-inducing finale, 'Lost' had an amazing freshman season."

Another success story was the second season of HBO's neo-Western drama "Deadwood," which rose from No. 7 a year ago to third place in the latest poll. Critics seemed to be in a contest to find words of praise worthy of the show's standards of literary eloquence.

Ellen Gray of The Philadelphia Daily News wrote: "Not only has David Milch surpassed 'The Sopranos'' David Chase but he's proven that the liberties he's taken with language amount to true poetic license. Even if the characters and story lines weren't the most vivid on television-ever-"Deadwood" would be a pure pleasure to listen to, with the profanity that once seemed so startling now playing as notes in an opera about the Old West."

Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle came back with this description: "Shakespeare in the mud-with a gun and mouth that always go off."

The fourth season of FX's cop drama "The Shield," which saw the addition of Glenn Close as a series regular, repeated the show's No. 5 ranking, same as last summer.

"Riveting cop drama just got better," wrote Charlie McCollum of the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News. "Not only was the writing and storytelling consistently raw and edgy, but the show got superior performances from newcomers Glenn Close and Anthony Anderson."

Once again making an appearance in the top 10, at No. 8, was Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart."

"I've run out of great things to say about Jon Stewart," wrote Mr. Goodman, who then thought of another: "He's just about the best person in the universe to let into your house every night."

Aside from "The Daily Show," "The Shield," "Deadwood" and "Rescue Me," the top 20 series were all from broadcast networks, representing a resurgence after the encroachment of cable programs into the poll in recent years. Last summer half of the top series were from cable, dominated by HBO and Comedy Central.

One returning stalwart is Fox's thriller "24," which despite having "its best season since year one," according to Mr. McCollum, came in at No. 7, down a bit from last summer's No. 6 ranking.

The debut season of Fox's medical drama "House," however, has grown on critics since its fall debut. After coming in 10th in the winter poll it rose to No. 6 this time around. "A fascinating central character portrayed by a brilliant actor as well as gripping drama and absorbing moral quandaries," wrote David Kronke of the Los Angeles Daily News.

A few critics expressed relief that last year's second-ranked "Arrested Development" would return for a third season. "You can watch a single episode five or six times and still not pick out every reference in it," wrote Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic. "Give a lot of credit to Fox for bringing it back."

The Horror of 'Britney'

Critics often attest that pans are more fun to write than raves, but comments about this season's worst shows were somewhat scarce.

One exception was UPN's "Britney and Kevin: Chaotic," voted worst series by the critics.

"Indulgent and tawdry home-movie display of self-absorbed self-love. What was this doing on a broadcast network, even UPN?" wrote Mr. Roush.

"A reality show so bad it actually sucks intelligence from viewers," wrote Sonia Mansfield of the San Francisco Examiner.

A few critics seemed to resent UPN, which has received critical support for "Veronica Mars" and "America's Next Top Model," for airing the series.

"Note to UPN," addressed Melanie McFarland of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "We gave you good reviews. We did our best to persuade people to watch your network. Why would you do this to us?"

Runners-up for TV's worst include Fox's Pamela Anderson sitcom "Stacked" and Fox's "The Simple Life."

"Please put these women to rest," wrote Jay Handelman of the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune, referring to "Simple Life's" Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. "They were funny for a week, until it became obvious they were screwing things up intentionally. Now the joke's on viewers who keep tuning in."

Disastrous Movies

Critics' picks for best and worst movie, miniseries or special showed a clear divide: Eight of the 10 best picks were from cable networks, while nine of the 10 worst were from broadcast.

The best list included selections such as HBO's top-ranked "Lackawanna Blues" ("a lovely memory piece about a faded way of life," wrote Mr. Roush) and Sundance Channel's "The Staircase" ("an astonishing documentary miniseries about a bizarre and lurid murder trial from the defendant's point of view," wrote Mr. Kronke). The highest-ranking broadcast selection was CBS's "Elvis" biopic, in 10th place. PBS's "Island at War" ranked sixth.

The race for the top spot on the worst list was a tight one, between CBS's dual nature-run-amok movies "Locusts" ("if only because the super-breeder locusts were suddenly rendered sterile after the big stupid finish," wrote Pat St. Germain of The Winnipeg [Manitoba] Sun) and "Spring Break Shark Attack" ("so bad it was almost good, but it wasn't self-aware enough to slide into campy guilty pleasure," wrote Mr. McCollum).

Coming in third on the worst list was NBC's "Hercules," which Tim Clodfelter of the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal wrote was "so poorly promoted and lackluster it was like a conspiracy to keep viewers away."

The only cable offering able to make it onto the worst list was Oxygen's "Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber."

Networks Ranked

ABC was once again named the most improved network, thanks to the continued quality of shows such as "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives." Still, several ABC fans knocked the network for quickly canceling its detective drama "Eyes."

"'Eyes' was a far too short-lived show that was stylish, witty and had an intriguing serialized story," wrote Mr. Kronke.

Concurred Dave Walker of The New Orleans Times-Picayune: "Too bad about 'Eyes,' which I thought had the best pilot of them all."

As in the winter 2005 poll, NBC was named least improved after failing to produce any new hits. This time, though, NBC's critics took aim more squarely at NBC Universal Television Group President Jeffrey Zucker, blaming the network's decline on poor leadership.

"It wasn't a free fall," Mr. Goodman wrote. "It was like they were shot in the head by a sniper and dropped to the ground in a clump. Nice shot, Jeff."

Added Neal Justin of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "NBC got cocky, plain and simple. They've been down before and recovered, but not without a keen and knowing leader in their programming department. So far, that person hasn't emerged."

Jonathan Storm of the Philadelphia Inquirer noted that The WB, which has lost ground to main competitor UPN, hasn't exactly had a stellar season either.

"The WB used to be hot and trendy, and is now gasping for breath," he wrote.

Reality's Best and Worst

"Amazing Race" has twice won the Emmy for best reality series and keeps topping TelevisionWeek's reality show rankings. Critics frequently praise the show for providing high drama and suspense without degrading its participants.

"Every week, 'The Amazing Race' has me on the edge of my couch yelling, 'Run, damn you, run!'" wrote Ms. Mansfield. "The only other show that results in me yelling at the screen is 'The Real World,' and it goes something like this: 'Ahh, who are you people?' What's wrong with you?'"

"American Idol" and "Survivor" also made the best reality list.

"Fear Factor," which came in fifth on the worst shows list, topped the worst reality series list. In arguably the best barb of the survey, Chase Squires of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times managed to knock both the show and its contestants when he wrote: "Didn't we used to get in trouble for making the 'special' kid eat bugs?"

Critics seem to have turned on NBC's "The Apprentice," which tied for second-worst reality show (with ABC's "The Bachelor") and was the ninth-worst show overall. A year ago "The Apprentice" was ranked the eighth-best show. Citing the increasing number of product placements on the series, Mr. Justin wrote, "The once-enjoyable 'Apprentice' has turned into the Home Shopping Network."

Added Matt Zoller Seitz of The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.: "A weekly spectacle of institutionalized incompetence, dishonesty and ass kissing."

A few shows received votes despite being ineligible for the survey, having not aired originals since Jan. 3, 2005. FX's "Rescue Me," which was in reruns this year, came in at No. 18 on the best series list. HBO's "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" and Sundance Channel's "The Staircase" both were among critics' favorite movies/miniseries/specials, as was BBC's "The Office Special," which last was televised Dec. 25, 2004. Fox's ineligible surgical makeover reality series "The Swan," a former two-time worst reality series winner, snagged several votes again in this go-round.

Comcast aiming to control the content it delivers

By Tony GnoffoPhiladelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES - When former Disney executive Charles Hirschhorn had an idea for a new TV network, he called one of his old Disney associates.

Stephen B. Burke, Comcast Corp.'s chief operating officer and the president of its cable business, was driving home when Hirschhorn reached him on his cell phone and announced that he was coming to Philadelphia to pitch an idea.

Burke recalled the conversation like this: "I said, 'Before you waste the airfare, why don't you tell me what you have in mind?' And he says, 'MTV for video gamers.'

"I pulled the car over to the side of the road and told him to get over here right away."

So was born the G4 Video Game Network.

Philadelphia, Hollywood is calling.

Comcast came up short in its bid last year to buy the Walt Disney Co., that icon of American entertainment. But Burke and Comcast chairman Brian L. Roberts nevertheless have become media moguls of considerable influence.

Their power base is Comcast's huge audience: the 21.6 million households that subscribe to the company's cable service. They give any channel owned or blessed by Comcast instant traction - a place on Comcast's vast national stage.

That alone gives Comcast a lot of influence. But Comcast wants a piece of the action, too - the ability to own the programming it once merely delivered.

"Comcast wants to leverage its control of the pipes to gain control over the content," said Ben Scott, policy director for Free Press, a media-watchdog group critical of Comcast's increasing power.

But the same statement could be taken as a compliment, had it come from a Wall Street analyst.

"Comcast ought to own content," said Michael A. Kupinski, a cable and telecommunications analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis. "Content drives demand."

Comcast today owns 84 percent of Hirschhorn's G4 network, which claims to attract a higher concentration of 18- to 34-year-old males - a group advertisers love - than even ESPN. It also owns 61 percent of E!

Entertainment and its sister network, the Style Channel. It owns 100 percent of the Golf Channel, the Outdoor Life Network and AZN, a network recently refocused on an Asian American audience. Five regional sports networks, including Comcast SportsNet in the Philadelphia area, also are owned or controlled by Comcast.

Together, Comcast's channels generated $787 million in revenue for the company in 2004 - less than 4 percent of the company's overall revenue.

In addition to networks, Comcast owns movies and TV shows - thousands of them - thanks to a partnership it formed with Sony last year to purchase the MGM film and video library. In June, Comcast named an executive to create new channels to highlight that library.

But with all those channels and all those cable subscribers, critics such as Scott see an unfair advantage - and peril for the marketplace of ideas.

The Federal Communications Commission, which is already reviewing Comcast's deal with Time Warner Inc. to buy the bankrupt Adelphia Communications Corp., has also promised to review its media-ownership laws. Comcast could come under scrutiny in that proceeding, too.

"When Time Warner and Comcast get behind a channel, it has a 100 percent chance of succeeding," said Doron Gorshein, who is trying to launch an independent cable channel. "If Comcast and Time Warner don't get behind a channel, it has almost zero chance of succeeding."

Gorshein said his America Channel, which aims to feature independently produced documentaries about life in the United States, is among those that have been rejected by Comcast and Time Warner. Together, the two cable operators serve about half of all households that receive cable or satellite TV. And their reach will grow if their proposed purchase of Adelphia is approved.

Gorshein has filed a statement with the FCC opposing the deal. “I do not believe that a small group of four or five companies ought to have domain over creativity in America," he said.

The marketplace has more influence over creativity than Comcast, responded David L. Cohen, a Comcast executive vice president who once served as chief of staff to former Mayor Ed Rendell.

"It's about content," Cohen said. "It's about putting on programs that people want to see."

He offered a litany of programming "enabled by cable - 24/7 news, C-Span, ethnic programming."

"Comcast is the largest distributor of cable TV, but but none of the... networks in which it is invested are among the 20 highest-rated," Cohen said.

Yet most of those top cable networks are owned by a handful of media companies, including GE, Disney, Time Warner Inc., NewsCorp, and Viacom Inc.

Critics also worry that Comcast - and other cable companies that own cable channels - will try to keep those channels off satellite systems and TV systems promised by phone companies in the coming years.

DirecTV has accused Comcast and several of its cable partners of doing just that. In a complaint to the FCC, DirecTV says fees charged to satellite systems to carry the iN Demand High Definition movie network are higher than those charged to cable firms. iN Demand is owned by Comcast, Time Warner and Charter Communications Inc.

In response to the complaint, iN Demand issued a statement saying that its "pricing policies are in full compliance with FCC rules and regulations" and that it is "confident that the FCC will find in our favor."

Burke said Comcast is interested in delivering the best cable channels to its subscribers, without regard to whether it has a stake in the channel. And, he said, it is to Comcast's advantage to get its networks delivered to as many viewers as it can - even viewers who subscribe to satellite TV.

Gorshein says he remains unconvinced. "Comcast has a strong disincentive to launch independent channels," he said. "The benefit to a cable operator from owning a channel far outweighs the incremental benefit it may get from simply carrying a channel owned by an independent company."

Senate Panel Commits to Fund Public Broadcasting
But Demands Elimination of Perceived Bias
By Doug Halonen TVWeek.com July 11, 2005

Public broadcasting won a key commitment Monday for full federal funding in the Senate, but Republican leaders made clear they expect public broadcasters to eliminate what they perceive as political bias in PBS and NPR programming.

The GOP's messenger was Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and the venue was a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's federal funding for next year. Sen. Stevens, who said he supports full federal funding for public broadcasting, warned that a recent effort by Republicans in the House to slash public broadcasting's federal funding had been fueled by a GOP perception that some PBS and NPR programming is biased toward a liberal viewpoint -a perception that the influential lawmaker said he shared.

"The [CPB] board's problem is to get rid of that [bias on public broadcast programming] and restore the balance that existed in the past in this system," Sen. Stevens said. "I think [the Senate's] job is to put money back and convince [GOP leaders in the House] that there has been a wakening call, that the bells have rung and that people have heard the message and we're all trying to make this system work," Sen. Stevens said.

In an interview, Kenneth Tomlinson, CPB's Republican chairman, who testified at the hearing, said Sen. Steven's remarks offered vindication for his controversial efforts to monitor and document political bias on some public broadcasting shows. "As Sen. Stevens said, let's have no bias, and if we do have bias on one side, then let's bring in bias from the other side in common-sense balance," Mr. Tomlinson said.

Jeff Chester, executive director of the watchdog Center for Digital Democracy, said in response, "The Republicans are going to use the power of the purse to force public broadcasting to toe the line." The Senate appropriations subcommittee is slated to vote on CPB's federal funding Tuesday.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who chairs the subcommittee, said content-related amendments to the bill were not expected. In the wake of a controversial publicity campaign by PBS and National Public Radio stations, the House voted late last month to restore $100 million of cuts proposed for CPB's $400 million budget next year, but declined to provide more than $100 million that public broadcasters want for other programs.

Daytime actress' dance card is full
"General Hospital's" Kelly Monaco, who won on last week's prime-time "Dancing With the Stars," gets offers beyond the soaps
By Merrill Balassone Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 12, 2005

It's been a dizzying time for Kelly Monaco — both on and off the dance floor.

Since the "General Hospital" actress was declared the winner of ABC's ballroom dancing reality series "Dancing With the Stars" last week, Monaco's schedule has included making the rounds of talk shows ("Larry King Live," "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," among others), news and entertainment shows and adjusting to her increased celebrity.

"It's changed my so-called status immensely," she said.

Until last week, the 29-year-old Monaco was best known for her role as Sam McCall on ABC's daytime soap "General Hospital." She also starred as Livvie Locke in the spinoff series "Port Charles," for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy. But she said that her street recognition has skyrocketed since her prime-time stint.

"Especially being in L.A., you see Tom Cruise on the street, so who cares about Kelly Monaco from 'General Hospital?' " Monaco said in an interview last week. "But now, there's not one place where someone hasn't had a really wonderful comment to say about the show.

"The craziest thing is that it puts me in a very vulnerable situation; they're commenting on me and not on a character, which is very different from what I'm used to."

Wednesday night's live telecast drew more than 22 million viewers as Monaco and her professional dancing partner, Alec Mazo, drew three perfect 10s for their freestyle dance. Monaco practiced at least three hours a day with Mazo over the course of the six-week series, becoming the Cinderella story as the pair rose from the bottom of the rankings.

As soon as Monaco began competing in ABC's top-rated show, "General Hospital's" public relations office began fielding a flood of calls expressing interest in the actress. And after Monaco was crowned the winner of "Dancing With the Stars," she said she received offers of prime-time shows and the chance to host her own talk show. Monaco wouldn't divulge specifics, but said for now she is committed to her role on "General Hospital." She is currently filming episodes set to air in August.

Monaco had little time to adjust to her higher profile and the hectic schedule that would accompany it. Just hours after the "Dancing With the Stars" wrap party, she filmed a satellite feed interview with CBS at 2:30 a.m., followed by interviews with radio stations, "Entertainment Tonight," "Larry King Live" and other shows, on top of her normal 10-hour workday at "General Hospital."

Online blogs also began to dredge up her past, posting photos of the star when she posed for Playboy in April 1997 as Playmate of the Month.

"They act like I'm hiding it," she said. "But it's old news and nothing that I'm ashamed of or embarrassed by. I've done a lot of things in my career since then."

For stars of popular reality television shows, the instant prime-time fame can bring pressure to capitalize on the overnight attention.

Kelly Clarkson, winner of the first season of "American Idol," embarked on a 41-city tour and released her first single less than two weeks after the show's live finale in September 2002.

Fellow "Dancing With the Stars" competitor Trista Sutter, 29, was first spurned as one of the two final women in ABC's reality series "The Bachelor," then became the first "Bachelorette," marrying fireman Ryan Sutter in a million-dollar wedding televised by ABC.

Her third shot at reality TV came with "Dancing With the Stars," where she was eliminated in the second week.

But Monaco said she doesn't feel the need to jump on any offers immediately and is enjoying the attention for the time being.

"I'm living in the moment, you know?" she said. "It's all I can do. If tomorrow no one cares, I'll be fine."

Fall TV Preview: Critical test for new shows starts now
By MELANIE MCFARLAND SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER TELEVISION CRITIC Tuesday, July 12, 2005

By now, you probably have seen commercials for fall's new television shows, and may be bewitched at the mention of titles such as "Surface," "Ghost Whisperer" or, heaven save us all, "Freddie."

What you want to know is whether any are worth watching. That's hard to say right now. But three weeks covering the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Los Angeles should leave me better equipped to answer that question for you.

Let me explain. On press tour, networks put on a performance bonanza for cranky critics, marching out the producers, writers and stars responsible for the 33 pilots premiering on their schedules in a couple of months.

The stars smile. The writers and producers talk about the bold, innovative directions in which they intend to take their series. Executives lie about how fresh and wonderful they all are, with cliches flying so fast and furious ("We decided to go in a different direction"; "pushing the envelope"; "strongest season ever") that a few years back, some critics took to playing "bingo." We have to do something to remain sane.

Games aside, press tour gives us a rare peek under the hood so we can see if these shiny new models have it where it counts. Given the failure rate in television, most shows don't. You can smell the failure on some of them long before their debut. With others, it's not so obvious.

That's especially true this time, when in production terms, the overall average is pretty good, but on the scale of watchability, the overall goods are fairly average.

For instance, we have no idea whether Geena Davis, who did a bang-up job defending America's interests as covert assassin Charly Baltimore in 1996's underappreciated "The Long Kiss Goodnight," can win over viewers playing President Mackenzie Allen in ABC's "Commander-in-Chief."

And in a fall that's raining aliens ("Threshold," "Invasion," "Surface") and commitment issues ("Out of Practice," "How I Met Your Mother," "Hot Properties"), no pilot has truly won my heart. There's a lot to get your interest piqued, but must-sees this time around -- a "Desperate Housewives," a "Lost" -- appear to be absent.

This is why it'll help to get a good look at the busters running these scows. If the writers can't acquit themselves well to a room full of women and men like me, they probably can't steer 22 episodes of a series either. If an actor's magnetism can't leap off a small conference stage, it sure ain't going soar on television.

So, here's hoping closer examinations of each case give our evaluations a bit more clarity. On the other hand, 18 days of dealing with plastic surgery models and lying executives, along with many other cranky critics, tends to make a television sieve like me even more warped than she already was. By the end, I think I'll be able to relate to Fox's "Prison Break" much more than I already do.

That's where our shiny new press tour blog comes in. You see, this marathon junket is kind of like a mullet. It's all business up front, but on the day's backside, the partying, some of it truly tacky, commences. The red carpet rolls out. Stars get loaded. Lips loosen. In some cases, we get fantastic interviews out of it. In others ... well, consider the time I bumped into "Smallville's" Michael Rosenbaum, sporting a Mohawk, at a WB party. He had a drunken conversation with my cleavage about how girls wanted guys to treat them badly. Then he whined about wanting to settle down. A romantic, that one.

Anyway, that kind of platinum never made it into the paper during tours past. But in the merry wilderness of the Internet, we can go nuts with it, and you can monitor my sanity slowly slipping away.

To find it, just go to: blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv. It won't all be catty tales, mind you. You'll also find network announcements and useful information that could affect your viewing plans, particularly during the first two days of the tour, when PBS gets its turn, and all of us are fresh, bright-eyed and in fine spirits. Not much dish to be had there, we'll bet.

But the dirt should start kicking up two days later, when cable comes to the tour, during which we'll hear about Ricky Gervais' new HBO show and get the lowdown on Kathy Griffin's Bravo series, in addition to other grist. Then the networks slap us around for two weeks, beginning next Tuesday with CBS.

So if you have burning questions and thoughts about television, now's the time to ask by e-mailing tvgal@seattlepi.com because your thoughts are but a click away from an executive or a star's ears.

Plug in and join us for the ride.

Regarding Emmy: A look at the big picture

BY RAY RICHMOND Chicago Sun-Times

The possibility exists each year that there will be a changing of the Emmy guard, a genuine infusion of new blood -- or at least semi-new blood -- in the comedy and drama categories.

Usually it doesn't happen, aside from the occasional hot newcomer crashing the party, but as the race for the 57th annual Primetime Emmy Awards shifts into gear, an authentic transformation of many major categories appears nearly inevitable. Moreover, the network leading this swing isn't HBO but -- against all odds -- ABC.

Nominations for this year's Primetime Emmys will be announced Thursday in typical fashion (8:35 AM ET at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood). The highest-profile statuettes will be dispensed Sept. 18 on CBS.

For the first time in a while, HBO isn't moving into Emmy season with a stranglehold on the proceedings: Neither ''The Sopranos'' (last year's winner for outstanding drama series) nor annual multiple nominee ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' are eligible for awards attention, in both cases because of a lack of episodes. This, after all, is a network that marches to the beat of its own drum and ignores the traditional seasonal concept.

While HBO does have a strong drama contender in the gritty, profane Western ''Deadwood'' (an 11-time nominee for its first season in 2004), and ''Six Feet Under'' remains a contender (despite no longer being a front-runner), HBO's only hope in comedy is ''Entourage,'' which earned a surprise Golden Globe series nomination this year but isn't considered in the class of such stalwart predecessors as ''The Larry Sanders Show'' and ''Sex and the City.''

If ''Entourage'' doesn't make the cut, which frankly isn't all that far-fetched, it would mark the first time in 13 years that at least one HBO comedy does not appear in that series category.

So there won't be a repeat of last year, which between ''Sopranos'' and the much-decorated miniseries ''Angels in America'' saw the proceedings transform into HBO's private party.

This time, there's a better chance for massive attention to go to ABC, which stands to enjoy its best Emmy nomination showing in at least a decade, thanks to its hot freshman contenders ''Desperate Housewives'' and ''Lost.''

''Housewives'' is poised to preside over a comedy category no longer populated by ''Friends'' and ''Sex,'' with its chief competition expected to come from last year's Emmy darling, Fox's ''Arrested Development.''

In addition, it is not inconceivable that all five ladies from ''Housewives'' could earn performing nominations: Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman and Eva Longoria for lead comedy actress and Nicollette Sheridan for supporting actress.

''Lost,'' meanwhile, is expected to duke it out with ''Deadwood'' in a drama category overflowing with other worthy candidates including CBS' ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' and ''Without a Trace,'' NBC's four-time drama series winner ''The West Wing,'' Fox's ''24'' and the FX trio of ''The Shield,'' ''Nip/Tuck'' and ''Rescue Me.''

In long-form formats, look for HBO to retain its dominant position in the telefilm and miniseries categories with such entries as ''Dirty War,'' ''Empire Falls,'' ''Lackawanna Blues,'' ''The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,'' ''Sometimes in April'' and ''Warm Springs.''

Then there is nonfiction, where many of the usual suspects (CBS' two-time winner ''The Amazing Race'' and ''Survivor,'' NBC's ''The Apprentice'' and Fox's ''American Idol'') will troll for honors alongside some newer faces (ABC's ''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,'' Bravo's ''Celebrity Poker Showdown,'' Discovery's ''Monster Garage'' and NBC's ''The Contender'').

But if there is anything we have come to expect from the Emmys, it's that we shouldn't come to expect anything. It is a kudofest annually rife with puzzling omissions, so while ''Housewives'' and ''Lost'' appear to be locks for big awards attention, it would be inadvisable to call them sure things. Emmy, after all, traditionally favors age over beauty and consistency over heat; the hip and happening still typically stand a better chance at the Golden Globes.

Even a huge nomination total doesn't guarantee a show much more than, well, a huge nomination total. Big wins for a series' first season remain rare, with some recent exceptions being ''Frasier,'' ''The West Wing'' and ''Arrested Development.''

Can Emmy win again?
Let's hope for repeat of 'the fluke'
Bill Goodykoontz The Arizona Republic

The past year in television has been filled with happy flukes, good things found in unusual places. But here's the thing: If flukes happen a few times consistently, they turn into trends. These would be welcome ones. And if things break right when Emmy nominations are announced Thursday, who knows? We could be on our way.

That was the first fluke: Emmy getting it right in September. The idea is simple: Reward the best shows and acting talent on television. Yet somehow things almost always seem to get screwed up somewhere along the way.

But last year offered a glimmer of hope. The Sopranos won for best drama, and Arrested Development won for best comedy. Fitting, since they were the best shows on television that year. As a general rule, the Emmys are a couple of seasons behind, recognizing shows that have peaked and are on the decline (there's a name for this: The West Wing phenomenon; the NBC drama kept on racking up best-drama trophies long after its best-if-used-by date).

Before we plant too wet a kiss on the Emmy voters, let us not forget that James Spader and Allison Janney beat out James Gandolfini and Edie Falco for best actor and actress in a drama. Head scratchers, those. But let's look on the bright side - for now.

Which leads us to another fluke: broadcast networks getting the buzz back. Particularly because of dramas on HBO, that's been the domain of cable shows and reality series for the past few seasons. But thanks mostly to Lost and Desperate Housewives, critics and viewers started talking again about shows you don't have to pay for.

Lost was as inventive and imaginative a drama as TV has seen in years. What's more, it was good, goofy fun. It definitely deserves, and almost certainly will get, a nomination for best drama. Yet the quality of the acting is spread out over such a large ensemble that it dilutes the chances of the individual actors; Matthew Fox and Terry O'Quinn have the best, if somewhat long, shots.

Desperate Housewives, meanwhile, was as much a cultural phenomenon as a television show, following the usual magazine-cover pattern of such things. The stars are friends! Here are their favorite recipes! Here are secrets about their love lives! Trouble in paradise: Teri Hatcher gets too much attention! The stars hate each other!

Whatever. But thanks to the show's surprise boffo ratings, the stars are stars, indeed, no matter how they really feel about each other. Hatcher and Marcia Cross are locks for nominations as best actresses in a comedy (the category the show is expected to compete in); Eva Longoria and Felicity Huffman may score nods, as well.

If there's any justice, so will Kristen Bell. Although the ratings for Veronica Mars were small enough that they existed more as mathematical theory than actual numbers - it airs, after all, on UPN, which bit the bullet and renewed it anyway - Bell was fantastic in the title role. Tough, smart and, somewhere beneath a mask of cynicism, vulnerable, Veronica was the kind of heroine TV doesn't have enough of. Bell deserves a nomination. Whether she gets one will be as good an indication as any whether the winds truly have changed and Emmy is keeping up with what's on TV now or merely relying on reputation and reruns.

Another barometer: the fortunes of Ian McShane, so brilliant as the floridly profane Al Swearengen in Deadwood - which wasn't even nominated last year. Best actor in a drama is a tough category - Denis Leary in the fabulous Rescue Me and Hugh Laurie in House also were outstanding - but McShane has to be considered in the mix; otherwise, what's the point of these things? By flashing snippets of humanity this season, he turned an already gripping performance into a great one.

(McShane's got a high-enough profile that he'll probably nab a nod. Apparently, it's too much to hope for that The Wire, HBO's flat-out great cop drama, will ever be recognized. Despite its genius, it's never gotten a single nomination.)

Beyond the obvious choice of Arrested Development and the is-it-really-a-comedy presence of Housewives, divining the good work in comedies is a tougher slog. Reno 911 is hilarious, but who has seen it? Gilmore Girls enjoyed a rebound from a lackluster season, and Scrubs has always been underrated. Other than that? Eh.

Besides Development, the funniest thing on TV - and almost always the smartest - is The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, but it competes in the variety, music or comedy series category. (Yes, Arrested Development and the others are also comedy series, but that's different. Why? Because they say so.)

It's overstating the case to say the Emmy nominations are a make-or-break affair. Plenty of great shows have never gotten one (see The Wire, above).

But thanks to a weird confluence of quality, hype and luck, TV enjoyed an unusually strong season. Whether that proves to be a fluke - it shouldn't, given the talent of the people involved with the shows, but stranger things have happened - is a debate that can't be settled until next season starts and viewers settle on their choices.

We'll find out by Thursday whether the Emmy Awards' brush with relevance last year was a fluke.

Insiders debate the relative worth of award recognition

BY RAY RICHMOND Chicago Sun-Times

We've all heard repeatedly just how valuable winning an Academy Award is -- to a recipient, to a film, to a studio.

Careers get shot into orbit. The quality of scripts for an Oscar-winning actor increases considerably. The box office for the Oscar-winning film usually enjoys a bounce, sometimes a significant one. Writers and directors experience increased clout and often get their pick of projects after taking home the statuette -- not to mention an ego stroke and bragging rights.

But what about winning a prime-time Emmy? Is there any tangible financial impact on shows that win the statuettes? Do the ratings rise? What about Emmy-winning producers? Does their victory directly translate into a multiyear deal? Are actors who win able to command a bigger paycheck? Are advertisers more inclined to want to peddle their wares on shows that have earned the affections of the Emmy voters?

Perhaps more to the point, do the Emmys really matter beyond the not-inconsequential endorsement of one's peers?

Steven Bochco has logged more time and enjoyed more success at the Emmy dance than any other living producer aside from his protege David E. Kelley, having been nominated 34 times and winning 10 trophies, including top series honors for ''Hill Street Blues'' (four times), ''L.A. Law'' (twice) and ''NYPD Blue'' (once).

His take is that the quality stamp that Emmys impart has been an essential element in his long-term success in the TV business. ''There's no question that winning those Emmys has helped me get other jobs,'' Bochco says. ''It connects you with the best. It's sort of like being a dentist with 'DDS' after your name. If it says 10 Emmys, that means something.''

To Bochco's mind, a brand-new series receiving Emmy recognition often matters more than it would for one that's a known commodity. It certainly had a huge impact on ''Hill Street,'' he recalls, to have had that seminal NBC cop show take home eight Emmys in its first season.

Of course, Emmy attention doesn't always make a significant difference, as in the case of the Fox network comedy ''Arrested Development.'' It won five Emmys in 2004, including best writing and directing, as well as outstanding comedy series. However, any positive ratings impact on the struggling show was minimal at best during its second season.

But the Emmy attention likely fueled Fox's continued faith in ''Arrested'' and helped keep the show in its time period, believes Tom O'Neil, author of The Emmys and founder of the award-handicapping Web site Goldderby.com.

''Emmys have been known to save shows historically,'' O'Neil says. ''The most dramatic example of that may have been 'The Practice,' which no one knew was on when it won for drama series in 1998. 'Hill Street Blues,' 'Cagney & Lacey,' 'All in the Family' and 'Cheers' are all examples of great shows that went on to become classics -- primarily because they got better time slots and more promotion as a result of winning Emmys.

''Then you have the other extreme,'' O'Neil adds, ''where a show like 'Picket Fences' can win twice for series [as it did in 1993 and 1994], and it didn't seem to really help much.''

Sigh where is the Sci -fi HD? So we have to wait until it makes it to UHD or NBC like BSG.

Warning maybe some last season spoilers.

BTW thx for letting me crash the party fredfa ;)

(Sunday, July 10 12:02 AM)
By Kate O'Hare
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Actor Ben Browder had a strange moment not long ago while participating in a photo shoot for his new show, "Stargate SG-1," which launches its ninth season on Friday, July 15 (the same day "Stargate Atlantis" and "Battlestar Galactica" begin their sophomore seasons), on Sci-Fi Channel.

"I was standing there," recalls the actor, who for four seasons played American astronaut John Crichton, who was propelled through a wormhole into uncharted space on Sci-Fi's Friday series "Farscape," "and there was a moment I thought, 'I'm the new one in the mix.' Then I realized, 'No, wait, Sci-Fi Friday night. I've been here longer than everybody else.' Actually, someone commented, 'We got the new guy over here.' I said, 'Sci-Fi Friday night? Were you here in 1999? No? Shut up.'"

With "Stargate" star Richard Dean Anderson scaling back his involvement (although he does appear in two of the first three episodes, at least), Browder is playing new SG-1 team leader Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell (no relation to the same-named actor). He's a fighter pilot who was seriously injured (but not seen) while saving the SG-1 team in an episode called "Lost City."
The SG-1 team -- Brig. Gen. Jack O'Neill (Anderson), Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), Lt. Col. Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and alien Teal'c (Christopher Judge) -- already know Mitchell, and flashbacks will flesh out his history.

After spending years in Australia doing "Farscape," Browder says, "I stepped through a wormhole and wound up in another portion of the universe -- Vancouver."

Browder also reunites with "Farscape" co-star (and on-screen love) Claudia Black, who reprises her "SG-1" role of thief Vala, introduced last season in an episode called "Prometheus Unbound."

"I love working with her," Browder says, "and she really plays a different character, so that part of it is easy. It's good to have someone around that you can occasionally turn to and go, 'How bad was that? Do I need to go again?'"

Also joining the "Stargate SG-1" cast this year for new adventures hopping through alien portals to distant worlds is Beau Bridges ("10.5," "The Agency") as Gen. Henry "Hank" Landry. He comes out of retirement to replace old pal O'Neill as head of Stargate Command.

"You can quote me," Browder says, "as a confidently heterosexual male -- Beau's gorgeous. He's tremendous fun to have around. He knows his business; he's got great stories."

Also on hand in a recurring role is Lou Gossett Jr., as the alien Jaffa leader Gerak.

"The second Lou hits the set," Browder says, "you know you're in the presence of Lou Gossett. Watching Beau and Lou, especially when they're on set, there's some very good lessons for a younger actor."

Although Crichton named his gun Winona, Browder has no plans to name any "Stargate" weaponry.

"Privately. I may have named my weapon," he says, "but that's a John Crichton thing. Crichton is the man who names every inanimate object he can get his hands on. That was his way of making the world less alien and more personal."

While replacing Anderson is a daunting task, Browder feels he's up to it. "Interestingly enough," he says, "I was given a hat the other day that said 'O'Neill' in it. It fit OK. I don't know what that says. As they handed me the hat, and it said 'O'Neill,' I thought, 'I don't know how I feel about this. Ah, it's good. I'll wear it.'"

"But you know what? No one is ever going to replace RDA, what he meant to the show and to the franchise. He came up and shot a couple scenes, so I got to see him in his natural environment."

"Stargate Atlantis" is also shuffling cast members, with Rainbow Sun Francks (Lt. Aiden Ford) becoming a recurring character, and Jason Momoa, as Ronon Dex, joining the team. Also appearing is Mitch Pileggi ("The X-Files") as Col. Steven Caldwell, commander of the Earth warship Daedalus.

"Battlestar Galactica," in its second full season (it launched as a miniseries), faces the challenge of following up its cliffhanger season finale. In the final moments, fighter pilot Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (Grace Park) -- secretly a synthetic human created by the mechanical Cylons -- shot Galactica's Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) in the gut.

Also, Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), president of the civilian government overseeing the ragtag fleet of survivors of a Cylon holocaust, was slapped in the brig for challenging Adama's authority to fulfill an ancient prophecy. She sent fighter pilot Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) back to her devastated home world of Caprica to retrieve an artifact.

"Season one really ends at episode seven [of season two]," series creator Ronald D. Moore says. "Adama's been shot; we have people stranded on the planet Kobol; Kara's back on Caprica; Laura's in jail.

"Adama does not get back on his feet again for several episodes. It's touch and go with him for a while. (First Officer) Tigh's in command. He gets them out of a tight situation in the first episode, but Tigh's not really the guy you want in command of the fleet. He makes some bad choices, and things go from bad to worse.

"Divisions form in the fleet. Laura gets out of jail and leads an insurgency; the fleet is split into two groups. Kara, back on Caprica, encounters a resistance movement. There are a lot of things happening."

Insiders debate the relative worth of award recognition

BY RAY RICHMOND Chicago Sun-Times

We've all heard repeatedly just how valuable winning an Academy Award is -- to a recipient, to a film, to a studio.

Careers get shot into orbit. The quality of scripts for an Oscar-winning actor increases considerably. The box office for the Oscar-winning film usually enjoys a bounce, sometimes a significant one. Writers and directors experience increased clout and often get their pick of projects after taking home the statuette -- not to mention an ego stroke and bragging rights.

But what about winning a prime-time Emmy? Is there any tangible financial impact on shows that win the statuettes? Do the ratings rise? What about Emmy-winning producers? Does their victory directly translate into a multiyear deal? Are actors who win able to command a bigger paycheck? Are advertisers more inclined to want to peddle their wares on shows that have earned the affections of the Emmy voters?

Perhaps more to the point, do the Emmys really matter beyond the not-inconsequential endorsement of one's peers?

Steven Bochco has logged more time and enjoyed more success at the Emmy dance than any other living producer aside from his protege David E. Kelley, having been nominated 34 times and winning 10 trophies, including top series honors for ''Hill Street Blues'' (four times), ''L.A. Law'' (twice) and ''NYPD Blue'' (once).

His take is that the quality stamp that Emmys impart has been an essential element in his long-term success in the TV business. ''There's no question that winning those Emmys has helped me get other jobs,'' Bochco says. ''It connects you with the best. It's sort of like being a dentist with 'DDS' after your name. If it says 10 Emmys, that means something.''

To Bochco's mind, a brand-new series receiving Emmy recognition often matters more than it would for one that's a known commodity. It certainly had a huge impact on ''Hill Street,'' he recalls, to have had that seminal NBC cop show take home eight Emmys in its first season.

Of course, Emmy attention doesn't always make a significant difference, as in the case of the Fox network comedy ''Arrested Development.'' It won five Emmys in 2004, including best writing and directing, as well as outstanding comedy series. However, any positive ratings impact on the struggling show was minimal at best during its second season.

But the Emmy attention likely fueled Fox's continued faith in ''Arrested'' and helped keep the show in its time period, believes Tom O'Neil, author of The Emmys and founder of the award-handicapping Web site Goldderby.com.

''Emmys have been known to save shows historically,'' O'Neil says. ''The most dramatic example of that may have been 'The Practice,' which no one knew was on when it won for drama series in 1998. 'Hill Street Blues,' 'Cagney & Lacey,' 'All in the Family' and 'Cheers' are all examples of great shows that went on to become classics -- primarily because they got better time slots and more promotion as a result of winning Emmys.

''Then you have the other extreme,'' O'Neil adds, ''where a show like 'Picket Fences' can win twice for series [as it did in 1993 and 1994], and it didn't seem to really help much.''

Will we miss you? Go away and we'll let you know

By VIRGINIA ROHAN The (Bergen County, NJ) Record STAFF WRITER

B-u-d-d-d-d-y, can you spare a tip?

How do you make a comeback?

"I think the best thing to do is just go away for a while," says Pauly Shore, onetime MTV wonder boy, who'll suddenly reappear this week in the new TBS reality series, "Minding the Store."

Can't argue with that advice. As "Desperate Housewives" Teri Hatcher, Nicollette Sheridan and Marcia Cross discovered this past season, everything old does seem new again if it's been in mothballs for a while. Of course, celebrities don't usually pass into oblivion by choice. But their attempts to reclaim the spotlight are quite deliberate - and these days, quite evident.

Comebacks, both real and fictional, are all over television.

Two weeks ago, Bobby Brown returned from all-but-supermarket-tabloid obscurity with "Being Bobby Brown" - drawing big ratings for Bravo - and on Sunday, Shore tosses his hat back in the ring with "Minding the Store," which follows his reluctant takeover of his family's business - L.A.'s famed The Comedy Store.

"All the stuff stems from me not wanting to run it, but I've got it dropped in my lap," Shore says, adding candidly, "I want to be starring in movies, but that ain't happening right now." Shore is so eager to get people to tune in, he's even offering a sort of money-back guarantee: $1 to any viewer who watches the show and fails to laugh.

Will the new show pay off?

"Weirder things have happened," says Shore. "Look at our girl Mariah Carey. Two years, we hated her. Now, we love her."

Unscripted series have become such a popular comeback platform for onetime successes that they've spawned a whole sub-genre, dubbed celebreality. Ozzy Osbourne revived his career on MTV, fallen "Angel" Farrah Fawcett tried to take flight with a TV Land venture, and a whole slew of the forgotten have come out of the woodwork to appear on shows like "Celebrity Mole," "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here" and "The Surreal Life." Two "Surreal" roomies, Flava Flav and Brigitte Nielsen, even secured their own VH1 spinoff show, "Strange Love."

Musical artists and groups are getting in on the act, too. Recently, a host of former big shots returned to sing their greatest hits on NBC's "Hit Me Baby One More Time." Tonight, CBS kicks off a search for the new lead singer of the band INXS, which suffered a huge blow when charismatic Michael Hutchence committed suicide in 1997.

On July 27, UPN airs "R U The Girl With T-Boz & Chilli," a "summer dramality" series in which the remaining members of TLC - who lost Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes in a fatal 2002 car accident - "head out across the country to search for that one special girl to come along with them as they embark on the next stage of their careers."

Later this summer, Pamela Anderson's ex will pop up in NBC's "Tommy Lee Goes to College," and in the fall, that network will launch a second edition of "The Apprentice," fronted by domestic diva-turned-jailbird Martha Stewart.

And then there's the fictional front. For her first post-"Friends" television acting gig, Lisa Kudrow co-created HBO's "The Comeback" with old pal Michael Patrick King ("Sex and the City"). Kudrow plays former B-list actress Valerie Cherish, who's so desperate to win a role on a network comedy, she agrees to let cameras trail her around for a companion reality show.

"It's just right for a country where absolutely everyone is either a celebrity or a celebrity making a comeback," King told the Los Angeles Daily News recently.

HBO's fictional "Entourage" includes a hilarious washed up actor character named Johnny "Drama" Chase, who once appeared on shows like "Melrose Place" and "Pacific Blue," and is looking to get "back in the game." Sadly, he's now better known as the half brother of the dreamy Hollywood star (Adrian Grenier). It's even funnier since Drama is played by Kevin Dillon, brother of far more famous Matt Dillon.

And earlier this year, Kirstie Alley emerged from a lean time in her career with "Fat Actress," a semi-fictionalized comedy about her attempts, as a plus-size actress, to find work in a town of Size 2s.

Why are comebacks so popular right now?

To be sure, part of it is voyeuristic intrigue of seeing someone who's willing to do anything to be famous again. As Kudrow, who studied episodes of reality shows featuring C-listers like Anna Nicole Smith, told Variety, "I've always been fascinated by people who are so willing and ready to show exactly who they are, or a version of themselves they think is flattering."

In "The Comeback" pilot, Kim Fields ("The Facts of Life"), who's ripe for a revival herself, was even more blunt, asking, "Who is so desperate for a comeback that they actually want cameras to follow them around all day?"

Good question.

In "Being Bobby Brown," the crew even follows Brown into a courtroom. And, in a later episode, he shares way too much information about how he has helped wife Whitney Houston alleviate her constipation problems.

Shore readily shares that in his series, there are scenes of him "butting heads" with his mother, Mitzi Shore, and "stuff about my love life." He even sees a sex therapist, but says, "I'm a comedian, so I make it funny. It's not like I start crying."

Shore believes that "people like comebacks" because they show how life can turn around on a dime.
"If the show's a hit and it catches on, the agents will start coming after me," Shore says. "I've been away long enough."

Shore, who started as a stand-up comic, rocketed to superstardom in 1990 with his MTV show "Totally Pauly." It ran for four years and opened the door for his own HBO special, as well as roles in TV shows and movies, including the wildly popular "Encino Man." But he wore out his welcome with silly showcase films like "Son-in-Law" (1993), "In the Army Now" (1994), "Jury Duty" (1995), "Bio-Dome" (1996), and "The Curse of Inferno" (1997), not to mention his dreadful short-lived Fox sitcom "Pauly" (1997).

By 2003, he'd co-written and directed the self-mockumentary, "Pauly Shore is Dead."

He chalks it all up to changing times.

"I was really outrageous, which was great for a while," says Shore.

Now 37, and sporting shorter hair and at times even a suit and tie, he'd "love to do what Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx were able to do," in terms of transitioning to more serious roles, and plans to reinvent himself on his new show. "I think people are going to be surprised," Shore says. "People have a pre-conceived notion of who I am, and what I don't want to do is come out on the show and have people say, 'He's doing what he did 10 to 15 years ago.' I'm not that guy."

In his "Store," he says, "I'm the straight man and everyone else is just crazy."

Given the plethora of reality series, it would seemingly be easier to make a comeback these days than in yesteryear.

But Shore isn't so sure.

"I think it's different for everyone," he says. "I don't think there's a formula."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back and better than ever?

Maybe it's true that everything old is new again. Turn on the TV, flip on the radio, and you're bound to see or hear a blast from the past. And the art of the comeback is so hot it has also become an art form in itself. Not only are real actors and musicians attempting a return to the spotlight, so are fictional characters. Here's a sample of what's out there:

Real

Pauly Shore - A cult icon in the early '90s thanks to MTV and a series of goofball films, he quickly fell off the radar screen and was ultimately given the title of "dethroned king of dumb-ass comedy." Now he's back with the TBS reality show, "Minding the Store."

Fred Savage - For six seasons he was a child star playing Kevin Arnold on "The Wonder Years." After graduating from Stanford, he had a short-lived TV series, "Working," |a few small film roles and directed episodes of several series. He returns to primetime with the ABC mid-season comedy "Crumbs," as the prodigal son returning home after a failed Hollywood career.

INXS and TLC - Both groups lost a member tragically - INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence committed suicide, and TLC's Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes was killed in a car accident. Now both are trying to regroup via a reality show. "Rock Star: INXS" begins at 9 tonight on CBS and "R U the Girl with T-Boz and Chilli" debuts July 27 on UPN.

Imagined

Valerie Cherish, "The Comeback" - Once the "It" girl, Lisa Kudrow's Cherish will do anything to be a star again, including playing Aunt Sassy on a new sitcom and playing herself as a comeback kid in a companion reality show.

Johnny "Drama" Chase, "Entourage" - Kevin Dillon, younger brother of Matt, plays the older has-been half-brother of Vince (Adrian Grenier). Drama, who appeared on "Melrose Place" and "Pacific Palisades," is desperate to be known as something other than just the sibling of a budding superstar.

Real and imagined

Kirstie Alley, "Fat Actress" - The recent Showtime series blended fact and fiction. Borrowing heavily from Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" format, Alley played a semi-fictionalized version of herself interacting with real and scripted characters.

Cable news over-hypes the hurricane

By Diane Holloway Austin American-Statesman

Scarier world syndrome … Know what that is? It’s a free-floating fear, produced by bad news, heard repeatedly and with considerable exaggeration from the news media.

You hear stories about murder, fires and other mayhem every day on TV, and you begin to think murder is everywhere and is practically bound to strike you personally any minute. When, in fact, murders and mayhem are rare. Horrible, but rare.

Anyone watching cable news Sunday as Hurricane Dennis came ashore would have had a near-terminal case of scarier world syndrome. Listening to the wind-whipped reporters on CNN, Fox and MSNBC, you’d think this was a natural disaster of historic proportions.

“This just might be another Andrew!” CNN’s Anderson Cooper shouted into his foam-rubber covered microphone, referring to the killer storm that practically wiped out south Florida in 1992.

Not to diminish the damage and injury that Dennis did inflict yesterday, this storm was decidedly not another Andrew. The meteorologists who occasionally updated the reports from the National Weather Service tried to calm the hysteria — several times remarking that the winds were diminishing and the storm was weakening — but to no avail.

Apparently all the TV reporters were huddled next to the same Ramada Inn sign that was blown down, because every channel had video of the sign and a shrieking reporter/witness nearby.

“I’ve never seen anything like this! Don’t come out in this! Stay home and hunker down!” CNN’s Cooper said repeatedly, warning viewers — who were probably not in a position to watch TV coverage if they were in the vicinity — that this was a horribly dangerous storm that could quite possible signal the end of the world.

OK, Cooper didn’t go quite that far, but the panic in his voice and the hysterical warnings left that impression. Of course, if you were stupid enough to be standing under a sign that’s clearly about to fall, you certainly would be in a life-threatening situation.

But TV reporters were the only folks putting themselves in the middle of the storm and whipping up a big ol’ scarier world to fill the long hours of the cable news day.

adash66...welcome.

I think that Sci-Fi HD (at least on network TV) took a big hit with the ratings for BSG Saturday night on NBC. In a word they were horrendous. Even the 18-49 numbers trailed all other networks badly.

It'll be a while -- not too long now, but a while yet -- before we get a dedicated Sci Fi HD channel.

Fox Returns to September Launches

By Jim Benson Broadcasting & Cable

Trying to avert another slow start to the season, Fox will roll out the majority of its prime time schedule prior to its extended coverage of Major League Baseball playoffs and the World Series in October.

Following the two-hour series premiere of Prison Break at 8 p.m. Aug. 29, it will settle into its regular 9 p.m. Monday berth Sept. 5; the Thursday night schedule debuts Sept. 8, with the return of The O.C. at 8 and the premiere of Reunion at 9; Saturday staples Cops and America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back debut Sept. 10; and the Sunday night animated block returns Sept. 11 (with the exception of King of the Hill, which returns Sept. 18).

On Sept. 13 comes the new Tuesday night series, Bones, at 8 and the return of House at 9; the new Wednesday series Head Cases debuts at 9 p.m. Sept. 14; Saturday night’s MADtv debuts Sept. 17, and Monday’s Arrested Development and new series, Kitchen Confidential, are slated for 8-9 p.m. Sept. 19.

On Friday night, Sept. 23, The Bernie Mac Show, Malcolm in the Middle and Killer Instinct (previously titled The Gate) roll out.

That ‘70s Show and Stacked will return on unspecified dates after baseball, Fox announced.

“We have an incredible slate this season, and we’re getting out of the gate early with our new series and returning favorites in order to create maximum buzz among viewers,” Fox Entertainment President Peter Liguori said.

Last fall, the network held off most of its new shows until November, after the World Series. Fox wound up struggling before American Idol and House rode to the rescue in January.

Sorry but for me this artical lacks credability when no mention is made of Fox's "24".

Sorry but for me this artical lacks credability when no mention is made of Fox's "24".

That's because 24 isn't scheduled to debut until January 2006. Fox wants to run the series on consecutive weeks without a break (like last year). See the very first message in this forum for 2005-2006 program debut dates.

That's because 24 isn't scheduled to debut until January 2006. Fox wants to run the series on consecutive weeks without a break (like last year). See the very first message in this forum for 2005-2006 program debut dates.

Opps. You're right and I knew that "24" didn't start until Jan but I misread the article and thought they were comparing Fall starts to first of the year starts.

That'll teach me to post before I've had my 2nd cup of coffee :rolleyes:

Prospects High For DTV Hard Date, Subsidy
by John Eggerton –Broadcasting & Cable

Two things appeared clear from the early returns on the DTV hearing in the Senate Commerce
committee Tuesday: The hard date for the return of analog spectrum and the switch to all-digital broadcasting is going to be 2009, and there will be some kind of subsidy for digital-to-analog converter boxes.

Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) said the committee was in general agreement that there would be a subsidy--he favored a means test--to make sure that viewers are not disenfranchised when their analog sets no longer work without converters. Legislators and broadcasters also seemed in agreement that the 2009 hard date was now a practical reality, if not yet a legislative one.

NAB President Eddie Fritts said the industry accepts that Congress will implement a 2009 hard date for the end of analog broadcasts, and said the industry is ready. Fritts said the NAB board voted three weeks ago to accept a hard date set by Congress, and to accept the fact that an 85% penetration caveat would be removed.

Currently, analog spectrum can't be reclaimed in a market until at least 85% of homes in that market can receive a digital signal.

Most of the fireworks at the morning hearing--another DTV hearing was scheduled for afternoon--were supplied by former Commerce Committee Chairman Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), who said that one of the "most disgraceful chapters," in the committee's history was waht he called broadcasters' blocking of the return of analog spectrum for emergency communications, echoing previous comments that braodcasters would bear a "heavy burden" if there was a terrorist attack and first responders had trouble communicating.

Monday’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Prospects High For DTV Hard Date, Subsidy
by John Eggerton –Broadcasting & Cable

Two things appeared clear from the early returns on the DTV hearing in the Senate Commerce
committee Tuesday
Just watched some of this, and I have to say, the average AVS Forum member has light years more knowledge about these issues than many of these committee members. Sen. Stevens was particularly clueless IMO. Listening to these people, one would have to wonder if this transition will ever happen.

Gong and a bonk for CBS's 'Rock Star'
Summer rock 'n roll reality romp tanks hard
medialifemagazine.com--CBS may be regretting that decision to schedule three episodes of “Rock Star” per week right now.

Yesterday’s premiere of the new reality show averaged only a 2.4 adults 18-49, according to Nielsen overnights. The show struggled opposite Fox’s moderate hit “Hell’s Kitchen” in the 9 p.m. timeslot, where “Kitchen” averaged a 3.2.

“Kitchen” even finished ahead among total viewers with 6.5 million, while “Rock Star” averaged just 5.6 million.

Now CBS is stuck with Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday competition and results episodes of what looks to be yet another reality clunker, albeit a highly pedigreed one. The show is produced by “Survivor’s” Mark Burnett.

“Rock Star” performed worse than two other CBS reality premieres this summer. “Big Brother” averaged a 3.4 last week and “Fire Me, Please” debuted with a 3.3 last month. It did perform better than the debut of the network’s “The Cut,” which averaged a 2.1.

The show, with surprisingly winning host Dave Navarro, showed 15 contestants competing to become the new lead singer for popular '80s band INXS. After one contestant messed up her lyrics and another mangled Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," the latter got the first boot. But viewers will get to vote on some future ejections.

I am not sure about the average AVS member, keenan, but certainly there appears to be a much higher level of digital sophistication on this forum than on Capitol Hill.

Does anyone else remember all those literally hundeds of hysterical "James Dolan is dumber than a brick" (and worse) posts -- here on on other websites -- during the VOOM death rattle? If you do, this report from the Wall Street Journal might provide a slightly different perspective of JD's job performance:

Cablevision To Give CEO James Dolan $2.8M For Company Performance

By Chad Clinton DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON -- Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) disclosed Tuesday that it will pay Chief Executive James L. Dolan a $2.8 million award as a result of the company's performance.

The entertainment and telecommunications company said in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Chairman Charles F. Dolan will also receive a $2.8 million award.

In 2003, Cablevision began issuing the awards to executive officers and cable and telecommunications segment employees and to corporate staff, instead of bonuses.

Issuing the awards, which were to become payable upon Cablevision achieving free cash flow, instead of paying cash bonuses allowed the company to preserve liquidity, the filing said.

The board determined that free cash flow was achieved in 2004.

The company said that the free cash flow measure used by the compensation committee excluded its Rainbow DBS satellite distribution business which has been discontinued.

Cablevision expects that these payments will be made to roughly 600 individuals and will total roughly $37.7 million, substantially all of which had been accrued at Dec. 31, 2004, according to the filing.

I think that Sci-Fi HD (at least on network TV) took a big hit with the ratings for BSG Saturday night on NBC. In a word they were horrendous. Even the 18-49 numbers trailed all other networks badly.

It'll be a while -- not too long now, but a while yet -- before we get a dedicated Sci Fi HD channel.

I'm puzzled by this. Here you have a show that has near-universal critical and audience acclaim, everybody's talking about it, and would seem a no-brainer for NBC on a normally "dead" night in summer.

So, what's up with these abysmal ratings? Did NBC just not publicize this special HD showing? Do those of us who have already seen it on the Sci-Fi Network not care about another showing on another network? Are there so few HD-capable fans of this show that also do not have the pathetically under-carried UHD channel who wanted to see it in HD that we couldn't move the ratings needle? (I fall into the latter category.) Maybe if they showed the first season in 3 hour HD blocks all summer, an audience would build - which would benifit the Sci-Fi channel as well.....?

I'm astounded by this. But then, I'm astounded by the ratings system in general. The American public's seemingly unquenchable appetite for the unsubstantial and uninspired on their TV sets never ceases to amaze me.

Double Whammy: As NBC wilts, it's also growing older

Median viewer age bumps up to 48, two-plus years
By Kevin Downey medialifemagazine.com

In a spring of surprises for network TV, one stands out at NBC: Its decision to renew "The Office," the British remake, despite abysmal ratings. Why renew "The Office," of all shows?

One reason, it turns out, could well be its ability to attract young viewers within that small audience. With a median age of 39.6 years, “The Office” drew the youngest audience of all NBC shows, according to a recent Magna Global analysis of Nielsen data.

But that comes as small consolation for NBC. The network still experienced a dramatic increase in the age of its audience. Magna found that NBC in primetime had the second-oldest viewers of any network, with a median age of 48 years, a gain of more than two years from the prior season. That's the oldest ever for NBC and an increase of 4.6 percent.

Further, while NBC still trails CBS in average age, the gap is shrinking. The median age of CBS’s viewers fell more than one year, to 51.8 years old, cutting the age gap over NBC’s audience from seven years to 3.8 years. ABC’s viewers had a median age of 45.3 years, flat to the previous season.

“NBC’s median age rose because ‘Friends’ went off the air and [its spinoff] ‘Joey’ has an older median age than ‘Friends’ had, which affected the entire 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. young-skewing NBC schedule,” explains Steve Sternberg, executive vice president and director of audience analysis at Magna.

He says NBC's median age is also going up because the network relies more heavily on the “Law & Order” franchise, with three versions airing throughout the week and a fourth, “Trial by Jury,” running part of last season that isn’t scheduled to return. Each version of “Law & Order” had a median age over 47 years.

Sternberg points out that viewers for a number of other NBC shows have a median age of over 47 years, including newsmagazine “Dateline,” long-running dramas such as “West Wing,” and new shows like “Medium.”

Sternberg attributes CBS’s declining median age to the network actively ridding its schedule of old-skewing programs like “JAG” and “60 Minutes Wednesday.”

“The median age is a supplement to other measures, but it enables us to use just a single number to look at the competitive landscape and see which networks and programs are aging or getting younger,” he says.

Meanwhile, Fox, which ranked No. 1 for the season in the 18-49 demographic, had a median age of 38.2 years, up from 36.4 last season. The network’s audience has been gradually aging for the past couple of years, but it still has a younger audience than its major rivals.

Fox’s audience has a median age nearly equivalent to the overall population’s 37.9 years.

Meanwhile, the median age of viewers watching the WB rose to 35 years from 33.4 years, reflecting that network’s strategy of broadening its audience beyond young adults.

UPN’s median age went down, from 34.2 years to 32.9 years, thanks in large part to reality show “America’s Next Top Model.” With a median age of 29.9, the show has one of network TV’s youngest audiences.

But while reality shows continue to lure relatively young viewers to network TV, the genre is no longer a sure bet to bring down any network’s median age.

Still, most networks are continuing to rely on them to do that, while presumably generating strong ratings. NBC, for example, will have four hours of reality on its primetime lineup when the regular broadcast season kicks off in September.

“Most shows tend to age over time, especially if they’ve been on for three or four years,” notes Sternberg. “As the show matures, it tends to get fewer new viewers each season and its current viewers age along with the show."

archiguy:
I think the answers are: either
a) BSG is just not a show appealing the the mainstream audience, or
b) sci-fi is not a high priority for most Americans, or
c) who wants to commit three hours on a summer night to a show which will (probably) never be on NBC again?.
I think the answer probably is a mixture the three.
But the networks have certainly found no great interest in sci-fi as a genre -- yet.

But the networks have certainly found no great interest in sci-fi as a genre -- yet.
Looking at the fall season line-up it looks like they are starting to though, IIRC, there's about 2-3 scifi type shows coming...

Ninety pct of British DVR users skip TV ads - new study
By Adam Pasick Reuters

LONDON - TV advertisers are facing a potential disaster as more consumers buy digital video recorders (DVRs), according to a new study, since about 90 percent of current users fast-forward through ads.

The trends are even more foreboding among the 18 to 34-year-old demographic most coveted by marketers, with 97 percent saying they skip ads all or almost all of the time.

"This has always been advertisers' biggest fear," said Sarah Wade, a London-based account manager for the French market research firm Ipsos, which carried out a survey of 4,000 British TV households.

A previous study by media buying agency PHD found that viewers fast-forwarded through about 77 percent of ads.

DVRs, offered by companies like Britain's BSkyB and U.S.-based TiVo, save many hours of programs to a built-in hard drive, allowing users to pause live TV and fast-forward through advertisements.

The technology has yet to break through to the mainstream but it is steadily building a base of enthusiastic users. BSkyB, Britain's top pay-TV company, says about half of new subscribers opt for its Sky+ DVR, and cable companies are beginning to sell DVRs that are built into set-top boxes.

Only 6 percent of Britons own a DVR, according to the Ipsos study, but 35 percent of those without are interested in buying one.

Just watched some of this, and I have to say, the average AVS Forum member has light years more knowledge about these issues than many of these committee members. Sen. Stevens was particularly clueless IMO. Listening to these people, one would have to wonder if this transition will ever happen.

And this is just TV! Imagine how ill informed these people are when it comes to broader problems like making peoples lives better :eek:

[QUOTE=fredfa]Does anyone else remember all those literally hundeds of hysterical "James Dolan is dumber than a brick" (and worse) posts -- here on on other websites -- during the VOOM death rattle? If you do, this report from the Wall Street Journal might provide a slightly different perspective of JD's job performance:[QUOTE]

Since when does a company throwing money at it's top executives mean the company was actually doing well? Remember, the guys at Enron were still collecting bonuses just before the company collapsed.

Digital television by 2009, Stevens says

Jonathan Singer The Hill

President Bush could receive a digital-television transition bill by October, according to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

Stevens, addressing the Federal Communications Bar Association on Monday, reported that his committee is working on legislation that would parallel the bill drafted by House Commerce Committee staff last month. Stevens said he hopes for a bill to pass the Senate in July so that it could move out of conference by the early fall.

In 1996, Congress created a “soft date” of Dec. 31, 2006, for transition to digital television broadcasts and the return of the analog spectrum to the federal government. The date would be extended for markets in which more than 15 percent of households could not receive digital signals, effectively exempting most locales.

Stevens suggested Jan. 1, 2009, as the new “hard date” for the transition, one day later than the Barton proposal. Kevin Schweers, a spokesman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, explained that “it shouldn't take more than a minute to figure out what a day is worth.”

Real contention could arise, however, between House and Senate negotiators over subsidizing set-top converters. The $50 boxes enable analog televisions to receive the digital over-the-air signals, negating the 15 percent issue.

Stevens is working on a program to subsidize converters for the “many people who cannot afford to replace” their analog televisions immediately. The House bill does not contain such a provision, the cost of which has been estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Stevens predicted that dealings within the Senate Commerce Committee would move smoothly, though. Stevens told the audience that by working with ranking member Dan Inouye (D-Hawaii), a close friend of his, he does “not expect to have the kind of partisan rancor that’s occurred in the past on this committee.”

Senate Committee Expected To Restore PBS Digital Transition Funds

by Bill McConnell Broadcasting & Cable

A key Senate Committee Thursday will vote on restoring nearly $100 million in public broadcasting funds, including for kids shows and the digital transition, cut by the House from noncommercial stations for fiscal 2006. The bill also would provide $400 million in advance funding for fiscal 2008.

The full Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to approve a budget deal already given a thumbs up by the panel's Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Tuesday.

The subcommittee voted to include $25 million for Ready to Learn, the program that funds educational TV shows like Sesame Street, Postcards from Buster, and Clifford the Big Red Dog, as well as $40 million in funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's replacement of its satellite interconnection program and $35 million to help stations construct digital broadcasting towers and studios.

The subcommittee's vote came with none of the debate and politically charged overtones that marred the House vote on public broadcasting's funding last month.

In fact, lawmakers didn't comment on public broadcasting funding at all beyond Subcommittee Chairman Arlen Specter's recitation of the funding levels as he read a two-page summary of the $146 billion bill in which the public broadcasting money is included.

That may be because the committee held a separate heating Monday where it heard from all the top noncom executives on the need for restored funding and put Corporation for Public Broadcasting Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson through some tough questioning on a variety of issues related to his programming philosophy and management style.

The House on June 23 voted to restore $100 million in cuts recommended by the House Appropriations Committee, but that restored only 50% of the cuts made by the Appropriations Committee.

Last week’s basic cable prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Monk, Murder Rate With Cable Viewers

By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable

USA’s Monk notched its highest-ever ratings when it debuted for a fourth season at 10 p.m. Friday, July 8. The episode earned a 4.8 household rating and 6.4 million viewers – up 8% and 15%, respectively, from last season’s premiere. The episode was also basic cable’s highest rated show for the week ending July 10.

USA still took second in total viewers for the week, averaging 2.3 million total viewers in prime. TNT took first with 2.6 million total viewers.

In other cable ratings news, Lifetime’s original movie, Murder in the Hamptons, earned a 4.4 household rating and 4.8 million total viewers when it debuted at 9 p.m. Monday night.

That makes the drama, about the murder of multi-millionaire Ted Ammon, ad-supported cable’s highest rated original movie of the year, according to the network.

Last week’s prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Broadcasters Drop Opposition To Firm Digital TV Deadline


By BRIAN BLACKSTONE DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON -- After long opposing such a change, the broadcasting lobby said Tuesday it now backs congressional efforts to set a firm deadline for broadcasters to give up their prized analog spectrum and switch to digital.

"Broadcasters accept that Congress will implement a 2009 hard date for the end of analog broadcasts," said Edward Fritts, chief executive of the National Association of Broadcasters, in testimony to the Senate Commerce Committee. Mr. Fritts said NAB's board met three weeks ago and decided it would accept a so-called "hard date" for the changeover to digital from analog television.

Under current law, the transition would occur sooner than in the draft bill, on Dec. 31, 2006, but with the critical caveat that 85% of households are ready to receive digital signals either by having a digital-ready television or a converter. That could take many years.

A House Commerce Committee draft bill would eliminate the 85% test and set a firm transition date of Jan. 1, 2009.

Transition backers -- which include cellular carriers and many high-tech companies -- say the analog spectrum in the prized 700-megahertz band currently used by broadcasters could be sold to the private sector and also be used by emergency responders. Estimates for proceeds that the government would receive by selling the spectrum run from $10 billion to as high as $30 billion.

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) called digital television "the most critical communications issue facing the 109th Congress."

Some lawmakers expressed concern for the roughly 21 million homes that rely on over-the-air broadcasts, a particular concern in rural states where cable penetration rates are lower.

Owners of analog sets that do not receive cable would have to purchase converter boxes, which could run between $50 and $75, according to some estimates. The House draft bill doesn't include consumer subsidies to purchase converters, but Sen. John Sununu (R., N.H.) said legislation is going to have to include subsidies in some form.

Sen. Conrad Burns (R., Mont.) called public-education efforts on the issue "inadequate to say the least."
And the prospect of political repercussions from millions of households seeing their TV sets go dark was not lost on some lawmakers, either.

"If you want an uproar in this country, have people's TV sets go off," said Sen. George Allen (R., Va.) noting that the proposed Jan. 1, 2009, changeover date is conveniently after the 2008 elections as opposed to, say, a summer 2008 date.

With broadcasters on board for a digital TV transition, the debate has shifted to the carriage requirements of cable companies. Broadcasters want cable companies to be required to carry multiple local digital TV signals, in addition to the primary signal that cable is now required to carry.

Cable only wants the mandate for the primary signal and says carriage of other signals can be reached through commercial agreements, citing its recent agreement to carry public broadcasting digital signals as an example. NAB's decision to drop its opposition to a hard date could give it a better reception on Capitol Hill.

"I think (broadcasters) hope that by agreeing to a hard date, they gain leverage in the multicasting requirement," said Paul Gallant, an analyst at Stanford Washington Research Group. Though a DTV bill hasn't yet been introduced, Mr. Gallant thinks legislation is likely to come out of Congress by the end of the year.

TV vets wind down a once powerhouse shop
Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner are essentially closing up the firm that made sitcom hits
By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 13, 2005

It may be hard to remember now, with prime time ruled by desperate housewives and dancing stars, but the independent producers Carsey-Werner once dominated TV with comedy.

During the 1988-89 season, the three highest-rated programs — "The Cosby Show," "Roseanne" and the "Cosby" spinoff "A Different World" — were all made by Carsey-Werner Co. In just a few years, the company almost single-handedly revived the sitcom, a format that many TV executives felt sure was dying before "The Cosby Show" debuted in 1984.

But in recent years, Carsey-Werner has had little to laugh about. As one of the last major independent suppliers of network TV series, the studio lost millions of dollars developing and producing such duds as "Whoopi" and "The Tracy Morgan Show." Last month, partners Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner said that the company would pare down TV production operations and dramatically scale back development of new projects.

In a phone interview last week, Werner, 55, noted that Carsey-Werner is bowing out, perhaps fittingly, just as TV comedies are going through another rough patch. For the week ending July 3, for example, just two of the 10 most-watched programs were comedies: repeats of CBS' "Two and a Half Men" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" — and "Raymond" has already aired its series finale and won't be back in the fall.

"Someone is going to come up with another comedy hit," said Werner, who is also chairman and co-owner of the Boston Red Sox. "But the way we were [developing shows] was very challenging.... Marcy would say we're like a Mazda Miata, and everybody else had these big rigs."

It's a quiet end to a onetime TV powerhouse that has brought in an estimated $3 billion in revenue over the last decade. But Carsey-Werner basically became the equivalent of a mom-and-pop grocer in a Wal-Mart world. For all its successes, the company still struggled alongside other studios — such as Warner Bros. Television and 20th Century Fox Television — that enjoy enormous advantages in getting new series picked up by sister networks. Since the mid-1990s, when the government overturned rules prohibiting networks from owning a stake in shows they broadcast, independent studios have faced increasingly limited prospects.

"It's a tough go for anyone working out there on their own," said Tim Brooks, a TV historian and co-author, with Earle Marsh, of "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows." "Usually today, studios are associated" with a network.

The 60-year-old Carsey was said to be traveling and unavailable for comment, although a company spokesman emphasized that, contrary to a published report, she's not retiring from the entertainment business. However, it's clear that the partners had different views of the company's potential.

"Marcy has felt — and she's entitled to feel this way — that the challenges of getting a show on the air have become too daunting," Werner said. "I'm stubborn enough to try to find another process for TV comedy development."

Werner declined to provide details other than to say that he's had "conversations with a couple of networks" about moving forward.

Firm formed in 1981

The pair began working together at ABC during the 1970s, when the network was being reinvented by programming guru Fred Silverman with escapist fare like "Happy Days," "Mork & Mindy" and "Dynasty." They left ABC to form Carsey-Werner in 1981, where they eventually created hit shows for ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

After "The Cosby Show" became a No. 1 hit for NBC, the pair solidified their success with a series of sitcoms centered on lead actors with strong personalities: "Roseanne," "Grace Under Fire," "Cybill." Often, the stars were memorable even when the shows weren't: Jackie Mason in "Chicken Soup," for instance, or John Goodman in "Normal, Ohio."

"Most of [their] shows have generally had someone who could become a real TV star at the center ... and they've had a voice and something to say," said Garth Ancier, chairman of the WB Network, who worked on "The Cosby Show" during an early executive stint at NBC.

Many shows came to reflect the personality of their stars, perhaps even more so than was typical for sitcoms. "What they were best at is getting talent and, for good or evil, giving the talent the power in controlling the project," said Bruce Helford, a writer on "Roseanne" who later created "The Drew Carey Show."

But perhaps even more critical was the partners' commitment to the work. In the early days of "The Cosby Show," Carsey took out a second mortgage on her house to help pay the costs of the show. It was a risky move, but it ensured that Carsey-Werner would retain a large degree of creative control over the series — as well as a hefty share of the profits generated through syndication.

"That one decision allowed them to control their destiny," Ancier said.

Carsey-Werner also tried to instill an informal atmosphere at their Studio City headquarters, where staff members could get lunch from the company's private chef. At mealtime, "everybody got in line, from executive producers to production assistants," recalls Helford. "It wasn't always the best food, but it was a great sense of family."

But the last five years have proved particularly tough for the company. "Whoopi" and "Tracy Morgan" were costly flops, and the industry's increasingly consensus-driven style of working was at odds with Carsey-Werner's more entrepreneurial ethic.

"A hundred people had to weigh in on an idea," Werner complained of the development process.

CBS filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Carsey-Werner in 2001, demanding that the company repay $53 million in production loans for "Cybill" (the parties finally reached an undisclosed out-of-court settlement earlier this year).

After 20 years with Carsey-Werner, partner Caryn Mandabach exited last year to start her own production entity (her office said Mandabach was on vacation and unavailable to comment). And after hiring investment bankers to explore "strategic alternatives," the company announced last August that it would halt efforts to find a buyer or partner.

"It turned out that we valued our library more than some of the people examining it," Werner said.

The Carsey-Werner nameplate won't exactly disappear. The company will remain active as a syndicated distributor of its past hits: However the counting is done, that library is likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It will also oversee the eighth and perhaps final season of Fox's "That '70s Show."

But it's unlikely the Carsey-Werner logo will again appear on the closing credits of many new sitcoms.

As Brooks said, "It is kind of sad, in a way, because [Carsey-Werner] was one of the best examples of an independent studio."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carsey-Werner's hits and misses

Starting in the mid-1980s, Carsey-Werner Co. became one of the most reliable hitmakers in the TV business. But recent years have been unkind to the independent studio, with a number of costly sitcom flops.
Title Net Debut Episodes
"Oh Madeline" ABC 1983 19
"The Cosby Show" NBC 1984 199
"A Different World" NBC 1987 144
"Roseanne" ABC 1988 222
"Chicken Soup" ABC 1989 11
"Grace Under Fire" ABC 1993 112
"Cybill" CBS 1995 87
"3rd Rock From the Sun" NBC 1996 139
"Cosby" CBS 1996 96
"That '70s Show" Fox 1998 178*
"Normal, Ohio" Fox 2000 12
"Grounded for Life" Fox and WB 2001 91
"That '80s Show" Fox 2002 13
"Whoopi" NBC 2003 22
"The Tracy Morgan Show" NBC 2003 13

*Still in production

TV Critics Tour Blog
By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer
PBS in the Pitt(s)

Nobody expects PBS to call up some of its dreamiest celebrity friends to grace us with their presence because, honestly, PBS doesn’t have a whole lot. The stars in its sphere tend to be men and women who study the animal kingdom, research viruses, and have the ability to split atoms.

When PBS lands a person famous for their films instead of any truly substantial contributions to humanity – an Edward Norton Jr. or a Matt Damon – that, friends, is a bigger, fatter, hairier deal than Snuffleupagus.

This is why, as we sat down for the PBS session on “Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge,” a six hour, three-night event concerning the ravages of infectious disease around the planet, the top sheet of press materials was not a handout outlining the features on the program’s website. Or an outline of all the brutal legwork involved in vaccinating every single child in India against polio, or fighting a frighteningly resistant new strain of tuberculosis in Peru, all of which we’ll see in the series. The top notice was, “Actor Brad Pitt to Narrate Rx for Survival – A Global Health Challenge.”

”One of our producers was saying that she was apologizing to her teenage sons for working so much,” said Paula S. Apsell, senior executive in charge of the series. “And her son said, ‘That’s OK, mom. This must be a really important project because Brad Pitt is narrating it.’”

That is what it has come to, folks. The fate of the humanity’s health crises now rests squarely on Mr. Smith’s chiseled shoulders. Now, now, before you Pittheads rise up to defend your stallion, I know he’s working with Save the Children and The ONE Campaign. And PBS needs all the promotional boost it can get.

Where else can you get actually get an unflinching, informative look at the world’s health crises, complete with historical re-enactments, in-depth scientific explanation, and heart-rending looks at the children devastated by our ignorance – all of the issues Pitt tried to get across to Diane Sawyer on primetime network television before she launched into insipid gossip?

The stakes outlined in “Rx,” a co-production of the WGBH/NOVA Science Unit and Paul Allen's Vulcan Productions, are as high as you can get. “We’re a globalized economy,” explained Philip J. Hilts, an author and reporter who wrote the companion book to the series. “We rely on global trade and commerce. Over a million people a day cross international boundaries.” And, he added, unless we confront outbreaks and health crises at their far-flung sources, “we’ll be dealing with them in Indiana.”

The folks who run PBS aren’t stupid. You can bet they noticed MTV’s and VH1’s success with its “Live 8” broadcast. The concert’s concerned pop stars may have wanted to get the attention of the leaders at the G8 summit, but it’s the channel surfers of the world’s richest nations that really need to be awakened. Whatever a performance of “Every Breath You Take” could not accomplish, perhaps Pitt can.

“I wasn’t all that certain about Brad Pitt myself, honestly,” Apsell added, “but I think we make these programs because we want them watched. And if they can be watched by viewers other than normal PBS viewers, that will be all to the good. Especially to young people, who will, we hope, be carrying on this initiative in the future.”

Now – and we know it sounds callous, but unfortunately, it’s true – the producers just have to find a way to make “Rx” compelling to viewers beyond its urgently important message and Pitt’s voice. You’ll have to wait until the series premieres Nov. 1 to find out if they did.

Posted by Melanie McFarland at 07:22 PM PT

Weekly Ratings Notes
Few watching 'Big Brother'
By Gary LevinUSA TODAY

•Dance fever. ABC's Dancing with the Stars, summer's only hit, toe-tapped away with a series-high 22.4 million viewers for Wednesday's finale, nearly 4 million more than the previous episode. It ranked first for the week. WB's Beauty and the Geek finished its run with 4.3 million that night.

•No brotherly love. The opener of CBS' Big Brother 6 averaged 8.5 million viewers, winning its weak Thursday slot but ranking as the least-watched premiere since BB 2 in 2001. In this mostly sorry summer, Sunday's premiere of Fox's Princes of Malibu, about the spoiled stepsons of music producer David Foster, registered a mediocre (and fourth-place) 5 million viewers.

•Obsessive-compulsive fans. USA detective Monk opened its fourth season Friday with a series-high 6.4 million viewers, ranking first among all basic-cable series for the week.

•Six Feet shuffle. HBO's move of Six Feet Under to its original Sunday home didn't help the funeral-home drama's final-season ratings. Sunday's audience was flat at 2.2 million. But the move did help Entourage, now at 10 ET/PT, which tied its series-high 2 million viewers. The love didn't spread to The Comeback, stalled at 931,000, less than half Entourage's lead-in.

•Hulkamania. The debut of Hogan Knows Best, VH1's latest "celeb-reality" show, set a network record with 2.7 million viewers Sunday, topping also-strong season premieres for The Surreal Life (2 million) and Celebrity Fit Club (2.2 million) that same night. Over at sibling MTV, Tuesday's bow of The '70s House was big with 2.9 million.

•Whitney's a fan. Being Bobby Brown held steady in Week 2 with 1.1 million viewers Thursday, a decent showing for Bravo.

•Battlestar vanquished. NBC's maiden voyage with Battlestar Galactica repeats averaged a piddling 2.3 million viewers Saturday, less than the 3 million or so average for originals on much-smaller sibling Sci Fi Channel.

•'Toon wars. In a battle of new animated kids shows, Nickelodeon's Catscratch (2.4 million Saturday) topped Cartoon Network's Camp Lazlo (1.9 million Friday).

The latest year-to-date network and cable news ratings have been posted near the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Weekly Ratings Notes
By Gary LevinUSA TODAY

•Hulkamania. The debut of Hogan Knows Best, VH1's latest "celeb-reality" show, set a network record with 2.7 million viewers Sunday, topping also-strong season premieres for The Surreal Life (2 million) and Celebrity Fit Club (2.2 million) that same night. Over at sibling MTV, Tuesday's bow of The '70s House was big with 2.9 million.

First MTV stops doing music, then this year Headline News backs away from doing news. And now this. What's next? South Park on The Disney Channel?

COLLINSWORTH 2ND TO LEAVE FOR NBC
By ANDREW MARCHAND, New York Post, 7/13/2005



Cris Collinsworth is leaving Fox Sports to join NBC's 2006 Sunday Night NFL package, network executives told The Post yesterday. An official announcement is expected today.

Collinsworth is the second big-name analyst NBC has added for its football coverage. Earlier, John Madden was signed to a six-year, $24 million deal to be the main game analyst. Collinsworth is expected to work in NBC's studio.

Though Fox could have retained Collinsworth for this upcoming year, it decided instead to relinquish his rights. Fox plans on going with a two-man team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman beginning this season.

"We are confident that [Aikman] and Joe Buck will become the NFL's top broadcasting team," Fox Sports president Ed Goren said.

Collinsworth did not return a call yesterday. NBC Sports vice president Mike McCarley declined comment.

Collinsworth will most likely be partnered with Bob Costas during NBC's Sunday Night pre-game show. Each won Sports Emmys this year as studio analysts. The duo already works together on HBO's "Inside the NFL."

The next question facing NBC is who will be Madden's partner in the booth. A network executive said yesterday that Al Michaels is weighing offers between NBC and ESPN. NBC is offering less money and is reluctant to grant Michaels use of his own private plane for games, a perk he has recently had with ABC.

ESPN wants to keep Michaels in the Disney family to maintain the profile of Monday Night Football when it moves to cable in 2006. It seems more willing to lavish Michaels with perks, including the private jet clause. NBC has something that ESPN can't offer, which is two Super Bowls and postseason games every year. On ESPN, Michaels would just call Monday Night games.

Michaels and Madden will close out ABC's football package with the Super Bowl this season.

As for Collinsworth, he is likely to do more than just football at NBC. During his first run with NBC, Collinsworth was the network's track reporter at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. His new deal is believed to have an Olympic component.

Broadcasters agree to go all digital
After resisting for years, TV stations agree to stop transmitting analog signals in 2009
By Alex Pham and Claire Hoffman Los Angeles Times Staff Writers July 13, 2005

Hastening the long-delayed switch to digital television, broadcasters on Tuesday agreed to stop transmitting analog signals in 2009, potentially rendering millions of rabbit-eared sets obsolete.

The about-face by broadcasters — who had long resisted a federal mandate to switch completely to digital — clears the way for a change in television no less significant than the transition to color more than 40 years ago, advocates said.

"Broadcasters accept that Congress will implement a 2009 hard date for the end of analog broadcasts," said Edward O. Fritts, president of the National Assn. of Broadcasters. "And we're ready."

Digital technology delivers crisp pictures, vibrant colors and clear sound, and the end of analog TV will free billions of dollars' worth of crowded broadcast spectrum. But for couch potatoes, the transition may also mean junking outdated television sets and spending billions to upgrade.

That's because most current TV sets won't receive over-the-air digital signals without a special adapter, expected to cost $50 to $75. The next big debate: whether the government should subsidize that cost with the windfall it is expected to reap when it auctions off unused frequencies.

More than 1,500 stations today — the vast majority of local broadcasters — are transmitting programs in both digital and analog formats. At issue is when the stations would have to turn off their analog signals.

Most TV sets that take their signal from cable or satellite feeds won't be affected because cable and satellite providers can convert the transmissions for their subscribers.

Although the federal government in 1997 required television stations to switch to all-digital signals beginning in 2007, broadcasters dragged their feet. Television stations contended that it would cost too much to adapt their equipment and that they would lose viewers unable to afford new sets.

The broadcasters' reluctance delayed the adoption of digital television because confused consumers held off on purchases and consumer electronics manufacturers continued to produce the more popular analog sets.

But the National Assn. of Broadcasters dropped its opposition during testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee. That cleared the way for Congress to adopt a hard deadline this year.

TV manufacturers, which stand to benefit from higher sales of digital sets, applauded the association's reversal, saying the move would be good for consumers. By July 2007, all new TVs with 13-inch or larger screens must have a digital tuner.

"With consensus now forming around a firm date, we will have certainty," said Michael Petricone, vice president of technology policy for the Consumer Electronics Assn. "Manufacturers will know what to make. Retailers will know what to sell. And consumers will know what to buy."

How many TVs would no longer work in a switch to digital is hotly contested. Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, believes that 15% of U.S. households rely on over-the-air analog broadcasts. A February report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office put the figure at 21 million households, or about 1 in 5 homes. And the Consumer Electronics Assn. puts the figure at 32.7 million sets, or about 12% of all TVs in use today.

The figures don't include TVs connected to cable or satellite services that can convert digital broadcasts to the analog format used by conventional sets.

Still, consumer advocates say the number of TVs that would go dark is large. And the cost to consumers to enable those sets to receive digital signals can be as high as $3 billion, according to Consumers Union, an advocacy group that says the government should foot that bill from the estimated $10 billion gained by selling the highly coveted spectrum now used by TV broadcasters.

"The enormous struggle now is how to help consumers use their current TV sets to receive digital signals without having to pay a fortune for new technology," said Gene Kimmelman, Consumers Union's senior director for public policy.

Several lawmakers support using a portion of the auction proceeds to fund a subsidy. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) has talked about a $500-million pot, limiting the subsidy to the poor. Others, including Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), contend that every affected household should be compensated.

"The core of any digital TV bill that Congress approves should ensure that all affected consumers have some government-backed remedy to restore the signals that the government has turned off," Markey said. "Even today across the country, Americans will be walking into retail outlets and buying analog-only televisions."

At the Best Buy store in Atwater Village, television shoppers were circumspect.

"It's like when they switched from black and white to color," said Michael Diaz, a 25-year-old substitute teacher from Whittier. "It had to happen."

Health clinic owner Magnus Robinson of Los Angeles, who owns six TVs and was plunking down $5,000 for another one, said the change would not affect him because he paid for cable.

"But there are a lot of people who can't afford it," he said. "We are supposed to help one another. That's putting a hurt on somebody."

NBC U ENLISTS A PINCH HITTER
By Michael Schneider, Daily Variety, 7/13/2005



Weisman to report to Zucker, starts with 'Today'


Emmy-winning producer Michael Weisman has signed on as NBC Universal TV Group's first-ever utility player, lending a hand as an executive producer throughout the company.

Weisman, whose credits include stints at NBC Sports, Fox Sports and CBS Sports, will be handed assignments by NBC U TV Group prexy Jeff Zucker, to whom he'll report. First up, Weisman will work with new "Today" show exec producer Jim Bell on the Peacock breakfastcast.

Zucker "described it as being a troubleshooter, to take advantage of my experience, particularly in live TV," Weisman said. "Jeff's attitude is, you can never have a deep enough bench ... I told Jeff that I love NBC, and he gave me an opportunity to work closely with him."

The two executives have known each other since the mid-'80s, when Weisman -- then exec producing NBC's coverage of the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympic Games -- hired Zucker, straight out of Harvard, as a researcher.

Zucker brought Weisman back to the Peacock to exec produce NBC-distribbed talker "The Jane Pauley Show."

"Although it was a (ratings) disappointment for us, it was a good experience, and I got to work closely with Jeff again," Weisman said.

Beyond "Today," Weisman will likely work with NBC Sports' Dick Ebersol on coverage of the 2006 Torino Winter Olympic Games, he said. Then it's up to Zucker to place Weisman around NBC U.

"Jeff will decide where I'm best suited to help," he said. "MSNBC, CNBC, wherever, to take advantage of my thirtysomething years in the business ... Anything short of working in the commissary I'm excited about."

Weisman, who's scored 22 Emmys through the years, will remain based in New York. His credits include 18 World Series, nine Super Bowls and the Seoul and 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games. He's also handled the French Open, Wimbledon and the NCAA basketball championships, in addition to network and cable specials, reality shows, musicvideos and documentaries.

"Michael's background is so strong and his experience so great that he will be an added set of eyes and ears, helpful in so may different places, from CNBC to MSNBC to NBC News, and to our network and cable entertainment properties," Zucker said.

Can the future of TV be seen on the Web?

By David Lieberman USA TODAY

NEW YORK — CBS News sat on the sidelines during the cable TV revolution, allowing rivals led by CNN, Fox and NBC to dominate the world of 24-hour news.

But determined not to make that mistake twice, CBS plans to launch a 24-hour, Internet-based video news service that will let visitors pick reports they want to watch.

"Internet news is in its infancy," CBS News president Andrew Heyward says. "We're making the bet that the most desirable news consumers (to advertisers) want to take it into their own hands."

Virtually every major media company is recognizing that as people begin to feed Internet signals to TV sets as well as computers, millions may want to pick news, entertainment and sports they want to see off the Web rather than from packages of conventional TV channels offered by a cable, satellite, or phone company.

"We're right at the cusp" of the Internet TV revolution, says Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Tom Wolzien. "I have talked about this with multiple network presidents and multiple of their big-time producers. All of them are thinking about this."

They aren't just thinking. Programming powers including ABC, ESPN, CBS, Fox News, MTV, the BBC, Telemundo and Major League Baseball already are investing in subscription and ad-supported ventures offering TV-like video online. In recent weeks:

•Scripps, which owns Home & Garden Television (HGTV) and the Food Network, said it will launch 10 Web channels by the end of 2006, beginning with one for kitchen design.

•AOL, which recently served live video from Live 8 concerts, will partner in a joint venture announced Tuesday to offer live music and comedy online, as well as via satellite and other platforms. Also in the Network Live venture: XM Satellite Radio and Anschutz Corp.'s AEG, an arena owner and event promoter.

•At Viacom, cable channel Nickelodeon launched TurboNick, a Web site with episodes of cartoons including SpongeBob SquarePants and Rugrats. Viacom's VH1 also introduced VSpot, which will show the season opener of The Surreal Life before the TV channel.

•CNN ditched its nearly $5-a-month subscription fee to rely on ad support for a site with beefed-up programming. It plans a broader subscription service this fall.

Content owners love the idea of a medium without gatekeepers who can kill shows or reject channels.

"There's going to be television out the wazoo," CNN/US president Jonathan Klein says. He ran online video service The FeedRoom before CNN hired him last fall.

"It'll be pausable, searchable, with all the customizable on-demand advantages of the Internet. It's a future that's not very far away."

Enthusiasts bet that consumers — particularly affluent, tech-savvy ones who are cable and satellite companies' best customers — will take to Internet video. PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts sales of necessary high-speed connections to rocket past today's 35 million homes to 62 million in 2009.

There are already 10 million more broadband homes than satellite subscribers. By 2009 broadband still will be far more prevalent than such other growing technologies as digital video recorders, video on demand and high-definition TV.

Some in the media industry, however, say there's reason to take a breath and be skeptical.

Cable and phone companies — the leading suppliers of broadband access — probably won't stand idly by while programmers use the Web to make an end run around the video side of their businesses.

And Hollywood has a big stake in the status quo with its thicket of global deals designed to maximize profits for actors, studios, theaters, national TV networks, local stations, cable and satellite companies.

"A lot of the industry was built on this notion of exclusivity for geographic regions. The Internet has turned upside down what a geographic region is," says Blake Krikorian, CEO of Sling Media, a company that enables users to send TV signals they get at home over the Web for viewing anywhere.

Defining rights and responsibilities in Internet video "will be like putting Humpty Dumpty back together again," says RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser. He expects "more of a 'Shootout at the O.K. Corral' kind of story ahead than 'here's what technology makes possible.' "

One of the gunslingers who sees no need to slap on a holster yet is Comcast COO Stephen Burke. Web video watchers "want short, five-minute clips that are educational or entertaining," he says. "We don't see any sign that it will be a threat to our core cable business."

Still, Comcast and other big distributors are taking no chances: In contract talks, most now insist that programmers agree not to simulcast their shows on the Internet.

While the debate rages, here's what media executives see as they try to assess whether the Internet is ready for prime time:

•Improving technology

Video via the Internet is finally watchable — and getting better.

"We're now approaching TV-like quality," says Paul Sagan, who's CEO of Internet service company Akamai and earlier helped to launch Time Warner's Road Runner high-speed service. "It's not high-definition. But it's pretty good."

That's what David Warwick, a 32-year-old software developer in Austin, decided a few months ago when his VCR broke.

Rather than add to his $120-a-month cable bill for a digital video recorder (DVR), he cut it in half by taking broadband and bare-bones TV service with mostly local stations. He turns to Internet sources for other shows, such as music videos, Comedy Central's South Park and Showtime's Penn & Teller show. "It's a good example of video on demand," he says. "I don't have a schedule that allows me to get home by 7 to watch a particular show."

•Growing audience interest

While Web video is in its infancy, it's getting a foothold in the workplace among people without TVs but with high-speed Internet. Prime time in this new medium: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. "They check whether the world is OK or some water-cooler thing," says CNN News Services' Susan Grant.

That's not all, as Major League Baseball found after it launched a subscription service offering non-local games online. "Most everyone watches our games while they're at work," says Robert Bowman, CEO of Major League Baseball Advanced Media. "About 70% of our traffic is off the site by 7 p.m. When the Chicago Cubs are playing in the afternoon it gets a tremendous following, because it's during the day on the East and West coasts."

But now the sports audience is spilling into the evening. Internet video is becoming popular with fans of foreign soccer or cricket or U.S. college games. "Sports is probably the killer ap for streaming to your computer," says PricewaterhouseCoopers' Michael Kelley.

•New business models

Internet video already makes sense for programmers whose material has a short shelf life (such as news and sports), for music videos and movie trailers, and for esoteric programs.

Transmission costs are down to about 9 cents an hour per viewer to stream material — and that's dropping as storage costs fall.

Up to now, most of the major players have sought to recoup their costs from subscription fees, but that model has limits. "People are not willing to pay for things on the Internet," Comcast's Burke says.

Hard numbers are in short supply. ABC News Now won't say how many people pay about $5 a month, or $40 a year, for its live reports and archived features. Starz Encore also won't say how many people pay $13 a month to download some of the 300 movies it has to offer. Major League Baseball's 2-year-old, $15-a-month service has about 250,000 customers; 400,000 are expected by season's end.

Living on ads alone

Several programmers say that as total Web ad spending leaps to an expected $17.2 billion in 2009, from $11.5 billion this year, it appears possible that video services could survive on just ad sales.

That's why CNN switched its business model on June 20. "Advertisers are much, much more interested in supporting broadband," says Grant. "We are focused on ... a mass-reach product."

Internet video's ad sweet spot, though, is programming for people with specialized interests. Companies that want to reach them often pay about three times the per-viewer rate they pay on cable.

"There's very little waste," says Scripps Networks president John Lansing. "The dirty little secret is we have no gardening on HGTV. But with broadband we can serve specific audiences with programming that couldn't carry its weight as a cable channel."

ABC News president David Westin says that "as a practical matter there'll be lots of packages" combining free and subscription models as companies see what works best. "This is all very fluid."

Piracy fears

The big question is when the new medium will be secure and profitable enough that mainstream programmers offer their best movies and shows online.

Fear still is pervasive that once a movie or show is on the Web it will spread worldwide without ads or fees, losing its value forever.

"There aren't good digital-rights management standards going from PCs to televisions," says Glaser.

Studios also don't quite know where the Internet fits into their relationships with theaters, DVD retailers, video on demand, premium cable and broadcast networks.

Netflix, the subscription-based DVD rental firm, is running into that as it negotiates with Hollywood over a service to offer films online that it hopes to test this year.

At issue: Is Netflix a DVD service that should be able to transmit videos at the same time a disc is released? Is it offering video on demand, where movies typically are offered about 45 days after the DVD release? Or is it a subscription service akin to HBO and Showtime, which entails an even longer wait?

"Everyone is feeling their way through this," says Netflix's chief product officer Neil Hunt. "The technical hurdles are straightforward and will fall. The content is key to making this work."

But pressure is growing on producers to offer quality mainstream programming on the Internet. "The lack of content on legitimate outlets results in the consumer going out and getting it for nothing — basically stealing it," says Wolzien.

And after seeing how pirates have crippled the music business, nobody takes the Web for granted.

"It's in the workplace and it's at home in a way that's directly competitive with television," Sagan says. "It's setting up the next great battle in media, and the customer is going to be the big winner with more choices than ever before."

Hand-Held Headlines
Digital Media
Source: NBC Universal
06 July 2005


by Margaret Webber

In 2004 NBC Universal launched NBC Mobile, leading the industry in the groundbreaking new initiative designed to provide customized television programming for mobile phones. With NBC Mobile, Cingular and Sprint subscribers can view original news segments from MSNBC and CNBC as live, streamed broadcasts through MobiTV and SmartVideo. Last year's launch of NBC Mobile provides SprintTV subscribers the opportunity to receive daily news updates and special "In Focus" reports that feature a more detailed look at the news. The service offers a new video-on-demand (VOD) component in mobile viewing of headline news; instead of watching a loop of news packaging, users have the ability to select the clips of their choice from NBCU's extensive VOD library of mobile content.

Just one year after the inception of NBC Mobile, NBC Universal continues to be the leader in distributing content for the ever-evolving mobile landscape, and remains the most advanced provider in the market. As the industry draws a tighter focus on the convergence of technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT), NBCU has continued to work with technology companies to deliver even more entertainment, news, and information around the clock to mobile consumers. Since the beginning of 2005, NBC Universal has made agreements with SmartVideo Technologies and Verizon, allowing Smartphone and Verizon Wireless V CAST users to access NBCU content.

Today, NBC Mobile offers an average of 20 to 25 news broadcasts daily from London, Moscow, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. More than fifty national NBC News anchors and correspondents (including Tim Russert and Lester Holt) are shot close-up to accommodate the size of the screen, and are accompanied by graphics designed specifically for mobile phones. With a few clicks, mobile technology users can gain immediate access to a video clip with a total running time of about two-and-a-half minutes. Unlike any other major media companies - who merely repurpose regular television content for cell phones - more than 50% of NBC Mobile broadcasts contain original news programming for the new "small screen."

NBC Universal is leading the network race to make the latest news available to mobile customers around the world. NBC Mobile offered the only exclusively small-screen coverage of the Democratic and Republican national conventions and the Presidential Inauguration. The service also produced the only mobile content on the events surrounding the death of Pope John Paul II in Rome and the succession of Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.

With access to one of the most expansive libraries of content in the industry, NBC Mobile has moved beyond the realm of headline news updates. If you can't decide, for example, on which wine to pair up with your Chinese food, NBC Nightly News broadcast producer Ed Deitch produces and hosts NBC Mobile Wine Tasting every Friday. Deitch - who has written the Wednesday Wine column on MSNBC.com for three and a half years - offers a weekly wine selection as well as a practical and entertaining guide to enjoying wine, matching it with food, and demystifying the complex world of wine. Click here to watch Deitch's insightful report on wines from Bonny Doon Vineyards.

NBC Mobile also makes available the latest industry news: subscribers can stay tuned to celebrity gossip with Seth Goldman's Entertainment Buzz, or if you’re on line at the theater and can't decide which movie to see, ask an expert – Gene Shalit's movie reviews from NBC's Today are available in the palm of your hand.

NBC Universal soars above its competitors in mobile content viewing, providing its users with the best in global entertainment, news, and information specifically designed for the "small screen." This breadth of content has attracted an increasing number of viewers - a number that was recently augmented by an agreement with Verizon that makes NBC Mobile content potentially available to 75 million users. From pop culture to headline news, weather to wine tasting, NBC Mobile is the premiere "small screen" content provider in the industry, and continues to be at the forefront of innovations in content and distribution.

ABC's 'Brat Camp' turns out to be lovable

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune staff reporter July 13, 2005

ABC has found yet another winner in "Brat Camp" (8 PM ET/PT).

This excellent program, which follows the fate of nine unruly teens sent to a therapeutic wilderness camp, is not only well-paced and well-crafted, it also has heart."Brat Camp" may be one of the few reality shows in the history of the genre capable of moving members of the audience to tears.

Yes, it's that good.

Though there's always a weepy moment at the end of another family-friendly ABC hit, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," the stakes are much higher on "Brat Camp." The kids sent to the boonies on this show are not in need of a new house, they're in need of attitude adjustments, because their lives are heading down dark paths.

These kids are familiar to anyone who has ever watched "Dr. Phil" or "The Maury Povich Show": They stay out all night, take drugs, engage in violent behavior, sleep around, lie, etc. One kid's an "angry punk" with a funny hairdo; others just seem to be garden-variety selfish brats.

Whatever the behavior that landed these 14- to 17-year-olds at the SageWalk treatment program, each kid legitimately appears to be in serious need of a timeout.

"It's a real shock to the system for spoiled kids who are used to getting their way," says the narrator of the show, a decidedly sincere and unslick SageWalk counselor whose "earth name" is "Glacier Mountain Wolf."

One wonders if, going forward, the behavior of these kids' parents -- the ones who let these kids get away with so much for so long -- will be addressed. (One father appears to learn on-camera that his daughter has been spending nights at a boyfriend's house.)

Whether or not that happens down the road, the two-hour season premiere of "Brat Camp" is simply gripping. Shorn of their cell phones, fast food, computers, questionable friends and illegal drugs, the kids spend their nights in teepees in the freezing Oregon desert. They go on grueling hikes and must complete their morning chores in five minutes or face doing them over again. Faced with rules and limits for the first time in years, the kids, as you might expect, are not pleased.

But they're still redeemable. When they sit around a campfire and read letters from their parents about why they've been sent to SageWalk, the kids cry real tears of remorse.

For anyone who has ever known -- or been -- a teen in crisis, "Brat Camp" is not to be missed. The same goes for anyone who enjoys a well-made reality show that actually has a point to make, not just a prize to hand out.

"Hooking Up," a real-life "Sex and the City" on ABC

Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury-News

ABC's "Hooking Up'' has a title that makes it sound like a clone of "Elimidate.''

But this series is really an absorbing study of online dating and women looking for love on the Web. A cinema verite documentary split into weekly installments, "Hooking Up'' (10 p.m. Thursday) -- from the same ABC News unit that produced the excellent ''Hopkins 24/7'' and "Boston 24/7'' in past summers -- follows 12 young New York City women as they power-date men found on various Web sites such as match.com.

It's a real life "Sex and the City'' with some fascinating personalities in the mix. Standouts in the opening episodes: Cynthia, a hair salon manager who not only gets some really bad dates but also manages to turn good ones into disasters, and Amy, a real estate broker from the Midwest who can't quite balance a lust for sex with her search for a husband.

"Hooking Up'' could get addictive real fast.

'Hooking Up': Light summer fare
By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News

Everything I learned from the first two episodes of "Hooking Up," ABC News' five-part series on Internet dating in Manhattan, I'd already learned from watching "Sex and the City."

In other words:

• Men can be pigs.

• Women can also be pigs.

• Dating can be hell, whether you meet your date on the Internet or at the supermarket.

I'm not sure why the producers of ABC News' "24/7" summer series - which previously focused on the New York City Police Department, the city of Boston and Johns Hopkins Medical Center - decided that the online-dating trials and tribulations of a dozen great-looking women was worth that kind of in-depth approach, but there's no denying that "Hooking Up" has a certain frothy appeal.

Anyone who's spent more than two minutes debating the ins and outs of Carrie Bradshaw's love life could easily find some entertainment in a 28-year-old real estate broker who tells everyone she's slept with only two men (but may only be talking about the past month), or the far-less-coy 33-year-old salon manager who gleefully makes "booty calls" after disappointing dates.

And OK, it's summer. I get it.

What's puzzling, though, is that while ABC's news division is off playing "Hooking Up," its entertainment division seems to be looking for a little more meat in its "reality."

On "The Scholar," the network's offering to foot the bill for college.

On "Welcome to the Neighborhood," which stared bias in the face, the social issues raised were serious enough to get the show pulled before it ever aired.

And on tonight's "Brat Camp" (8 p.m., Channel 6), which follows the lives of troubled teens who've been sent to an Oregon wilderness school, we're being offered their families' angst.

Given the ever-blurrier lines between news and "reality" programming, couldn't the news division have tackled bias in suburbia? Adolescent angst?

Admittedly, this might leave us with "Bachelor" creator Mike Fleiss directing operations on "Hooking Up," but if he could just resist the impulse to add an unctuous host - and a rose ceremony - he might fit in just fine.

Tuesday’s network prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest News the first item in this thread.

Question: Given the story posted below, how long before the networks provide their programming directly to interested subscribers?

Given that because of its subscription base ESPN's profit is far higher than any network is able to claim, how long before the traditional local station delivery system goes away?

With the billions of dollars at stake to the networks, my guess is not all that long.

PanAmSat Demos Satellite Streaming

By Ken Kerschbaumer -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/13/2005 11:42:00 AM

PanAmSat, KenCast and Trinity Workplace Living have demonstrated the viability of streaming live video via satellite directly to handheld devices.

Mike Antonovich, PanAmSat executive VP, global sales and marketing, says the technology will eventually be integrated into the company’s satellite newsgathering services.

The demo took place between the WiMax Forum Plenary, which is being held in Vancouver, Canada, and Trinity’s facilities in Dallas.

The two were linked via PanAmSat’s Galaxy 11 satellite and 10 streaming video channels were encoded by KenCast in Dallas and then received in Vancouver.

The demonstration also showed the viability of it as a new tool for emergency responders.

That's good news about Chris Collinsworth. The 'good news' of course being that he'll be in studio and not working the games - for anyone.

-Reagan

"Housewives" to the rescue

On Television: Noel Holston Newsday July 13, 2005

Whoever's bright idea it was to enter "Desperate Housewives" in the comedy category of this year's prime-time Emmy competition ought to be taken out and given a bonus.

Not only did he/she/they guarantee ABC's sordid soap-satire a nomination come tomorrow morning, but the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has been spared the embarrassment of a comedy category with only three or four legitimate nominees.

Remember, perennial faves "Frasier," "Friends" and "Sex and the City" are long gone. "Will & Grace" might as well be. And HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" didn't have new episodes during the period of eligibility (June 1 to May 31). Without "Desperate Housewives" (and with animated comedies such as "The Simpsons" banished to their own category), the academy would be looking to such sitcom milestones as "According to Jim" and the mismanaged "The Office" to round out its traditional five slots.

Here's how that category and the other major brackets are likely to fill up:

Comedy series

Expect past winners "Arrested Development" (Fox) and "Everybody Loves Raymond" (CBS) to be nominated again, and for "Housewives" (ABC) and "Scrubs" (NBC) to join them. "Housewives," the biggest self-starting hit in years, is undeniable. "Scrubs" will at long last make the cut not because it suddenly got better - it's been an ensemble miracle from the get-go - but because lead actor Zach Braff is now a hot, young movie director.

The fifth slot could go to "The King of Queens" (CBS), a well-established hit that's never enjoyed "Raymond's" critical praise, or "Two and a Half Men" CBS' designated heir to "Raymond." But the guess here is that the Hollywood creative community will show itself some love and nominate "Entourage," HBO's comedy about a male starlet and his posse.

Lead actress, comedy

The "Housewives" actresses will turn this category upside down. Look for Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman and Teri Hatcher all to make the cut. Eva Longoria, however, will have a hard time elbowing previous winners Jane Kaczmarek ("Malcolm in the Middle") and Patricia Heaton ("Raymond").

Lead actor, comedy

"Housewives" won't be a factor here; its actors are supporting players. Expect nominations for previous winners Tony Shalhoub ("Monk") and Ray Romano ("Raymond"), as well as for Braff, Jason Bateman ("Arrested Development"), and Kevin James ("King of Queens"). Charlie Sheen or Jon Cryer of "Two and a Half Men" might sneak in, and Steve Carell of "The Office" is a very long shot.

Dramatic series

This is going to be a bare-knuckled, eye-gouging brawl like you would see on HBO's "Deadwood," which is probably the dramatic series to beat. Two of last year's nominees, "24" (Fox) and "The West Wing" (NBC), are coming off better, reinvigorated seasons. "The Shield" (FX) got an energy boost from Glenn Close's joining the cast.

Academy members also can choose among seven first-time candidates that have earned some combination of critical acclaim and popular success - "Lost" (ABC), "House" (Fox), "Medium" (NBC), "Jack & Bobby" (WB), "Veronica Mars" (UPN), "Battlestar Galactica" (Sci Fi) and "Rescue Me" (FX) - as well as well-made veterans such as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS) and "Without a Trace." HBO's "The Wire," a dramatic series without peer, is still waiting for its first academy recognition.

The likely five: "Deadwood," "The West Wing," "CSI," "Lost," "24."

Actor, dramatic series

James Spader ("Boston Legal," ABC) won last year. Most probably he will be nominated again, along with Ian McShane ("Deadwood"), whose legend grows; Matthew Fox ("Lost"), Keifer Sutherland ("24") and Hugh Laurie ("House").

Anthony LaPaglia ("Without a Trace"), nominated last year, might get another nod.

Ving Rhames, star of USA Network's revived, reinvented "Kojak," has the big-screen credentials the academy members often genuflect to.

Dominic West ("The Wire") probably will be ignored once again, though he's the most deserving actor after McShane.

Actress, dramatic series

Allison Janney ("The West Wing"), a previous winner, and Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"), who won a Golden Globe last year, both will get another nod from the academy. Close, movie star that she is, would be recognized for her work on "The Shield" even if she weren't terrific.

Who will get the other two nominations is harder to predict. Jennifer Garner ("Alias") and Amber Tamblyn ("Joan of Arcadia") were nominated last year, but I wouldn't be surprised if Christine Lahti ("Jack & Bobby") displaced one of them and Patricia Arquette ("Medium") knocked out the other.

TV movie

This has been largely an in-house HBO competition in recent years, and it probably will be again. HBO's original films "Warm Springs," about Franklin D. Roosevelt's battle with polio; "Sometimes in April," a dramatic microcosm of the Rwandan genocide; "Lackawanna Blues," adapted from a theater piece about a black family in upstate New York, and "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" look to be shoe-ins. But there are more non-HBO contenders than usual this year.

Showtime's "Our Fathers" powerfully encapsulated the Roman Catholic Church's pedophile priest scandal. CBS had low-key gems in "The Magic of Ordinary Days" and "Back When We Were Grownups."

TNT's "The Wool Hat" has star William H. Macy's popularity to propel it.

ESPN's "3," like its subject, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, was a winner.

And even though ABC's movie version of Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" had its flaws, it also had Halle Berry, an Oscar winner, as its star and Oprah Winfrey as executive producer. Betting against Oprah is always a risk.

Miniseries

Finding five to nominate could be tricky. Once past HBO's starry "Empire Falls," CBS' "Elvis" and ABC/Disney's shockingly good remake of "Little House on the Prairie," you're down to two-part potboilers such as "Category 6: Day of Destruction."

Here's hoping tomorrow's nomination announcement isn't also a natural disaster.

TV Comedy Pioneers share a few laughs

By Robert Bianco USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES — Funny is ageless.

The comic greats who gathered Tuesday to promote PBS' Pioneers of Primetime Nov. 9 — Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Red Buttons, Mickey Rooney, Rose Marie and I Love Lucy director William Asher — fall far outside today's coveted younger demographic. Physically, some were frail: Rose Marie and Asher arrived in wheelchairs; Caesar had on slippers and walked with a cane.

But you better believe they can still crack up a room — even a room full of television critics — just as they have all their lives. It's the talent that launched an industry.

It's also why Caesar, 82, isn't surprised people still enjoy Your Show of Shows, the live variety show he did with Reiner in the early '50s. If people laughed then, he figures, they'll laugh now. "The audience told you if it was funny or not."

Indeed, some of Shows' sketches are so funny, they can apparently get laughs even at a funeral. Reiner says they played a tape of the famous This Is Your Life spoof at Show star Howard Morris' funeral, and the laughter in the funeral home was as loud as the laughter on the tape. And why not, says Reiner. "It was the funniest sketch ever done."

So what happened to shows such as Your Show of Shows, a 90-minute extravaganza with music, dancing and sketches? For one, exhaustion set in; in those days, they did 39 shows a year. "That's what makes you crazy," says Caesar. "That's why I'm in the shape I am today."

In part, though, Caesar thinks variety and sketch comedy were killed by the remote control. "The remote control took over the timing of the world. ... You have immediate gratification. If it doesn't explode in three seconds, it's click, click, click, click, click, click."

The style of humor also changed, says Reiner, 83, when TV moved from New York to Hollywood — and from live to tape. "We were very sloppy in those days. Now you can control it."

The transition, of course, didn't hurt Reiner. He went to Hollywood to work on The Dinah Shore Show, "and while I was out here, I wrote The Dick Van Dyke Show, which was based on my years with Sid."

Van Dyke gave Reiner the chance to work with Rose Marie, now 81, who had starred in her own coast-to-coast radio show at age 5. "I started in show business when I was 3. I didn't do much before then. I just hung around the house."

The switch from live variety to taped sitcoms also produced what may be the most popular show of them all: I Love Lucy. Asher, 83, says they knew the show was good, but they didn't know it would last. "When we did the show, we thought, 'That's it, we're done with the show.' We never dreamed it would last this long."

Lucille Ball, obviously, was one of TV's true pioneers. But not everyone who worked in early TV qualifies for the title. Reiner, for instance, doesn't count Bob Hope as a pioneer. Hope was the best movie comedian ever, says Reiner, but on TV, "he was one of the guys we objected to, because he never looked at you — he was looking at the cue cards. ... He didn't learn his lines. If you don't learn your lines, I don't take you seriously."

When it comes to not taking people seriously, the star of the panel was Buttons, 86, who kept breaking into the loquacious Rooney's (84) sometimes off-tangent stories with jabs. "Your Andy Hardy pictures? I saw every one. Andy Hardy and the Hassidic Housewife ..."

These pioneers may represent another era, but don't tell them there's no good comedy left.

"There are some awfully good things now, and some awfully terrible things," says Reiner. "You can't live in the past. If you can't find anything you like, you might as well leave. And I want to stay."

The TV Critics Tour will pick up in interest in a few days (so far we have heard from PBS, and MTV is scheduled next) but I'll be posting a few notes from the tour until the heavy hitters begin doing their things in a few days:

TV Critics Tour Blog
By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer
So Red Buttons, Mickey Rooney, and Carl Reiner Walk Into a Tour...

If “Pioneers of Primetime,” a chronicle of the colorful performers that took TV from vaudeville to its golden age that premieres November 9, is half as entertaining as the TCA session that gave us the great "Your Show of Shows" leading man Sid Caesar, Mickey Rooney, Carl Reiner and Red Buttons all sparring with one another, you shouldn’t dare miss it.

Trust me when I tell you, age ain't nothing but a number for these guys (and Rose Marie, who got a few slugs in there too). The legends were on fire yesterday, and so mouthy that Steve Boettcher, "Pioneer's" producer, at times wore the look of a man tried to wrangle a warren of caffeinated jack rabbits.

We're going to lose zing in the delivery -- you really did have to be there, folks -- but here are a few of their more memorable exchanges, and other keepers. Just imagine a rimshot following all of Red Button's comments.

Carl Reiner, referring to today's style of comedy: There's some awfully good things done today and some awfully terrible things done today. I think if you lose perspective about the world moving in a direction that you didn't know it was going to go in, and you say they're all wrong, we may not be right about considering everything that's going on now not good. You cannot live in the past. If you don't find the things to accept today, you might as well just leave. And I want to hang around.

Mickey Rooney: ... People who say they never made mistakes, don't you believe it. Everybody makes mistakes, and they're nothing to be ashamed of. But in entertainment, you try your best not to make any mistakes. Sometimes it's good; something it's fair; sometimes it's not even worth doing. But all of these people on this venue today have worked with good taste, and that's what we're all very proud of.

Red Buttons: ... By the way, what the hell did Mickey just say?

Carl Reiner: I don't know. I was about to ask if somebody had written it down, because I want to make a sampler out of that. I want to have that on my couch.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rose Marie: I started in show business when I was three years old. I didn't do much before then. I was just crawling around the house... These people today that say they're child stars, that said, "I had a terrible childhood. I went through this, I went through that" -- I had the most wonderful childhood in the world. I traveled all over the country. I signed my name when I was six years old at the Alamo. I mean, I saw, I did everything that I was doing that I should have learned in school...

Red Buttons: ... Can I say one thing here? I had a wonderful childhood myself until I was molested by Milton Berle.

Rose Marie: I wasn't that lucky.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Sid Caesar: Television brought an awful lot of things to our lives, but one thing it brought to our lives was the remote control. The remote control changed everything... The remote control took over the timing of the world. That's why you have road rage, you have people who have no patience, because you got immediate gratification. You got click, click, click, click, if it doesn't explode within three seconds, click, click, click, click, click, "Ah, nothing on."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sid Caesar, on Lucille Ball's enduring appeal: She was good-looking and she was funny.

Mickey Rooney: She was also a good actress at (MGM) long before she went into television.

Sid Caesar: She was a show girl.

Carl Reiner: And she was pretty! She was pretty, and you never expected a pretty woman to be that funny. She didn't care that she was pretty.

Mickey Rooney: But you know what? She developed into a great business woman.

Red Buttons: I never liked her.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Red Buttons: I have one footnote. Mickey and I were in the same outfit during World War II in Europe.

Mickey Rooney: That's true.

Red Buttons: And Mickey got a Bronze Star.

Mickey Rooney: I wear it today.

Red Buttons: One day, he saved our entire outfit. He killed a cook.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, that's all the time we have, folks. So long for now!

I posted this in its own thread, but its here, too, for your perusal:

BBC Eyes HD

By Ken Kerschbaumer Broadcasting & Cable

The British Broadcasting Corp. has signed a multimillion dollar deal with satellite transmission provider SES Global to roll out HDTV service next year, according to a report in the U.K. newspaper The Guardian. The agreement would help the BBC keep pace with BSkyB, the U.K. direct-to-home satellite provider that will launch an HDTV service early next year.

The Guardian report says BSkyB is looking at adding three satellite transponders -- enough space to broadcast nine HD channels -- and will also launch an HD digital-video recorder service.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Guardian story in full:

BBC gears up for HDTV launch

Dan Milmo MediaGuardian.co.uk

The BBC is preparing to launch a high definition television service early next year after signing a multimillion pound satellite broadcasting deal.

The corporation yesterday confirmed it had increased the amount of satellite capacity it rents from Luxembourg-based SES Global. The BBC said it would use the extra space to "reconfigure" the satellite broadcasting of its TV, radio and interactive services.

However, sources close to the deal said the corporation had snapped up the capacity on the Astra 2A satellite so it could launch a HDTV package when BSkyB unveils its much-anticipated HD service early next year.

"The BBC wants to match it," said one source close to the transaction.

Industry speculation indicates that the BBC will struggle to keep up with BSkyB's plans.

The UK's largest satellite broadcaster has started negotiations with SES over booking capacity for its HD service. It is understood BSkyB is discussing a deal for three satellite transponders, which would allow it to broadcast nine channels, including all its sport services, in HD.

BSkyB wants to launch a HD service this year, according to recent trade press reports, but it is understood the pay-TV group will wait until it has a full-blown HD offering and will not test HD's appeal by soft-launcing the service one channel at a time.

BSkyB is also planning the simultaneous of launch an updated version of its personal video recorder, Sky+, that will be able to record and play back HD broadcasts.

The HD service is expected to launch in the spring of next year.

The BBC declined to give further details on the satellite capacity deal, as did SES.

Richard Waghorn, the corporation's acting controller of distribution, said in a statement yesterday that the "new transponder will increase our flexibility to meet our audiences' changing aspirations for the satellite platform."

The Cable News Scoreboard: Tuesday, July 12
(mediabistro.com)

Total viewers:

Total day:
FNC: 986,000
CNN: 488,000
HLN: 254,000
MSNBC: 208,000
CNBC: 151,000

Primetime:
FNC: 2,013,000
CNN: 971,000
HLN: 515,000
MSNBC: 222,000
CNBC: 79,000

25-54 demographic:

Total day:
FNC: 260,000
CNN: 144,000
HLN: 104,000
MSNBC: 75,000
CNBC: 48,000

Primetime:
FNC: 546,000
CNN: 249,000
HLN: 177,000
MSNBC: 73,000
CNBC: 45,000

The hourlies:

5pm:
John Gibson: 1,091,000
Wolf Blitzer: 644,000
Headline News: 286,000
Connected: 152,000
Larry Kudlow: 249,000

6pm:
Brit Hume: 1,283,000
Lou Dobbs: 648,000
Headline News: 191,000
Abrams: 255,000
Mad Money: 150,000

7pm:
Shepard Smith: 1,358,000
Anderson Cooper: 559,000
Showbiz: 158,000
Chris Matthews-Hardball: 420,000
Conan O’Brien: 122,000

8pm:
FNC: 2,299,000
Paula Zahn: 719,000
Nancy Grace: 831,000
Return to Flight: 230,000
CNBC: 71,000

9pm:
Hannity & Colmes: 1,738,000
Larry King: 1,289,000
Prime News: 335,000
Situation: 138,000
Mad Money repeat: 75,000

10pm:
Greta: 2,003,000
NewsNight: 905,000
Grace repeat: 380,000
Scarborough: 297,000
Deutsch: 91,000