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fredfa

01-03-06, 12:00 PM

The Business of TV
The New Deal

How TV executives will find digital dollars in the coming year
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable

Last year, the TV industry discoverd a variety of new ways to deliver their shows - on iPods, on video phones, even online. This year, they vow to figure out how to make money off of them. It was almost unthinkable only a year ago. Consumers can now pay to see TV's best shows in a variety of new ways. Starting this month, some Comcast subscribers can watch the previous night's CSI for just 99 cents on video-on-demand (VOD). Fans can also download an episode of Lost to an iPod, dial up ESMN's sports highlights on a cellphone or log on to wath Two and a Half Men via Yahoo!

Programmers thrive when new distribution pipes open, but some TV executives cutting the deals say they are making it up as they go along. While it is still unclear whether consumers will pay to watch TV on a small screen, execs are already struggling to construct the proper template to make big profits if they do. With each new announcement, many say privately they fear being left behind. When Apple and ABC set the market by announcing their $1.99-per-download deal last October, it set off a flurry of number crunching, as broadcast networks and studios tried to come up with the right set of rules to make money.

Now dealmakers are desperately trying to value everything from cellphone clips of 24 to old episodes of Adam 12. Some of these execs still quietly maintain that last year's announcements amount to little more than hype.

The short-term nature of the deals reflects many companies' experimentation. While NBC U's current deal with Apple is multiyear, CBS's VOD deal with Comcast, for instance, only goes through the end of next summer.

There is a reluctance inside CBS to enter into long-term agreements because things in the industry are moving so quickly that, what appears to be equitable today, might not be a year or two down the road.

As they try to pin down prices and values, TV executives acknowledge that, in the coming year, several business trends will emerge as guides for these new deals:

1. SMALL SCREENS=SMALL BUCKS (FOR NOW)

While network deals with companies such as Apple have attracted big media attention, big dollars have yet to follow.

NBC U, for example, says that it will only generate about $10 million from iTunes sales in 2006—or the rough equivalent of ad revenues for one typical Thursday night on NBC. And Apple says it has sold more than 3 million video downloads, so only about $6 million in revenues have come in altogether, with the majority of that number reportedly generated by music videos and not TV shows.

“If I were to categorize what happened this year, it's a bunch of announcements that don't mean anything,” says one studio chief, speaking anonymously because he is involved in a recent new-media deal. “No one has been able to show me that viewers are looking for this, and where's the money? Everyone is just trying to look smart. I still think the biggest game-changer is high-definition.”

Besides high-definition TV, no one is sure what the impact of VOD services over TV will be, given that sector's growing number of titles. After all, once you can call up any show on TV anytime, why watch it on a small screen?

One reason some analysts are optimistic is the plethora of consumers with devices capable of receiving video. “There are 30 million iPods, but there are 600 million cellphones out there, and over time all of those get upgraded,” says Nielsen Entertainment Senior Corporate Analyst Larry Gerbrandt. “So the potential of that is much larger than we are seeing right now. This is literally day one in this future.”

Just 1% of mobile subscribers accessed video in September, but 10% they're likely to do so in 2006, according to a study by research firm M:Metrics.

Given the potential, networks and studios are rushing to figure out how to capitalize if and when demand takes off. The worst-case scenario they envision is a repeat of what happened in the music business, when consumers wanted to download individual songs and the industry was not ready.

“Anyone who sticks their head in the sand on this is really short-sighted,” says Warner Bros. Television Group President Bruce Rosenblum.

2. DVD SALES COULD FALL; RATINGS COULD RISE

The ability for consumers to buy on-demand, download and own both new and classic television shows could signal a challenge ahead for the red-hot TV-on-DVD market.

Sales of TV shows on DVD have shot through the roof. Previously the only non-DVR means of digital ownership for a consumer, the TV-on-DVD market is projected to generate $3.3 billion in 2005, up from $2.3 billion in 2004 and more than eight times the $400,000 in sales in 2001, according to Home Media Retailing.

NBC U's Frederick Huntsberry, who was involved in the Apple deal as NBC Universal president of television distribution and Universal Pictures Group president of international operations, says he expects 90% of revenues from new-media applications in 2006 to be incremental, meaning $1 million of NBC U's $10 million in iTunes revenues this year would be poaching money from another TV-related business.

Many TV executives believe that if on-demand products—on TV or ipod—take off, the DVD market would take the biggest hit. Cable operators continue to expand the library of movies and TV-show titles to subscribers on-demand. Consumers can watch current shows through such sites as Yahoo! and Google—CBS recently struck a deal with Yahoo! to stream Two and Half Men and How I Met Your Mother. Some TV executives worry a consumer will pay to download and own every episode of a show when they want to rather than wait months for the DVD to come out.

In fact, TV-on-DVDs helped establish the retail price point for digital downloading of television shows. An analysis by Nielsen Entertainment's Gerbrandt shows that, when a show is bought for $1.99 on iTunes, the content provider receives $1.39 after Apple takes its 30% cut, roughly the same a studio gets per episode from a 22-episode DVD box set that commands $30 wholesale.

Ratings of original-run shows could actually benefit from quick downloading. Despite affiliate worries about shows being available just a day after airing, network execs are quick to point out they believe the downloading actually helps to build audience, especially in more-serialized shows.

For instance, an executive from a rival network said that ABC's deal to put Lost on iTunes turned him into a fan. He hadn't watched from the beginning, and when the show got hot, he felt it was too late to start watching first-run episodes due to its serialized nature.

“I downloaded all the old episodes, caught up, and am now hooked and I'll watch it on ABC when the next first-run comes out so I can be part of the social experience,” he says. “So that platform has created a viewer that would never have been.”

And those iPod-wrangled viewers may be part of the reason that, for new episodes since the ABC-Apple deal, viewership for Lost and Desperate Housewives is up 17% and 8%, respectively, from the year-ago episodes.

3. MORE HITS WILL BE AVAILABLE AS COPYRIGHT ISSUES ARE SETTLED

Look for more hit shows to download in 2006 as networks and non-aligned studios cut their first deals in this space.

Traditionally, a network licenses a TV show from a content supplier, and buys a bundle of rights, which once was as simple as a couple of airings over the network. Now, deals need to include new-media rights.

This past year, networks made in-house shows available for download, as dealing with corporate-cousin studios was essentially taking money from one pocket and putting it into the other. In 2006, a deal template will develop to allow all shows to find their way to the latest gadget.

Some studio executives believe the true template for such deals will be a part of a larger copyrights package. “If we were to make a deal with one of the Big Four networks, it would be a template deal that would cover a lot of other areas in the digital-distribution world including rental, VOD, SVOD, broadband, wireless and iPod. I don't think we'll do it as one-off deal.”

And studios may want more than just larger license fees for these rights, as compensation could also include bargaining chips such as moving up off-net syndication and DVD windows. NBC U's Huntsberry says such deals will come sooner than later. “In the next six months, the first deal will be struck, and once the precedent is set, then the domino effect will come after that,” he says.

4. TV COMPANIES WILL REALIGN OR GET LEFT BEHIND

As technology evolves ever more rapidly, one of the biggest challenges for TV programmers will be getting different divisions of the company on the same page.

“In a lot of companies, the digital piece of a business is in a separate place than network production, so it's going to rely on a lot of people getting along within their own companies,” says one studio chief. “It's going to be a mess figuring this out.”

CBS the week of Dec. 12 held an internal digital-media summit, in which the network brought together all of its new-media divisions from different business units to streamline strategy across the new CBS Corp.

NBC U also is among those setting an early example, implementing several organizational initiatives to position itself to adapt to the evolving marketplace. While the recent executive reshuffling that left GE CMO Beth Comstock overseeing digital got the headlines, some lower-level moves also demonstrate practical day-to-day strategies.

For instance, NBC U has a designated person just to manage the NBC U section on iTunes and supply all NBC U units with news on Apple's current businesses and innovations. The company has also hired an engineer trained in Six-Sigma, a quality-measurement and improvement program, whose job it is to redesign processes within the organization to deal with new-media opportunities.

“We are now investing in new media and beginning to affect the DNA structure of our organization,” says Huntsberry. “How do I license content to hundreds of on-demand customers around the globe who want to do business with me? I can walk away from them and only deal with the top 10 big ones, or change my processes whereby I can do business with the bulk of them, collect my money faster and be able to go into business with more people.”

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6295747

fredfa

01-03-06, 12:07 PM

Monday’s prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted at the top of Ratings News the second post in this thread.

fredfa

01-03-06, 12:12 PM

(From Marc Berman’s Tuesday, January 3, 2006 Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Ad-Supported Cable Ratings: Highlights of Note and Top 10 Rankings in 2005

With 2005 now a memory, what follows are annual highlights (alphabetically by network) for ad-supported cable through Dec. 25, 2005, followed by the top 10 rankings:

ABC Family:
Ignited by its recent 25 Days of Christmas themed programming, ABC Family rose to its best yearly ratings among total viewers, adults 18-49 and adults 18-34 in both primetime and total day.

Primetime:
Viewers: 1.13 million
Adults 18-49: 510,000
Adults 18-34: 227,000

Total Day:
Primetime: 741,000
Adults 18-49: 306,000
Adults 18-34: 159,000

Lifetime:
Lifetime Television will finish the year ranked No. 1 among all ad-supported original cable movies in households, total viewers, women 18-34, women 18-49 and women 25-54. In total, 12 Lifetime movies in 2005 (including Human Trafficking, Odd Girl Out, Murder in the Hamptons and Dive from Claussen’s Pier) cracked a 3.0 household rating or above.

Sci Fi Channel:
Sci Fi will end the year with its highest household rating ever in primetime (1.03), and record viewing levels among adults 18-49, adults 18-34 and adults 25-54 (See rankings). For the fourth consecutive year, Sci Fi averaged over one million viewers in the daypart.

TNT:
Top-rated TNT broke yearly records in primetime delivery of households, total viewers, adults 18-49 and adults 25-54, with the best ever household delivery for an original scripted series on ad-supported cable (The Closer on June 13, with 5.26 million households). Based on total day, TNT had its highest delivery of adults 18-49 (674,000) and adults 25-54 (692,000).

USA Network:
USA Network was home to three of the top 6 rated series -- Monk, The 4400 and The Dead Zone -- among both adults 18-49 and adults 25-54.

What follows are the top 10 ranked ad-supported cable networks in primetime (by delivery) based on data from Dec. 27, 2004 through Dec. 25, 2005:

Total Viewers:
TNT: 2.57 million
USA: 2.33
Nick at Nite: 1.88
ESPN: 1.84
Fox News: 1.77
Lifetime: 1.75
TBS: 1.69
Cartoon Network: 1.66
Spike TV: 1.53
Sci Fi: 1.51

Adults 18-49:
TNT: 1.16 million
USA: 1.06 million
TBS: 991,000
ESPN: 866,000
Spike TV: 801,000
Lifetime: 698,000
FX: 673,000
MTV: 615,000
Sci Fi: 603,000
Comedy Central: 575,000

Adults 18-34:
TBS: 496,000
TNT: 486,000
MTV: 477,000
USA: 466,000
ESPN: 410,000
Spike TV: 361,000
Comedy Central: 343,000
FX: 327,000
Lifetime: 274,000
Nick at Nite: 258,000

Adults 25-54:
TNT: 1.24 million
USA: 1.09 million
TBS: 911,000
ESPN: 865,000
Spike TV: 807,000
Lifetime: 767,000
Sci Fi: 688,000
FX: 634,000
Discovery: 573,000
A&E: 525,000

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/newsletters/proginsider/index.jsp

fredfa

01-03-06, 12:15 PM

(From Marc Berman’s Tuesday, January 3, 2006 Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )

Ratings Box: What’s Hot/What’s Not

ABC’s In Justice Gets Sampled:
The Sunday 10 p.m. preview of new ABC legal drama In Justice led the hour with a 7.0/12 in households, 10.75 million viewers and a 4.1/11 among adults 18-49 according to the fast nationals. Even so, tune out in the second half-hour and erosion from repeat lead-in Desperate Housewives was somewhat disappointing. In Justice declined by 7 percent in households (7.2/12 to 6.7/11), 690,000 viewers (11.10 to 10.41 million) and 9 percent among adults 18-49 (4.3/11 to 3.9/10) at 10:30 p.m. Lead-in Desperate Housewives averaged a season-low 8.1/13 in households, 12.64 million viewers and a 4.7/12 among adults 18-49.

In Justice moves to it’s regularly scheduled Friday 9 p.m. time period this week.

TV Tidbits: Notes of Interest

Michael Davies and SPT Join Forces:
Sony Pictures Television has signed a three-year deal with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire creator Michael Davies and his company Embassy Row to develop programming, scripted and unscripted, for both primetime and syndication.

Cold Squad and Stone Undercover from Program Partners:
Program Partners, the home of sleeper hit Da Vinci’s Inquest, is packaging two additional original Canadian forensic crime solving dramas -- Cold Squad and Stone Undercover -- in an off-network syndication package available next fall themed Crime Watch. For more information, contact Josh Raphaelson at 310/399-4499

Samantha Harris Named Co-Host of Dancing With the Stars:
E! Entertainment correspondent Samantha Harris (E! News) has been named co-host of ABC’s returning Dancing With the Stars. Effective, Friday, Jan. 6, Harris and Tom Bergeron will co-host the live half-hour results show, which combines the scores from the audience and judges and one couple is eliminated. Go, Tatum O’Neal!

Debuting Tonight:
ABC News’ revamped World News Tonight with Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff.

I Don’t Hate Chris:
In the listing of the 10 best and worst shows of 2005 last Thursday, there was a major omission, UPN’s nostalgic Everybody Hates Chris, which deserves a spot among the best.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/newsletters/proginsider/index.jsp

fredfa

01-03-06, 01:32 PM

The 2005-2006 Season: Part Two
New shows, lineup changes will shake up viewing plans

By Ed Bark The Dallas Morning News Tuesday, January 3, 2006

We're at halftime, not only in the myriad college football bowl games but in the long, winding march through the 2005-06 TV season. January as always will be home to a small army of notable new and returning series on broadcast and cable networks. Look for some show shuffling, too. Ready for all the see changes? Here are your road maps.

(NOTE: All times are Central.)

FIRST-TIMERS

THURSDAY

Dallas SWAT (9 p.m., A&E) – The perilous careers and "tempestuous personal lives" of the Dallas PD's Tactical Unit are chronicled in a six-episode reality show whose first hour features "Hottie SWATie" Rich Emberlin and hard-driving old-timer Robert Cockerill.

Four Kings (7:30 p.m., NBC) – From the creators of Will & Grace comes a sitcom about a quartet of young buds sharing a Manhattan apartment in this attempted "honest exploration of life-term friendship."

FRIDAY

The Book of Daniel (7 p.m., NBC) – Aidan Quinn (bottom right) stars as troubled Episcopal priest Daniel Webster in an irreverent drama full of family travails. Garret Dillahunt, formerly a prostitute mangler on HBO's Deadwood, segues to NBC as a robed Jesus who periodically chats and commiserates with vexed Rev. Webster.

In Justice (8 p.m., ABC; regular time-slot premiere following Sunday's sneak preview) – A new "procedural" crime drama whose heroes right wrongs caused by a triple threat of "sloppy police work, false testimony and biased juries."

SATURDAY

Murder 101 (8 p.m., Hallmark Channel) – Dick Van Dyke's back as "slightly bumbling" criminology professor Jonathan Maxwell in this first in a series of mystery movies. Son Barry Van Dyke assists in the crime solving as private eye Mike Bryant.

JAN. 9

Emily's Reasons Why Not (8 p.m., ABC) – Jenny McCarthy-esque Heather Graham (Boogie Nights) stars in her first TV series (above) in this comedy centered on single and single-minded author Emily Sanders. SMU grad and Dallas theater veteran Khary Payton co-stars.

JAN. 10

Anything to Win (8 p.m., GSN) – The network of grand-prize game shows tries a new tack with a13-part documentary series on both cheaters and fair-playing champs. Subjects range from Boston Marathon rule-breaker Rosie Ruiz to oddball chess champ Bobby Fischer.

JAN. 11

South Beach (7 p.m., UPN) – Two horndog Brooklyn-bred pals head to Miami and quickly dive into the "glamorous local scene at the Hotel Soleil's hip club Nocturnal." Vanessa Williams plays the hard-driving hotel owner, with Giancarlo Esposito as her sometimes shady partner.

JAN. 12

Crumbs (8:30 p.m., ABC) – TV vets Jane Curtin, William Devane and Fred Savage (left) star as Suzanne, Billy and Mitch Crumb in yet another sitcom built on the shaky foundation of a fractured family.

JAN. 17

Love Monkey (9 p.m., CBS) – Tom Cavanagh (Ed) plays another newly jilted dude, only this time he's record company exec Tom Farell instead of attorney Ed Stevens. Beverly Hills, 90210 alumnus Jason Priestly is also in the mix as best buddy Mike Freed, who's married to Tom's pregnant sister.

JAN. 18

Skating With Celebrities (8 p.m., Fox before moving to regular 7 p.m. Monday slot) – Slippery semistars such as Todd Bridges and David Coulier are put on ice with professionals in this retort to ABC's Dancing With the Stars and NBC's upcoming Winter Olympics telecasts.

JAN. 22

Bleak House (8 p.m., PBS) – An ambitious six-chapter adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel is presented under the Masterpiece Theatre banner.

JAN. 23

Courting Alex (8:30 p.m., CBS) – Four years removed from ABC's Dharma & Greg, Jenna Elfman returns to sitcom-ville as a "semi-alcoholic" single attorney looking for true love without sacrificing her day job.

STAR RETURNEES

TUESDAY

Scrubs (8 p.m., NBC) – The Zach Braff comedy at last returns for its fifth season, with back-to-back new episodes each Tuesday.

THURSDAY

Dancing With the Stars (7 p.m., ABC) – Second-season premiere, with a new collection of celebs hoofing and puffing for your amusement and amazement. Participants include Jerry Rice, Tatum O'Neal, George Hamilton and Giselle Fernandez. Results shows on Fridays at 7 p.m.

FRIDAY

Battlestar Galactica (9 p.m., Sci Fi Channel) – Third-season premiere of the acclaimed follow-up to ABC's short-lived 1978 original.

SUNDAY

The L Word (9 p.m., Showtime) ¬ Third-season premiere of the lesbian-driven drama.

JAN. 9

Antiques Roadshow (7 p.m., PBS) – Here comes the 10th-season premiere of public television's answer to The Price Is Right.

Jake in Progress (8:30 p.m., ABC)– Second-season premiere of the revamped John Stamos comedy.

The Bachelor (9 p.m., ABC) – A rose is a rose is a rose is a ... Sorry, lost count. Anyway, this latest edition originates from Paris, with a 33-year-old ER doc named Travis playing the field.

American Chopper (9 p.m., Discovery) – Father and son Paul Teutul Sr. and Jr. return for new adventures in bike building.

JAN. 10

The Shield (9 p.m., FX) – Fifth-season premiere of the rogue cop drama, with Forest Whitaker joining the cast and Glenn Close leaving.

JAN. 12

Beauty & the Geek (8 p.m., The WB) – Second-season premiere of the nerds-meet-bimbos reality competition.

JAN. 13

Monk (9 p.m., USA) – Tony Shalhoub returns for his fourth season as "defective detective" Adrian Monk.

JAN. 15

24 (7 p.m., Fox; two more hours follow on Jan. 16 before the real-time drama moves to its regular 8 p.m. Monday slot) – Agent Jack Bauer returns from the presumed dead to save the world for a fifth successive season. It's all in a day's work.

JAN. 17

American Idol (7 p.m., Fox; results shows on Wednesdays at 7 p.m.) – Fifth-season premiere of the Fox smasheroo, with the top 12 finalists scheduled to perform together for the first time on March 14. This year's talent searches took the show to Austin, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Chicago, Denver and Greensboro, N.C.

JAN. 21

Miss America Pageant (7 p.m., CMT) – Desperate Housewives star James Denton hosts from the Aladdin Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Yes, you read that right. ABC, Atlantic City and September are out of the picture.

WHERE'S MY SHOW?

January invariably is a jigsaw puzzle of schedule changes and long-awaited new episodes of popular shows after a seeming eternity of reruns. We can help: Here's an alphabetical listing of what's where and when.

America's Next Top Model (UPN) –Cycle 6 begins in the spring; in the interim, South Beach inherits its 7 p.m. Tuesday spot on Jan. 11.

The Amazing Race (CBS) –It goes on hiatus until a ninth edition premieres sometime in March.

The Apprentice (NBC) – The Donald Trump original has been evicted from Thursdays, but a fifth edition is due on another night sometime after February's Winter Olympics telecasts on NBC

Bones (Fox) –It moves to a higher-profile slot on Jan. 25, following results editions of American Idol at 8 p.m. Wednesdays.

Desperate Housewives (ABC) – Jan. 8 brings a new episode, the first since Dec. 4.

Everwood (The WB) – It goes on hiatus until sometime in March, with the second season of Beauty & the Geek temporarily taking the 8 p.m. Thursday slot.

Invasion (ABC) – It's been struggling in the ratings, but the first-year creature feature will return with a new episode on Jan. 11 after briefly bequeathing its post-Lost slot to Alias, which goes on hiatus until spring.

Lost (ABC) – After a six-week layoff, new episodes resume on Jan. 11.

My Name Is Earl (NBC) – The acclaimed freshman comedy goes to Thursdays at 8 p.m., beginning this week.

The Office (NBC) –It's also moving to Thursdays this week, following Earl at 8:30 p.m.

Prison Break (Fox) – It resumes second season with new episodes on March 20.

Supernanny (ABC) –It's on hiatus, replaced at 7 p.m. Fridays with a Dancing With the Stars results show and Hope & Faith, which moves up a half-hour to 7:30.

Survivor (CBS) – A new 12th edition is scheduled for March at 7 p.m. Thursdays.

That '70s Show (Fox) –Back-to-back episodes will air on Thursdays from 7 to 8 p.m., beginning Jan. 12. The O.C. moves back an hour to 8 p.m. Thursdays, supplanting the canceled Reunion .

Will & Grace (NBC) –It moves up a half-hour to 7 p.m. Thursdays this week, with Joey going away until sometime after the Olympics telecasts.

http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/television/stories/DN-newshows_0102gl.State.Edition1.20d6da75.html

fredfa

01-03-06, 04:45 PM

Tate, Copps Sworn in as FCC Commissioners

By Doug Halonen TVWeek.com

Republican Deborah Taylor Tate and Democrat Michael Copps were officially sworn in as commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.

The term of Ms. Tate, formerly a director of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, runs until June 30, 2007. The new term of Mr. Copps, an incumbent commissioner, expires June 30, 2010.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9109

fredfa

01-03-06, 04:49 PM

Critic’s Notebook
On broadcasterly courage

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star oh his TV blog Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Thanks to Keith Olbermann and the "Countdown," I have now seen clips from "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" and witnessed what Paul Harris and others were talking about yesterday: Clark's struggle to broadcast on the air through the effects of what was obviously a crippling stroke.

Mark Evanier's reaction was similar to Paul's and, I suspect, many other people. Watching Clark slur his words Saturday night, Evanier wrote:

...I could feel sad. ... He was all energy with a great sense of humor, and it's heartbreaking to see him with slurred speech, struggling (but succeeding) to get his dialogue out. Or I could feel happy. The rumor mill, including word from a friend who saw him last March, suggested he might not make it to New Year's Eve, let alone be well enough to return to work. But there he is, not letting a little thing like partial paralysis stop him from doing what he's always done so well. There's something inspirational there.

Well, that's one way to look at it. Here's another.

Dick Clark spent four decades trying to preserve his youthful good looks from the 1950s, even though all he had to do was look around and see plenty of men aging gracefully before the cameras. But he kept the hair dye going because he knew -- earlier than a lot of people in the business recognized it -- that television was a medium geared toward youth. He produced dirt-cheap TV shows (game shows and "Bloopers," most famously) because he knew networks were looking for filler and because he, Dick Clark, was always looking for action.

And here he was again, on New Year's Eve, looking for action on a TV special that he conceived in 1972 to appeal to young audiences. Paul Harris tried to convince me that we have seen Clark doing the Times Square ball drop for the last time. I say: Don't bet on it. First of all, he's probably got a clause in his deal with ABC that prevents the network from making it the Ryan Seacrest show without his say-so. Second, what makes anyone think that Clark is ready to leave the stage? Yes, it was unusual for someone so debilitated to command half an hour of live network TV. But does anyone really think Clark hadn't calculated this in his head? Don't you think he knew that the New York Times and other newspapers would write reviews the next day calling him a model for stroke victims?

At the same time, I don't agree with others -- like most of the "Imus in the Morning" crew -- who said Clark's performance was "a mistake" because it "bummed us out" during what's supposed to be one of the most festive moments of the year. That's ridiculous. TV is hard-wired for schizophrenia: poignant one moment, hap-hap-happy the next. Think Neil Postman's "Now....this" syndrome, the news anchor able to whirl her chair 45 degrees and follow a death notice with wacky news video.

The fact is, television is a medium of communication, and much of that is non-verbal. And there was something truly interesting, and yes, perhaps inspirational to some, about Dick Clark's return to TV on the program that he created. He had a point to make, and he made it. From now on, however, ABC should not let him on the air again unless his speech improves significantly.

***

For me, the measure of all on-air recoveries is that of Roger Ebert. No one who has watched the most famous movie critic in the world over the past few years can fail to notice the change in his on-air appearance and speaking style. As Carol Felsenthal reports in her terrific Chicago magazine profile of Ebert:

Lately, when people see Ebert on television, some are alarmed by his appearance. In the past few years, he has dropped about 100 pounds with the assistance of the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa, formerly in Santa Monica—“Chaz took me there the first time kicking and screaming,” Roger says—and by adhering to the 10,000-steps-a-day program. He keeps a pedometer attached to his waistband and works out with a trainer three days a week. Gone is the box of Good & Plenty that he used to eat during screenings—replaced by a Pritikin sandwich and diet peach Snapple. Between movies, he walks around the block.

He is frustrated that people do not believe that the weight loss was deliberate and hard won; that they think it is related to his three bouts with cancer—once thyroid and twice salivary gland. Repeated surgeries in the neck and chin area, affecting the muscles, have caused the left side of his mouth to droop, and some viewers say they wonder if he has had a stroke.

Roger has moved to a new plane of celebrity, and I miss our occasional e-mails that date back to August 1994, when he received his first issue of LATE SHOW NEWS and wrote, "Where has this been all my life?" But I did stand with him on line at Sundance Film Festival three years ago, and we talked about, among other things, the diet Chaz had put him on. He strolled over to a vending machine and ticked off various items and why he couldn't eat them (including one low-fat goodie that "makes me fart"). I'm embarrassed that my best Roger Ebert anecdote is that one, but it does settle in my mind that he has, in fact, been trying to lose weight for some time, and we should not be alarmed that he has finally had a breakthrough.

These days, Roger Ebert slurs words on the air. His mouth droops. Viewers, Felsenthal writes, are concerned. I'm not so sure. After all, this has been going on for more than a year. It's not like we can't clearly understand what he's saying. He's still reviewing 260 films a year and making it to all the festivals, and the production schedule at his show is as heavy as it ever was. (By the way, according to Felsenthal's sources, "Ebert and Roeper and the Movies" is not a moneymaker for its syndicator, Buena Vista.) Now that I've called attention to it, you may notice his imperfections again the next time you watch his show. But regular viewers haven't noticed them for months.

That should be the standard Dick Clark holds himself to. Unless he can improve 100 percent from Saturday night, he should stay away from any TV cameras. For the other thing about Dick Clark, for all his media ubiquity, is this: He may be one of the least conspicuous personalities TV has ever created. Even Hugh Downs, the invisible man who logged 10,000 hours on the air, was occasionally allowed to do stories about his personal interests and hobbies. Do we know anything personal about Dick Clark? Well, we now know he's recovering from a stroke. I hate to put it this way, but he's had a moment now for himself. From this point on, it had better be about the audience. And unless he can make us, the audience, forget about his stroke or anything else that has to do with Dick Clark -- in other words, unless he can be the easygoing, meld-into-the-woodwork TV host he always was -- his comeback isn't going to work.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2006/01/on_broadcasterl.html#more

fredfa

01-03-06, 06:57 PM

TV Newswire
Disney Expands iTunes Content

By Jay Sherman TVWeek.com January 3, 2006

The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it has expanded the content available on Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store, with plans to offer sports content, additional television shows and vignettes from the classic "School House Rock."

Using the model launched in October in which Disney offered episodes of "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" for $1.99 each, the company is including for the same price programming from ABC Sports, ESPN and Disney cable networks Disney Channel, ABC Family and SoapNet. The latest expansion also includes content produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation.

Among the sports content available for download are condensed versions of all the BCS Bowl Games aired by ABC Sports as well as ESPN content from the its X Games telecasts, interviews from the series "SportsCentury," "This is SportsCenter" commercials and select original entertainment, such as "Knight School," a reality program featuring Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight.

In addition, Disney will make available episodes of ABC Family's "Wildfire," Disney Channel's "Kim Possible" and "The Proud Family" and SoapNet's biography series "Soapography." Also included are episodes of "America's Funniest Home Videos" and "Ebert & Roeper."

Disney said it will offer free downloads of ad-supported video podcasts of content from ABC News' "Good Morning America" and "World News Tonight" as well as segments of ABC News Now's "Money Minute," "Medical Minute" and "Buzz Cut."

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9108

Comment:

Is Disney nuts? This sounds just like a family which decides to clear everything out of the garage and basement and have a garage sale -- figuring if anyone buys the stuff (for any amount) they'll be ahead of the game. If the junk doesn't get bought, it can be thrown out. No loss.

(Just using the words "classic" and "School House Rock" in the same sentence should send Jay Sherman of TV Week to mandatory journalism retraining school.)

IMO people want the option to DL shows -- but how about making them shows they care about?

fredfa

01-03-06, 07:02 PM

The Disney Press Release:

ABC SPORTS AND ESPN CONTENT, PLUS ABC NEWS AND
MORE ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMING FROM DISNEY
COMES TO THE iTUNES MUSIC STORE

New Offerings Include Condensed BCS Bowl Games from ABC Sports,
ESPN Sports and Entertainment Content, News and Entertainment Content
From Disney-ABC Television Group and Walt Disney Feature Animation

The businesses of The Walt Disney Company, well-positioned to take advantage of new technologies by leveraging their outstanding creative content, will now offer additional programming from ESPN and ABC Sports, ABC Entertainment and Touchstone Television, ABC Family, ABC News, Buena Vista Television, Disney Channel and SOAPnet, as well as content produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation on the iTunes Music Store (www.itunes.com).

ESPN and ABC Sports are the first to offer sports programming on the iTunes Music Store, bringing fans a host of sports content. Condensed versions of all four BCS Bowl Games from ABC Sports will be available on the iTunes Music Store. Condensed versions of yesterday’s Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and Nokia Sugar Bowl will be available today. Today’s Orange Bowl and tomorrow’s Rose Bowl Presented by Citi (the national title game, matching USC against The University of Texas) will be available the day after they air.

Later this month ESPN will make additional content available, including the Best of the X Games; “SportsCentury” interviews from ESPN Classic’s award-winning biography series; the popular “This is SportsCenter” commercials; and select ESPN Original Entertainment programs – including “Knight School,” the forthcoming reality program featuring Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight, which will premiere on iTunes.

“Our mission is to serve fans wherever they are by delivering high-quality content across dozens of multi-media platforms, now including the iTunes Music Store and viewing on the iPod,” said George Bodenheimer, ESPN and ABC Sports President and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks. “We are thrilled to be the first content provider to offer sports content on iTunes.”

In addition to the ESPN and ABC Sports content, more programming from Disney ABC Television Group will also be available later this month on the iTunes Music Store, including such cable programming as ABC Family’s original series “Wildfire,” Disney Channel’s popular animated series “Kim Possible” and “The Proud Family” and SOAPnet’s original biography series “Soapography,” as well as ABC Entertainment and Touchstone Television library product, including “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” and the popular 1970s Saturday morning “School House Rock” vignettes and episodes of Buena Vista Television’s “Ebert and Roeper.”

Additionally, free, ad-supported video podcasts from ABC News will be available, including daily segments from “Good Morning America” and the “World News Tonight” webcast, as well as ABC News Now’s “Money Minute,” “Medical Minute” and “Buzz Cut.”

“We look forward to building upon the success of our initial iTunes offerings and are dedicated to providing consumers with a variety of high quality entertainment and news content that they can view at their convenience, regardless of time, place or platform,” said Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks and President, Disney ABC Television Group. “We believe that making our content available on iTunes results in incremental viewing opportunities and also furthers awareness of our programs and brands.”

Classic animated shorts produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and featured on Buena Vista Home Entertainment’s upcoming “Disney at the Academy Awards,” including the 1933 Academy Award-winning “The Three Little Pigs” and the 1935 Academy Award-winning “The Tortoise and the Hare,” will also be available.

“Our animated product has always been the touchstone of The Walt Disney Company,” said Dick Cook, chairman, The Walt Disney Studios. “We are pleased that in addition to offering our classic animated shorts on DVD, we will now reach an even broader audience with programming on Apple’s iTunes Music Store. It is certainly gratifying to know that consumers of all ages will get to experience first hand the remarkable and award-winning works from some of the most gifted animators in history.”

Available for purchase for $1.99 per episode, all of this new content joins the other Disney ABC Television Group programming, including “Commander In Chief,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Lost,” “That’s So Raven” and “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” currently available for purchase on the iTunes Music Store.

fredfa

01-03-06, 09:29 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Post-holiday TV grab bag

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune TV blog

• “Everwood” fans, check out the Jan. 12 episode of the new NBC comedy “Four Kings.” Sarah Lancaster, who played Madison on “Everwood,” turns up on “Kings” ¬–- as a brunette.

• Best band name mentioned in the premiere of “Love Monkey,” the drama-comedy starring “Ed’s” Tom Cavanagh as a record-label scout: Scab Inferno. By the way, I’d watch Cavanagh read the phone book, but “Love Monkey,” which debuts Jan. 17, is actually pretty good (you have to like a show that casts Eric Bogosian as an evil music executive), and, despite being a CBS drama, does not feature any corpses, lawyers, evidence technicians, otherworldly/undead visitors or cops. Discuss.

• I caught up with a few “Office” episodes I’d missed over the holiday, and I’ve been converted from casual “Office” fan to fanatic. The Christmas episode of the NBC comedy, in particular, was a gem, and the final scene, in which a female co-worker, er, surprises Michael in his office, was genius. If you haven’t checked out this comedy yet, do yourself a favor. It’s gotten really, really good.

• And speaking of being converted, I watched several “Office” episodes via a video iPod, and I just have to rave about that for a second. The picture was amazingly good, and though I’d never want to watch something epic such as “Lost” on a video iPod, watching 21-minute comedy on an iPod screen was much more enjoyable than I’d have guessed it would be. Sadly, it wasn’t my video iPod, it belonged to my brother, who was not at all a good sport (shades of the Yankee Trading gift game on “The Office”) and wanted his shiny new iPod back before he left town on Christmas Day. Killjoy!

• Just a tiny teaser for fans of “The Shield,” which returns Jan. 10: I have the distinct impression that Ronnie Gardocki, the consistently underused David Rees Snell (some of us call him Fourth Guy), has a few more lines than usual this year. But what I really want to know is, will this be the year that Dutch has a relationship that lasts longer than 20 minutes? The first four episodes of the cop drama offer no clues in that direction, sadly.

• E! Entertainment Television has announced its red carpet team for the Jan. 15 Golden Globes: Ryan Seacrest, Guiliana DePandi and Isaac Mizrahi. Not thrilling. No Kathy Griffin in sight, sad to say (though there is good news to report about Griffin: According to RealityBlurred.com, she’s signed on to do a second season of her Bravo reality show). Let’s just hope Mizrahi is better than “Queer Eye’s” Carson Kressley, who was terrible on last year’s Emmy red carpet broadcast. But let’s also count our blessings: No Star Jones!

• Warning: You have a new hourlong drama to add to your TV schedule. NBC’s “The Book of Daniel,” which stars Chicago's own Aidan Quinn and premieres Friday, is excellent. The family drama, the religious element, Garret Dillahunt of “Deadwood” as the Jesus that appears to Quinn’s troubled Episcopal priest -– all these things are worth watching and show a ton of potential.

• Now for the rant: Why is NBC stranding "Daniel" on a Friday night? That is a sin. Especially when the network has so many other prime-time berths filled by less-than-compelling content Why are we living in a world where “Surface,” “E-Ring” and “Fear Factor” get more high-profile slots than the terrific “Book of Daniel”? Heaven help us.

http://tempo.typepad.com/entertainment_tv/

fredfa

01-03-06, 10:53 PM

Critic’s Notebook
“World News Tonight”

By PJ Bednarski (Executive Editor of Broadcasting & Cable) at bcbeat.com

There's something to be said about not judging a daily news product by its initial effort. I'll say it again. ABC's new version of World News Tonight which premiered Tuesday night was, in a word, unremarkable, unless you're paid by the word to remark. I'm not.

Some quick observations, however. NBC Nightly News murdered WNT on the top story of the night--the fate of the missing West Virginia coal miners. ABC was adequate, and harder on the coal mine's owners than NBC was, but ABC was lapped in its coverage by Brian Williams and Co.

Elizabeth Vargas, who is co-anchoring the new World News Tonight, got to fly solo, with her cohort Bob Woodruff off in Iran reporting on that nation's increasingly defiant insistence on playing with nuclear energy. (NBC didn't touch that story at all.)

Want the dishy part on WNT? It looks like big spotlights are aimed at Vargas, who seems lit up like one of those blow-up Christmas ornaments that just last week made us feel so un-holiday-like. To make this an equal-opportunity review, Woodruff was clean shaven in his prepared packages, but kinda swarthy by the time he did his standup. Send a Norelco, ASAP. They're on sale now.

Back to the NBC murdering ABC bit. Since these two networks are or have been in sort of a Nielsen dogfight, it's worth noting ABC was the slower dog Tuesday. NBC trotted all around ABC on lobbyist Jack Abramhoff's decision to plead guilty to federal bribery charges, though ABC won the Most

Embarrassing Piece of Exclusive Footage Award--video of woe-begotten Republican Tom Delay wearing a silly cap at an Abramoff-sponsored 'fun'-raiser in the South Pacific that the network claimed was exclusive footage. Very embarrassing.

On my way home to watch the debut, I heard not even one person between the ages of 18 to 49 on the subway exclaiming they were in a big rush to get home to watch the debut of ABC's newscast anchored by a man and woman who might better know U2 as a rock group than a Cold War crisis.

And advertisers seemed to sense this too. In the debut half hour, the commmercials included prescription aids for diabetes, sleeplessness, chronic dry eye and high cholesterol. I suppose middle-aged folks have the same aches and pains but this still seemed like a newscast aimed at the older demo, despite the younger anchors.

One great thing-- at 3 p.m. each afternoon, Vargas or Wooodruff, or both, will anchor a Web cast that highlights the day's news. But the 24/7 news cycle probably isn't going to go down that easy with correspondents. While ABC's David Kerley was giving the lowdown on the mine disaster, he noted a news conference was taking place elsewhere that, obviously, he wasn't attending.

Still, the afternoon break and new blogs on the Web site are good things. And WNT, by and large, debuted without doing something really stupid, which after all, is what everybody thinks some network will eventually do to attract the younger audience. Last night, World News Tonight more or less gave the world news of the night.

http://www.bcbeat.com/

fredfa

01-03-06, 11:10 PM

TV Notebook
Networks primed for midseason

By Andrew Wallenstein The Hollywood Reporter Jan. 04, 2006

Why wait for the Olympics to begin in February to witness grueling competition -- just watch the broadcasters roll out their midseason primetime schedules this month.

CBS and ABC might be running neck and neck for gold and silver medals in most major demographics, but the return of "American Idol" on Jan. 17 likely will propel Fox Broadcasting Co. into contention with the momentum of a downhill skier.

"January is going to be a lot more interesting than it usually is," said Kelly Kahl, senior executive vp programming operations at CBS. "Everyone is anxious to make a statement before the Olympics come in. The intensity is greater than in the past, with some big shows on the move."

Among the shows trying new time slots in January are ABC's summer hit "Dancing With the Stars" and NBC's hottest new half-hour, "My Name Is Earl." They join nine new series rolling out before the Olympics commence Feb. 10.

Fourteen weeks into the season, the race in key demographics is as close as expected: CBS is just one-tenth of a rating point ahead of ABC among viewers 18-49 (4.0 to 3.9), and the networks are tied with an 11 share. CBS still maintains tight leads over ABC in total viewers, households and 25-54. ABC is a hair ahead of Fox among viewers 18-34.

Meanwhile, NBC is down by double digits in all major demos except households (-7%). Younger-skewing broadcasters WB Network and UPN are either flat or down in 18-49, but UPN has improved its numbers in 12-34 and 18-34; WB is flailing across the board.

The slightest midseason time-slot shift could influence the outcome of the 2005-06 horse race, which will determine how billions of advertising dollars will be divvied among the broadcasters when the season ends in May. Most execs envision a three-way deadlock in which CBS, ABC and Fox would be separated by one- or two-tenths of a rating point in the 18-49 demographic.

Of all the midseason programs likely to make a difference, Fox executive vp strategic program planning Preston Beckman noted that the Super Bowl, which airs this year on ABC and on CBS in 2007, could add a tenth of a point by itself.

"I think the Super Bowl is going to be in the next couple of years the difference between possibly winning or losing a season," he said.

Jeff Bader, executive vp of ABC Entertainment, professes that ABC isn't as concerned with winning the season as it is with building the schedule for the long term. More important, he believes, is the composition of the audience; ABC supplanted NBC this season as the top-rated network among upscale viewers 18-49 (though NBC still reigns among shows with highest upscale index).

"What's the difference if you are first, second or third if it's by one- or two-tenths of a point?" Bader said. "The upscale network brings different advertisers. That is what makes the biggest difference."

As for NBC, even a two-week ratings bump from the Olympics likely won't be enough to pull out of the cellar this season. Mitch Metcalf, executive vp program planning and scheduling at NBC, sees the peacock's midseason changes as the foundation for 2006-07.

"I think what this does is establish us for the long haul and building for the future," he said.

No night will be under greater scrutiny than Thursday, which attracts the lion's share of marketers, including movie studios intent on getting consumers into theaters during the weekend.

"People see the pot available there, and they want to get some," Kahl said. "Thursday has a lot of economic sway."

With NBC down a whopping 33% on Thursday in 18-49 during the first 13 weeks of the season vs. the same period the previous year, the peacock will introduce a overhauled lineup for the night in January sans "Joey" and "The Apprentice."

"Will & Grace" will complete its final season in the 8 p.m. slot, allowing a new comedy, "Four Kings," to get a test run at 8:30 p.m. In addition, in what might be January's boldest gambit, NBC will take primetime's top-rated new comedy, "Earl," and move it along with its Tuesday companion "The Office" to the Thursday 9-10 p.m. slot.

Metcalf acknowledged that transplanting a first-year hit to brutally competitive Thursday is a gamble -- but one with big potential payoff.

"I feel like there's an element of risk to it, but it feels like exactly the right time to establish a strong comedy footprint on the night," Metcalf said.

In addition to facing down CBS powerhouse "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "Earl" will take on the last half-hour of "Dancing," which returns in an expanded 90-minute format (new comedy "Crumbs" comes in at 9:30 p.m.).

Fox also could hurt NBC's new Thursday lineup by adding a third installment of "Idol" on Thursdays from Feb. 23-March 9, pushing "The O.C." to a new 9 p.m. time slot.

Last season, the network played down its expectations for how "Idol" would perform, only to watch it return bigger than ever -- to the tune of roughly 27 million viewers on both Tuesday and Wednesday. It's hoping that a third edition will be stronger on Thursday than it has fared on Mondays in the past.

With the emergence of healthy new series including "Prison Break" and "Bones," Fox might seem a world away from its troubles in fall 2004, when a fleet of new unscripted series flopped. But Fox is actually down 9% in 18-49 so far this season because the viewership drawn by its postseason baseball coverage paled in comparison to 2004.

However, its nonsports primetime programming is up about 15%, according to Beckman. "We go into the January wars with more weapons and in better shape than we were a year ago," he said.

Fox also is getting aggressive on Monday after futilely attempting to establish comedies "Arrested Development" and "Kitchen Confidential." The debut of the unscripted series "Skating With Celebrities" will serve as lead-in for another season of "24." CBS also will make an adjustment Monday, replacing "Out of Practice" with "Courting Alex" to see if it can better capitalize on its "Two and a Half Men" lead-in.

ABC also is attacking Monday with a new postfootball lineup, including returning series "Jake in Progress" and new entry "Emily's Reasons Why Not." Bader believes the network's female-friendly juggernauts, "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy," will provide a perfect promotional base for the following night.

"We're hoping to use our great Sunday numbers with women to help launch Monday," he said.

ABC also is rebooting on Friday, dismantling its comedy block to give a new drama, "In Justice," a try at 9 p.m. CBS is staying with "Close to Home" in that slot, where it is performing better than it did in the Tuesday berth where it began the season.

The Big Four also could see a boost from any of the slew of new series sitting on the bench awaiting post-Olympics time slots. CBS has the comedy "The New Adventures of Old Christine," drama [B]"The Unit" and an untitled game-show franchise in the hopper. ABC has the comedy "Sons and Daughters," dramas "What About Brian" and "Evidence," as well as reality series "Miracle Workers" and "American Inventor."

Fox has two comedies, "Free Ride" and "The Loop." NBC has the comedy "Teachers," dramas "Conviction" (working title) and "Windfall," as well as the unscripted series "Treasure Hunters."

Another midseason addition that could be a factor in May is Nielsen's new ratings measurements that launched last week, which incorporate separate tallies for viewing with or without digital video recorders (either later that day or one week after the original airdate). Don't be surprised if two different networks declare victory in May -- citing different figures.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001773368

fredfa

01-03-06, 11:49 PM

Sports Media and Business
When It Comes to N.F.L., CBS and Fox Claim No. 1

By Richard Sandomir The New York Times January 4, 2006

The networks' bold declarations make no mistake about which is No. 1 among National Football League viewers.

CBS claims, in its promotions, that "more people watch the N.F.L. on CBS than on any other network." Fox asserts that it is the "most watched" N.F.L. network. Each network means what it is saying. Who wouldn't want the prestige of being the most watched - or the one with more people watching?

Sean McManus, the president of CBS Sports and CBS News, wondered whether anyone but Fox and CBS cared. But he liked the idea that by his network's calculation, CBS is No. 1 with viewers.

"It's pride and perception," he said, sounding eager for some type of victory for CBS's historically weaker American Football Conference package over Fox's more expensive National Football Conference deal.

In this game of claim and counterclaim, CBS and Fox are both correct, because they used authorized, but different measurements from Nielsen Media Research, the arbiter of ratings and audience counting.

CBS used a statistic called total audience, one that Nielsen does not employ much, except during the Super Bowl and the Olympics when networks want to flaunt the largest possible audience numbers. Total audience refers to the cumulative number of viewers - none of whom are counted more than once - who have watched at least six minutes of coverage some time during the season. That's not a lot of viewing, but it acts as a minimum; CBS says its average viewer this season had dipped into some parts of 5.8 games.

By this measure, CBS led Fox through Week 16 of the N.F.L. season, with 143.9 million viewers to Fox's 138.3 million.

But Fox has rejected this methodology since CBS first touted it last month in promos. "You can only laugh," said Ed Goren, the president of Fox Sports. "I've heard desperate living is never pretty. Madison Avenue cares about two things: ratings and demos."

McManus, who negotiated the deal that brought the N.F.L. to CBS, said, "Listen, you can use numbers any way you want to, but it is true that more individuals in this country have watched the N.F.L. on CBS than any other network." He conceded that while its audience claim is most important for the image of the sports division, it "can't hurt our sales team."

But Fox has a bevy of statistics to brandish against what Goren said was CBS's convoluted claim: leadership in the widely used areas of average rating (10.0 to CBS's 9.8), male demographics (a narrow lead in every important category) and average audience (15.5 million a game to CBS's 15.3 million), which assesses how many people watch an average minute of a program.

"One of these days," Goren said, "I'm going to have to tell my boss he's missed the boat on total audience."

CBS's first total audience lead since 1998 could be reversed when it is Fox's turn to take back two audience-growing advantages that CBS had this season: an extra Sunday afternoon doubleheader and the late-afternoon Thanksgiving broadcast. This season's Dallas-Denver game on Thanksgiving went into overtime and produced the highest N.F.L. rating on that holiday in six years.

If the who's-watching-more scuffle seems absurd, it is also arcane.

Fox recently complained to Nielsen when CBS ran a promo that proclaimed it the "No. 1 place for the N.F.L," which Fox executives said connoted a victory that went far beyond the scope of an edge in total audience.

"We told CBS twice to pull the ad just before Christmas, and they took it off," said Jack Loftus, a spokesman for Nielsen. "It resurfaced this weekend, and we told them again to take it off."

The existence of that promo underscored another squabble over another measurement: gross N.F.L. rating points. Fox figured that all of its football programming - pregame and postgame shows, as well as the games themselves - should go into that calculation. Fox's total through Week 16 was 393.4 to CBS's 377.8. But count only the games, as CBS argued unsuccessfully to Nielsen, and CBS takes the lead, 266.5 to 253.5.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/04/sports/football/04sandomir.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

01-03-06, 11:54 PM

Rain on Rose Parade is OK for KTLA

Although the station is criticized for not having Stephanie Edwards in her usual co-host role, its ratings are sunny

By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 4, 2006

Monday's downpours held a silver lining for KTLA-TV Channel 5, which saw ratings for the Rose Parade soar to the highest levels in seven years as housebound Angelenos watched in large numbers. But the rain didn't douse a simmering controversy over the role of longtime co-host Stephanie Edwards, who some viewers complained was literally sidelined during the soggy telecast.

An average of 1.9 million viewers in the Los Angeles area tuned in to KTLA during its live 8 a.m.-to-10:30 a.m. coverage of the 117th Tournament of Roses Parade, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. The station's household ratings leaped 25% compared with last year's telecast and were the parade's best since 1999.

The parade is a signature event for KTLA (which is owned by Tribune Co., publisher of the Los Angeles Times), and it easily bested competing coverage on KNBC-TV Channel 4 (239,000 viewers) and KABC-TV Channel 7 (222,000), as well as Spanish-language stations KMEX-TV Channel 34 (521,000) and KWHY-TV Channel 22 (241,000). (KCBS-TV Channel 2 did not air parade coverage. All told, 3.2 million viewers in the Los Angeles market watched the parade, the highest overall tally since 1997.

The bad weather boosted the ratings, as viewers stayed home to watch TV rather than venturing outdoors. Bill Carroll, vice president of the Katz Television Group, which advises local stations, pointed out that viewing levels are almost invariably tied to climate patterns, with TV usage jumping during cold or inclement weather. Indeed, according to Nielsen, the percentage of Los Angeles area households using TV was 52% during the time KTLA broadcast the parade, compared with 41% during last year's event.

Asked to account for the high ratings, spokeswoman Carolyn Aguayo said KTLA has long been the "station of record" for the parade. But she added: "The rain may have also generated additional interest from viewers wanting to see how it would impact the event."

For longtime parade watchers, though, there was also a juicy back story to the KTLA broadcast.

Edwards has long co-hosted the parade coverage with Bob Eubanks, the former host of "The Newlywed Game." But this year, Edwards vanished from the booth, replaced by KTLA morning news co-anchor Michaela Pereira. Edwards covered the parade from a bench on the sidelines.

The parade had hardly wrapped before bloggers began expressing sympathy for Edwards and sharply criticizing Pereira, whom several viewers complained had referred to retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as sitting on the "Superior Court." Pereira did not return a phone call Tuesday seeking comment.

On LAObserved.com, one correspondent wrote: "Worse than the rain on the parade was the treatment of Stephanie Edwards on the KTLA Rose Parade telecast. I was completely outraged that she was demoted to sitting in the stands having no part at all in the coverage. She didn't even have a place to put her papers and had to juggle the microphone and umbrella?! It was completely demoralizing."

KTLA General Manager Vinnie Malcolm downplayed the negative reactions. "Anytime you make a change like this you're always going to have comments. We're quite pleased with the telecast."

In an e-mail to a Times reporter, Edwards denied reports of bad blood between her and Eubanks. "Bob, Michaela and I are thrilled by the ratings but saddened by the misinformation regarding our nonexistent feud," she wrote. Attempts to reach Edwards for further comments were unsuccessful.

One station staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals from management, said that Edwards and Eubanks had each been paid about $50,000 for full hosting duties. The staffer did not know what Pereira, who is already a station employee, was paid to co-host this year.

"Stephanie's changed role had nothing to do with money. We simply tried something new," Aguayo said. In fact, Malcom said, "it added to the expense; it was a seven-figure production."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-ktla4jan04,0,719565,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

GeorgeLV

01-04-06, 12:23 AM

I'm suprised CBS didn't blow away Fox in the NFL ratings because the NFC was such a weaker conference. Maybe having almost every game in HD made the difference for Fox.

fredfa

01-04-06, 01:13 AM

But Fox has historically had the advantage of the bigger markets (which is why it pays a higher rights fee than CBS).

NY is an NFC/AFC split, of course, but the Giants are the ratings winners there consistently.

#2 LA has no team, and #6 SF-Oakland is split.

Fox has 10 of the top 15 markets, with two two-team cities and one no-team city. CBS has just two of the top 15 markets.

It is Fox in #3 Chicago,
#4 Philadelphia,
#7 Dallas,
#8 Washington,
#9 Atlanta,
#11 Detroit,
#12 Tampa,
#13 Seattle,
#14 Phoenix and
#15 Minneapolis.

CBS just has #5 Boston and #10 Houston.

And one more thing: whether you personally enjoy the show or not, the Fox pre-game show, under the brilliant leadership of Scott Ackerson, has been a consistent winner for a decade.

fredfa

01-04-06, 01:29 AM

Television Review
Space Oddity

Science fiction has faltered on network TV. So why is Sci Fi Channel flourishing?

By John Leonard New York Magazine Jan. 9, 2006

If you need me to explain that Cylons are the bad guys in the Battlestar Galactica series—so bad, in fact, that they’re actually synthetic, like something potlucked in a South Korean stem-cell lab—then you’d be better off reading the rest of the magazine. This week I am all about Sci Fi Channel, in planetary particular, and science fiction on television, in cosmic general. Besides Galactica, both Stargate SG-1 and its derivative, Stargate: Atlantis, return for new seasons on the same night on the same cable channel. So while Edward James Olmos, commander of Galactica, and Michelle Forbes, admiral of Pegasus, set aside deep-space differences to team up against the Cylon threat, over at Stargate SG-1, General Beau Bridges is worrying simultaneously about plague and Lou Gossett Jr., who has signed on with the evil Ori. Next door at Stargate: Atlantis, the gorgeous Torri Higginson and the not-so-much Mitch Pileggi must figure out how to rescue half their team from a Wraith hive ship.

It’s amazing that the original Galactica, a Star Wars ripoff so moronic it lowered the IQ of its audience five points per hour, would ever inspire more than a snigger, much less a successful reincarnation. (Though changing the sex of Lieutenant Starbuck, from Dirk Benedict to Katee Sackhoff, helped immensely.) It’s merely surprising that Stargate SG-1—which improved on the big-screen original by substituting Richard Dean Anderson’s sense of humor for Kurt Russell’s conceptual difficulty with the whole idea of a smile—would not only survive Anderson’s defection from the series, but attract enough loyal viewers to make the Atlantis spinoff possible. That said, we can now settle down once a week for three straight hours out of this world. How could this have happened when such superior sci-fi series as Max Headroom, Alien Nation, VR.5, Roswell, and Firefly struck out on network television? Not even Chris Carter could repeat his X-Files success with either Harsh Realm or Millennium.

Much as we may appreciate what Mary McDonnell does on Galactica, or Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping do on Stargate, characters we care about can’t be the only explanation, or Shatner’s original Star Trek would have lasted as long on NBC as its several sequels did in syndication. Nor can it be that one set of wormholes and cyborgs is more agreeable than another set of gene-spliced cheese doodles, no matter how much money they spend on special effects. We will sit still, or not, for anything, from Cold War B-flick collectivized Bolshevik killer ants, to warm and fuzzy close encounters with Spielberg pollywogs, to Wagnerian space operas where George Lucas makes Carrie Fisher wear her hair in bagels, to an insecticidal Sigourney Weaver and the gasbag ninjas of The Matrix. From cyberpunk fiction, some of us even hoped that late capitalism and its marketing of commodified emotions could be vanquished by an outlaw culture of computer hackers with nose studs, mirror shades, vector graphics, chaos theory, and the grace of hip. But then hip was abducted by mallrats and the Wachowski brothers.

What we forget is that science fiction is meant to be subversive. We consume it outside the classroom of official culture, in the closet, in the woods, on the barricades. It lets us imagine the other and odd; the old, poor, sick, and strange; class differences, racial divisions, and gender confusions. So naturally, sci-fi television thrived first in syndication, where we had to seek it out, and then on its very own cable channel, where we spend whole days watching Godzilla marathons and entire weekends running away from made-for-TV catastrophes (earthquake, avalanche, tidal wave, volcano) or from made-for-TV invasions (spiders, locusts, snakes, and fish). Like the late, lamented Roswell, where 16-year-olds revealed that they’d been hatched from alien seeds in the New Mexican desert, this is niche programming for the paranoid. It puts us back in touch with our inner alien teen—a lost soul with call waiting.

http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/arts/tv/reviews/15438/

fredfa

01-04-06, 01:45 AM

Television Review
NBC's 'Four Kings' not quite the crowning jewel

By Jeanne Jakle San Antonio Express-News

Ah, a new TV comedy about four youngish bachelors who are lifelong friends and living under one roof. The premise can mean series gold. Consider HBO's "Entourage," which has earned critical acclaim and is heading into its third season.

Comparing NBC's "Four Kings" to that one, however, is like comparing TV's version of "The Poseidon Adventure" to "Titanic." Or even more apt, try likening the short-lived American "Coupling" to the sharp series of the same name on BBC America. They're just not in the same league.

"Kings" has its moments — thanks primarily to likable housemate Ben (Josh Cooke), the only character who isn't a caricature. For the most part, though, it definitely appears to be the weak link in NBC's revamped Thursday night chain.

I liked that in the pilot episode, which debuts 8:30 PM ET/PT Thursday, we get an explanation as to why four guys, who aren't exactly rolling in chips, wind up in such a posh N.Y. apartment.

When pals Ben, Barry (Seth Green), Bobby (Shane McRaie) and Jason (Todd Grinnell) were young, Ben's grandmother dubbed them "Four Kings of New York" and emphasized how special their friendship would prove to be.

Flash to today. Grandma dies and leaves grown-up Ben her multiroom apartment and furniture. He celebrates the deed by inviting the rest of the quartet to live with him. His loyalty is tested when steady girlfriend Jenny (guest actress Kiele Sanchez) suggests they step up their relationship and move in together, saying, in effect, it's his friends or her. Ben picks . . . well, you can guess.

The writing is hardly stellar and the jokes largely juvenile, but what bugged me most was the sitcom's nondistinctive characters. By contrast, each friend in "Entourage" has a uniqueness about him.

Ben, the central character of the series — and touchstone of the group — could be likened to Vince the movie star in "Entourage" in the sense he decides to share his good fortune with his pals. Cooke's portrayal is the most real and nuanced; because of this, he delivers the best jokes.

I'll grant you that Barry (Green of "Austin Powers," "Greg the Bunny" and "Can't Hardly Wait" fame) stands apart, too, considering he's way shorter, louder and more insecure than the others. The fact that Green is the only recognizable actor doesn't hurt either. His character, however, is so predictable and silly, you'll find yourself in eye-roll mode every time he's on. Barry comes across as a variation of the countless comic-relief roles Green's played before, only his obnoxiousness is stepped up to the max here.

As for the other two, I couldn't connect with either. Even after three preview episodes, all I came away with is one loves to work out and the other is some kind of aimless party dude.

But this is network TV, after all. It will be interesting to see if the scheduling of "Kings" on Thursdays, in the midst of three stronger comedies, will give it enough of a boost to keep it alive.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/columnists/jjackle/stories/MYSA010105.0Z.jakle.2bd525fa.htm

fredfa

01-04-06, 01:55 AM

This story ran Saturday in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. I have debated posting it, because it doesn’t really make any difference to any of us who don’t live in New Orleans, and it certainly has little to do with HDTV.
Nonetheless, Katrina had an effect on all of us. And we shouldn't forget the immense struggles that continue to be fought in New Orleans every day.
Here is how Katrina is still wreaking havoc in the nation's 43rd-largest TV market.

Katrina: Still Battering New Orleans
Weaker signals, fewer reporters, no ratings

As 2005 fades out, New Orleans TV is still far from 'back to normal'
By Dave Walker New Orleans Times-Picayune TV Saturday, December 31, 2005

Hurricane Katrina is still testing local television stations.

The storm swamped transmitters and studios and continues to drain newsrooms of young talent.

Years from now, Katrina coverage will be remembered as shining hours for most local TV news operations, but the struggle to restore full-power on-the-air signals, retain key staffers and operate in a ravaged advertising economy goes on.

Local CBS affiliate WWL-Channel 4, broadcasting from a raised, fortified transmitter on the West Bank, kept its signal on the air throughout Katrina and the storm's aftermath.

The station's digital-TV signal -- important to fans of high-definition television (HDTV) whose sparkly screens weren't subsumed by Katrina flooding -- is also going strong.

NBC affiliate WDSU-Channel 6 was knocked off the air when its transmitter flooded, but quickly shifted its local analog signal to WPXL-Channel 49.

That signal-leasing arrangement is expected to expire at the end of the year, but pictures and sound have been restored to Channel 6's dial position, though at reduced power.

WDSU's digital signal isn't expected to return for several months.

Fox affiliate WVUE-Channel 8 went dark for two weeks and its news operation displaced to Mobile, Ala., until late November.

The newsroom has returned to Jefferson Davis Parkway, and both the station's analog and digital signals are back on the air.

The transmitter for ABC affiliate WGNO-Channel 26 was ruined during the storm, but the station returned to the air via temporary transmitter.

The station's DTV feed is being carried on one of the digital sub-channels operated by WPXL.

Stations are required by law to carry a DTV signal. Pre-Katrina, early adopters of the technology had become attached to the crisp pictures and booming audio it delivers.

Post-Katrina, DTV could experience a local boom.

"The digital frequency is probably more important here than in any other market, because people repurchasing televisions most likely are buying HDTV," said Larry Delia, general manager of WGNO and its sister station, WB affiliate WNOL-Channel 38, whose digital signal is also being carried on a WPXL sub-channel.

Its home in the New Orleans Centre shopping mall still shuttered, WGNO's news operation is based out of a warren of trailers near the New Orleans Arena, with newscasts originating from a different remote location each night.

The Jefferson Davis Parkway building of WHNO-Channel 20 was flooded and its signal darkened for 19 days, but the station is back up with both analog and digital signals. UPN affiliate WUPL-Channel 54 also has both of its signals operating.

PBS affiliate WYES-Channel 12, which suffered severe flooding at its headquarters near City Park and some damage to its transmitter power supply, was still working to restore its broadcast signal at this column's deadline.

"The transmitter's fine," said Randy Feldman, the station's general manager. "Out there, our problems, compared to what they could've been, are relatively minor."

Offices and studios are a different story, however.

"The entire front of the building is gone," said Feldman. "All the offices, gone, shaved right off."

PBS network programming, transferred via Baton Rouge affiliate WLPB-TV, has been available to local Cox Communications cable customers at the channel numbers normally occupied by WYES and WLAE-Channel 32. (WLAE's programming also has been carried by Charter Communications north of the lake.)

WLAE suffered significant storm damage and its broadcast frequency remains dark. But the station's Metairie studios are usable, and WLAE has been inserting nightly public-affairs programming into its cable-delivered lineup.

WYES intends to use WLAE's studios to resurrect at least two of its local programs -- Friday night's "Steppin' Out" and "Informed Sources" -- on Jan. 6 at 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Life in post-Katrina New Orleans may be most challenging to young families, and those challenges already have prompted several local TV news workers to leave town.

"There's no denying that people change through a tragedy," said WGNO's Delia. "And some people review their lives.

"In any industry, there's a certain percentage of people who want to leave, whether you're an accountant or an anchor."

Conversely, Delia said, his station has observed heightened interest in New Orleans by TV-news job-seekers.

"There is a large faction of people that would like to come into this market, because the news is history in the making," he said. "That is extremely enticing for a journalist to report on."

The most conspicuous departures for WWL in 2005 have been weathercasters.

David Bernard left for Miami CBS affiliate WFOR-TV in July. Then John Gumm, his wife rattled by mid-Katrina childbirth and a harried evacuation with the newborn, asked to be let out of his contract during the immediate aftermath of the storm. He landed at Cincinnati CBS affiliate WKRC-TV.

Late-newscast anchor Karen Swensen, mother of a 2-year-old, has announced her departure to be closer to family. Her departure date isn't yet set, but starting in February, she'll work as morning and midday anchor at New England Cable News, a 24-hour regional news network.

A few weeks before Swensen's announcement, WWL weekend anchor Josh McElveen accepted a job as Vermont bureau chief for the same network she would join. McElveen and his wife, Erin, a WWL producer, are parents of a 1-year-old child and also have family in New England.

After one week reporting on Katrina, Stephanie Riegel, mother of three young children, left her part-time reporting job to pursue freelance public-relations consulting.

Fishing/cooking/culture correspondent Frank Davis has been off the air for several weeks due to illness (a tumor on his kidney, successfully removed) and is expected to return early in the new year.

The two post-Katrina subtractions at WDSU-Channel 6 are reporters Stephanie Boswell and Devin Fehely.

WVUE-Channel 8 also faced Katrina short of meteorologists.

Jeff Baskin worked the storm's approach, but had already accepted a job at KOIN-TV in Portland, Ore.

Shortly after Katrina, Crystal Wicker took a weekend weathercasting job with Indianapolis ABC affiliate WRTV-TV.

Also gone from WVUE post-Katrina were Summer Jackson (a Chicago area native who now works for CLTV, a regional cable news network up there) and Kerry Cavanaugh, who now reports on blizzards (and other stories) for WBAL-TV in Baltimore.

WGNO-Channel 26 reporter Meredith Mendez, the mother of a 3-year-old, now works part-time for Washington, D.C., Fox affiliate WTTG-TV. Her husband, former WVUE photographer Leonel Mendez, now shoots for Washington CBS affiliate WUSA-TV.

Susan Roesgen, a regular presence on CNN during the post-Katrina blur, accepted a job as reporter for the cable-news network's Gulf Coast bureau. Still based in New Orleans, Roesgen has departed her job as late-news anchor for WGNO, and also had to quit her reporting work for National Public Radio and its local affiliate, WWNO 89.9 FM.

Both WLAE and WYES have had to enact layoffs, about 30 percent of the staff in WYES's case.

"We expect, as everybody does, that economic activity is going to be decreased in the area," Feldman said. "We know that will affect donations and government funding.

"Public broadcasting does not have the highest salaries. These people were with WYES because they believed in what we do.

"It's tough."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For at least the next several months and perhaps as long as a year or more, local commercial television stations will share one fact of life with their noncommercial dial-mates: Ratings don't matter.

Because Katrina cut Nielsen Media Research's local sample size by more than half, the ratings service has informed local stations that reliable overnight ratings can't be compiled until at least November 2006.

Aside from the audience-measurement problems this situation sets up for the business side of advertising-supported stations, it also creates a rarefied setting for news directors, who, for awhile at least, don't have to fret over the results of a daily report card on every newscast.

The nightly local-news horse race -- typically won handily by WWL in all news time slots, but with plenty of vigorous jockeying for place and show among the other three entrants -- has been suspended. Which means:

No -- or at least fewer -- overheated "sweeps" months promos.

No canned scare-package stories borrowed from other markets.

No tedious ratings columns in the daily newspaper.

Katrina wasn't all bad.

The absence of ratings "absolutely has no impact in terms of what we do in our coverage," WWL news director Sandy Breland said. "This is the biggest story we will ever cover, and it's far from over.

"Reporting about . . . the rebuilding of a major American city is the most important work we'll ever do."

http://www.nola.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/living-0/113603677355090.xml

fredfa

01-04-06, 02:00 AM

A Thank You!!

To Kansas City Star TV critic Aaron Barnhart for calling the “Hot Off The Press” thread “invaluable” in his TV blog.

foxeng

01-04-06, 07:22 AM

A Thank You!!

To Kansas City Star TV critic Aaron Barnhart for calling the “Hot Off The Press” thread “invaluable” in his TV blog.

We will not be able to live with him now that he is "off the farm!" :D (Congrats on your "national" recogniztion!)

fredfa

01-04-06, 08:35 AM

A Critical View:
NBC makes royal mistake by putting 'Four Kings' on Thursdays

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday, January 4, 2006

In a preposterous display of misplaced confidence, NBC sent out the first three episodes of its new Thursday night sitcom, "Four Kings" (8:30 PM ET/PT Thursdays on NBC). It took an act of kindness to make it to the second episode, and as for episode three -- Mother Teresa's dead, so forget it.

NBC is trying to resurrect Thursday night, which it lost to CBS some time ago, and on which the comedy caved in long, long before that. It has moved its best sitcom, "My Name Is Earl," and the underappreciated (and often ignored) sophomore series "The Office" to that night. Those shows are being paired with "Will & Grace," which is far past its sell-by date these days, and "Four Kings" -- four single guys in New York who live and lust together under the clanging din of an inappropriate laugh track -- which was created and is executive-produced by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick. The duo also created "Will & Grace."

It's a good philosophy (and good business) to allow hitmakers to swing the bat whenever they feel motivated, but Kohan and Mutchnick are whiffing these days. Just look at -- or away from -- "Twins" on the WB, a painfully laugh-free abuse of air time.

Now they've given NBC "Four Kings," and NBC has thrown it on Thursdays instead of, say, throwing it against a wall repeatedly or, thinking that cruel, throwing it back at the writers for an "ER" joke-saving procedure. This is the type of mistake that makes you wonder what NBC is trying to accomplish. Is this a network that takes on a risk -- sticking with the low-rated remake of "The Office" -- an act that no doubt produced the sweet karma of "My Name Is Earl"? Or is this the kind of network that sticks with "Joey" too long despite ample evidence there's nothing funny to be seen there and then, to confirm suspicions about taste, gives the green light to "Four Kings"?

"Earl," thou art a fluke.

"Four Kings" is the kind of comedy designed for young boys or those in their 20s who suffer the kind of mental retardation that spurs sales of Maxim. Honestly, "Four Kings" is the kind of comedy that even UPN doesn't make anymore. That's no slur on UPN -- history is history. What NBC is in grave danger of becoming is the kind of network that UPN was until recently -- tone deaf, desperate and driven to stupidity by demographics.

It's clear that NBC wants the young male market to buy into "Four Kings." The series is littered with the type of one-liners seemingly mined from UPN's old "Shasta McNasty" or even NBC's own failed British import "Men Behaving Badly."'

Remember those days? Yeah, well, nobody else does, either.

"Four Kings" opens with an unseen grandmother filming four young boys hanging out together in New York. Stay together, she says, because you'll always be four kings. Notice she didn't say "four funny kings." They're barely likable, but viewers are supposed to love the bond they have now that they're out of college and facing life. It helps that Grandma died and left her apartment to Ben (Josh Cooke), who promptly invites the three other kings to live with him in, what, a palace of lame jokes? Ben is the center, the grounded guy, the golden boy.

Then there's Barry (Seth Green -- easily the best thing about the series but still not enough to force that third episode). Barry is the somewhat compassionate and smart one, though nothing good ever happens to him. Bobby (Shane McRae) is the dim-bulb stoner, and Jason (Todd Grinnell) is the guy who works out a lot, has no interest in commitment and spars with Jason in every episode. You can change the names all you want -- they are standard-issue sitcom caricatures that Kohan and Mutchnick know all too well.

And yet the premise is only a small part of the problem in "Four Kings." The writing is labored, adolescent and unfunny. We're supposed to relate to these guys and their endless attempts at a beer-commercial lifestyle. But lacking a frat house or some booze buddy relentlessly punching your shoulder while making prank calls on his geeked-out cell, maybe it's just not that hilarious.

At Ben's grandma's wake, Bobby says, "Look at all this food. Whoever planned this funeral must have been baked." There's more food talk, and one of the "kings" says to another about the food: "Why are you staring at it like you want to take it to the prom and slip it a roofie?"

While all this is happening, a laugh track is being dropped on your house with all the subtlety of hammers on cat tails. Because they're moving in together and need to be chasing the ladies, we get scenes of the "kings" dumping their way-too-hot-for-them girlfriends. Stoner Bobby is playing an acoustic guitar, stops and says, "Um, I have to go." His ditzy girl says, "Do you want me to hold it for you so you can keep playing?"

Yep. There's your bar.

But it gets worse or, more accurately, less funny. Seeking solidarity, one of the group says, "It's bros before hos." Later, when they're all hanging out in the living room, Green's character, Barry, walks in the door, takes off his pants and says, "The boys gotta breathe."

The funniest part of "Four Kings" isn't even a joke. As they're about to go party, one of them says, "Suit up!," which is the punch line from a much funnier character on a much funnier CBS show called "How I Met Your Mother."

See, this is what it has come to for NBC -- the politically incorrect single guys (Neil Patrick Harris and Charlie Sheen) are funnier on CBS. That's got to hurt.

At this point in its own salvage job, NBC seems unclear about its comedic direction. Maybe with "Earl" and "The Office" helping the draw, these four bland single guys can be kings of their own domain. They're certainly not kings of comedy.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/04/DDG9FGGE191.DTL&type=printable

fredfa

01-04-06, 09:58 AM

Sports On TV
Jackson quips, preparation still coming up roses

Teddy Greenstein Chicago Tribune January 4, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- In the moments before he calls his 14th Rose Bowl, Keith Jackson plans to remove his headset and demand some alone time.

"I will lock the door and sit down and watch the band," Jackson said. "I'll take a drink of water and say: `Lord, if you let me through this mess, I won't call you for 30 days.'"

Jackson has been the best in his field for more than 50 years, so it's hard to believe he will need much assistance Wednesday night.

While other veteran broadcasters might coast on their reputation, Jackson's preparation remains precise.

He can tell you all about USC linebacker Keith Rivers, who will be returning to full strength after a midseason injury to his hamstring.

He can tell you about speedy Texas defensive back Michael Huff or Trojans backup quarterback John David Booty.

If USC makes it 35 straight victories Wednesday, Jackson said Booty "will have a little trouble swallowing because it's going to fall on him next season. Booty seems the heir apparent, but [freshman Mark] Sanchez has not surrendered."

It's more fun, though, to hear Jackson speak of legends past.

This week Jackson had this gem from Tennessee coach Robert Neyland: "Gentlemen, touchdowns follow blocking just as surely as night follows day."

What follows the Rose Bowl in Jackson's career remains unknown.

He already has retired once, after the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, but ABC Sports coaxed him back to the booth with the promise of calling games on the West Coast. Jackson and his wife, Turi Ann, reside in Sherman Oaks, Calif.

The 77-year-old Jackson would not address questions about whether Wednesday's game will be his last. "I am a non-story," he said. "Come springtime, we'll talk about that other stuff."

Jackson clearly is turned off by the increasingly prominent promotional aspects of his job.

On Sunday he sat on a panel with other ABC and ESPN broadcasters to field questions from the media.

At one point he griped that the coffee was so bad, he could "take it home and pave my street."

Days earlier he answered questions during a conference call.

Asked to characterize that side of the business, Jackson replied:

"How about pain in the ? All my life I've just tried to help people understand the game. My attitude is not to intrude. In many instances, for a lot of announcers, it has become their stage. I resent the hell out of that and try very hard not to do it."

[B]Say cheese

ABC Sports will use about 30 cameras, an all-time high, to broadcast the Rose Bowl, which begins at 8 PM ET/PT.

"We'll have everything covered," producer Mark Loomis said.

That includes a pregame piece featuring USC alum Will Ferrell debating Texas alum Matthew McConaughey.

ABC analyst Dan Fouts said one of the keys to the game will be whether Texas can pressure Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart, who has been sacked just 14 times this season.

"If you're going to beat him, you have to put him on his back," Fouts said. "Texas has the people to do that."

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-0601040329jan04,1,4669260,print.column?coll=cs-columnists

fredfa

01-04-06, 10:32 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Say you're sorry, CNN

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his TV blog Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Is CNN being repentant enough?

If you watched its wall-to-wall coverage last night of Anderson Cooper et al. celebrating the rescue of the miners -- and then saw its journalists focusing on the "bad communication" this morning, you saw a network half-admitting that it was, in fact, part of the problem.

As I write this, CNN's Daryn Kagan has just finished showing us headlines from the major daily newspapers, which passed along the erroneous report that 12 out of 13 miners had survived. Then we cut to a very selective clip of CNN's own coverage: Anderson Cooper getting the initial report. Then, whoop -- forward three hours, past all that coverage of the "Miracle in the Mines," or whatever they were calling it, to the woman coming out and telling Cooper the initial reports were wrong.

Then, to its credit, CNN aired an interview with that same local resident who spilled the beans to Cooper the night before:

"Why did that get broadcast around the world?" Lynette Roby said. "For three hours? Put everyone through that? ... How could nobody have compassion to say, Hold on a minute?"

I think there does need to be an investigation into how the officials at the mine handled the news. But CNN was the only organization on the scene that had experience with worldwide breaking news events. And its role in putting people through the emotional whipsaw deserves to be put under the same scrutiny.

Seeing how CNN relentlessly promotes its coverage of the mine tragedy -- and would no doubt have been running highly emotional ads today linking itself to the "miracle in the mine shaft" had the miners been found alive -- I find it disingenuous, at bes, that it is only half-admitting to being part of the problem.

CNN needs to make itself part of the story -- and apologize to Lynette Roby and the others who were there.

http://www.tvbarn.com/

fredfa

01-04-06, 10:43 AM

The Busines of Television
CBS boss seeks cash from hits

By Phyllis Furman New York Daily News Business Writer

Don't tell CBS CEO Leslie Moonves that broadcast networks are dead.

As CBS began trading as a newly independent company yesterday, the media boss told the Daily News he's gearing up to squeeze more bucks from his No. 1-rated network whose stable of hits include top-rated drama "CSI."

Moonves said he's seeing interest in more deals, such as a recent video-on-demand pact he struck with Comcast where "CSI" groupies can catch the show just hours after it airs.

"We have an opportunity to sell this content in many ways," the gravel-voiced CBS boss said in an interview yesterday. "People like to dismiss traditional media and the broadcast networks. We're looking for additional revenue streams."

While these new businesses remain small compared with CBS' main focus of traditional ad sales, Moonves claimed they will grow over time. He's even planning to charge cable operators for the rights to carry CBS, just as they now pay for cable programing.

"If they pay for Lifetime or pay for USA, shouldn't they be paying for CBS?" he said.

Early on in the day, investors cheered the new CBS - which split off from media empire Viacom after a six year marriage - sending the stock up as much as 8% before losing some steam. CBS closed at $26.20, up 70 cents or nearly 3%. Viacom rose $1.54 or nearly 4% to finish the day at $41.54.

The Moonves fiefdom includes the CBS TV network - which is said to be trying to lure NBC "Today" anchor Katie Couric. Moonves refused to discuss the matter. Other assets include UPN, the CBS TV and radio stations - which just lost Howard Stern and his millions of fans, to Sirius Satellite Radio, and pay-TV channel Showtime.

The Viacom empire, run by Tom Freston, includes cable nets MTV, VH1, and movie studio Paramount, which just announced a deal to acquire rival DreamWorks.

Sumner Redstone, Viacom's longtime controlling shareholder retains that status at both new companies. Viacom shareholders received half a share in each of the two new companies for every share they owned in the old Viacom.

CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer has suggested that Comcast will buy CBS. Redstone, however, shot that down yesterday.

"Nonsense," Redstone told the Daily News. "It's not going anywhere." He added that he is equally fond of the new Viacom and the new CBS.

Redstone has said he decided to go for the split because he felt Wall Street wasn't giving his assets the respect they deserve. Yesterday Moonves was more blunt about the divorce. "There wasn't much synergy," he said.

He added, "this wasn't about Tom and me killing each other." By splitting up, each CEO can focus on his own priorities, he said.

But both Moonves and Freston face big risks as the Internet continues to threaten traditional media, while DVRs have made it easy for TV fans to zip past commercials. That's put media stocks out of favor on Wall Street.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/v-pfriendly/story/379843p-322539c.html

fredfa

01-04-06, 10:51 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Risking their reputation

By Diane Werts Newsday Staff Writer January 5, 2006

'Dancing With the Stars" matters. It matters more than "American Idol," more than "Survivor," more than just about any reality series to the competitors involved.

It's not the prize, since there isn't any, or even the bragging rights. And it isn't the much-vaunted celebrity factor in our showbiz-crazed age.

ABC's summer smash returns Thursday (8-10PM ET/PT) for a second round of giving successful people a chance to lose something - precisely the opposite of most TV "reality," where no-names misbehave for their chance at fleeting fame.

"Dancing" requires not guile and cunning but skill and grace. This isn't a showcase for acting up but buckling down to master a tough new talent.

We're used to real people doing fake things. "Dancing With the Stars" gives us people who normally pretend, doing something authentic.

The stakes are higher, too. Who cares if unknown "Apprentice" contender Omarosa comes off like a jerk? But image matters to someone such as NFL legend Jerry Rice, amiable actor George Hamilton or music mogul Master P (now known as P. Miller), three of this midseason's new dance students, who trade on public esteem and the perception of likability. If you're Rice - for two decades considered the best wide receiver in the business - you risk being remembered not as an all-time great but a quick-buck chump if you end up looking nasty, unprepared or apathetic.

Where most reality series create the competitors' public impression, "Dancing With the Stars" threatens to strip away a carefully crafted image. There's real pressure, since the stars' dance routines are spotlight performances in an unfamiliar arena. Even more exposure looms in the show's build-up coverage of those backstage rehearsals. These "candid" close-ups come precisely when contenders must concentrate hardest on mastering the new skill, leaving them little energy for image-burnishing. They're almost forced to be themselves.

Not enough stress? ABC also airs its "Dancing" showdowns live. No retakes. Too bad if you're sick or injured. It's single elimination here - people's choice rules. And then there's that claustrophobic studio. The setting may have started a bit two-bit thanks to the summer-show budget. But the cramped quarters heightened tension and made even home viewers feel they were in on something intimate. Let's hope the producers don't glam it up now.

ABC is already pushing it by expanding to 90 minutes on future Thursdays, plus adding a Friday 8 PM ET/PT results show. (Note to network: Remember overexposing "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"?) At least they're bringing back the same stern real-world dance judges, and recruiting E!'s Samantha Harris as eye-candy co-host to affable emcee Tom Bergeron.

As for the new competitors, you've gotta figure the producers had lots more casting candidates after their debut success. The roster is up to nine (from summer's six). In addition to Rice, Hamilton and P., the assortment ranges further into sports, with WWE diva Stacy Keibler and ESPN's Kenny Mayne; acting, with Tia Carrere, Tatum O'Neal and Lisa Rinna; and even TV news, with Giselle Fernandez. We'll see how their moves matter, starting Thursday night.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-etdance4574320jan05,0,4859161,print.column?coll=ny-tv-columnists

fredfa

01-04-06, 10:57 AM

A Critical View:
They're 'Dancing' again

By Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Gee, to hear them talk over at "Dancing With the Stars," you'd think they were working for world peace or something.

Well, almost.

"There's all this talk of winners and losers," judge Bruno Tonioli told TV critics in the wake of the show's unexpected summertime success. "I don't think really there are any losers in this show. I think everybody should be proud of participating in this show, because, even if you get kicked out, you give great pleasure to the public."

Fair enough, to a point. Judging by the ratings last summer, the participants did bring a lot of viewing pleasure to a lot of people. Although whether it was, as Tonioli insisted, because their "performances are wonderful to watch," or because a lot of those viewers were waiting to see semi-famous people make fools of themselves . . . well, ABC doesn't really care, as long as you watch.

As to Tonioli's contention that there aren't "any losers in this show," well, that seems less than accurate. Make no mistake about it — if any of the so-called stars on this edition had careers that were going real well at the moment, they wouldn't be on this series.

Tia Carrere, Giselle Fernandez, George Hamilton, Stacy Keibler, Drew Lachey and Tatum O'Neal are all quite obviously hoping that "Dancing" will kick-start their careers.

I'm more intrigued by ex-NFL star Jerry Rice, who doesn't have show-biz aspirations (other than sportscasting, maybe) and appears to be doing this for fun. And sportscaster Kenny Mayne, who probably isn't going to get a raise from ESPN for doing the show. And maybe rap star Master P, who stepped in at the last minute when his 16-year-old son, rapper Romeo, got hurt in a basketball game.

But not that intrigued. "Dancing With the Stars" had a certain cheesy charm the first time around. And it made for a TV diversion during the summer months.

Putting it up against CBS's Thursday-night ratings juggernaut doesn't seem like the best use of this asset, however. In fact, putting it up against original episodes of "Will & Grace" doesn't seem like that great an idea.

Stay tuned. . . .

I HESITATE TO SAY THIS, but the second "Dancing" competition promises to be more, um, legitimate than the first. ("Legitimate" being a relative term.)

Because there is both a weekly competition show and a weekly results show, viewers in all time zones will get a chance to vote. And, when it gets down to the final two, the fans will be voting based on their final performances.

In the ridiculously controversial first edition of the show, both the judges and the viewers voted for Kelly Monaco over John O'Hurley. However . . . if the judges had judged differently than the viewers, the viewers' votes would have won the day.

And an even bigger however . . . it turned out those viewers' votes were cast based on the second-to-last episode. Which means that the winner was determined before Monaco and O'Hurley even took to the dance floor in that final episode.

WE CAN STOP WORRYING about poor Tom Bergeron — the one-time solo host of "Dancing With the Stars" is being joined by co-host Samantha Harris (an "E! News" correspondent" this time around.

Thank goodness. It's a tough job for one person to handle.

(Gee, could I possibly be any more sarcastic?)

http://www.desnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,635173592,00.html

fredfa

01-04-06, 11:13 AM

A Sad Look Back at 2005:
Good night, Peter Jennings. So long

Saluting the media notables who died in 2005
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jan 4, 2006

Dan Rather was the prickly, remote network news anchor, Tom Brokaw the intellectual with roots deep in America's heartland. Then there was Peter Jennings. In some ways he defied labels. But if one were to apply, it would be gentleman.

A handsome man, a ladies’ man too, Jennings carried himself as the quintessential anchor, always polished and stylish, yet accessible. A Canadian by birth, son of a journalist, Jennings seemed always delighted to be reporting on his adopted country, as if he had only arrived a week or two earlier.

But beneath the considerable polish Jennings was a committed street reporter, sleeves up, asking questions, engaging his interview subjects. Early on at ABC News he honed a reputation as a foreign correspondent, and he was at his best on the streets of some war-torn city, poking his mike into the angry crowds to find that one voice of reason beyond his own.

Jennings was a globalist explaining his world to a country that struggled each day to think beyond its own shores.

It was clear when Jennings failed to travel to Italy after the pope’s death last spring that something was wrong.

Just days later, the former smoker announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He began chemotherapy treatment immediately, and shortly after the 67-year-old left his anchor's chair, never to return.

In stepping down from “World News Tonight” that April night, Jennings reported to viewers on his condition. The diagnosis was not good, but the delivery was excellent, classic Jennings.

“I hope it goes without saying that a journalist who doesn't value—deeply—the audience's loyalty should be in another line of work.”

Jennings died on Aug. 7, 2005, just four months later. Over that time, ABC online message boards were filled with get-well wishes.

With Jennings’ loss, and the retirement of Rather and Brokaw, the era of the imperial anchors came to an end.
They were the last of that breed, for sure. Last night at ABC, Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff officially succeeded Jennings.

Here’s a look at some of the other media notables who died last year.

Johnny Carson, 79
Carson hosted “The Tonight Show” for 30 years, and over those three decades he redefined late-night television. After taking over the NBC program in 1962, Carson became a must-see, thanks to his quick wit and easy manner.
His Watergate jokes skewered the Washington political establishment long before such material was common on television, and he became one of TV’s first million-dollar earners.
But most of all, Carson projected a warmth and calm that soothed America during three decades of immense change. Though Johnny was famously private off-screen, he achieved an on-screen connection with his audience that has never been duplicated.
He died of emphysema in January, nearly 13 years after his final “Tonight Show.”

Hunter S. Thompson, 67
Thompson’s death was appropriately dramatic. He was a dramatic guy. The noted gonzo journalist shot himself in the head in February after being diagnosed with cancer.
Thompson gained fame as the early Rolling Stone writer who penned such anti-establishment classics as “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” He remained as colorful in death as he was in life, leaving instructions that his remains were to be fired from a cannon on his Aspen, Colo., ranch. After a brief legal battle, Thompson’s wish was fulfilled in August, giving the influential writer one final bang.

Najai ‘Nitro’ Turpin, 23
A contestant on the NBC reality show “The Contender,” Turpin committed suicide on Valentine’s Day last year, three weeks before the Mark Burnett-produced show premiered.
Turpin’s death remains somewhat of a mystery nearly a year later. The Philadelphia boxer was clearly troubled, but there was little evidence of his distress on the program. He shot himself in the head while sitting in a car with his girlfriend. “Contender” aired as planned, though producers did add a postscript about Turpin’s death.

John Spencer, 58
The “West Wing” co-star and former “LA Law” star died last month of a heart attack, in a sad instance of life imitating art. His “Wing” character, former White House chief of staff Leo McGarry, suffered a heart attack last season that forced him to resign.
Spencer’s Dec. 16 death left “Wing” writers with a big question mark heading into the second half of the season. They have not yet decided how to deal with his loss, though it seems likely that McGarry, now running for vice president, will also be killed off.

Also dying in 2005:

Don Adams (“Get Smart” actor) 82
Eddie Albert (“Green Acres” actor) 99
Shana Alexander (“60 Minutes” commentator) 79
Leon Askin (“Hogan’s Heroes” actor) 97
Barbara Bel Geddes (“Dallas” actress) 82
Lamont Bentley (“Moesha” actor) 31
Carol Scott Caramadre (“General Hospital” producer) 56
Ossie Davis (actor and civil rights activist) 87
Bob Denver (“Gilligan’s Island” actor) 70
James Doohan (“Star Trek” actor) 85
Ralph Edwards (“This Is Your Life” host) 92
Louis N. Friedland (syndication pioneer) 92
Kay Gardella (New York Daily News TV critic) 82
Skitch Henderson (former “Tonight Show” conductor) 87
Paul Henning (“Beverly Hillbillies” creator) 93
George Herman (former CBS reporter) 85
Perry Lafferty (former CBS executive) 87
Barney Martin (“Seinfeld” actor) 82
Dale Messick (Brenda Starr creator) 98
Pat Morita (“Happy Days” actor) 73
Robert Morrisey (The Wine Spectator creator) 78
Michael Piller (“Star Trek” producer and co-creator) 57
Thurl Ravenscroft (voice of Tony the Tiger) 91
Stan Richards (actor) 74
Meta Rosenberg (executive producer of “The Rockford Files”) 89
Nipsey Russell (comedian/actor) 81
Herb Sargent (comedy writer) 81
David Shaw (LA Times writer) 62
Wendie Jo Sperber (“Bosom Buddies” actress) 46
Chuck Thompson (Orioles broadcaster) 83
Ruth Warrick ( “All My Children” actress) 88
http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_2006.asp

zebras23

01-04-06, 11:16 AM

Ted Koppel to Join Discovery Networks

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 4, 2006; 10:46 AM

After hot pursuit by several television organizations, Ted Koppel said today he is joining Discovery Networks, a dark-horse contender that won his services with a whirlwind courtship.

The 40-year ABC veteran, who left "Nightline" in late November, was close to signing a deal with HBO. Instead, he will deliver as much as 10 hours of programming a year to Discovery, ranging from documentaries and town meetings to breaking-news specials.

The deal is a departure for both sides. The Silver Spring, Md.-based company, which contracts out most of its program, agreed to hire Koppel, his longtime producer Tom Bettag and eight other former "Nightline" staffers as full-time employees. Koppel, who has long drawn millions of viewers, will have to grow accustomed to smaller cable audiences but will have far more time to develop programming than during the nightly grind at ABC.

"With Ted Koppel and his team, Discovery is making a long-term commitment to produce high quality programming that gives our global audience insight, perspective and analysis beyond just the headlines," said Billy Campbell, president of Discovery Networks, U.S.

Koppel said he and his colleagues "are enormously excited to be at a place that wants nothing more than to produce the kind of television journalism that focuses on issues that matter to the largest number of people."

Discovery operates in 160 countries and territories, and its best known networks in the United States are Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel, Animal Planet and Travel Channel, as well as various Discovery spin-off channels and a joint venture with the New York Times. But it has never been a force in the news business and has no anchor or correspondent with anything approaching Koppel's star power. His first project is slated to air this fall.

A source close to Koppel said he was attracted by Discovery's flexibility and enthusiasm and had concluded that it would be difficult to do the kind of serious journalism he envisions on the broadcast networks because of advertiser pressure to cater to younger viewers.

Koppel and Bettag had been talking to HBO for months, but top Discovery officials won them over in talks that began only in the last month. Discovery is jointly owned by Liberty Media, Cox Communications, Advance/Newhouse Communications and founder and chairman John Hendricks.

Koppel, 65, decided early last year to leave "Nightline," the program he anchored since its 1980 debut, after ABC News President David Westin insisted that he do the late-night show live every night rather than tape in advance. The triumvirate that replaced Koppel -- Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Martin Bashir -- has received decidedly mixed reviews for a program that now tackles several topics a night rather than the single in-depth report that became Koppel's signature.

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

fredfa

01-04-06, 11:35 AM

Thanks, zebras23, good post!

fredfa

01-04-06, 11:36 AM

The NY Times version:

Ted Koppel Joins Discovery Channel

By Bill Carter The New York Times January 4, 2006

After months of speculation that he was headed for HBO, Ted Koppel, the award-winning anchor of "Nightline," who left ABC News in November, signed an agreement late Tuesday to join the Discovery Channel along with his long-time executive producer Tom Bettag. The deal was officially announced this morning.

Mr. Koppel and Mr. Bettag, who will be joined by eight other former staff members of "Nightline," will produce a series of special news programs, at least six a year, for Discovery, the cable channel that specializes in nonfiction programming. The three-year deal commences immediately, with Mr. Koppel's first program set for sometime in the fall.

The signing of Mr. Koppel represents a significant new direction for Discovery, which has mainly been known for producing and repackaging documentaries on subjects not usually associated with the hard news that Mr. Koppel and Mr. Bettag have been known for. The most popular programs on Discovery over the years have been nature documentaries, like the channel's famous "Shark Week," which has consisted of films dealing with behavior of sharks.

In a statement today, Billy Campbell, the President of Discovery Networks US, who will supervise the former "Nightline" team, said Discovery was making a long-term commitment to what he called "a more substantial approach to in-depth journalism."

Mr. Campbell said, "We want audiences to know that when there is a major world event or topic that affects our lives, and they are looking for more context, more depth and more information, Discovery Channel is where they will find it."

In his own statement, Mr. Koppel implied that Discovery would offer him and his colleagues the freedom and opportunity to produce the kind of serious television news journalism that he formerly had at ABC.

"The ten of us are enormously excited to be at a place that wants nothing more than to produce the kind of television journalism that focuses on issues that matter to the largest number of people," Mr. Koppel said. In one indication of how serious Discovery's commitment is to a more serious journalism approach, Mr. Koppel was also named "managing editor" of Discovery.

Mr. Koppel and Mr. Bettag have expressed concerns in the past about the pressures on the news divisions at the broadcast networks to reach a younger audience demographic in order to satisfy advertisers, making it more and more difficult to produce serious long-form journalism.

Discovery is also supported by advertising, but it has a second stream of revenue from audience subscription fees. The need to reach younger audiences has become mentioned more frequently, however, by executives at cable channels as well, notably the A&E channel.

The one channel that never mentions either advertising issues or audience demographics is HBO, because it charges a separate fee each month from subscribers. As recently as a month ago, HBO was expected to land Mr. Koppel and his "Nightline" team. According to recent comments from senior HBO executives, a deal with Mr. Koppel was all but final. But that deal fell through at the last minute and Mr. Koppel and Mr. Bettag shifted to Discovery.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/04/business/media/04cnd-koppel.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

01-04-06, 11:49 AM

The 2005-2006 Season: Part Two
ABC's new Monday strategy: Laughter

By Kevin Downey MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jan 4, 2006

For ABC, Monday has always been football through the fall and pretty much a void after the holidays, a patch to be filled until football returned.

Now, with "Monday Night Football" over for good, the network at last has an opportunity to build a year-round Monday schedule, and we'll see the first of that effort this coming Monday.

Think women and comedy. ABC's strategy is to play off its huge success on Sunday nights with “Desperate Housewives” to promote a Monday lineup of sitcoms and reality that appeals to the same young women who’ve made "Housewives” and Wednesday's “Lost” hits.

That's a dramatic departure from the male football audience of the first half of the season. Football moves to ABC’s sister network ESPN in the fall.

ABC’s Monday lineup as of next week will be the continuing reality show “Wife Swap,” the new Heather Graham comedy “Emily’s Reasons Why Not” and the returning “Jake In Progress,” followed by the latest incarnation of the slumping “Bachelor.”

“We have incredibly strong shows on Sunday nights in the young female demographic, so the idea is to use that as a promotional basis for the next night,” explains Jeff Bader, executive vice president of ABC Entertainment.

“Will a huge portion watch the next night? We’ll have to see.”

But ABC has little to lose if viewers don't flock. ABC Mondays post-football have not done well in recent years with movies, though it slightly perked up last year with reality shows.

In one sense, what the departure of football has done is give the network a stretch of months, really until the coming fall, to tinker and experiment as it looks for the right mix of programming.

Comedy and reality would seem that right mix, even with ratings lagging well behind football.

“You cannot compare it to football. They’re not going to be getting a 17 or 18 share, but there is potential,” says Jordan Breslow, director of broadcast research at MediaCom. “Does it compare favorably to the Monday night movie they were running? I think it does.”

At 8 p.m., ABC is pitting a proven reality hit against an unproven reality show on Fox, “Skating with Celebrities,” sitcoms on CBS and UPN, and dramas on NBC and the WB. Fox will bring back drama “Prison Break” in March.

At 10 p.m., ABC will try to revive one-time reality hit “The Bachelor” against established dramas on CBS and NBC.

And at 9 p.m., the most competitive hour of the night, ABC is doing what it can with comedies, including “Jake,” a sitcom that has been tinkered with since averaging less than a 2 adult 18-49 rating for two Thursday episodes starting in midseason last year.

With the conclusion of "Monday Night Football," CBS becomes the dominant network on the night.

But its four-comedy block and “CSI: Miami,” while still doing well, is the most vulnerable it has been since “Everybody Loves Raymond” premiered on Mondays nine years ago. CBS’s average 18-49 rating on Mondays this season is down 15 percent on a year-to-year basis, according to Nielsen Media Research.

ABC’s comedies, as a result, stand a chance of making headway.

Meanwhile, the WB will probably put a drama in that time slot in a few weeks when “Beauty and the Geek” finishes its run. And NBC will continue with “Las Vegas” while the Fox drama “24” returns to the network’s schedule. UPN’s African-American comedies will largely attract a different audience than CBS and ABC sitcoms.

But the loss of football also frees it up to create continuity on its schedule from night to night, says Brad Adgate, senior vice president and corporate research director at Horizon Media.

“Typically, it has always been difficult to put something on after football that will work,” he says. “Now they don’t have to worry about that anymore, which might be one of the upsides of no longer having football.”

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_2007.asp

fredfa

01-04-06, 12:03 PM

Tuesday’s prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted at the top of Ratings News the second post in this thread.

fredfa

01-04-06, 12:09 PM

Commentary
A la Carte Will Go Away-Again

By Marianne Paskowski in TV Week

It was only a year ago that cable programmers and multiple system operators thought they had dodged a nuclear warhead aimed squarely at them from a right-wing Congress that wanted to curb indecency from the airwaves by mandating an a la carte solution.

If that were to happen, the cable industry's model would be in tatters as consumers would pay for only what they watched. That debate looked resolved but suddenly re-emerged, thanks to Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl, broadcast on CBS.

Enter Kyle McSlarrow, the new National Cable & Telecommunications Association president, who has been on the job for less than a year and now suddenly has this same old pile of dung unexpectedly thrust at his feet.

A la carte is once again on the table. Cable operators have turned somersaults these past several weeks in an attempt to stave off that action. Two cable MSOs-Time Warner Cable and Comcast-announced family-friendly programming tiers instead.

Interesting timing. Time Warner and Comcast are trying to finalize their deal to jointly acquire Adelphia Communications at a time when cable valuations have sunk to a new low. Several published reports have stated that as a part of the deal, both MSOs would have to offer family-friendly tiers to pass regulatory muster.

But that is an "urban legend," according to Mr. McSlarrow. He cited conversations dating to January 2005 with another fellow newbie, recently appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin. "To my knowledge, [the family tier] was never mandated" in order for that deal to be consummated, Mr. McSlarrow said.

Whatever. Time Warner and Comcast were the first, and the rest of the country's MSOs will soon announce their versions of family tiers. And in spite of all the anguished accounts in the press, not every MSO is bellyaching about the family tier. Take Insight Communications President and CEO Michael Willner, who will tell you that his company has been making plans for a family tier for six months because it simply makes good sense to package programming according to customers' needs.

To me, the economic impact of family tiers doesn't look that bad for either programmers or cable operators. Within the next few weeks, expect that in addition to the six MSOs that have said they will provide family tiers to their subscribers, another half-dozen will do the same, according to Mr. McSlarrow.

But no one that I have spoken to expects the family tiers to be wildly popular, attracting at best 2 percent to 5 percent of the nation's cable viewers.

If that low take rate turns out to be true, will that be enough of an olive branch for advocacy groups and the regulatory agencies? Maybe. "This administration has no stomach to mandate and is reluctant to dictate how cable markets its services to its customers," Mr. McSlarrow said.

But realistically, it already does, given the reaction from MSOs that have a gun to their heads to offer family-friendly tiers rather than the more restrictive option of selling channels a la carte. And what really troubles most programmers-and me-is a fundamental assault on free speech.

As Oxygen Media Chairman and CEO Gerry Laybourne said, "It's all about politics. American consumers don't want the government between them and their TVs." What worries Ms. Laybourne and most programmers is who decides what goes on the family tiers. "Who decides, [FCC Chairman] Martin and [Ted] Stevens [R-Alaska and Senate Commerce Committee chairman]?" she asks, adding, "They have very little experience here."

Why shouldn't "I decide," Ms. Laybourne said with sarcasm, noting that she's had 25 years in the business, much of that time spent serving children's programming needs as the creator of Nickelodeon.

Another major programmer, with many highly rated cable network brands-some of which are being carried on the family tiers announced by Time Warner Cable and Comcast-and who did not want to be identified, said that the recent discussions with MSOs have not been that difficult. "We understand the scrutiny our cable partners are under. It's not about adding another 20 pages to the contracts. It's all been dialogue and fairly easy," he said, referring to his negotiations with operators to decide what gets carried on the family tier.

Let's see how smooth the sailing remains. Clearly there are bumpy waters ahead. The next hearing on indecency is Jan. 19. Let's hope no one drowns in the sea of angry consumer advocacy groups who can't seem to control their own children's behavior.

http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=29143

• (Marianne Paskowski is the former long-time editor in chief of MultiChannel News.)

fredfa

01-04-06, 12:18 PM

(From Marc Berman’s Wednesday, January 4, 2006 Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Midseason 2006: Coming Up in Primetime

As we head into what could be referred to as part two of the 2005-06 broadcast season, here are the new programming options you will be seeing by network in midseason:

A B C

New
• Emily’s Reasons Why Not (sitcom): Mon. 9 p.m.
• Crumbs (sitcom): Thurs. 9:30 p.m.
• In Justice (legal drama): Fri. 9 p.m. (previewed last Sunday)
• The Miracle Workers (non-scripted): time period to be determined
• Sons & Daughters (sitcom): time period to be determined

Returning
• Dancing With the Stars: Thurs. 8-9:30 p.m., Fri. 8 p.m. (results show)
• Jake in Progress: Mon. 9:30 p.m.
• The Bachelor in Paris: Mon. 10 p.m.
• Less Than Perfect: time period to be determined

C B S

New
• Courting Alex (sitcom): Mon. 9:30 p.m.
• Love Monkey (drama): Tues. 9 p.m.
• The New Adventures of Old Christine (sitcom): time period to be determined
• The Unit (crime drama): time period to be determined

N B C

New
• Four Kings (sitcom): Thurs. 8:30 p.m.
• The Book of Daniel (drama): Fri. 9 p.m.
• Conviction (crime drama): time period to be determined
• Thick and Thin (sitcom): time period to be determined
• Windfall (drama): time period to be determined

Returning
• Scrubs: Tues. 9 p.m. (two episodes) – returned last night
• Deal or No Deal: time period to be determined

Fox

New
• Skating With Celebrities (reality/competition): Wednesday 9 p.m.
• Free Ride (sitcom): time period to be determined
• The Loop (sitcom): time period to be determined

Returning
• American Idol: Tues. 8 p.m., Wed. 8 p.m.
• 24: Mon. 9 p.m.

UPN

New
• Get This Party Started (non-scripted): Tues. 9 p.m.
• South Beach (drama): Wed. 8 p.m.

The WB

New
• The Bedford Diaries (drama): time period to be determined
• Misconception (sitcom): time period to be determined
• Modern Men (sitcom): time period to be determined
• Pepper Dennis (drama): time period to be determined

Returning
• Beauty and the Geek: Thurs. 9 p.m.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/newsletters/proginsider/index.jsp

fredfa

01-04-06, 12:44 PM

Here is one of the snarkiest columns I have read recently.
In fairness to the stars mentioned – and in the same vein as the column -- it should be noted that Lucio Guerrero works for (by far) the second newspaper in Chicago, and -- unlike Phil Rosenthal – apparently has been unable to secure a job offer at the Tribune. And, by the way, the Sun-Times has admitted to flagrantly inflating its circulation figures in recent years – years that have seen its actual circulation fall by over 100,000 copies a day.
Columns like this one, which could well get rejected as too juvenile in many high school newspapers, might well be one reason why:

A Critical View:
Dancing with the ... stars?

By Lucio Guerrero Chicago Sun-Times Staff Reporter January 4, 2006

Since "Fantasy Island" went off the air, washed up actors have been looking for their next reliable paycheck. Reality TV has been happy to provide.
With the success of the first "Dancing With the Stars" competition show, ABC has opted to try its luck again with a second season that begins at * PM ET/PT Thursday on ABC. The network "talent" scouts hit the Los Angeles unemployment line, and here are some of the people they dragged out.
KENNY MAYNE, SPORTS ANCHOR/TWIT

Career highlights: ESPN "SportsCenter" anchor whose deadpan style has made him a star. Was backup quarterback to future NFL star Randall Cunningham while attending UNLV.

What got him here: Mayne may be familiar to the jock crowd, but he's not that well-known to mainstream America. This is going to be his chance to shine -- without repeating that annoying, "I think that would be a record or something."

TIA CARRERE, FIVE- MINUTES-AGO SEX KITTEN

Career highlights: Her acting career peaked at "Wayne's World" (where she was last seen writhing around on a music video set with a boa constrictor between her legs), and her cartoon voice career peaked as "Nani" in the "Lilo and Stitch" movies. She was featured in Playboy magazine's January 2003 issue -- sans snake.

What got her here: Bad choices. Carrere has about 50 movie titles to her credit, but none were really Oscar material -- more like Cinemax at 2:45 a.m. (Thank you, TiVo!) And when you are in a Pauly Shore movie, "Jury Duty," you are on a slippery downward spiral.

MASTER P, DR. DRE WANNABE

Career highlights: He's had a successful gangsta rap career, but it seems his real love may be movies. He financed his first movie, "I'm Bout It," but it went straight to video. His next film, "I Got the Hook Up," appeared in theaters during the summer of 1998. When he's not behind the camera, he seems to think he's an athlete, trying out with the NBA's Toronto Raptors.

What got him here: Gangsta rap is on the outs these days, and with a song like "Bullets Gots No Name" on his resume, there's not much more he can do. Right, dog!

STACY KIEBLER, CATFIGHTER

Career highlights: Former Baltimore Ravens cheerleader and World Wrestling Entertainment fighter. She is known for her karate kicks. She also likes to choke her opponents by using her 42-inch-long legs to place her foot under their throats while they are standing up.

What got her here: This may be one of the only celebrity dancers whose career actually may get a push from the show. After all, when one of your biggest hits is "WWF Divas: Sex on the Beach," a network show is a big bump-up.

LISA RINNA, MILF

Career highlights: After a long stay on "Days of Our Lives," Rinna started to climb the Hollywood ladder as Taylor on "Melrose Place." She is currently making guest appearances on "Veronica Mars."

What got her here: Children. Rinna's career was put on hold after she decided to have Harry Hamlin's children. We're not sure it was an even trade.

GISELLE FERNANDEZ, KATIE COURIC KNOCK-OFF

Career highlights: She is the Teflon woman of the news. After some controversy at Chicago's WBBM-Channel 2, Fernandez's career took off, with a gig in Miami and then co-anchor duty at "The CBS Morning News." She eventually ended up on "Access Hollywood" as an anchor.

What got her here: Fernandez made headlines in Chicago when she spent some quality time with a fugitive drug kingpin -- hanging out on his boat, hosting a party for him -- while the FBI was searching for him. But that didn't start her slide. Instead, we think it was when she decided to take on the role of "newscaster" in the movie "The Hot Chick" -- this was a stretch.

JERRY RICE, SCRAP HEAP ATHLETE

Career highlights: Former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver. He was selected to 12 Pro Bowls, and twice was named NFL Player of the Year. He had one appearance on MTV's "Doggy Fizzle Televizzle" playing himself -- not really a stretch.

What got him here: Bad knees and a big ego. Rice quit football after joining the Denver Broncos. When the Broncos wouldn't make him their No. 1 (or No. 2 or No. 3) receiver, he decided to take his ball and go home. Outside of appearing on the ESPYs, what else does he have to do?

TATUM O'NEAL, CHILD STAR/DRUG ADDICT

Career highlights: She started out strong -- maybe too strong -- by winning an Oscar when she was 10 for her role in "Paper Moon." She also garnered critical praise for roles in "The Scoundrel's Wife," "Little Darlings" and "The Bad News Bears." She married tennis bad boy John McEnroe and is the daughter of movie star Ryan O'Neal.

What got her here: We'll start with the obvious -- she dated Michael Jackson. Just ask Lisa Marie Presley where that got her. She also had a well-publicized custody battle for her children after splitting with McEnroe.

DREW LACHEY, FAMOUS BROTHER

Career highlights: Part of the boy band 98 Degrees. He is the brother of Jessica Simpson's soon to be ex-husband Nick Lachey. He also has appeared on a number of episodes of the couple's former MTV show "Newlyweds."

What got him here: He grew old. Once the pre-teen girls grow up and move on to real musicians, all that's left for former boy-band members are reunion galas and game shows. Or marrying -- and then divorcing -- a young, somewhat more talented singer. Hey Drew, we think we hear "Hollywood Squares" calling.

GEORGE HAMILTON, THE SEEN-EVERYWHERE ACTOR

Career highlights: At one time, Hamilton was hot -- literally and figuratively (have you seen that tan?). He appeared in one of the "Godfather" movies (OK, it was No. 3, but it was still a "Godfather" movie) and has made more than 80 movies overall. In 1960, he won a Golden Globe as most promising male newcomer. He reinvented the Zorro character when he appeared in "Zorro, the Gay Blade" as a flamboyant homosexual.

What got him here: Hamilton likes to spread himself thin -- maybe a little too much. There isn't a role that he won't turn down. He probably should have turned down "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles." A few years back he had slid so low that he was also doing commercials for Ritz Chips.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/television/cst-ftr-dance04.html#

fredfa

01-04-06, 01:33 PM

Will “Futurama” return?

By Don Kaplan The New York Post

”Futurama" may take a page from "Family Guy" and come back from the dead.

The animated show from "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening was canceled two years ago, but strong DVD sales seem to have prompted a direct-to-video movie, slated for 2007.

"Three months ago, I would have said we were going to start tomorrow," writer David X. Cohen, who collaborated with Groening on "Futurama," told the Sydney Morning Herald. "And one month ago, I would also have said we were going to start tomorrow. So, my current estimate is that we're starting tomorrow."

It had been believed that the show might return with new episodes on TV, but as of yesterday, the Internet Movie Database had listed the new "Futurama" project as in production and slated for a July 2007 release.

Officials at Fox — the studio that produced the show and in all likelihood, the new movie — could not be reached for comment.

"Futurama" followed the adventures of Philip J. Fry (Billy West) who is accidentally frozen in a cryogenic facility and revived in 2999. While the show has a cult following on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, when it was on Fox, it never found an audience.

http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/pfriendly_new.php

keenan

01-04-06, 01:35 PM

A Thank You!!

To Kansas City Star TV critic Aaron Barnhart for calling the “Hot Off The Press” thread “invaluable” in his TV blog.
Very cool... :) :)

Marcus Carr

01-04-06, 01:47 PM

fredfa

01-04-06, 02:10 PM

Last week’s network prime-time ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the second post in this thread).

fredfa

01-04-06, 02:25 PM

Last week’s top 10 prime-time program ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS -- the second post in this thread.

fredfa

01-04-06, 03:28 PM

Fred’s Weekly Ratings Recap
CBS Continues Perfect Season Record

CBS, with 13 of the week’s top 20 programs, swept to victory in week 15 of the 1005-06 Season, according to figures released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Services. Overall viewership was down because of the holiday week and New Year’s Eve weekend.

CBS averaged 10.06 million viewers to ABC’s 8.06. NBC had 7.01 million viewers, Fox 5.74, and Spanish-language Univision, in its first rated week, averaged 3.44 million viewers. That left UPN in sixth place with 2.59 and The WB in seventh with 2.19 million viewers.

ABC edged CBS in the 18-49 demographic 2.8-2.6 in ratings or 3.58 to 3.44 million viewers.

Paced as usual by a repeat first-place CSI (17.65 million viewers) CBS also had its usual strong results from#4 CSI: Miami (12.93), #7 NCIS (12.19), #8 Two and a Half Men (12.14), #9 Without A Trace (11.71), #10 CSI: NY (11.51,) #11 and #15 Criminal Minds, (11.45 and 10.39), #14 Cold Case (11.04), #13 Kennedy Center Honors (10.85), #18 60 Minutes (9.85), #19 Numb3rs (9.83, and #20 King of Queens (9.35.

ABC was led by the finale of Monday Night Football (#2, 14.43 million viewers), #3 NFL Monday Showcase (13.34), #6 the Desperate Housewives clip show (12.40) -- which helped the premiere of #14 In Justice (10.53) -- and #16 Extreme Makeover Home Edition with 10.06 million viewers.

NBC managed just one top20 show: #17 Law and Order: SVU (9.88 million viewers. Next best for the peacock: #22 Law and Order (9.15).

The NFL gave Fox its best numbers of the week, too, with a Sunday runover coming in at #5 and 12.75 million viewers. Next best for the Murdoch net was #22 House (8.62.)

In its first week Univision placed 12 shows ahead of any UPN or The WB programs.

For UPN, #88 WWE Smackdown (3.99 million viewers) and #95 Everybody Hates Chris (3.60) led the way.

The WB’s best effort was #106 Smallville (2.87 million viewers) followed by #112 Gilmore Girls (2.65) and #113 7th Heaven (2.64).

(Except for sports and ABC’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve, every show mentioned on the six English-language networks was in repeats.)

In the battle of New Year’s Eve shows, the return of Dick Clark easily won the champagne stakes.

The perennial ABC show ranked 37th with 7.47 million viewers.

fredfa

01-04-06, 03:33 PM

TV Sports
Report: ABC putts away PGA Tour coverage

(medialifemagazine.com--)First “Monday Night Football.”

Now the PGA Tour. Just over a week after ABC Sports broadcast its last “MNF,” news has gotten out that ABC is no longer part of the negotiations to broadcast the PGA Tour.

With its four-year, $1 billion television contract due to expire after this year, the PGA is currently in negotiations with the networks over the next contract.

Anonymous sources discussing the ongoing negotiations with several media outlets have said that ABC Sports has left the table, leaving only CBS and NBC to broadcast the majority of tournaments.

The network, in the midst of a primetime revival, has been dropping expensive sports contracts that don’t deliver, such as “MNF.”

Golf ratings are down since the Tiger Woods renaissance of 2000. The new TV contract, which has been in negotiation since Thanksgiving, is likely to be announced sometime in the next two weeks.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/cat_index_31.asp

fredfa

01-04-06, 03:37 PM

"While the show has a cult following on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, when it was on Fox, it never found an audience."

That's because those idiots at Fox kept preempting it because of football running long.

Possibly that was a major reason, Marcus.

Yet last Sunday the football runover was the fifth highest rated show of the week.
And aside from #22 "House", it was the only Fox program in the week's top 60.

keenan

01-04-06, 03:48 PM

Is it Jan 15 yet..? ;)

That date(Jack's return) has become as important as the Super Bowl date to me, maybe more.. :D

fredfa

01-04-06, 03:49 PM

TV Sports
TV tonight: Nothin’ but Rose Bowl

By Diane Holloway Austin American-Statesman Wednesday, January 4, 2006

If tonight’s Rose Bowl is like last night’s Orange Bowl, I’m calling in sick tomorrow. Just so you know.

Weeknight football games — especially those of the college persuasion — are not supposed to be that good or last that long. I’m exhausted. Totally spent.

But who can turn away from Penn State and Joe Paterno? The man and his team are legendary … and exemplary. They actually care about academics and athletics. Plus, reading Paterno’s lips as he barks at officials and players on the sidelines is one of life’s great X-rated pleasures.

By the time Penn State finally pulled out a 26-23 field-goal victory over Florida State, the thought of another equally exhausting contest in tonight’s Rose Bowl had me quivering.

In case you’ve been touring Thailand for the past month or so, the UT Longhorns and the USC Trojans are doing battle in Pasadena tonight to determine college football’s national champ. The rain has finally stopped. Most alleged experts expect USC to win, but Vince Young and a few other Longhorns disagree.

We’ll see. Kickoff is around 8:20 ETtonight on ABC. Keith Jackson, The Voice of College Football, will be at the helm. ABC Sports says half-time will be exactly 22 minutes long, so if you’re making a food-and-beverage run, plan accordingly.

The 19-year-old boy in my house, who attends a Boston college that has no football team, is an obsessive UT fan and makes the following prediction: If the Longhorns win, which he thinks they will, it will be a squeaker. If the Longhorns lose, it’ll be a blow-out. Sounds logical to me.

As long as the game is over before midnight, I’ll be relieved. Or, as previously mentioned, I’ll be calling in tired.

http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/tvblog/

fredfa

01-04-06, 03:56 PM

If you are really, seriously, into tonight's Rose Bowl you might enjoy having a depth chart of each team available to supplement the viewing.

Print one team on one side of the page, the other on the back.

They are easy to download as pdfs. The USC depth chart is here:

http://www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com/doc_lib/USC_depth_122105.pdf

The Texas Depth Chart is here:

http://www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=34&url_subchannel_id=&url_article_id=18&change_well_id=2

(And as a faithful -- and frustrated -- UCLA Bruin fan, all I can say is Hook 'Em Horns.)

jim tressler

01-04-06, 04:02 PM

lol - I just got off the phone with some collegues who are based in la and san fran... they said its 75 and sunny in la and they were headed to the game tonight.. lol.. those ba$*#ds!!! I am jelous as he!! - oh well.. at least the game is in hd :)

fredfa

01-04-06, 04:08 PM

As a Bruin fan I couldn't bring myself to go, Jim.
So we were happy to get our tickets into the hands of four Texas fans.
It's the first Rose Bowl I've missed in years.
And your colleagues are right - it is a gorgeous day here.

keenan

01-04-06, 04:41 PM

Beautiful in the SF bay area also, finally...easy to see all the damage Mother Nature has wrought..

keenan

01-04-06, 05:01 PM

Our favorite Threshold star gets a new job.. :D

From The Hollywood Reporter,

Jan. 04, 2006

Gugino takes 'Museum' job

By Tatiana Siegel
Carla Gugino is in final negotiations to star opposite Ben Stiller in "Night at the Museum" for 20th Century Fox.

Shawn Levy is directing the live-action/CG comedy, which centers on a goodhearted but bumbling security guard (Stiller) who works at a natural history museum where he accidentally trips an ancient curse that causes the animals and insects on display to come to life.

"Museum" is set to begin shooting next month in Vancouver and is slated for a holiday release this year.

Levy is producing the film through his 21 Laps Entertainment along with 1492 Prods.' Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan.

Fox's Emma Watts is overseeing for the studio.

Gugino, who played the eponymous character on ABC's "Karen Sisco," also starred in the "Spy Kids" trilogy. She most recently starred in "Sin City" and on CBS' critically praised but short-lived "Threshold." Her upcoming credits include Mark Rydell's crime drama "Jump Shot" and Sebastian Gutierrez's supernatural thriller "Rise."

She is repped by CAA and attorney Warren Dern.

fredfa

01-04-06, 05:09 PM

TV Sports
High viewership expected for BCS finale

By Michael Hiestand USA Today

For all the kvetching about the Bowl Championship Series, its Southern California-Texas title game Wednesday on ABC could produce a bigger TV rating than anything else in the past year in TV sports — except for only a few nights of the almighty NFL's playoffs.

The much-hyped matchup also might break the BCS ratings record, set when Oklahoma's championship game win against Florida State in the 2001 Orange Bowl drew 17.8% of U.S. TV households. It helps that the game is the Rose Bowl, whose TV ratings have been higher than the other BCS bowls — except when they hosted title games — every year since the BCS' 1999 debut. Says Loren Matthews, ABC Sports senior vice president/programming, "And if we get snow in the Northeast, we've got a home run!"

Not that Matthews, retiring after working 20 years at ESPN and the last six years at ABC, doesn't still see room for BCS improvement. ABC lobbied for changes such as seeding teams in the bowls and then adding a title game or using bowls to create a "final four" that plays semifinals and a final.

That didn't happen. And while ABC will keep the Rose Bowl through the January 2014 game, Fox picks up the other BCS games — including a new fifth BCS bowl — next season.

"In my opinion, assuming there's a BCS beyond 2010, you'll see some kind of accommodation made" for TV, Matthews says. "They've added a fifth game to a format where we're already losing considerable money. But we've got to give the devil its due. If we could get this game every year, then great. Where do we sign up?

"But remember, we were one second away from controversy this year: If Michigan doesn't beat Penn State with the clock running out, we'd have three undefeated teams."

Instead, ABC has a winner-take-all spectacle and will deploy 30 cameras. It will have live shots of U.S. troops in Iraq, a taped feature with actors Will Ferrell and Matthew McConaughey and, inevitably, shots of celebs in the stands. But ABC producer Mark Loomis says the plan is simple for a game that, barring a blowout, sells itself: "You don't need a lot of gimmicks for this one. We've put out more machinery than we've ever had — but no fancy tricks."

Rose Bowl bits

• In case it gets one-sided, announcer Keith Jackson, 77 — who won't say whether this is his final game — could tell viewers he'll announce his decision at the final gun.

• In what ABC/ESPN bills as the start of sports event video coverage available to iPods, its Rose Bowl footage will be available for downloading Thursday.

• Disney's cross-promotional tentacles made a big reach Monday on ABC's coverage of the ESPN float — which touted its high-definition TV coverage — in the Rose Parade. On the parade coverage, ABC's Terry Gannon said his wife could "attest this is my favorite float" and ABC's James Denton says he'd watch any sport in high-def. Good thing actress Teri Hatcher is on a hit show: As her colleagues gushed, she told viewers, "I'm just here shaking my head."

ABC out of golf game?

Golfworld.com reported Tuesday that ABC has dropped out of talks for PGA Tour TV deals starting in 2007, although its only on-the-record source was ABC analyst Paul Azinger .

ABC/ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys had no comment. But given ABC's recent pickup of the second half of the NASCAR season in 2007, ABC won't have as many Sunday afternoon windows open for showing golf. ABC's contract to cover the British Open, like those for all of golf's majors, is separate from PGA Tour deals; ABC's British deal runs through 2009.

Bowls

During ABC's coverage of Monday's Fiesta Bowl, viewers heard a miked referee ask that a camera be taken off the field. ABC's coverage didn't explain what he could have been talking about. ABC/ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said Tuesday that "it wasn't our camera."

Lynn Swann indicates on his website he'll formally announce Wednesday he's a Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania. His ABC contract ended with the Sugar Bowl on Monday night, when he exited on a less-than-distinguished note. In a postgame interview with West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, Swann didn't ask about the obvious hot topic — the winning Mountaineers' game-clinching fake punt. Not a wise use of executive privilege.

Ads

Confused by CBS ads saying "more people watch the NFL on CBS than on any other network" while Fox bills itself as the "most-watched" NFL outlet?

Don't be. It's just the zillionth example of corporations choosing the stats — in this case Nielsen numbers — that make them look good. In NFL national ratings, Fox's games are averaging 10% of U.S. households, compared with 9.8% for CBS'. But wait, CBS says; if you add up all the viewers who've watched its NFL action for at least six whole minutes this season, then it has the most viewers — 147.5 million, to 143.1 million for Fox. The key swing vote now: viewers who watch five minutes each season.

http://usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2006-01-03-hiestand-rose-bowl-viewership_x.htm

CPanther95

01-04-06, 05:15 PM

Hope Carla is part of the "Live Action" and not the voice of some scarab. :)

tkmedia2

01-04-06, 06:46 PM

Was this mentioned? Old news I know, just found out. but I loved him when he played "Oldie" I talked to him once, he's a cool dude. The old guy with the funny "eye"
----
Patrick Cranshaw, 86; Veteran Character Actor Gained Unlikely Fame as "Blue" in "Old School"

By Dennis McLellan, Times Staff Writer

Patrick Cranshaw, a veteran character actor who unexpectedly attained pop-culture status playing "Blue," the elderly fraternity brother in the hit comedy "Old School," has died. He was 86.

Cranshaw died of natural causes Wednesday at his home in Fort Worth, said his personal manager, Jeff Ross.

After launching his screen career in 1955 playing a bartender at a dance in the western "Texas Lady," Cranshaw appeared in a variety of roles, including a bank teller in "Bonnie and Clyde" and the demolition derby owner in "Herbie: Fully Loaded."

But he was well into his 80s when he was cast in the small part that gave him the kind of public recognition rarely afforded to a character actor: his scene-stealing role as white-haired and bearded Joseph "Blue" Palasky in "Old School," directed by Todd Phillips and starring Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn.

In one of his key scenes, a long-johns-clad Blue is supposed to wrestle with two topless girls, but he never gets a chance: He looks at them and is so excited that he keels over dead of an apparent heart attack.

Ferrell's character delivers the eulogy for Blue, who is seen with angel wings during the closing credits playing a piano and singing "Dust in the Wind."

After the movie's release, Cranshaw was frequently recognized by fans of the film, who couldn't resist calling out Ferrell's signature line, "You're my boy, Blue."

Cranshaw was also invited to meet with the Texas Rangers when they were playing the Angels in Anaheim.

"A lot of the ballplayers loved that movie," said Ross, who accompanied Cranshaw to the stadium. "When we got there, the Angels wanted him to come to their locker room too."

While the Rangers were playing catch along the foul lines after batting practice, "fans in the stands saw Patrick throwing the ball," Ross said, "and they wanted his autograph more than the Texas players'."

The following spring, the Angels invited Cranshaw for a return clubhouse visit.

And even then, Ross said, the actor couldn't leave his seat without fans yelling out, "Hey, Blue!"

"It was a great experience and an acknowledgment for him," said Ross. "He loved the recognition and would turn back and say, 'I'm your boy Blue.' "

Born in Bartlesville, Okla., in 1919, Cranshaw became interested in acting while entertaining the troops with the Army Air Forces before World War II.

In addition to small parts in films such as "Bandolero," "Best in Show" and "The Hudsucker Proxy," Cranshaw appeared frequently on television and had recurring roles on "Mork & Mindy," "The Dukes of Hazzard" and other series.

He had recently returned home to Fort Worth after shooting the movie "Air Buddies," due for release next year.

The actor is survived by three children, Jan Ragland, Joe Cranshaw and Beverly Trautschold; his sister, Billie Vi Gillespie; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

The family requests that donations be made to the American Heart Assn., the American Lung Assn. or the American Cancer Society.

fredfa

01-04-06, 07:21 PM

tkmedia2: Good post.

I didn't include it because I felt his TV accomplishments were too minor, but I am glad you felt like adding it to the thread.

fredfa

01-04-06, 07:26 PM

TV Sports
NBC names hockey broadcasters

(NBC Sports Press Release) January 4, 2006

EMRICK, DAVIDSON, CLEMENT, FERRARO JOIN NHL ON NBC FOR INAUGURAL BROADCAST SEASON

Emrick, Davidson and Pierre McGuire Comprise NBC's Lead Broadcast Team; Clement Hosts Studio Show

Dave Strader, Joe Micheletti, Brian Hayward, Chris Cuthbert, Peter McNab, Cammi Granato, Join NHL on NBC as Regional Broadcast Teams

NEW YORK - Jan. 4, 2006 - Mike Emrick (play-by-play), John Davidson (analyst) and Pierre McGuire (reporter) will comprise the lead broadcast team of the NHL on NBC, and Bill Clement will host the NHL on NBC studio show joined by analyst Ray Ferraro, it was announced today by Ken Schanzer, President, NBC Sports. NBC drops the puck on its inaugural season Saturday, Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. ET with regional coverage of three games, headlined by Western Conference powerhouse the Detroit Red Wings facing off against Jaromir Jagr and the resurgent New York Rangers. That game, along with one game each week and the Stanley Cup Final, will be presented in high definition. Also on the week one schedule are the Dallas Stars at Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche at Philadelphia Flyers.

The other NHL on NBC broadcast teams are: play-by-play commentator Dave Strader, who will work with analyst Brian Hayward and reporter Joe Micheletti; and Chris Cuthbert (play-by-play) joined by Peter McNab (analyst) and Cammi Granato (reporter).

"'Doc' and J.D. are simply the best broadcast team in hockey," said Schanzer. "They have the unique ability to enhance the viewing experience for both the hardcore and casual fan, and along with Bill Clement and Ray Ferraro in the studio, and our top-notch regional broadcast teams, will offer viewers unparalleled commentary and analysis of the new and improved NHL."

NHL ON NBC REGULAR SEASON COVERAGE
NBC Sports will present six weeks of NHL regular-season action: Jan. 14, Jan. 21, Jan. 28, Feb. 4, April 8 and April 15. Schedule highlights include rookie sensation Sidney Crosby and hockey legend Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins hosting the Flyers on Jan. 21, and the Red Wings visiting their Conference rivals the Avalanche on Jan. 28. The Avalanche, Stars, Red Wings, Flyers and Rangers have the most appearances on NBC's NHL schedule with four each. The Penguins and Bruins both appear on the network three times during the season. The St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Kings each appear twice and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild, New York Islanders, San Jose Sharks and Tampa Bay Lightning each appear once.

NHL ON NBC STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF COVERAGE
NBC Sports will provide coverage of the Conference Quarterfinals on April 22, 23, 29 and 30; the Conference Semifinals, May 6, 7, 13 and 14; the Conference Finals on May 20; and Games 3-7 of the Stanley Cup Final in primetime.

MIKE EMRICK
"Doc" Emrick, who also handles play-by-play duties for OLN's NHL coverage, is widely regarded as the best NHL play-by-play commentator on television. In his 25th year of doing NHL play-by-play, Emrick began his hockey career in 1973 as caller for the IHL Port Huron Flags. He has been the voice of the New Jersey Devils since 1993, and previously did play-by-play for the Philadelphia Flyers from 1988 to 1993. Emrick has announced hockey for all of the major television networks and has received several awards, including the 1997 National CableACE Award for best play-by-play, the 1997 and 2004 New York Emmy Awards for his Devils telecasts, and the 2004 Lester Patrick Trophy. Emrick called water polo in Athens for his first Summer Games assignment and his first Olympics with NBC and handled Olympic hockey play-by-play duties for CBS at Albertville in 1992, on CBS and TNT at Lillehammer in 1994 and Nagano in 1998.

JOHN DAVIDSON
Davidson returned to NBC to serve as lead hockey analyst for the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. A much-honored analyst for the New York Rangers on MSG Network and previously a studio analyst for ABC Sports' NHL telecasts, "J.D." worked alongside Marv Albert on NBC's coverage of the NHL All-Star Game from 1990-94. The Salt Lake Games were Davidson's fourth Olympic broadcasting assignment, having served as CBS' lead analyst for hockey coverage at the 1992 Games in Albertville, the 1994 Games in Lillehammer and the 1998 Games in Nagano. Davidson played 11 years in the NHL as a goaltender with the St. Louis Blues (1973-75) and New York Rangers (1975-83), where he helped the Rangers to the 1979 Stanley Cup Final. Davidson began his broadcasting career in 1984 as a "Hockey Night in Canada" commentator on CBC. In addition to his work on Rangers telecasts, Davidson worked with Emrick on Fox's coverage of the NHL. In September 1999, he joined ABC Sports as NHL studio analyst.

BILL CLEMENT
Clement, an 11-year NHL veteran with Philadelphia, Washington and Calgary, was most recently a game analyst for ESPN's NHL telecasts. He worked as the hockey studio analyst alongside host Jim Lampley during CNBC's live hockey studio show broadcasts during the 2002 Salt Lake Games. In 1992-93, he served as ESPN's NHL studio analyst. Clement first served as ESPN's NHL game analyst from 1986-88. From 1988-92, he was the analyst for Philadelphia Flyers games on PRISM (Philadelphia regional cable) and a playoff analyst during the Stanley Cup Final for SportsChannel America. He received a 1992 CableACE Award for his playoff work. Clement also worked Flyers local telecasts on WGBS-TV from 1988-91 and WPHL-TV in 1991-92. He was an ice-level reporter for NBC's coverage of the NHL All-Star Game in 1992 and 1993. Clement also served as an analyst for TNT at the 1992 Winter Olympics and as studio analyst for the 1991 Canada Cup on CTV (Canada). In a 1996 reader survey conducted by The Hockey News, Clement was voted "Favorite National TV Personality." In 2004, Clement, a two-time Quebec high school badminton champion, served as the badminton and table tennis analyst and play-by-play commentator on modern pentathlon during NBC's coverage of the Athens Olympic Games.

RAY FERRARO
NHL veteran Ray Ferraro will serve as the studio analyst on the NHL on NBC. He is currently the Edmonton Oilers game analyst on Canada's Sportsnet West. Ferraro's NHL career spanned 18 years and saw him make stops with six different franchises. Drafted by the Hartford Whalers in 1982, Ferraro later suited up for the New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Atlanta Thrashers and St. Louis Blues during his career. In total, he played in 1,258 regular season games, scoring 408 goals and adding 490 assists for 898 points. He appeared in an additional 68 playoff contests, scoring 21 goals and picking up 22 assists. After being traded from the Rangers to Los Angeles during the 1996 season, Ferraro joined ESPN as a studio analyst on "NHL2Night." He began serving as the Oilers game analyst in 2002. In September 2004, Ferraro married Olympic gold medalist and women's hockey pioneer Cammi Granato, who is also the women's Olympic hockey studio analyst in Torino and an NHL on NBC reporter.

fredfa

01-04-06, 07:33 PM

2005 Final Ratings
Tops on cable in 2005

USA Today--The year's top 14 cable casts were sports, led by Sept. 11's Colts/Ravens matchup on ESPN (11.2 million viewers). Beyond sports:

Rank / Show title / Net / Date / Viewers (millions)
1. MTV Video Music Awards MTV Aug. 28 8.0
2. SpongeBob Nick Nov. 11 7.9
3. Twitches Disney Oct. 14 7.0
3. The Closer TNT June 13 7.0
3. The Flight that Fought Back Discovery Sept. 11 6.6
6. BET Awards BET June 28 6.6
7. Into the West TNT June 10 6.5
8. The Closer TNT Sept. 5 6.4
8. Monk USA July 8 6.4
10. State of the Union Analysis Fox News Feb. 2 6.3
10. WWE Raw Spike June 27 6.3
Source: Nielsen Media Research, prime time, Dec. 27, 2004-Dec. 25, 2005

fredfa

01-04-06, 07:39 PM

Cable Ratings
Top Cable Shows: Week 15 of 2005-2006 Season
(USA Today)

Week of December 26-January 1st

Rank / Show title / Network / Date / Viewers (millions)
1. NFL Sunday Night Football: Rams/Cowboys ESPN 9.1
2. Alamo Bowl: Michigan/Nebraska ESPN 6.9
3. Holiday Bowl: Oregon/Oklahoma ESPN 6.1
4. WWE Raw (10 p.m.) USA 5.0
5. Law & Order: SVU (Fri. 10 p.m.) USA 4.6
6. The Closer TNT 4.5
7. WWE Raw (9 p.m.) USA 4.4
7. Law & Order: SVU (Mon. 9 p.m.) USA 4.4
7. NFL Prime Time ESPN 4.4
10. Zack & Cody Disney 4.2
11. The Princess Diaries Disney 4.1
11. Law & Order: SVU (Fri. 8 p.m.) USA 4.1
13. Law & Order: CI (Sat. 8 p.m.) USA 4.0
13. Zack & Cody Disney 4.0
13. Insight Bowl: Arizona State/Rutgers ESPN 4.0
Note: Only first airings of movies shown
• Source: Nielsen Media Research

fredfa

01-04-06, 07:43 PM

Week 15 Demographic Ratings
Top broadcast shows among 18-49 demographic

(USA Today) Week of Dec. 26, 2005-Jan. 1, 2006
Rank / Show title / Net / Viewers in millions
1. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CBS 6.9
2. NFL Monday Night Football: Patriots/Jets ABC 6.8
3. The OT (NFL postgame) Fox 6.3
4. NFL Monday Showcase ABC 6.2
5. Desperate Housewives ABC 6.0
6. CSI: Miami CBS 5.4
7. In Justice ABC 5.2
7. Two and a Half Men CBS 5.2
9. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC 5.0
10. CSI: New York CBS 4.7
• Source: Nielsen Media Research

tkmedia2

01-04-06, 07:44 PM

I know fredfa,

Not very well known at all! He's in a ton of things, most of them very very small bit parts, a lot of times not credited. Later in life he had tons of typecast rolls as a old/dead/drunk/crazy weirdos!:D I notice a majority of them were not in his imdb profile.... oh well...

fredfa

01-04-06, 07:46 PM

I am delighted you added his obit, Tony.

fredfa

01-04-06, 07:52 PM

Dish hits 12 million subs

According to mediabiz.com and its “Evening Bridge”, EchoStar said its DISH Network satellite TV service has passed the 12 million customer milestone.

During the past five years, DISH Network added more than 6.74 million net new customers.

The service reached 1 million subscribers in December 1997 and passed the 11 million customer milestone in January 2005.

keenan

01-04-06, 08:15 PM

I don't have the numbers in front of me, but that seems to be a much faster rate of sub acquisition than DirecTV.

fredfa

01-04-06, 10:17 PM

TV Review
Haven't we met these guys?

A sitcom about young, single pals in Manhattan? “Four Kings” sure sounds familiar.
By Paul Brownfield Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 5, 2006

What can I tell you about "Four Kings" that you won't already know? It premieres Thursday night at 8:30 PM ET/PT on NBC. By 8:46, or thereabouts, you will understand everything.

It's one of those they-move-in-together comedies. Here, in a twist for a sitcom on NBC, the characters are four single white guys in Manhattan. They are named Ben, Jason, Bobby and Barry. They are played, respectively, by Josh Cooke (”Committed"), Todd Grinnell (dunno), Shane McRae (dunno) and Seth Green (Seth Green).

We appear, once again, to be smack in the middle of shows developed when "Sex and the City" was at the height of its popularity. They emerged in the fall and now again in January. "Four Kings" is like two other midseason comedies, CBS' "Love Monkey" and ABC's "Emily's Reasons Why Not" — the sitcom- as-dizzy-relationship comedy, featuring sympathetic monogamists, the politics and semantics and pitfalls of dating discussed in salons of three or four.

"Four Kings" is merely the most aggressively a sitcom, a sitcom in a box, like a Happy Meal. It's a throwback to a mid-'90s "Friends" rip-off ("Four Kings and a Pizza Place," if you prefer), except that there isn't a pizza place, there's a big apartment, and skyline cutaways that suggest we're in Manhattan.

Series creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, and James Burrows, who directed the pilot, are old hands at the banter. Their shows include "Will & Grace," "Good Morning, Miami," and "Twins," currently on the WB; they not only know how to get from the lunch meeting to the network order, they know how to make the episode move, how to set up the dilemma credibly and resolve it, how to deliver the laugh line, how to surprise with the zany moment.

But all of that snappy ability can have the effect of a local anesthetic. "Four Kings" opens on a laundromat, where our four friends from childhood are doing their wash together (did I miss that Sunday New York Times Style section piece?). Immediately you can sense that the chemistry of the four actors is the creaky 2-by-4 on which the show is perched.

Barry is short and angry (or "three feet of angry"), Ben is the archetypal sitcom GQ mensch. They are rounded out by supporting characters Jason, who's dense and obtuse, like Joey of "Friends," and Bobby, who's acerbic and fussy, like Chandler of "Friends."

"Dude, can I piggyback on your load?" Jason asks in the laundromat.

"I'm not sure why, but don't ever say that phrase to me again," says Bobby.

You can hear how that line must have killed at the table reading.

Soon (the next scene, in fact), Ben has inherited his grandmother's fabulous town house, and these four misfit buddies, with their arrested development tendencies and array of Banana Republic metrosexual fashion combinations, will be sharing the same interior apartment sets and trading in low-to-high hilarity.

NBC has long had sitcoms like "Four Kings" on Thursday nights, which the network is now trumpeting again as a block of signature comedies, having shifted the fresher "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" from Tuesday to Thursday while sticking "Four Kings" behind "Will & Grace." It's a nice little bit of revisionism, NBC apparently paying homage to an old dilemma — what goes with "Friends."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-wk-kings5jan05,0,2430469,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

SVonhof

01-04-06, 11:18 PM

Commentary
A la Carte Will Go Away-Again

By Marianne Paskowski in TV Week

...Two cable MSOs-Time Warner Cable and Comcast-announced family-friendly programming tiers instead.

Who says that's what I want and why I want it? I want a la carte simply because I am tired of paying for 200+ channels that I don't watch. It's simple. Let me choose which channels I want to watch and it will make my life easier. I will probably only have 20 channels besides the HBO and Stars/Encore packages, so my bill should be smaller. Right? Makes sense to me.

I don't need any foreign language channels, cause I won't watch 'em.
I don't need any pay-per-view channels, cause I won't watch 'em.
I don't need any kids channels, cause I won't watch 'em.
I don't need any sports tier channels like Sunday Ticket or Full court or hockey net or whatever, cause I won't watch 'em.

Let me choose. That's what a la carte needs to be about.

fredfa

01-04-06, 11:50 PM

TV Review
Resolved: See more TV

By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 10 PM ET/PT Friday, Sci Fi Channel.

I Wwouldn’t recommend this to everyone, but one of my New Year's resolutions is to watch a bit more television.

Specifically, I'm thinking of the Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica," currently tops on my list of Series That Got Away.

It returns Friday for what they're calling its "winter premiere" with a two-part episode that I actually sort of understood, thanks to the half-hour premiere Sci Fi aired Monday - still available for free on Apple's iTunes - and some Googling of episode guides.

I haven't had to work this hard since I started watching "The X-Files" toward the end of its first season, and I'm still not sure how I'll fit in one more Friday night series around CBS' "Numbers" and NBC's new drama "Book of Daniel," but I'm going to try.

If my job didn't involve watching the pilots for dozens of new shows, I'd probably never know about most of the stuff I'm missing most weeks, even as my DVR and I try to keep up with all the shows I'm actually watching.

But it does, and I do, which is why I've been feeling guilty about missing so much of "Battlestar," which is the kind of sci-fi-for-grown-ups I've always claimed to enjoy.

The grown-ups are definitely one of the draws in "Resurrection Ship," which finds Cmdr. Adama (Edward James Olmos) and President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) uniting against Adm. Cain (Michelle Forbes), who's rapidly shaping up as an uncommon enemy, one who in her own way could be as dangerous to the fleet's future as the robotic Cylons, which are basically humanity's creation run amok.

And, yes, at some point there's a smooch.

Did I mention that Roslin is supposedly still dying of breast cancer?

While I'm not crazy about contemplating a future in which we're capable of creating a race of creatures that then turn on us but still apparently can't cure cancer, McDonnell's performance does help ground "Battlestar."

Like all the best science fiction, it's ultimately about what it means to be human.

Being only human myself, I haven't yet figured out how to both have a life and be the watching/writing/podcasting entity that 21st century TV criticism seems to demand - Cylon technology, perhaps? - so I'm not sure how many of my Series That Got Away I'll be reconnecting with in 2006.

I'd been hoping one of them will be NBC's "Scrubs," which returned last night with back-to-back episodes after a hiatus long enough to have triggered hostage negotiations between outraged fans and the Peacock.

Before it disappeared this last time, I used to watch. And then, after a while, I didn't.

I've seen next week's episodes - one of which deals with J.D. (Zach Braff) turning 30 - and I'm concerned that, like the producers of Fox's "Arrested Development," the fertile, frantic minds behind "Scrubs" may have reacted to a perceived lack of love and support on the part of the parent company by acting out.

Or, in other words, by crossing the line between surreal and silly a bit too frequently.

Maybe it's because most of its core characters are now officially grown-ups, or maybe it's that it's still set in a hospital, a place where people actually die from time to time - a fact that "Scrubs," to its credit, has never shied away from - but all that stunt-driven whimsy's starting to feel a bit forced.

Could be that it took the show coming back for me to really start missing it?

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//13544721.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

01-04-06, 11:53 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Nervous to be replacing Peter Jennings? But of course

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

Nervous? Who's nervous?

Elizabeth Vargas had the jitters - in a good way - just hours before she and colleague Bob Woodruff debuted Tuesday as the new faces of ABC World News Tonight.

Any anchor who denies being nervous "is either lying or needs to resign," she says. "It's an enormous responsibility... . We all should be on our toes, alert, ready. If that translates to nervous, fine."

Vargas, 43, and Woodruff, 44, have every reason to be jumpy. They're replacing a legend: Peter Jennings, who died of lung cancer in August at age 67. He had anchored the newscast since 1983.

Both Vargas, also coanchor of 20/20, and Woodruff, formerly WNT's weekend anchor, had subbed frequently for Jennings since he announced his condition April 5.

"To a great extent, we've been in the trenches for nine months," she says. "It's not like a brand-new, never-before test run of a vehicle." (Just for fun, what's the vehicle? "A Rolls-Royce.")

Vargas and Woodruff will rarely appear on set together, freeing them to do stories from the field. Last night, Woodruff reported from Iran, with Vargas in New York.

Earlier in the day, Vargas and Woodruff launched ABC's new Webcast, World News Now. It's streamed live from 3 to 3:15 p.m., with original content, on wnt.abcnews.com.

Now marks the first time an evening newscast has produced a unique program for the Net, ABC says.

Now came off without a hitch, says executive producer Jon Banner. Woodruff did a taped piece and live phone interview.

"I loved it," Vargas says. "It was less formal than WNT. I get to roll up my sleeves and ask reporters a lot of questions that we rarely have time for on the broadcast."

Meanwhile, Woodruff, formerly a household name only in his own household, experienced his first brush with celebrity in Tehran last week.

"There was a front-page article in the Tehran News that ABC would be reporting from here," he says from Iran's capital. "I've never been on the front page of a newspaper before."

After almost a decade at ABC, Woodruff says his sudden fame "is a little uncomfortable. I also understand that it comes with the territory."

It doesn't bother him that most Americans couldn't pick him out of a lineup, he insists.

"Personally, I don't think this job is about how well known you are. That's something that just happens. Whether you're well received is another story."

A former lawyer who speaks Mandarin, Woodruff decided to change careers in 1989 when he was hired by CBS as a translator during the Tiananmen Square uprising. He was teaching law in Beijing at the time.

Speaking of translation, Woodruff says it's time to invent a new word for anchor.

"It connotes someone staying in one place, like the anchor of a ship. The metaphor doesn't seem appropriate when the ship moves around a lot."

Woodruff's family moves around a lot, too. Nine times in 17 years of marriage, according to his wife, Lee, a freelance writer. They have four kids.

The couple left for China "immediately" after their wedding, she says. "That pretty much set the tone for the rest of our life."

Woodruff spent New Year's Eve in Tehran "looking for champagne in a strict Muslim country." Last New Year's Eve, he was en route to Indonesia to cover the tsunami.

"I'm not a big New Year's Eve guy. It seems like you wait up really late, and then it's over. There's no real climax."

Lee Woodruff is used to solo celebrations. In August '01, when they lived in London, she had invited 100 people to his 40th-birthday party when he was sent to Jerusalem.

She held the party anyway.

Happy returns

ABC received "overwhelmingly positive" calls after Dick Clark's return to his New Year's Eve special from New York's Times Square, the network says.

Clark, 76, who suffered a stroke in December '04, appeared frail and slurred some of his words while hosting the 11:35 p.m.-to-1:05 a.m. segment of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2006.

"Viewers think it was very courageous of him to return," an ABC rep says. The number of calls "was on par for what we get for a lot of live programming."

It was Clark's 33d New Year's Eve show for ABC. Regis Philbin hosted in '05.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//13543189.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

01-05-06, 12:01 AM

TV Review
Barring a miracle, “Daniel” will be easy to miss

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-]Intelligencer TV Critic Thursday, January 5, 2006

Jesus is way cool. Everybody loves Jesus. Everybody wants to hang out with him.

Just not necessarily on prime-time television. Specialized cable channels, early a.m. Mass on TV, Jan Crouch's gargantuan hair, we're all for that. But come nighttime, audiences tend to prefer the likes of "NCIS" to INRI.

Otherwise, we'd still be watching CBS's "Joan of Arcadia" or new chapters of "Revelations" on NBC, wouldn't we?

But "Revelations" flopped after last year's midseason debut, and that was that. Months later, "Joan" bit the dust. Even two recent Pope movies didn't do much for CBS or ABC. We like our ghosts to be of the unholy variety, and for Jennifer Love Hewitt to hold sensitive chats with them.

For that reason alone, the future doesn't look bright for "The Book of Daniel." Then consider that NBC's new drama airs Fridays at 9 ET/PT, and has a limited trial period of six episodes. Two blow out Friday, and the rest air weekly through Feb. 3; the week after, the Olympics take over.

The network suits can't honestly think we'll remember it following all the figure skating, can they?

Besides, Fridays aren't exactly the night most of us want to think about the God Stuff anyway, even the sort that comes in a riveting, occasionally transcendent package like "Daniel's." People who aren't utterly offended by the premise of a pill-addicted holy man and his family's sexy problems are either watching CBS, cable, DVDs, or out getting drunk and riding a mechanical bull somewhere.

Others simply don't want religion shoved down their throats, although "The Book of Daniel" is less interested in preaching than putting its characters through a guntlet of spiritual tests. Everyone from the church leaders down to the household help has struggles to contend with. The only difference is that our priest, Daniel Webster (played by Aidan Quinn), a descendant of the 19th-century New England statesman, has long, casual chats with a Buddy Christ version of Jesus (Garret Dillahunt). Christ's frequent appearances may or may not be a side effect of Daniel's Vicodin addiction.

Within "Daniel" is the reliable trinity of prime-time entertainment -- sex, scandal and secrets -- as well as the path to redemption. In fact, the priest tells his parishioners that temptation is a good thing, if only to give those who give into it the joy of knowing redemption and forgiveness.

Of greater interest, though, is Daniel's ongoing relationship with Jesus. In his mind, Christ is sort of like God in "Joan of Arcadia," only adopting the classic long hair and white robes look. He's a friend who rides shotgun in the car, who advises and admonishes when the situation warrants, but doesn't judge too harshly.

And thank heaven for that, for in the pastor's home, unbeknownst to most of his parishioners, there are demons. Besides Webster's pill popping, there's his daughter Grace's (Allison Pill) flirtation with dealing pot. His wife, Judith (Susanna Thompson), likes her martinis a little too much and his adopted son Adam (Ivan Shaw), is busy banging the daughter of church pillar Roger Paxton (Dylan Baker). Even church Bishop Beatrice Congreve (Ellen Burstyn) is entangled in an affair with ... we'll leave you to find out with whom.

The only one who isn't getting it on as the series begins is Daniel's gay son, Peter (Christian Campbell), a medical school student who serves as a constant reminder that Daniel and Judith lost a son -- Peter's twin. But these are backdrops to the main crisis. As the series starts, Daniel's brother-in-law is missing, along with millions of dollars in church funds meant to build a new school.

Anyway, trysts shouldn't be the main selling point or turnoff with a show like this, unless you have the limited vision of the conservative American Family Association, which recently let the world know that it despises the series' gay friendliness. For the rest of us, what should win the hour is the way "Daniel" poignantly handles elements that are tougher to pull off, such as the fact that even with such typical, almost cliched family issues, you like the characters almost immediately.

To see a priest like Quinn gives us in Webster, a man whose imperfections show like dust motes on a black clerical robe, is refreshing in the wake of so many portrayals that equate piety with a nearly joyless experience. And as unconventional as Dillahunt's rendition of Jesus may sound, he really isn't all that different to the way spiritual people might imagine he'd be.

Lacking the heart Quinn and Dillahunt bring to their roles, it would be tougher to stomach Thompson and even Pill, who makes Grace a little too deadpan to buy at times. But Quinn brings out the softness in them, and his performance pairs well with Burstyn's and even Shaw's, who plays the petulant brat a little too well.

Still, you don't have to be a football fan to recognize a Hail Mary pass when you see it. Although this series borders on terrific at times and falters in others, it may not get the chance to realize its full potential.

Should "Book" win enough viewers to meet or beat the ratings of shows that have gone before it, that should be reason enough for NBC to keep Daniel Webster around. It would be nice if "Book of Daniel" takes "7th Heaven's" chair when it finally gets up from the table at the end of the season.

Sure. Yeah. There's a prayer for ya.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=t&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/254448_tv05.html

fredfa

01-05-06, 12:54 AM

This just in…..
LA Times: Jon Stewart to host Academy Award” Show
Los Angeles Times---The long search for an Oscar host is over, with an official announcement from the academy expected to come early Thursday morning.

For the moment no one at AMPAS or involved with the production will confirm it, but word is that the job of hosting the 78th Academy Awards will go to Jon Stewart, the Emmy-winning writer-host of "The Daily Show" and a past host of the Grammy Awards in 2001 and 2002.

For the past couple months, Oscar producer Gil Cates' search for an emcee has sometimes seemed to belong under the "Daily Show"-style heading "Indecision 2005." Last year's host, Chris Rock, was not asked back; eight-time host Billy Crystal said he declined an invitation because of his busy schedule. Published reports claimed that negotiations were underway with Whoopi Goldberg and Steve Martin, though those were never confirmed.

The 43-year-old Stewart does not have an extensive movie career, an attribute Cates generally prefers in his hosts. He has appeared in a handful of films, few of which were Oscar material: "Death to Smoochy," "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and "The Office Party," among others.

But with the often barbed political humor of his nightly show on Comedy Central, Stewart seems to be a perfect fit for the Oscars in a year that saw the release of a large number of acclaimed movies with political and social leanings, including "Brokeback Mountain," "Good Night, and Good Luck, " "Crash," "Munich," "Syriana" and "The Constant Gardener."

Stewart, by the way, was born Jonathan Stewart Liebowitz. He once told "60 Minutes" that he dropped the name Liebowitz because it "sounded too Hollywood."

Sorry, Jon. Can't get much more Hollywood than this new gig of yours.

http://oscarbeat.latimes.com/awards_oscar/2006/01/ladies_and_gent.html

fredfa

01-05-06, 12:59 AM

Who says that's what I want and why I want it? I want a la carte simply because I am tired of paying for 200+ channels that I don't watch. It's simple. Let me choose which channels I want to watch and it will make my life easier. I will probably only have 20 channels besides the HBO and Stars/Encore packages, so my bill should be smaller. Right? Makes sense to me.

I don't need any foreign language channels, cause I won't watch 'em.
I don't need any pay-per-view channels, cause I won't watch 'em.
I don't need any kids channels, cause I won't watch 'em.
I don't need any sports tier channels like Sunday Ticket or Full court or hockey net or whatever, cause I won't watch 'em.

Let me choose. That's what a la carte needs to be about.

It seems to me you have figured out the real question here isn't "censorship". The question is about freedom to buy what you want.

Cable has been tryiung to keep the onus on those bad, bad religious freaks who wants to steal our freedom. Actually, at least in the case of a la carte, their efforts could end up "forcing" all of us to accept freedom from programming tyranny.

But you will note that cable forces never talk about our choice, they only discuss the bad folks who won't police what their kids watch, or who want to keep us from watching this or that.

How about just allowing us to pay for what we want to watch?

GeorgeLV

01-05-06, 01:00 AM

I don't have the numbers in front of me, but that seems to be a much faster rate of sub acquisition than DirecTV.

I don't think so. From Charlie's Forbes 500 bio: "Founder of satellite-TV service EchoStar just picked up 10 satellite channels from Dolan family's moneylosing Voom venture; deal part of long-term HDTV expansion. Strong growth this year in customers (325,000 new in first quarter), but company still lags behind rival DirecTV (505,000 new users). Former Frito-Lay financial analyst started selling C-band satellite dishes 1980. Today EchoStar broadcasts to more than 11 million subscribers, surpassing Time Warner as third-largest pay-TV distributor."

fredfa

01-05-06, 01:07 AM

Critic’s Notebook
The Window Opens

By Rich Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

My heart's still pounding from the end of the Rose Bowl, won by Texas in thrilling fashion. (I watched the early part on ABC, then listened to the later stages on ESPN Radio, where the drama kept me from drifting off to sleep.) But those of you who don't care a fig about football should care that the game is done, because it means we get back to regular television.

The big bowls have delayed the start of lots of fresh television several days into the new year, since few progammers want to waste their good stuff against football games likely to draw big audiences. Now that's done, so Thursday night we will see, among other things, a new season of ''Dancing With the Stars'' on ABC and NBC's move of ''My Name Is Earl'' and ''The Office'' into a Thursday comedy block with ''Will & Grace'' and the new (and not noteworthy) ''Four Kings.''

I have seen two upcoming episodes of ''The Office,'' so I can warn fans to expect a big plot turn that will add to the show's poignancy. Also some additional humanizing of the characters, which may make this acquired-taste show more palatable to new viewers sampling it on Thursday. And some very funny scenes. I have seen 1 1/3 new episodes of ''Earl'' -- since my review disc from NBC froze early in the second episode on it -- and this show is very much on its game.

Viewers, though, will have to stay sharp when it comes to keeping track of the TV schedule, since this window of viewing opportunities may not be open long. The college football season is over, but we're heading into the NFL playoffs, the Super Bowl and -- in February -- many, many hours of Winter Olympics.

http://blogs.ohio.com/beacon_tv/

fredfa

01-05-06, 01:10 AM

Critic’s Notebook
“West Wing” Press Tour Surprise

By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger

The January TV critics' press tour kicks off early next week, and the latest version of the schedule contained quite the surprise at the end: the very last session of the tour will be for "The West Wing," and here's the list of panelists. Note which two I bolded.

"THE WEST WING"
Kristin Chenoweth, Star
Allison Janney, Star
Josh Malina, Star
Janel Moloney, Star
Richard Schiff, Star
Martin Sheen, Star
Brad Whitford, Star
Alex Graves, Executive Producer
Chris Misiano, Executive Producer
Lawrence O'Donnell, Executive Producer
Tommy Schlamme, Executive Producer
Aaron Sorkin, Executive Producer
John Wells, Executive Producer

Sounds to me like, at very least, Sorkin and Schlamme are coming back to write and direct the Leo farewell episode -- or, as one critic suggested to me after he got a look at the schedule, maybe they're just coming back to do the finale. Or they could be just one and the same.

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/

fredfa

01-05-06, 01:18 AM

TV Reviews
“The Shield” and “24”: Return of the Tough Guys

Tense times for Vic Mackey, Jack Bauer in sizzling new seasons
By Matt Roush TVGuide.com TV Critic

Has ”The Shield’s” crooked and combative Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) finally met his match?

This dirty cop, who happens to be the most effective and ferocious detective on the meanest streets of Los Angeles, has literally gotten away with murder (a fellow cop’s, no less) since the very first episode five seasons ago. Like Tony Soprano, he’s an antihero you find yourself rooting for while cringing at his brutal excesses.

But the noose is tightening, courtesy of a crafty, hungry new Internal Affairs nemesis, Lt. Jon Kavanaugh, played with smiling relish by Forest Whitaker.

Cat and mouse — or, rather, vulture and lion — don’t actually meet until the third episode, by which time Kavanaugh has taken extreme measures to get deep inside Mackey’s business, playing a potentially deadly game of betrayal.

As Mackey faces retribution as a “poster boy for corruption,” he and the rest of the embattled Farmington squad — from inexperienced rookie cops to soul-weary veterans — contend with the everyday horror show of race riots and unthinkable evil on the streets.

The stakes are steeper than ever on TV’s most blistering crime drama, and that’s good news for anyone with a taste for tension.

Meanwhile, as the equally long-awaited ”24” revs up for a four-hour, two-night season premiere, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) soon discovers you can play dead for only so long.

I lost count of how many times I jumped and yelled at the TV in the opening minutes of 24’s relentless, fiendishly entertaining first episode. It never lets up, and why in the world would you ever want it to?

As the fifth season begins, our hero has been living under a new identity 18 months after faking his death. But terrible circumstances catapult him, and the new innocents in his life, onto a sudden collision course with nonstop danger — and, inevitably, CTU.

Before long, it seems everyone’s in harm’s way, and Jack’s mission is to get at the truth while he has multiple targets on his back. “Relax, he’s really good at this,” snarly CTU tech Chloe (the amusing Mary Lynn Rajskub) tells a stunned observer. Jack Bauer is lethally good — better than ever, in fact — and so is the show, a breathlessly paced torrent of tragedy and impending disaster on multiple fronts.

Of special note this season: Jean Smart’s wily performance as a possibly unstable but ultimately steely first lady to wimpy President Logan (Gregory Itzin). She’s one of many fresh new characters to fret over.

I didn’t know how 24 could top last season, but so far it’s working. And the edge of my seat is already frayed.

http://tvguide.com/tv/roush/review/

keenan

01-05-06, 01:51 AM

I don't think so. From Charlie's Forbes 500 bio: "Founder of satellite-TV service EchoStar just picked up 10 satellite channels from Dolan family's moneylosing Voom venture; deal part of long-term HDTV expansion. Strong growth this year in customers (325,000 new in first quarter), but company still lags behind rival DirecTV (505,000 new users). Former Frito-Lay financial analyst started selling C-band satellite dishes 1980. Today EchoStar broadcasts to more than 11 million subscribers, surpassing Time Warner as third-largest pay-TV distributor."
I was thinking in terms of the last 4 years or so but maybe not. :)

fredfa

01-05-06, 01:53 AM

TV Notes
“Book of Daniel” closed at Two Nexstar Stations

The entertainment trade paper Variety reports in its Thursday edition that two Nexstar-owned NBC affiliates, in Little Rock AR and Terre Haute IN, will not broadcast the NBC drama “The Book of Daniel” when it premiers Friday night.

(Little Rock is Nielsen DMA #57, Terre Haute is DMA #150. Together they comprise about 0.6% of the nation’s TV households – roughly the size of Oklahoma City.)

The WB station in Little Rock, according to Variety, has agreed to carry the show, which has come under fire from the Rev. Donald Wildmon’s American Family Association, which accuses it of “anti-Christian bigotry”.

As Scott D. Pierce of Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News pointed out (in a column I posted a few days ago), such news probably is worth ratings points to the show. Pierce liked “Daniel” and was hoping for some boycotts to make waves so that the show would get more press attention.

Scott’s wish has been granted.

fredfa

01-05-06, 01:58 AM

Sports On TV
Good Bye for Keith Jackson?

If Wednesday night’s classic Rose Bowl game was indeed the final game for 77-year-old ABC announcer Keith Jackson, oh Nelly, what a way to go out!

And as Keith has done for a lifetime of superb broadcasting, he kept the focus on the game itself. Unlike so many, he refused in any way to call attention to himself.

It was fitting that one of the most memorable college football games in years was honored to be called by arguably the best network college football announcer ever.

I hope he comes back. Even a few games a year from him would be worth savoring.

jim tressler

01-05-06, 08:00 AM

as long as he is not with dan foutes :) I am all for it

fredfa

01-05-06, 10:00 AM

TV Notebook
Ted Koppel and “Nightline” Crew Turn Down HBO For Discovery Deal

By Howard Kurtz The Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, January 5, 2006; C01
(Staff writer John Maynard contributed to this report)

The turning point in his decision to join Discovery Networks, Ted Koppel said yesterday, was when executives showed him part of a documentary on China on a big-screen monitor in the conference room of their Silver Spring headquarters.

"It's exquisitely shot, it's beautiful, but it isn't going to ruffle any feathers in Beijing," the former ABC newsman said. So he posed the question: "What if we were to do a real documentary in China in which its legal system and human rights record is questioned?"

Billy Campbell, president of Discovery Networks U.S., said he had no problem if it was accurate, and Liberty Media President John Malone, whom Koppel described as "the 900-pound gorilla" on Discovery's board, later told him: "I guess that's one that wouldn't be shown in China."

Once he determined that Discovery wouldn't shy away from controversy, Koppel decided, along with his executive producer Tom Bettag and eight former producers at "Nightline," to walk away from a nearly completed deal with HBO and sign with the Maryland company, which reaches 1.2 billion viewers in 160 countries and territories.

Koppel praised HBO but said, "Theirs is essentially an entertainment company and we would have been, I suspect, something of an appendage there," while Discovery is "a better fit."

The Koppel unit will produce six to 10 programs a year, which will include long-planned documentaries, town meetings and breaking-news specials within days of a major event. Such programs could run from one to three hours and be repeated several times.

The venture is a departure for a high-toned operation that runs such networks as the flagship Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel, Animal Planet, Discovery Kids and the Travel Channel, and whose programs include "Trading Spaces," "What Not to Wear," "Total Family Health," "Mythbusters" and "Monster Garage." But Campbell, noting Discovery's partnerships with BBC America and the New York Times and some ventures with former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, said the 20-year-old company has always valued fact-based reporting.

" 'Nightline' doesn't have a whole hell of a lot in common with 'Desperate Housewives,' either," Koppel said, referring to the hit ABC show.

Koppel, 65, decided early last year to leave "Nightline," the program he anchored since its 1980 debut, after ABC News President David Westin insisted that he do the 11:30 p.m. show live every night rather than tape in advance. Koppel, who will hold the title of managing editor at Discovery, would not discuss compensation but said the company had given him and his team "a very generous arrangement."

The first contact came on Dec. 1, the week after Koppel's last "Nightline" broadcast, when Don Baer, a Discovery executive vice president who previously worked in the Clinton White House, e-mailed and then called Bettag. After a series of phone conversations, Koppel had a 90-minute cup of coffee with Campbell on Dec. 9 and all four men held a conference call on Dec. 16. The deal was essentially sealed after Koppel spoke to Malone over the Christmas holidays. Koppel had set a Dec. 31 deadline for Discovery because otherwise his producers, who had resigned from ABC along with Koppel, would be without paychecks.

"Our entire company is just thrilled," Campbell said. Discovery is jointly owned by Liberty Media, Cox Communications, Advance/Newhouse Communications and founder and chairman John Hendricks.

Koppel said he was approached by 10 or so media organizations but did not negotiate with any of the cable news networks. He said they had a tendency "to be in a desperate race to be first with the obvious, to pay attention to what is recent rather than what is important." He said CNN, where his daughter, Andrea, is a reporter, "does some really fine documentaries" but tends to "bury them on a Sunday."

Koppel and Bettag also made clear that they believe the broadcast networks are no longer interested in the kind of documentaries they want to pursue. Koppel said these networks are obsessed with luring younger viewers and would not be receptive, for example, to the five-part "Nightline" series he did on the Congo.

"This constant downward spiral toward the lowest common denominator is not healthy," he said.

At the height of the program's popularity, he said, ABC agreed to let him do four prime-time documentaries a year, just as the late anchor Peter Jennings periodically did such programs. "They were indulging me," Koppel said. "They were indulging Peter."

"And the days of indulging are just about over," Bettag added.

ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider, saying the division is "very happy" for Koppel and the other former colleagues, added, "It is our intention to continue to be a leader in long-form documentaries, as we have been for years."

Koppel said he had not yet decided on potential topics, having just signed the contract Tuesday, but would definitely pursue stories in foreign countries. Were the unit up and running now, he said, he might try to crash a special on mine safety in the wake of the accident that killed a dozen miners in West Virginia.

He will likely be playing to considerably smaller cable audiences in the United States -- although his programs could be shown worldwide. Last season, "Nightline" averaged 3.5 million viewers. Discovery's prime-time lineup averaged nearly 1 million, although some programs, such as the extreme fishing program "Deadliest Catch," topped 2 million.

"When I sit in the studio," Koppel said, "I don't think I'm talking to X millions of people. I think that I'm talking to one person. . . . We're going to be able to love what we're doing. If we end up with a slightly smaller audience, that's okay."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/04/AR2006010400665_pf.html

fredfa

01-05-06, 10:06 AM

The TV Column
The Week’s Winners and Losers

USA Network Runs Ahead With Holiday Marathons
By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, January 5, 2006; C07

The broadcast networks packed their prime-time lineups with holiday specials last week. No, not the Zuzu's-petals-Abominable-Snowman-true-meaning-of-Christmas kind of holiday specials. More the "Hey, if we call these rerun episodes 'specials,' Nielsen can't include the small numbers in the series's season averages" kind of specials.

Here's a look at the week's plums and prunes:

WINNERS

USA Network. While the broadcast networks suffered the usual holiday ratings doldrums, this cable network enjoyed its most watched prime-time week in nearly six years by giving viewers the stuff they want to watch during the holiday season -- marathons of "Law & Order" crime dramas. Friday was "L&O: SVU" night; Saturday, "L&O: Criminal Intent." On Sunday, "L&O" rested and USA ran a "Monk" marathon instead. On all three days the top 10 entertainment basic cable shows among 25-to-54-year-olds were the marathon episodes.

Kennedy Center Honors recovered nicely from last year's lousy 8.5 million viewers with a respectable crowd of nearly 11 million -- mostly because CBS moved it back to the week between Christmas and New Year's. (Last year CBS bumped it up a week.) Plus, this year's show was really fun, what with watching Beyonce bump and grind her way through that Tina Turner song and counting how many times Oprah said "I" or "me" in her speech "about" Tina (we were there and we lost count around 50).

"In Justice." ABC's new legal drama previewed Sunday in the coveted post-"Desperate Housewives" time slot and outstripped its closest competition in the hour by more than 2 million viewers and by 60 percent among the 18-to-49-year-olds the networks covet.

LOSERS

"Monday Night Football." In its broadcast TV swan song, "MNF" copped only 14.4 million viewers. Yes, it was Christmas week, when TV viewing levels are low, and yes, the New England Patriots' whomping of the New York Jets was a game with no impact on the playoffs. Not my problem. Anyway, after 36 years on ABC, the final "MNF" game on the network didn't even match this season's average of 16.3 million viewers, much less the nearly 24 million who used to watch the franchise in the mid-'90s.

"Surrender Dorothy." CBS quietly burned off its much-ballyhooed Diane Keaton three-hankie flick on New Year's Day. Only 8.5 million tuned in and it lost viewers each half-hour.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/04/AR2006010402008_pf.html

fredfa

01-05-06, 10:14 AM

Sports On TV
Jackson, Fouts Clearly on Top of Their Games

Mike Penner Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 5, 2006

Four hours, 71 points and seemingly a million Vince Young yards into Wednesday night's Rose Bowl, with Young lining up for the play that would decide the so-hyped "Game of the Century," Keith Jackson took a deep breath and set the stage.

"Fourth and five," Jackson said. "I kind of feel like Joe [Paterno]. I'm too old for this."

A day after Paterno lived long enough to witness Penn State's 26-23 triple-overtime victory over Florida State in the Orange Bowl, Young and the Texas Longhorns had driven everyone, young and old, to the edge of nervous collapse, with USC's two-year national-championship reign and 34-game winning streak teetering on the brink with 26 seconds on the clock.

"Fourth and five," Jackson repeated, pausing either for effect, or to grab another breath, or both. "The national championship is on the line right here."

Young fielded the snap, looked for a receiver, found none open, the ultimate good news-bad news predicament for the Trojans.

Young pulled the ball down and started to run.

"He's going for the corner!" Jackson exclaimed, uttering the words that will haunt USC coaches, players and fans forever.

"HE'S GOT IT!" Young got the right corner of the end zone, his third touchdown of the game and the go-ahead points in Texas' eventual 41-38 victory.

Young completed 30 of 40 passes for 267 yards. He also rushed for 200 yards, setting a Rose Bowl record for total offense by a player, and carried Texas to its first national title in 35 years.

He's got it — and, really, what more could anyone say about it?

Dan Fouts gave it a try. With a sideline camera zooming in on Texas Coach Mack Brown, Fouts mused, "And Mack is going to tie Vince Young to the goal post in Austin so he can't leave this team next year and go on to that other league."

Alluding to Young's similar all-purpose performance against Michigan in last year's Rose Bowl, Fouts added, "How about seven touchdowns rushing for Vince Young in two games here in Pasadena? He might want to look for some real estate around here."

Pause.

"He owns this field." Jackson: "He'll probably have enough [money] to buy it."

Fouts: "At some point he will in his future. My goodness!"

ABC's broadcast team of Jackson and Fouts proved once again why it is regarded as the best in college football. Fouts was sharp and on point all game, and funny when warranted. Looking at a graphic listing the top winning streaks in college football history and seeing Yale with a pair of 37-game streaks in the late 1800s, Fouts deadpanned, "Nobody wanted to play Yale back then." Jackson was the right curmudgeon to oversee these proceedings, which had been hyped to death by a media corps left with nothing else to do for the previous month.

A few minutes before kickoff, Jackson spoke for millions already suffering overload fatigue when he told Fouts, "So much hype has been heaped on this college football game, Dan, I'm beginning to have a hard time swallowing."

Finally, when the opening kickoff did arrive, Jackson welcomed the moment with a half-sarcastic, "My only expression at this point is: We're going to play football! Yippee! I thought we'd never get here."

Jackson and Fouts made quick work of the game's biggest controversy, whether or not Young's knee was down before he flipped the ball to Selvin Young, who scored Texas' first touchdown on the play.

"He's down," Fouts said, referring to Young's knee, as a replay ran. Jackson concurred.

"They're going to have to check this out and take these points off the board," Fouts continued.

You had to figure. Except Texas was now lining up for the point-after try with no official review of the play coming.

"Are they going to get away with it?" Jackson wondered.

Fouts suggested that Texas "kick it quickly. I can't believe they're not reviewing this one. This is huge!"

It wound up being the difference. Yet when sideline reporter Todd Harris had the chance to ask USC Coach Pete Carroll about it at halftime, Harris fumbled, asking only, "Pete, what do you need to fix at halftime?" and "Your quarterback, Matt Leinart, how is he?" It wasn't until the fourth quarter when Jackson mentioned something about an equipment malfunction contributing to the lack of a replay review.

On a night when USC saw much more of Young than it wanted, one more view of the Texas quarterback might have made all the difference.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-penner5jan05,1,7838312,print.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-sports

fredfa

01-05-06, 10:20 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Shoddy reporting core of "miracle" travesty
By Joanne Ostrow Denver Post TV Critic Jan. 5, 2005

TV news people tossing around the word "miracle" is bad enough. Proclaiming a miracle with no verification is a travesty.

Media credibility took another hit this week. Both electronic and print news outlets stumbled badly late Tuesday and early Wednesday with an emotionally charged factual error that was not corrected for three hours.

Finger-pointing continues in the wake of the erroneous report regarding a "miracle" rescue of 12 West Virginia coal miners.

Media outlets blamed the falsehood on a "miscommunication" from mining company officials, specifically an overheard cellphone conversation rushed into breaking-news status. The fact that the governor was misled too and flashed a thumbs up was cited as another excuse.

According to CNN's reconstruction of what went wrong, producers monitoring the emergency-worker radio transmissions heard talk about the "miners" being moved. "Not confirmation, but certainly circumstantial evidence," a reporter e-mailed. Additionally, CNN was told by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., "Twelve miners alive."

"I really believe we did responsible reporting last night," wrote Nancy Lane, CNN's vice president of domestic news. "In hindsight, could we have remained more skeptical? Sure, but I think we were on OK ground with our reporting, and even The Associated Press reported they had confirmed the 12 alive with the governor by cellphone.

"So, we had the governor, a congressman and family members. ... Seems pretty good to me."

Pretty good and dead wrong.

If you went to bed after hearing of the "rescue" from CNN's Anderson Cooper, and after seeing ecstatic relatives interviewed by Rita Cosby on MSNBC, or if you awoke to screaming headlines in 400 newspapers worldwide expressing joy at the "miracle," you no doubt felt betrayed by the media.

On MSNBC, NBC correspondent Ron Allen nailed the problem. "We had never gotten official confirmation" of survivors, he said. "For the last three hours or so, our source for believing that 12 miners had been found alive was, in fact, the families."

Print looked particularly dinosaurlike Wednesday morning. Echoes of "Dewey Defeats Truman."

While some newspapers managed to stop the presses and correct the story, the damage was done. Public faith in the media was shaken yet again.

Writing in Editor & Publisher, Greg Mitchell called the reporting "one of the most disturbing and disgraceful media performances of its kind in recent years."

"We've been lied to all along," a grieving local resident told CNN.

Reporters didn't lie intentionally. The media merely relayed the message of the families celebrating, the church bells ringing. It just wasn't true that there had been a "miracle."

Still, by the time it is broadcast as news, it's not miscommunication, it's bad reporting. By allowing citizens to act as reporters, relaying unsubstantiated overheard conversation, the networks played along, ultimately increasing the anguish.

"This is unbelievable," Cooper said on camera after a woman stepped up to contradict earlier joyful reports. No, it was the raging rumors that were unbelievable.

As the journalism adage goes: "If your mother says she loves you, check it out."

That's what the tiny Inter- Mountain newspaper of Elkins, W.Va., did. The editor and reporter remained skeptical, stuck to nuts-and-bolts reporting, awaited official confirmation and avoided the mistake.

http://www.denverpost.com/ostrow

fredfa

01-05-06, 10:35 AM

Critic’s Notebook
SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® NOMINATIONS

(Screen Actors Guild Press Release)

Screen Actors Guild will honor its own at the 12th Annual SAG Awards™ ceremony on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2006, at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center, simulcast live nationally on Turner Network Television (TNT) and TBS at 8 PM ET/PT.

Of the top industry accolades presented to performers, only the Screen Actors Guild Awards® are selected purely by actors’ peers. Two randomly selected panels--one for television and one for film--each comprised of 2,100 SAG members from across the United States, chose this year’s Actor® nominees. The secret ballots were mailed Friday, Dec. 2, 2005, by Integrity Voting Systems, the Awards’ official teller. Voting was completed by noon Jan. 3, 2006.

Awards ballots will be mailed January 6, 2006. The entire active membership of the Guild across the country will vote on all acting categories. Votes must be received by Integrity Voting Systems by noon Friday, Jan. 27, where results will be tallied and sealed until they are opened by the presenters at the 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® ceremonies on Jan. 29.

Here are the TV nominees:

PRIMETIME TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Kenneth Branagh / WARM SPRINGS – Franklin Delano Roosevelt (HBO)
Ted Danson / KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTH BRONX – David MacEnulty (A&E)
Ed Harris / EMPIRE FALLS – Miles Roby (HBO)
Paul Newman / EMPIRE FALLS – Max Roby (HBO)
Christopher Plummer / OUR FATHERS – Cardinal Bernard Law (Showtime)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Tonantzin Carmelo / INTO THE WEST – Thunder Heart Woman (TNT)
S. Epatha Merkerson / LACKAWANNA BLUES – Rachel “Nanny” Crosby (HBO)
Cynthia Nixon / WARM SPRINGS – Eleanor Roosevelt (HBO)
Joanne Woodward / EMPIRE FALLS – Francine Whiting (HBO)
Robin Wright Penn / EMPIRE FALLS – Grace Roby (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Alan Alda / THE WEST WING – Arnold Vinick (NBC)
Patrick Dempsey / GREY’S ANATOMY – Dr. Derek Shepherd (ABC)
Hugh Laurie / HOUSE – Dr. Gregory House (FOX)
Ian McShane / DEADWOOD – Al Swearengen (HBO)
Kiefer Sutherland / 24 – Jack Bauer (FOX)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Patricia Arquette / MEDIUM – Allison Dubois (NBC)
Geena Davis / COMMANDER IN CHIEF – Mackenzie Allen (ABC)
Mariska Hargitay / LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT – Det. Olivia Benson (NBC)
Sandra Oh / GREY’S ANATOMY – Dr. Cristina Yang (ABC)
Kyra Sedgwick / THE CLOSER – Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (TNT)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Larry David / CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM – Himself (HBO)
Sean Hayes / WILL & GRACE – Jack McFarland (NBC)
Jason Lee / MY NAME IS EARL – Earl Hickey (NBC)
William Shatner / BOSTON LEGAL – Denny Crane (ABC)
James Spader / BOSTON LEGAL – Alan Shore (ABC)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Candice Bergen / BOSTON LEGAL – Shirley Schmidt (ABC)
Patricia Heaton / EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND – Debra Barone (CBS)
Felicity Huffman / DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES – Lynette Scavo (ABC)
Megan Mullally / WILL & GRACE – Karen Walker (NBC)
Mary-Louise Parker / WEEDS – Nancy Botwin (Showtime)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

THE CLOSER (TNT)
G.W. Bailey Det. - Lt. Provenza
Tony Denison - Det. Andy Flynn
Robert Gossett - Captain Taylor
Corey Reynolds - Sgt. David Gabriel
Kyra Sedgwick - Dep. Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson
J.K. Simmons - Asst. Chief Will Pope
Jon Tenney - FBI Agent Fritz Howard

GREY’S ANATOMY (ABC)
Justin Chambers - Alex Karev
Patrick Dempsey - Derek Shepherd
Katherine Heigl - Isobel “Izzie” Stevens
T.R. Knight - George O’Malley
Sandra Oh - Cristina Yang
James Pickens, Jr. - Richard Webber
Ellen Pompeo - Meredith Grey
Kate Walsh - Addison Forbes Montgomery Shepherd
Isaiah Washington - Preston Burke
Chandra Wilson - Miranda Bailey

LOST (ABC)
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje - Mr. Eko
Naveen Andrews - Sayid
Emilie de Ravin - Claire
Matthew Fox - Jack
Jorge Garcia - Hurley
Maggie Grace - Shannon
Josh Holloway - Sawyer
Malcolm David - Kelley Walt
Daniel Dae Kim - Jin
Yunjin Kim - Sun
Evangeline Lilly - Kate
Dominic Monaghan - Charlie
Terry O’Quinn - Locke
Harold Perrineau - Michael
Michelle Rodriguez - Ana Lucia
Ian Somerhalder - Boone
Cynthia Watros - Libby

SIX FEET UNDER (HBO)
Lauren Ambrose - Claire Fisher
Joanna Cassidy - Margaret Chenowith
Frances Conroy - Ruth Fisher
James Cromwell - George Sibley
Rachel Griffiths - Brenda Chenowith
Michael C. Hall - David Fisher
Tina Holmes - Maggie Sibley
Peter Krause - Nate Fisher
Justina Machado - Vanessa Diaz
Freddy Rodriguez - Federico Diaz
Jeremy Sisto - Billy Chenowith
Mathew St. Patrick - Keith Charles

THE WEST WING (NBC)
Alan Alda - Arnold Vinick
Kristin Chenoweth - Annabeth Schott
Janeane Garofalo - Louise Thornton
Dulé Hill - Charlie Young
Allison Janney - C.J. Cregg
Joshua Malina - Will Bailey
Mary McCormack - Kate Harper
Janel Moloney - Donna Moss
Teri Polo - Helen Santos
Richard Schiff - Toby Ziegler
Martin Sheen - Josiah Bartlet
Jimmy Smits - Matthew Santos
John Spencer - Leo McGarry
Bradley Whitford - Josh Lyman

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (FOX)
Will Arnett - Gob Bluth
Jason Bateman - Michael Bluth
Michael Cera - George-Michael Bluth
David Cross - Tobias Fünke
Portia de Rossi - Lindsay Bluth Fünke
Tony Hale - Buster Bluth
Alia Shawkat - Maeby Fünke
Jeffrey Tambor - George Bluth, Sr./Oscar Bluth
Jessica Walter - Lucille Bluth

BOSTON LEGAL (ABC)
Rene Auberjonois - Paul Lewiston
Ryan Michelle Bathe - Sara Holt
Candice Bergen - Shirley Schmidt
Julie Bowen - Denise Bauer
Justin Mentelli - Garrett Wells
Rhona Mitra - Tara Wilson
Monica Potter - Lori Colson
William Shatner - Denny Crane
James Spader - Alan Shore
Mark Valley - Brad Chase

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (HBO)
Shelley Berman - Nat David
Larry David - Himself
Susie Essman - Susie Greene
Jeff Garlin - Jeff Greene
Cheryl Hines - Cheryl David
Richard Lewis - Himself

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
Roger Bart - George Williams
Andrea Bowen - Julie Mayer
Mehcad Brooks - Matthew Applewhite
Ricardo Antonio Chavira - Carlos Solis
Marcia Cross - Bree Van De Kamp
Steven Culp - Rex Van De Kamp
James Denton - Mike Delfino
Teri Hatcher - Susan Mayer
Felicity Huffman - Lynette Scavo
Brent Kinsman - Preston Scavo
Shane Kinsman - Porter Scavo
Eva Longoria - Gabrielle Solis
Mark Moses - Paul Young
Doug Savant - Tom Scavo
Nicollette Sheridan - Edie Britt
Brenda Strong - Mary Alice Young
Alfre Woodard - Betty Applewhite

EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND (CBS)
Peter Boyle - Frank Barone
Brad Garrett - Robert Barone
Patricia Heaton - Debra Barone
Monica Horan - Amy McDougal-Barone
Doris Roberts - Marie Barone
Ray Romano - Raymond Barone
Madlyn Sweeten - Ally Barone

MY NAME IS EARL (NBC)
Jason Lee - Earl Hickey
Jaime Pressly - Joy Darville
Eddie Steeples - Darnell
Ethan Suplee - Randy Hickey
Nadine Velazquez - Catalina

Screen Actors Guild Awards 42nd Annual Life Achievement Award
Shirley Temple Black

http://www.sagawards.org/PR_060105.htm

fredfa

01-05-06, 10:58 AM

TV Ratings
Univision outdraws UPN and the WB

By Abigail Azote MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer

In its first week being measured against English-language networks in Nielsen’s television index, Univision turned in a strong performance, handily outpacing both the WB and UPN in all adult demos.

That made Univision the new No. 5 network, based on the week ended Jan. 1, when it averaged a 1.4 18-49 rating. That’s 39 percent better than UPN’s 1.0 rating for the week and 56 percent better than the WB’s 0.9.

Among 18-34s, Univision scored a 1.6 rating versus UPN’s 1.0 and WB’s 0.9. Its 1.4 rating in 25-54s also outpaced UPN’s 1.0 and WB’s 0.9.

The question for media people is whether Univision's strong start will last once regular programming resumes on all networks. Last week was a big holiday week, with most broadcast networks airing reruns versus Univision’s original programming. That would account for some of Univision’s edge.

Bill Carroll, Katz TV Group director of programming, says the network’s initial performance is not surprising. He says local Spanish-language affiliates often have strong viewership comparable to the smaller networks.

"We should also expect that on occasion, or possibly more often, that one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. audience will register a similarly positive performance against all the established English-language networks," Carroll says.

Shari Ann Brill, director of programming at Carat, agrees. "Because the Hispanic population is significant in the United States, ratings will also be significant."

Two programs airing nightly helped drive Univision’s first-week performance. "Contra Viento y Marea" (Against All Odds), a telenovela, placed first in its 8 p.m. timeslot among adults 18-34. And the 9 p.m. telenovela "Alborada" (The Dawn) ranked No. 3 in its timeslot in that demo.

The next few weeks will give a clearer picture of how Univision will fit into the broadcast mix. Whatever the case, Brill says it’s good for media buyers that Hispanic networks are now being included as part of the national sample.

"It should have been included in the first place," she says. "It’s one world, one country."

Telemundo also will join the National TV Index, the network has confirmed. Both Spanish-language networks will continue with the National Hispanic TV Index until September 2007, when Nielsen completes its transition to the National People Meter sample.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_2034.asp

fredfa

01-05-06, 11:16 AM

Programming notes
On NBC Thursdays, new shows stir old memories

Network hopes to resurrect its ‘must-see’ lineup
By Verne Gay Newsday Staff Writer January 5, 2006

Funny how some events happen so gradually and incrementally that we don't even notice until they smack us upside the face, like a wet flounder. To which - at a loss for words - we can only muster, "oh ... really?"

The decline, fall and utter demolition of NBC's Thursday night schedule is one such flounder.

Did you know that an average of only about 10.4 million watched NBC's Thursday lineup from September through November 2005? Or that this was about half the number who watched CBS last fall? Or that NBC is down more than 50 percent from just five years ago? (Oh, really, really, really.) ABC was about 6.7 million on the night, while Fox had 5.3 million.

CBS is so completely unassailable on Thursday night that we now accept this fact as an article of faith. "CSI"? The king. "Without a Trace"? The boss.

Suddenly, interesting again

But somewhere in our collective heads there remains a nagging memory, a ghost memory maybe, that tells us this just isn't right. What Pavlov learned about dogs, NBC applied to us human viewers many years ago: "Must-See TV" = Thursday nights on NBC, for better or worse.

All this may help explain why this night is suddenly interesting again. The old memories stir. Starting tonight, NBC will air four comedies back to back again, two of them actually good, taking the first step in a return to the future. "The Apprentice" is gone from Thursdays, almost certainly forever (and may end up on Tuesdays when it comes back later this season) while "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" are here for good - or at least until ratings dictate otherwise.

Mitch Metcalf, NBC's scheduling chief and architect of the new lineup, describes the move this way: "It really harkens back to the past, with the great shows we've had on Thursday night, from 'Cosby,' 'Cheers,' 'Seinfeld' and 'Friends,' and now on to [B]'Will & Grace,' 'Four Kings,' 'Earl' and 'The Office.' These certainly fit with that tradition."

If this declaration sounds outrageously optimistic or even delusional, then it is only half so. "W&G" (8 p.m.) is sliding off to oblivion, its nine-season run ending this May, while "Kings" (8:30) looks, feels and smells like a placeholder. Meanwhile, "Earl" (9) and "Office" (9:30) may be fine shows - the latter more than the former - but remain relative unknowns, or as relatively unknown as two budding hits can be.

Single-camera successes

And what worked on Tuesday, from whence they come, does not necessarily work on Thursday. That can be blamed on NBC's Pavlovian training, which has taught a few generations to expect laugh tracks and multi-camera shows populated by young, urban types who visit each other's apartments or the local deli/restaurant while delivering terribly clever quips.

"Earl" and "Office" are, instead, post-modern single-camera jobs that turn the whole, tired sitcom convention inside out. There are no laugh tracks because studio audiences wouldn't have a clue when to laugh anyway.

All this should not be construed as criticism but, rather, as the precise opposite: In recent years, NBC has demonstrated mostly incompetence in the multi-camera world, while shows like "Earl," "Office" and "Scrubs" have been the bright lights. Why shouldn't they get their turn in Yankee Stadium, as it were? ("Scrubs," which couldn't hold "Friends'" lead-out a couple seasons ago, is getting double-pumped on Tuesdays this month.)

Ironically, the history books may one day show that the seeds of NBC's Thursday demise were planted way back in 1984, when the two-decade NBC Thursday habit first began. As "The Cosby Show" and, later, "Cheers," started to roll, the network was forced into time period deals with successful producers in which the network ceded to them its most valuable time periods - the so-called "hammock slots." Sometimes the shows that emerged from these deals worked ("A Different World"), but most often they did not; and that's just one reason why a time period like Thursday at 9:30 has rarely yielded anything but a handful of dust.

As a result, NBC was ill-prepared to do much of anything when CBS moved [B]"Survivor" and "CSI" to Thursdays in 2001. By the end of that season, just over 20 million viewers were watching CBS on Thursday nights, while fewer than 20 million tuned to NBC. "Friends" would be gone in three years, and with it, NBC's long-standing hold on the night.

There is even a sense among some at NBC that the move of "The Apprentice" to 9 p.m. a couple years ago was a mistake. While the show performed adequately, it didn't bleed viewers into "ER" - and that has contributed to the long, slow demise of this old warhorse.

"What did I feel about getting away from comedy [at 9]?" says Metcalf. "I guess I wished I had 'My Name Is Earl' and 'The Office' to play with for years and years and years. You gotta go with the best show you have, [and] you can't live life with too many regrets."

What's on Thursday

Meanwhile, here's what to expect tonight. On "The Office," Michael (Steve Carell) takes everyone on a booze cruise on a local lake in the middle of January ("it's cheaper [then]" he explains). Earl and Randy return to the delinquency camp ("Right Choice Ranch") they were sent to as kids but were kicked out of after burning down the camp's barn.

And who knows? Maybe some good karma will come NBC's way, too. With shows this good, the network finally deserves some.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Trotting out turkeys

NBC may have had several classic comedies on Thursdays, but the network also has had its share of turkeys that night:

Coupling (2003)- This hyped show (based on the randy Britcom of the same name) came and went with nary a whisper.

Good Morning, Miami (2002-04) - Madcap adventures at a local talk show.

Inside Schwartz (2001-02) - Breckin Meyer as a guy whose head was filled with sports fantasies.

Stark Raving Mad (1999-2000) - Neil Patrick Harris as an obsessive book editor and Tony Shalhoub as one of his eccentric writers.

Union Square (1997-98) - "Friends" clone set in a Manhattan diner.

Men Behaving Badly (1996-97) - Rob Schneider and Ron Eldard were the slobs in another misguided adaptation of a British hit.

The Single Guy (1995-97) - With Jonathan Silverman as the last unattached man in a group of married friends.

Joey (2004-) - Hey, we loved him on "Friends," but he's been a flop flying solo.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-etnbc4574295jan05,0,910878,print.story?coll=ny-television-headlines

DoubleDAZ

01-05-06, 11:28 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Shoddy reporting core of "miracle" travesty I don't want to downplay what happened and how terrible it all was for everyone, especially the families, but IMHO as long as this stuff is carried "live", these things, just like the New Orleans fiasco, will happen. Gone are the days when it would have taken until the next morning for the news to have been reported and by then it would have been corrected. With satellites, cellphones, instant announcers popping up everywhere, you just can't expect multiple mistakes not to be made. In the world of live reporting, "facts"are going to turn out wrong, etc. In today's world it is "report" everything and sort out the facts later. Does anyone really expect facts to surface quickly in the turmoil that was the mining disaster?

fredfa

01-05-06, 12:04 PM

Wednesday’s prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted at the top of Ratings News the second post in this thread.

fredfa

01-05-06, 12:08 PM

(From Marc Berman’s Thursday, January 5, 2006 Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
National Ratings in Primetime: Week of Dec. 26, 2005

In this holiday week (translation: repeats aplenty), ABC and CBS shared the No. 1 spot, with CBS extending its winning streak in households, total viewers and adults 25-54; and ABC first among adults 18-49 and adults 18-34. Fading NBC ranked third across-the-board, tying Fox among adults 18-49, while cellar-dweller the WB remained in the No. 6 spot. Keep in mind, of course, that the return of Fox ratings magnet American Idol is just 11 days away.

Year-to-year, erosion was the most common observation, with ABC and NBC both down by as much as 22 percent.

In a week with few original programming options, the Sunday series-preview of ABC drama In Justice at 10 p.m. (out of a Desperate Housewives clips show) kicked-off with a dominant 10.53 million viewers (No. 14 overall), while tied for No. 7 with a repeat of CBS’ Two and a Half Men among adults 18-49 (4.0/10). Retention out of Desperate Housewives (Viewers: #6, 12.39 million; A18-49: #5, 4.6/12) was a solid 85 percent in viewers and 87 percent among adults 18-49. Before anyone grabs a bottle of the bubbly in celebration, don’t forget that In Justice debuts in its considerably more difficult Friday 9 p.m. time period this week (without the benefit of the gals of Wisteria Lane as a lead-in).

Elsewhere, the older-skewing Kennedy Center Honors on CBS Tuesday from 9-11 p.m. perked up in viewership, with a healthy 10.85 million (No. 13 overall). Go Lilimae! Ryan Seacrest as host of ABC’s annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, meanwhile, did nothing to inflate the ratings in primetime, with a modest 7.68 million viewers (#36) and a 2.4/ 8 among adults 18-49 (tied for No. 35) in the Saturday 10 p.m. hour. Why everyone keeps hiring him is beyond me!

Here are the final national ratings for the week of Dec. 26, 2005 (with percent change versus the comparable year-ago period in parentheses).

Households:
CBS: 6.7/12 (+ 2)
ABC: 5.1/ 9 (-18)
NBC: 4.7/ 8 (-16)
Fox: 3.7/ 6 (+ 9)
UPN: 1.7/ 3 (-11)
WB: 1.5/ 3 (no change)

Total Viewers:
CBS: 10.06 million (- 2)
ABC: 8.06 (-17)
NBC: 7.01 (-18)
Fox: 5.74 (+ 5)
UPN: 2.59 (- 6)
WB: 2.19 (- 4)

Adults 18-49:
ABC: 2.8/ 8 (-18)
CBS: 2.6/ 8 (-16)
Fox: 2.3/ 7 (no change)
NBC: 2.3/ 7 (-18)
UPN: 1.0/ 3 (- 9)
WB: 0.9/ 3 (no change)

Adults 25-54:
CBS: 3.5/ 9 (- 8)
ABC: 3.3/ 9 (-18)
NBC: 2.7/ 7 (-21)
Fox: 2.5/ 7 (+ 4)
UPN: 1.0/ 3 (- 9)
WB: 0.9/ 2 (no change)

Adults 18-34:
ABC: 2.1/ 7 (-22)
Fox: 2.0/ 7 (- 5)
NBC: 1.8/ 6 (-22)
CBS: 1.7/ 6 (-19)
UPN: 1.0/ 4 (- 9)
WB: 0.9/ 3 (no change)

• Source: Nielsen Media Research

fredfa

01-05-06, 12:57 PM

USDTV Launching In Hampton Roads VA

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

Billing itself as a "family-friendly" service, USDTV said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Thursday that it will roll out in the seaport town of Hampton Roads, Va., in the spring.

That will be the fifth market for the broadcaster-backed over-the-air digitail subscription service, which is already available in Vegas, Dallas-Fort Worth, Salt Lake city, and Albuquerque.

The USDTV service, which launched a year-and-a half ago, uses local broadcasters' digital channels to deliver the mix of local station and program network lineup--$19.95 per month--in competition to cable and other multichannel video providers. It employs a set-top box so that analog as well as digital sets can recieve the servicee.

In addition to the digital channels of eight local stations (the market is Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News)--including LIN's WAVY-TV--the programming package includes ESPN, Fox News Channel, Toon Disney, Food Network, Discovery Channel, TLC, Home & Garden, and Lifetime.

"Our channel lineup is designed for value-oriented families who are tired of paying for channels they never watch and don't want coming into their home," said USDTV CEO Steve Lindsley in a statement.

USDTV is obviously looking to capitalize on the issue of family-friendly cable tiers with a service that essentially mirrors the lineup some cable operators have pledged to offer in an attempt to appease critics in Washington.

Partners in the USDTV effort influde Fox, Hearst-Argyle, McGraw-Hill, LIN TV and Morgan Murphy Stations.

jim tressler

01-05-06, 01:00 PM

well.. there goes full bandwith hdtv.. sounds like if usdtv is in your market, then your ota hd becomes "hd lite compressed"

fredfa

01-05-06, 01:10 PM

So far we are talking about
#46 Albuquerque-Santa Fe
#7 Dallas
#48 Las Vegas
#36 Salt Lake City and
#42 Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News

A total of 4.68% of the cTV homes in the country.

And should a la carte ever be offfered, the appeal of USDTV will become far smaller.

fredfa

01-05-06, 01:14 PM

I don't want to downplay what happened and how terrible it all was for everyone, especially the families, but IMHO as long as this stuff is carried "live", these things, just like the New Orleans fiasco, will happen. Gone are the days when it would have taken until the next morning for the news to have been reported and by then it would have been corrected. With satellites, cellphones, instant announcers popping up everywhere, you just can't expect multiple mistakes not to be made. In the world of live reporting, "facts"are going to turn out wrong, etc. In today's world it is "report" everything and sort out the facts later. Does anyone really expect facts to surface quickly in the turmoil that was the mining disaster?

I don't disagree. (And in fact some of the cable correspondents, notably Bill Hemmer and Geraldo Rivera of Fox News kept asking, loudly and insistently, about the sourcing of the survival reports. And they both noted -- among the jubilation -- that the source seemed nebulous at best.)

But perhaps "reporters" should simply be called "relayers". As "anchors" are "news readers" in Great Britain.

fredfa

01-05-06, 01:17 PM

Sports On TV
Red Sox Go All-HD on NESN

Multichannel.com--New England Sports Network said Thursday that it will become the first regional sports network to air an entire season in HD when it delivers every game of the 2006 season for Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox.

The network added that it produced 152 live HD games in 2005, and it plans to boost that total to more than 225 in 2006.

In addition to game coverage, NESN will also originate more than 700 studio programs in HD this year, the network said.

NESN will fire the first pitch of its 2006 baseball season Friday, Feb. 17, with 45 days of Red Sox spring-training coverage including daily reports from Tom Caron and Don Orsillo on NESN SportsDesk.

fredfa

01-05-06, 01:20 PM

Sports On TV
NESN to televise every 2006 Red Sox game in Boston

(NESN Press Release)

BOSTON – NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, will deliver exclusive coverage of every locally televised Red Sox game in the Boston television market next season. For Boston area fans, this will create one destination for all Red Sox telecasts and align coverage of the games with the rest of New England. Since 2003, NESN has provided coverage of every Red Sox game in eight of the nine New England DMAs.

This change will also make it possible for NESN to become the first regional network in the country to produce every game in high definition (HD). NESN is a sports leader in HD programming, having produced 152 live high-def games in 2005 and plans to produce over 225 live HD games in 2006. In addition to game coverage, NESN will also originate over 700 studio programs in HD this year.

Popular announcers Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy will return to the NESN booth for their 6th season together to deliver the network’s Emmy Award winning play-by-play coverage. NESN will also continue its comprehensive Red Sox coverage with one hour pre and post-game shows in 2006.

NESN’s current off-season Red Sox programming includes: Red Sox Now, a Wednesday night hot-stove program that delivers off-season news, interviews and previews; and Reliving the Rivalry, a look back at the best Red Sox - Yankees games that have appeared on NESN over the past three seasons. Both programs are hosted by NESN’s Red Sox studio host Tom Caron.

NESN begins the 2006 baseball season on Friday, February 17th with 45 days of Red Sox spring training coverage that includes daily reports from Tom Caron and Don Orsillo on NESN SportsDesk. NESN will also highlight the first week of spring training with 5 live episodes of Red Sox Now from Fort Myers beginning Monday, February 20th and Boston Globe SportsPlus on-location on the 22nd and 24th. NESN’s nine (9) game spring training schedule begins Saturday, March 4, 2006 at 1:00 PM when the Sox take on the Pittsburgh Pirates.

jim tressler

01-05-06, 01:22 PM

I agree with you fred.. but.. the fact is, those markets are willing to sacrifice quality in favor of quantity.. or really the benjamins! just my little way of ranting.. as one of our local affiliates is a herst-argyle station who is an investor in usdtv - the one good thing for us in the cincinnati market is that our local cbs affiliate had that webhopper program and got rid of it.. so there is always hope that it will stay away, and maybe a la carte become a real alternative to the $155 I pay now for directv

So far we are talking about
#46 Albuquerque-Santa Fe
#7 Dallas
#48 Las Vegas
#36 Salt Lake City and
#42 Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News

A total of 4.68% of the cTV homes in the country.

And should a la carte ever be offfered, the appeal of USDTV will become far smaller.

fredfa

01-05-06, 01:46 PM

HDTV Notebook
'Jeopardy!' and 'Wheel' to Go Hi-Def This Fall

By Daisy Whitney TVWeek.com January 5, 2006

During Thursday morning's opening keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show, Sony Corp.'s Chairman and CEO Howard Stringer announced that Sony Pictures' syndicated game shows "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune" will be available in high-definition starting this fall.

They will be the first game shows available in the crisp, rich, HD format. The time is right, Mr. Stringer said, since the sale of HD sets will eclipse the sale of standard-definition sets for the first time this year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.

"With the proliferation of HD, programming is ramping up," Mr. Stringer said.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9119

fredfa

01-05-06, 01:55 PM

HDTV Notebook
CEA: 2006 is Year of DTV

(CEA Press Release)

New CEA Figures Show 2005 DTV Revenues Grew 60 Percent

Arlington, Virginia – The year 2006 will be the year that high-definition television (HDTV) outsells analog television set units, forecasts the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA®). According to sales projections issued yesterday by CEA, HDTV sets will outsell analog sets by 89 percent in 2006, reaching total unit sales of 15.9 million and contributing to over $23 billion in total DTV revenue.

CEA also reported that growth of DTV sales grew 60 percent to $17 billion in 2005. CEA attributed DTV sales growth to the growing popularity and competitive price declines of flat panel displays such as LCD and plasma. Combined, these displays accounted for 40 percent of all DTV sales by dollar.

Analog and digital LCD TVs combined for $3 billion and four million units.

Plasma TVs sold nearly two million units for a total of 4 billion in dollar sales.

"With more than 12 million units shipped, the 2005 year-end numbers demonstrate the growth and success of DTV, especially HDTV, which continues to claim 85 percent of the total DTV market in the U.S.," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA.

"Legislation establishing a hard cut-off date for analog broadcasts will truly be the driver that tips the scales in 2006. A hard date will provide certainty to consumers, broadcasters, retailers and manufacturers and help drive sales to even greater heights. CEA is hopeful that 2006 will bring the passage of this legislation."

keenan

01-05-06, 01:59 PM

From Reuters Jan 5 2006

Fox to sell TV episodes on DirecTV

NEW YORK (Reuters) - News Corp.'s Fox Entertainment Group on Thursday said it plans to make some of its cable and broadcast television shows available to DirecTV viewers for a fee.

The owners of the FX cable network and Fox Broadcasting will begin selling episodes of FX's "The Shield" and "Rescue Me" up to two days before they air on the network for $2.99 per show to DirecTV customers who own new digital video recorder from the satellite TV operator.

Fox will sell access to episodes of "24" and "Prison Break" for six to seven days after the initial broadcast for 99 cents.

"For the very first time, viewers will be able to watch their favorite shows before the rest of the world," Peter Chernin, president and chief operating officer of News Corp. said in a statement.

The service will launch later this year, the company said.

Media companies have begun offering more of their programing over the Internet and on digital media devices following Apple Computer Inc began selling episodes of Walt Disney Co.'s "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" last year for its iPod digital music and video player.

DirecTV is controlled by News Corp.

>>No mention of HD..

keenan

01-05-06, 02:02 PM

From DirecTV,

Fox Entertainment Group and DIRECTV Launch Partnership to Offer Best of FOX and FX Network Programming On Demand

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 2006--

Groundbreaking Deal Includes Pre-Air Broadcasts of
FX Series, Post-Air Broadcasts of FOX Programs
Plus One Hour Weekly Showcase of Fox Entertainment Highlights

Fox Entertainment Group and DIRECTV, Inc., today announced an agreement to bring viewers the best of FX and FOX Broadcasting on demand through the new DIRECTV Plus(R) DVR (digital video recorder). In an industry first, beginning in March viewers will get a "first look" at prime time hits from FX a full 24-48 hours prior to their initial broadcasts for $2.99 and, later in the year, DIRECTV subscribers will have post-air access to FOX Broadcasting's hottest series for just 99 cents for six to seven days following their national broadcast. The innovative deal will provide DIRECTV subscribers the ability to choose between pre-air and post-air television programming options for the first time ever.

In addition, DIRECTV viewers will have free, on demand access to a weekly showcase of exclusive highlights from Fox Entertainment, including the promotional presentation of limited, full-length television episodes, extended footage from leading Fox programs, and behind the scenes features on Fox films and TV shows.

"We're committed to finding new ways to bring our content to consumers and we think this deal is a huge step forward in giving them greater choice and control over their entertainment experience," said Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation. "For the very first time, viewers will be able to watch their favorite shows before the rest of the world. And we now have the ability to create different cuts of our programs for the pre-air audience -- versions with additional scenes and materials not included in the network broadcast -- something entirely new. It's an exciting opportunity for the television consumer and for us. Moreover, this new partnership will also enrich the viewing experience by providing access to DIRECTV's enhanced services, features and interactive functionality."

"Growing our interactive/On Demand service is a top priority for DIRECTV and our partnership with Fox is further testament to the commitment DIRECTV is making to delivering the very best in television and entertainment programming," said Chase Carey, president and CEO, DIRECTV, Inc. "By continually offering our subscribers new and exclusive programming choices at their convenience, we not only enhance the viewing experience but broaden the depth of our services and offerings."

Under terms of the agreement, viewers will have on demand access to some of television's most acclaimed dramas, comedies and documentaries including FX's "The Shield," "Rescue Me," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," and "30 Days" and FOX Broadcasting's "24," and "Prison Break."

"Television viewing habits continue to evolve and this deal is a prime example of our ongoing effort to bring consumers exciting new ways to individualize their entertainment experience," said Peter Levinsohn, President of Fox Digital Media. "And in DIRECTV, we've found an ideal partner."

The DIRECTV Plus DVR brings the viewing experience to new levels with an array of network programming on demand, one-touch pause, rewind and fast-forward functionality and 100 hours of recording capacity and interactive functionality. The DIRECTV Plus DVR is available at 1-800 DIRECTV, directv.com and all Best Buy and Circuit City retailers nationwide.

fredfa

01-05-06, 02:04 PM

For your sake, Jim, I hope they give you an early window to "24"!

fredfa

01-05-06, 02:13 PM

The DISH HDTV Plan

(DISH Network Press Release) January 05, 2006 11:00 AM US Pacific Timezone

DISH Network Launches Nation's Largest HD Package –
DishHD, Featuring Local HD Channels and New VOOM HD Channels

Most National Content plus World's First MPEG4 HD DVR Establishes DISH Network as Industry Leader for HDTV

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 2006--EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) and its DISH Network(TM) satellite TV service announced today from the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show the rollout of its new high-definition television package, DishHD. By offering the most HD channels in the pay-TV industry and with the introduction of a new line of advanced satellite receivers, DishHD gives its customers more than 1,700 hours a week of HD content from the nation's top programmers.

DISH Network is expanding its HD channel lineup in 2006 by adding five new original VOOM channels -- bringing the total to 15 -- as well as other new HD networks including ESPN2 HD and Universal HD. In addition, DISH Network will launch high-definition local channels through its satellite service in up to 50 markets in 2006, starting with Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York in February, and reaching more than 50 percent of U.S. TV households with local HD channels. The remainder of the country's local HD channels will be offered to DISH Network customers via an off-air antenna solution.

DishHD offers 25 national HD channels plus local broadcast channels where available, providing more than 200 hours of HD programming every day. Cable companies, with a national average of just 10 HD channels, cannot come close to the robust lineup of DishHD.

With up to four different programming packages to choose from, DishHD customers can find an option that best fits their viewing needs. For as little as $54.99 a month, customers can access the entire 25-channel DishHD lineup, and get more than 70 all-digital standard definition channels plus their local channels in standard and high definition.

Current DishHD channels include:

Discovery HD
ESPN HD
HBO HD
HD Net
HD Net Movies
HD Pay-Per-View
Showtime HD
TNT HD

VOOM Networks
Animania HD Monsters HD
Equator HD Rave HD
Film Fest HD Rush HD
Gallery HD Ultra HD
HD News Kung Fu HD

On Feb. 1, DISH Network will begin transmitting newly added HD channels in MPEG4, a signal compression standard developed by MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group). MPEG4 allows DISH Network to maximize the bandwidth available on its satellites and offer the most robust lineup of HD channels in the nation.

New DishHD channels available only in MPEG4 include:
ESPN2 HD
Universal HD
HD Locals
VOOM Networks
Family Room HD
Gameplay HD
Treasure HD
World Cinema HD
WorldSport HD

DISH Network is also introducing at CES a new series of satellite receivers that combine MPEG4 and MPEG2 signal capability. The cutting-edge ViP Series combines state-of-the-art imaging technology with life-like Dolby(R) Digital 5.1 surround sound for the best picture and sound quality available. Existing customers with MPEG2 equipment, such as the DISH Player DVR 942, will continue to receive all their current content and will need to upgrade to a ViP Series receiver to receive the new HD channels. DISH Network will offer a convenient upgrade package for existing customers who want to expand their HD lineup to include the new channels.

The ViP211(TM) HD satellite receiver, the first model in the ViP series that supports both MPEG4 and MPEG2, is available through DISH Network for only $49.99 for new lease customers.

Also included in the ViP series is the ViP622(TM) DVR, the world's first MPEG4 multi-room high definition and digital video recorder satellite TV receiver with the ability to view independent programs -- one in high definition and one in standard definition programming -- on two televisions at once. No other pay-TV company offers this innovative combination. It features a massive hard drive with a recording capacity of up to 25 hours of high-definition and up to 180 hours of standard-definition content.

The cutting-edge ViP622 DVR also features reverse, fast-forward, and pause as well as a picture-in-picture feature on any TV and the ability to record Dolby Digital(R) when available. The ViP622 DVR will be available in the first quarter of 2006 for a one-time upgrade price of $299 for new lease customers, which includes a dish antenna and free standard professional installation (monthly DVR fee applies).

The ViP622 DVR also features:

-- Digital/analog off-air tuner

-- Up to 9-day, Picture-In-Guide, Widescreen Electronic Program Guide (EPG)

-- High-Definition Resolutions: 480p, 720p, 1080i (480i is up-converted)

-- Records two programs simultaneously in high definition, but programs can be viewed in standard definition on other TVs in the home.

The ViP622 DVR offers DISH Network's convenience and features that customers have grown to depend on, including parental controls, electronic program guide, picture in guide and name-based recording.

keenan

01-05-06, 02:47 PM

For your sake, Jim, I hope they give you an early window to "24"!
:D :D

fredfa

01-05-06, 02:48 PM

Bill Gates at CES:
Microsoft Partners With MTV Networks, DirecTV, Comedy Central on Media Center PCs

By Daisy Whitney TVWeek.com January 5, 2006

During his traditional Consumer Electronics Show pre-show opening keynote address on Wednesday Microsoft founder Bill Gates announced partnerships with several television entities, including MTV Networks, DirecTV and Comedy Central.

During a speech that focused largely on the attributes of Microsoft's new operating system Vista, slated to be introduced later this year, rather than on television, Mr. Gates also slipped in news that Microsoft has struck an innovative new partnership with DirecTV to provide DirecTV's programming content on Media Center PCs. The Windows-based PC that's designed to be an entertainment hub grew from about 1.5 million copies of Media Center software shipped at the start of 2005 to 6.5 million by the end of the year, Mr. Gates said.

Also, Microsoft announced that Comedy Central's new broadband platform Comedy Central MotherLoad will now be one of the content providers that resides on the Media Center PC.

These partnerships follow the news earlier this week that Microsoft has linked with Starz Entertainment for its relaunched Starz Ticket broadband movie service now known as Vongo. As part of that partnership, the nearly 1,000 Starz films are accessible for broadband consumption and also can be accessed on Microsoft-powered portable devices.

Finally, in an effort to play catch up to Apple's dominant iTunes brand for digital music, Mr. Bill Gates and MTV Networks' Van Toffler, president of the music group, announced plans to launch this year a new digital music service known as Urge that will be based on Windows Media Player. The two executives gave broad sketches of the details at the show. They said the new service to be available later this year will include 2 million songs for purchase or subscription. The service will include some MTV content from shows such as "TRL" and "Unplugged" as well as content from VH1 and CMT, Mr. Toffler said. "It is our mission to create a truly immersive, engaging, emotional and entertaining service," Mr. Toffler said.

Mr. Gates also touched briefly on Microsoft's role in powering telephone company video launches from Verizon and AT&T. He said both will expand commercial rollouts this year, bringing the "innovations" to deliver a personalized TV experience to consumers.

"[In 2005] we did trials, very successful trials, and this is the year AT&T and Verizon are rolling out in commercial deployments over the course of the year. These deployments will scale up and that's when you will start to see these innovations come in, and it blows away the previous platform," Mr. Gates said.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9118

fredfa

01-05-06, 02:53 PM

FIOS Expands in Texas
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable

Saying the company's FiOS multichannel fiber-delivered video service already has 20% of the Keller, Tex., market after just three months, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said Thursday that the service is preparing to roll out in seven additional Texas markets.

FiOS launched its first system in Keller in September, and has since started up systems in Virginia and Florida, with plans to start up in New York, California and Massachusetts by the end of January, he told a Consumer Electronics Association audience at a convention keynote speech Thursday.

Texas paved the way for widespread IPTV deliver late last year when it approved a statewide franchising process that makes it easier for cable competitors to enter the multichannel video marketplace.

FiOS delivers 400 digital channels and 1,800 on-demand offerings.

fredfa

01-05-06, 04:27 PM

TV Notebook
Jon Stewart, meet Sean Penn

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune TV blog January 05, 2006

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts confirmed Thursday that Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" will host the 78th annual Academy Award ceremony on March 5.

The choice is an interesting one: Last year's host, Chris Rock, was widely thought in the Hollywood community to be too edgy and even mean (his comedic skewering of Jude Law in the opening minutes of the broadcast was criticized later in the show by an angry Sean Penn). Rock was not asked back by the show's producers, and according to the Los Angeles Times, Billy Crystal turned down the gig.

But if the Academy and ABC, the network that broadcasts the ceremony, hope to attract younger viewers, who've largely tuned out the ceremony in recent years, Stewart is an inspired choice. He and his witty, erudite writing staff will no doubt have a field day with the serious, small films that are expected to dominate the broadcast. Surely Stewart and his writers will have 200 "Brokeback Mountain" jokes finished by lunchtime Friday.

The question is, how mean will Stewart be? The pompousness of the acting community and the pretentiousness of some of the nominated films (and the pompousness of the people who made them) present ripe targets to a merciless satirist such as Stewart. But look what happened to Chris Rock, and earlier, to David Letterman (one of Stewart's heroes): Their Oscar stints were largely panned by the self-important Hollywood types in the audience, and even some in the media found their sarcastic, ego-skewering humor tiresome.

So will Stewart pull his punches? Let's hope not. Because in his hands, the Oscars could finally be worth watching -- and not just to see what the highly paid actresses are wearing.

Academy Awards producer Gil Cates said he had full faith in Stewart's abilities in the Academy's Thursday press release.

"Jon is the epitome of a perfect host -- smart, engaging, irreverent and funny," Cates said.

Yes, Stewart is irreverent. Let's hope Cates -- and Sean Penn -- are really and truly cool with that.

http://tempo.typepad.com/entertainment_tv/

fredfa

01-05-06, 04:34 PM

A City Celebrates
In Austin TX, Rose Bowl’s blockbuster ratings!

By Diane Holloway Austin American-Statesman Thursday, January 5, 2006

Austin, we have a blockbuster!

More people in Central Texas watched the Longhorns win the Rose Bowl than watched last year’s Super Bowl.

According to local overnight Nielsen ratings provided by ABC affiliate KVUE, Wednesday’s championship game between the University of Texas Longhorns and the University of Southern California Trojans racked up a 48 rating and a 74 share.

That means about half a million people in our 13-county viewing area watched UT quarterback Vince Young single-handedly bring home the trophy with his last-minute touchdown. And that 500,000 doesn’t even include group gatherings in homes and bars, of which there were many.

Last year’s Super Bowl, won by the New England Patriots, pulled in about 470,000 Central Texas viewers.

Last year’s Rose Bowl — which also featured a Longhorns victory but not for the national championship — had a 35 rating and a 63 share locally. That was a Saturday afternoon game, which is traditionally a smaller audience than prime time.

National overnight ratings were not Austin-caliber strong but they were strong, beating the combined five-network competition with a 22.8 rating and an estimated 33.95 million viewers. That’s a 58 percent increase over ratings for last year’s national championship game at the Orange Bowl (which USC won).

What did Central Texans watch last night if they were not tuned into the Rose Bowl? Not much. The second-most watched program of the night, with a tiny 5.2 rating, was a rerun of NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/tvblog/

jim tressler

01-05-06, 05:07 PM

Little off topic.. but Microsoft has released the patch for this serious flaw.. It just went live on Windows update

Not about HD, or even TV…but important!

A L E R T ! !
Windows PCs face ‘huge’ virus threat

By Kevin Allison in San Francisco ft.com Last updated: January 2 2006 22:19

Computer security experts were grappling with the threat of a newweakness in Microsoft’s Windows operating system that could put hundreds of millions of PCs at risk of infection by spyware or viruses.

The news marks the latest security setback for Microsoft, the world’s biggest software company, whose Windows operating system is a favourite target for hackers.

“The potential [security threat] is huge,” said Mikko Hyppönen, chief research officer at F-Secure, an antivirus company. “It’s probably bigger than for any other vulnerability we’ve seen. Any version of Windows is vulnerable right now.”

The flaw, which allows hackers to infect computers using programs maliciously inserted into seemingly innocuous image files, was first discovered last week. But the potential for damaging attacks increased dramatically at the weekend after a group of computer hackers published the source code they used to exploit it. Unlike most attacks, which require victims to download or execute a suspect file, the new vulnerability makes it possible for users to infect their computers with spyware or a virus simply by viewing a web page, e-mail or instant message that contains a contaminated image.

“We haven’t seen anything that bad yet, but multiple individuals and groups are exploiting this vulnerability,” Mr Hyppönen said. He said that every Windows system shipped since 1990 contained the flaw.

Microsoft said in a security bulletin on its website that it was aware that the vulnerability was being actively exploited. But by early yesterday, it had not yet released an official patch to correct the flaw. “We are working closely with our antivirus partners and aiding law enforcement in its investigation,” the company said. In the meantime, Microsoft said it was urging customers to be careful opening e-mail or following web links from untrusted sources.

Meanwhile, some security experts were urging system administrators to take the unusual step of installing an unofficial patch created at the weekend by Ilfak Guilfanov, a Russian computer programmer.

Concerns remain that without an official patch, many corporate information technology systems could remain vulnerable as employees trickle back to work after the holiday weekend.

“We’ve received many e-mails from people saying that no one in a corporate environment will find using an unofficial patch acceptable,” wrote Tom Liston, a researcher at the Internet Storm Center, an antivirus research group. Both ISC and F-Secure have endorsed the unofficial fix.

Microsoft routinely identifies or receives reports of security weaknesses but most such vulnerabilities are limited to a particular version of the Windows operating system or other piece of Microsoft software. In recent weeks, the company has been touting its progress in combating security threats.

The company could not be reached on Monday for comment.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/0d644d5e-7bb3-11da-ab8e-0000779e2340.html

dline

01-05-06, 05:07 PM

fredfa

01-05-06, 05:11 PM

Thanks jim...good (if very belated) news

Xesdeeni

01-05-06, 05:39 PM

The DISH HDTV Plan
...
Also included in the ViP series is the ViP622(TM) DVR...A few months back, I let Dish know that I'd be interested in upgrading to HD when they allowed me to archive HD content (if I were a Texas fan, I'd sure want to have my own personal copy of last night's game to play, in HD, whenever I wanted--I can already do this OTA, but if the game had been on EPSN, I'd have been SOL). I also let DirectTV and Comcast know that I'd switch (Comcast already comes the closest with 1394 activated on their cable boxes, but they encrypt the non-locals, so it's still a non-starter).

Ideally, I could extract the MPEG-4 stream directly from the box and burn it on a DVDR, which I could play with something like the Zensonic Z500. In the long run, I could burn it on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.

It may be tilting at windmills, but maybe if enough of us ask, they'll get the hint.

Xesdeeni

fredfa

01-05-06, 05:42 PM

Sports On TV
Last call for ABC living legend?

By Tom Hoffarth Los Angeles Daily News Sports Media Writer

PASADENA - Trying to read between the lines of Keith Jackson's play-by-play call of Texas' victory over USC in the BCS title game Wednesday night at the Rose Bowl, there was nothing that could have convinced anyone that we just saw him do his final college football game.

Which is just how the 77-year-old legendary broadcaster wanted it to play out.

He has more than hinted that he's about ready to retire - for real this time - when his ABC contract runs out in May. He's told some that he'll have a decision made a few months before that. And he's been trying not to let on about which way he's leaning because he said he didn't want to take anything away from the game hype, if that was actually possible.

But based on more than just tea leaves and the direction of the wind, it would hardly be a surprise if Jackson decides that the USC-Texas game was his last hay ride after 53 years in the business.

Come to think of it, if anyone deserves to go out with a game, and a broadcast, like the one that will likely be a BCS TV record number of viewers Wednesday night, it's Jackson.

"If it's the end, then it's the end," Jackson said after the game in the ABC broadcast compound. "But I really don't know, and if I did, I'd tell you. But this would be a pretty good game to go out on.

"All I know is that I'll go home, have a nice bowl of soup, sleep in tomorrow and if the weather's good, maybe play some golf."

Over the past couple of days, Jackson has revealed more about how he's leaning after 39 years at ABC. Before he drove down to San Diego from his Sherman Oaks home to do the Dec. 30 Holiday Bowl for ESPN, Jackson admitted to one writer: "I'm too old to be working this hard."

Then, the other day to The New York Times, Jackson said before embarking on his 14th Rose Bowl: "I'm pretty sure I'm going to walk, but I don't know for sure

I feel stress more than I've ever felt before.My arthritic old thumbs have trouble with my neckties. I'm a little cranky and balky about things." He also talked about how ABC Sports is beginning to be phased out - with "Monday Night Football" going to ESPN a nd the BCS title games going to Fox starting next season - and the ESPN way of doing things is "a philosophy with which I'm not familiar."

Since Jackson's first somewhat forced retirement after the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, he has had two knee replacements and a ruptured Achilles tendon. He hates the thought of going through airport security screeners, even for his abbreviated travel schedule up and down the West Coast.

Jackson came out with his usual crisp, punctuated call. He wasn't ashamed to reveal how excited he was about the fact that game was finally being played when, just moments before Texas' opening kickoff to USC's Reggie Bush, Jackson exclaimed: "We're gonna play football... yippee!"

On the whole, there was nothing blatant to show Wednesday that Jackson had lost anything from his understated, yet powerful delivery - even when he made a miscall on a missed PAT by Texas after its first touchdown and didn't quite correctly read the sponsored trivia question about repeat Rose Bowl MVPs. As usual, Jackson set up analyst Dan Fouts and gave him plenty of opportunity to shine, and also provided his own analysis at the appropriate times.

So where does he go from here?

ABC, which keeps control of the Rose Bowl through 2014 and has a contract with the Pac-10 through 2011, could definitely use Jackson, even in a limited capacity. And if you're wondering about star power, he definitely still has it, even with the youngins. A recent Sports Illustrated On Campus.com poll asked readers to name their favorite play-by-play announcer, and Jackson (63 percent) wasn't even in the same press box with Brad Nessler (15 percent) or Brent Musburger (12 percent).

Those numbers don't lie. Jackson still has juice. But is that enough to lure him from his favorite fishing hole in British Columbia?

Camera help: ABC loaded up with a 30-camera compliment to Wednesday's game - a normal college football game might top out at 12 - and that may have helped produce extra replays that were and weren't used by officials at key moments in the contest.

The most obvious was a replay viewers saw with less than five minutes left in the first half that clearly showed Texas quarterback Vince Young's knee hit the ground before he pitched it to running back Selvin Young, who then took it into the end zone for the Longhorns' first lead.

Jackson remarked after a commercial break that USC could have called time out to argue its case, but Fouts strongly replied: "The (replay) officials had time to call for that play."

Compare that to a replay two minutes earlier that showed Texas safety Michael Griffin stayed in bounds and made an interception in front of USC receiver Steve Smith, even though the officials on the field called it incomplete. When ABC showed the initial replay, a groan from the crowd that also saw it was audible, and the replay officials immediately called for a review and changed the field ruling.

Fouts later referred to it "a waste of time" on a review in the fourth quarter of a play when USC's Darnell Bing tried to strip the ball away on a play ruled dead.

http://dailynews.com/search/ci_3372932

fredfa

01-05-06, 05:49 PM

Sports On TV
Rose Bowl ratings soar as Texas wins

Longhorns' dramatic victory draws 33.9 million viewers

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jan 5, 2006

After nearly a month of endless hype, last night’s thrilling Rose Bowl game on ABC between Texas and USC actually lived up to that hype. And so, too, did its ratings.

According to Nielsen overnight ratings, ABC averaged 33.9 million viewers between 8-11 p.m. last night, a 54 percent jump over the 22 million who tuned in to watch last year’s BCS title game between USC and Oklahoma.

ABC also averaged an impressive 20.6 household rating over those three hours, a 47 percent increase over last year’s 14.0.

The game lasted until 12:30 a.m., but overnight ratings only measure time period data through 11 p.m. Final ratings will be out later today that reflect the game’s entire performance, but based on the early numbers, this may be the most-watched NCAA championship game since at least 1991, when Nielsen records begin. The previous high was 30.1 million who watched Miami and Alabama in 1993.

The game was a doozey. Though USC fielded Heisman trophy winners Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart, Texas quarterback Vince Young was by far the best player on the field, racking up almost 500 total yards all by himself and scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 19 seconds left in the game.

The matchup of undefeated squads received almost unprecedented media coverage, coming after two years in which the BCS finale was marred by controversy over teams left out of the final game. Everyone agreed this year that USC and Texas, which had two of the country’s most prolific offenses, belonged.

The game was a hit among viewers 18-49 as well, with ABC averaging a 12.0 rating from 8-11 p.m. and beating the combined broadcast competition. NBC was second at 3.6/9, CBS third at 3.2/8, Fox fourth at 2.3/6, Univision fifth at 1.7/4, and UPN and the WB tied for sixth at 0.8/2.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_2059.asp

Whitearrow

01-05-06, 07:11 PM

Is it too late? If so, just delete. Sorry. I'm still reading back quite a few pages.

Your favorite three new network prime-time shows which debuted in antyime in 2005:

Prison Break, Numb3rs, Commander in Chief

Your favorite three new prime-time cable shows:

Rome, Weeds, The Closer

Your favorite three veteran prime-time shows:

Lost, 24, Veronica Mars

Your favorite three veteran cable prime-time shows:

Battlestar Galactica, The Shield, Entourage

Your favorite three TV actors:

Wentworth Miller, James Purefoy, David Krumholtz

Your favorite three TV actresses:

Kristin Bell, Jennifer Garner, Katee Sackoff

Your favorite TV sports production:

Olympics Figure Skating (yes, I'm a girl, so sue me)

The show the critics most overlook:

Numb3rs

The show the critics most over-hype:

My Name is Earl

The actor who makes you cringe

David Caruso

The actress who makes you cringe

Jennifer Love Hewitt

The one show you would hate most to miss – or for your DVR or TiVo to screw up:

Lost

One former favorite which has lost your interest this season:

The Amazing Race (though I'm hoping my interest returns next season)

Favorite program to show off your HD setup to friends and neighbors:

Lost

Is there any show you enjoy so much you'd watch it even in SD?

Battlestar Galactica, Veronica Mars

fredfa

01-05-06, 07:19 PM

TV Notebook
'Daniel' can't duck the culture wars

NBC airs its first show about a troubled priest Friday night. The complaints have been aired already
By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 6, 2006

NEW YORK — The latest skirmish in the culture wars revolves around a mild-mannered Episcopal priest who nurses a secret Vicodin habit and regularly sees and converses with Jesus.

The Rev. Daniel Webster, played by Aidan Quinn, is the main character in NBC's drama "The Book of Daniel," a series premiering Friday night at 9 (ET/PT) about an earnest but often harried New England minister and his efforts to cope with the challenges of modern-day parenthood — including a moody teenage daughter who is caught selling marijuana to finance her manga animation — and the politics of leading a church congregation. Along the way, he consults with a very real-looking Jesus, a character who looks as if he stepped straight off the canvas of "The Last Supper."

Even before it has aired, the show has added fuel to a building debate about the portrayal of faith and religion in popular culture. The American Family Assn., a conservative Christian organization based in Tupelo, Miss., launched a campaign to get local NBC affiliates not to air the program, arguing that it is disrespectful of Christians. By Thursday afternoon, stations in Terre Haute, Ind., and Little Rock, Ark., had decided not to show it.

Meanwhile, some Episcopal priests are urging their congregants to watch the program, saying that it offers a refreshingly candid portrayal of religious leaders and showcases the Episcopal Church as a tolerant denomination. The Episcopal Diocese of Washington has even launched the Blog of Daniel — found at blog.edow.org/weblog — a website designed to spur discussion about the issues raised on the program.

All the fuss has come as somewhat of a surprise to creator Jack Kenny, who originally wrote the pilot as a writing sample a year ago. Kenny — who most recently produced "Wanda at Large" and "Titus" — said he intended to make Webster's vocation merely the background, not the focus of the show.

"It's never been about religion," said Kenny, who was raised Roman Catholic and describes himself now as an unaffiliated Christian. "It's about a family that loves each other unconditionally and is ready to catch each other when they fall.

"I was always very clear with the writers and actors that this was never to make fun of or mock Christianity," he added. "It was always a show about people of faith who believe in Jesus Christ as their savior. But it's not about that — that's just there."

Kenny said he got the inspiration for the show from his partner's family, a tight-knit but often taciturn clan.

"I always wanted to examine that world of the WASP, that uptight, Northeastern, 'Let's not talk about the world, let's have a martini instead,' " he said. "I remember Michael telling me that once when he was a kid, he said, 'God bless you, Mommy.' And his mother said, 'We don't say that.' I love that world; I love the unspoken, because really good actors can do so much with that."

NBC executives were drawn to Kenny's script because it was unlike anything else on the air, said Vivi Zigler, the network's executive vice president of current programs.

"You've got at its core a character that you don't usually see on television," Zigler said. "His family and surrounding extended family have so much drama, and he himself is a flawed character. And you have it set in a backdrop of a church, where his job is dealing with issues of faith and morality. There's this great juxtaposition, and the dramatic conflict and the humor come from that."

Critics, however, take issue with the depiction of Webster and his family, including his wife, who frequently partakes of a midday martini; his 23-year-old son, Peter, a gay Republican; his 16-year-old adopted son, Adam, who tries to have sex with his girlfriend just about everywhere he can; and his sister-in-law, who has an affair with another woman.

"We certainly understand that Christians have difficulties in life, even ministers," said Ed Vitagliano, a spokesman for the American Family Assn., who watched the pilot Tuesday night, along with other clergy, at the NBC affiliate in Memphis. "But this was not a realistic portrayal of a minister's life. This was so far beyond the pale, it was almost a comic strip version."

Vitagliano said that the group was also offended that Kenny is gay, as are two of the show's characters.

"We look at that and say, 'If they wanted to try to alienate conservative Christians, they're making every effort to do so,' " he said.

Responded Kenny: "That strikes me as both non-Christian and un-American. It seems to me I should be able to write about anything I want to write about. They have a perfect right not to watch it."

However, Vitagliano said more than 500,000 people had used the group's website to send e-mails to NBC and its affiliates demanding that the show be pulled.

"This has really struck a nerve with people," he said. "I don't know that I've personally been this busy doing interviews since Ellen DeGeneres came out on her sitcom."

The two stations that decided not to air the program were receiving letters, e-mails and phone calls complaining about the content.

"There are just so many things that bother me about it," said Duane Lammers, station manager of WTWO in Terre Haute, who noted that in the first episode, Webster says he wants God to damn his brother-in-law. (He later tells Jesus he didn't mean it.) "That just doesn't belong on broadcast television."

KARK in Little Rock has also decided not to air it, although the show will be carried in that market by the local WB affiliate, NBC officials said. Although the network has received a couple of thousand e-mails complaining about the show, 99% of stations in the country will be showing the program, Zigler noted.

"We feel that it is actually a very good, uplifting, hopeful kind of show," said Zigler, adding that the producers consulted with Episcopal priests to ensure an accurate depiction of church hierarchy and liturgy. "Once you see it, you can see that it doesn't take [religion] lightly. I think the respect is there."

Quinn agreed.

"I don't understand all the talk about it, because if you ask me, this show is pretty wholesome, down the middle," he said in a recent conference call with reporters. "It deals with some controversial subject matters, certainly, but in a way that I don't think is that salacious."

And some religious leaders have embraced the program.

"I'm thrilled we have the opportunity to offer to the mainstream media the story of a progressive protagonist in a faith-based story where life is never tidy and neat," said the Rev. Susan Russell, senior associate for parish life at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, where the show's pilot was filmed. "I think it's a realistic portrayal of a faithful man facing 21st century challenges."

Russell, who has watched the pilot and read the scripts for the rest of the episodes, said she has sent a message to her congregants urging them to tune in to the program. She and other Episcopal leaders believe the show could actually draw more people to the Episcopal Church. The Blog of Daniel, in fact, includes links to a film about Episcopalians and information about the Washington diocese, and invites visitors to join others in online prayer and meditation.

"I think a lot of people are looking for a spiritual home that doesn't look like the welcome mat that Jerry Falwell puts out," Russell said.

If the public debate has turned rancorous, however, producers said that internally the topics provoked some fascinating dialogues.

John Tinker, a born-again Christian who is one of the program's three executive producers, said the issues raised by the show's themes spilled into the writing room, where the staff frequently engaged in discussions about "life and death and everything in between."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-daniel6jan06,0,7970018,print.story?coll=cl-tv-features

AFH

01-05-06, 07:29 PM

Fred, I keep reading about people on the board voting for their fav shows, actors, ect. I looked at the first page of this thread and I didn't see a voting mechanism. Where is this poll? I would like to participate in it.

fredfa

01-05-06, 07:40 PM

Feel free to fill in as many – or as few – of the categories as you would like. A hint: Use this as a template. Just use the "quote" function, fill in your picks, undo the "quotes" and post your picks.

The “Hot Off The Press” Best of 2005

Please post your favorites in the following categories:

Favorite three new network prime-time shows which debuted in anytime in 2005:

Favorite three new prime-time cable shows:

Favorite three veteran prime-time shows:

Favorite three veteran cable prime-time shows:

Favorite three TV actors:

Favorite three TV actresses:

Favorite TV sports production:

Favorite TV news program or (cable net) as the case may be:

Show the critics most overlook:

Show the critics most over-hype:

Actor who makes you cringe

Actress who makes you cringe

One former favorite which has lost your interest this season:

(For HD viewers only) Favorite program to show off your HD setup to friends and neighbors:

(For HD viewers only) Is there any show you enjoy so much you'd watch it even in SD?

If you would prefer anonymity, note your picks and send a PM – I’ll be happy to post your choices without your name attached. Your guilty pleasures will be safe with me!

fredfa

01-05-06, 08:03 PM

TV Ratings
Epic Rose Bowl Brings Huge Audience to ABC

(zap2it.com)--The Rose Bowl, in which No. 2 Texas upset defending champion USC, 41-38, on a last-minute touchdown by quarterback Vince Young, drew an average of 35.6 million viewers Wednesday night (Jan. 4). That's the biggest audience for any national title game -- or any of the four big January bowls -- since 1991, which is as far back as Nielsen records go.

The previous high for a title game was 30.1 million viewers for the 1993 Sugar Bowl between Alabama and Miami. About 30.3 million people watched the USC-Northwestern Rose Bowl in 1996, although that game didn't determine the national champ.

ABC also scored big among the key adults 18-49 demographic, earning a 12.8 rating for the whole of the game, which ran from 8:17 p.m. to 12:28 a.m. ET. That's way up from the 7.4 for last year's title game, in which USC waxed Oklahoma, 55-19, at the Orange Bowl.

In the primetime hours of 8 to 11 p.m., which also included ABC's pregame show, the network averaged 34.7 million viewers and an 11.9 rating among adults 18-49 -- beating the combined totals for the other five broadcast networks in both measures. It was ABC's biggest Wednesday audience since March 1999.

Additionally, excluding Super Bowls, the Rose Bowl was the most-watched football game, college or pro, on ABC since at least 1991.

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/utils/tve_article_print/1,1144,,00.html?current_url=271|99415|1|&search_id=1&cntn_id=99415

fredfa

01-05-06, 09:25 PM

TV Ratings
Troy's Rose Bowl fall gives ABC Wed. lift

By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter Jan. 06, 2006

NEW YORK -- Wednesday night's Rose Bowl might have had a heartbreaking conclusion for the legions of Trojans fans, but it was a touchdown for ABC.

The game, which ended with a Texas touchdown with 19 seconds remaining, drew 34.7 million viewers, according to data released Thursday by Nielsen Media Research. Those are monster numbers considering the other five broadcast networks combined for only 27.9 million viewers on a night of mostly repeats. It also averaged an 11.9 rating/30 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, 12% ahead of the other broadcast networks' combined 10.6/26.

ABC said it was the highest-rated college football game since January 1987's Fiesta Bowl (Penn State vs. Miami) and the most viewed since at least 1991. And, by way of comparison, it was ABC's largest audience for a Wednesday night since March 1999.

The BCS championship also improved on last year's College Football National Championship Game, which featured USC taking on Oklahoma. Wednesday's game was up 14 million viewers compared with last year and up 73% in the adults 18-49 demo.

Metered market results in Southern California and Texas were strong, with Austin (home of the University of Texas) pulling a 47.7 rating and nearby Houston averaging a 35.4. Los Angeles averaged a 34.8, while Dallas scored a 34.5.

The Rose Bowl's strong performance follows Monday's Nokia Sugar Bowl and Tuesday's FedEx Orange Bowl, which gave ABC wins for both nights. Both were up double digits in viewers and adults 18-49 compared with a year ago.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001806254

GeorgeLV

01-05-06, 10:14 PM

Has anything happened at the DirecTV press conference?

AFH

01-05-06, 10:54 PM

The “Hot Off The Press” Best of 2005

Please post your favorites in the following categories:

Favorite three new network prime-time shows which debuted in anytime in 2005:

Grey's Anatomy

Favorite three new prime-time cable shows:

The Closer, Weeds

Favorite three veteran prime-time shows:

CSI Miami, Alias, Las Vegas

Favorite three veteran cable prime-time shows:

Sopranos, The Wire

Favorite three TV actors:

Idris Elba, David Caruso

Favorite three TV actresses:

Jessica Walter, Krya Sedgwick

Favorite TV sports production:

ESPN College Gameday

Favorite TV news program or (cable net) as the case may be:

CNBC's Squawk Box

Show the critics most overlook:

Alias

Show the critics most over-hype:

Bones

Actor who makes you cringe

David Cross

Actress who makes you cringe

Portia di Rossi

One former favorite which has lost your interest this season:

(For HD viewers only) Favorite program to show off your HD setup to friends and neighbors:

CSI: Miami

(For HD viewers only) Is there any show you enjoy so much you'd watch it even in SD?

Yes, all of the shows I record in hd.

fredfa

01-05-06, 11:50 PM

Has anything happened at the DirecTV press conference?

Sorry, George, I have been out of contact for a couple of hours.
I don't know.

fredfa

01-05-06, 11:51 PM

Thanks for the vote, Antonio.

(If anyone else wants to have a ballot counted, get it in -- I'll be compiling the final results in the next couple of days.)

fredfa

01-06-06, 01:38 AM

Sports Media and Business
Four-Hour Rose Bowl Never Lost Its Bloom

By Richard Sandomir The New York Times January 6, 2006

When World Series games end in the early morning, sleep-deprived fans squawk about late starts and their impact on future generations. But the reaction to late-ending college bowl games (or the N.C.A.A. men's basketball final, which starts well past 9 p.m., Eastern time) is muted as if such concerns have been resolved by college fans' production of an elixir for wee-hour watching.

Over the last few days, the length of bowl games has reached its annual state of temporal silliness. The triple-overtime Orange Bowl lasted 4 hours 49 minutes, the Fiesta 3:45, the Sugar 3:57 and the Rose an even 4 hours.

The average ESPN bowl game - all 731 of them - took 3:47. Joe Paterno admitted that he was up hours past his bedtime when he celebrated his Penn State team's Orange Bowl victory at about 1 a.m., Eastern.

My wife lets me stay up later than JoePa, but I confess to bowl-time catnaps as opposed to naps at my cats' food bowls, but that's another tale.

Let's examine the Rose, the granddaddy of all bowls. Old granddad in the Eastern or Central time zone probably did not endure its finish.

The first quarter lasted a manageable 41 minutes and 5 seconds, but the second required 58:56. The elongated halftime stretched out to 23:01. The third quarter needed just 41:12, but the fourth lasted an epic 68:41.

The final 6:42 of the game lasted just over 30 minutes.

The last 57 seconds needed nearly 13 minutes to complete. Several lifetimes can pass you by, and circle back, in those Gumbified 57 seconds.

As those who watch late-ending games from start to finish know, a long game isn't necessarily a bad one. The Rose was a mostly marvelous four hours but would not have suffered from a 12-minute halftime or without the mandated clock stoppages after each first down (whether they are made in- or out-of-bounds) that make college games as long as "Bleak House."

Having ABC's Keith Jackson along makes a four-hour ride easier. He is an adult with a dramatic, rumbling, anti-histrionic style. On Reggie Bush's 26-yard run, he said, "He gets it, goes to the outside with it, goes around the cornerrrrrr - touchdown." Or on a Vince Young jaunt: "Young wants to throw. He's going to take off - look out! All the way to the 20-yard line."

After Dwayne Jarrett caught a touchdown pass to put the Trojans ahead, 37-26, Jackson said that he was made of "old leather and hame string." Colorful as that was, I wondered what he meant and Jackson said yesterday that tough leather and hame string were used to tether mules or horses to farm equipment.

Jackson and Dan Fouts get along well but they would serve viewers better by more often noting the yardage gained on major plays, something they did not do on several occasions.

Fouts is an enthusiastic but mediocre analyst. He is not a first guesser or masterly game strategist. He got off a few good lines like one that compared Bush's soaring toward a touchdown to Quidditch, the game played in the air by Harry Potter et al. But in the analytic red zone, Fouts faltered.

First, he failed to assess whether Southern Cal Coach Pete Carroll was correct or reckless when he decided to go for it on fourth-and-2 just inside Texas territory with 2:13 left in the game, a gamble that Carroll lost. (Fouts said there was 1 yard for a first down.) That was a crucial point, with the Trojans leading, 38-33, but defensively vulnerable.

Second, after Young's touchdown run put Texas up, 39-38, and the Longhorns prepared for a 2-point conversion with 19 seconds left, Fouts did not question Carroll's squandering of his final timeout.

ABC should have inserted a pop-up graphic saying "Questionable!" to judge Carroll's moves, shaped like the ones the network used to pinpoint Bush, another way TV leads us by the graphic nose to see the obvious.

On the sideline, one of the reporters, Todd Harris, interviewed Libby Evans Wright, the president of the Tournament of Roses, during the fourth quarter and compared her, for no clear reason, to the race-car driver Danica Patrick. After the game, Harris asked Carroll about the wasted timeout but he let the coach get away with a garbled, unresponsive answer; he never asked Carroll about the fourth-and-2 gamble.

As with some ABC-ESPN productions, there was too much on-air talent. ESPN's "College GameDay" crew was there as was ABC's studio team. Clearly, Jackson, Fouts, Harris and the second sideliner, Holly Rowe, weren't enough chattering personnel. Late in the fourth, the ABC threesome popped up to chat unnecessarily from the sidelines.

When the game ended, ABC's s Aaron Taylor hoisted to the Pasadena sky a Wheaties box with a depiction of Longhorns on it and shouted, Howard Dean-like, "It's cereal for everybody! Go Longhorns! Whoooooooo!"

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/06/sports/ncaafootball/06sandomir.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

01-06-06, 01:47 AM

Ask Matt
(from the Ask (TV Critic) Matt (Roush) column at TVGuide.com

By Matt Roush TVGuide.com TV Critic

Question: I was wondering what you think of ABC's scheduling of Dancing with the Stars. The show was an unexpected hit last summer, but I can't help but feel that ABC is going to overexpose and burn out this show in much the same way they burned out another surprise summer hit, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, a few years ago. I'm sure that, even with the increased competition, there are still a number of people who will want to tune in to the show, but don't you think that increasing the show from 60 to 90 minutes and adding a 30-minute results show is overkill? I know Fox has managed to successfully exploit American Idol in a similar manner, but do you think people will want to watch that many hours of Dancing, or will they tire of it even more quickly than they might have otherwise? Also, how do you think this scheduling will affect Crumbs? I think the show looks promising, but I can't imagine a worse time slot for an edgy sitcom about a dysfunctional family than being marooned between 90 minutes of Dancing with the Stars and an hour of Primetime. — Mike

Matt Roush: Keep in mind that I'm writing this response before having seen the first, two-hour (!!) episode and before the first ratings numbers come in. But I almost feel that the beginning of the premature end for Dancing with the Stars came in the form of that ill-conceived "dance-off" show that bombed last September and that left such a bitter residue, even among many of the show's fans. I wonder if Dancing would work better as a cheesy diversion during the off-season (say, summer) as opposed to taking on some of TV's heaviest hitters (CSI and now NBC's My Name Is Earl) on what may be the most competitive night of the week amidst a flurry of mid-season mayhem. But I also can't blame ABC for giving it a shot, even at the risk of overexposure. I would imagine Dancing will improve ABC's Thursday numbers considerably, at least at first, which may be all that matters, even if it comes in way behind CBS and possibly NBC. But the issue here is overexposure, and Mike may be right. Part of the charm of the first run of Dancing was its weightlessness; it came and went quickly. Dragging it out, and particularly dragging its episodes out, could be an enormous miscalculation. We'll see. I kind of enjoyed the first run as a goofy guilty pleasure. Less in these cases is usually more. As for Crumbs: It might have been better suited for a Friday time period than in this bizarre hammock, but ABC is having a notoriously tough time getting traction for its comedies, so it was always going to have an uphill climb to attract an audience.

________________________________________

Question: Please advise. Which should I watch: The Book of Daniel or In Justice? Both debut at the same time (10 pm/ET, Fridays). The Book of Daniel sounds much more interesting. But it sounds like the more likely to be canceled. Should I invest my time in a show that will cause me heartbreak when it is canceled, or in a less-satisfying show that may actually survive? — Jill

Matt Roush: People, people. Have you learned nothing from our years together in this Ask Matt forum? Why settle for mediocrity even if it sticks around like tar you can't scrape off your shoe? Why turn away from something original and provocatively entertaining merely because you can't be guaranteed it will last forever? I know it's hard getting one's hopes crushed by the gnarly vicissitudes of network programming, but there's no contest here. I've watched two episodes of In Justice and felt I'd watched the same hour twice. It's well intentioned and not a bad show, just a rather ordinary one. Whereas The Book of Daniel is something fresh and new, though it isn't likely to please everyone. It's an extreme show about sensitive matters involving religion and family, and it takes chances. The good news is that after the first night (tonight, Jan. 6), you won't have to choose. In Justice airs at 9 pm/ET, while Daniel moves into its regular time period of 10 pm/ET next week. I imagine it will be a distant second to CBS' established hit Numbers and may not even outdraw ABC's tired 20/20, but that doesn't keep me from recommending it to anyone who is seeking something different, ambitious, well written and very well acted by one of the finest casts of this entire TV season.

Another Daniel question, from Josh: "Do you know anything about how NBC is presenting The Book of Daniel? I have been excited about this show since it was announced during pilot season and I'm looking forward to its debut this Friday. I've seen promotions calling it a 'limited' series — does that mean the story line will be wrapped up (as much as possible) in the six episodes that have been scheduled? I have also heard there are actually eight episodes, and I don't want to be left with a choppy ending. What can you tell us? Peace, Josh."

Six hours (a two-hour premiere plus four weekly episodes, taking us to Feb. 3) will air by the time the Olympics take over. That will leave two episodes (jam-packed with incident and emotion, including a major flashback to a family member's death) that presumably will air after the Olympics are over, depending, of course, on how Daniel fares through January. Again, I encourage anyone who's the least bit interested to watch, and maybe NBC will at least give this show the eight hours it deserves to prove itself. And if you're in the mood, a little prayer might not hurt.

________________________________________

Question: I am confused. This week on Surface, NBC mentioned there were only four episodes left until the season finale. I thought the show had received the go-ahead for a full season. Does this mean it will not be renewed next year? If not, what does NBC plan to put in its time slot? Thank you for your time. — Sarah

Matt Roush: Surface did get picked up for additional episodes in the fall, but not, as it turned out, for a full season of 22 episodes. If my math is correct, if there are only four more episodes before the finale (making way for the Olympics in February), that will take the show to only 15 or so hours in its first season. My understanding is that this reduced order has to do with budget-cutting at NBC in a year of steep ratings and economic decline, and also because the Olympics and mid-season inventory have reduced the need for new episodes. But it's also just as likely a sign that the network is cutting its losses with this show. (The Book of Daniel is another show caught in the crunch. It went from an initial order of 13 episodes to the pilot plus seven.) It's too early to know if Surface will be renewed. I wouldn't count on it, but we won't know for sure until we see how NBC fares during the post-Olympics mid-season and with its development crop for next fall.

And now this from Chris S., another Surface fan: "I don't understand why you continue to bash Surface. I realize it's not your cup of tea, but I think you fail to recognize that not all viewers are as captivated by character study as TV critics tend to be. Specifically, the very thing you love about shows like Lost and Invasion I find increasingly irritating, and I know many viewers feel the same. These two shows advance character study above plot and story, and it's tiresome waiting for something to happen. Personally, I think the best character study comes about as a result of good storytelling rather than as a result of its own self-importance. Many viewers, like myself, prefer actual story and plot development, which Surface consistently delivers, rather than spending hours on hours learning what makes so-and-so 'tick.' While you might find Surface cheesy, I find it a refreshing change from lazy and self-indulgent writing that seems to dominate so many critical darlings."

This is where the old "let's agree to disagree" argument kicks in. But really: Lost, lazy? (Maybe self-indulgent, but lazy?) And since when are depth of character, mood and tone such bad things? Honestly. I agree that Surface churns a lot of story, but to what end when the story is so mind-numbingly silly — bet you didn't see Nim's ET-like resurrection coming — and the acting from blank-faced child to pop-eyed adult is so laughably and uniformly awful. My tendency to kick Surface has everything to do with applying critical standards to a genre that too few take seriously, mainly because of junk food like this.

________________________________________

Question: Hi, Matt! Hope you had a good time over the holidays! This week's Arrested Development was great. I was a little confused, though. It wasn't the last episode, was it? Also, any word on the show being picked up by Showtime or ABC? — Jenny

Matt Roush: I did have a good holiday, thanks. If this week was Arrested Development's swan song on Fox, which it may very well have been, what a terrific way to go out. At the moment, no other episodes are scheduled that I'm aware of. As many have already noticed, the previously scheduled Jan. 9 episode with guest star Justine Bateman (Jason's sister) has been pulled in favor of a House repeat, and starting Jan. 16, the time period is given over to other shows. Why Fox didn't just air back-to-back new episodes of Arrested over the last few weeks, instead of an original paired with a repeat, is beyond me. In for a low-rated penny and all that. (One possible explanation for pulling Arrested on Jan. 9: That's the night ABC is launching its new lineup, and back-to-back House episodes provide stronger competition.) But like I said, if this was the last regularly scheduled episode on Fox (four have yet to be aired), what a doozy. For those who missed it — which applies to most of you, I guess — it was a brilliantly satirical deconstruction of the show's failing fortunes, with multiple in-jokes about the family's (read: show's) desperation, including narrator Ron Howard begging the audience to tell their friends about the show. There was a mock 3-D stunt, meaningless celebrity cameos (and a great one from Andy Richter playing five versions of himself), and priceless lines like this one from Michael: "Am I the only one that thinks this family is finally becoming sympathetic and relatable? I mean, that's what people want to see, you know." People clearly didn't want to see Arrested Development. Their, and now our, loss. As for the show's future beyond Fox, no updates yet. If anything happens, it's not likely to remain a secret.

________________________________________

Question: I know how you feel about Joey, but I'll ask anyway: Did it get canceled or is it just on hiatus? I actually enjoy the show (I know, I know) and am curious about what's going to happen to it now that NBC has a new Thursday-night lineup. P.S.: I did read in your column about how it's about time Joey was kicked to the curb, but I wasn't sure if you meant that it was permanent. Thanks for the great Q&As: Keep 'em coming. — Christi F.

Matt Roush: Now that's the way to broach a "diff'rent strokes" point of view. It's true I have no love for Joey — haven't since probably around the first November sweeps of its first season — but for those who still care, it's officially on hiatus, not canceled. Unlike the situation discussed earlier with Surface and Daniel, NBC is contracted for a full-season order of Joey. So it's entirely possible that the show will return sometime after the Olympics for the back half of a full season. (Beyond that, forget about it.) I don't know if it's ever headed back to Thursday, though. Hasn't it done enough damage there already?

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Question: While thinking of the sad and sudden death of John Spencer and what the producers of The West Wing will do to alter their story line, I came upon a repeat airing of Aaron Sorkin's The American President, starring Michael Douglas. In that movie, actor John Mahoney (of Frasier fame) has a small but key role as head of an environmental lobby. While watching his performance, I was struck by his fine acting but more by his physical similarity to the late Mr. Spencer. Perhaps the West Wing producers, rather than "kill off" Leo McGarry's character, which has been important to the most recent story arc, could see if Mr. Mahoney is available to assume the role, just to finish out the series and give the McGarry character a proper send-off. Fans of both The American President and The West Wing, I feel, would not be too bothered by the change, and Mr. Mahoney is a fine actor and could bring dignity to the role. What do you think? — Dave S.

Matt Roush: I agree that John Mahoney is a terrific, world-class actor and would fit in well with the world of The West Wing. But not as Leo McGarry. The more I've thought about it, the more I'm convinced that the show would honor John Spencer by putting his character to rest, not trying to replace him even with an actor of this caliber. It's a terrific casting choice, to be sure, but why would he want to do it? And more important, why would the producers?

And here's this from Chris L.: "I was deeply saddened to hear of John Spencer's passing. He was a truly great actor and will be missed. I think a great way to fill his shoes would be to bring back Rob Lowe and have his character replace Leo on the vice-presidential ticket. It would be a great nod to history and a great incentive to lure back old viewers. And I don't think it would be any more improbable than Leo being on the ticket in the first place!" Good point. Quite a few have suggested this option. It would certainly make news and, more important, help the show achieve the sort of thematic closure many of us are hoping for this season. But could it actually come to pass? I have no idea.

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Question: Do you think Battlestar Galactica has a chance for any Emmy nominations outside of the technical area? If I'm not mistaken, they weren't even mentioned for the Golden Globes. The acting on this series is superb and deserves the recognition. What are your thoughts? — Bonnie

Matt Roush: I agree that Battlestar is worthy of Emmy consideration, but I don't think it has a chance in radioactive Caprica to earn credit for anything beyond technical achievement — which is, of course, considerable. I'd love to see the show's writers, as well as its actors, acknowledged. But even if The Sopranos were to sit out yet another year, there are so many terrific dramas competing for these slots that the chances are beyond slim for a show from this genre with this kind of cult reputation.

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Question: I love Grey's Anatomy. It is one of my few must-watch shows. I have noticed lately that ABC has removed the cool intro song and instead is just flashing a black screen with the show title on it. I loved the song and thought it really captured the spirit of the show. Why did they remove it, and will it return? — Lisa H.

Matt Roush: This theme song/credits crunch also afflicted Desperate Housewives toward the end of last year, and it's usually explained as a function of timing. The episodes run long, so they sacrifice the opening credits. (There's also a popular-among-networks theory that by jumping straight into the show, and doing away with opening-theme sequences, the audience is less likely to drift away.) Whatever the case, I also hope that they show up again soon. They set the tone beautifully for the hour that follows, and there's something very comforting about that.

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Question: Please give me a definition of the phrase you use throughout your column: "over-the-top." In one corner, you have Season 2 of Nip/Tuck, with its absurd Julia dream sequence and Sean having sex with the Kimber-Doll, and you classify that as "over the top," but you say it's OK because it's good drama. But when it's The Office and Michael gives the temp, Ryan, an iPod for Christmas, you call it "over the top" and say it's crazy. Explain to me, please! — Richard

Matt Roush: The whole notion of a show going "over the top" is a tricky concept critically. It can be a good or bad thing, depending on the show or the episode. Sometimes it's a defining moment for a show. Other times it's a "jump the shark" signal. Nip/Tuck lives on the extremes and many of its outrageous moments are so well executed that they tend to serve the show, not ruin it. (But then, when the absurdity escalates to the point of no return, as in the recent season finale, I begin to question my loyalty to the show. Still, I'm sure I'll welcome it back eagerly next year.) With The Office, where my affection wavers week to week, I respond best to episodes where I actually believe what's going on, whether it's aiming for actual comedy or pathos. In the case of the iPod episode, I would have settled for Michael changing the rules of the gift exchange and Jim's gift to Pam of the teapot going up for grabs. The iPod gift was so egregiously unlikely, even for a boss this delusional, that it took me right out of the episode. When I begin to think of The Office as just another wacky sitcom, that's when it loses me.

________________________________________

Question: Don't get me wrong, I love Project Runway, but I'm a little annoyed after the last episode in December. Just how much influence do the producers have in selecting who gets eliminated? I know there is a disclaimer at the end saying the producers have a part in the selection, but this week was painfully obvious. While the judges were not thrilled with Daniel's designs, they absolutely hated Santino's, and Santino was very argumentative and put the blame on others. Judges clearly wanted Santino out, but, of course, we all know Santino is much better television, so Daniel got the boot. Let's not keep a villain around just for good TV viewing. My respect for this show has just come down a rung. — D. Taylor

Matt Roush: You may be right, and I can't say with any authority how much influence the producers exert or when they affect the decisions and twists on all of these so-called "reality" contests. It comes with the territory, which is why I don't take any of these shows (including the ones I like, such as Runway and America's Top Model) very seriously. In this case, I sort of feel it was a real toss-up. Santino was a jerk on the runway, to be sure, arguing over every criticism. He's an impossibly and annoyingly self-infatuated diva and may be "out" sooner than he thinks (regardless of how the producers feel and despite his actual talent). But Daniel Franco seemed constitutionally unable to function under the rules of this contest, especially when it came to the time limits. In this challenge, his lingerie designs skewed too old and he didn't adjust them accordingly when that possibility was brought to his attention. He seems talented enough, and this second chance at exposure turns out to have been a redemptive thing for him. But he wasn't going to make it all the way anyway, and while it's true that Santino had an off week design-wise, if keeping him "in" makes for better drama down the road, I can live with that as long as he gets the hook the next time he causes another fatal fashion disaster.

http://tvguide.com/tv/roush/askmatt/

fredfa

01-06-06, 02:00 AM

Program Guide
15 shows (yes, 15!) to watch this weekend

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune TV blog Date: January 05, 2006

(NOTE—All times are Central)

• “Battlestar Galactica,” 9 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi: Put a pillow on the floor, because your jaw will drop when you hear the outrageous act that Commander Adama and President Roslin calmly discuss as the second half of “Battlestar’s” Season 2 begins. When the stellar drama wrapped up the first half of its second season a few months ago, viewers were left on a cruel cliffhanger, as the Galactica and the Pegasus, another battleship from the Colonial fleet, stood on the verge of open warfare. Be prepared for another wicked cliffhanger (the two-parter concludes next week), as Roslin and Adama contemplate all possible options for resolving their dispute with the tough commander of the Pegasus, Adm. Cain (the fabulous Michelle Forbes). Oh, and there’s a pesky Cylon mothership hanging around too.

• “House,” cable run begins 10 p.m. Friday, USA Network: If your reason for not watching this stellar Fox doctor drama is that you missed the early episodes, well, that excuse won’t wash anymore, as “House” begins its syndication run. Hugh Laurie stars as the irascible, charismatic Dr. Gregory House, who, in the show’s premiere, treats a kindergarten teacher who’s taken violently ill. If you’ve never seen the show before, be forewarned: House’s bedside manner needs a little work (but that’s half the fun).

• “Stargate SG-1” and “Stargate Atlantis,” 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi: The best part of “SG-1’s” return, in which the team fights a plague unleashed on Earth by the evil Ori, is the subtle comedic interplay between new cast member Ben Browder and “SG-1” veteran Michael Shanks; the best part of the return of “Atlantis” is, as usual, watching the comedic talents of David Hewlett, who has some funny scenes after his character, nerdy scientist Rodney McKay, ingests what amounts to he-man juice.

• “Real Simple,” 3:30 p.m. Saturday, PBS (Check Local Listings) :: Wearing restful earth-tone colors, three hosts attempt to bring the successful magazine franchise to the small screen, in a show that’s designed to make viewers’ lives easier. It’s a noble effort, but one wonders if the variety of segments is perhaps a little too broad (a segment on language and pronunciation falls flat). Still, the segments on food and wine are solid, as are the production values. This is a show worth watching for fans of the magazine, but one senses it won’t quite displace the many offerings of HGTV and the Food Network in many viewers’ affections.

• “The Book of Daniel,” 7 p.m. Saturday, NBC: If you missed the Friday debut of this series about a troubled Episcopal priest (reviewed elsewhere by Sid Smith), catch this repeat of the two-hour premiere.

• “Emeril Live: Food of Love With Queen Latifah,” 7 p.m. Saturday, Food Network: The rapper/actress and the famous “Bam!” cook rustle up some treats and discuss Latifah’s role as an aspiring chef in the upcoming film “Last Holiday.”

• “How We Became the Little Einsteins: The True Story,” 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Disney Channel: This new-ish Disney series is a standout in a crowded field of fare for pre-school and kindergarten-age children. Classical music and paintings are worked into the fabric of each show’s gentle story, but the educational content is enjoyable and unforced; the show’s one of those programs parents and kids really can watch together. In this special Sunday edition of the show, the Little Einsteins’ origins as curious tots are sketched out.

• “The West Wing,” 7 p.m. Sunday, NBC: The many fans of John Spencer, who passed away just before Christmas, will get a chance to see the skills of the actor, who effortlessly emanated a sense of integrity and right-minded toughness, showcased in this new “West Wing” episode, one of several taped before Spencer’s untimely passing. In this outing, Spencer’s character, presidential running mate Leo McGarry, struggles while preparing for a debate between vice president candidates.

• “Cold Case,” 7:30 p.m. Sunday, CBS: Sunday’s episode of this reliable police procedural, which concerns two high school friends who died in the ’80s, features nine songs by Bruce Springsteen from that era, including “I’m on Fire,” “Atlantic City,” “Bobby Jean” and “Brilliant Disguise.”

• “Henry VIII,” 8 p.m. Sunday, PBS (Check Local Listings) : British actor Ray Winstone, most famous on these shores for his memorable lead turn in the 2000 film “Sexy Beast,” presides over a two-part Masterpiece Theatre recounting of Henry VIII’s colorful, often violent life (well, it could be violent if you happened to be one of the king’s six wives). A host of great Brit actors fill out this period drama’s supporting cast, which includes Helena Bonham Carter as Anne Boleyn and David Suchet as Cardinal Wolsey.

• “Crossing Jordan,” 9 p.m. Sunday, NBC: Woody and Jordan, who have flirted with each other for years, are trapped in a snowbound (and supposedly haunted) bed and breakfast while investigating a case. Will these two crazy kids finally give in to their attraction? Hmm, I’m guessing not, but you never know.

• “The L Word,” 9 p.m. Sunday, Showtime: As the third season of this sexy drama about lesbian ladies in Los Angeles begins, Bette and Tina struggle with the fact that having a baby in their lives presents lots of new challenges, and wealthy Helena jumps into the movie business in a big way.

• “The Office” and “The Newsroom,” 9:55 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., PBS(Check Local Listings) : Two unmissable comedy series for fans of dry-as-a-bone satire. The version of “The Office” that WTTW-Ch. 11 is running in this Sunday-night slot is the original British series, not the NBC show of the same name. In this first “Office,” series co-creator Ricky Gervais created a cringe-inducing comedy character for the ages, witless manager David Brent, and the unspoken love of two white-collar serfs, Dawn and Tim, gives the wicked comedy a surprisingly soft heart. “The Newsroom,” another scripted comedy filmed in the format of a reality-TV show, is a gem from Canada. In the fourth-season premiere of this comedy, which ceaselessly and knowingly skewers the TV-news business, witless news anchor Jim Walcott (the superb Peter Keleghan) goes missing while filming a heartwarming pet feature in Baghdad.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/what_to_watch_this_weekend/index.html

fredfa

01-06-06, 02:08 AM

Critic’s Notebook
American Koppel: Ted Jumps to Cable

By James Poniewozik Time Magazine TV Critic

The Discovery Channel, your go-to cable channel for middlebrow documentaries, Monster Garage, I Shouldn't Be Alive, American Chopper and finer motorcycle-custom-shop-based reality shows, is the new employer of former Nightline host Ted Koppel. A press release issued this morning says the home of MythBusters has hired Koppel -- along with his longtime producer and eight Nightline staffers -- to produce "long form programming examining major global topics and events."

The move follows speculation that Koppel would make a similar deal with HBO, and while it probably won't appease Nightline partisans who believe ABC has sold out TV journalism by easing out Koppel, it makes sense. In a fragmented media market, in-depth, contemplative investigations such as Koppel specializes in simply aren't a mass-market product anymore -- but they're probably just about right for a large-ish cable channel.

Koppel's first work for the network is expected to appear in the fall, though there were no details on what it would be. Me, I'm hoping for Ted Koppel Walks with Dinosaurs.

http://time.blogs.com/tuned_in/

Xesdeeni

01-06-06, 09:48 AM

Favorite three new network prime-time shows which debuted in anytime in 2005:

Supernatural, Eyes, How I Met Your Mother

Favorite three new prime-time cable shows:

The Closer, 30 Days, Extras (decent on free HBO preview, but not enough for me to subscribe)

Favorite three veteran prime-time shows:

Lost, CSI, Veronica Mars

Favorite three veteran cable prime-time shows:

Mythbusters, The 4400 (don't watch enough cable for a third)

Favorite three TV actors:

Martin Sheen, Enrico Colantoni, William Peterson

Favorite three TV actresses:

Cobie Smulders, Paula Marshall, Chandra Wilson

Favorite TV sports production:

NCAA Football on CBS, NCAA Basketball on ESPN, NCAA Basketball on CBS

Favorite TV news program or (cable net) as the case may be:

FoxNews

Show the critics most overlook:

Eyes

Show the critics most over-hype:

Nip/Tuck

Actor who makes you cringe

David Caruso

Actress who makes you cringe

Stockard Channing

One former favorite which has lost your interest this season:

CSI: Miami

(For HD viewers only) Favorite program to show off your HD setup to friends and neighbors:

Lost

(For HD viewers only) Is there any show you enjoy so much you'd watch it even in SD?

Supernatural (had to, since wife-preferred House and Earl/Office were on at the same time, and I can only record two HD shows at once).

Xesdeeni
(sorry, I was on vacation :-) )

fredfa

01-06-06, 10:39 AM

The TV Column
Can Jon Stewart Goose Oscar? Take a Look in the Crystal Ball.

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, January 6, 2006; C01

The board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has chosen the co-star of "Death to Smoochy" and "Big Daddy" to host its prestigious Academy Awards ceremony, which this year will again be broadcast on ABC.

"What a terrific addition to our roster of great hosts!" academy President Sid Ganis said in yesterday's announcement of the selection of Jon Stewart -- better known to small-screen aficionados as the host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."

And we're here to let you know that the March 5 trophy show will be a load of fun to watch -- Stewart got high marks for hosting the Grammy Awards in 2001 and 2002 -- and will be low-rated. Not because of Stewart, though he is not a household name, but because this year was a real box office dog. Oscar numbers have everything to do with that year's horse race and virtually nothing to do with the host.

Longtime host Billy Crystal reportedly took himself out of the running this year, citing scheduling conflicts. Last year's host, Chris Rock, was not asked back, probably because he was not particularly good at it, and besides, he failed to bring in the younger crowd the academy and the network thought he'd snag.

With Rock as emcee, the Oscarcast scored a smaller rating among 18-to-49-year-olds -- the age bracket ABC sells to advertisers -- than the previous year's show, hosted by oldster Crystal.

That's because last year's big winner was the three-hankie flick "Million Dollar Baby," while in '04 the box office blockbuster "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" wiped out the competition.

Another case in point: The year that David Letterman hosted the Academy Awards -- and was universally panned for his performance -- the show snared its biggest audience in more than a decade, more than 48 million viewers. Just once since then has Letterman's Oscarcast audience been bested -- in 1998, the year "Titanic" mopped up.

That year's show was hosted by Crystal, who was then in his fifties and promoting the upcoming release of "My Giant," his tour de force flick. And, speaking of younger viewers, that '98 Oscarcast still holds the crown as the highest rated among kids, teenagers, 18-to-34-year-olds, 18-to-49-year-olds, 25-to-54-year-olds and 50-plus-year-olds since Nielsen began disseminating demographic information in the early '90s.

For sure, Rock did do a bit better among 18-to-34-year-olds than Crystal did in '04. On the other hand, Rock's performance with that age group was not nearly as good as Crystal's when he hosted in '00, nor did Rock do as well as silver-haired Steve Martin in '01, or grandma Whoopi Goldberg in '02.

And among teenagers? Rock was no Crystal '04.

All of which may explain why, in his canned quote included in yesterday's announcement, Stewart had the good sense to say: "As a performer, I'm truly honored to be hosting the show. Although, as an avid watcher of the Oscars, I can't help but be a little disappointed with the choice. It appears to be another sad attempt to smoke out Billy Crystal."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Despite the best efforts of the conservative Christian group American Family Association, by press time only two NBC affiliates in smaller markets had said they would not air tonight's first episode of "The Book of Daniel," a drama series about an Episcopal minister with a Vicodin habit who sees and talks to Jesus.

"New NBC show demeans Christians. Act now! Time is short!" AFA said on its Web site, instructing its followers to call their NBC station to protest, or send the group's form letter of protest before "Book of Daniel" debuts, which also means before they've seen one minute of it. AFA also says that the show is written by "a practicing homosexual who describes himself as being 'in Catholic recovery' and is interested in Buddhist teachings about reincarnation."

Meanwhile, the Episcopal Diocese of Washington wonders where the AFA comes off speaking for the church and has launched its own "The Book of Daniel" Web log on which viewers can comment.

The limited series stars Aidan Quinn as the Rev. Daniel Webster, whose oldest son is gay and struggling with the loss of his twin brother; whose teenage daughter is selling pot to finance her manga obsession; whose teenage adopted son is something of a skirt chaser; and whose wife is coping with the loss of her child with the help of lunchtime martinis. Garret Dillahunt ("Deadwood") plays Jesus, who, according to NBC, "serves as a sounding board and encourages Webster to find the answers to his questions within himself."

The AFA has "zero audience in the Episcopal Church. . . . They are at odds with us on almost every major issue of public concern," Jim Naughton, spokesman for the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, told The Post's John Maynard.

"So, the idea that these people are setting themselves as arbiters of how our church should be portrayed on television is ridiculous."

NBC affiliates in Terre Haute, Ind., and Little Rock have announced they will not air the first episode of the series. (Both stations are owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, based in Irving, Tex. Little Rock is the country's 57th-ranked TV market and Terre Haute is No. 150 out of 210 markets.)

KARK-TV in Little Rock said viewer protest was behind its decision to pull the show. In that market, NBC has arranged for the show to air tonight on the WB affiliate.

But on the Web site for WTWO-TV in Terre Haute, General Manager Duane Lammers said he was pulling the show for two reasons entirely other than its content.

"Our relationship with NBC always provided for the right to reject programming. I am reaffirming that right to let them know I will not allow them to make unilateral decisions affecting our viewers. Second, I want to draw attention to the worst offenders of indecency on television . . . the cable industry, which faces no decency regulations, nor a license renewal. If my action causes people in our community to pay more attention to what they watch on television, I have accomplished my mission."

Okey-dokey.

NBC, meanwhile, was sticking with its official statement, issued while, we assume, dancing the happy dance over all the free publicity.

That statement is as follows: " 'The Book of Daniel' is a fictional drama about an Episcopalian priest's family and the contemporary issues with which they must grapple. We're confident that once audiences view this quality drama themselves, they'll appreciate this thought-provoking examination of one American family."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/05/AR2006010502427_pf.html

fredfa

01-06-06, 10:46 AM

TV-RADIO NOTEBOOK
UT-USC already viewed as a classic

(Note: all times are Central)

By David Barron Houston Chronicle

LOS ANGELES - ESPN, in its wisdom, has declared the Texas-USC Rose Bowl game to be an Instant Classic. Go figure, huh?

The replay airs at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN Classic and, for those of you with satellite dishes, on ESPNU at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday. I was a wee bit occupied during the game myself, so I plan to catch the Saturday replay of what likely will be Keith Jackson's final broadcast behind the mike for ABC.

You can also catch condensed replays on ESPN360 on ESPN.com or download a 15-minute version of the game onto your iPod from Apple's iTunes service for $1.99. FSN Houston, meanwhile, will re-air its 90-minute postgame show at noon Saturday.

With the essentials out of the way, let's get to the rhetoric.

From ESPN's Lee Corso on Texas quarterback Vince Young: "I don't think I've ever seen a performance better by a quarterback in a clutch situation. I thought Roger Staubach was the best quarterback I'd ever seen at Navy, but this guy is better.

"He's got to go to the pros. He's got nothing else to prove. They should take him No. 1 in Houston."

Keith Olbermann of ESPN Radio, on whether Vince Young's knee touched down before he flipped to Selvin Young for a first-half touchdown: "A guy doesn't put his knee down that firmly when he's proposing marriage."

Ron Franklin of ESPN, on hype: "Didn't the network I work for identify this USC team as the best college football team of all time? Then where does that put Texas? Thousands of people took the survey, and it was their opinion that USC was the best. If that's the case, Texas really is in high cotton.

"This has to be the biggest shootout ever. I don't mean to take anything away from 1969, but lordy mercy. Gosh, it was a great game."

Olbermann once more, on the technical glitch that prevented the Big 10 replay crew from reviewing whether Young should have been ruled down: "I'm not saying Texas doesn't deserve to win. But you should not have the national championship game impacted by bad calls followed by technical difficulties. Not at the Rose Bowl, for God's sake. It's the television capital of North America."

ABC's Craig James, on whether Young should go to the NFL, specifically if he can join the Texans: "I would say that most players would look forward to the opportunity to play for a hometown team. But I'm a real believer that Vince has a chance to come back and be even better at throwing the ball. Look at the improvement from a year ago. Go back and win the Heisman and the national championship, then go to the NFL."

Four DVRs, no waiting

Let's hope Kirk Herbstreit gets to sleep in this weekend. After calling the Penn State-Florida State game in the Orange Bowl on Tuesday night, he got back to his hotel at 4 a.m. EST, slept for 45 minutes, then hopped on a plane and worked on the ESPN College GameDay show as he flew cross-country to Los Angeles. He got to the Rose Bowl at 1:20 p.m. PST Wednesday. ...

In addition to the Rose Bowl, ESPN Classic will re-air the other BCS games on Saturday — West Virginia-Georgia at 9 a.m., Penn State-Florida State at noon and Notre Dame-Ohio State at 3 p.m. ...

While many remain pessimistic about the dearth of big-time non-conference college football games during the regular season, ESPN programming executive Len DeLuca believes the addition of the 12th game each year will promote such games.

"Most teams are trying to get that seventh home game," he said. "That will not be the game that rises to prominence, but it enables schools to go out and play major intersectionals, and we will push that. I'm sure that Fox will push it, too, with their FSN deals, now that they're in the BCS beginning next year."

By the way, DeLuca confirms that ABC is looking at the possibility of a weekly prime-time college football game next season. ...

On ABC's and ESPN's decision to drop out of the running for the PGA Tour package that expires after the 2006 season, he said, "We respect golf, and we respect what the PGA Tour has done. We had a sense of one value regarding what they offered, and they had another. We're gentlemen, so we agreed to part ways." ...

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/sports/3569154

fredfa

01-06-06, 10:53 AM

On Sports Media and Golf
Time right for Jackson's exit

Terrific Rose Bowl should be final call
Ed Sherman Chicago Tribune January 6, 2006

Forty years from now, when ESPN Classic shows the 2006 Rose Bowl for the millionth time, those viewers will hear Keith Jackson on the call.

How fitting. The greatest college announcer ever belongs on arguably the greatest game in college football history.

After the game ended Wednesday, the 77-year-old Jackson speculated on whether he had done his last broadcast.

"I really don't know, and if I did, I'd tell you," Jackson told the Los Angeles Times. "But this would be a pretty good game to go out on."

Here's guessing the game probably will be Jackson's finale.

It would be his equivalent of Ted Williams hitting a home run in his last trip to the plate.

Like Williams as a baseball player in his 40s, Jackson, as an announcer in his 70s, has seen better days. The cracks definitely are showing.

While it is terrific to hear his signature voice and his unique descriptions, it hurts to hear the mistakes.

Wednesday night he called a Texas extra point good when it obviously was wide.

He seemed to have trouble seeing whether a pass was completed in certain situations.

Jackson didn't know that the third quarter had ended.

It also was horribly awkward to hear Jackson struggle through the endless network promos he is forced to do. Just a hunch, but Jackson probably won't be watching "Emily's Reasons Why Not."

Much like Steve Stone did with an aging Harry Caray, analyst Dan Fouts helped guide Jackson through the trouble spots. The former San Diego Chargers quarterback had an excellent game. He was sharp in questioning the officials and keeping up with the frenetic pace of the game.

Announcers, like players, don't always know when to call it quits. Caray remained in the booth until the end. If anything, the mistakes only added to his legend.

Normally, however, it doesn't work that way. Viewers saw Pat Summerall's skills painfully erode before their eyes.

At the end, Summerall found himself calling a meaningless Bears-Panthers game in December, a far cry from all those Super Bowls he once anchored.

That likely won't happen to Jackson. He tried to retire after the 1998 season, only to be lured back with a schedule that kept him close to his home on the West Coast.

ESPN, which oversees ABC Sports, says it wants Jackson to return, but Jackson is hinting it is time to retire again.

Wednesday night's thriller probably will make the decision easier for him. Jackson should know he'll never get a better game to put the final exclamation mark on his legacy.

Cashing in

As expected, ABC was a winner Wednesday, attracting the largest audience ever for a BCS title game.

The USC-Texas game did a 22.7 overnight rating of the nation's top markets, up 54 percent from last year's USC-Oklahoma title game in the Orange Bowl; 1 ratings point is worth slightly more than 1 million homes.

This year marks ABC's swan song with the full BCS schedule. Next year Fox Sports will air all the BCS games, with the exception of the Rose Bowl, which stays on ABC. The new format calls for the title game to take place a week after the other BCS games.

The BCS executives are making noises about asking Fox to move up the kickoffs for the prime-time games. Tuesday's Orange Bowl ended at nearly 1 a.m. on the East Coast. But like the World Series, with its late starts, don't expect any changes.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-0601060190jan06,1,4734796,print.column?coll=cs-columnists

fredfa

01-06-06, 10:59 AM

On Sports Media
Ad sales boom for Super Bowl, Olympics

By Theresa Howard, USA TODAY (contributing: Laura Petrecca)

NEW YORK — The expected bruising battle of big sports events for first-quarter ad spending has turned out to be a draw.

ABC's Super Bowl Feb. 5 comes just five days before NBC Universal's 17 days of Winter Olympics coverage on its broadcast, cable and Internet properties begins. At this point, however, and without massive discounting, ABC is reportedly 85% sold out and on track for up to $150 million. NBC says it's 90% sold out and should hit its $900 million target.

Among veteran Super Bowl advertisers, only McDonald's and Visa, both also longtime Olympic sponsors, opted out of the game for the Olympics. For Visa, a big factor was the chance to be the sole credit card advertiser for the Games (MasterCard and MBNA also had ads in last year's Super Bowl), says spokesman Michael Rolnick. "The Olympics give us a unique opportunity over 17 days to showcase Visa to a very large audience using category exclusivity."

McDonald's spokeswoman Lisa Howard says the chain will have an ad in the Super Bowl pre-game show. Meanwhile, in its absence in the game, rival Burger King jumped in after an 11-year hiatus to buy 60 seconds of prime first-quarter time.

In the end, a big TV sports event is still a big ad draw, and each one offers distinct advantages.

The Olympics have more ad time for less — an average of $700,000 per 30-second, prime-time ad slot, says NBC. Super Bowl slots averaged $2.4 million last year. Each event is one of few opportunities for a huge audience: The Super Bowl averages about 88 million viewers vs. 60 million for the Olympics in prime time. Super Bowl ads get oodles of attention, but the Games give marketers time to build a brand and message.

"The Super Bowl is a huge, rocket shot of creativity for a day with a tremendous amount of viewership," says Bill Cella, CEO of Magna Global, which has bought time for clients in both properties. "The Olympics are more of a promotional platform. ... It's the drama that goes on for 17 days."

The Winter Games also tout their upscale viewers. Their selling points have helped them not only nip at the heels of the Super Bowl but also close the gap on the Summer Games, which reaped $1 billion in ad sales in 2004. NBC's expected $900 million now is a 22% rise from the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

"We're doing more dollars per deal, and overall the dollars are higher," says Peter Lazarus, NBC Universal head of sports and Olympic sales.

The Super Bowl, however, remains sports' premier ad event, says Ed Erhardt, ad sales president for ESPN ABC Sports. "The Super Bowl in the end has an engagement value that is second to none. People come that day riveted to that TV, and the No. 1 thing that many of them want to watch is this advertising."

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2006-01-06-nfl-olympics-ads_x.htm

fredfa

01-06-06, 11:06 AM

TV Notebook
Deadwood Near Fourth-Season Renewal

By James Hibbard TVWeek.com January 6, 2006

Though its third season has yet to debut, HBO is set to renew its Western drama "Deadwood" for a fourth round, sources said Thursday. The premium network had no comment.

The 2004 debut season of "Deadwood" paired the David Milch drama with the most recent outing of "The Sopranos." HBO originally planned to re-pair the duo when the mob drama made its long-awaited sixth-season return in March. Instead, the network pushed "Deadwood" to June and will instead pair "The Sopranos" with "Big Love," a drama about a polygamous family produced by Tom Hanks.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9127

fredfa

01-06-06, 11:08 AM

Research
Broadcast's own worst enemy: reruns

They're up dramatically, driving viewers away
By Kevin Downey MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer

The broadcast networks are entering the midseason this week facing a familiar quandary: slumping ratings in key demographics. Ratings for adults 18-49 through late December were down 6 percent.

The usual explanation, one floated about for years, blames outside forces: the lure of cable, video games, DVDs and other new media.

But it may well be that blame belongs more properly with the networks themselves.

A major reason for the defection, it turns out, is their increasing reliance on reruns. This is especially so in the months outside of sweeps periods, when ratings are used to set ad prices for local affiliates.

Reruns during those months are surging, and have been for decades, according to an analysis of Nielsen Media Research data by media buying agency Magna Global. Reruns have been averaging between 36 percent and 43 percent during non-sweeps months, as compared to only 30 percent 10 years ago and less than 15 percent in the early 1980s.

But reruns are on the rise during sweeps months as well, up by half from only three seasons ago, to 21 percent from 14 percent.

“The heavy repeat load in the middle of the so-called first-run season is one of the leading causes of network audience erosion,” writes Steve Sternberg, executive vice president of audience analysis at Magna.

“So many midseason repeats add to viewer confusion, interrupt viewing patterns, encourage channel switching, and benefit the broadcast networks’ competitors.”

Sternberg attributes the rise in reruns in part to the emergence of reality shows earlier this decade.

The additional cost to produce reality programs, particularly for the summer when reruns had historically dominated broadcast lineups, has put a strain on the networks’ production budgets.

Sternberg also says that much of the ratings declines the broadcasters have suffered in recent years are the result of the networks increasingly relying on repeats at the same time that television viewers have more options to find original programming.

Magna estimates that the average household now receives more than 100 channels, compared to 41 a decade ago.

“Not surprisingly, ad-supported cable generally enjoys an audience bump in months when the broadcast networks have higher repeat loads,” he writes.

“During the 2004-'05 season, the average rating for ad-supported cable during December, January and March was about 5 percent higher than the average for November, February and May, among both households and adults 18-49.”

Sternberg notes that the increase in reruns stems from the 1980s, when the broadcasters’ affiliates pressured the networks to extend original programming from April, at that time the end of the broadcast season, to May, a sweeps month. In 1996, the season was officially changed to September-May.

On a full-season basis, the percentage of repeats last year hit 29 percent, up from 26 percent at the beginning of the decade and up from 13 percent in the early 1980s.

For this season through early December, the networks’ average primetime share of households is 46 percent, not including Spanish-language networks, slightly down from 46.2 percent last year, according to the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau. Ad-supported cable’s share is up to 53.7 percent, from 51.2 percent.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_2063.asp

fredfa

01-06-06, 11:13 AM

EchoStar not up for sale

"I'm in my dream job. It's my hobby to do satellite."
By Kimberly S. Johnson Denver Post Staff Writer Jan. 6, 2006

Las Vegas - Despite analyst speculation that EchoStar Communications Corp. could be an acquisition target for telecommunications giant AT&T Corp., Charlie Ergen, chairman and chief executive for Doug las County-based EchoStar, said Thursday he is not looking to sell the company.

"These rumors are false. I'm happy being the largest shareholder of EchoStar," Ergen said after a news conference at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show. "I'm in my dream job. It's my hobby to do satellite."

Ergen has an estimated net worth of $7.1 billion, ranking 30th on the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans. He controls a majority of the voting shares of EchoStar, meaning any decision to sell the public company is his alone.

EchoStar, which employs 5,000 people in Colorado, has a market capitalization of $12.8 billion.

Ergen said 2005 was a "solid" year for EchoStar and the satellite industry overall. He said that although there's a growing consensus that cable- TV companies have the upper hand over satellite, 2006 will prove that EchoStar can deliver services that can effectively compete against cable providers and DirecTV, with 15 million subscribers the nation's largest satellite-TV provider.

EchoStar announced this week that it added 1 million new subscribers in 2005 for a total of 12 million.

EchoStar unveiled several new high-definition television offerings Thursday, positioning itself as the provider of more HDTV channels than any other pay-TV company in the nation and claiming 1,700 hours a week of HD content.

The company's Dish Network subscribers will be able to receive five new Voom HD channels beginning in February. The new channels are available to customers who upgrade to new set-top boxes capable of receiving MPEG4 - a higher quality of compressed video.

The new HDTV lineup, called DishHD, will offer 25 national high-definition channels, plus local ones - where available - for $54.99 a month. That price also includes 70 standard-definition channels.

In addition to the Voom HD channels and HD channels from ESPN and NBC Universal, Echo Star will broadcast local channels in high-definition in select cities. Local channels in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York will be available in high-definition in February, with Echo Star planning to offer 50 by year-end.

It is unclear when Dish subscribers will be able to receive local Denver channels in high-definition, according to an EchoStar spokesman.

DirecTV, controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., made news of its own, according to the Associated Press. Intel said it's collaborating with DirecTV on a PC tuner that doesn't require a stand-alone satellite box. DirecTV is also working on set-top boxes that can share content with PCs and portable video players.

http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3375734

zebras23

01-06-06, 11:14 AM

FYI - the Post's technology reporter is filing on a blog about his impressions of the show and announcements:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technology/interactives/ces/

fredfa

01-06-06, 11:22 AM

Jon Stewart: Why he's right Oscar choice

By David Bianculli New York Daily News TV Editor January 6, 2006

Jon Stewart's name has been bandied about as a possible addition to the "CBS Evening News."

Above and beyond his "Daily Show" chores, he has also been discussed openly, and at times very enthusiastically, as an heir apparent for one of the late-night network talk-show hosts.

But the Oscars? Jon Stewart as host of the Oscars?

Sure, why not? It's not easy to picture what or how he'll do - but that could be part of the fun.

While presenting his bit on the Emmys in 2003, Stewart was one of the funniest parts of the show.

He has also served as host of previous TV specials - the Grammy presentations in 2001 and 2002 and "Elmopalooza!" in 1998.

An Oscar host, in the year 2006, has to be politically attuned enough to stir things up a bit in an important congressional election year - but, to please most people watching the massively viewed Oscar telecast, he has to be more Bob Hope than Michael Moore.

Also, a host in 2006 must meet one other key qualification: He must know what sort of jokes to make - and better yet, not tomake - about "Brokeback Mountain."

Stewart may look to be a pleasant, well-behaved enough guy to trust with this task - but as he proved in the last presidential-election year on "Crossfire," he can be defiantly unpredictable.

Unpredictability is one thing the Oscars, like any awards show, could use a lot more of. Oscarpaloooza, anyone?

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/380594p-323123c.html

fredfa

01-06-06, 11:34 AM

Sports On TV
Jackson should exit on grand game
By Jay Posner San Diego Union-Tribune January 6, 2006
(Note: All times are Pacific.)

Keith Jackson dropped several hints over the last week that Wednesday's Rose Bowl would be his last game as a broadcaster.

Let's hope it was.

What better way for college football's greatest voice to end his legendary career than by calling one of the greatest games in the sport's history?

Jackson himself seemed to realize as much after the game when he told Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News he didn't know if he'd be back.

"If it's the end, then it's the end," Jackson said. "But I really don't know, and if I did, I'd tell you. But this would be a pretty good game to go out on."

There's no question Jackson would be missed, and pity the poor fellow who has to take his place next to Dan Fouts in the booth next season. (Actually, the always outstanding Fouts should be reunited with Al Michaels on "Monday Night Football" in 2006, but I digress.)

As much as Jackson, 77, is a treat, however, it's clear time has taken its toll. He made more than his share of mistakes throughout the last couple of seasons, and unfortunately Wednesday was no different. He said an extra point was good when it wasn't. He said a timeout had been called when in reality the third quarter had ended. He wondered why the clock hadn't run on Texas' two-point conversion attempt. He even left out a key word both times he read the trivia question.

Granted, it didn't take away from anyone's enjoyment of the game, but unlike local legend Jerry Coleman, who is almost celebrated for not being perfect, mistakes have never been part of Jackson's charm. And it's not as if he suddenly would be back in his prime should he choose to work another season.

As Jackson himself joked before Texas' final play, "I'm too old for this." He then made a great call on Vince Young's decisive touchdown – "He's going for the corner! He's got it!"

I have a feeling it's the last TD we'll hear Jackson call live. That would be too bad – but it also would be good.

Ratings bonanza

ABC knew it would get a great rating for the Rose Bowl, which featured well-known superstars playing for the nation's best two teams, both of them high-profile schools located in the country's most populous two states.

But when the game itself went beyond expectations, it followed the rating would as well.

Sure enough, the national Nielsen rating was 21.7, the highest for any college football game since the 1987 Fiesta Bowl between Miami and Penn State (25.1). It was the highest-rated Rose Bowl since UCLA-Iowa in 1986 (22.7).

Both of those games were played when there were far fewer viewing choices available and ratings were much higher. (For instance, "Monday Night Football" averaged an 18.5 rating in 1986 compared with a 10.8 for 2005.)

Locally, the Rose Bowl earned a 27.9 rating and 42 share on KGTV Channel 10 – a staggering 84 percent increase over the average for the last two BCS title games (15.2). The game peaked at the end with a 34.4 rating, meaning more than one-third of the county's households were watching.

The final analysis: The Rose Bowl showed there's a tremendous demand among fans for a definitive national championship game. You know, the kind you get when there's a playoff.

Final add Rose Bowl

• Tough to complain about most of ABC's telecast, except for those annoying close-ups of fans, especially the ones mugging for the camera. We even missed the start of one play because the director was still showing the crowd.

• Well, there was this: What would have been a great postgame moment for all to enjoy – Texas fans singing "The Eyes of Texas" – was drowned out by Jackson being forced to read two more promos. You got the sense even Jackson wished he could shut up so he could take in the scene.

• The Rose Bowl will be replayed at 4 p.m. tomorrow on ESPN Classic, following the other three BCS games – Sugar (7 a.m.), Orange (10 a.m.) and Fiesta (1 p.m.).

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060106/news_1s6media.html

fredfa

01-06-06, 12:24 PM

Thursday’s prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted at the top of Ratings News the second post in this thread.

fredfa

01-06-06, 12:34 PM

The 2005-2006 Season: Part Two
Familiar faces aim for midseason comeback

By Mark A. Perigard Boston Herald Friday, January 6, 2006 - Updated: 11:42 AM EST

Welcome to network television’s second season.

This is the time of year when the commercial networks - and a few cable networks - return old favorites and spring new shows that either weren’t ready for the fall rollout (read: the original cast had to be fired, the producers run out of town and the scripts from “Roseanne” photocopied) or were being “saved” for special promotion.

The biggest success of last year’s midseason? ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” which sat on the shelf for a year, then won a tryout in the post-“Desperate Housewives” time slot and proved it could handle a healthy viewer load.

Several old favorites, including Fred Savage (“The Wonder Years”), Tom Cavanagh (“Ed”), Jane Curtin (“3rd Rock from the Sun”) and Jenna Elfman (“Dharma & Greg”) return to the small screen in new vehicles in the coming weeks.

A look at some highlights:

• Fox’s “American Idol” hits the right notes Jan. 17 with another round of laughably talent-free crooners. For the first time, however, the judges came to Boston to search for stars. Will bad boy Simon Cowell try to rip the Hub a new one? That’s an easy bet.

• NBC’s “The Book of Daniel,” a drama about a pill-popping minister who sees Jesus, debuts tonight at 9 on WHDH (Ch. 7). Forgive us our sins, NBC, and banish this show.

• ABC’s “Jake in Progress,” the show that prevented John Stamos from joining “ER,” makes an inexplicable return Monday.

• Lowell native Michael Chiklis spars with Forest Whitaker on what could be the final season of FX’s “The Shield” (starting Tuesday).

• Fox’s “24” (Jan. 15) returns with Kiefer Sutherland resurrecting his Jack Bauer persona to save the world another day.

• UPN hopes you’ll forget “The O.C.” with the debut of “South Beach” (Wednesday), a soap about two Brooklyn boys invading Miami. Expect murder, models and Vanessa Williams on hand as the owner of a swanky hotel.

• Ashton Kutcher’s great social experiment - no, not marrying a woman old enough to be his mommy - WB’s “Beauty & the Geek,” returns Thursday.

• ABC’s “Crumbs” (debuts Thursday) follows a family that regroups in the wake of one son’s death. Savage plays the gay prodigal son and Curtin co-stars as his mentally imbalanced mom. It’s a comedy, and I’m laughing already - maybe not for the right reasons.

• Fox’s “Skating with Celebrities” (Jan. 18) puts the blades to semistars - on their feet, silly. Local Olympic star Nancy Kerrigan helps the likes of Todd Bridges, Kristy Swanson and Deborah Gibson stay on their toes.

• Cavanagh stars in the CBS comedy “Love Monkey” (Jan. 17), and boy was I disappointed to find out there were no chimps involved here. Talk about false advertising. Cavanagh plays a record executive juggling new acts and an old one - his search for love. Awww. Jason Priestley co-stars.

• Elfman is a lawyer looking for love in the CBS sitcom “Courting Alex” (Jan. 23) - hopefully it won’t come down to her briefs.

• Tom Fontana creating a comedy about sex? This is the same guy who brought us “Oz” and “Homicide: Life on the Street” right? All I can say is, watch yourself in the shower, and keep your hands on the soap. WB’s “The Bedford Diaries” (to be scheduled) focuses on college coeds in a human sexuality class - can’t wait to see the homework assignments. “Gilmore Girls” hunk Milo Ventimiglia stars.

• Jane Seymour isn’t on the prairie anymore, but the ex-“Dr. Quinn” keeps her medical degree as a “life coach” who helps three men learn to live with the opposite sex in WB’s “Modern Men” (also unscheduled).

• The midseason even has a midseason to it: In March, look for Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ new CBS vehicle, “The New Adventures of Old Christine”; ABC’s “The Evidence,” another “CSI”-type procedural with Rob Estes; the FX drama “Thief,” starring Andre Braugher (“Homicide: Life on the Street”); and the return of some HBO show called “The Sopranos.”

Nah, that one’s not ringing any bells over here, either.

http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNews/view.bg?articleid=120071&format=text

fredfa

01-06-06, 12:41 PM

Obituary
Lou Rawls dies at 72

By Larry Rodgers The Arizona Republic Jan. 6, 2006 9:16 AM

Grammy-winning singer Lou Rawls, whose smooth baritone voice interpreted gospel, soul, jazz, blues and pop and whose talent raised millions for charity, died on Friday in Los Angeles from cancer. He was 72. The Chicago-born Rawls, known for his 1976 crossover hit, You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine, and 1967's half-spoken, half-sung Dead End Street, had been battling lung cancer since November 2004. He was diagnosed with brain cancer in May 2005.

In addition to his singing career, which took him around the globe on tours that continued through late 2005, Rawls appeared in 18 movies, including Leaving Las Vegas and Blues Brothers 2000, and acted in 16 television series, including Fantasy Island and Fall Guy.

"I know that voice whenever I hear it. Bam! That's Lou Rawls," said Mike Jeffers, publisher of Chicago Jazz magazine. "The soul and the history that he brought to his music was just incredible."

"That fantastic voice drove the women, including me, wild," said Judy Roberts, a Chicago-based jazz pianist who shared the stage with Rawls several times.

"Not only was he a great singer and entertainer, he was a class act and a role model of how to behave on and off the stage."

His pet project away from the stage was the Virginia-based United Negro College Fund. He is credited with founding the group's "Evening of Stars" telethon. The telecasts have raised more than $200 million since 1979.

"Tens of thousands of college-educated men and women are the recipients of his enormous generosity," said Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO of the UNCF.

Rawls's wide-ranging career was a "fascinating trajectory," according to Aaron Cohen, associate editor of Down Beat magazine.

The territory that Rawls covered after growing up singing in a Baptist church, starting at age 7, was impressive, Cohen says. He sang jazz standards and moved into blues and mainstream soul with the help of R&B icon Sam Cooke. He later helped pioneer jazz fusion in cutting-edge sessions produced for Capitol Records by David Axelrod in 1966-70.

His early use of storytelling in performances like his Southside Blues/Tobacco Road medley on his acclaimed Live! album of 1966 was a precursor to today's rap. His tale of growing up on Chicago's rough South Side in Dead End Street earned him his first Grammy in 1967.

Rawls, who spent much of his final three years at a home in Scottsdale, Ariz., had his share of rough-and-tumble experiences.

He and Cooke were involved in a 1958 car crash while on tour in the South with the gospel group the Pilgrim Travelers that left one passenger killed and Rawls in a five-day coma. The singer, who needed a year to recover, said the experience gave his life new meaning and focus.

He later followed Cooke to Los Angeles as the two mixed heavy doses of pop into their gospel sounds in the early days of soul music. He sang backup on Cooke's early soul hit, 1962's Bring It On Home to Me.

Rawls landed a solo deal with Capitol in 1962 after being discovered singing at a coffee shop for $10 a night plus pizza. He recorded at a blistering pace, releasing 20 albums in 10 years.

He enjoyed moderate success early on but then scored high on both the R&B and pop charts (No. 1 and 13 respectively) in 1966 with Love Is a Hurtin' Thing.

That paved the way for several gold albums (500,000 copies sold), appearances on all the popular TV variety shows of the time and frequent stints at Las Vegas' top showrooms.

It was during that period that Rawls contributed vocals to Axelrod's jazz-fusion recordings, in which funk and rock were melded with jazz.

"Lou Rawls is the vocalist on a considerable number of (Axelrod's tracks), so that great, deep baritone became one of the first voices of what we think of as fusion," says Down Beat's Cohen.

Rawls moved to MGM in 1971 and won a Grammy for A Natural Man, which contained subtle references to black pride. He won Down Beat's poll for favorite male vocalist, beating out Frank Sinatra, who praised Rawls for having "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game."

But Rawls' time at MGM brought friction when he balked at some of the lightweight fare that the label asked him to produce.

Rather than give in, Rawls left the label, a stand that inspired other African-American artists at a time when record companies often dictated what they could release.

In the mid-'70s, Rawls' sound took another turn when he teamed up with the hit making duo of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff on their Philadelphia International label.

He released his biggest hit, the heavily-produced, string-laden You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine (No. 1 and 2 on the R&B and pop charts, respectively) and even enjoyed play in disco dance clubs. His 1977 Unmistakably Lou album brought his third Grammy, for Best Male R&B Vocal.

His hit making power cooled as the '70s ended, but Rawls kept his profile high as the spokesman for Anheuser-Busch, maker of Budweiser beer.. He persuaded the company to help fund both the UNCF telethons, initially called the "Parade of Stars," as well as a series of concerts for U.S. military personnel around the world.

In 2004, Florida Memorial College named its performing-arts center for Rawls and made him a distinguished visiting professor.

"He has consistently demonstrated his commitment to learning, education and creation of opportunities for young people," the college's president, Albert E, Smith, said at the time.

"He was highly visible in his charity work, and his voice-overs for those (beer) commercials kind of 'branded' him as well," said Carlos Adams, national chief of Virgin Megastore's marketing for urban, blues and gospel music.

Rawls' voice-overs later carried into children's television after he provided the singing voice for the animated Garfield the cat on TV specials. He also provided voices for Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold, as Harvey the Mailman, and Rugrats.

In the '90s, as he passed age 60, Rawls, who sold more than 40 million albums, focused on touring rather than shooting for the record charts. He teamed up with symphony orchestras in such cities as San Diego to perform his hits and jazz standards.

He continued to perform after his 2004 lung-cancer diagnosis.

"Lou (in 2005) had been playing concert halls and major festivals in places like the Bahamas and Detroit," said Paul Shefrin, who became Rawls' publicist two years ago, after knowing the singer for decades.

"He and Aretha Franklin were the main headliners at a tribute to Sam Cooke in Cleveland that was tied into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

Franklin, R&B icon Isaac Hayes, producer Quincy Jones and activist Jesse Jackson were among the celebrities in touch with Rawls as he wound down his battle with cancer. Rawls and Jones teamed to honor Stevie Wonder for the 2006 UNCF telethon, which was taped in September at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood and aired in early January.

The last months of Rawls' life also found him fighting to annul his marriage to his third wife, Nina, 35, from whom he had been estranged from since November.

A judge in Phoenix in December awarded sole custody of the couple's young son, Aiden, to Nina Rawls, citing her husband's failing health. The singer and his wife also were battling for control over hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds, stocks and real estate at the time of his death.

Rawls is survived by three adult children, daughter Louanna Rawls and son Lou Rawls Jr., both of Los Angeles, daughter Kendra Smith of Long Beach, Calif., and his wife and son, Aiden, who live in Union Town, Ohio.

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/celeb/articles/0106rawlsobit.html#

fredfa

01-06-06, 12:51 PM

TV Weekend y
Fighting Crime, Setting Trends

By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times

It's settled. The 80's were more fun.

Aerobics, unlike elliptical machines and Pilates, were inclusive. Madonna would sing and dance and not preach. Michael Jackson still had a nose and some of his right mind. Fashion was more innovative, and so was white-collar crime: Compared with Kenneth L. Lay or Jack Abramoff, Michael Milken was a visionary genius.

And on television, cops were handsome, drove Ferrari convertibles and left autopsies and forensic technology to the lab nerds. Today's crime shows feel like homework; "CSI: Miami" is a buzz-kill version of "Miami Vice."

Why else would Michael Mann direct a movie remake of his landmark television show, starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx as Crockett and Tubbs in place of Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas? TV Land, which will begin rerunning the original "Miami Vice" this weekend, provides the answer. (The first and second seasons are available on DVD.)

"Miami Vice," which lasted five seasons on NBC, was a revolutionary series, of course. Its influence on the look and, most of all, the sound of television drama is still evident - nowadays, even surgeons on "Grey's Anatomy" cannot repair an artery without a pop music overlay. But television has also lost an 80's attribute that "Miami Vice" epitomized: the ability to be serious and playful at the same time.

This was a series set in primeval Miami - before South Beach, the Russian mob, the Internet or cellphones. The jazzy introduction, copied, minus the pink flamingos, by "CSI: Miami," still looks very hip. But in the premiere episode, Sonny Crockett's first undercover partner, played by Jimmy Smits, asks Crockett for a dime so he can call his wife from a pay phone. Soon after, he is killed by drug dealers (an artistically filmed car bomb explosion), making way for Crockett's new partner, Ricardo Tubbs, a New York City officer in Miami to avenge his murdered brother.

They were plainclothes detectives, but their clothes were anything but plain. Mr. Johnson, who made a three-day stubble fashionable, wore white linen suits and a holster over his pastel T-shirts. Mr. Thomas had an earring and crazily patterned shirts. By today's standards, the sedans and women's hairstyles look huge, as do girls' bikinis at the beach, yet Crockett and Tubbs still look very cool. (It helps that Crockett smoked.) They did not take themselves too seriously. Crockett kept a pet alligator on his boat, and both he and his partner liked to race their sports cars and ogle girls. They could make each other laugh.

They were hardened, dedicated officers, but they also made their fair share of blunders, mistakes and dumb assumptions. They were dissolute but human, gritty but glamorous: the MTVification of "Hill Street Blues." Two decades later, and in defiance of reality, fictional cops on television exude infallible competence and unflagging professionalism, most painfully in the various "CSI" series, but also "Law & Order" and all its spinoffs.

Lounging in his convertible, Crockett awaits the signal for an early morning sting operation with gruff nonchalance. "What's the E.T.A. on these huckleberries?" he asks a surveillance officer over a hidden radio. At crime scenes on "CSI: Miami," Horatio Caine (David Caruso) is an officious pedant. "On the contrary," he tells a detective who fears the worst about a missing girl. "There is a chance she is alive, and we are going to find her."

The bad guys on "Miami Vice" were drug dealers, hitmen and the Colombian cartel - and sometimes the federal government. (Crockett refers to government agents as "G-boys.") In one 1989 episode, Washington interferes to protect a corrupt and homicidal Latin American general (Ian McShane in his pre-"Deadwood" days). When Crockett and Tubbs try to arrest him, they are stopped by a flinty secret agent. "Take a look at the map, Crockett, real estate is turning red all over this hemisphere," the agent snarls. "Only two things count: American interests and anything that is counter to them."

It is a bit odd to watch a world in which Communism was still a threat, and drug lords had to steal their rocket-propelled grenade launchers from American military bases, and not simply buy them from wayward republics of the former Soviet Union. It's amusing to see famous actors playing bit parts - "Miami Vice" served as a starter show for all kinds of celebrities: Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis, Miles Davis and even G. Gordon Liddy.

Most of all, "Miami Vice" is a portal back to an era of confidence and good humor, when even the dark side of life had its lighter moments.

Miami Vice

TV Land, tomorrow at noon and 1 p.m., Eastern and Pacific times; 11 a.m. and noon, Central time; next Friday at 2 and 3 a.m., Eastern and Pacific times; 1 and 2 a.m., Central time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/06/arts/television/06vice.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

01-06-06, 02:05 PM

NBC's 'Office' gets nifty kick from 'Earl'

Averages a season-best 4.5 on its new night

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jan 6, 2006
NBC’s big gamble, moving new hit “My Name is Earl” to Thursday nights, looks to be a smart one based on last night’s ratings, but more surprising is how well “Earl” lead-out “The Office performed.

“Office” posted a 4.5 overnight rating among viewers 18-49, a season high, holding 87 percent of “Earl’s” audience, also a season high. The 4.5 is a 15 percent jump over the 3.9 overnight rating it averaged through 10 episodes this season on Tuesday nights.
“Office” also bettered its season-long retention rate out of “Earl,” 71 percent, significantly. The two shows moved from the Tuesday 9 p.m. hour to Thursday at 9 p.m. for the first time last night.

“Earl,” meanwhile, came in slightly below its 5.5 season-to-date average, posting a 5.2 in the 9 p.m. timeslot. But both “Earl” and “Office’s” ratings are even more impressive considering they aired head-to-head with an original episode of CBS’s “CSI,” which averaged a 9.3 overnight rating among 18-49s.
“Office” had a successful Thursday-night premiere last March but struggled mightily on Tuesdays until “Earl” rescued it last fall. Still, many media people felt the show had underperformed with such a strong lead-out.
With last night’s showing, “Office” finally delivered on the potential that NBC saw in it by keeping the critical hit around despite dismally low numbers last spring. Should it remain strong, “Office” will be one of the most impressive turnaround stories in recent years.
Even better for NBC, new show “Four Kings,” which aired at 8:30 p.m., did quite well despite bad reviews, building on its “Will & Grace” lead-in and bettering the latter’s season-long average in the timeslot with a 4.2 rating. “Grace” now leads off the night.

NBC wasn’t the only one testing a successful new lineup last night. ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” demonstrated that there actually might be room for five successful networks on Thursday nights.
The two-hour season premiere of “Stars” averaged a 4.7 overnight rating among 18-49s from 8 to 10 p.m., as ABC finished second to CBS in that time period. "Stars" averaged 17.3 million total viewers.

Not only does that bode well for ABC’s Thursday nights for the rest of the season, but also Fridays, where “Stars” results shows air beginning tonight.

Meanwhile, CBS’s strong lineup still led the network to a first-place finish for the night with a 6.8 average rating and an 18 share despite airing a rerun at 8 p.m. NBC came in second at 5.0/13, ABC third at 4.1/11, Fox fourth at 2.2/6, Univision fifth at 1.8/5, the WB sixth at 1.0/3 and UPN seventh at 0.8/2.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_2087.asp

cgh3rd

01-06-06, 03:52 PM

On Sports Media and Golf
Time right for Jackson's exit

Terrific Rose Bowl should be final call
Ed Sherman Chicago Tribune January 6, 2006

While it is terrific to hear his signature voice and his unique descriptions, it hurts to hear the mistakes.

Wednesday night he called a Texas extra point good when it obviously was wide.

He seemed to have trouble seeing whether a pass was completed in certain situations.

Jackson didn't know that the third quarter had ended.

It also was horribly awkward to hear Jackson struggle through the endless network promos he is forced to do. Just a hunch, but Jackson probably won't be watching "Emily's Reasons Why Not."

Much like Steve Stone did with an aging Harry Caray, analyst Dan Fouts helped guide Jackson through the trouble spots. The former San Diego Chargers quarterback had an excellent game. He was sharp in questioning the officials and keeping up with the frenetic pace of the game.

Announcers, like players, don't always know when to call it quits. Caray remained in the booth until the end. If anything, the mistakes only added to his legend.

Normally, however, it doesn't work that way. Viewers saw Pat Summerall's skills painfully erode before their eyes.

At the end, Summerall found himself calling a meaningless Bears-Panthers game in December, a far cry from all those Super Bowls he once anchored.

That likely won't happen to Jackson. He tried to retire after the 1998 season, only to be lured back with a schedule that kept him close to his home on the West Coast.

ESPN, which oversees ABC Sports, says it wants Jackson to return, but Jackson is hinting it is time to retire again.

Wednesday night's thriller probably will make the decision easier for him. Jackson should know he'll never get a better game to put the final exclamation mark on his legacy.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-0601060190jan06,1,4734796,print.column?coll=cs-columnists

A truly honest assessment of Jackson's performance the other night. I hope he retires because he was very difficult to listen to him. Hopefully, he'll listen to himself and go out on top.

Chuck

archiguy

01-06-06, 04:21 PM

The “Hot Off The Press” Best of 2005

Please post your favorites in the following categories:

Favorite three new network prime-time shows which debuted in anytime in 2005:

Prison Break, Earl, Threshold

Favorite three new prime-time cable shows:

---

Favorite three veteran prime-time shows:

Lost, 24, West Wing

Favorite three veteran cable prime-time shows:

Battlestar Galactica, Nip/Tuck, Curb Your Enthusiasm

Favorite three TV actors:

Eddie Olmos, Terry O'Quinn, John Spencer

Favorite three TV actresses:

Carla Gugino, Heather Graham, Katee Sackoff

Favorite TV sports production:

The Masters (CBS)

Favorite TV news program or (cable net) as the case may be:

Frontline on PBS

Show the critics most overlook:

Battlestar Galactica

Show the critics most over-hype:

Arrested Development

Actor who makes you cringe

Larry David

Actress who makes you cringe

Fran Dressler

One former favorite which has lost your interest this season:

Desperate Housewives

(For HD viewers only) Favorite program to show off your HD setup to friends and neighbors:

Lost

(For HD viewers only) Is there any show you enjoy so much you'd watch it even in SD?

Lost

SnakeEyes

01-06-06, 04:32 PM

hey fredfa, would you mind explaining the difference between the ratings numbers you post from medialife and those from futon and zap2it? Same shows, same days, different numbers.

fredfa

01-06-06, 05:36 PM

The numbers are different, because come from different samples, and are analyzed -- or reported -- by people with vastly different levels of ratings knowledge.

Frankly, I prefer Marc Berman over the other two. Marc bases his Rating/Share numbers on Metered Market ratings. And he has years of experience in anayzing what the numbers mean boith for the short and long term.

Zap2it bases all its numbers on Fast National Ratings. When Marc isn’t available (weekends and holidays) I am happy to use zap2it’s numbers, even though they doesn’t include total viewers, which to me is terribly important – and by far the most understandable number.

When it comes to futoncritic, I will admit my bias. I am envious of its clean easy-to-navigate web site. But the way they report ratings is a mess.

First off, TFC lost me with more off days than Johnny Carson back in the day, and the fact that it basically only prints press releases. Its ratings numbers are not consistent – never on weekends, holidays and many other “off days” as well – and to rank shows against other shows that night never has made sense to me.

Woodrow

01-06-06, 06:08 PM

Thanks for those Rose Bowl stories, Fred.

One comment: I see Keith Olbermann is still as clueless as he ever was.

I've listened to him talk for years and I don't think I've ever heard him come up with one insightful comment. Just like him to harp on the knee being down, yet be oblivious to the missed INT.

if Texas winning upsets him...all the better.:)

(hope you're not a KO fan:))

fredfa

01-06-06, 06:16 PM

FCC's Martin Says He's Not Pushing Any Cable Option

By Chuck Ross TVWeek.com January 6, 2006

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said Friday that though he thinks consumers need choices and control over cable content delivered into their homes, he has "stayed away from pushing" any particular option, such as a la carte.

Thus, he said, he will not necessarily demand that cable go a la carte if the family tier solution proposed by various MSOs is not widely adopted by consumers.

Mr. Martin made his remarks during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

In comments made both during an hour-long session with Consumer Electronics Association President and CEO Gary Shapiro and with reporters afterward, Mr. Martin said cable has many options to let consumers control content. One of those options, he noted, is an a la carte situation wherein consumers could be told that for $20 a month they'd get a certain number of channels, and for $60 they'd get a larger number of channels, and the consumer could then choose his or her channels. But he emphasized that that is only one possibility, along with family tiers and other options.

On the question of indecency, he said the FCC will continue to meet its legal mandate to enforce standards of decency on broadcast television. Asked if the FCC needs to do a better job of clarifying what is and is not considered indecent, he said that context is important -- something that might be deemed indecent in an entertainment program might not be indecent if it were in a different context on a news program.

And, he added, to make those kinds of differentiations "is a good thing." Asked if the FCC should enforce indecency rules on satellite-delivered services that use public spectrum-as opposed to cable delivery-he said the FCC has been asked to look into the issue.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9135

dturturro

01-06-06, 06:25 PM

Asked if the FCC should enforce indecency rules on satellite-delivered services that use public spectrum-as opposed to cable delivery-he said the FCC has been asked to look into the issue.

:eek: :( :mad: NOOOOO!!!!! :mad: :( :eek:

fredfa

01-06-06, 07:33 PM

More Stations Refuse to Carry NBC's 'Daniel'

By Michele Greppi TVWeek.com January 6, 2006

The blackout of NBC's "The Book of Daniel" spread to three more small markets Friday.

Refusing to carry the debut of the drama are a third Nexstar Broadcasting Group-owned NBC affiliate, KBTV-TV in Beaumont, Texas; Global Communications-owned WGBC-TV in Meridien, Miss., and WTVA-TV in Tupelo, Miss.

Tupelo is home of the American Family Association. The AFA is among the groups protesting that "Daniel" is demeaning to Christianity. The series stars Aidan Quinn as a painkiller-popping minister and patriarch of a flawed family,

Earlier this week Nexstar's KARK-TV in Little Rock, Ark., and WTWO-TV in Terre Haute, Ind., announced that due to protests they would not broadcast "Daniel."

An NBC spokesperson said that as of Friday afternoon that less than 0.5 percent of the U.S. TV universe would be affected by the local blackouts.

WGBC station manager Susan Ross said she would fill tonight's two-hour time slot with "Star Trek: Enterprise" and an Olympics-themed special "Reflections off the Ice." She said the "Daniel" hour in the future will be filled with an assortment of content.

Ms. Ross said she was remaining "neutral" but had previewed the series pilot and could see how some people might be offended.

A message left for KBTV-TV general manager Van Greer was not immediately returned. The Friday night scheduled posted on the station's Web site still listed "Daniel" from 8 to 10 p.m. (CT).

In Little Rock, WB affiliate KWBF-TV is picking up "Daniel's" debut and hoping to carry the series after running The WB's prime-time lineup on future Fridays.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9133

fredfa

01-06-06, 08:05 PM

TV Review
'Daniel' is heavenly TV

By Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News

"The Book of Daniel" is the best thing to hit TV this season.

It's funny, dramatic, warm, unexpected and unendingly entertaining. A great cast is working with marvelous material that's richly produced and wonderfully directed.

Tonight's back-to-back episodes (9 and 10 PM ET/PT., NBC) introduce us to Rev. Daniel Webster (Aidan Quinn), a good-hearted Episcopalian priest who's not only dealing with a fractious family but a scandal-in-the-making — his brother-in-law has disappeared with more than $3 million in church funds.

No wonder Daniel often turns to heaven for help. And, in some of the show's best scenes, we see him talking with Jesus (Garret Dillahunt).

Despite the attacks some groups have already launched against "Daniel," it's a show that's both pro-family and pro-religion.

"All we really want to do is tell a good story about a good man and his family and the struggle to get through life," said creator/executive producer Jack Kenny. "It's a family drama with some dark comedy in it about this wonderful family that's just struggling like any other American family."

Well, hopefully most families don't have to deal with all the problems Daniel's clan is facing all at once. Daniel seems somewhat addicted to prescription pain killers; his wife Judith (Susanna Thompson) drinks a bit too much. They're still dealing with the death of one son, as is the boy's now 23-year-old twin brother, Peter (Christian Campbell). And they haven't told Daniel's dad that Peter is gay.

As the series opens, 16-year-old daughter Grace (Allison Pill) has just been arrested on minor drug charges. And 16-year-old son Adam (Ivan Shaw) — an orphan adopted from China — is going too far in his relationship with the daughter of the senior warden (Dylan Baker) of Daniel's parish. And Daniel's mom has Alzheimer's.

There's a lot of humor — even wackiness in spots — but there's enormous heart here, as well. Daniel's conversations with Jesus are his form of praying, and he gets some wonderful answers to his prayers.

"Life is hard, Daniel, for everyone," Jesus tells him. "That's why there's such a nice reward at the end of it."

"Jesus is depicted as Daniel's version of Jesus," Kenny said. "It's the image that he grew up with as a child. He's talked to Jesus all his life. . . . I've always thought of Jesus as a benevolent, caring, loving presence. And Garret (Dillahunt) kind of embodied that, as well."

Imagine that! A TV show about a guy who believes in God and prays often! A guy who doesn't lose his faith no matter what life throws at him!

"It's not a story about a man who has a crisis of faith or doubts his faith," Kenny said. "He doubts a lot of things but not his faith."

Which makes it somewhat ironic that the show is being attacked by groups claiming "Daniel" is an affront to Christianity — attacks launched by people who have not yet seen the show.

"There's never any intention to satirize the church or poke fun at religion in any way," Kenny said.

And he's turning the other cheek on his attackers while making one request. "My answer to anybody who might be offended is 'Give it a chance. Take a look at it,' " Kenny said. "Watch an episode or two, and I think you'll find that it's not what you may have been expecting."

Which would seem like the Christian thing to do.

http://www.desnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635174108,00.html

fredfa

01-06-06, 08:12 PM

Format Change

I’ve moved the ratings and shows in trouble post to the first post at the top of the thread, so the HD Football (and Olympics) schedule slides down to post #2.

fredfa

01-07-06, 12:11 AM

[B]TV Review
Reasons not to watch 'Emily's'

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic Saturday, January 7, 2006

One thing about women, we supposedly can talk ourselves into anything.

Watching ABC's Monday night comedies may not be one of them.

Heather Graham's comedy "Emily's Reasons Why Not," based on a chick-lit hit by Carrie Gerlach, doesn't look all that tempting. It should; the sitcom replaces "Monday Night Football," and premieres at 9 p.m. on KOMO/4, followed by the return of "Jake in Progress" at 9:30. Toss in "The Bachelor" at 10, and ABC should have the makings for a slumber party.

"Emily's Reasons Why Not" smacks of every other failed attempt to capitalize on girlie chic over the past two seasons, right down to the lacquered premise. Emily is a rising star at a publishing house with a backstabbing colleague named Glitter (Smith Cho), a snarky gal pal Reilly (Nadia Dajani) and, the obligatory style accessory for all high-powered single women, a gay best friend Josh (Khary Payton).

While everything in her professional life is clicking, her dating life is a shambles. When she starts dating Stan from Marketing -- there's always a Stan from Marketing -- she soon digs up reasons that he's horribly wrong for her.

In fact, those reasons manifest themselves in a neat five-point list, her Reasons Why Not, handily scrawled in a cutesy font across the bottom of our screens.

Here are My Reasons I Won't Be Watching.

1.) The story's too precious for prime time. And we use "precious" in both the regular usage (as in: froufrou) and the Southern sense (as in: "Look at that. Heather Graham thinks she can headline a comedy? Aww. Isn't that precious."). A comedy like this should make some attempt at sophistication.

2.) "Sex and the City" is dead. Producers need to realize that if we want to watch it, we'll rent the DVDs. Besides, upon subsequent viewings, every "SATC" episode reinforces how second-rate the cloning attempts have been.

3.) Cutesy has a limited shelf life. Remember "Miss Match"? Alicia Silverstone seemed so charming in the pilot. Watching her whine through every episode afterward was about as fun as chewing aluminum foil. The tone in "Emily's" pilot is very similar and makes us wonder if Graham's charisma won't deteriorate just as quickly.

4.) Graham's only as appealing as everyone around her. There may be a day that she proves me wrong, but the reason you loved her in "Scrubs" wasn't her talent. It was in the writing, which suited her, and her chemistry with Zach Braff. But the writing's flaccid, and Dajani and Payton could be anybody. Neither adds much.

5.) Monday nights on ABC still means football. Which means male viewers, who aren't exactly going to dive into the misadventures of a plucky girl executive navigating romance, probably will still show up. If you can't please them and their girls at the same time, you're gonna have trouble.

But what do I know? "Emily" goes down easily enough. So much, in fact, that people may not notice it's there.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=b&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/254822_emily07.html

fredfa

01-07-06, 01:18 AM

TV Ratings
NBC gets its toes stepped on

The network looked to reclaim Thursday night as its own, but 'Dancing’ cuts in on its plans
By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

NBC has hatched a scheme to return to world dominance, or at least to regain control of Americans' TV remotes on Thursday nights.

But first it must cope with an insidious threat: George Hamilton doing the cha-cha.

NBC has started the new year with a fresh Thursday lineup that sidelines "Joey" and Donald Trump, and serves up four comedies, including the acclaimed "My Name Is Earl," an import from Tuesdays; and the new "Four Kings," about young guys sharing a New York apartment. The idea is to get back to the network's "must-see" glory days, when NBC sitcoms such as "Seinfeld" and "Friends" ruled the roost, especially among affluent young city dwellers. ("Joey" and Trump's "The Apprentice" will return to the NBC schedule later.)

But NBC's coming-out party was dampened somewhat by the two-hour premiere of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," last summer's surprise hit that now features Hamilton and other aging celebrities shimmying with dance champions.

While the NBC series held their own, the crowd-pleasing "Dancing" actually beat the sitcoms not just among total viewers but also among ages 18 to 49, the demographic advertisers care about most. At 9 p.m., for example, "Earl" drew 11.2 million viewers compared with 17.3 million for "Dancing," according to early figures from Nielsen Media Research. And of course, both networks saw their ratings dwarfed by CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (27.3 million), the night's No. 1 show.

Still, long-suffering NBC — tied with Fox for No. 3 among young adults this season — took solace from its performance. The quirky "The Office" with Steve Carell, for instance, hit its highest rating ever (8.8 million total viewers). Early Friday morning, when the first ratings trickled in, NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly and his old Cornell classmate and counterpart at ABC, Stephen McPherson, traded e-mails congratulating each other for a battle in which both networks won a bit of ground.

Noting that the e-mails weren't unusual ("We're always either consoling one another or busting one another's chops," he joked of McPherson), Reilly was clearly relieved that his Thursday strategy delivered some promising results — and specifically, that "Earl," NBC's No. 1 new show, was down only slightly from its average rating on Tuesdays. Reilly said he's pleased his young-skewing comedies found an audience opposite the older-skewing "Dancing" and "CSI."

"We're in a rebuilding time right now, [and young viewers are] kind of what I'd want to build on," Reilly said, adding: "It's virtually impossible to recruit an older audience" and attract younger viewers later.

ABC had plenty to feel good about as well, given that "Dancing" nearly tripled its customary ratings on Thursday nights this season, a night the low-rated "Alias" and "Night Stalker" have not generated much traction.

"We are thrilled," McPherson said of "Dancing." "It did unbelievably well considering the competition and how we usually do on Thursday nights." Plus, he added, "you never know how a summer show will do when you bring it back."

But ABC and NBC executives won't have long to relax. The TV landscape is about to get shaken up again on Jan. 17, when Fox's smash "American Idol" returns for its fifth incarnation.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-nbc7jan07,0,4246948,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

fredfa

01-07-06, 09:17 AM

TV Ratings
Dick Clark's Return Is a Ratings Victory for ABC

By Bill Carter The New York Times January 7, 2006

The return of Dick Clark to ABC's New Year's Eve special helped the show achieve a big ratings success last week, with almost two million more viewers than it had the year before.

ABC executives said they were thrilled with the results and have already expressed great interest in having Mr. Clark return next December, despite the stroke that made him miss the broadcast a year ago and left him with impaired speech on last week's program.

"He is the guy who built this holiday and is significantly identified with this holiday," said Andrea Wong, who is in charge of late-night programs for ABC.

Viewers tuning in last Saturday night had no idea how well Mr. Clark, the seemingly ageless host of New Year's Eve specials for a generation, would hold up or how much he would be able to participate. He shared his duties with the "American Idol" host, Ryan Seacrest.

"I think there was some curiosity factor with viewers," Ms. Wong said. "But people just want to see Dick on New Year's Eve." She said that ABC was mildly surprised at how much Mr. Clark was able to do on the show, although she said, "I think he was hoping to do even more."

Mr. Clark's speech was noticeably affected by the stroke, but Ms. Wong said she thought viewers were not bothered by that and, indeed, were impressed with his willingness to go on despite his impairment. "I think it was valiant and brave and people appreciated that," she said.

Ms. Wong said Mr. Clark had made clear to ABC that coming back for the special was enormously important to him. "He told us his goal in recovering was to be on the show this year," she said.

More than 20 million viewers watched that comeback. The show also reached more than 9 million viewers in the 18-to-49-year-old group the networks pursue most avidly. The 7.1 rating it scored with 18-to-49-year-olds was better than any prime time show last week, and it also reached more overall viewers than any prime time show.

Nothing came close on Saturday night. The ABC special's ratings beat the combined rating for shows on Fox and NBC by more than 40 percent. New Year's Eve specials on those two networks reached a combined audience of 13.7 million viewers. By comparison, a special on MTV reached fewer than 2 million.

Ms. Wong also praised Mr. Seacrest's performance, and said he would be back next December. The special also clearly benefited from performances by Mariah Carey. She sang early in the broadcast and was supposed to leave at that time, but Ms. Wong said Ms. Carey enjoyed the show so much that she stayed for the countdown to the new year at midnight and then performed a final number just before 1 a.m.

The results exceeded all of ABC's expectations, Ms. Wong said. Because it was on a Saturday night, ABC executives had thought audience levels might fall a bit, as they had in 1994, the last time New Year's Eve fell on a Saturday. This show reached more than three million more viewers than the 1994 version.

"Of course we'd love Dick to come back next year," Ms. Wong said, "and we hope he just continues to get stronger."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/arts/television/07clar.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

01-07-06, 10:30 AM

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW
Prime time for TV content

The stars of this year's event have been some of the ways that programming will be delivered, putting the focus on the content providers instead of electronics for a change
By Alex L. Goldfayn Special to the Chicago Tribune January 7, 2006

LAS VEGAS -- Battle lines for how we will watch television are being drawn at this week's Consumer Electronics Show.

A slew of products, services and concepts are being touted that may change the programming we receive, the way we receive it, the way we watch it, and even the kinds of companies that will provide our television content.

The high-stakes competition divides much of the massive $135 billion consumer electronics industry into two camps: those supporting traditional cable and satellite operators, and those getting behind Microsoft-made Media Center technology, much of which relies on receiving television programming over a broadband Internet connection.

"The times, they are a-changing," said Steve Koenig, analyst for the Arlington, Va.-based Consumer Electronics Association. "Are we going to receive our television through the set-top [receiver] boxes we have today, or will it be through the Media Center PC? That's a big battle right now and a hot topic at this year's CES."

Products based on Microsoft's Media Center operating system--including set-top receivers, entertainment center consoles that connect to every other component in your living room, and even televisions with integrated wireless routers--are taking aim at traditional TV content providers like Comcast and DirecTV.

That's because content to these Internet-enabled TV products will be provided by broadband companies like AT&T and Verizon (your "cable" bill will come in the same envelope as your long-distance bill).

This underlines one of the biggest surprises of this year's CES: The world's largest consumer electronics manufacturers are concentrating on content.

"There's a lot more talk about content than there has ever been at the show," said Stephen Baker, analyst at the Port Washington, N.Y.-based NPD Group. "It has always been a device-type show, but now the emphasis is on content."

That's because the Internet television device manufacturers like Hewlett-Packard and Sony know their content must catch up to the programming provided by cable and satellite companies.

Because it's so new, the PC-TV providers simply don't have the channels that cable companies do.

"The cable guys have access to content and the PC guys don't," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group in San Jose, Calif. "This is particularly true with high-definition content. The first wave of [Internet-based television] is standard-definition content. The next and more difficult wave is high-definition."

Thus, the technology-makers are racing for content.

For the companies currently delivering our television programming, the race is of an entirely different sort.

"The cable companies are trying to make consumer-friendly products with good functionality before the PC companies get content," said Enderle.

"It's a complex problem. The PC companies focus on the consumer so their products are better. But the set-top-box companies focus on the content suppliers, so their products aren't as good. But their content is better."

As a result of this rising tension, both camps are rapidly releasing similar kinds of products that allow consumers to send television programming around their home--to TVs, PCs, portable video players and even cell phones.

Schaumburg-based Motorola, for example, makes a digital video recorder used by Comcast that allows multiple televisions to play and record multiple programs. This service is expected to be available in the middle of the year.

Last month, Dish Network launched its PocketDish service, which connects portable players directly to certain models of its set-top DVRs and transfers programming for remote viewing.

And TiVo, the most popular DVR-maker, touts units that network to PCs and connect to portable players like Apple's video-enabled iPod.

On the PC-TV side, full-featured media center PCs are being packaged into rectangular stereo-system components. These devices, with massive hard drives, fast processors and wireless network connections, are designed to not only manage your home's audio and video, but also transmit it around the house.

But one of the most striking developments at this year's show is the IPTV.

"We have all sorts of people looking at integrating wireless routers into televisions," Baker said. "TVs with routers are coming out fast."

These televisions receive content from a high-speed Internet connection and run on an operating system. Channel-changing is instant because no tuners are involved. So is picture-in-picture. Software controls the TV, and broadband service providers deliver the content.

"IPTV is probably the biggest example of how times are changing. Cable and satellite operators no longer rule content," said Koenig.

When will these Internet-based television technologies become available to consumers?

"Over the next three to five years, we'll see adoption rates increase," Koenig said. AT&T is testing its IPTV service in the San Antonio market.

For now, cable and satellite companies have the decided advantage of content and cost. A DVR from Comcast, for example, can be leased for about $10 per month. A full-featured Media Center PC can cost more than $2,000.

In the end, television and cable networks may be in the best position to pick a winner.

"The content companies are in a pretty heft position to make one or the other king. They're favoring the cable side right now. But that may well change."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/chi-0601070124jan07,1,5062296.story?coll=chi-ent_tv-hed

fredfa

01-07-06, 10:44 AM

TV Review
ABC tries love

By Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News January 7, 2006

Love is in the air Monday night on ABC — but it's not all that lovely.

The premiere of an OK comedy; the return of a comedy that has gone from promising to just OK; and the return of one of TV's most annoying "reality shows" doesn't exactly make it a lineup worth curling up in front of the television with your sweetheart.

Emily's Reasons Why Not (Monday, 9 PM ET/PT ABC) has one big thing going for it — Heather Graham. She's got so much personality that she virtually pops right off the screen.

Sort of makes you wish she was in a better show, though.

Graham stars as Emily Sanders, a bright, successful young woman who's got more than her share of troubles in her love life — in part because she's always looking for the "reasons why not" with all the guys she meets.

In Monday's premiere, she ends a relationship with a womanizing author and begins one with a guy she can't quite figure out. Emily becomes convinced he's gay (mostly because he won't sleep with her); turns out he's actually Mormon.

That part is funny. A lot of the rest of the half-hour is not. And it tries to substitute frantic pacing for humor, which doesn't quite work.

Maybe it will get better. Maybe not.

Jake in Progress (Monday, 9:30 PM ET/PT ABC) is, unfortunately, a show that hasn't gotten better. When it premiered at midseason a year ago, it was bright, funny and different.

Now, as the second season begins — complete with new producers and writers — it's not the show that it was. It's not awful, but it's not all that good, either. And it wastes the talents of John Stamos, who looks like he doesn't want to be there playing Jake. (So maybe the theory that ABC only renewed the show to keep Stamos from signing on as an "ER" regular holds some water.)

In Monday's premiere, womanizing Jake spends a lot of time moping over his ex-fiancee Annie (Charlotte Ross), who left him at the altar three years earlier. Apparently, this is supposed to make us understand why Jake has so much trouble with women; it mostly just makes us want to smack him.

There's a great cast here — Rick Hoffman, Ian Gomez, Wendie Malick and Dondre T. Whitfield — and some funny moments. (If you watch, don't miss the final scene.) But "Jake" is mostly just disappointing.

The Bachelor (Monday, 10 PM ET/PT ABC) is promising a "return to its popular, traditional roots, highlighting all the romance and fantasy of new relationships."

Translation: It's the same old, same old. And the same old was stupid to begin with.

The history of both "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" has been far more about people who want to be on television than about people really looking for love. C'mon, if you're looking for true love, do you look on a TV reality show?

And calling this year's bachelor, 33-year-old physician Travis Stork, "Dr. McDreamy" (from ABC's own "Grey's Anatomy") and plunking him and the 25 women down in Paris doesn't make "The Bachelor" any more interesting.

If you're looking for something to put you to sleep before the late news on Monday nights, look no further.

http://www.desnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635174266,00.html

fredfa

01-07-06, 12:57 PM

Friday’s network prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest Prime Time Ratings news which is the first post in this thread.

CPanther95

01-07-06, 01:35 PM

fredfa:

How did NBC do with the move to Thursday? I see the numbers, and the interpretation seems to be a positive - but is it really better to come in 2nd or 3rd on Thursday, than #1 on Tuesday?

fredfa

01-07-06, 02:20 PM

It is going to take a couple of weeks for things to shake down.

But it seems a positive.

And Thursday is extra important because of lots of extra advertising money thrown at the night (movies, weekend shopping, etc).

I would certainly think NBC has to be guardedly optimistic about the Thursday moves at this stage.

fredfa

01-07-06, 03:51 PM

CES Review
Tech Firms Again Gun for the Living Room

Despite past failure, the industry is trying new ways to bring Web music and video to your TV
By Dawn C. Chmielewski and Terril Yue Jones Los Angeles Times Staff Writers January 7, 2006

(Times staff writer Meg James in Los Angeles contributed to this report)

LAS VEGAS — The most unlikely couples get hitched in this town, but the technology industry's attempts to marry televisions and computers have always ended up leaving viewers at the altar.

The urge to merge the boob tube and the beige box persisted this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show as some of the biggest names in technology and entertainment outlined plans to bring the Internet to the living room.

Years after the failure of WebTV and similar devices, Intel Corp., Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. — and possibly even Apple Computer Inc. — are again exploring ways to beam Internet music and video to the TV. Proponents say the efforts are more likely to succeed this time because high-speed networks and speedier chips will deliver a better entertainment experience.

To some analysts, it's deja vu all over again. They said consumers already had rejected the computing world's vision of entertainment and the notion of navigating endless screens of menus or pecking through on-screen keyboards with the remote to find a TV program.

"In 1999, consumers said they didn't want it," said Sean Badding, president of Carmel Group. "It was a bit too cumbersome. They didn't want all the features. They didn't want e-mail. WebTV tried to be everything to everyone. That was their Achilles' heel."

This time, information technology and consumer electronics companies are paring down their expectations for TV-connected devices. Rather than try to duplicate the computing experience for couch potatoes, they want to connect TV screens to the banks of video, music and photos people have stored on their PCs.

Over time, the companies want to expand that connection to the unlimited content available on the Internet.

Among the likely entrants: Apple, which used its iPod music player and iTunes Music Store to create a market for online music. At next week's Macworld show in San Francisco, the company is expected to unveil a TV-connected device that would record shows the way TiVo Inc.'s popular digital video recorder does.

The device, expected to be a version of Apple's Mac mini, would be powered by software that Apple introduced with its latest version of the iMac, which lets people watch DVDs, play Internet video and listen to music using a remote control.

"That makes perfect sense," said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co. "Within two years I think there is a high likelihood that Apple will have TV tuners in all its computers."

Spokesman Steve Dowling said Apple would not comment on "speculation and rumor."

The company, whose QuickTime software has delivered movie previews over the Internet for years, unveiled a landmark deal in October to sell downloads of such popular ABC television shows as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost." Apple has since expanded its video offerings to include NBC Universal shows including "Monk" and "Law & Order."

Intel drafted Morgan Freeman, Tom Hanks, Danny DeVito and other celebrities for a red-carpet launch at the show here of a digital entertainment technology called Viiv (rhymes with jive). It's a marketing campaign for a collection of high-speed chips and software to deliver Internet video, games and other content to the TV.

Entertainment companies including AOL, NBC Universal, Turner Broadcasting and ESPN similarly took the stage to talk about how consumers could use their Viiv-powered PCs to listen to AOL Radio, watch classic television shows or view highlights from the 2006 Winter Olympics in high-resolution video.

For its part, Yahoo showed off its Yahoo Go service, which allows viewers to watch movie trailers and other media content from Yahoo. It will also help people manage photos and other personal content stored on a PC.

"We all grew up when someone else was the programmer," Yahoo Chief Executive Terry Semel said. "That dynamic has totally changed."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-fi-apple7jan07,0,7743130.story?coll=cl-tv-features

fredfa

01-07-06, 06:43 PM

TV Review
Emily's Reasons Why Not

By John Maynard The Washington Post staff writer

Mondays at 9 PM ET/PT on ABC

The tagline you'll never see: There are plenty of reasons why not to watch.

The basics: Emily Sanders (Heather Graham) is a successful self-help book publisher who can't seem to help herself when it comes to relationships. The show's awkward title comes from the novel of the same name by Carrie Gerlach, in which the female character comes up with a Top 10 list for why her past relationships haven't worked out. The hope is that the "reasons why not" will lead her to what she wants.

The lowdown: Goodbye, "Monday Night Football"; hello, Monday night romance. "Emily" kicks off two hours of ABC programming that explores the thrills and chills of relationships. The John Stamos sitcom "Jake in Progress," about a studly New York publicist who's looking to settle down, airs at 9:30, followed by another season of the reality show "The Bachelor." ABC hopes this lineup can attract younger viewers, but it faces an uphill battle against CBS's popular Monday night lineup and "24," the pulse-quickening Fox drama that moves to Mondays next week.

Reality check: The alluring Graham has star power, but she can't save this clunker of a sitcom. It's stylish at times and can be pretty to look at (Graham alone is a stunner), but as those on the dating scene know, all looks and no brains ultimately spells disaster.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/04/AR2006010402060_pf.html

fredfa

01-07-06, 06:51 PM

TV Pre-Review
“Country Boys”: An Amazing Documentary

The Newark Star-Ledger’s Alan Sepinwall TV blog

I've spent a lot of time watching and rewatching "Country Boys," an amazing PBS documentary (Monday, check local listings) by David Sutherland (who did "The Farmer's Wife" eight years ago) about two troubled kids growing up in Appalachian Kentucky. It premieres on Monday (look for my review then), and while I'm reluctant to overhype anything, I think it's already a lock for my '06 top 10 list.

I watched the first two hours on my plane flight to LA for last summer's press tour, and I was just riveted. I usually spend a lot of the PBS portion of press tour catching up on my writing, but I made a point to be at that session, just so I would get a chance to meet Chris Johnson and Cody Perkins, the two subjects, and to get a sense of how they turned out after the cameras went away.

Chris (a poor kid with negligible parents and anger issues), unfortunately, seemed to be stuck in the same place he is at the end of the documentary, but Cody (a born-again Christian metal singer with a dark autobiography) seemed to be doing just fine.

I bumped into him and his wife (his girlfriend in the documentary) at the hotel pool, and we talked for 20 minutes or so about the experience, and also about how he was finding LA. (Being flown out there on a TV network's dime was obviously a much bigger deal for him than it would be for Third Actor From Left on Crap-ass Sitcom.)

He said he did the tour of the stars' homes, making sure to stop for a while in front of Ozzy Osbourne's house. Then he went to Venice Beach. After being the only guy in his school with dyed hair, painted nails and multiple piercings, he was amazed to see everyone letting their freak flags fly in Venice: "It was like the family I never had."

I laughed at the line then, but after watching the entire miniseries recently -- in which we learn about Cody's mother's killing herself when he was a baby, about his father's involvement in a murder-suicide when Cody was 12, about the aunt who didn't want to have him in her home but was just fine being the guardian of his inheritance -- I realized he wasn't just dropping a one-liner.

Life sucks a lot of the time. "Country Boys," thankfully, does not.

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/

fredfa

01-07-06, 07:57 PM

TV Review
“Country Boys” richly details poverty

By Dusty Saunders (Denver) Rocky Mountain News January 7, 2006

You have a choice of reality series on Monday night.

ABC offers a new edition of The Bachelor, when Ken meets 26 Barbies in a romantic setting signified by the Eiffel Tower. The series, subtitled Americans in Paris, should offer an apology to George Gershwin and Gene Kelly.

The other choice is not anywhere near Paris, emotionally or geographically. PBS' Frontline premieres acclaimed filmmaker David Sutherland's Country Boys, an intimate, six-hour documentary about two teenage boys coming of age in the tiny community of Prestonsburg, located in the Appalachian hills of Eastern Kentucky.

(Check your local PBS station for times and days. Most stations are running it Monday-Wednesday two hours a njight.)

Filmed over three years (1999-2002), the documentary tracks the daily trials and triumphs of Cody Perkins and Chris Johnson from ages 15 to 18 in their quest to overcome overwhelming poverty and dysfunctional family life.

Documentary film devotees familiar with Sutherland's work will recall his previous PBS project - The Farmer's Wife, an award-winning 1998 series that profiled Darrel and Juanita Buschkoetter, a Nebraska farm couple struggling to save their farm and their marriage.

"Project" aptly describes Sutherland's work. A legitimate poster hero for the documentary film world, Sutherland's work features a cinematic technique that translates into an intense "you are there" experience. Obviously, such a project will not appeal to viewers whose dramatic palates are more accustomed to the slice-and-slime TV world dominated by CSI investigators.

Watching Country Boys (six hours over three nights) will be a definite television commitment, made a bit easier in this electronic age of VCRs and TiVo.

According to Sutherland, Country Boys is a result of viewers' response to The Farmer's Wife. Sutherland recalls that during test screenings for that earlier documentary, a large number of viewers said the Buschkoetter family didn't "look poor."

"I was surprised," Sutherland says, "because the family lived way below the poverty line and often didn't have enough food to eat. So I began asking myself, 'What does poverty look like?'

"Over the past decade or so media coverage has focused more and more on breaking news and urban issues and less and less on the plight of the rural poor."

Sutherland actually changed his focus after starting the documentary. What began as a film about rural poverty evolved into a coming-of-age story in an environment where the troubles of today can led to a dead end tomorrow.

The result is a "double-barreled" documentary showing a look at the two teens, while providing an in-depth, somewhat depressing portrait at life in Appalachia.

Like all dedicated documentary producers, Sutherland is a stickler for research. He visited every rural-oriented county in West Virginia and eastern Kentucky before settling on Prestonsburg (population 4,000).

Sutherland made 32 filming visits to the area. But that was the relatively easy part of his work, since he spent four years editing the film, finishing right before Thanksgiving.

Sutherland was granted "complete access" to his two subjects. The lives of Cody and Chris are covered extensively at home, school and in numerous other environments. And Sutherland also has film of the two in intimate "growing up" situations that many filmmakers could only discuss through narrative.

The documentary's success results from the fact that while Cody and Chris exist in the same world, their personalities are decidedly different. The lives of both have been difficult. Cody's mother took her life when he was a baby. His father remarried, but killed Cody's stepmother and then himself.

Living with shirttail relatives, in an above-average (for Prestonsburg) home environment, Cody initially is a moody, freakish-looking teen, complete with black fingernail polish and two-toned hair. At the high school he and Chris attend, Cody regularly talks back to his teachers in sullen style.

As his life evolves, viewers will learn that Cody discovers a born-again Christian belief, using his heavy-metal band as a way of exploring his tattered life through music.

Chris' life is not any better. A chain-smoker, he lives in a rundown trailer with his mother, a high school dropout who cleans hotel rooms for a living, and his father, an alcoholic with terminal cirrhosis of the liver.

With his parents regularly lost in an alcoholic haze, Chris is a surrogate parent to his younger siblings. His life brightens when a teacher, sensing intelligence beneath Chris' lazy demeanor, interests him in producing a school newspaper. All of this is recorded in the first two hours.

How their lives change during the three years provides in- depth character studies never found in the constricted environs of commercial television.

And in addition, viewers will enter a world of poverty and disillusionment only hinted at through spotty television news coverage.

Country Boys provides an authentic meaning to reality television.

http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_84_128,00.html

fredfa

01-07-06, 10:34 PM

Jason Lee From 'My Name Is Earl'
'Trust Me, I'm Funnier With the Moustache'

By Dave Itzkoff The New York Times January 8, 2006

One morning in early December, Jason Lee was standing outside a doughnut shop in the Los Angeles suburb of Van Nuys, his thumbs stabbing furiously at the keyboard of his BlackBerry, when his director abruptly called, "Action!" In a single continuous motion, Mr. Lee slipped the gadget into his jeans pocket and darted into the store, racing out moments later with a box of doughnuts under his arm and a mischievous grin on his face. He performed a few more takes of the simulated theft, each time wearing a different raggedy flannel shirt and that same smirk, then returned to his off-camera position and resumed composing his e-mail messages. "Such is the life of Earl Hickey," Mr. Lee said with a shrug.

Four months into his run as the title character on NBC's "My Name Is Earl," Mr. Lee understands that the boundary between his on-screen alter ego - a likable loser determined to make amends to everyone he's ever wronged - and his own identity has been obliterated. Fans of the sitcom who don't know Mr. Lee's name now feel perfectly comfortable addressing this 35-year-old actor in public as "Hey, Earl!" And last week, NBC moved "My Name Is Earl" (on which Mr. Lee also serves as a producer) into the 9 p.m. Thursday time slot that has traditionally served as the cornerstone of the network's prime-time lineup.

All of which makes it that much harder for Mr. Lee to cast himself in the role that audiences most closely associate with him: the perennial underdog. "Everybody keeps asking, 'How does it feel to be saving NBC?' " Mr. Lee said while eating barbecue potato chips. "I'm just trying to get enough sleep to be back at work at 6 a.m. the next day."

Still, Mr. Lee would like to draw a few distinctions between himself and his shiftless television persona. "Earl was one of those kids that hung out at the arcade, smoked weed and stole people's quarters to play pinball," he said. "I was more the athletic Orange County kid who surfed and skateboarded and raced bicycles."

In fact, to legions of Southern Californians, Mr. Lee was best known during the late 1980's and early 90's as one of the region's most accomplished professional skateboarders, and as a co-owner of Stereo Sound Agency, a company that makes avant-garde skateboarding gear, videos and clothing.

"When everyone was doing skateboard videos with punk-rock soundtracks, he was using jazz music," said Ethan Suplee, who plays Mr. Lee's dimwitted brother, Randy, on "Earl." "He was making skateboards that had Jean Harlow's face when everyone was using comic-book graphics. It's almost too pretty to ride - it's a piece of artwork."

When Mr. Lee temporarily retired from the sport - at the ripe old age of 24 - and embarked on an acting career, his earnestly chatty approach to auditioning made him a welcome presence in casting sessions. "He had never really acted before, but we just dug him so much as a person that we kept asking the casting director to bring him back," said the director Kevin Smith, who gave Mr. Lee his first major film role in the 1995 comedy "Mallrats." "We didn't know anybody in Los Angeles, so we decided to just hang out with Jason when he came to audition."

In Mr. Smith's next movie, the postmodern romantic comedy "Chasing Amy," it was Mr. Lee's performance as a smart-alecky but sensitive comic-book artist that introduced him to a wider audience. "His humor can be heartbreaking, but there's always that moment where Jason finds an answer or has a breakthrough, and he'll pause, and that smile busts out," said Cameron Crowe, who cast Mr. Lee as the cynical rock musician Jeff Bebe in the film "Almost Famous." "He made the character a fragile ego in need of a lot of love."

While Mr. Lee continued to work steadily after "Chasing Amy," he was most often found playing sidekicks to established stars like Tom Cruise (in Mr. Crowe's film "Vanilla Sky") and Will Smith (in Tony Scott's "Enemy of the State").

"Jason can be a tricky actor, because you never see him the same way twice, and yet he seems like the guy who lives down the street," said the filmmaker Brad Bird, who cast Mr. Lee as the voice of the villain Syndrome in his 2004 animated feature, "The Incredibles." "Anybody that is smart enough can see his potential, but it requires that people think of him in a variety of different ways, and that's something that Hollywood doesn't always do well."

Mr. Lee said he preferred not to have his name atop the marquee, anyway. "With that comes more responsibility," he said, "and more weight on your shoulders. You don't get as much to play with as the sidekick or the friend who's got problems. The leading man doesn't get to have eccentricities."

But when Mr. Smith tried to make a prequel to the Chevy Chase comedy "Fletch" for Miramax, he was discouraged by the studio from casting Mr. Lee in the title role. "From Day 1, I was going, 'Jason is fantastic, Jason will pull it off, Jason, Jason, Jason,' " Mr. Smith said. "And for five years, I was repeatedly told: 'No, because Jason's just not a leading man. Jason is a second banana.' "

Last year, when the producers of "My Name Is Earl" approached Mr. Lee to star in the pilot, it was Mr. Lee who had to be won over. "I never, ever, ever, ever wanted to do TV," Mr. Lee said, "but when I read the script, it read like the first 30 pages of a feature film. I couldn't believe it was TV, and I couldn't believe it was NBC."

After much contemplation, Mr. Lee finally signed onto "Earl" as both an actor and a producer, taking an active role in casting guest stars and selecting music for the show, and siding with his production team in a dispute over the scuzzy mustache that has since become synonymous with his character. "It was like a two-, three-day battle with NBC over whether he could have facial hair," said Greg Garcia, the creator and executive producer of "Earl." "I knew once I shaved him, I would lose. But Jason just said, 'Trust me - I'm funnier with a mustache.' "

Since the debut of "Earl" in September, Mr. Lee and his mustache have attracted some of NBC's biggest audiences of the season, and they are now in the same time slot that "Cheers" and "Seinfeld" both called home. Though the schedule change will put "Earl" in the direct line of fire of "CSI," executives at NBC said they were optimistic that the show's quirky sensibility would help the network reclaim what was once its signature night.

"Even if it is not doing the kind of numbers that Thursday has traditionally done, remember that many of the comedies that ultimately became monsters there started from even more humble origins," said Kevin Reilly, NBC's president of entertainment. "A former crook trying to right wrongs is just as unlikely to be watchable as the unemployed, relationship-stunted gang on 'Seinfeld.' "

Mr. Lee said the success of "Earl" was not so much a reflection on him as it was an endorsement of an idiosyncratic sensibility that is in short supply on network television. He pointed to a recent episode of the show, which featured on its soundtrack the rarely heard song "Time Has Told Me" by the singer-songwriter Nick Drake, as emblematic of the risks he hoped "Earl" would continue to take in its new time slot. "When you're making a television show on a mainstream network like NBC, it's harder to break the rules, and the fact that we're doing that is an accomplishment," he said. "I mean, has there ever been a show on NBC with a freaking Nick Drake song in it?"

But many of Mr. Lee's friends say the greatest achievement of "Earl" has been to shine a spotlight on one of Hollywood's best-kept secrets. "It's been 10 years coming for Jason," Mr. Smith said. "Driving down Sunset Boulevard and seeing a billboard with your friend's face on it - and that friend, for once, isn't Ben Affleck or Matt Damon - is a phenomenal feeling."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/08/arts/television/08itzk.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

01-07-06, 11:01 PM

Sunday’s “Cold Case”:
Bruce Springsteen joins the case

The Boss rarely lets his songs be used for TV, but nine of his tunes will set the mood for a 'Cold Case' episode
By Greg Braxton Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 7, 2006

Don't hold your breath waiting for "Cold Case: The E! True Hollywood Story." You might pass out.

The Sunday police drama does not generate sensational backstage stories or tawdry headlines about feuding stars. And although the series is from the hit movie and TV factory of producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the force behind the "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" franchise, among others, it hasn't been a flashy media darling since its fall 2003 premiere.

What it does have are solidly strong ratings and a loyal viewership drawn not only to the emotionally tinged investigations but also to the show's flashback sequences that use hit songs from years past as homicide detectives look into unsolved cases.

Said Bruckheimer, "The music is the perfect companion to the storytelling." Adds Nina Tassler, CBS Entertainment president: "It's part of the aesthetic that contributes to the integrity of the show in a very big way. It's important for fans of the show."

One of those fans, though he has yet to publicly admit it, is likely Bruce Springsteen, the rocker who has rarely allowed his songs to be used in films and almost never on television. But with "Cold Case," Springsteen may be demonstrating his affection for the series by allowing producers to feature nine of his original songs in Sunday's episode, airing at 8:30 PM ET/PT.

It's the second time Springsteen has granted permission for the series to use his music. "Secret Garden," a song from his 1995 greatest hits that was also used in the 1996 film "Jerry Maguire," played during a closing montage last season.

Sunday's installment, "8 Years," revolves around the reopening of a 1988 case involving four high school friends, one of whom is murdered, and includes the 1980s-era songs "Brilliant Disguise," "No Surrender," "Stolen Car," and "I'm on Fire." The songs — from Springsteen's "The River," "Nebraska," "Born in the USA" and "Tunnel of Love" albums — are used to evoke the optimism felt by the friends as they graduate and their growing disillusion as they get older.

"I feel like I won the lottery," says Meredith Stiehm, executive producer and creator of "Cold Case," who designed the story around the songs. "I'm just over the moon. There are just so few artists who can bring such feeling to their music. I'm a nonreligious person, but I find religion in his music."

The cost of clearing songs — usually hits performed by the original artists — spike the budget of "Cold Case" episodes above the typical hourly drama, but the show's producers maintain that the music is a key and essential component.

Persuading artists to let their music be used on "Cold Case," though, is one of the show's weekly challenges.

Although some are willing — if the price is right — others such as folk singer Tracy Chapman have declined. Despite Springsteen's traditional reluctance, Stiehm felt it was worth a shot to at least ask.

A full-bore longtime Springsteen fan, Stiehm said she had long fantasized about producing an episode that would feature only his music.

"Usually we let the story unfold in its own way, but this time I wanted to let the songs tell the story," she said. "I outlined the story around the songs I had on a wish list, making the songs pretty much tell the story. We submitted the list to his people, then hoped. When they asked to see a final outline we were so thrilled."

Springsteen has said in the past that he has leaned against allowing much of his music to be used in films or TV because he doesn't want to influence listeners' images. He also has not been keen on allowing his songs to be used for commercial purposes. He spoke out when President Reagan used his antiwar "Born in the U.S.A." in 1984 as a campaign rallying cry.

Despite the agreement, Springsteen is maintaining his usual low profile when it comes to publicizing the episode or giving specifics as to why he allowed his music to be used. He is not granting interviews. And he and Stiehm have never spoken.

When asked what Springsteen thought of the series, Stiehm paused: "Actually, I don't know. It's a mystery. I assume he's seen it."

The key to reaching the Boss, or rather, the Boss' people, was the episode's director, Mark Pellington. He was the director behind Springsteen's music video for "Lonesome Day," so he lobbied the singer's management company.

"What we wanted to do was really bust it out a little bit in terms of the plot," he said. "We were more than aware that he's very protective of his music, and we really wanted to honor that. And it was great that Meredith didn't just go for the greatest hits but for some of his more obscure songs. There's some dark material in his songs."

And while she couldn't be happier with the permission, the show did pay the price. "Let's just say using those nine songs was very expensive," Stiehm said.

When the series was launched, Bruckheimer, Stiehm and other producers believed that to fully realize their vision for the drama, they would have to use original music, and that it would be expensive, particularly in a weekly series. The licensing of a single song could cost around $5,000 an episode, and "Cold Case" spends up to 12 times that much on an episode's soundtrack. The cost for music clearance makes it prohibitive for "Cold Case" to follow the path of other dramas that have found a second life on DVD box sets.

But Stiehm and other producers don't seem to mind. The authenticity and emotional touchstone is worth it.

"Time is our main character, and it's an endlessly interesting one," she said.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-springsteen7jan07,0,1877666,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

HDTVChallenged

01-08-06, 12:25 AM

RE: Cold Case

Sunday's installment, "8 Years," revolves around the reopening of a 1988 case involving four high school friends, one of whom is murdered, and includes the 1980s-era songs "Brilliant Disguise," "No Surrender," "Stolen Car," and "I'm on Fire." The songs — from Springsteen's "The River," "Nebraska," "Born in the USA" and "Tunnel of Love" albums — are used to evoke the optimism felt by the friends as they graduate and their growing disillusion as they get older

Hey maybe they'll actually solve the case .... (*cough* FOX *cough*) ;)

fredfa

01-08-06, 10:33 AM

TV Programmers: Who Makes The Money?
CBS: In the Money NBC falls, ABC rises in B&C’s annual ranking of broadcast and cable networks

By John M. Higgins Broadcasting & Cable Jan. 9, 2006

Ten years ago, CBS had a black eye. The network had just lost the NFL, watched 20% of its stations switch affiliation and was solidly fourth among the Big Four.

What a difference a decade makes. Now CBS is finally No. 1 where it really counts: money. The network finished 2005 at the top of B&C’s annual ranking of the 25 largest TV networks.

CBS revenues grew only modestly, 5%, to $4.7 billion from $4.4 billion. But that was enough to dethrone longtime leader NBC, whose prime time ratings trouble helped fuel an enormous plunge from first place all the way down to fifth.

CBS’ achievement comes as its parent splits itself in two. Last week, the network and its stations became the anchor of CBS Corp., as MTV Networks and studio Paramount were spun away into a “new” Viacom Corp.

CBS’ ascent to No. 1 is the culmination of a decade-long rebuild by Chairman Leslie Moonves. When he took control, the network’s schedule was weak, its audience aging, but he gradually overhauled it into a powerhouse with a broad stable of strong shows.

Moonves says CBS’ achievement highlights the importance of paying attention to the basic business of TV. Industry executives are riveted by the promise—and the threat—of new media like video iPods, cellphone TV and the Web. “That’s important,” he says. However, “it is still our priority to keep the network as strong as it has ever been. Getting 30 million people to watch CSI week in and week out is still the name of the game.”

B&C estimates network revenue each year to show where money really flows in the TV business. While everyone watches the Nielsens, advertising isn’t the only driver of the TV business. QVC came within $200 million of topping CBS in 2005, and it sells no advertising at all, instead making all its money hawking computers, candles and clothing (the most searched item on its Web site last year: Birkenstocks). HBO, the 28 million-subscriber pay channel, collects more in license fees from cable and DBS than last year’s most-watched network, Fox, sells in advertising.

The biggest shift is NBC’s dramatic 23% drop from $5.1 billion to just $3.9 billion. Its prime time audience shrank 15% this season, following a 17% dive during 2004-05. The prime time loss was exacerbated by the absence of ad revenue from the Summer Olympics, which had aired on NBC in 2004. The biggest gainer is Fox News Channel, up 22%.

New to the list is VH1, sneaking in at 25, aided by new affiliation deals by parent MTV Networks and surprisingly strong success with the “celebreality” genre. “It’s the shows,” says VH1 General Manager Tom Calderone. “The financial momentum the channel has had is all about the shows.”

In 2006, even if NBC’s prime time schedule doesn’t turn around, revenues will definitely return: The network has the Winter Olympics in February and gets prime time rights to Sunday-night NFL games next season.

At CBS, Moonves may finally get his clear ratings win in all major demos, which will only help revenues. CBS was first in ratings for the first half of the TV season, but ABC is armed with both the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards.

B&C’s Top 25
Rank Network 2004 (million) 2005 (million) Growth
1 CBS $4,449 $4,671 5%
2 QVC $4,141 $4,489 8%
3 ESPN $3,576 $4,031 13%
4 ABC $3,514 $3,911 11%
5 NBC $5,062 $3,900 -23%
6 HBO $2,715 $2,930 8%
7 Fox $2,405 $2,624 9%
8 HSN $1,880 $1,906 1%
9 Nickelodeon $1,596 $1,673 5%
10 TNT $1,466 $1,571 7%
11 MTV $1,259 $1,436 14%
12 TBS $988 $1,122 14%
13 USA $990 $1,089 10%
14 Showtime $867 $906 5%
15 Lifetime $850 $900 6%
16 CNN $746 $794 6%
17 The WB $694 $715 3%
18 Disney Channel $650 $710 9%
19 ShopNBC $617 $649 5%
20 FX $555 $645 16%
21 Discovery $616 $637 3%
22 A&E $620 $625 1%
23 Univision $591 $621 5%
24 Fox News $471 $574 22%
25 VH1 $490 $560 14%
In compiling the Top 25 Networks, B&C combines securities filings and consults with media analysts, including Morgan Stanley’s Richard Bilotti; Bear Stearns’ Ray Katz; Sanford Bernstein’s Michael Nathanson; Jefferies & Co.’s Robert Routh; and Kagan Media. B&C analyzes the data, with additional guidance offered by many networks.

________________________________________
HBO
2005 revenue : $2.93 billion
Owner: Time Warner
Top EXEC: Chris Albrecht, chairman/CEO
Programming: General entertainment
Type: Pay cable
TV homes reached: 27.0 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 835,000
________________________________________
Fox
2005 revenue : $2.62 billion
Owner: News Corp.
Top EXEC: Tony Vinciquerra, president, Fox Networks Group
Programming: General entertainment
Type: Broadcast
TV homes reached: 106.0 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 7.9 million
________________________________________
HSN
2005 revenue : $1.9 billion
Owner: Interactive Corp.
Top EXEC: Marty Nealon, president
Programming: Retail shopping
Type: Cable
TV homes reached: 89 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: Not available
________________________________________
Nickelodeon
2005 revenue : $1.67 billion
Owner: Viacom
Top EXEC: Cyma Zarghami, president, MTVN Kids and Family
Programming: Kids/Classic TV
Type: Ad-supported cable
TV homes reached: 89.5 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 1.7 million
________________________________________
TNT
2005 revenue : $1.57 billion
Owner: Time Warner
Top EXEC: Steve Koonin, EXEC VP/COO, TBS/TNT
Programming: General entertainment
Type: Ad-supported cable
TV homes reached: 89.8 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 2.2 million
________________________________________
ESPN
2005 revenue : $4.03 billion
Owner: Disney Co. and Hearst Corp.
Top EXEC: George Bodenheimer, president, ESPN/ABC Sports
Programming: Sports
Type: Ad-supported cable
TV homes reached: 90.1 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 2.9 million
________________________________________
QVC
2005 revenue : $4.49 billion
Owner: Liberty Media
Top EXEC: Michael George, president/CEO
Programming: Home shopping
Type: Cable
TV homes reached: 90.5 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: Not available
________________________________________
ABC
2005 revenue : $3.91 billion
Owner: Disney Co.
Top EXEC: Anne Sweeney, president, Disney-ABC Television Group
Programming: General entertainment
Type: Broadcast
TV homes reached: 109 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 10.3 million
________________________________________
MTV
2005 revenue : $1.44 billion
Owner: Viacom
Top EXEC: Christina Norman, president
Programming: Music/Reality
Type: Ad-supported cable
TV homes reached: 88.8 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 1 million
________________________________________
NBC
2005 revenue : $3.9 billion
Owner: General Electric
Top EXEC: Jeff Zucker, chairman/CEO, NBC Universal TV Group
Programming: General entertainment
Type: Broadcast
TV homes reached: 109 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 9.1 million
________________________________________
USA
2005 revenue : $1.1 billion
Owner: General Electric
Top EXEC: Bonnie Hammer, president, USA and Sci Fi Networks
Programming: General entertainment
Type: Ad-supported cable
TV homes reached: 89.7 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 2.7 million
________________________________________
TBS
2005 revenue : $1.12 billion
Owner: Time Warner
Top EXEC: Steve Koonin, executive VP/COO, TBS/TNT
Programming: General entertainment
Type: Ad-supported cable
TV homes reached: 88.8 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 1.6 million
________________________________________
Showtime
2005 revenue : $906 million
Owner: CBS
Top EXEC: Matthew Blank, chairman/CEO
Programming: General entertainment
Type: Pay cable
TV homes reached: 13 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 135,000
________________________________________
Lifetime
2005 revenue : $900 million
Owner: Disney Co. and Hearst Corp.
Top EXEC: Betty Cohen, president/CEO, Lifetime Entertainment Services
Programming: Women’s entertainment
Type: Ad-supported cable
TV homes reached: 89.5 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 1.8 million
________________________________________
CBS
2005 revenue : $4.67 billion
Owner: Viacom
Top EXEC: Leslie Moonves, president/CEO, CBS Corp.
Programming: General entertainment
Type: Broadcast
TV homes reached: 109 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 12.9 million
________________________________________
CNN
2005 revenue : $794 million
Owner: Time Warner
Top EXEC: Johnathan Klein, president, CNN/U.S.
Programming: News
Type: Ad-supported cable
TV homes reached: 89.9 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 753,000
________________________________________
The WB
2005 revenue : $715 million
Owner: Time Warner and Tribune
Top EXEC: Garth Ancier, chairman, The WB
Programming: Prime time general entertainment
Type: Broadcast
TV homes reached: 96 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 3.3 million
________________________________________
Disney Channel
2005 revenue : $710 million
Owner: Disney Co.
Top EXEC: Rich Ross, president, Disney Channel Worldwide
Programming: Kids and family entertainment
Type: Cable
TV homes reached: 86.9 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 2.3 million
________________________________________
FX
2005 revenue : $645 million
Owner: News Corp.
Top EXEC: John Landgraf, president/general manager, FX Networks
Programming: General entertainment
Type: Ad-supported cable
TV homes reached: 87.9 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 1.2 million
________________________________________
ShopNBC
2005 revenue : $649 million
Owner: ValueVision
Top EXEC: William Lansing, president
Programming: Home shopping
Type: Basic cable and broadcast
TV homes reached: 63.9 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: Not available
________________________________________
Discovery
2005 revenue : $637 million
Owner: Discovery Communications
Top EXEC: Billy Campbell, president, Discovery Networks, U.S.
Programming: Science- oriented entertainment
Type: Ad-supported cable
TV homes reached: 90.3 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 941,000
________________________________________
Univision
2005 revenue : $621 million
Owner: Univision Communications
Top EXEC: Ray Rodriguez, president/COO, Univision Communications
Programming: Spanish- language
Type: Broadcast
TV homes reached: 80 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 3.4 million
________________________________________
A&E
2005 revenue : $625 million
Owner: Hearst Corp., Disney Co., General Electric
Top EXEC: Abbe Raven, president/CEO, A&E Television Networks
Programming: General entertainment
Type: Ad-supported cable
TV homes reached: 89.3 million homes
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 984,000
________________________________________
Fox News
2005 revenue : $574 million
Owner: News Corp.
Top EXEC: Roger Ailes, chairman/CEO, Fox News; chairman, Fox Television Stations Group
Programming: News
Type: Ad-supported cable
TV homes reached: 87.9 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 1.7 million
________________________________________
VH1
2005 revenue : $560 million
Owner: Viacom
Top EXEC: Tom Calderone, general manager
Programming: Pop culture and music
Type: Ad-supported cable
TV homes reached: 88.5 million
Average prime time viewers 2 and older: 598,000

• http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6297847

fredfa

01-08-06, 10:53 AM

TV Review
Why pass on these new sitcoms? Plenty of reasons

Off-target humor doesn't match the strong casts
By Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel Television Critic January 8, 2006

Comedy basically means watching bad things happen to others, and two new ABC sitcoms push that principle to frantic limits. Too bad that approach doesn't generate more laughs.

Emily's Reasons Why Not, debuting Monday, depicts the romantic pratfalls of Emily Sanders (Heather Graham), hapless editor of self-help books. Crumbs, premiering Thursday, follows a family in crisis because of adultery, secrets and mental distress. Both comedies employ strong casts, but the introductions to these characters aren't encouraging.

Based on Carrie Gerlach's novel, Emily's Reasons Why Not lets its heroine prattle on in a style that in no way surpasses Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City. This ABC sitcom strives for edgy sophistication, but the characters come off as superficial and mean.

Emily says she longs for a soul mate, but her actions suggest she needs to follow another plan: Grow up. When she ticks off a list of reasons to dump a man, she reveals her pettiness.

Although Graham is pretty and stylish, Emily is easy to resist. In the premiere, Emily's treatment of a dashing co-worker ends so badly that watching her go after Mr. Right each week could be ugly. She's like an over-eager lumberjack in the forest of love, ready to wipe out whole patches of eligible males.

Ah, but what lumber. Her romantic prospects look ready to grace magazine covers. As Emily's best friends, Nadia Dajani and Khary Payton serve up catty dialogue with verve.

Smith Cho's swallow-the-scenery performance as Emily's office rival would place high on the list of reasons not to watch this show. This comedy's tiresome glibness would be another.

To its credit, Crumbs tries to go deeper in depicting conflicted characters. That, unfortunately, doesn't make this series any funnier.

Dad Billy Crumb (William Devane) threw over his wife of 30 years for another woman. Wife Suzanne (Jane Curtin) is coming out of a psychiatric facility after suffering a breakdown. Son Jody (Eddie McClintock) resents being saddled with running the family restaurant in the Crumbs' Connecticut hometown. Screenwriter son Mitch (Fred Savage), his Hollywood career fading, has returned home to help out.

TV buffs will want to look in on a family consisting of Savage, Devane and Curtin. As subdued Mitch, who won't tell his family he's gay, Savage makes a likable straight man to his boisterous co-stars.

In a dicey move, Crumbs plays Mom's manic outlook for laughs. That this works as well as it does is a tribute to Curtin's bravura and skill.

More problematic are the show's lurches to mawkish drama. The past haunts this family, and that means this clan is having trouble facing today.

OK, fine. But how do you make that funny? Crumbs hasn't mastered that challenge. This series is a very odd choice to follow bubbly Dancing With the Stars.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/orl-haltv0806jan08,0,4214222,print.story

CPanther95

01-08-06, 12:09 PM

How can anyone look at those revenue numbers and not see how broken this system is?

ESPN pulled in more revenue than ABC, FOX and NBC (2nd only to CBS)
ESPN generates $1389 per primetime viewer
CBS generates $362 per primetime viewer

Fox News pulls in almost 30% less revenue than CNN despite a monster ratings advantage.
FNC generates $338 per viewer
CNN generates $1054 per viewer

Just shows how little the consumer matters when it comes to network actions.

DrDon

01-08-06, 12:34 PM

Fox News pulls in almost 30% less revenue than CNN despite a monster ratings advantage.
FNC generates $338 per viewer
CNN generates $1054 per viewer
I think one of the issues with this is that CNN reaches around 9 million more homes than FNC does, and cable nets sell as much on homes reached as they do on ratings. So, when you take that penetration for advertising rates and the additional cable fees CNN draws into account, it might narrow that gap a bit. There's also a good deal of combo selling between CNN and HLN. It's difficult, though not impossible, to split that out, and I don't know if they did for this report.

keenan

01-08-06, 01:09 PM

You really have to be in awe of what HBO has accomplished, roughly $2500 per primetime viewer, incredible..

CPanther95

01-08-06, 01:09 PM

My point is the radical growth in the significance of carriage fees and the lessening importance of advertising revenue - and the resulting minimization of the impact of the viewer.

I know ratings will ultimately affect carriage fees, but not to the degree that our voice has the impact that it should.

CPanther95

01-08-06, 01:12 PM

You really have to be in awe of what HBO has accomplished, roughly $2500 per primetime viewer, incredible..

and HBO is operating under a fully a la carte model.

Only 27 million homes, but they create a phenomenal amount of quality programming to drive those sub numbers. It's amazing what happens when your survival is based on the demand for your product.

fredfa

01-08-06, 01:23 PM

Saturday’s network prime-time ratings have been posted at the top of Latest Prime Time Ratings news which is the first post in this thread.

keenan

01-08-06, 01:54 PM

and HBO is operating under a fully a la carte model.

Only 27 million homes, but they create a phenomenal amount of quality programming to drive those sub numbers. It's amazing what happens when your survival is based on the demand for your product.
Indeed.

fredfa

01-08-06, 02:17 PM

So why the cries of horror when Les Moonves says he wants to be paid for CBS' content?

Surely CBS is worth $1 or more from cable/satellite/telco operators. That would add, by the way,more than $1 billion to the CBS bottom line.

keenan

01-08-06, 02:21 PM

CBS isn't, or wouldn't be, a-la-carte. If CBS wants a $1 per sub I have to pay it whether I want CBS or not. (e.g. ESPN..)

fredfa

01-08-06, 02:25 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Nightly news revisions

Executives prefer moneymakers, and CBS' pursuit of Couric is just one example of news outlets trying to find out which anchor, format will be younger audience's best friend

By Phil Rosenthal Chicago Tribune Media Columnist January 8, 2006

Already rich and famous, Katie Couric will have to choose in the coming months whether she wants to be historic.

With her contract set to expire in May, she says she doesn't yet know if she will remain as co-host of NBC's top moneymaker, "Today," or go to CBS, which wants to reinvent "The CBS Evening News" around her.

Beyond whether Couric, who turned 49 Saturday, decides to become the first solo female anchor of a nightly U.S. network newscast, this is a choice that will reverberate far beyond those two news programs, rumbling through executive suites and rattling the media landscape.

The courting of Couric is emblematic of efforts by nearly every news organization--in broadcasting, cable, print and even digital--to win over a new generation that hasn't adopted the reading and viewing habits of its parents.

"If CBS goes with Katie, that will be a wonderful move for them," said Elizabeth Vargas, who last week, paired with fellow 40-something co-anchor Bob Woodruff, officially replaced the late Peter Jennings on ABC's "World News Tonight." "But if they do that, they'll probably change that show so it caters to her strengths."

And those changes may come even if Couric spurns CBS.

There's a movement afoot to make the once-staid evening newscasts more relatable, more accessible, younger--like the far more profitable world of morning news and chat in which Couric now thrives as TV's highest paid and arguably most valuable news person.

Couric gets about $16 million annually for fronting "Today" with Matt Lauer, news reader Ann Curry and requisite jovial weather guy Al Roker. It's a nod to the more than $500 million in ad revenue the show generates, about half of which is profit. Sources conflict on whether CBS is going to dangle more or less money, though there is talk of also offering her a coveted role on "60 Minutes."

CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves, a former character actor whose success in reviving that network is rooted in a keen awareness of both what plays in Peoria and what pays on Madison Avenue, has put her at the top of his shopping list as he sketches out a new approach to "Evening News" with Sean McManus, the CBS Sports boss he recently gave control of the news division.

Rather than an authority figure--"the Voice of God," as Moonves has put it--the CBS anchor desk (assuming there still is a desk) will have someone (or someones) with whom viewers can share a bond. Already, with Bob Schieffer as interim anchor, there's a folksier approach.

It's not clear how serious Moonves, husband of morning newscaster Julie Chen, was in an interview last year when he endorsed a British program in which women read headlines in lingerie. But the impression one gets is that the news may not always be pretty, but the people on CBS delivering it probably will be.

"It's not the pinnacle Walter Cronkite left," said former anchorman Bill Kurtis, now a Chicago-based producer and host. "We will not see another Walter Cronkite, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather. What we will see is this new kind of communication in which the networks are really chasing cable, trying to jump over them to the Internet and trying to find a purpose. ... The networks, especially at the evening news, are trying to find a younger audience."

Future under construction

This is more than the final step in the overhaul of the network news business, as the troika of men who held sway for more than two decades and watched their audiences age with them--NBC's Tom Brokaw, ABC's Jennings and CBS' Rather--each left the big stage.

It could well play a role in who eventually succeeds General Electric Vice Chairman Bob Wright, 62, as chairman and CEO of NBC Universal. Jeff Zucker, a fast-rising 40-year-old executive only five years removed from serving as Couric's executive producer on "Today," last month was promoted to CEO of NBC Universal Television.

Wright said the move "absolutely" put Zucker at the front of the line to succeed him eventually. "All he has to do is survive 2006 and then [2007]," Wright said. "What I think is a fair way to read into this is Jeff has a lot of responsibility here in some very key years."

How Zucker, who prides himself on talent relations, finesses the Couric situation will go a long way toward his survival.

While he's expected to do what he can to secure Couric and maintain status quo at "Today," the network has been grooming potential successors such as Curry, Alexis Glick, Natalie Morales and Campbell Brown to keep its money machine No.1, where it's been for the past decade.

"We have contingencies for every possibility," said Jim Bell, executive producer of "Today." "We have contingencies for Matt, Ann and Al, too. You never know what could happen in this business, and you have to be ready for it."

For that matter, Couric's decision also might have an impact on share prices for the half of Viacom now known as the new CBS Corp., which began trading last week as its own company on the New York Stock Exchange.

At the same time, many wonder about the future role of the anchor and the networks' nightly summaries in a not-so-commuter-friendly 5:30 p.m. time slot, especially when consumers can get their news--sometimes complete with video--how they want it, when they want it and as they want it on their computers and, increasingly, their mobile phones.

"There are so many sources of news now that people don't necessarily believe what they read or they see," ABC's Woodruff said. "I think what an anchor does is what an anchor always does, which is provide a source of information that's been vetted by somebody that people trust ... [giving] it a certain amount of greater credibility.

"It's the same thing that a masthead on your newspaper does. People believe the Chicago Tribune because they've been reading it for years and they know it's not going to be gone tomorrow. ... That's the role of the anchor. That's the trust that needs to be maintained."

Newscasts reflect helm

Vargas, who talks about wanting "to succeed for every working mother in America who juggles all these demands and issues," said these newscasts wind up reflecting the people "at the helm."

"Even when it was Peter and Dan and Tom in the same format with a single man in each broadcast, each of those shows was very different in many respects because they reflected those men and their sensibilities," she said. "So I think the shows will be very different once you start mixing up numbers and genders."

Not everyone believes CBS comes out ahead by landing Couric for its "Evening News" position, however.

"It would be a blow to CBS News because the thought that they could not produce someone to fill that job would be very demoralizing," said Kurtis, a former CBS anchor who had his greatest broadcast success at Chicago's WBBM-Ch. 2, which prepared future anchorstars such as Vargas and Lester Holt to flourish elsewhere. "All of a sudden, the track record, the model [to move up the ladder], is now to go to work for someone else."

Couric has made it clear she has had her fill of reporting on runaway brides and the like, but her ability to shift from those kinds of trivial stories to weightier matters on "Today" is among her greatest assets. As the definition of "real news" is expanded in an effort to draw more viewers to the evening newscasts, that could serve her well.

"I don't want to sound like a suck-up producer," "Today" executive producer Bell said, "but I'm confident she could do anything she wanted to do."

The question to be answered later this year is: Will she?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-0601080015jan08,0,3183867,print.column

CPanther95

01-08-06, 02:31 PM

CBS isn't, or wouldn't be, a-la-carte. If CBS wants a $1 per sub I have to pay it whether I want CBS or not. (e.g. ESPN..)

True, but that's the current business model. If ESPN can do it, why not CBS?

Of course, under a la carte, the draw of CBS will yield an even higher carriage fee than what they can expect now. Under Viacom, the motivation is carriage of all the channels under the system. Now that they are split, there are quite a few CBS execs that would love to generate revenue based on demand.

But the key people will still be overlooking the welfare of the entire corporation, so it's really a moot point.

fredfa

01-08-06, 02:31 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Credit Fouts for picking up bumbling, stumbling Jackson

By Jeffrey Flanagan Kansas City Star Sun, Jan. 08, 2006

The most unsung hero in college football from this past season?

Had to be Dan Fouts.

It was Fouts, after all, who had one of the toughest tasks around: delicately handling the declining broadcasting career of the legendary Keith Jackson, who at 77 likely (let’s hope) called the final game of his career Wednesday.

Jackson has been the signature voice of college football too long for anyone to casually trash the final chapter of his career.

But Wednesday’s game served as a painful reminder why it’s well past the time for Jackson to retire, gracefully.

No one could have enjoyed listening to Jackson fumble through this season, particularly the national championship game. He called an extra point good when it was wide, he thought a quarterback lost the ball when he was pitching it, he didn’t know the third quarter had ended, and perhaps the most embarrassing, he questioned why the game clock wasn’t running on a two-point conversion attempt.

Fouts, as he has all season, handled the matter diplomatically by saying, “It’s the extra point, it’s probably not going to, thank goodness for SC.”

Put yourself in Fouts’ shoes: What could you have said at that point without drawing more attention toward Jackson’s gaffe?

All in all, Fouts did a masterful job this season of nursing Jackson through this final stage, while still leaving Jackson room to do what he always did best — spew a few down-home country lines while at the same time letting the game speak for itself.

Fouts deserves recognition for this.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/13574987.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

01-08-06, 02:33 PM

CBS isn't, or wouldn't be, a-la-carte. If CBS wants a $1 per sub I have to pay it whether I want CBS or not. (e.g. ESPN..)

Actually, CBS is far more able to deal with an a la carte world than ESPN.

fredfa

01-08-06, 04:18 PM

TV Review
South Beach

By Amy Amatangelo The Washington Post

Wednesdays at 8 PM ET/PT. on UPN

The tagline you'll never see: The Real World: South Beach

The basics: Two best pals (Marcus Coloma and Chris Johnson) head to Miami where one's ex-girlfriend (Odette Yustman) is a struggling model. When the boys from Brooklyn aren't busy ogling the ladies, they meet the ex's new boyfriend (Lee Thompson Young); his mother, a hotel owner (Vanessa Williams); and a shady businessman (Giancarlo Esposito). By the end of the first hour, the duo have already landed in the middle of a gunfight. Where do they think they are? The O.C.?

The lowdown: With its litany of bikini-clad babes and a pulsating soundtrack, this series from executive producer Jennifer Lopez (yes, J. Lo) is like one big extended music video. The full two-hour premiere was not available for review because Hurricane Katrina delayed the Miami-based production. The series takes over the "America's Next Top Model" time slot, but the Tyra Banks reality competition was a much more compelling drama.

Reality check: Young, who played the title character of the Disney Channel's "The Famous Jett Jackson," is quite convincing as a sleazy bad guy. But like Esposito and Williams, he deserves better character development, a better script, and a less clichd plot line. If things don't improve, viewers will feel as if they've been punk'd.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/04/AR2006010402060_pf.html

DoubleDAZ

01-08-06, 04:38 PM

CBS isn't, or wouldn't be, a-la-carte. If CBS wants a $1 per sub I have to pay it whether I want CBS or not. (e.g. ESPN..)If CBS wanted $1/per viewer, including OTA viewers, I would have no problem paying for it. However, they want me, a cable sub, to pay for something that costs them nothing extra. There is no added cost to CBS to allow cable (or sat for that matter) to provide the signal, they get it OTA here to, and allow me to eliminate an antenna. Even where cable/sat gets it by landline, that cost was already negotiated and paid for.

The problem IMHO is that CBS believes cable is making money specifically off CBS and that is simply not the case. Granted, cable might not have as many subs if not for CBS, et al, but it is simply a retransmission medium and the money is made off the extra channels and other services. The money they make just on basic cable in no way reimburses them for what it costs to provide those basic channels, at least I don't think it does. :) If CBS, et al, can show me that cable actually makes $1/per sub just by retransmitting CBS, then we can talk about fees for "free" TV.

And ESPN has to do it because they are not available OTA for free. Maybe OTA should be done away with and then every channel would be a cable/sat channel. They all are just money-hungry b******s who are using the digital conversion to generate even more obscene profits.

GeorgeLV

01-08-06, 06:11 PM

The satellite companies pay for local channels and they make money from them. Why shouldn't the same model apply to cable?

CPanther95

01-08-06, 06:25 PM

Cable is making plenty off of the local networks. If you don't think so, see how successful they would be if they didn't offer them.

DoubleDAZ

01-08-06, 07:17 PM

CP,

I already granted you that they'd have fewer subs without the locals, but they still don't derive income directly from individual locals and I'm sure you can make the distinction. Just how much does DirecTV pay KPHO in Phoenix to carry their analog signal and how much will they be paying them for the digital signal? Is it payment for the channel or is it payment for the connection to the DirecTV equipment needed for retransmission? Big difference! Also, carriage allows sats to advertise locals in outlying areas where there is no cable and that gets them more subs, so paying for locals can mean a lot of different things besides just money changing hands. When it comes to locals on cable, there is compensation in-kind for every channel carried, it just may not be cash. The only difference in my mind is the level of extortion currently going on.

CPanther95

01-08-06, 07:25 PM

The only difference in my mind is the level of extortion currently going on.

True enough.

That's the system we have - and the one that should be changed.

DoubleDAZ

01-08-06, 07:49 PM

Lol!!!

fredfa

01-08-06, 09:09 PM

CPanther95 – more ratings info ---
TV Ratings
NBC's 'Daniel' can't inspire, but 'Earl' shift helps Thurs.

By Cynthia Littleton The Hollywood Reporter Jan. 09, 2006

NBC's limited-run series "The Book of Daniel" earned its share of advance scrutiny for its portrayals of contemporary men and women of the cloth, but that didn't translate to a large turnout for the drama's premiere Friday.

The peacock had better news on Thursday with the debut of its remodeled 8-10 p.m. comedy block anchored by "My Name Is Earl." ABC also had a pulse for a change on Thursday thanks to the return of its summer sensation "Dancing With the Stars."

"Daniel," which stars Aidan Quinn as a conflicted Episcopalian priest grappling with modern-day work and family issues and occasional visits from Jesus, opened in the 9-11 p.m. Friday berth to an average of 9 million viewers and a 2.7 rating/8 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research.

"Daniel" improved slightly on NBC's season average on what has been a troubled night for that network in particular and a low-rated night for the Big Four in general this season. Despite the buzz and a handful of affiliate defections, however, the back-to-back episodes of "Daniel" still came in behind CBS' dramas "Close to Home" (11.5 million, 2.9/8) and "Numbers" (13.6 million, 3.6.10) and ABC's "In Justice" (9.2 million, 2.8/8) and "20/20" (9.2 million, 3.0/9). The drama will settle into its regular 10 p.m. slot as of next week for the rest of its eight-episode run.

ABC received a boost Friday from the 8 p.m. premiere of the "Stars" results show (12.9 million, 3.0/9), which now follows "American Idol"-style on the heels of "Stars' " Thursday performance episodes. The Friday half-hour edition of "Stars" gave ABC its best nonsports numbers in the time slot in nearly five years, though the network lost momentum at 8:30 p.m. with comedy "Hope & Faith" (8.3 million, 2.5/7). The presence of "Stars" seemed to put a small dent in the first half-hour of CBS' drama "Ghost Whisperer" (11.4 million, 3.2/10), but the eye network took the night overall with 12.1 million viewers and a 3.2/9 in 18-49.

On Thursday, the 8-10 p.m. debut of the second incarnation of "Stars," ABC's celebrity-hoofer competition, impressed with an average of 17.5 million viewers and a 4.8/12 in the demo, according to Nielsen. "Stars" delivered a 118% increase over ABC's season averages in the 8-10 p.m. block.

But NBC had the most at stake Thursday after relocating its Tuesday success story "Earl" and its companion, "The Office," to the 9-10 p.m. hour against primetime's most-watched series, CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

"Earl" passed its first test, drawing 11.2 million viewers and a 5.2/13 in adults 18-49, not much of a dip from its season-to-date average in its Tuesday runs of 12.1 million viewers and a 5.3/13 in the key demo. At 9:30 p.m., NBC saw some encouraging results for "Office" (8.7 million, 4.5/11), which posted its best "Earl" retention rate to date. All told, the debut of the "Earl"/"Office" combo came in about on par with NBC's 9 p.m. averages so far this season with "The Apprentice 4" (11 million, 5.0/12).

Still, "CSI" (27.2 million, 9.2/22) towered over the time slot, as usual.

At 8 p.m., NBC's "Will & Grace" (8 million, 3.5/10) was slow out of the gate, but viewership perked up at 8:30 p.m. for the premiere of "Four Kings" (8.9 million, 4.2/11). The NBC comedies came in third behind "Stars" and CBS' "CSI" repeat (14.6 million, 4.4/12).

At 10 p.m., NBC's stalwart "ER" (14 million, 6.2/16) spiked but couldn't keep pace with CBS' "Without a Trace" (20.9 million, 6.8/18) and its "CSI" lead-in advantage. ABC's momentum ebbed at 10 p.m. with "Primetime" (8.8 million, 2.9/7), even as the newsmagazine hit its highest marks of the season.

Fox, UPN and WB network sat out the Big Three network fireworks on the first Thursday of 2006 with repeats, in the case of UPN and WB, and with Rob Schneider, in the case of Fox. Fox benched "The O.C." for the night and offered up the 2002 theatrical "The Hot Chick" (5.1 million, 2.1/5).

When all was said and done, CBS' seasonlong Thursday winning streak remained intact as the eye network finished with 20.9 million viewers and a 6.8/17 in adults 18-49 for the night. NBC was No. 2 in the demo (5.0/13); ABC was second in viewers (14.6 million).

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001807708

fredfa

01-08-06, 09:30 PM

The 2005-2006 Season: Part Two
ABC reverses its field on Mondays

Are you ready for some football? That's so ESPN; romance is the name of the game now
By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 9, 2006

NEW YORK -- Monday nights aren't just for the boys anymore on ABC.

With the conclusion of the 36th and final season of "Monday Night Football" last month, the network is launching a new lineup of prime-time shows on Monday with a decidedly different theme: relationships.

Starting tonight, viewers will be able to get their fill of love-and-romance-themed programming when the ongoing series "Wife Swap" is followed by the premieres of three shows: "Emily's Reasons Why Not," a new comedy starring Heather Graham as a self-help publisher with a bad track record in relationships; "Jake in Progress," the second incarnation of the John Stamos romantic comedy; and the eighth edition of "The Bachelor," this one set in Paris.

The strategy marks a new approach for Monday night on ABC, which drew heavily male audiences during football season. Over the last five years, the number of male viewers of "Monday Night Football" outstripped women 2 to 1.

But as all the networks jostle to attract the same pool of young viewers, ABC decided to shift its focus once football left its airwaves for a new home on ESPN.

"It's about female appeal," said Jeffrey D. Bader, executive vice president of programming, planning and scheduling for ABC Entertainment. "We're all in the same 18-to-49-year-old game, so you have to counter-program within the demographic. And none of the other networks are really appealing to women" on Monday nights.

Executives now believe they have an opening to build a night of themed programming that will attract a young, largely female audience — one that they can then maintain in the long run without interruption.

"If we have success on Monday night now, it's not something that is going to be derailed with football starting in the fall," Bader said.

ABC is heavily promoting the new Monday lineup on Sunday nights, when large numbers of women tune in to watch "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy." And the network is already heartened by the performance of "Wife Swap," which, as the 8 p.m. lead-in to "Monday Night Football," ranked No. 1 in the time period among 18-to-34-year-old female viewers so far this season, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The shows' producers welcome the packaging.

"It's a great idea, the idea of a unified block of television you can watch from start to finish," said Jeff Greenstein, executive producer of "Jake in Progress." "I don't think a network has had one since Thursday night fell apart for NBC."

Emily Kapnek, writer and executive producer of "Emily's Reasons Why Not," said she hopes the lineup will also appeal to some of the 10-million-plus men who tuned in to watch "Monday Night Football" this season.

"We're trying to make the stories relatable to anybody who's been in a relationship," she said. "There's something there for anyone — who's not interested in love?"

The new series — a single-camera sitcom with no laugh track — stars Graham as Emily Sanders, a successful publisher of self-help books in Los Angeles who is nevertheless plagued by bad judgment when it comes to her personal relationships. To keep herself in check, she devises a list of "Reasons Why Not" to do something.

Stamos' character on "Jake in Progress" has similar issues: Jake Phillips is a sought-after New York publicist who still can't seem to find the right woman. The show received critical praise last year but struggled to find an audience, a problem Bader blamed largely on the fact that the network didn't have the right slot for the show. Without another romantic comedy to pair it with, ABC ended up running multiple episodes back to back.

But this season, Stamos and the program's producers also sought to rethink the tone and the character.

"ABC was pretty cool to bring us back, so I wanted to try to come through for them and fix issues that we had," Stamos said. "We all kind of got together and said, 'How do we make the show more approachable and more likable and more grounded?' "

One of the key problems, producers found, was that viewers had trouble relating to Jake, a handsome man-about-town who had no problem getting dates.

"We found last year that no matter how many times Jake wanted love instead of sex, there was still a feeling that the character was a little snarky, a little unlikable," said Austin Wins-berg, creator and executive producer. "I never wanted to make Jake the slick player guy that people hate."

This season, the writers developed a running story line to keep viewers engaged and show Jake's softer side: his efforts to get over his former fiancée, Annie (played by Charlotte Ross), whom he is forced to work with.

"That's the backbone of any great romantic comedy: a guy and a girl," Stamos said. "And we're kind of playing some of that old movie-star, Hepburn-Tracy dialogue, fast banter, which I like doing the best. Everything else kind of falls into place around that. I think he has to be in love or be with one girl, for me, anyway, otherwise it just feels unsatisfying."

Of course, if things don't work out with Annie, Jake could always test the waters with Emily, perhaps in a romantic-comedy crossover show?

"If they want to do it, we'd love it!" Greenstein said.

"They can start a long-distance relationship," Winsberg mused.

"He's a publicist, she's in publishing," Greenstein said. "What could be better?"

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-monday9jan09,0,6247711,print.story?coll=cl-tv-top-right

fredfa

01-08-06, 09:38 PM

TV Review
“Country Boys” is reality TV with grit and hope

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic Monday, January 9, 2006

It is an unwritten rule that the poorest of the poor do not exist on television until a Hurricane Katrina or a West Virginia mine disaster forces cameras to notice. But then a fresher story comes along and it's back to ignoring them.

As for a look at the lives of working-class teens -- no thank you. American audiences prefer their teenagers to be rich, spoiled, beautiful and unreal.

One night of David Sutherland's six-hour film "Country Boys," a special "Frontline" presentation airing 9 to 11 p.m. Monday through Wednesday on PBS (but check your local listings), provides a fantastic antidote to all that, and cuts a lot closer to the typical teenager's truth. Not to mention that Cody Perkins and Chris Johnson's personalities are vastly more compelling than those of their cable television counterparts.

"I know grown-up pressures are problems," Chris observes, "but teenagers have 'em too."

The most obvious difference, among a football field's worth, is that as Sutherland follows these Appalachian teenagers for three years, there's no question that what we're seeing is completely unpolished.

Teenagers of every stripe attract drama; that's what makes them such perfect candidates for television. But Cody and Chris' struggles truly make them walk the razor's edge between success and utter socioeconomic failure.

Sutherland kept track of the pair from 1999 to 2002, when the boys were between 15 and 18 years old and attended the same alternative school in David, Ky. In three two-hour segments, their destinies take markedly different shapes.

Cody, a mumbling kid who cracks wise with a deadpan delivery, is a born-again Christian with a death-metal band. God, he says, helped him survive his parents' deaths, especially that of his dad, who murdered Cody's stepmom before turning the gun on himself. Make a snap judgment based on his looks --black finger polish, piercings -- and tragic back story, and Cody looks like he may not make it.

Chris, after all, has both parents in the picture. That's to his detriment.

His father's alcoholism is so severe that he can't work; he drinks away every cent put into his hands. Chris' mother has to swipe the man's Social Security check so the family can afford a new trailer. She cleans hotels to bring in money, but doesn't support her kids in any emotional sense. To her, Chris is another Social Security check available until he turns 18.

Cody, on the other hand, has plenty of support from his step-grandmother Liz McGuire, with whom he lives; from his girlfriend, whose parents treat him like a son; from his maternal grandparents, his pastor and his band.

Cody has his music and his girl, but is just as busily hammering out his own take on Christian philosophy.

He's a kindhearted kid whose journey is more of a gradual evolution -- discovering, for instance, that memories of his father as a cool best friend are alarmingly different from the criminal records cited in newspaper articles. He reads these for the first time as the camera rolls.

"Nobody tells the kid anything," he mutters bitterly.

Meanwhile, Chris has no one but the teachers and principal of The David School, whose encouragement can only take the boy so far. He has potential that's not just untapped, it's blocked. He delivers such eloquent soliloquies that it's frustrating to see him sabotage himself.

When he decides to start a school newspaper in part one, he believes he's terrible at talking in front of large groups -- clearly he's not -- and he lacks the leadership abilities to pull it off. But he goes ahead with it anyway.

"This newspaper gives me meaning," he says. "To hell with glory. To hell with people noticing me. All I care about is having a meaning in life."

But whenever he starts something, he finds an excuse not to finish it and blames his home life. That may be typical of adolescence, but Sutherland makes it look particularly disheartening here. It doesn't help that Chris' mother, a high school dropout, validates every stumble off track; she'd rather have him work a minimum-wage job than finish school.

The only flaw in "Country Boys" is that it may be two hours too long.

Still, Sutherland, who made the critically acclaimed series "The Farmer's Wife," makes "Country Boys" more than a rural American tragedy. While he took great care not to perpetuate insulting myths about Appalachia, he's not treading on eggshells or romanticizing the surroundings.

Even the most beautiful shots don't gloss over the hardscrabble nature of David or its people, but there's always hope and light in the midst of every bit of devastation.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/254815_tv09.html

fredfa

01-08-06, 09:44 PM

TV on DVD
"Hill Street Blues" inspired today's edgy cop fare

By Joanne Ostrow Denver Post TV Critic

Time may heal all wounds, but it doesn't make us miss Sgt. Phil Esterhaus any less. Seems like yesterday we were immersed in the roll call in the basement of the precinct house, observing our Thursday night ritual and experiencing a revolution in television.

With this month's DVD release of the "Hill Street Blues" first season, it's possible to relive the 1980s, spot the antecedents for today's cutting-edge fare, and recall why this remarkable series was a breakthrough.

Difficult as it is to remember, there was a time before everything on network TV was called "edgy."

Fond memories and an appreciation for Steven Bochco's medium-changing police drama can't blur that the show looks dated next to "NYPD Blue" (1993), "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993) and "The Shield" (2002). But this is where those gritty cop shows first found their grit. The hand-held cameras, the noisy multitrack sound, the cluttered look and improvisational feel all amounted to the first bit of patented dramatic "edge."

Creators Bochco and Michael Kozoll, who were tired of old police show conventions and initially declined to take on the job, reinvented the cop show for a new generation. They had an unusual amount of creative control, free of network meddling.

"Hill Street" introduced a group of actors who would become something of a repertory troupe for future Bochco productions. Dennis Franz didn't emerge on "Hill Street" as Norm Buntz until 1985, but Michael Warren and Charles Haid (as Hill and Renko), Betty Thomas (Bates), Kiel Martin and Taurean Blacque (LaRue and Washington), James Sikking (SWAT warrior Howard Hunter) and Bruce Weitz (undercover animal Mick Belker) are all here.

To see Daniel Travanti talking on a Princess phone as Capt. Frank Furillo, hear the beatnik lingo ("You dig?"), and watch a fresh-faced David Caruso as a youthful Irish gang leader is to remember just how much time has passed.

Well before Franz bared his butt or swore a blue streak on Bochco's "NYPD Blue," the worst curse an angry Furillo could muster was the rather tortured "I don't give a rat's bladder!"

"Hill Street" had a dark worldview, for its time, but its main characters were essentially heroic. That separates them from the famously conflicted, morally ambiguous protagonists of today's cop dramas. Furillo and Joyce Davenport (Veronica Hamel) argued over the best way to achieve law and order, but they stood - or soaked in the tub together - on right and reason. They were light-years from a character like Vic Mackey, the effective but dirty cop of "The Shield."

Never a major ratings success, "Hill Street" gave NBC prestige and a young, upscale audience in the days before

demographics were on the lips of every network suit. Under Brandon Tartikoff, NBC put the series on as a midseason replacement in January 1981 and stayed with it despite its relatively small audience through 1987.

Watching it now, it's the comedic undercurrents that jump out. An effective blend of soap opera, comedy and workplace drama - more reminiscent of "Barney Miller" than anything we regard as a tough police drama today - "Hill Street" is more theatrical and funny than we recall.

Hailed for its use of cinéma vérité techniques, the camerawork once thought jumpy and hyperactive is customary now. The sense of realism that seemed new 20 years ago feels stagey to an audience immersed in minute-to-minute suspense like "24" or in-your-face violence like "The Shield." At times, the unnamed urban ghetto of "the Hill" feels more like a studio lot than we prefer to remember.

Odd, how the landmark work has matured from edgy to quaint in just two decades.

The roll-call device that launched each hour was boldly innovative, and the structure chronicling a day in the life of the Hill felt newly intense. Those aspects hold up well on DVD viewing.

Similarly, Esterhaus (Michael Conrad, appearing from 1981 until his death in 1984), remains a riveting presence. His trademark line - "Let's be careful out there" - summons a flood of '80s memories.

http://www.denverpost.com/ostrow

DoubleDAZ

01-08-06, 09:58 PM

Well, I've always cosidered almost all cop shows just sequels to Hill Street Blues with new characters. Even though it may show it's age today, it was still the first and the best of the genre IMHO.

CPanther95

01-08-06, 10:03 PM

fredfa

01-08-06, 10:36 PM

Well, I've always cosidered almost all cop shows just sequels to Hill Street Blues with new characters. Even though it may show it's age today, it was still the first and the best of the genre IMHO.

I agree, Dave.
I had forgotten it was being released on DVD. I can't wait to see those early episodes again.

fredfa

01-08-06, 10:41 PM

Well I guess NBC's move wasn't boneheaded at all. They retained their ratings for Earl - boosted The Office - on (the apparently more lucrative) Thursday night. I guess a consistent strong #2 showing on Thursday makes them the heir apparent when CSI finally takes a bow.

Of course, I'm sure CBS will have something to say about that. ;)

I still think it will take a few weeks to sort things out.

NBC has so many problems -- but we have to remember that Sunday nights stop being one of NBC's concerns -- at least for the first half of the season, beginning in September. So NBC will only need 18 hours of programming -- and when you count Saturday's repeats, as few as 15 hours will do do the trick.

Among other dilemmas, I wonder where they put L&O:CI next season.

Maybe we'll get a few clues this week as the winter TV Critics Association press tour begins.

fredfa

01-09-06, 12:16 AM

Ask Matt
(from the Ask (TV Critic) Matt (Roush) column at TVGuide.com

By Matt Roush TVGuide.com TV Critic

Question: Help! With the new TV schedule, Thursday at 9 pm/ET is now crowded with shows. I've been watching Everwood and taping CSI, but with My Name Is Earl and The Office now in the mix, I don't know what to do! I want to stick with Everwood and I still enjoy CSI, but I'm wondering if Earl/Office episodes will be repeated during the summer. As you know, networks are not so likely to air repeats now. So what do you think, can I risk it? Thanks. — Diane B.

Matt Roush: Yeah, Thursday at 9 has become the new Thursday at 8 in terms of congestion. And you didn't even mention the overlap of the last half hour of ABC's Dancing with the Stars and Fox's relocation of The O.C. an hour later. At least you won't have to worry about the Everwood conflict until mid-March, when the show returns from hiatus. My advice, though: Earl and even The Office are bound to be repeated during the off-season, and maybe even in other time periods throughout the schedule if other shows bomb. Everwood is much less likely to be repeated (and no, to answer the many questions I'm getting from those unaware of the fact that I don't write a DVD column, I don't know why more seasons of Everwood haven't been released on DVD). So if you can only choose two during the times when the conflict arises, I'd go with CSI and Everwood (actually, I'd go with the NBC comedies and Everwood), and catch the episodes you missed on the replay.

________________________________________

Question: In reviewing the series that are going off the air this year, you mention that a 7th Heaven spin-off is likely, which left me wondering, with whom? I've watched the show sporadically but can't imagine wanting to focus in on any of the characters except maybe Ruthie and Martin, who are the only ones who hold any interest for me. Both parents make me want to cringe, Lucy makes me mute the TV (although I like her husband), and Simon and Rose are awful. Who could carry a spin-off? — Alisa

Matt Roush: I'm not sure any of these characters can actually carry a show, and I'm not convinced they should. I just noted the fact that, as we have reported in the magazine and elsewhere, WB may not be willing to let the entire franchise slip away just because the 10-year-old mother ship is going away. If I had to guess, I'd bet a show could be spun around Lucy and her husband, since she's a minister and we could follow her (with frequent visits by family) to a new church. But Beverley Mitchell as a lead actress? Lord, have pity.

On a similar note, Shawn asks: "How do you feel about a spin-off following in the footsteps of the Charmed children?" Less than charmed, I'm sure, and I haven't even met these kids.
Question: Do you have any idea what happens to the roughly five million people who watch Desperate Housewives but don't watch Grey's Anatomy? It's something that's been bothering me every time I see the weekly ratings, especially since Grey's has turned out to be the better show this season. — Christine

Matt Roush: That is an interesting paradox. I suppose Housewives, being the breakout hit of the night (however diminished in its second season), still attracts such a large audience that there is invariably some tune-out for the show that follows. And I know of people who simply don't watch TV past 10 pm/ET because of work the next day, so that could account for the drop-off. But I can't think of a more compatible pairing than Housewives (when it's good) and Grey's Anatomy. It makes no sense to me that anyone who's still bothering to visit Wisteria Lane wouldn't stick around to savor the shenanigans at Seattle Grace.

________________________________________

Question: Now I am not a prude. In fact, I am an ex-sailor who seldom passed up a chance to feed my prurient interests when opportunities presented themselves. But does it seem to you that this season's episodes of Las Vegas are heavy on raunch and short on plot? Even the now-obligatory musical guest of the week serves little more purpose than to feed the sleazefest. Characters I used to invest in emotionally are no longer interested in anything but making pointless and vulgar comments about their coworkers and guests. I come away from watching an episode wanting to take a shower to wash off a vague sensation of feeling dirty. If I wanted that, I would read Hustler or watch the films made by some of the guest stars of a recently aired episode concerning a porn convention at the Monticello. Las Vegas (the show) needs to clean up its act. — Frank

Matt Roush: I'll let this rant stand without comment since I don't regularly watch the show. (It never particularly appealed to or offended me on the occasions I watched. Like the city itself, it kind of leaves me cold, though the cast is certainly gorgeous.) But it does seem to me that the lure of Las Vegas (city and show) is of exotic, forbidden pleasures, and I'd be surprised if it didn't push the envelope to titillate, since that's what I imagine many would expect the show to do.

________________________________________

Question: I have seen Desperate Housewives compared to quite a few other past shows but never to the one that I think it most resembles: Picket Fences. What is your opinion about that comparison? — Bob

Matt Roush: An interesting idea, but I still think Knots Landing is the closest to a true precursor of what Desperate Housewives seeks to parody. Picket Fences did have elements of soap opera and satire in its often-twisted depiction of the dark undercurrents of society and family life, but it seemed to me more a comment on Americana than of actual suburbia and, being a David E. Kelley show, tended to resolve most stories in the courtroom (RIP, Ray Walston). Desperate Housewives' look and tone is beholden to the classic soap format, and Picket Fences was much harder to pigeonhole.

________________________________________

Question: Can you explain the dearth of female-centric shows these days? My favorite shows of all time, from Rhoda to Kate & Allie to Golden Girls, were often centered around brilliant actresses and great writing. Their stories appealed to everybody and helped women. I just do not see any of this type of show anymore. Can you explain why this is happening, and if you expect it to ever change? — Joe J.

Matt Roush: I don't really understand this question, except to note that these longtime faves all appear to be comedies, and it's a fact that TV comedy is in a slump, especially comedies built around strong women — although hybrid comedy-dramas like Gilmore Girls and Desperate Housewives (and UPN's Monday block of urban comedies, for that matter) offer plenty of juicy roles for great actresses. But the boom of drama has also been good to women.

Check out the casts of Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Commander in Chief, and the leads of such crime dramas as Cold Case and Close to Home, not to mention Veronica Mars and the hits on Sci Fi Fridays (especially Battlestar Galactica). Not such a bad environment for women on TV, if you ask me.

________________________________________

Question: OK, I get that shows get canceled. I understand why other networks don't pick them up and I understand that money drives the whole DVD-release decision. What I don't get is why Fox, in the case of Reunion, but other networks, too (CBS and Threshold come to mind), can't give fans a little morsel of relief and post answers/scripts/show outlines on their websites. I mean, could this really cost that much money? Even if they had to pay a couple of writers to smooth out the outline, how much money could that be? And wouldn't it be worth it to satisfy those loyal fans who watched the show? I get that this is TV and that most everyone would rather watch than read, but I, for one, would still like to know how and why Sam was killed. Fox's handling of this show and of Wonderfalls (and of Arrested Development) makes me wonder why I invest any time in watching shows on that network. — Ellen

Matt Roush: It's at this point that I would like to offer at least a feeble defense of Fox. Yes, the network has a track record of treating many of its shows — and, of course, viewers — badly, but at least it attempts different sorts of shows. Having seen the first hours of 24 this season, I am grateful enough that I can forgive Fox its mishandling of flawed flops like Reunion and underappreciated gems like Wonderfalls and Firefly. But to Ellen's suggestion: Why not post a condensed rundown of how the rest of Reunion's story would have played out? I understand why these episodes wouldn't be produced. But if the producers actually had a "bible" laying out the first full season, why not share it with those who care? I'll mention here that this is officially my last word on Reunion, now and forever. It's over; it's not coming back.

________________________________________

Question: Is it just me, or are some of the new and mid-season shows just rip-offs of current/past shows? Last year, when Jake in Progress was debuting, ABC touted it as being "same city, opposite sex." (In other words, the same concept of another very successful show. Personally, I thought Jake was a cute, clever show and I look forward to its return.) Like Sex and the City, Jake is basically about the adventures of an attractive, successful person navigating the dating scene. Then, in the fall, we got Freddy, which is about an attractive, successful person navigating the dating scene. And let's not forget the regrettable Hot Properties. Now, the same network is touting yet another show, Emily's Reasons Why Not, which is about — you guessed it — an attractive, successful person navigating the dating scene. This doesn't even address CBS' shows How I Met Your Mother and the ridiculously named Love Monkey. I realize there are only so many premises to be used in sitcoms, and it seems we're just coming down from the "stupid husband, self-righteous wife" family-comedy trend. But whatever happened to the workplace comedy or any original concept? And speaking of "borrowing" themes, viewers of ABC have been clubbed over the head with promos for Crumbs. Can you say "Arrested Development rip-off?" Even the new show In Justice seems like a melding of Boston Legal, Cold Case and Prison Break. What is your opinion of these new-but-not-original shows? (In the interest of total disclosure, I do like How I Met Your Mother; it's one of the very few sitcoms I watch.) Thanks for your opinions and insight. — Gene

Matt Roush: The fact that you liked Jake last season and still like How I Met Your Mother shows how tricky it is to judge a show merely on its concept and on how it looks on paper or in promos. A truly original concept is rare on TV, and it's hardly a surprise to see shows come along trying new twists on established hit formulas. Everything boils down to execution. The success of a show like Emily, for instance, depends on how much you like Heather Graham (or not) and on the writing, not on whether you've ever seen a show about someone like Emily before. For me, though, of the new mid-season crop I've sampled so far (I haven't dealt yet with many of the shows that won't arrive until March), the only shows I'd make an actual appointment to watch are Love Monkey and The Book of Daniel. The rest range from good, but not great, to dismal. I'll be weighing in on more of them as the weeks go on.

________________________________________

Question: Can you tell me what A&E is turning into? Rollergirls? I just don't get it. I have enough problems trying to understand the programming on Spike. By the way, it would be nice if some of these cable networks would show some older movies. The constant repeats of the few movies they do show is getting old and tiresome, and these networks ought to have enough movies in their film libraries without having to air repeats so often. Also, welcome back. — Z. Green

Matt Roush: It's good to be back, even if that means confronting depressing topics like the decline of A&E. The network will crow about the younger demographics it now attracts since it has shifted focus from a broad-based arts-and-entertainment network to a bottom-feeding swill factory that perpetrated one of the worst shows of the decade in Growing Up Gotti (which, thankfully, is history). If it weren't for the fact that MI-5 is still in the wings, waiting to return in summer (last I heard), plus the occasional Biography special or made-for-TV movie, there'd be no reason for me ever to acknowledge this network's existence again. I mean, Dog the Bounty Hunter? Dallas SWAT? No thanks. Less than no interest.

________________________________________

Question: With the story lines aging Jack at least 18 months between each day/season of 24, will we see Jack dealing with and trying to untangle the new Medicare prescription-drug plan next season? — Brandy

Matt Roush: Hey, the guy's a superman, not a miracle worker — there are some enemies too terrible even for Jack Bauer to vanquish. (But thanks for the laugh.) Seriously, though, folks, start the countdown now. 24 returns Sunday and next Monday with four of the toughest, scariest hours yet. I am just about literally dying to see more.
http://tvguide.com/tv/roush/askmatt/

fredfa

01-09-06, 02:00 AM

ABC News Remembers Peter Jennings as It Moves On Without Him
By Jacques Steinberg The New York Times January 9, 2006

Ankle deep in mud on Wednesday, Elizabeth Vargas had just welcomed viewers to the new afternoon Webcast for ABC News - live from outside the coal mine in Sago, W.Va. - when a voice from the control room in Manhattan began crackling in her earpiece.

"Go! Go! Go!" it said.

It was Jon Banner, executive producer of "World News Tonight" (and of its online edition, "World News Now"), who was telling Ms. Vargas and others that a long-delayed news conference by mine officials was suddenly beginning.

In a delicate bit of electronic choreography - on just the second day of both the 3 p.m. Webcast and Ms. Vargas's tenure as co-anchor of the main newscast - Mr. Banner and his colleagues told her to sign off immediately on the Web so that she could begin a live special report of the news conference, to be carried on the ABC broadcast network as well as its Web site.

Moments later, Mr. Banner exhaled like a skating coach whose charge had just executed her first double axel in live competition. But any respite was short-lived, as someone in the control room shouted, "Ariel Sharon was just rushed to the hospital."

For Mr. Banner, 38, the shifting sequence of events - soon, he would reroute Ms. Vargas's co-anchor, Bob Woodruff, from Tehran to Jerusalem via Turkey - was bittersweet. On the one hand, Mr. Banner said, he could not help but imagine Ms. Vargas's predecessor, Peter Jennings, working the phones on both stories while dashing to the airport in his trench coat. As if he needed any reminder of the elephant in the control room, a colleague sitting behind Mr. Banner wore a blue rubber bracelet (commissioned by Mr. Banner after Mr. Jennings's death) that read, "What would Peter do?"

On the other hand, Mr. Banner took pride that his team was managing to simultaneously cover two big breaking news stories half a world apart, its anchors having shed any designation as interim for the first time since Mr. Jennings's announcement last April that he had lung cancer. He died from the disease on Aug. 7.

"We have talked a lot about grief and mourning," Mr. Banner said. "But this is a new beginning. We can do things we didn't want to do, that we didn't think it was right to do, for the past 9, 10 months. It's an exciting opportunity for us to get back in the game."

For Mr. Banner, who joined ABC News full-time in 1989 and became Mr. Jennings's executive producer in June 2003, the debut last week of the broadcasts led by Ms. Vargas and Mr. Woodruff was just the latest development in an improbable 13-month odyssey.

On Dec. 2, 2004, Mr. Banner led Mr. Jennings into battle against Brian Williams, who had just taken over "NBC Nightly News" from Tom Brokaw. Confident that the transition offered them an opportunity to retake the ratings lead for Mr. Jennings from NBC for the first time in seven years, Mr. Banner helped mount an aggressive marketing campaign with a slogan - "Trust is earned" - underscoring Mr. Williams's relative inexperience.

The financial stakes were high: while the evening newscasts of NBC (a unit of General Electric) and ABC (part of the Walt Disney Company) each bring in an excess of $120 million in annual revenues, the difference between No. 1 and No. 2 can exceed $20 million, according to network officials.

Over the next four months, the race between ABC and NBC would indeed draw tighter, but just when Mr. Jennings, then 66, appeared poised to pull even, he announced his diagnosis.

"I think we all cried when he told us he was sick," Mr. Banner said. "It broke my heart, given what we were in the midst of doing."

It fell to Mr. Banner - who functions, effectively, as both editor and publisher of "World News" - to hold the broadcast together. While trying to buoy his colleagues - including at least half a dozen senior producers who, like him, had been trained by Mr. Jennings - Mr. Banner had to tend his own grief.

"He was my dear friend," said Mr. Banner, who first met Mr. Jennings during a two-week internship at ABC when he was a junior in high school, and who worked for him off and on over the next two decades. "He was my mentor. And I loved him."

"It was as difficult, in some ways, as losing a parent," said Mr. Banner, who lost his mother to cancer while in college and his father to Lou Gehrig's disease in the late 1990's. "Just as how, with every moment of joy I experience with my children, there's a touch of sadness that my parents aren't around to share that, similarly when there's big news, there's always a touch of sadness that Peter's not around."

Mr. Jennings's widow, Kayce Freed Jennings, herself a former ABC producer, said Mr. Banner had been a critical conduit for her husband during his illness, including him in conference calls and traveling to his apartment regularly to talk strategy.

"Jon wouldn't accept anything but that Peter was an integral part of the broadcast every day and would be there forever," Ms. Jennings said.

David Westin, the president of ABC News, said Mr. Banner somehow struck a balance at work.

"Peter used to say about Jon, when he was a senior producer, that he was a 'news nun,' " Mr. Westin said. "Peter meant it as a high compliment - that he is married to the news."

The notion that Mr. Banner is married to ABC is not far off. He married an ABC producer, Sara Diamond, whom he dated while both were covering the bombing trial of Timothy McVeigh. "I was there with Dean Reynolds," Mr. Banner said of the veteran reporter, and Ms. Diamond was there with a "Good Morning America" correspondent. "We got engaged in California one weekend when the jury was not deliberating." The couple now has two daughters, ages 5 and 2.

And yet, lest anyone think ABC is more family than business, Mr. Westin's bottom-line goal for Mr. Banner has not changed: that he return the broadcast to being the most-watched.

"I don't like to put timetables on it, but we are not in this to be No. 2," Mr. Westin said.

In the months immediately after Mr. Jennings took sick, "World News Tonight," led by alternating anchors (mostly Ms. Vargas and Charles Gibson of "Good Morning America") continued to lag behind NBC in average viewership but actually overtook NBC in a critical demographic category: viewers aged 25 and 54, the metric against which advertising rates are set.

From early April until late August, NBC drew an average of 2.67 million viewers a night in that demographic, about 57,000 fewer than the 2.73 million ABC drew, according to Nielsen Media Research.

But since Labor Day, ABC, led mostly by Mr. Woodruff and Ms. Vargas on alternating nights, has fallen farther behind Mr. Williams's broadcast among total viewers (a gap of more than a million) and in the demographic, where NBC has opened a lead of about 170,000 viewers, according to Nielsen.

For now, however much Ms. Vargas, 43, and Mr. Woodruff, 44, may have traveled the world as correspondents in recent years, it is Mr. Williams, 46, with a year as full-time anchor, who can best lay claim to the tagline "Trust is earned."

Complicating ABC's efforts is that all of the evening newscasts are losing viewers, many to the Internet - hence the network's fledgling Webcast, which viewers can download beginning in the midafternoon in the East. (In November, NBC began making its broadcast available on the Web after 10 p.m.)

"These people, our two anchors, have to connect to their audience," Mr. Banner said. "That's a long-term project."

Ms. Vargas seized an important opportunity while standing in the muck in West Virginia. Ten minutes before she was to introduce the main 6:30 p.m. newscast, Mr. Banner (with Mr. Westin at his side) called Ms. Vargas to walk through what would happen if Mr. Sharon died during the half-hour newscast.

Because she was technologically removed from New York, Mr. Banner suggested that, if necessary, Ms. Vargas announce his death and then turn the broadcast over to Mr. Gibson and Barbara Walters, who were already in place in Mr. Jennings's old studio.

Ms. Vargas argued, strenuously, that she had been following the story on the wires all day, and was confident she could interview correspondents from as far away as Israel, even with a delay of several seconds between her questions and others' answers over the satellite.

Mr. Banner took her case to Mr. Westin, and her argument won the day, though the contingency plan would prove unnecessary as Mr. Sharon survived the night. Nonetheless, Ms. Vargas said she would not soon forget how Mr. Banner had responded during her all-important first week.

"The reason I know he's always got my back," she said, "is because I know how much he had Peter's."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/09/business/media/09abc.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1136789827-79kCeMM95riiJaRbJVMZgw&pagewanted=print

fredfa

01-09-06, 02:06 AM

Winter 2006 Critics Poll: The Rise of the Antihero

Flawed Characters Exhibit Pundit Appeal; ABC's 'Lost' Retains Top Ranking While Sister Show 'Housewives' Loses Its Luster
By James Hibbard TVWeek.com January 9, 2006

A scoundrel seeking karmic redemption, a hostile physician, an amoral fireman and ruthless Roman soldiers have invaded the upper echelons of TelevisionWeek's Winter Critics Poll.

Forty-eight critics participated in the semiannual survey, in which pundits nationwide rank their favorite (and least favorite) series, movies, miniseries and networks.

ABC's "Desperate Housewives," which occupied the No. 2 spot for the two previous surveys, took a sharp drop to No. 13 amid complaints that the show lost its focus.

Meanwhile, programs starring quirky, flawed antiheroes populated the top 10. Among them are Jason Lee's Southern not-quite-gentleman on NBC's "My Name Is Earl," Hugh Laurie's caustic doctor in Fox's "House," the neurotic pencil pushers of NBC's "The Office," Denis Leary's wicked civil servant in FX's "Rescue Me" and the cutthroat soldiers of HBO's "Rome."

"I think if you look at the list, you'll see there's few smooth edges," said Tim Goodman, San Francisco Chronicle. "There's snarkiness and anger and jadedness. Most of them dabble in the darker areas of the psyche-and very few shows really do that, at least at the network level."

At No. 1 for the third poll in a row is the ABC drama "Lost." Critics gave kudos for its intense season premiere and the show's ongoing momentum despite its inherently challenging premise.

"It towers over TV right now," admired Rick Kushman of The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee. "'Lost' could have wandered aimlessly. … Instead it expanded everything. It opened up so much new territory fans don't even know which [mysteries] to argue about."

Right behind "Lost" was NBC's breakout comedy "My Name Is Earl," which, along with "The Office" (No. 12), gave the Peacock Network two entries in the top 20. During last winter's survey, NBC had three shows on the list: "The West Wing," "American Dreams" (which has since been canceled) and "Scrubs."

"['Earl'] has all the makings of a classic," wrote Terry Morrow of The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel. "Like the title character, 'Earl' thrives by living on its own terms. It helps that Jason Lee musters such a likable performance as the underdog title character."

At No. 3 is Fox's medical drama "House," which has gained ground in every survey since its 2004 debut. A year ago "House" was No. 10; last summer it was No. 6.

"You know you've found a well-constructed series when its central figure is selfish, angry and seemingly without compassion-and you love the guy," wrote Mr. Kushman.

Though "Housewives" dropped out of the top 10, ABC lead-in "Grey's Anatomy" climbed from No. 12 to No. 4.

"'Grey's' is now my Sunday highlight, with 'Desperate Housewives' taking the role of an opening act," wrote Victor Balta of The Herald in Everett, Wash. "After just one season, the writers have managed to make me care about a dozen different characters."

"Everybody Hates Chris," but critics certainly do not. At No. 5, Chris Rock's "Chris" gives UPN two top 10 favorites, along with No. 9 "Veronica Mars," which has mostly held steady in the poll since its debut.

"Not since 'Malcolm in the Middle' have we seen such an instantly enjoyable family comedy," wrote Matt Roush of TV Guide. "Funny and frenetic and grounded in family love."

Fox's presumably canceled "Arrested Development" continued to garner praise at No. 6 but fell from its perch as the poll's top comedy. Fox had a new entry, however, with drama "Prison Break" (No. 7), which critics praised for its escapist fun.

FX's "Rescue Me," meanwhile, bounced from No. 6 a year ago to No. 18 last summer, and then back up to No. 8 in this poll. Those who praised the show tended toward the superlative.

Wrote Bill Brioux of The Toronto Sun: "Leary asked the brutally tough question: 'What if bad things happen right when you finally try to be good?' The answer was frightening, funny as hell and one of the bravest trips into the dark edges of the human condition ever put on television."

HBO, which for years had shows such as "Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos" topping the critics poll, managed to squeak into the top 10 with its new historical drama, "Rome." Though the series divided critics, those with patience claimed the show was a worthy investment.

"A slow(ish) start, some historical fact stretching, but damn, this thing was addictive," wrote Mr. Goodman. "The longer it ran, the better it got."

http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=29166

keenan

01-09-06, 03:02 AM

From Video Business Online,

Fox shortens high-def window

CES: Will deliver movies 60 days after theatrical release
By Paul Sweeting 1/8/2006

JAN. 8 | LAS VEGAS--20th Century Fox is developing a plan to release its movies in high-definition just 60 days after theatrical release, according to News Corp. president-COO Peter Chernin.

Giving a keynote address at an invitation-only dinner here Friday at the Consumer Electronics Show, Chernin said Fox also is preparing plans to make movies available via video-on-demand simultaneously with their release on DVD--the first time a major studio chief has committed to eliminating the traditional window between home video and VOD.

Chernin said Fox has not yet determined the delivery platform for the newly created high-def window between theatrical distribution and home video release. High-definition can be delivered via cable, satellite, the Internet and soon digital discs.

A spokeswoman of Fox parent News Corp. declined to provide further details of the plans, and Chernin left the dinner without taking questions.

The news comes just three weeks before Mark Cuban makes his revolutionary debut of Steven Soderbergh's Bubble in 20 of Cuban's Landmark theaters on Jan. 27, nearly simultaneous with the premiere of the movie on the high-def HDNet Movies channel and on DVD on Jan. 31.

Chernin's address capped a week of aggressive digital delivery announcements by Fox companies, including plans to make The Shield and Rescue Me available several days in advance of their weekly debut on FX to customers who adopt News Corp.'s new DirecTV digital video recorders. The studio’s home video unit also announced plans to release the first movies in the new high-def digital disc format called Blu-ray Disc two weeks prior to the introduction of the first Blu-ray machine sometime this spring or early summer.

Fox home entertainment officials said after Chernin's speech that high-def movies would be available for one-time viewing only in the new window, indicating that the likely means of delivery would not be on disc.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn said the move to introduce the new premium high-def window could happen within a matter of months.

Chernin's appearance at the "Leaders in Technology" dinner marked the first time an executive from a content-producing company has addressed the annual bread-breaking between technology companies and public policymakers, hosted by the Consumer Electronics Assn. at CES.

Chernin said he was seizing the opportunity to try to reverse the impression among many in the technology community that News Corp. is resistant to technological change.

"This is an electrifying moment for the CE and IT industries," Chernin said. "And I'm here with a message that may sound counter-intuitive: It's an even more electrifying time for content companies."

Chernin said Fox also is in advanced discussions with Apple and Sony to make Fox TV episodes available for download through the iTunes and Sony Select online services.

His latest comments were in sharp contrast to some of his earlier remarks, in which he has sharply criticized technology companies for not doing enough to help stem widespread piracy of movies and music.

At CES, however, he sounded conciliatory.

"We have no intention of wasting the opportunity you and your companies have created," Chernin said.

The News Corp. exec appeared to extend an olive branch on the question of copy-protection, declaring, "We have to work together to make sure these new devices provide a secure home for our content."

DoubleDAZ

01-09-06, 08:44 AM

ABC's "Desperate Housewives," which occupied the No. 2 spot for the two previous surveys, took a sharp drop to No. 13 amid complaints that the show lost its focus.And it's probably only going to get worse as they concentrate on Bree's descent into alcoholism. :(

fredfa

01-09-06, 10:15 AM

TV Review
Wanted: Reasons to watch 'Emily'

Emily’s Reasons Why Not ABC, Monday, 9 ET/PT
** (out of four)
By Robert Bianco USA Today

I have a feeling Emily's about to learn a few more reasons why not.

Not that anyone should really need to be taught the reasons why this might not be the best time to launch yet another painfully precious, heavily narrated Sex and the City salute to the dating trials of the young and the beautiful. The explanations for viewer exhaustion with the genre should be obvious even to a TV novice like Heather Graham.

Graham does exude an almost irresistible all-American-girl adorability, so much so that you're willing to forgive her lapses in sitcom skill.

Even at her worst, when she's contorting her face to match the coy, thought-revealing voice-over, you tend to root for her. Unfortunately for ABC, by the end of Emily's Reasons Why Not, you're rooting for her to find a better vehicle.

The sitcom casts Graham as Emily Sanders, a successful publishing executive who has spent her life cataloguing the reasons against taking various courses of action. When her affair with a cheating self-help author goes south, she decides to apply a new countdown rule to romance: If she can come up with five reasons why a relationship won't work, she dumps the guy.

If only she would count to herself, the gimmick might be bearable. But Emily is one of those math whizzes who believe in showing their work: counting down the reasons out loud, in voice-over, and with silly graphics and acted-out explanations included.

When not counting, Emily is confiding in her two best friends, Josh (Khary Payton) and Reilly (Nadia Dajani, the show's best comic asset). She also battles an evil office rival played with excess fervor by Smith Cho, who is working far too hard to steal scenes that really aren't worth having.

Tonight, Emily's reasons revolve around a good-looking guy at the office who dates her but doesn't kiss her — which leads Emily and the gang to believe he's gay. Sadly, they also seem to believe that simply saying the word "gay" multiple times in multiple ways in the same sentence will result in rampant hilarity.

They believe wrong.

Emily is at least a good tonal fit for its slot-mate: John Stamos' returning Jake in Progress, which has gone through so many alterations that it is now virtually shapeless. Both strain to no effect, and both feature attractive leads who are ill served by their material. Wouldn't it have been better just to scrap both shows and put Graham and Stamos together in something new and, well, better?

I can't think of a reason why not.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2006-01-09-emilys-reasons_x.htm

fredfa

01-09-06, 10:26 AM

TV Review
Luckily Unlucky At Love: In “Emily's Reasons,” A Most Winsome Loser

By Tom Shales The Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, January 9, 2006; C01

Cute as a kitty, bubblier than Perrier and teasingly eager to please, Heather Graham brightens every corner, nook and cranny of "Emily's Reasons Why Not," (9 PM Mondays ET/PT, ABC) a buoyant box of froth to be unwrapped tonight on ABC. The sitcom, originally slated to premiere last fall, stars Graham as Emily Sanders, a publishing whiz with a knack for disaster when it comes to intimate relationships.

Graham, who got herself noticed in "Boogie Nights," a rather confused film about the porn industry, may be two tads too small for the big screen but seems just right for the smaller one, eliciting amused concern for Emily's mistakes and misfortunes in an area where few people probably consider themselves soaring successes. Rejection, after all, is always just around the next bend in a very bendy road.

Except for its star, the show's premiere only has hints of real promise. For one thing, the producers have Graham narrate the saga, and the narration seems to fill every nook and cranny, too. Describing a self-destructive voice mail she left for a boyfriend, Sanders says, "I started talking and I just couldn't stop," and so it is with that nagging, nudging voiceover: yaketa yaketa yaketa yak.

Scenes aren't played out as a linear narrative but instead are staged as flashbacks that Sanders recalls for friends, giving her the excuse to do more narrating and enabling the writers to avoid having to construct actual scenes. Instead they'll have Sanders recall, for example, a date with a boyfriend and then illustrate her blabby recollection with snippets of action.

The whole show is one long soliloquy, and that would be tiresome even if a dozen other sitcoms hadn't already used the technique. There's another achingly derivative little detail: It takes only about two minutes for the heroine's gay platonic boyfriend to make an appearance, and the series premiere is so overloaded with gay gags and references it comes off as a cut-rate version of "Will & Grace" without a real Will.

Josh (Khary Payton), the gay sidekick, is a shrieking cliche at this point in television and cultural history, and so for that matter is Emily's commiserating gal-pal Reilly, though she's played with salty sass by Nadia Dajani. The show seems too haunted by ghosts of sitcoms past, characters who trigger a migraine-size case of deja vu.

On the other hand, who can completely dismiss a series in which an actress named Smith Cho plays a character named Glitter Cho? Cho is Emily's archenemy at the office, dropping by frequently to slather sarcasm all over poor little Emily's hopes and dreams and simple plans for a sexy evening.

As the pilot begins, Emily learns a depressing truth about her current boyfriend Reese (Mark Valley), author of a book apparently called "Hook, Lie and Sink Her" (the cover is only glimpsed), a dumb guy's dating guide. Emily discovers that Reese has two cell phones and one contains photographs of more than a dozen women he's "dating" at the same time. As she goes through the pictures, Emily grumps, "Who are these tramps? Oh -- that one's me!"

When Emily learns a painful lesson, she chalks it up as another "reason why not," and in this case, another opportunity presents itself almost immediately, a too-good-to-be-true swarthy hunk. "Stan from Marketing," played by Victor Webster (who looks as though there must be a Web site devoted to him somewhere), pokes his head into her office and invites Emily to lunch.

He's handsome, charming, and he only has (dark brown) eyes for her. Their second date is a funsy trip to an amusement park, apparently the Santa Monica pier, and includes a spry montage of the pair posing for photos in one of those picture-taking booths. All's going well until he sees her home; Graham is poignantly funny waiting for the good-night kiss that never comes, eyes closed and lips in full expectant pucker.

Emily's friends, especially the gay guy, loudly voice their suspicions that Stan from Marketing is gay as well, and this unfortunately means another round of gay jokes (they find a copy of Martha Stewart Living in his gym bag -- imagine!). The word "gay" is purposely uttered to death, with Reilly opining, "I'm struck by how gay this guy's display of gayness is."

That's after they witness Stan showing off at Brazilian jujitsu, described by one skeptic as "the gayest sport there is" (that person apparently never saw Turkish wrestling in the movie "Topkapi"). Stan doesn't help matters any when, after quickly finishing off an opponent, he smiles and says, "I love it when they submit."

The half-hour zooms by quickly, and some of the dialogue is snappy and crackly in the best adult sitcom tradition. When the plaintive Reese reappears and tries to rekindle the flame, he tells Emily, "I'm sorry I was such a jerk," and she responds, " ' Was?' Why are you using the past tense?" Graham is gorgeous when she's angry, also gorgeous when she's not. She's gorgeous when she's funny, too, and that's a pretty neat trick.

Two plot points in the premiere seem illogical: Stan plays his private voice mail for an office full of buddies and, after he's slipped out of Emily's grasp, she appears utterly unfazed, even though Stan was clearly a prize catch (overlooking, that is, his liberal use of bronzer). Emily stops being sympathetic when she just seems shallow.

Despite the limitations, and there are a bundle, "Emily's Reasons Why Not" logs a happy high on the delightful meter -- fresh and frisky much of the time. And Heather Graham, obviously and to the nth degree, is "Emily's" principal reason why.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/08/AR2006010801226_pf.html

fredfa

01-09-06, 10:36 AM

TV Review
ABC inflates Monday nights with double dose of helium

By Kay McFadden Seattle Times TV Critic January 9, 2006

What will ABC do without "Monday Night Football?" Air "Emily's Reasons Why Not" and "Jake in Progress," which are as pink and silly as their predecessor was big and burly.

"Emily's Reasons Why Not" debuts at 9 and stars Heather Graham as a cute girl who makes bad romantic choices. It's followed at 9:30 by the returning "Jake," featuring John Stamos as a cute guy who makes bad romantic choices.

As amusement, this is the TV equivalent of inhaling helium from a balloon. Not that I've ever done that.

The trifling premise of "Emily" is that she's a smart editor of self-help books who's unable to learn from them. Or as a friend tells her, "Your man-person instincts really suck."

That's true even when Emily dumps a manipulative jerk and takes up with a handsome, thoughtful fellow who subscribes to Martha Stewart Living (product-placement alert) and cooks dinner for her. She panics into thinking he isn't straight, a joke that's so old as to be positively decrepit.

Other props are equally familiar: the gay adviser (Khary Payton), the sardonic best friend (Nadia Dajani), even the Asian-American striver (Smith Cho) who's gunning for Emily's job and boyfriend.

The plotting also is lazy. Tonight's episode boils down to the unlikely gimmick of someone playing his voicemail on speakerphone before a roomful of co-workers.

About the only point of curiosity is why Graham, whose career has been so promising, is mixed up in something this lame. She's beautiful, sexy and effervescent, and there's got to be better work ahead.

"Jake," although it has the same slick romantic veneer, is a cut above "Emily." The lead character, played by Stamos, is a perverse publicist — manipulative and sincere.

This combination would cause most real-life PR people to implode. But on television, it provides the complications that give "Jake" an interesting spark.

Jake has trouble forgetting his one true love, trouble saying no to his recently acquired girlfriend, and experiences reform-minded bouts that alternate with backsliding. Stamos' convincing performance and the quick-witted dialogue manage to hold together this slender construct.

Unfortunately, the scripts aren't as good at integrating other characters. There's unrealized promise in Rick Hoffman's compulsive magician (who's now selling cupcakes) and Wendie Malick's callous boss-lady.

Dondre Whitfield gets a better turn as the newly divorced Mark in next week's episode.

Both "Jake" and "Emily" are aimed at the audience ABC has captured with "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy." If any regrets linger over letting pro football go, the network seems determined to banish them under an avalanche of stiletto heels.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/television/2002726899_emily09.html

fredfa

01-09-06, 10:40 AM

TV Review
"Shield" hasn't lost its luster

By Joanne Ostrow Denver Post TV Critic January 9, 2006

For $25 a pop, the officers and staff at Los Angeles' (fictional) Farmington Police Department can get in on the pool to guess who is the father of Danny's (Catherine Dent) baby. So far, there's as much money on Vic (Michael Chiklis) as there is on Dutch (Jay Karnes) or the sperm bank.

FX's "The Shield" returns for its fifth season Tuesday at 11 p.m. The network's longest-running series seems to have mastered the art of casting worthy opponents for the complex protagonist.

Glenn Close is gone, but Forest Whitaker is signed on for the new season, a worthy adversary for Chiklis. Whitaker plays Lt. Jon Kavanaugh, an officer digging into Vic Mackey's shady past in a long-threatened internal investigation. Whitaker invests his tough, driven character with a smiling, easygoing manner antithetical to Mackey's.

He has a way of genially offering a piece of chewing gum, forcefully and repeatedly, as a way to test whether a subject will cave under pressure. Most people politely decline at first, then eventually acquiesce.

Elsewhere in the barn, as they say, CCH Pounder's character, Detective Claudette Wyms, keeps missing work, sneaking off to appointments and taking prescription drugs while denying to her partner, Dutch, that anything's wrong. And captain-turned-councilman Aceveda (Benito Martinez) is hanging around, hoping to further his mayoral aspirations by revealing Mackey's history of corruption.

That's just the quiet side of "The Shield," the softer moments between the brutal raids, drug busts, assaults and interrogations that are this tough cable drama's signature.

Even when depicting the gang relaxing at the station house, telling jokes or making bets, the mood is grittier and more savage than that of the usual TV police corps. The interoffice byplay is a reminder that the drama's most endearing attribute is its characters.

Yes, creator Shawn Ryan loves to slip in the provocative, dispiriting shots of massacred dogs, a youth sex ring and the pulverizing beatings at the hands of the rogue Strike Team. But the screaming theme music and inevitable violence are merely window-dressing for an artfully constructed drama populated by credible characters.

A brief recap at the start brings new viewers up to speed: A few years ago, Terry, a new member of Vic's renegade team, was killed in the line of duty. The only witnesses were Vic and Shane (Walton Goggins), who claim Terry was shot by a drug dealer.

Viewers know - and the replay reminds us - that Vic did the shooting himself, coldly and remorselessly. Aceveda has been unable to prove Vic is a crooked cop but he is convinced of it. He has the hope that this may be his chance to put Vic away for good. Aceveda suggests Kavanaugh begin by investigating Vic's buddy "Lem" Lemansky (Kenny Johnson) to get at the truth.

Because the authorities discovered stolen heroin in his car, "Lemonhead" is an easy target for the internal affairs division. He is about to be forced to wear a wire to spy on Vic and the guys. His loyalties are in question, his future is on the line.

Judging by a preview of the first few episodes of the season, the series is in great shape even without the superstar presence of Close as Capt. Rawling.

http://www.denverpost.com/ostrow

fredfa

01-09-06, 10:52 AM

Sports On TV
Winter Olympics dearly need a buzz infusion

Kwan's quandary may turn out a blessing

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jan 9, 2006

When Michelle Kwan pulled out of the U.S. National Championships last week, citing a nagging injury, it seemed to be the worst thing that could happen for an already buzzless Winter Olympics.

Kwan is the biggest star in figure skating, the Games’ most popular winter sport, and her withdrawal from nationals means she’s not guaranteed a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. You could almost hear NBC’s rating points deflating.

But Kwan’s injury may end up giving NBC a boost in what’s otherwise been a very dull run-up to the Winter Games. Finally people are talking about them, and Kwan’s situation is sure to spark controversy whether she ends up in Turin or not.

That will get even casual figure skating fans watching the Games. It also opens the way for other Americans to become superstars the way 16-year-old gold medalist Sarah Hughes did four years ago.

There’s nothing Americans love more than an Olympic underdog, and it’s been a long time since that word was applied to Kwan.

The nine-time U.S. national champion will petition U.S. Figure Skating for one of the three Olympic spots, which are supposed to go to the top finishers at this week’s U.S. Championships.

That’s how Nancy Kerrigan made it to Lillehamer 12 years ago after being attacked before the U.S. Championships. The USFS has not commented on Kwan and her situation, but Susan Wessling, editor of International Figure Skating magazine, says Kwan will likely skate at Turin.

“I think it is highly unlikely her petition would be turned down,” she says. “Michelle Kwan is an amazing athlete and ambassador for U.S. Figure Skating and the sport in general.”

Though Kwan has never won an Olympic gold, she remains the sport’s most popular skater. Still, the U.S. has several other skaters capable of medaling at Turin who’ve been overshadowed by Kwan.

The best prospect is Sasha Cohen, the reigning world silver medalist who bested Kwan at the past two world championships. Though Wessling says Cohen does not have the following that Kwan does, her reputation as one of the world’s top artistic skaters gives her a good chance at gold.

She’s also been known to melt down at big championships, giving her a more interesting backstory than the always-consistent Kwan.

“She has extraordinary flexibility, her spirals are simply amazing, and she is solid technically with her jumps,” Wessling says of Cohen. “She hasn’t always been the most consistent skater but has improved in that area as well.”

Two other U.S. skaters who could steal the spotlight from Kwan, if she attends the Games, are 16-year-old Kimmie Meissner, last year’s U.S. bronze medalist, and 18-year-old Alissa Czisny, who won a Grand Prix event earlier this year.

The Winter Olympics begin Feb. 10. Women’s figure skating begins Feb. 21.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_2090.asp

fredfa

01-09-06, 11:00 AM

TV Ratings
Study: Reruns Can Make A Difference in the Tight 18-49 Ratings Race

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com JANUARY 09, 2006

The broadcast networks this month are rolling out a slew of new shows aimed at bringing more viewers into their respective tents, but in the race to see who wins the crucial adults 18-49 demo for the season, creative use of repeats could prove to be a more important factor than originals. At least that’s one conclusion reached in a report issued last week by major media agency Magna Global USA.

“The network [ratings] races are so close, that both the number and performance of repeats can affect the overall standings,” said Steve Sternberg, executive vp and director of audience analysis at Magna Global.

Sternberg said networks that air fewer repeats ideally are better off, but with economic realities making it necessary for them to air shows more than once to cover costs, just where and when they schedule those repeats has become more important than ever, especially in a tight adults 18-49 demo race. One example he used was Fox’s pre-emption of lower rated first-run comedies Arrested Development and Kitchen Confidential during the November 2005 sweeps in favor of a repeat episode of new hit drama Prison Break, leading into a first-run episode of the latter. “It’s hard to argue ratings-wise” with such logic, said Sternberg.

While the percentage of regular program hours the broadcast networks devote to repeats in prime time has remained stable over the past few years, Sternberg said “there have been significant changes regarding when and why the networks schedule their reruns.” He said not only Fox has replaced lower-rated series with repeats of higher-rated series during sweeps months. “Reruns of shows like Law & Order and CSI perform better than original episodes of marginal series, making it very tempting to use them during the sweeps when a regular series falters,” Sternberg said. “This strategy certainly has short-term benefits, as these repeats tend to do better than the shows they replace.”

During the 2004-05 season, CBS repeats performed the best among adults 18-49, producing a cumulative 3.4 rating, only 19 percent lower than the 4.2 rating produced by its first-run shows in the demo. ABC, NBC and Fox all saw their repeats perform more poorly, at 2.7, 2.6 and 2.6, respectively, for their repeats, between 32-37 percent lower than their first-run shows.

It seems the strength of CBS’ repeats in the demo are providing the network with an advantage over its sibling nets, perhaps because its procedural dramas perform better in repeats than the other nets’ serialized dramas. Sternberg said CBS beat NBC last season by a half rating point in 18-49 overall, because its repeats generated higher ratings than NBC’s. He also believes that Fox edged out CBS by one-tenth of a rating point in the demo last season because Fox aired fewer repeats (15 percent vs. 21 percent) than CBS did.

While it may be how repeats are aired that makes the difference in the 18-49 race, network executives, at least publicly, would not agree they have a repeat strategy aimed at that goal.

“We are always looking for ways to maximize our audience,” said Kelly Kahl, executive vp of program planning and scheduling at CBS. “As more of our procedural dramas become successful franchises, it does become more tempting to use them [in repeat] to replace shows that aren’t working, but we don’t have a particular strategy to do that. We have about eight shows that we can repeat anywhere on our schedule, but we also want to make sure the audience doesn’t get tired of them. Extra exposure is good for a show, but too much exposure has a downside.”

Kahl also said winning the 18-49 demo race is not necessarily CBS’ top priority. “It’s a goal, but not the goal. We’re not going to hurt the long-term growth potential of a show by pulling it for short-term ratings. Your foundation of scheduling a network can’t be based on where you air your repeats.”

Preston Beckman, executive vp for strategic program planning at Fox, said, “Some of the best, smartest scheduling moves are done out of desperation. We felt we were not doing much business on Monday from 8-9 p.m. and put a repeat of Prison Break there, leading into an original of the same show. The best lead-in to a show is the same show, because of the natural audience flow,” Beckman said, adding Fox will do the same with drama House on Jan. 9.

Jeff Bader, executive vp of program planning and scheduling at ABC, said he does not believe the networks have geared up to use more repeats to replace lower-rated shows than in years past. “This is a strategy we have always used,” said Bader. “We did it with Home Improvement [in the mid-to-late 1990s]. We’ve run back-to-back Hope & Faiths on Fridays. But we didn’t do it in the November sweeps. What you are trying to do is to tweak your numbers up wherever you can, but you never want to hurt your regular programming.”

Rino Scanzoni, chief investment officer at Mediaedge:cia, doesn’t believe the networks should spend much energy trying to win the 18-49 title, so long as they all produce solid ratings. “It really doesn’t matter who wins the 18-49 race,” Scanzoni said. “All of the Big Four networks are so close. A tenth of a rating point each way doesn’t matter. And there are so many other factors advertisers use when buying networks and shows.”

That said, ABC’s Bader pointed out that in the last upfront, 57 percent of the business written was based on 18-49 ratings guarantees, compared to 35 percent for 25-54 guarantees. In other words, the 18-49 demo easily remains the most important in the marketplace. “They may say it’s irrelevant but it’s hard not to get caught up in it,” he said.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001807372

fredfa

01-09-06, 11:08 AM

Sunday’s prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted at the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.

fredfa

01-09-06, 11:42 AM

Critic’s Notebook
Rauch sings new tune for CBS with 'Monkey'

By Cynthia Littleton The Hollywood Reporter Jan. 09, 2006

Michael Rauch never thought he'd have two primetime shows on his hands this year.

But in August, just as the writer-producer launched his first series, the ABC Family drama "Beautiful People," CBS handed him an eight-episode midseason pickup of the dramedy "Love Monkey," much to his surprise.

"In my mind when I wrote the pilot, I felt very free creatively because I was thinking, 'They're never going to make this show,' " Rauch says.

CBS, however, begged to differ. "Love Monkey," based on Kyle Smith's 2004 guy-lit novel of the same name, is slated to bow next week in the 10 PM ET/PT Tuesday berth. And the day after he wraps production on "Love Monkey," a co-production of Sony Pictures TV and Paramount Network TV, in New York next month, Rauch will get on a plane to Toronto to begin production on the second season of "Beautiful People," from Sony Pictures TV.

It's all big change of pace for Rauch, who gained attention in Hollywood as the writer-director of the 2000 indie feature "In the Weeds," though he is hardly complaining. His TV career has gone from bubbling up to boiling over in the past year. Best of all, he's done it on his own terms, with both shows. "Love Monkey" is a major tonal departure for CBS, revolving around the romantic misadventures of a thirtysomething A&R guy in New York who's looking for love in all the wrong places.

"Even after we got picked up, I was kind of afraid that there would be a big meeting and (CBS executives) would say, 'We love the pilot, but now we've got to open Episode 2 on a dead body, and we'll bring in a forensic pathologist who also loves music," Rauch says. "But it never happened. From CBS, Paramount and Sony on down, the creative support on this show could not have been better."

"Love Monkey" is grounded by the strength of Tom Cavanagh, the former "Ed" star who is a perfect fit in the role of the earnest, Dylan-quoting Tom Farrell. ("When you ain't got nothin', you got nothin' to lose," Farrell observes in the pilot after he loses his job at Goliath Music.) The supporting cast, which includes Judy Greer, Jason Priestley and Larenz Tate, also manages to break out of the typical quirky-friends mold, particularly Greer in her role as Farrell's platonic best friend, Bran.

Rauch, an inveterate New Yorker and graduate of Columbia University Film School, admits he fell for Smith's novel because in so many ways he is the lead character, from the location of his apartment to his commitment-phobic love life. Rauch tweaked the setting of the novel by transforming Farrell from a tabloid journalist to a music devotee, a character inspired by Nic Harcourt, host of public radio's influential "Morning Becomes Eclectic" program and a co-producer on "Love Monkey" as well as an old friend of Rauch's who lived the A&R guy club-hopping life for years.

Authenticity is important to Rauch and his fellow executive producers, Mark Johnson and John Wirth. Music from a wide range of artists is woven into the storytelling, and the series is shot on location in New York, usually in locales far removed from the familiar glitz and glamour of Manhattan.

"We're trying to keep every episode feeling like a mini independent film," Rauch says. "This is a show that is all about passion. Tom has a passion for music and a longing to find love. And it's the same for (the production team). Television is such a difficult, tough business to succeed in. You don't get into it unless you're passionate about it."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/columns/tv_reporter_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001807473

fredfa

01-09-06, 12:12 PM

CBS' “Survivor” Returns Feb. 2 With New Twists

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com JANUARY 09, 2006 -

CBS will premiere the next edition of its reality series Survivor at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2. Titled Survivor: Panama--Exile Island, the show will begin with four tribes instead of the usual two, and each week at least one castaway will be banished to a separate island.

The tribues will be divided Older Men vs. Older Women vs Younger Men vs. Younger Women. The tribes will then become two during the second episode which will involve a "schoolyard pick" of the new teams.

Being banished to the Exile Island will be both a curse and a blessing. Those banished will have to fend for themselves on the Island until the next immunity challenge, but while on the Island will get clues to where a hidden Immunity Idol on the regular island is located, giving them an advantage when they return.

Among the new competitors is a retired astronaut, a yoga instructor, a retired fighter pilot, an autor, a nurse, a singer, a karate instructor, a lawyer, and a few business owners and sales people.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/networktv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001807804

keenan

01-09-06, 01:15 PM

And it's probably only going to get worse as they concentrate on Bree's descent into alcoholism. :(
Last night's episode was reminiscent of last season as there was a lot more interaction between the women.

fredfa

01-09-06, 01:25 PM

I agree Jim, but I think the major problem is that last season centered around the question of "Who killed Mary Alice?"

There is no such glue to this year's disparate plots lines.

keenan

01-09-06, 01:51 PM

That's true, and I don't know how the writers are going to be able to introduce another story line like that. They would almost have to cause one of the women to disappear, maybe have Bree take off to Tibet, with the rest of the women wondering what happened to her. In any case, last night's ep was much better than the meandering story lines we've seen too much of this season.

fredfa

01-09-06, 02:03 PM

Overnight Ratings
The returning “West Wing” sinks anew

New low, despite attention over Spencer's death

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jan 9, 2006

The death of “West Wing” star John Spencer did not spark new interest in the long-fading show when it returned last night from a nearly month-long hiatus.

In it first new episode since Spencer’s death in December, “West Wing” tied a season-low with a 1.9 overnight rating among viewers 18-49 last night, 17 percent lower than the 2.3 overnight rating the show had averaged through its first nine episodes of the season.

There has been much speculation over what NBC will do with the show now that Spencer, who played vice presidential candidate Leo McGarry, is gone. The show has five more new episodes in which Spencer appeared already filmed, but NBC has not said what its new strategy would be.

The death of Spencer, who had also starred in NBC’s “LA Law,” got lots of attention, but apparently that did not drive former “Wing” viewers back to the show.

In fact, with Sunday night becoming increasingly competitive, it appears as if viewers are further abandoning “West Wing.” Just 7.3 million viewers tuned into the show last night, fourth in its 8 p.m. timeslot.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_2117.asp

fredfa

01-09-06, 05:34 PM

TV Review
It's a sitcom about sex, so why not tune it out?

By Jonathan Storm Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist Mon, Jan. 09, 2006

Jonathan's reasons why not to watch Emily's Reasons Why Not, an ABC sitcom debuting tonight at 9: ET/PT:

1. It's an ABC sitcom.

2. It fixates on sex.

3. Lots of lame gay jokes.

But that's only three reasons. Emily's rules require five reasons why not. So, I guess that means you should check it out.

The main reason why is the star: Heather Graham, one of the freest of Hollywood's free spirits, whose fearlessness has illuminated such roles as the porn actress Rollergirl in Boogie Nights and dancing spy Felicity Shagwell in one of the Austin Powers movies.

Graham's rubber face and sunny exuberance fuel Emily's Reasons Why Not, the story of yet another young woman looking for love that could be pretty flat without her solar power.

The show, based on P.R. woman Carrie Gerlach's first novel of the same name, focuses on a 30-ish publisher of self-help books who has a tough time helping herself at the banquet table of love.

Her latest rotten egg is the author of Hook, Lie and Sinker (he's played by gorgeous guy Mark Valley from Keen Eddie and Boston Legal, but it's only a guest role).

"He wrote the book on manipulating women," coos Emily's backstabbing ex-assistant Glitter Cho, "and you published it."

More subtle than the usual yukkers you hear on According to Jim, the character is named Glitter Cho and the duh-duh-duh-duh menacing music from Jaws plays whenever Glitter comes around. We'll give that package three smileys.

Emily has a brassy girlfriend and a tres gay boyfriend, the kind of stock characters you might find on NBC, except here they sometimes say things that are funny.

Tonight, our gal sets her sights on Stan from marketing. I know you've heard it a million times: They're always from marketing.

Armed with a zesty optimism, Emily applies her mantra: "Listen to my instincts, watch out for any reasons why not, and see what develops." When a reason why not rears its ugly head, the producers write it in crazy letters across the screen, like the hints the home audience sees in some quiz shows while the contestant sweats.

The first knock against Stan: He seems to have a sex aversion. Reason Why Not No. 1: "When he says he wants to sleep with you, it means he wants to sleep with you."

But he is a black belt in Brazilian jujitsu. Sadly, that turns out to be not such a good thing, as Emily learns at a match where the sweaty men wrestle and "YMCA" plays in the background.

You hope the show doesn't get stuck in sexual shenanigans week after week. Even 30-year-olds think about other things sometimes. But for now, it seems fair to follow Emily's lead and see what develops, always alert (you don't need a microscope) for reasons to change the channel.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//13581035.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

01-09-06, 06:15 PM

The Business of TV
Hearst-Argyle Retrans Deal Excludes Lifetime?

More information is surfacing about Dish dropping Lifetime from its lienup.

According to John M. Higgins of Broadcasting & Cable, “Broadcaster Hearst-Argyle Television has broken ranks with cable cousin Lifetime Television and cut a separate – and possibly lucrative -- retransmission consent agreement with EchoStar.

In the deal, EchoStar could be paying Hearst-Argyle up to $11 million per year to carry its stations, but cuts corporate cousin Lifetime out of the retrans deal. That would be a big step up from what Hearst-Argyle has generated by letting Lifetime negotiate on its behalf with every major cable and DBS operator in the country.

The Hearst-Argyle agreement was signed Dec. 30, one day before EchoStar dropped Lifetime from its 12-million-sub DBS operation.

For years, Lifetime – 50% owned by Hearst-Argyle controlling shareholder Hearst Corp. -- has used the broadcasters’ retransmission consent power to get cable and DBS systems to pay up for its cable networks, including Lifetime Movie Network and Lifetime Real Women…. “

Officials of Dish and Lifetime weren’t commenting on the Broadcasting story.

fredfa

01-09-06, 06:18 PM

The Business of TV
NBCU Puts Four Stations Up for Sale

By Jay Sherman TVWeek.com January 9, 2006

NBC Universal has put four of its smallest NBC stations up for sale as part of a broader strategy to invest in Telemundo stations and to seek duopoly opportunities in markets where it already owns stations, according to sources.

The media company is in the early stages of the sale, which is expected to take months to complete and could fetch around $600 million, said one source. The stations up for sale include WCMH-TV, in Columbus, Ohio; WJAR-TV in Providence, R.I.; WNCN-TV in Raleigh, N.C.; and WVTM-TV in Birmingham, Ala. NBCU owns 14 NBC stations and 15 Telemundo stations.

An NBCU spokeswoman declined to comment.

The auction of the four stations comes as NBCU looks to improve the distribution of its Spanish-language network Telemundo, create more duopolies of NBC and Telemundo stations and concentrate on owning stations in areas experiencing rapid Hispanic population expansion. It also comes at a time when television stations are being sold at robust cash-flow multiples, as evidenced by the recent sales of Emmis Communications' stations and all of Liberty Corp. to Raycom Media.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9146

fredfa

01-09-06, 06:56 PM

Critic’s Notebook
This Book's No Page-Turner

By John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable at bcbeat.com

OK. I've seen NBC's Book of Daniel [Webster] and you would have thought the Devil had prevailed in that famous debate.

For Bible Belters, the parade of unsavory characters, twisted plot twists, and foul language provides more red flags than a bullfighter's convention. What it didn't provide was a satisfying viewing experience.

I would not be surprised if the stations that dropped the two-hour debut for infomercials and syndicated re-runs and Olympic ice skating specials, continued to preempt the hour with whatever they could throw in there, particularly given the lackluster ratings for the much-buzzed-about debut.

"Wildly entertaining. Superbly cast," said USA Today, according to NBC. "A mean-spirited, Un-holy mess," said The Washington Post's Tom Shales according to The Washington Post.

That flurry of red flags included the frequently-cited addiction of Episcopal priest Daniel Webster (Aidan Quinn)to pain killers and his sparring with a sort of Jesus of Napa Valley. But it goes far, far beyond that to include a Bishop who is also getting hooked as well; the same bishop having an affair with Webster's father, who also turns out to be a bishop; Webster's mother complaining that her husband (the bishop, remember) keeps trying to show her his penis.

But wait, there's more.

There is a daughter who sells pot to buy computer equipment, a son who opens that sister's overnight package (containing pot), to blackmail her with. A gay son who is the object of derision from that same brother. A pot-smoking housekeeper, a lesbian affair between two women, one of whose husbands absconds with millions in church funds before being found naked in a hotel room with various objects inserted in his rectum.

Then there is the Catholic priest who is made out to be a "Goodfella" type with mob connections.

http://www.bcbeat.com/

fredfa

01-09-06, 09:57 PM

The Business of TV
Chase Carey’s HD Remarks

Speaking Monday, January 9th at the 16th annual Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference sponsored by Citigroup in Phoenix, AZ.

He didn’t say anything ground-breaking, it was mostly just a reiteration of what has been said in the past. Sadly, there were no new specific national HD announcements.

So here are DirecTV Chairman and CEO Chase Carey’s HD-related comments: (any transcription errors are solely mine.)

“We are pretty comfortable our capacity will be well ahead for a long time to come of the content available.
Today we offer what we think is what a consumer wants in a high def experience. And mostly, you’d want to watch the network programming, the high end programming, the ESPNs. We offer that.

For the next year we’ll live within a fairly tight band of capacity expansion. We will add high def content, but it will be in a fairly tight set of restrictions, the big area we’ll add a lot will be HD local. We’ll have 36 markets by the end of the 1st quarter in local, and building out to 50 plus by the end of ’06. So in that area we’re ramping up really fast.

In terms of the national HD channels, we’ll add the ones that we think are important but in early ’07, so a little over a year from now, we’ll launch two more satellites that really take us to the next generation of HD capability, which will be essentially that we can put every local station in HD and 150+ national channels in HD.

We think we’ll have a very good offering which will get us through 2006 and then once we get there, we think we’ll have the capacity for an HD offering that will put as at the forefront of a lot of the market for a long time to come.

We think customers want a one-step solution. We’ll have an HD capability to bring the full local experience and a very expanded national experience off the satellite.
That being said, our boxes are designed such that if you want an off-air antenna, it can be integrated into the box and we’re going to design our set top box so that it does integrate together and we’ll be able to integrate broadband into the STB. HD will take a while, it is not a cheap proposition. Over time it will become a main stream presentation.

Q: There are about 800,000 or so MPEG2 HD customers, you’ll foot the bill to convert them to MPEG4.

A: We had 700-800,000 HD customers at the end of 3rd Q.

We are looking to move by the end of this month that anybody ordering HD gets MPEG4 installations.

That leaves us with a legacy base of MPEG2, over the next 2+ years we’ll convert those customers. Box costs now are in the low $200 range, and a year from now they will be $170-S180 box. (Obviously, for us) to stretch it out (over two years or so) helps us out economically."

fredfa

01-09-06, 10:30 PM

Critic’s Notebook
His name is Leo and he dances on the sand

The Newark Star-Ledger’s Alan Sepinwall TV blog

So let's see... HBO has the lights off until March, "Grey's Anatomy" was a clip show, continuing to avoid "Desperate Housewives" was on my list of New Year's Resolutions, so in terms of things I actually watched...

"The West Wing": Sadly fitting that the first episode to air after John Spencer's death was all about Leo. Even sadder is that it wasn't very good. Even by post-Sorkin standards, this was a predictable one -- anyone who didn't see Leo doing fine in the debate, not to mention that he was the source of the leak, needs an eye exam. I liked the interplay between Leo and Annabelle, Josh and Toby on the phone was good, and I appreciated a glimpse inside the Vinick camp that didn't make them look like the Evil Empire (maybe because Vinick was nowhere to be found), but overall: meh. I'm incredibly sick and tired of Josh being a complete moron, solely as a means to make Santos look smarter for always disagreeing with him (in this case, by telling Leo to skip the debate prep). Couldn't care less about Will and whatsername having the least romantic TV dinner of all time. Here's hoping Sorkin and Schlamme are coming back for multiple episodes.

"Cold Case": I wrote about this both in Friday's column and in a Friday blog entry, but just coming back to it for one reason: in this New York Times interview, "Cold Case" creator Meredith Stiehm says she was on the nose with all the songs on purpose, and that she originally wanted the episode to have no dialogue whatsoever, to let the songs tell the story. I'm sure she got talked out of that by someone at CBS or Bruckheimer Inc. who thinks deviating from the formula too much is bad for the bottom line, but I think the show would have been much stronger had she been able to go with the original plan.

"The Simpsons": This is the Be Careful What You Wish For season. I wanted more narrative coherence, I wanted more focus on the family and their emotions. I'm getting both, and yet the couch gags are almost always funnier than the rest of the episode combined. (Lenny and Carl as the new parents was the best family photo.) Now, Homer having an epiphany about Abe while lost in a multi-million dollar mini-sub isn't quite on par with Lisa developing a crush on her substitute teacher or Homer buying Marge a bowling ball, but if this season keeps going the way it has, I'm going to start asking for more wackiness for the sake of wackiness, sort of like...

"Family Guy": One of the better ones, and I loved the random cameo by Mark Borchardt and Mike Schank from "American Movie" as Quagmire's production crew for the lesbian video. Question: are we approaching a point where getting to do a guest voice on "Family Guy" is considered a bigger deal than "The Simpsons"? Probably not; if "The Simpsons" is good enough for Ricky Gervais and Michael Chabon, it's good enough for me.

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/

keenan

01-09-06, 10:34 PM

The Business of TV
Chase Carey’s HD Remarks

Q: There are about 800,000 or so MPEG2 HD customers, you’ll foot the bill to convert them to MPEG4.

A: We had 700-800,000 HD customers at the end of 3rd Q.

I didn't listen to the webcast so I don't know the cadence of these remarks. Was the question whether or not DirecTV would foot the bill for MPEQ4 upgrade..? Or, was that already established and the question was about how many subs would be upgraded..? Or, did Carey completely side-step the question..? :p

fredfa

01-09-06, 10:36 PM

Critic’s Notebook
Life's Terrible Imitation of Art

By John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable at bcbeat.com

Not many people were watching The West Wing Sunday night (1.9 rating), but I was one of them who saw that chilling case of life imitating art.

The show was the beginning of a several-story arc prominently featuring John Spencer, the wonderful actor who played VP candidate Leo McGarry and died of a sudden heart attack several weeks ago.

Martin Sheen, who plays President Josiah Bartlett in the show, provided a classy preamble, saying that Spencer was loved and missed, but would have wanted the episodes to air.

The least the airing should do is spur everyone to get the old ticker checked out at regular intervals (take it from someone with an old ticker that has needed checking out from time to time).

Spencer's character had suffered a heart attack on the show, and it was a little chilling to hear that character talk of that script-writer induced heart attack during a TV debate on the show Sunday night.

The first sign of a heart attack, said McGarry/Spencer in response to a question about his health, is usually death.

http://www.bcbeat.com/

fredfa

01-09-06, 11:04 PM

TV Review
Crumbs
By Amy Amatangelo The Washington Post

Thursdays at 9:30 PM ET/PT on ABC

The tagline you'll never see: The Wacky Years

The basics: Prodigal son Mitch Crumb (Fred Savage), who fled to Hollywood after the sudden death of his brother, returns to Connecticut to help his mom (Jane Curtin). She has been spending time in a mental institution since she found out her husband (William Devane) left her for a restaurant critic. Mitch's older, jealous brother runs the family restaurant, another thing Dad abandoned for his new girlfriend. With his career as a screenwriter failing, Mitch (here's a surprise) decides in the pilot to return home permanently.

The lowdown: Talk about working out your issues through television. The series is based on executive]producer Marco Pennette's real life: his parents' divorce, his mother's nervous breakdown and his brother's death. "Crumbs" follows the second season of summer juggernaut "Dancing With the Stars." But viewers will find more laughs by switching to NBC's "The Office."

Reality check: Off-the-wall humor tries to make the series a more approachable "Arrested Development." But sometimes, stories about your family are funny only to members of your family.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/04/AR2006010402060_pf.html

fredfa

01-09-06, 11:08 PM

Hartman: No big changes at CBS' 'News'

By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter Jan. 10, 2006

NEW YORK -- The "CBS Evening News" is undergoing a quiet transformation and so far not the radical change that had been contemplated in the past year. Another part of that transformation began Monday with a change at the top.

The broadcast's new executive producer, "60 Minutes" veteran producer Rome Hartman, took over Monday.

Longtime executive producer Jim Murphy left before Christmas. But Hartman and anchor Bob Schieffer say they aren't going to make wholesale changes to the newscast that once was the showcase of Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and now Schieffer.

"I'm going to try from the very start to raise the bar of our storytelling, reporting," Hartman said Friday. "I want to break news, I want our reporting to be relentlessly original. But it's not going to be a radically different broadcast."

In an interview Friday afternoon before Monday's first broadcast under his control, Hartman said there won't be different graphics or other eye-catching changes.

"You're not going to see anything radically different," Hartman said. "This is a good broadcast. It's been a good broadcast, and we're going to make it better."

Long an also-ran in the nightly newscasts, there have been more and more reasons for cheer recently at CBS News' West 57th Street Broadcast Center. After a serious wound from "Memogate" and Rather's departure after 24 years as anchor, Schieffer and the rest of the team have since March been righting the ship and launching the future of the news division. Ratings are up, as is morale.

Even as CBS News conducts its not-always-secret wooing of "Today" co-host Katie Couric, Hartman and Schieffer aren't treating the current "CBS Evening News" as temporary. The fate of the newscast, in one respect, has been in doubt for more than a year because Schieffer initially was a temporary anchor. And though CBS chief Leslie Moonves had been unimpressed with former CBS News president Andrew Heyward's efforts to remake the evening news, he's happy with what Schieffer has done.

Schieffer opened up the newscast and made it less stiff since he started in March. In an interview Friday, Schieffer said he considers himself more of a "player-coach" who is trying to spotlight the next generation of CBS News. That's Lara Logan, Trish Regan, Sharon Alfonsi and Lee Cowan, among others, as well as such other established correspondents as Gloria Borger, Bob Orr and Jim Axelrod.

"These are people you can build a news department around. That's what we're going to do. My job is to make sure these people get on television," Schieffer said. He added: "You've got to have a good mix of veterans and younger people. I'm not the one that gets the news here. They're the ones who get the news."

While still firmly in third place, CBS is the only nightly newscast season-to-date to see an increase in total viewers (up 216,000 through Jan. 1 compared with about 600,000 declines at ABC and NBC). That improvement is due in no small measure to Murphy, whose six-year tenure was the longest of any executive producer in "CBS Evening News" history.

"We could not have done this without him," Schieffer said.

Schieffer's own future? He said he's having fun and enjoying himself but knows the assignment isn't permanent.

"It depends on Katie," Schieffer said of the options Couric is said to be weighing as her contract at NBC News expires. "I hope we can get her here."

Hartman marveled at Schieffer's performance: "He's jazzed. He's having a good time," he said.

Hartman also dispelled a rumor that his term as executive producer will be limited, and that there will be a change at the top once another anchor is named.

"I'm not a seat warmer," Hartman said.

Schieffer praised CBS News president Sean McManus, who took over from Heyward late last year.

"He doesn't just want to move up to No. 2. He wants to be No. 1. And he has let everyone know that," Schieffer said.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001808515

fredfa

01-09-06, 11:50 PM

TV Reviews
“'South Beach”, “The Shield”

UPN's new 'South Beach' is stuck in shallow water

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic Tuesday, January 10, 2006

UPN's new motto, "where the girls are," is something of a siren call for men, too. Pretty simple to figure our why: Girls mean bikinis and cleavage and catty models. Guys also like wrestling and ... did we mention the models?

Yes, UPN has figured out that it needs women, but in order to thrive, it needs programs that pull in their brothers and boyfriends. It tried and failed a few seasons ago with "Platinum," and last year, "Kevin Hill" lost its snap halfway through the season.

Let us not speak of the abomination that was "Sex, Love & Secrets" except to say that now the network wants to give prime-time soaps a try.

So now we have "South Beach," which has its two-hour premiere Wednesday at 8 PM ET/PT before settling into its regular 8 PM ET/PT slot next week. Everything UPN wants to be is blended into this sudser: models, miles of lovely Miami beaches and hot young guys.

Doesn't sound butch enough, does it? Which is why guns, fistfights, double-crossing and frequent forays into the criminal underworld have been thrown in for good measure. The "Miami Vice" entertainment philosophy clearly is at work here. Where there are babes, there be boys; and to help them stay, you gotta pop off a couple of caps into some fools.

"South Beach" could fall into guilty pleasure territory, but it really is as corny as it sounds. Heading its gorgeous multiracial cast is Vanessa Williams, starring as Elizabeth Bauer, the steely hotel owner with a heart of gold. Williams deserves credit for being able to say things like, "You can't let the pastel surfaces and sunlight fool you -- South Beach will eat you alive!" and make it sound passable.

Another tiny mercy is that there happens to be the slightest whiff of "Entourage" appeal to the adventures of Brooklyn boys Matt (Marcus Coloma) and Vincent (Chris Johnson). Vincent's a troublemaker who decides to head down to Miami on a whim; college-bound Matt joins him when he finds out his father (Michael Pare, of "Eddie and the Cruisers") took his tuition money to pay his gambling debts.

Matt has other motives. His ex-girlfriend Arielle (Odette Yustman) headed down months before to kick off her modeling career. When Matt gets to town, he finds Arielle mixed up in Miami's nightclub scene, dating Elizabeth's son Alex (Lee Thompson Young), the jealous, egocentric manager of the Hotel Soleil's nightclub, Nocturnal. The real problem is the hotel's minority partner, Robert Fuentes (Giancarlo Esposito), who, in addition to being a businessman, is a player in the city's organized-crime scene. A couple of fistfights put Matt in Elizabeth's good graces, and wins Vincent a place in Robert's heart. Each is hired on to watch the other's boss, jobs that'll eventually pit the best friends against each other.

"South Beach's" chances of making it on Wednesday night are slender at best, but if it succeeds, "Veronica Mars" fans should worry. The teenage detective may be staying on the air based on her prestigious track record with critics and "best of" lists; however, all it takes is one more ratings success for UPN to devalue "Veronica."

“The Shield”

While we're on the subject of crime and punishment, take comfort in knowing a great series has returned to the air. "The Shield" begins its fifth season Tuesday night at 10 ET/PT on FX, with Forest Whitaker guest starring as an Internal Affairs Department lieutenant whose sole purpose is -- say it with me now -- to take down Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis).

Five rounds of this series make that idea lose its power. Nobody takes down Vic, they just leave the Strike Team and The Barn in slightly worse shape than when they came in. City Councilman David Aceveda (Benito Martinez), Vic's former boss and arch nemesis, barely got out of Farmington with his sanity intact. Why, then, did I find it impossible to watch just one episode? Sit down for one on a whim and, by the end, you're clamoring for the next.

This season, Vic finally has to face the crime he committed during the first moments of "The Shield," when he shot a member of his team in the head during a drug bust. Until now, he's managed to let a criminal take the fall. The only people who know the truth are Vic and Shane (Walton Goggins), and they've accumulated piles of dirty business on each other ever since.

But Lt. Jon Kavanaugh (Whitaker), salivating at the prospect of hooking Vic, snags Lem (Kenneth Johnson), the team member with a conscience, for lifting heroin during a drug bust, and it looks like Vic's empire is starting to fall. That can't be the only problem, of course; budget cuts throughout L.A.'s police force have left The Barn short-handed, The Strike Team's street reputation has declined sharply, and The Barn's latest captain (David Marciano) is so ineffectual he essentially defers to Vic.

Central to this season, however, is the juxtaposition of Vic and Kavanaugh. Vic's a horrible person, no doubt about it, but his motive has always been to balance his evils with the greater good. When he knows the law is going to fail honest people (or those who help him), he takes his own measures to ensure that justice is served.

Whitaker plays Kavanaugh with such unctuous shadiness that you can't quite bring yourself to cheer for him, either. The actor takes the smallest actions in creator Shawn Ryan's script, such as offering someone a stick of gum, and transforms them into jagged, defining moments. And his facial expressions make your skin crawl.

This far into the series' lifespan, it's about time something happened to TV's most charismatic rogue cop. With writing and acting this outstanding, it wouldn't be wrong to hope that Vic slithers out of trouble again to give us more of "The Shield's" gripping, morally complex drama.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/255020_tv10.html

cocoon

01-10-06, 03:06 AM

TV Review
It's a sitcom about sex, so why not tune it out?

By Jonathan Storm Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist Mon, Jan. 09, 2006

Jonathan's reasons why not to watch Emily's Reasons Why Not, an ABC sitcom debuting tonight at 9: ET/PT:

I kinda liked this show. I'm not sure if would watch it every week (sitcoms arent really my thing). Heather Graham is sooo easy on the eyes. Maybe its just me there seemed to something very familiar and different about it at the same. I know it heavily riffs on Sex and the City but there seemed something else. I want to thank ABC for trusting the audience to know what is funny or not by not running a stupid laugh track. I hope this doesn't mean the death knell for the show. I just think this sitcom is better then most of the other shows of this type out there... but then again I usually don't watch sitcoms so I don't know if am good judge for this sort of thing.

just my 2 cents

fredfa

01-10-06, 07:48 AM

I didn't listen to the webcast so I don't know the cadence of these remarks. Was the question whether or not DirecTV would foot the bill for MPEQ4 upgrade..? Or, was that already established and the question was about how many subs would be upgraded..? Or, did Carey completely side-step the question..? :p

It seemed a given, from the question and his answer, that DirecTV will pick up the conversion costs. Thus his answer about how stretching it out for two years -- as box prices fall -- would be good for the DirecTV bottom line.

fredfa

01-10-06, 08:21 AM

Sports on TV
“60 Minutes” Puts Sports on Its Clock

By Richard Sandomir The New York Times January 10, 2006

"60 Minutes" has never ignored sports (its large archive is seen regularly on ESPN Classic), but it is embracing them now more than ever.

It may not be unleashing Mike Wallace into undercover work at the Little League World Series, but "60 Minutes" is eagerly pursuing sports profiles like the one Sunday about the skier Bode Miller.

"I'm a sucker for a good sports story," said Jeff Fager, the program's executive producer. "It's just such a huge area to draw from. We're a sports-obsessed society." And he said he was happy to carry sports stories in the venerable series while most network news programs would not.

The program is not imitating the investigative formula laid out by HBO's monthly "Real Sports" series, which is, in many ways, the sports version of "60 Minutes" but with a noticeably younger cast.

Rather, its focus is on profiles, largely positive. Since February, "60 Minutes" has produced stories that were driven by new books (Jose Canseco's, Michael Jordan's and Bill Romanowski's); news (Lance Armstrong going for his seventh consecutive Tour de France victory); or interesting personalities (Derek Jeter, Tom Brady, James Blake and Miller) who are attractive to a prime-time audience who may not know them as well as sports fans do.

Michelle Wie is next in the series's docket.

The Canseco steroids story was big enough to merit an update this season (thanks to Rafael Palmeiro's suspension for failing a steroids test), as was one about Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams as he prepared to unretire and face a suspension for testing positive for marijuana.

Both were reported by Wallace, who, among "60 Minutes" correspondents, has done the most sports stories in the past year, followed by Ed Bradley (Jeter and Jordan) and Bob Simon (Armstrong and Miller).

Miller's story was suggested by the producer Catherine Olian, who wanted to do a profile of an Olympic athlete with the Winter Games approaching.

"She fell in love with Bode Miller, and I was an easy sell," Fager said. "He's so unpredictable. He's anything but a clichéd sports star."

The story looked largely at Miller's unconventional upbringing, style and views, but near the end came a brief part that CBS News promoted heavily: the revelation that Miller has occasionally competed while drunk or hung over.

"When he competes for Olympic gold medals in Turin next month, count on World Cup champion Bode Miller to be sober because, as he tells Bob Simon, skiing drunk is too hard," read a CBS news release sent out last Thursday.

Simon asked Miller in the story, "Do you think partying has ever interfered with your performance?"

Definitely, Miller said. "There's been times when I've been in really tough shape at the top of the course," he said. A clip of Miller was shown on a hill "in sober Switzerland," Simon said, where "he wasn't as much hung over as still drunk" from celebrating after winning the World Cup.

Miller said, "I mean, if you ever tried to ski when you're wasted, it's not easy." But when asked by Simon if he would never again ski after drinking, he said, "No, I'm not saying that."

His remarks rankled skiing's orthodoxy. The head of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association called the comments irresponsible, and the International Ski Federation said it was up to the United States association to take action.

But Miller was also upset, or at least his agent was. In a statement Saturday, the agent, Lowell Taub, said "60 Minutes" had "set off a firestorm by headlining a press release on a Bode Miller profile with an out-of-context and salacious headline involving drunkenness." Taub labeled the CBS News release "nothing more than a promotion for a television program."

Of course it was a promotion; of course CBS chose the newsiest bit to push, rather than focusing on Miller's growing up without indoor plumbing.

"It's unfortunate if there's an impression that he's drinking on the slopes," Fager said. "That was not a fair analysis of what he said."

A full viewing of the story should have pleased Miller. It portrayed him, as others have in the past, as a risk-taking iconoclast whose parents home-schooled him and as a champion with little overt interest in money or medals. The story might have also helped NBC, one month before the Turin Games, by exposing Miller to its 15 million viewers.

A story like Miller's is cross-promoted on National Football League games that precede "60 Minutes," as have those about better-known athletes, like Jeter, Jordan, Brady and the far more controversial Lawrence Taylor, the subject of a 2003 profile by Wallace.

"These are stories not produced exclusively for a sports audience that are not airing in a sports time period," said Sean McManus, president of CBS Sports and News. "It's very different than what we do Saturday and Sunday afternoons in sports."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/10/sports/sportsspecial1/10tv.ready.html?pagewanted=print

fredfa

01-10-06, 08:37 AM

TiVo’s Most recorded shows
(From TiVo)

Most-Recorded shows are from Season Pass rankings based on anonymous, aggregated data, for the week ending 1/8/2006

1. Desperate Housewives
2. Lost
3. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
4. Grey's Anatomy
5. House
6. CSI: Miami
7. 24
8. ER
9. Family Guy
10. The West Wing
11. My Name Is Earl
12. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
13. Commander-in-Chief
14. American Idol
15. Boston Legal
16. CSI: NY
17. Law & Order
18. Without a Trace
19. Numb3rs
20. The O.C.
21. Law & Order: Criminal Intent
22. NCIS
23. Invasion
24. The Office
25. Cold Case

fredfa

01-10-06, 08:47 AM

Sports on TV
“The Shield”: The best gets better

By Maureen Ryan Chicago Tribune TV blog

Why do we keep rooting for Vic Mackey?

As “The Shield” returns for a fifth season (9 PM ET/PT Tuesday, FX) L.A. cop Mackey is in deep trouble, and for good reason.

For years, he has ruled Los Angeles’ violent Farmington district as if its mean streets were his own personal kingdom. Doling out street justice on his own terms, by his own twisted rules, and protecting his posse, the Strike Team, were his top priorities. They were, at times, his only priorities.

Though his superiors have depended on Mackey — and his questionable methods — to get results in the past, as last season ended, the top brass of the police department started to ponder the idea of sacrificing Mackey in a corruption scandal. Hurt by budget cutbacks and a poor image among the public, the police brass are willing to do whatever it takes to clean up the department’s image: That involves making Mackey their fall guy.

The thing is, Mackey has done many of the bad things he’s suspected of (and has done even worse things that his bosses don’t know about). So why do we spend the first few episodes of the fifth season on the edge of our seats, hoping that Mackey doesn’t get snared in Internal Affairs’ net?

It’s partly because of Michael Chiklis’ bravura performance as Mackey; even when he’s not speaking, he’s the charismatic focus of any scene. It’s also because “The Shield,” underneath all the cop politics, is an exploration of moral quandaries that resist easy answers. Quite often Mackey and his crew are the only thing keeping the streets of Farmington from total anarchy (though chaos is always present; in the first episode of the season, there are two violent riots, one at a funeral, another at a high school).

“The Shield” has much more than Chiklis going for it, though. Director D.J. Caruso does a terrific job of making the season-opener a visceral, action-packed thrill ride; the writing staff of the show is still in top form, and this year comes up with harrowing plots about human trafficking and dark intimations about the health of the hardworking but terminally tired Detective Claudette Wyms (C.C.H. Pounder).

Much of the weight of the first half of the season falls on Kenneth Johnson, who plays Strike Team member Curtis “Lem” Lemansky, who’s a target of Internal Affairs and is forced to wear a wire to get information that will implicate Mackey in the murder of another cop. Johnson is more than up to the task of portraying Lem’s tortured conscience. As is the case with the rest of the top-notch “Shield” cast, his performance is always subtle and believable.

Forest Whitaker, on the other hand, is a bit mannered and off in his first few appearances as Internal Affairs investigator Jon Kavanaugh, but he soon settles into a slightly more subtle groove. Still, he won’t make anyone soon forget Glenn Close’s virtuoso performance last season as Mackey’s boss and adversary, Monica Rawling. It’d be great to see Close guest-star on the show again; she brought a wonderfully urgent fire to Rawling.

There are other new faces this season; a female rookie (Paula Garces) tries to learn the ropes, but finds Farmington cops are a tough lot to win over, and Laura Harring (“Mulholland Drive”) is effective as a canny lawyer who sees through Mackey’s self-serving bravado.

Many series feel as though they’re just coasting going into their fifth seasons. “The Shield,” already the best crime show on TV, feels as if it’s just now getting to the best stuff.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2006/01/the_shield_the_.html#more

fredfa

01-10-06, 08:58 AM

“World News Tonight” goes bicoastal

By Jonathan Storm Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

BERKELEY, Calif. - It's not your worn-out East Coast news on ABC anymore.

In addition to trotting out a new boy-girl coanchor team for its flagship World News Tonight evening broadcast last week, ABC started giving Westerners their own live, updated broadcast.

Elizabeth Vargas, 43, and Bob Woodruff, 44, formally took the reins of the show and the immense challenge of replacing the urbane and authoritative Peter Jennings, who died of lung cancer in August. The two had their problems, she more than he.

But aside from the cosmetic - Why did she wear that outfit? Don't you think his nose is crooked? - the network made some structural changes that may improve the ratings of the show, which has been running No. 2 to NBC most weeks for several years.

Vargas and Woodruff do updates at 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. on the East Coast, providing fresh fodder to Western viewers at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (San Francisco is the biggest market at that time) and 6:30 p.m. PST (when Los Angeles is tops).

The difference was most evident Thursday when California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger presented his state of the state address at about 5 p.m. in California. ABC dumped a package about mine safety from its East Coast broadcast and inserted a speech piece, explaining how the once-popular governor was "fighting for his political life."

Much of the broadcast - stories about the Sago Mine explosion, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke, Americans' problems with credit cards - remained the same. ABC did move the Sago story to the top of the Western show, from its No. 2 East Coast slot, because the network had obtained those ever-popular TV news staples, tapes of 911 calls, after the Eastern broadcast ended.

In a downward ratings spiral everywhere, network evening news shows are particularly poor performers in the West, one reason the San Francisco affiliates run them at 5:30 p.m. and save more local news for 6:30. An ABC spokesman said many Westerners perceive the network news as "stale."

With "West Coast Edition" labels and the word live appearing in a surprisingly unfussy graphic array, World News Tonight hopes to overcome that impression.

Whether hordes of viewers will be drawn to the new anchors is another matter.

Woodruff was stationed in the Middle East last week, reporting from Tehran and Jerusalem, a direct and solid descendant of the no-nonsense male anchors and reporters who have come before him.

An "exclusive" interview with an Iranian functionary was a minor bust, but another piece on the youth of Iran provided important context for the continuing face-off between that country and other nuclear powers.

The kids of Iran are a bit out of control, Woodruff reported. They like Western ways and they aren't afraid of the power of the ayatollahs. "I am the power," a young woman said.

Vargas has plenty of power, too, but she brings a different presence to the evening news. This old man wasn't crazy about it, but ABC might not care, since it's looking for younger folks to watch. That seems a little foolish. Will youth be interested in the numbing number of medicines that provide the preponderance of World News Tonight's more than $120 million in annual advertising fees?

Vargas works from the Diane Sawyer/Barbara Walters school of news reading. She furrowed her brow excessively to display empathy for the mine-explosion victims: "It must be wrenching for those families." And she beamed brightly for a story about the new face of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus.

Off the flagship newscasts, the technique certainly has succeeded for female TV news personalities. Whether it's appropriate (or, more important to ABC, popular) for an evening newscast remains to be seen.

The two previous male-female network news pairings (Walters and Harry Reasoner at ABC in the 1970s, and Dan Rather and Connie Chung at CBS in the '90s) were busts. Complaints by the preening males in those pairs didn't help. Woodruff and Vargas, both from the same generation, displayed zero hostile chemistry. But they were half a world apart.

Besides quieting her face, Vargas also needs to slow down and read the copy. In nearly every broadcast last week, she stumbled, slightly, "mega boomers" for "many boomers," for instance, as she introduced one of the pieces in the credit card series. Mere mortals would be forgiven the little gaffes, but this is the biggest of the Big Time, and perfection should be standard.

As NBC dominates the ratings with the calm and collected Brian Williams, and CBS waits in the wings to reveal what some executives have hinted might be a rock-and-roll evening news, ABC has fingers crossed that its new show will be just what viewers want.

Talking about the circus to the West Coast Thursday (and making another tiny misstep), Vargas may have been passing comment on those hopes: "It's now the 21st century, and it takes a lot more to wow audiences these days."

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//13587987.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

fredfa

01-10-06, 09:36 AM

The future for “The West Wing”

By Matt Roush TVGuide.com TV Critic

One of the biggest, and saddest, stories of the new TV year is how ”The West Wing” will deal with the unexpected death last month of John Spencer, who brought such dignity, authority and wit to the role of Leo McGarry. My hope, as I've stated elsewhere, is that the writers will not try to replace him with another actor at this late date in the show's life, but instead will find a way to honor him and the character while providing the show with the sort of closure that is only fitting in what seems certain to be The West Wing's final season.

My faith in The West Wing to do the right thing was bolstered by Sunday's (Jan. 8) terrific episode, which by eerie but satisfying happenstance focused on Leo's character as he prepared for a vice-presidential debate, ultimately exceeding everyone's (including his own) low expectations. In a special introduction, Martin Sheen praised his colleague and friend, noting that the best tribute to a character actor like John Spencer is the opportunity to watch and appreciate his final months of work.

This "Running Mates" episode was one of Spencer's best in a long time, as he sparred with his handlers, most notably Kristin Chenoweth as perky Annabeth. "What my life has come to... " Leo growled as Annabeth literally tried to wipe the smirk off his face, forcing his lips into a scowl. "You seem to have graduated from cudgel to bludgeon," he snarled, albeit affectionately.

Even if (like me) you predicted that Leo was the one leaking news of his dreadful debate rehearsals to the blogosphere, it was great fun admiring his caginess.

And in the episode's most unnerving sequence, you couldn't help flinch when he was asked a question about his own medical condition. He turned it into an attack on Republican health care, starting with the blunt acknowledgment: "By an overwhelming percentage, the first warning symptom of a heart attack is death."

A more timid show might have squelched this sadly prophetic exchange. But I'm betting John Spencer would have relished the irony.

Just as Leo McGarry proved to be a formidable candidate to the end, so did John Spencer always deliver the goods, even when the show itself left a lot to be desired.

He'll be missed, for sure — but more important, thanks to episodes like this, he'll be remembered.

http://tvguide.com/tv/roush/dispatches/

fredfa

01-10-06, 09:51 AM

The business of TV
Murdoch: More focus on content, Web reach

By Georg Szalai The Hollywood Reporter January 10, 2006

NEW YORK -- News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch said Monday that his conglomerate will continue to focus on creating "more content and better content" as it pushes deeper into the online space but that it might have to rethink traditional film and TV business models in the process.

Speaking at Citigroup's annual Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference in Phoenix, Murdoch predicted that given rising movie production and marketing costs, "it can be very interesting" for film producers in the future to release a movie, if not all movies, only to broadband Web users for $3-$4 per view, especially if that film costs only $2 million or so to produce.

"There will be more fragmentation and choice" as the broadband market continues to expand, Murdoch said. "Big companies like ours must change (in this environment), and we are preparing ourselves for that."

The CEO called News Corp. "the greatest content collection in the world," arguing that new technologies are not a threat but "an opportunity" for it. "We love hearing about all these new (tech) gizmos," he said. "We'll be on all of them. They are useless without anything on them."

Asked about News Corp.'s online assets, Murdoch again touted their growth potential, calling it "enormous." He also targeted $350 million-$400 million in Web revenue for 2007.

Web community destination MySpace.com this week is launching free video downloads and soon will add instant messaging and Voice over Internet services, the media tycoon told investors. Murdoch predicts "millions of (video) downloads a day."

With 47 million users and growth of more than 1 million per week, MySpace will be News Corp.'s main way of reaching online users, Murdoch said. Asked if MySpace will become an Internet portal, he said if so, it wouldn't be one in today's sense of the word. Today's portal model risks going out of business, Murdoch said, arguing that Yahoo! Inc. and others don't reach enough users under age 25.

However, he admitted that it will take News Corp. "a while" to catch Yahoo! and MSN in terms of page views.

Murdoch also signaled that there has been little movement in continuing talks with John Malone's Liberty Media about ways for News Corp. to buy out its 18% voting stake.

"We are discussing things and will have discussion over the next two or three months," he said, adding that Liberty has not put forth any major new proposals. "We hope we can move forward. If not, they will stay as long-term shareholders."

Asked if the Internet will hurt News Corp.'s TV business, Murdoch said he was "convinced our local stations will stay healthy as long as they stay local" with local news and talks programs, in which the conglomerate has invested.

As for News Corp.-controlled DirecTV Group's high-speed Internet strategy, which it has been exploring, Murdoch said he expects management there to communicate a "very clear" wireless broadband plan in the next two months or so, which likely would involve a DirecTV investment of about $1 billion.

Analysts have said satellite TV providers need cost-effective broadband offerings for users to better compete with cable operators.

"We are looking at various alternatives" in terms of the best technologies and approaches, Murdoch said, including partnerships and going it alone.

Meanwhile at the Citigroup conference Monday, DirecTV president and CEO Chase Carey said that he feels his company has a "very competitive" product bundle in cooperation with telecommunications firms over the near term, but wireless Web services could add to consumer choices offered by DirecTV.

Any potential investments by DirecTV beyond simple partnerships would be "careful," with the $1 billion figure mentioned by Murdoch "probably being the high end" of the possible range, he added. This year is likely to see some movement on that front, Carey added, but he signaled it could take a little longer than hinted by Murdoch.

DirecTV continues to see its long-term subscriber target at about 20 million, Carey said, after passing the 15 million mark in October. The firm has a board meeting coming up that will discuss likely stock buybacks, he said, including from the General Motors pension fund, from which DirecTV had been blocked through late December under the deal that gave News Corp. control of DirecTV.

Asked about his firm's relationships with digital-video recorder pioneer TiVo Inc. and competitor NDS, which is News Corp.-controlled, Carey again said that "it doesn't fit our strategy" as well to offer TiVo than to offer NDS DVRs, which DirecTV can brand itself. DirecTV wants to control and brand the DVR, because it is "at the heart of the DirecTV experience," including video-on-demand services, as well as future enhanced content and advertising offerings that DirecTV might create.

Carey also said that DirecTV will move to an equipment lease rather than sale model starting in March, which will reduce its costs, particularly in 2007.

Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg said Monday at the conference that he is "encouraged" by early market acceptance of the telephone giant's FiOS TV video service that competes with cable and satellite TV operators. Addressing investor concerns about the firm's billions of dollars of investment, he added that the more Verizon invests, the greater its revenue and return from the business will be.

A slide Seidenberg showed projected about 6% compound-annual growth in video revenue between 2005-10, compared with 2% in the traditional phone business and 8% in the data space.

Seidenberg also said FiOS TV will expand in California, New York and Massachusetts.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001808529

fredfa

01-10-06, 10:27 AM

Expect “American Idol” to score again
By Kevin Downey MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer

Someday Fox’s “American Idol” is going to whither away into a fond memory, something relegated to future reunion shows, reruns in syndication and perhaps even a “Whatever Happened To” type program on VH1.

But that day isn’t coming soon, say media buyers. Most think “Idol,” which is returning for its fifth outing next Tuesday, will do about as well as it did last year, when it generated its best ratings ever. The singing competition was the most-watched program last season, helping to push Fox to its first full-season win in adults 18-49.

“It will be strong, there’s no question about that,” says John Spiropoulos, vice president and group research director at MediaVest. “The question is: How will it compare to last year? Because last year was strong, it will likely be down. But it will still be very successful.”

Shari Anne Brill, vice president and director of programming at Carat, thinks “American Idol” will remain a top-rated program this season. She also expects it to remain a hit for at least a couple more years, in large part because judge Simon Cowell renewed his contract.

“Every show starts to slip once it’s in its fifth or sixth season, but I don’t see that happening with ‘Idol,’” she says. “This formula isn’t only working in the United States, it’s working worldwide.”

The outlook for “Idol” is great despite the show competing for the first time with the Olympics on NBC, for two weeks next month.

Media researchers such as Spiropoulos are predicting “Idol’s” ratings these weeks will dip less than 10 percent, primarily because the Olympics attract an older audience.

And the outlook is good for “Idol” despite its appeal possibly being diluted sometime in the near future by reruns in syndication. Tribune Entertainment will likely confirm a syndication deal later this week.

Evidence of the show's strength, and Fox's confidence in it, is the fact that its producers aren't tweaking its familiar formula. It's often the case that producers begin tinkering when they sense a show has begun to sag, or is about to.

Brad Adgate, senior vice president and corporate research director at Horizon Media, says there’s no need to make changes, with viewer interest in the show as strong as ever.

“The show will be steeped [early on] in comedy, focusing on terrible singers,” he says. “And it seems every year there is a controversy that pops up, which enhances the popularity of the show. And [Fox] has been very careful not to overexpose it, which helps because the demand is greater than the supply.”

Media people see little risk of “Idol” suffering from the controversy last spring over allegations that Paula Abdul carried on with a contestant while serving as an "Idol” judge.

“Idol” last year averaged 27 million viewers on Tuesdays and 26 million on Wednesdays, according to Nielsen Media Research. On both nights, “Idol” attracted nearly 2 million more viewers than it did the previous season.

Among adults 18-49, “Idol” averaged an 11.4 rating on Tuesdays, up from an 11 the season before. On Wednesdays, it averaged an 11.1 rating, up from a 10.5.

Perhaps the only indication that “Idol” lost some steam is that the 18-49 rating for its Wednesday finale slightly dipped from the year-earlier period.

Despite this modest rating decline, “Idol” was a giant hit and will remain so for years, says MediaVest’s Spiropoulos.

“For a regular scripted show, I look at something like [the finale ratings]. But for reality shows it’s more about the people who are still alive in the contest,” he says. “That is supported by the fact that the season-long ratings were better than the prior year.”

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_2122.asp

fredfa

01-10-06, 10:55 AM

As of 3:55 PM PT Jan 10, 2005
Here are the final results of the “Hot Off The Press” TV Programming Poll.
Thanks to all who took the time to vote.

Favorite new network prime-time shows which debuted in anytime in 2005:
Grey’s Anatomy 51
My Name Is Earl 37
Medium 27
Prison Break 26
Bones 22
Criminal Minds 17
Surface 13
Commander In Chief 10
American Dad 9
Threshold 9
Everybody Hates Chris 7
Ghost Whisperer 7
Numb3rs 6
How I Met Your Mother 5
Invasion 5
Close to Home 3
Eyes 3
Related 3
Law & Order: Trial By Jury

Favorite new prime-time cable shows:
The Closer 45
Wanted 36
Weeds 22
Over There 14
Rome 10
Extras 9
Sleeper Cell 4
Footballers Wives 3
Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Starved
Unscripted

Favorite veteran prime-time shows:
House 49
24 39
NCIS 36
Lost 24
CSI 20
Veronica Mars 17
The West Wing 16
Without A`Trace 14
Arrested Development 12
Cold Case 11
Law & Order: SVU 10
CSI: Miami 8
Gilmore Girls 7
American Idol 6
CSI: NY 6
Law & Order 6
Monday Night Football 5
Law & Order 4
Survivor 4
60 Minutes 3
Boston Legal 3
Las Vegas 3
One Tree Hill 3
Scrubs 3
Smallville 3
Supernatural 3
Crossing Jordan 2
ER 2
Family Guy 2
According to Jim
Joan of Arcadia
Nip/Tuck

Favorite veteran cable prime-time shows:
Monk 37
The Shield 34
Rescue Me 29
Battlestar Gallactica 25
The Sopranos 23
Dead Zone 17
The Wire 14
South Park 12
Rescue Me 11
Entourage 8
Deadwood 7
Six Feet Under 6
Curb Your Enthusiasm 4
4400 3
American Chopper
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Mythbusters
NFL Prime Time
Silent Sundays on TCM
Waking The Dead

Favorite TV actors:
Hugh Laurie 44
Gary Sinise 17
Kiefer Sutherland 22
James Gandolfini 14
Patrick Dempsey 11
John Spencer 11
William Peterson 10
Jason Lee 9
Jerry Orbach 9
William Shatner 9
David Boreanaz 6
Benjamin Bratt 6
David Caruso 6
Vincent D’Onofrio 6
Terry O’Quinn 6
James Spader 6
Chris Noth 5
Jason Bateman 4
Rob Lowe 4
Martin Sheen 3
Alan Alda 2
Jim Belushi 2
Rainn Wilson 2
Will Arnett
Zack Brack
Michael Cera
Larry Joe Campbell
Kevin James
Michael Imperioli

Favorite TV actresses:
Mariska Hargitay 29
Maura Tierney 25
Kristen Bell 22
Patricia Arquette 20
Jennifer Garner 17
Marg Helnegberger 15
Melina Kanakaredes 13
Mary Louise Parker 11
Carla Cugino 10
Ellen Pompeo 9
Katherine Heigl 8
Jessica Walter 7
Dana Delany 6
Alyson Hannigan 4
Stephanie March 4
Chandra Wilson 4
Glenn Close 3
Evangeline Lilly 3
Sandra Oh 3
Robin Weigert 3
Jennifer Love Hewitt 3
Mädchen Amick 2
Pamela Anderson 2
Dianne Farr 2
Jenna Fisher 2
Cobey Smulders 2
Rachel Bilson
Rachel Nichols
Amber Tamblyn

Favorite TV sports production:
Monday Night Football 22
The Masters 10
NASCAR on Fox 9
Sunday Night Football 8
NCAA Football on CBS 7
NASCAR on NBC 4
Yankees on YES 3
Real Sports 2
San Diego Padres on Cox 2
US Open on CBS 2
MLB on HDNet
MLS on HDNet
NHL on HDNet
NHL on OLN

Favorite TV news program or (cable net)
CBS Evening News 32
Fox News Channel 28
Nightline 17
ABC World News Tonight 14
NBC Nightly News 12
Countdown (Keith Olbermann) 5
Hannity & Colmes 5
Hardball (Chris Matthews) 4
MSNBC 3
Bill O’Reilly 3
CNN 2
The Daily Show

Show the critics most overlook:
Battlestar Galactica 27
NCIS 26
How I Met Your Mother 21
King of Queens 18
Numb3rs 12
Without A Trace 14
Cold Case 11
According to Jim 5
The Comeback 3
Related 2

Show the critics most over-hype:
Arrested Development 37
Nip/Tuck 28
How I Met Your Mother 23
Commander In Chief 22
Lost 21
Desperate Housewives 16
Grey’s Anatomy 5
Battlestar Galactica 4
Six Feet Under 3

Actor who makes you cringe
David Caruso 29
Matt LeBlanc 22
Jeremy Piven 16
William L. Peterson 11
William Shatner 10
Vincent D’Onofrio 6
Benjamin Bratt (in E-Ring) 4
Sam Waterston 3
Anderson Cooper (not an actor, but…)

Actress who makes you cringe
Lara Flynn Boyle 24
Pamela Anderson 21
Geena Davis 14
Jill Hennessy 11
Jennifer Love Hewitt 11
Marg Helgenberger 8
Sarah Jessica Parker 4
Kathryn Morris 3
Nancy Grace 2
Nicole Richie 2
Mischa Barton
Vanessa Marcil

The one show you hate most to miss:
24 22
Lost 20
Grey’s Anatomy 18
NCIS 17
House 16
Arrested Development 8
Bones 6
Prison Break 5
Veronica Mars 4
The Office 2

Former favorite which has lost your interest:
Alias 35
Crossing Jordan 28
Desperate Housewives 17
Lost 15
Boston Legal 14
The Amazing Race 11
Malcolm In the Middle 11
Cold Case 10
The Simpsons 9
Two and a Half Men 8
Survivor 8
American Idol 7
COPS 6
Law & Order 5
Law & Order: CI 3
Law & Order: SVU
That 70’s Show
WWE Raw

(Actress: Melina Kanakaredes)

(For HD viewers only) Favorite program to show off your HD setup to friends and neighbors:
Lost 29
CSI: Miami 27
NFL 21
NFL on CBS 7
MLB 6
Smart Travels 4
Surface 4
NHL 3
Las Vegas 2
SEC Football on CBS 2
Soundstage 2

(For HD viewers only) Is there any show you enjoy so much you'd watch it even in SD?
Grey’s Anatomy 32
Battlestar Galactica 28
Veronica Mars 19
The West Wing 18
Arrested Development 14
Family Guy 6
The Office 4
American Chopper 2
The Simpsons
South Park
Original series on FX, SciFi and TNT

fredfa

01-10-06, 11:03 AM

TV Review
”Crumbs,” pass the meds, if you will

Jane Curtin needs a cocktail of tranquilizers
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jan 10, 2006

There is a terrible strain of overactus majorus infecting otherwise talented TV actresses of a certain age this season, and it seems to strike most fiercely women who are forced to play dominating matriarchs with unhealthy attachments to their children.

Perhaps it's in reaction to taking on the dreaded older woman parts.

Instead of moving into these grayer days gracefully, these dames are screeching and flailing, and the resulting performances ache with their pain. They shout every line, raise their eyebrows uncontrollably, and cackle louder than a witch with a megaphone.

We saw it first with Stockard Channing overacting her way through CBS’s “Out of Practice.” Then came Lesley Anne Warren’s overbearing Mommy Dopiest on “Desperate Housewives.”

The latest to be stricken is Jane Curtin, who nearly single-handedly squanders the considerable potential of “Crumbs, ” the new ABC sitcom premiering this week on Thursday at 9:30 PM ET/PT.

Actually change that to both-handedly. Curtin waves both hands throughout, amid various squawks.
The show focuses on the four members of the Crumb family, the owners of a Connecticut restaurant still struggling to deal with the death of their oldest son, Patrick, some years ago.

In terms of wacky, this crew makes the babes of Wisteria Lane look rational. Recently released from the psych ward, Suzanne Crumb (Curtin) tried to run over her husband with an SUV after she found out he was leaving her for the local restaurant critic. Said critic is now pregnant with his baby while he pursues a new career in massage therapy.

Middle son Jody (Eddie McClintock) is a womanizing chef prone to spitting in the burgers of disagreeable customers. Youngest son Mitch (Fred Savage) is a closeted gay screenwriter who fled to Hollywood right after Patrick’s funeral and later wrote a movie based on his drowning.

Mitch moves back home to help Suzanne recover after her stint at the loony bin. The show is about how the Crumb family learns to deal with its problems and finally begin to cope with Patrick’s absence.

Unfortunately, Curtin’s overacting overshadows the rest of the cast and the smartly written dialogue. That's too bad. "Crumbs" is the latest in a growing list of sitcoms, such as NBC’s “Scrubs” and “The Office,” that combines intelligent writing with subject matter much deeper than your typical sitcom fare.

But "Crumbs" has two big problems that could turn the audience off right away, and the first, as mentioned, is Curtin, who looks like she’s auditioning for another “SNL.” Thus her well-conceived Suzanne character comes off more like a cartoon.

The second is the laugh track. It's got to go. It’s unnecessary and distracting for a show well-written enough to generate real laughs.

The show’s biggest strength, outside the writing, is Savage, the former “Wonder Years” child star who similarly juggled humor and pathos 15 years ago on ABC.

He may be the least stereotypically gay character on broadcast TV--no interior design jokes or feminine tendencies--and he shows real depth in struggling with when to come out to his family.

As youngest son Mitch, he also gets the best one-liners. When his boyfriend asks why he’s still closeted, Mitch replies he’s come out to his grandfather. “He has Alzheimer’s. I come out to him like twice a week.”

If Curtin can tone down her performance, and viewers stick around until then, this could be ABC’s first Thursday sitcom hit in years. It follows the very popular “Dancing with the Stars,” which drew 17.5 million total viewers last week.

But if Curtin's overacting goes unchecked, viewers may just be lured away by the competing “Office.” At least there the lead character is supposed to be a caricature.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_2121.asp