Sports Media and Business
Some Shows Turn NBC Olympics Into Also-Ran

By Richard Sandomir and Bill Carter The New York Times February 17, 2006

TURIN, Italy, Feb. 16 — NBC Olympic broadcasts have always turned back challenges to their ratings dominance, but the Turin Games have shown that strong counterprogramming can succeed.

"American Idol" on the Fox network has trounced the Winter Games twice and will face them three more times next week starting Tuesday, the first night of the women's figure skating.

Last Tuesday, two days after ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" outrated the Olympics, "Idol" attracted 27 million viewers from 8 to 9 p.m. Eastern, crushing NBC's 15.4 million. The next night, when they met again from 8 to 9, "Idol" expanded its lead in the second half-hour with 31.1 million viewers to NBC's 15.4 million.

Despite the invigorated competition, NBC is still dominating prime time during the Olympics in terms of total viewers. But the audacity of ABC and Fox underscores their belief that NBC, the No. 4 network in prime time, is vulnerable, even during the mighty Olympics.

CBS has chosen the more traditional policy of running repeats against the Games.

Although NBC officials said they fully expected "Idol" to defeat the Olympics by wide margins, they were surprised that "House," the medical drama on Tuesday, retained as many "Idol" viewers as it did. The 20.1 million "House" viewers nearly tied NBC's 20.9 million from 9 to 10 p.m.

The Games are a valuable franchise for NBC Universal, which has committed $5.7 billion for the Olympic television rights from 2000 to 2012, including $613 million for the rights to carry the Turin Games.

"The Olympics define us," said Randy Falco, the president and chief operating officer of the NBC Universal Television Group.

Through six nights, NBC's average Nielsen rating of a 12.5 was down 24 percent from the 16.4 that CBS recorded during the same period in 1998 for the Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. That drop is in line with the ratings slide for other major sports and entertainment events in the same time span.

It is also 36 percent lower than the rating for the Salt Lake Games four years ago, but a domestic Olympics is always a magnet for viewers.

In previous Olympics, NBC had lost a total of four half-hours to its competitors, and had never lost a night to any network.

NBC has promised its advertisers a final rating in Turin between 12 and 14; if the rating is lower, NBC will have to provide them with free commercial time.

Mr. Falco is unusually calm about the competitive ardor of Fox and ABC, which are showing original episodes from seven of this season's top 10-rated prime-time shows against the Olympics. In the past, rival networks have shied from such gamesmanship, but not now, during the February sweeps, with NBC having fallen from the prime-time throne.

"There is a very tight race for No. 1 between ABC, Fox and CBS," Mr. Falco said Thursday in a telephone interview from his office in Turin. "You can't discount that. That's why they decided to go with original programming. This is about the competitive nature of our business."

Preston Beckman, an executive vice president of the Fox network who is its chief scheduler, said: "We just decided we weren't going to lay down this time. We're just sticking to our knitting."

ABC's and Fox's salvoes against the Olympics come at a time when NBC is hoping to overcome the absence of the American figure skater Michelle Kwan and disappointing performances by United States skiers.

Among viewers 18 to 49, the category most networks care most about, the 11.7 rating for "Idol" on Wednesday beat NBC's 4.1. In addition to the two "Idols," "House" and "Grey's Anatomy," ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" surpassed the Olympics with viewers 18 to 49.

"Idol," "Housewives," "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy" are linked by having rabid followings among women 35 and older, an audience that NBC counts on for the Olympics.

"People have relationships with these programs," Stacey Lynn Koerner, an analyst for Initiative Media, said. "They are like their close friends or relatives."

She added: "You don't get that very visceral connection to the content of the Olympics. It's a two-week-long event with a lot of people you don't really know."

Mr. Falco acknowledged that NBC would be in a better position to promote the Olympics if it were in first place in prime time and that its ratings would be better if the American team were doing as well as it did in Salt Lake City and in the Summer Games in Athens in 2004.

But he said he was not worried about NBC's Olympic investment. "I'm on top of $900 million in advertising revenues that I have to protect with ratings and performance, and I feel very good about it," he said.

Mr. Falco said that prime time is only one element of NBC Universal's Olympic picture. He said that the strategy of spreading coverage to its USA, CNBC and MSNBC cable channels, and of expanding its Internet presence on nbcolympics.com, was succeeding.

"This is about realizing that the Olympics is more than about network television now, and the future is about being a content provider," Mr. Falco said. "In the future, it's going to be about going deeper with audiences."

The cable networks have reached 36.5 million viewers since the start of the Olympics, 35 percent more than they attracted for their regular programming in the same month last year. For example, curling on CNBC from 5 to 8 p.m., Eastern, Monday through Wednesday generated a rating that is 67 percent above what CNBC produced for various sports during the 6 p.m. to midnight period during the Salt Lake Games.

Internet users have downloaded 2.9 million video streams since the Winter Games began.

But even as NBC looks toward an even broader Olympic future — into broadband and possibly pay-per-view — so much focus remains on prime-time. Prime-time is where advertisers pay $500,000 to $700,000 for a 30-second commercial.

As NBC approaches its next smackdown on Tuesday with "American Idol," what will it do? Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports and Olympics, who oversees the production, is quiet about his intentions.

"I haven't discussed this with Dick," Mr. Falco said. "But I suspect we'll go on that night and program it the way we normally would, using our best stuff, as we build toward midnight." Would NBC shuttle any part of its ladies' figure skating coverage past 10 p.m. to avoid a possible third defeat by Fox's talent show?

"We won't back down to anything," Mr. Falco said.

• Richard Sandomir reported from Turin for this article, and Bill Carter from New York.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/17/sports/olympics/17tv.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

The Winter Olympics
Figure Skating: Got Milked

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

I liked to get a good night's sleep. NBC would rather I didn't.

On Thursday night, the network's Olympics coverage ran four hours, with the big event -- men's figure skating -- scattered like crumbs behind Hansel and Gretel.

NBC provided 24 minutes of coverage at the beginning of its telecast, then went to other events, mainly the snowboard cross, for almost an hour. (It did at one point put up a graphic promising more men's figures in 27 minutes -- an estimate that brought viewers back several minutes before skating coverage actually resumed.) Another 43 minutes of figure skating -- taking viewers past the 10 p.m. hour -- led into more snowboard cross.

At this point, I have to concede that NBC's strategy worked somewhat with my viewing. I did sit through snowboard cross to get to more figure skating. (I had already read some notes online about Johnny Weir's troubles, and wanted to see for myself.) Not only that, the snowboard cross was exciting both in the semis and the final.

Still, NBC let itself be too focused on the gold-medal finish in snowboard cross, especially after American Seth Wescott won the gold. In a race with four men vying for three medals, we saw Wescott's win and replays of the big moments. But we never saw how the race for the bronze played out, even though it involved two racers who had been impressive earleir. Instead, we just got the information in a graphic with voiceover.

Skating resumed at 10:40 p.m., and would fill almost another hour. There were shots of skaters warming up, and a profile of Russian Yevgeny Plushenko, whose family-sacrifice tale makes for heart-warming television. Then Plushenko himself was on the ice, moving in a way that piled up points but found the NBC commentators carping about a lack of artistry.

Then, finally, came Weir. It was after 11 p.m. when he took the ice, an hour when many sensible viewers had gone to sleep. (I was among them, having wearily set my recorder before Plushenko's performance, to watch the rest of the coverage this morning.) He had a shot at a medal, but he didn't take it. In fact, I could almost feel the disappointment from the commentators, in their awkward silences during his routine, along with their acknowledging of his errors.

One blamed Weir's struggles on ''Olympic-itis.'' Maybe. But that's a disease that takes many forms. One is nervousness in an event. Another is a network stretching things out to keep viewers.

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

Ratings Notes
FNC Draws Large Audience For Cheney Mea Culpa

“I had a bit of the feeling that the press corps was upset because, to some extent, it was about them,” Cheney told Hume. “They didn't like the idea that we called the Corpus Christi Caller-Times instead of The New York Times. But it strikes me that the Corpus Christi Caller-Times is just as valid a news outlet as The New York Times is, especially for covering a major story in South Texas.”

How ridiculous. :rolleyes: And so typical.

Rival news agencies were vocal in their criticism of Cheney’s decision to give FNC an exclusive. Appearing on The Situation Room Wednesday afternoon, CNN commentator Jack Cafferty said that “it didn’t exactly represent a profile in courage for the Vice President to wander over there to the F-word network for a sit-down with Brit Hume. I mean, that’s a little like Bonnie interviewing Clyde.”

That shouldn't surprise anyone. The Administration almost always "chooses" FoxNews for sit-down interviews. They reward their friends and attempt to punish and marginalize those who might just ask them, or who have asked them in the past, a hardball question. With Fox, they know they'll get served up softballs and they'll be able to spin the story any way they want. Again, typical.

at the end of the day.. trigger happy cheney can choose to be interviewed by whomever he wants.. I am still laughing my a$$ off at the whole incident.. How in the hell do you pop someone in the face like that.. I cant shoot for sh*t, but I know I wouldnt do something like that...

In all fairness guys, everyone I have read says Brit Hume did as good a job with the interview as anyone could have.

Presidents going back to Washington have always picked their favored methods of getting news out.

As I recall, major Clinton Administration figures very, very rarely appeared on FNC, but were often guests at CNN and MSNBC.

This stuff goes in cycles. And it probably should end here before it veers too far into the purely political.

good point fred.. how soon we forget.. CNN - Clinton News Network.. lol (and yes I did vote for him back in the day) lol

The fight over a la carte
The best argument for cable a la carte

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Feb 17, 2006

There are so many people claiming to know exactly what is best for our nation’s television viewers in the great debate over a la carte cable that it’s hard to keep them all straight.

The cable companies insist that offering consumers the option of paying for and subscribing to only those channels they wanted would drive up prices while reducing the range of channels available.

Then there are those who argue that a la carte would do exactly the opposite, lower costs while offering as much or more choice.

The most recent to make this argument is the Federal Communications Commission, which last week issued a report concluding just that, in a reversal of its earlier position, costs would go up under a la carte.

The Consumers Union has long supported a la carte, and then there is Sen. John McCain, an off-and-on supporter.

But then there are groups like the Faith and Family Broadcasting Coalition, National Puerto Rican Coalition and the National Congress of Black Women who claim that a la carte would stifle diversity on television. And last we have the entertainers whose work airs on these networks.

Many are represented by the Center for Creative Voices in Media, which strongly supports a la carte. Jonathan Rintels, president and executive director of the group, talks with Media Life about why his group supports a la carte, why the earlier FCC study opposing a la carte was flawed, and whether a la carte stands a chance of winning congressional approval.

Can you summarize the case for a la carte cable?

Today’s bundling system gives big media--the broadcast networks and big cable--a chokehold over America’s television programming, restricting consumer choice largely to networks owned by broadcast network owners or large cable operators.

As the FCC recognizes, an a la carte option would enable consumers to access a wider diversity of programming from additional sources, full of diverse and competing voices and viewpoints--and at a lower cost.

It would also give consumers the ability to choose to not subscribe to networks on cable and satellite that offend them, eliminating any need for extending broadcast indecency regulations to cable. This will be good not only for creative media artists but for all Americans.


The FCC reversed its earlier position on a la carte, citing a staff report released last week that says prices for consumers would drop under such a plan. Other studies, including an earlier one commissioned by the FCC, have said they will rise. What if anything can we conclude from this? Will prices rise or fall?

The one fact that is certain about pricing is that no one will know for certain if a la carte will cost less or more until a la carte is actually implemented. But one thing is certain: The earlier FCC report was a rigged job, skewed toward industry, relying entirely on industry data and not at all on non-industry data.

For example, how could the earlier study possibly conclude that under an a la carte system consumers would watch nearly 25 percent less television, or over two fewer hours of television per day?

There is no reason to believe that viewers would watch less video programming than they do today if provided an a la carte option. The earlier study was a clear case of the bias that Chairman Michael Powell had against regulating a la carte.

The new study seems to most observers to be far more based on research and far less driven by ideology.


What’s your opinion of the family-friendly cable tiers being added by many carriers? Does this solve a real problem, or is it the cable companies trying to avoid going to a la carte?

It’s the cable companies trying to avoid a la carte. The real problem is that consumers do not have the freedom to access the content they want or the power to avoid the content they don’t want.

Once they have that freedom and power, any justification for extending broadcast indecency regulations to cable instantly evaporates. A la carte is a far better approach to these indecency issues than having the government censor program content.


Is this an issue that could ever really be addressed by Congress? What’s standing in the way?

Certainly, it could be addressed by Congress. But the broadcast and big cable lobbies are among the most powerful in D.C., and they are dead set against ALC. Perhaps that may possibly have something to do with it.

Meanwhile, small cable and digital broadcasting and satellite providers, certainly Echostar, favor a la carte.


How much of the push for a la carte is lawmakers trying to reign in indecency on cable, which they currently have no control over?

The interesting thing is that a la carte doesn’t “reign in” indecency on cable. It just gives people who are offended by it the power to avoid it. Which is a far more enlightened approach, we think, addressing the indecency problem by promoting greater choice than by instituting more restrictions and penalties.


If a la carte was put in service, what would be the result for mid-level networks such as Oxygen, Bravo or Hallmark Channel? How about very small networks?

We agree with the FCC’s conclusion that suggests a la carte could be good for mid- and small-level networks. Now, people who are fans of Hallmark and Oxygen but subscribe to a basic package have to decide whether receiving Hallmark and Oxygen justifies spending the extra $10-$20 per month to reach up to the next tier just to get them.

In essence, they are forced to take those channels at $10-$20 a month, when under an a la carte system, the monthly cost might be a fraction of that. Thus, as the FCC notes, these channels could benefit under a la carte.


Will there ever be a compromise reached on this issue? How long do you expect it to kick around?

I do expect a compromise that looks like this: Much of the debate has been about a straw man that doesn’t exist: pure a la carte substituting for and eliminating today’s packages and tiers.

Instead, we would expect to see a la carte as an additional choice to today’s packages and tiers, adding a new option for consumers interested in, for example, picking their own choice of 20 channels for $40.


Why would the artists and creative types you represent be in favor of this? Wouldn't it mean their work could be seen by fewer people if certain networks take big subscriber hits?

We think it could mean their work is exposed to a far larger audience. We also think it would mean that there would be more diverse offerings, more independent networks, more creative freedom, more viewpoints and voices, and more challenging, interesting, and innovative programming.

In the long run, it is far better not only for creative artists but the entire industry to give consumers the choices they want. And they want the freedom to choose and the power to avoid that a la carte provides.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_2943.asp

good point fred.. how soon we forget.. CNN - Clinton News Network.. lol (and yes I did vote for him back in the day) lol

As I recall, CNN led the charge vis a vis Monica; they pulled no punches. Certainly, there's no comparison between that network's treatment of Clinton's administration vs. FoxNews fawning coverage of the current one.

As I recall, CNN led the charge vis a vis Monica; they pulled no punches. Certainly, there's no comparison between that network's treatment of Clinton's administration vs. FoxNews fawning coverage of the current one.

Fawning? It is obvious you have never really watched FOX News Channel.

O'Reilly rails daily how Bush is NOT securing the borders and how he is screwed up the Iraqi situation. Hannity rails about the border as well and how Bush is letting the Dems run all over him and how he has lost his way in Iraq.
FOX in general has been calling FEMA's handling of the Katrina situation deployable since day one with Shepard Smith, standing on a bridge in New Orleans day three of Katrina just letting the Bush Administration have it for not doing ANYTHING.

Guess you missed all that. I wouldn't exactly call that fawning.

Fawning? It is obvious you have never really watched FOX News Channel.

O'Reilly rails daily how Bush is NOT securing the borders and how he is screwed up the Iraqi situation. Hannity rails about the border as well and how Bush is letting the Dems run all over him and how he has lost his way in Iraq.
FOX in general has been calling FEMA's handling of the Katrina situation deployable since day one with Shepard Smith, standing on a bridge in New Orleans day three of Katrina just letting the Bush Administration have it for not doing ANYTHING.

Guess you missed all that. I wouldn't exactly call that fawning.

Oh, good grief; you're cherry-picking and trying to describe that as their mainstream coverage (and clearly, judging by your handle, it's difficult for you to give an impartial opinion). I do watch FN from time to time when I feel I need a shot of propaganda, and in general, their coverage is exactly like I, and many, many others, described.

There is a place for that debate.

It seems to me this is not that place.

foxeng has it right, by and large Fox is fair and balanced. The people complaining about FOX News tend to cherry pick their examples of bias and typically they are of the commentators and analysts on FOX News not the reporters. Just as conservatives do with CNN. Both CNN and FOX also have softball type people as well.

But this is all for nothing, this discussion will be moderated away soon.

The February Sweep
ABC Still Out Front in Sweeps

By Melanie M. Clarke Broadcasting & Cable 2/17/2006 11:48:00 AM

According to NTI numbers through Wednesday, Feb. 15, ABC ranks at the top in the coveted 18-49 demo with an average 6.5 rating /16 share. That number includes Super Bowl ratings; when those are taken out, the network has a 3.9/10. In households, ABC is also on top with a 9.9/15 for this year’s ratings period, up from a 6.4/10 for 2005. The network also holds the top spot in total viewers with 17.4 million this period versus 2005, when it had only 9.8 million.

NBC barely edges into second place with an average 4.6 rating/11 share in the 18-49 demo, a jump of only 1.0 from last year’s 3.6 rating/9 share, when the Peacock didn’t have an Olympics. This year’s Games have given the network an 8.6/13 in households as compared to last year, when it averaged a 6.8/11. In total viewers, the network is at 13.9 million this year, compared with an even 10 million for the 2005 sweeps.

In third place in the 18-49 demo—though nearly in a dead heat with NBC— Fox averages a 4.5 rating /11 share. In 2005, when Fox had the Super Bowl, it averaged an 8.0/20, but a 3.9/10 without factoring in the big game. The network comes in fourth in households with a 6.4/10, down significantly from last year’s 10.5/16. In total viewers, where Fox is also in fourth place, numbers were down significantly at 10.9 million in 2006, from 19.5 in 2005.

CBS checks in fourth in the 18-49 demo with a 3.7/9, almost on par with last year’s 3.9/10. The Tiffany network comes in third in households, though, with a 7.6/12, slightly up from its 2005 numbers of 8.0/13. In total viewers, the Eye is also in third place with 11.7 million, down slightly from 12.2 million in 2005.

The WB is in fifth place in all categories, with numbers that stayed nearly even this year compared to last. Its 1.4/3 in the 18-49 demo was dead even with last year’s, household numbers were 2.3/3 for 2006 and 2.3/4 for 2005, and total viewers this season to date are 3.3 million, down only slightly from 3.4 million in 2005.

UPN comes in sixth across the board with a 1.1/3 for 2006 in the 18-49 demo, slightly down from last year’s 1.2/3. Households so far are a 1.8/3, down from last year’s 2.2/3, and total viewers are at 2.7 million, also a drop from 3.1 million in 2005.

I'm curious to see how my new favorite Winter Olympic sport did in the ratings last night.

The Winter Olympics
Fact: This Olympics is the worst ever

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Feb 17, 2006

By now it has become routine for the Olympics to be beaten by regularly scheduled programming on Fox and ABC. It has happened on three of the past four nights.

The only question remaining about these Winter Games is just how bad will they end up.

The increasingly clear answer is likely the worst ever. The 17.9 million average total viewers NBC averaged during primetime Wednesday may have been the single worst night in Winter Olympics history.

It was below the nightly average for any Winter Games broadcast dating all the way back to 1992, according to numbers provided by Nielsen.

Wednesday’s average 11.3 household rating also marked the lowest Winter Olympics night on record according to Nielsen, and the fifth-lowest rated night of any Olympics behind several nights at the Sydney Summer Games of 2000.

The Sydney Games averaged a record-low 21.5 million total viewers over 16 nights. The Torino Games are averaging 21.1 million total viewers per night.

Winter Olympics ratings among adults 18-49 have been particularly low owing to the strong competition from Fox and ABC. Through six days, NBC is averaging a 6.5. That’s off 21 percent from Sydney’s 8.3 average and 27 percent behind an 8.9 average for Nagano, the two lowest-rated Games of the past 14 years.

NBC is also at risk of not making its ratings guarantees. Its six-day household average has now fallen to a 12.5, which is closer to the lower end of the 12 to 14 average it promised advertisers. NBC still expects to finish ahead of its guarantees but media people aren’t so convinced.

At this point, almost halfway through the games, NBC's one hope is ladies’ figure skating next week, but media people believe it will provide a smaller bump than in past years and will not be enough to raise Torino’s average past the 2000 Sydney Games.

Their bigger concern, however, is for future Olympics. They see only further declines unless NBC makes major changes in its presentation, reflecting the fact that results are available online many hours before the events air on NBC.

“Consumers these days are proactive,” observes John Padgett, media director for the Hauser Group in Atlanta.

“Technology has trained consumers that they don’t have to wait for prepackaged programs to get what they’re interested in seeing. Nobody under age 35 is going to stick around and wait till 11 p.m. to find out if Bode Miller won a medal, and very few over age 35 are going to do it.”

Indeed, NBC has drawn its broadcasts out well past 11 p.m. for results that were available on the internet hours earlier.

Another problem, in Padgett's view, is that the network has relied too long on a formula of attempting to please all segments of viewers by offering a little bit for each.

“Older women want a storyline and emotion, and younger men want results and competition,” Padgett says. “They program the three and a half hours each night as a movie that consistently throughout touches on all the things that are relevant to the different demographic segments. That worked in 1988 and 1992, but it doesn’t work anymore, in my opinion.”

Critics say the network needs to do two things to revive viewer interest in the Olympics, and one is to show the big results throughout the night, rather than waiting until the end of the broadcast.

The other is to build interest in foreign competitors by giving them the sort of coverage and feature play it now gives only to U.S. athletes. The Games are truly an international competition, they say, and NBC has been short-sighted in treating them as American events.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_2944.asp

The Winter Olympics
Olympics on TV: Where's the buzz?

By Ann Oldenburg USA TODAY

Where has the Winter Olympics TV audience gone?

The world's grandest sports gathering, an event that historically crushes the competition in television ratings, has been losing millions of viewers each night since the Games began a week ago to hot new episodes of entertainment shows. The trend suggests that the counterprogramming is stronger than ever, that alternative sources of Olympics news are more accessible online — and perhaps even that the Games have lost some resonance with American viewers.

"We are watching much less of the Olympics than we ever have in the past," says Paula Rawson, 33, of Indianapolis. "My husband and I, especially, just aren't as interested. Even when they try to tell the gut-wrenching stories, it just doesn't motivate me to watch."

Prime-time viewership for the first six nights of the Winter Games is down 36% from Salt Lake City in 2002, 17% from Nagano in 1998 and 44% from Lillehammer in 1994. Not only are other networks, sensing weakness, putting up more competition, but the six- to nine-hour time difference between Italy and the USA means Americans can find out the results well before NBC goes on the air. Those thrill-of-victory, agony-of-defeat moments in prime time seem a little stale when the winners have been decided and results posted online, viewers say.

Wednesday in the head-to-head battle, Fox's American Idol again trounced NBC's Olympics. From 8:30 to 9 p.m. (the Olympics were unrated by Nielsen from 8 to 8:30), Idol averaged 31.1 million viewers to the Games' 15.4 million. ABC's hit drama Lost was almost even with the Olympics at 9 p.m. Overall, Fox took the evening, NBC's second loss in a row.

Not all the numbers are bad. Traffic at NBC's Olympics website, the top Olympics site, doubled over the weekend, and CNBC's and MSNBC's coverage of the Games, often of minor events, is pulling in far more viewers than the cable networks' usual fare. NBC, which has invested more than $700 million in rights fees and production costs to televise the events from Torino, still expects to turn a profit of at least $50 million.

"We used to say the network is for the family, the cable coverage was for the sports fan and the website for the fanatic," NBC Sports spokesman Mike McCarley says. "It's the same basic idea, but we continue to add. It's like the Olympics evolve as the industry evolves. We're evolving with how people consume media." When it comes to ratings, he adds, "We're right where we thought we'd be."

There still are millions of viewers. Laremy Legel of Seattle, 27, is making the Olympics his own must-see TV. "I have elected to avoid Internet sports sites, so I can see the action fresh," Legel says. "I am watching in prime time almost exclusively."

Tougher competition

Not only the Olympics are slipping. Other marquee sports broadcasts, including the World Series and Monday Night Football, have also seen audience erosion.

The network competition NBC faces is fiercer than ever. "Usually, the Olympics beat anything thrown against it — combined," says Andy Donchin, director of national broadcast for media services company Carat in New York.

Not this time. "The one key thing going on this year is that NBC is not the No. 1 network going in," says Steve Sternberg, analyst for the Magna Global USA ad firm. NBC is No. 3 this season, and fourth behind Fox in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 age group.

In 2002, during the last winter Olympics, NBC had top series and simply pre-empted what would have been its most difficult competition for viewers. Now the biggest competition to NBC's programming has come from Fox's Idol, whose appeal is stronger than ever in its fifth season.

Peter Liguori, president of Fox Entertainment, is modest about it: "It proves there's enough success to go around."

Idol has bested the sporting event by more than 10 million this week in each hour they went head-to-head Tuesday and Wednesday. Next week, the Olympics will face three nights of Idol, and the ad industry is watching closely.

If NBC doesn't deliver promised Olympics TV ratings to advertisers — and NBC says it still is making its numbers — the sponsors would receive "make-good" ads, or complimentary commercials, within Olympics coverage. "Right now. (NBC is) walking the line, but it's still in the good zone," says Susan Hajny, broadcast research manager at ad agency GSD&M.

General Motors, one of the biggest advertisers in the Games, is "disappointed in the viewership to date" but is still "thrilled to be an Olympic sponsor," spokeswoman Ryndee Carney says. "We also know that even though the audience isn't as robust as in some prior Games, we are still reaching a huge number of people."

"It's a little troubling any time a network guarantees an event and falls short," says Sam Armando, research director at Starcom in Chicago. "If anything, this is opening the eyes of other networks who say, 'We don't have to run away.' We all expected Idol to compete very well, but I don't think anybody expected the gap to be as huge as it was."

It's not just Idol.

"This year is different than other years," says Matt Pitzarella, 26, a Pittsburgh utility company manager. He's talking about choices.

"Olympic skating against Skating with Celebrities," for example, he says, referring to the Fox reality series that airs Monday. "To be honest, we prefer the latter, and my wife is a huge figure-skating fan." He says they're following the Games on "non-traditional media outlets like the Internet, cellphones and talk radio."

Many paths to news

How potential viewers get news of medal results is the big difference from previous Olympics.

Kelly Taylor, 41, lives in Troy, Mich. Her proximity to Canada enables her to watch Canadian television, CBC-TV, which is airing events live during the day.

"My husband and I have discussed the fact that watching NBC's coverage is frustrating because they edit it so much we only get to see what they want us to see," Taylor says. "We like all of the athletes, and Canadian TV provides that."

For anyone who can't see the Winter Olympics live, the Internet is the obvious outlet of choice.

"I don't see why I should waste my time to watch an event that occurred more than six hours ago when I can just find out the results on the Internet," says Taha Jamil, 32, of Columbus, Ohio.

If the numbers aren't sky high on TV, they are way up on the Web.

Almost 1.4 million people visited Olympics websites Monday, an 86% jump since Friday's opening ceremony, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, which tracks Internet traffic for search engines such as Yahoo and Google and for online advertisers.

The most popular website in Nielsen/NetRatings' count, www.nbcolympics.com, saw its traffic increase 95% from Friday to Monday. More than 1 million surfers visited the site Sunday and Monday. "That's a lot," says Jennifer Fan, director of marketing and communications for Nielsen/NetRatings.

To help boost Web traffic, NBC worked out a deal with Disney that resulted in an NBC-logo link to the NBC Olympics site being placed on the home page of ESPN.com, one of the top sports websites.

In fact, although Idol beats the Olympics on TV, NBC's website is clobbering idolonfox.com, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. (It makes sense, because the search is for results in the Olympics before prime time, while Idol results are unknown until the show airs.) For the week ending Sunday, idolon fox.com attracted 509,000 unique visitors, while NBCOlympics.com attracted 2.3 million visitors. Combined, all Olympics-related sites attracted nearly 3 million individuals for the week ending Sunday.

Using another new technology is Cathy Dee, 50, of Fort Wayne, Ind. She has a high-definition television in her house and likes to watch the Olympics on it because, she says, "Everything looks amazing."

Still, she goes to the Internet to get results early. "It is a little disconcerting to hear the nighttime announcers act as if we were all in the dark about what is about to happen," Dee says. "I consider this network habit a long-overdue one to quit. It just seems dumb in 2006. Surely there is some way to package the prime-time coverage in such a way that there is honesty in reporting."

But Dee says, "Despite the hype, time-delayed coverage and commercialization, there's something about watching mostly young people doing something they love, so well, and caring so much about the outcome."

Spirit of the sport

Just knowing who won the gold has never been the heart and soul of the Olympics. It really is about the agony and the triumph, the awe and the wonder of athletes and their stories, their incredible strength, their personalities and the families behind them.

If an athlete emerges who can capture the country's imagination, ratings could still rise. Carat's Donchin notes NBC still has an ace in the hole: women's figure skating with Sasha Cohen and Michelle Kwan's replacement, Emily Hughes, whom he expects will pull a "huge ratings number."

"It's the great unscripted drama of sports," NBC's McCarley says. "What's going to happen? Who thought that a 19-year-old snowboarder from San Diego would be on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone next week?"

Other potential draws: Short-track speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno's next medal chances begin with Saturday's 1,000-meter races. Chad Hedrick, winner of the USA's first gold in these Games, continues his quest for four gold medals Saturday when he will battle teammate Shani Davis in the men's 1,000 meters.

Some pre-Games favorites have gone nowhere. Heavy hype went to bad-boy skier Bode Miller and veteran figure skater Kwan. She withdrew because of an injury and returned to the States. Miller finished fifth in the downhill and was disqualified in the combined, though he has three events left, including Monday's giant slalom, in which he is the reigning silver medalist.

Vicki Nguyen of Kansas City, Mo., says she is a "casual viewer" of the Olympics but was interested in Kwan's quest for the elusive gold. "With Kwan out of the Games, I will probably watch a lot less."

Even sports media veterans acknowledge that the Olympics aren't as interesting as they should or could be. ESPN's Tony Kornheiser admitted on his Washington radio show Wednesday to watching Idol over skiing. Commentator Skip Bayless said on ESPN2's morning show Cold Pizza: "The Winter Olympics were the original American Idol: Unknown amateur comes from nowhere to become a prime-time star. Dorothy Hamill was Kelly Clarkson. Now the mutant offspring is devouring the original."

For Anthony Giaccone, 41, of Fairfield, Conn., it goes deeper than just picking Simon Cowell over Bob Costas. "Athletes today aren't as mythic as they were when I was a kid. Athletes such as Bob Mathias, Jesse Owens, Paavo Nurmi and others, to me, were amazing amateur competitors," Giaccone says. "The Olympic movement was about competition and the thrill of being there. Today, it is all about money and professional athletes, gold medal counts and ratings."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-02-16-olympic-tv-viewing_x.htm

I think the article has it right. People don't want to wait and spoilers are everywhere even if you dont search it out. If this were a result of a sport that was valued greater, like the World Series, sure people if they had to wait and watch on delay but interest in these sports for most people only comes once every four years. Only if the spoiler/result indicates something of remarkable interest are people going to still "have" to tune in for.

I also think NBC needs to go with more live coverage. At least pick up some of that viewership that they will certainly lose by delaying a lot of the coverage. They need to be showing all of events. You cant build any drama by cutting and pasting up events.

Thursday’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.

Note: in the-don't-believe-everything-you-read department, note that Ms. Sanders says NBC paid "tens of millions" for the Olympic rights through 2012. Actually NBC is paying $1.5 billion for the 2006 and 2008 Olympics, and $2.2 billion for the 2010 and 2012 Games.)

The Winter Olympics
Tarnished Gold

Olympics No Medal Winner for NBC Ratings
By Holly M. Sanders The New York Post

NBC's Winter Olympics coverage is far from over, but advertisers are already grumbling about the less-than-stellar ratings.

The numbers are disappointing enough that advertisers and their agencies are starting to mouth "makegoods." These are calls for additional commercial spots to cover ratings shortfalls.

NBC insists it's too early for advertisers to have their hands so greatly outstretched, as the 17-day sports extravaganza only began last Friday.

And one of the most popular events — women's figure skating, albeit absent media-darling Michelle Kwan — doesn't start until next week.

"We're tracking right where we expected to be," said Mike McCarley, vice president of communications and marketing for NBC Sports. "This is within the range."

The "range" refers to a promise NBC brass made to advertisers before the torch was lit that the Olympic broadcast would average a Nielsen household rating of 12 to 14. NBC said it's pulling a 12.7 so far.

Still, the ratings have to be ruffling a few feathers at the Peacock Network, which paid tens of millions to broadcast the Games through 2012.

NBC's broadcast has been beaten several times in primetime this week by hit shows on rival networks — in particular Fox's "American Idol" and ABC's "Grey's Anatomy." (Fox is a division of News Corp., which also owns The Post.)

This is an almost unheard of occurrence for the once-every-four-year spectacle — the Olympics.

Ad experts said this re Flects, in part, NBC's overall competitive standing. NBC is ranked third among the major networks and has no top-10 shows.

The competition has also rolled out NBC's strongest programming lineup as the nets duke it out during the crucial February "sweeps" period that determines ad rates for the coming season.

During the past two Games, NBC was the top network and its Olympics coverage wasn't competing against the same hit shows.

"It's the sweeps, and their competitors aren't giving up the 17 days to NBC," said Brad Adgate, director of research at ad-buying firm Horizon Media. The other nets "are putting on their A-list schedule."

NBC suffered a pair of back-to-back whackings this week, when "American Idol" drew over 10 million viewers more than the Games on both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

Ad experts said it's not really fair to compare anything to "Idol."

" 'American Idol' is a juggernaut that no one has found an effective way to program against," said David Abrutyn, senior vice president at IMG, a sports and entertainment consulting firm.

Still, it could get even worse next week, when "Idol" expands to three straight nights.

Wednesday's "Idol" gave Fox an average 11.9 rating, leaving NBC in second with a 10.9 rating, below the number it had guaranteed advertisers.

Sources said some advertisers — who paid an average of $700,000 for a 30-second spot — are now evaluating whether to ask NBC for the dreaded makegoods.

NBC president Bob Wright has said the network raked in $900 million in advertising and will turn a profit on the Games based on that figure.

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

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
'Stars' and 'Survivor' beat NBC Games

Top sagging Games in viewers and in 18-49s
By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Feb 17, 2006

Unlike three of the previous four nights, NBC’s Olympic Games did manage to finish first among adults 18-49 last night. But it did so despite finishing behind two competing programs during the 8 p.m. hour, the first time during this Olympics that NBC has finished third in a timeslot among 18-49s and total viewers.

ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” finished first among total viewers with an average 18.3 million total viewers at 8 p.m. last night, according to Nielsen overnights, followed for the second straight week by CBS with 17.1 million for “Survivor.” That left NBC’s Olympics coverage third with 15.8 million viewers.

Among 18-49s, “Survivor” posted a 6.3 rating to lead the hour, followed by the first hour of a 90-minute “Stars” a 4.9 and NBC’s Olympics a 4.5 at 8 p.m.

With CBS in repeats the rest of the night, however, and ABC’s lineup much weaker after “Stars,” NBC rebounded to finish first among 18-49s for the first time in three nights with a 5.9 average rating and a 15 share. CBS was second at 5.7/14 and ABC third at 4.2/11,

The Olympics, which featured the men’s figure skating finals, finished second during the 9-9:30 p.m. half hour, just ahead of a repeat of CBS’s “CSI” among both total viewers and 18-49s but behind ABC’s “Stars,” which has only two episodes left.

“Stars” averaged 21.2 million total viewers from 9 to 9:30 and posted a 6.1 rating among 18-49s. For the full hour, “CSI” and the Olympics tied for first with a 6.3.

Meanwhile, the rest of the competition was far behind for the night. The WB was fourth among 18-49s at 2.4/6, Fox fifth at 2.2/5, Univision sixth at 1.9/5 and UPN seventh at 1.2/3.

CBS took the 8 p.m. hour among 18-49s with its 6.3 for “Survivor,” followed by ABC’s 4.9 for “Stars.” NBC was third that hour with a 4.5 for the Olympics, WB fourth with a 2.7 for “Smallville,” Univision fifth with a 2.1 for “Contra Viento y Marea,” Fox sixth with a 1.9 for the first hour of the movie “Legally Blonde” and UPN seventh with a 1.4 average for “Everybody Hates Chris” (1.8) and “Love, Inc.” (1.1).

NBC and CBS tied for first during the 9 p.m. hour at 6.3, NBC for the Olympics and CBS for a repeat of “CSI.” ABC was third with a 4.7 for the last half hour of “Stars” (6.1) and the first half of a “Grey’s Anatomy” repeat (3.2), Fox fourth with a 2.5 for the second half of “Legally Blonde,” WB fifth with a 2.2 for “Beauty & the Geek,” Univision sixth with a 2.1 for “Alborada” and UPN seventh with a 0.9 for “Eve” (1.0) and “Cuts” (0.8).

NBC led during the 10 p.m. hour with a 6.8 for the Olympics. CBS finished second with a 4.6 for a repeat of “Without a Trace,” ABC third with a 3.1 average for the last half of its “Grey’s” repeat (3.7) and a 30-minute “Primetime” (2.6) and Univision fourth with a 1.4 for “Aqui y Ahora.”

Among households, NBC led the night with an 11.7 average rating and an 18 share, a smidge below the 12 to 14 range it promised advertisers. CBS was second at 10.5/16, ABC third at 8.9/14, Fox fourth at 3.4/5, WB fifth at 2.9/4, Univision sixth at 2.2/3 and UPN seventh at 1.8/3.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_2945.asp

TV Notebook
Bob Woodward Slow To Mend

By Michael Starr The New York Post

'World News Tonight" co-anchor Bob Woodruff and ABC News cameraman Doug Vogt continue to recover from the injuries they sustained last month in Iraq.

And Woodruff's brother, David, is preaching patience regarding Woodruff's recovery.

"Bob's amazing team of doctors, nurses and corpsmen continue to be pleased with the progress he makes each day, and they are optimistic about his recovery," David Woodruff wrote in an e-mail to ABC News staffers.

"The more we learn about Bob's injuries, the more we appreciate just how lucky he is.

"We need to remind ourselves it's only been 2 1/2 weeks since he sustained his injuries in Iraq. We live in a world of instant gratification, where patience as a virtue is rarely practiced.

"Our family now has a whole new appreciation for the word and what it truly means to be patient."

Woodruff and Vogt were traveling with an Iraqi convoy Jan. 29 when they were hit by a roadside bomb.

Woodruff, who sustained head and rib injuries, remains sedated in a Bethesda, Md. hospital.

Vogt is being treated there as an outpatient.

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

The 2005-2006 TV Season
Ask Matt
(from the Ask (TV Critic) Matt (Roush) column at TVGuide.com

By Matt Roush TVGuide.com TV Critic


Matt Roush: Well, let's say one of the best shows of the freshman class, anyway, and certainly Fox's best new show of the season.

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

Uh, I think Prison Break is easily Fox's best new show of the season.

TV Notebook
“Party” Cancelled

After just two airings, UPN has cancelled it’s new Tuesday night series “Get This Party Started”.

We live in a world of instant gratification, where patience as a virtue is rarely practiced.
After just two airings, UPN has cancelled it’s new Tuesday night series “Get This Party Started”.

Funny sequence of posts :)

I really wish NBC would have live coverage during the day, at least on the cable channels like USA and UHD. Then I could record and watch stuff right when I get home. Or at least start 4 hour nights of prime time coverage at 7 instead of 8. Trying to stay spoiler free all that time limits everything you can watch on TV and look at on the Internet, and it's a real pain in the ass.

I really wish NBC would have live coverage during the day, at least on the cable channels like USA and UHD. Then I could record and watch stuff right when I get home. Or at least start 4 hour nights of prime time coverage at 7 instead of 8. Trying to stay spoiler free all that time limits everything you can watch on TV and look at on the Internet, and it's a real pain in the ass.
I agree 100%.

We were watching the USA woman's curling math today -- it went to extra ends and at 2:55 NBC left it to to a preview of the USA women's hockey game that ended up starting at 3:10. Seems if they really cared about the viewer they could have stayed with the curling as they had for almost 3 hours or switched it to one of the other stations they are using. So when they show a live event they screw it up. Finally about 3:20 they gave the score of the curling match.

Thanks NBC!

My computer problems of the past 24 hours seem to have cleared up (with help from David Bott) and I'll be updating again.....

TV Notebook
“Lost’s” Dharma boom

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog

There are a million theories about “Lost.” That’s one of the show’s key strengths: Just about every fan of the show has his or her own idea about what’s transpiring on that mysterious island, and events on “Lost” can be interpreted to support as many theories as viewers can come up with.

Personally, my interpretation has, of late, involved pirates; surely that explanation covers the buried treasure, i.e., the hatch, the mysterious, violent band of radicals terrorizing the plane-crash survivors, not to mention the climactic battle at sea last year between Jin, Michael and Sawyer and the Others, who happen to have their own rickety boat and who stole a child, a maneuver worthy of Captain Hook. It’s as valid a theory as any, though perhaps overly indebted to recent readings of “Peter Pan,” one of my son’s favorite bedtime stories. But I digress -- as one does so often when one’s talking about “Lost.”

But this season, a truly compelling explanation of the island happenings has emerged: Episodes aired in the fall revealed that the island is an experiment run by a collective known as the Dharma Initiative. Dharma is the word used to describe the collected teachings of the Buddha.

“What’s going on here? Is mainstream TV really making a meaningful foray into the Buddhist world? Or is it merely rummaging through the thrift store of Buddhist terminology for the odd hat or trinket with which to play dress up?” Dean Sluyter writes in the current issue of the Buddhist magazine Tricycle. There’s reason for Sluyter’s wariness; he notes that the last time the word “dharma” was prominently mentioned on TV, “it turned out to mean a cute blonde hippie girl married to an uptight yuppie named Greg.”

But Sluyter noted other Buddhism-related clues in the show: The computer that must be tended to every 108 minutes may be a reference to the 108-bead string, or mala, that some Buddhist practitioners use during meditation.

And he sees John Locke, the enigmatic character played by Terry O’Quinn, as a man with a lot of relevance to Buddhism: “Thanks to O’Quinn’s gravitas, when flashbacks reveal Locke as a loser,” Sluyter writes, “we accept his emergence in the forward action as the macho paramilitary survivalist of his own dreams, the warrior-sage who may well prove to be the salvation of his people. Yes, even schmendricks like us may rise to be bodhisattvas,” or enlightened beings. (Of course, Sluyter's piece was written before we saw Locke permit Sayid's torture of the man thought to be one of the Others).

An ABC publicist said that neither of the show’s main day-to-day executive producers, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, is a Buddhist. Still, Sluyter notes in his piece that, aside from tossing about words such as dharma, the show does address core issues that sound familiar to anyone on the Buddhist path.

“To be lost is to be stripped of the cozy but confining assurance that you’re on course, on a tidy, logical trajectory from Point A to Point B,” he writes. “If you’re really going somewhere new (toward enlightenment, let’s say), any concept you have of the destination or the path” that you’ll end up on “is necessarily an ignorant concept.”

“Whenever we practice” Buddhist concepts such as meditation and mindfulness, Sluyter concludes, “we must be willing to get lost, to cast off the moorings of what we know or think we know. In that sense, `Lost’ … has provided a kind of mass-audience quasi-meditative experience. How long its creators can maintain the mystery, without resolving it into mere rational explanation or exhausting the audience’s patience, is another question.”

And that is a good question, to digress again.

In my opinion, the episodes of “Lost” that have aired since the start of 2006 have not been great. “The Long Con,” an episode centering on Sawyer, was pretty good, but the other episodes we’ve seen over the past month or two have been subpar. And the effort, via "The Long Con" and the Sayid-centric episode in which Sawyer crushed a frog, to turn Sawyer from Roguish but Possibly Redeemable Guy to Bad Dude has been overly obvious. Sawyer is a Bad Dude. I get it already.

The recent episode about Charlie, in particular, was a disappointment, and as far as I’m concerned, the glimpses we got of the Others and the smoky, black “monster” were anti-climactic and poorly handled. The new characters aren't as interesting as the old ones, the flashbacks are getting predictable, and the mysteries of the island just don’t seem as … well, mysterious anymore. And why is it that characters such as Claire look as if they just came from a Beverly Hills spa?

Many of these problems were bound to crop up in Season 2; what was once radically new is now familiar, so some disillusionment was bound to creep in.

But when we speak about Season 2 of “Lost,” we must turn to another concept familiar to Buddhists and Hindus, a concept recently popularized further by Earl Hickey of “My Name Is Earl.”

Karma, Hickey’s inspiration for turning around his life, is defined by the American Heritage dictionary as “the total effect of a person’s actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person’s existence; [it is] regarded as determining the person’s destiny.”

In the past season and a half, “Lost” has built up a lot of good karma, with this viewer and millions of others. For that reason alone, I’m inclined to give it a break, for the time being. But not forever.

Let’s hope that during the next phase of the show’s existence -- namely, from now until May -- it ascends to a higher plane of existence.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2006/02/losts_dharma_in.html#more

TV Notebook
“24”: The First Lady Is Seriously Off Her Rocker

By Joe Rhodes The New York Times February 19, 2006

Five seasons into the terrorist-chasing, plot-twisting, clock-and-dagger shoot-em-up soap opera that is the Fox network's "24," viewers have come to expect certain things. They know, for instance, that there will be good guys who turn out to be bad guys and bad guys who turn out to be good.

They know there will be kidnappings, explosions, bureaucratic ineptitude, downloaded schematics, back-channel double-crosses and complicated triggering mechanisms vital to the deployment of devices that are set to go off within the next few hours, jeopardizing the lives of thousands, if not millions of civilians in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. (Previous threats have included biological weapons and nuclear missiles. This year, so far anyway, it's nerve gas. )

And they know that the Counter Terrorism Unit special agent/tormented soul Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) will be forced to do something unpleasant in the name of national security including (but not limited to) torturing suspected bad guys, punching or shooting innocent bystanders who get in the way (he always feels bad about this) and clenching his jaw as he realizes he should probably tell his only daughter that he's not really dead. Also, he or one of his terrorism unit associates will have to get from one side of Los Angeles to another in an impossibly short period of time.

About the only thing viewers might not have been able to anticipate was that this season's break-out character would be a high-strung, sharp-tongued and off-her-meds first lady of the United States, a woman who screams, "I will have your family eating dog food out of a can" at Secret Service agents trying to keep her away from a presidential news conference. Jean Smart's first on-screen appearance as Martha Logan, perhaps the most memorable character debut in "24" history, consists of her looking into a mirror, assessing her make-up and proclaiming, "I look like a wedding cake" just before dunking her face in the bathroom sink.

"I read that scene and thought I have to play this woman," said Ms. Smart. In nearly 30 years she has been offered many parts, but few included such delicious possibilities: a chance to be intelligent and sexy, powerful and mysterious, vengeful and slightly psychotic, a loose cannon in sling-back pumps, married to a weak-kneed opportunist (Gregory Itzin as President Charles Logan) she no longer trusts or respects.

"I just loved the fact that she was so impulsive," Ms. Smart said, sipping Diet Coke at a Ventura Boulevard restaurant not far from the Encino home she shares with her real-life husband, the actor Richard Gilliand, and their 17-year-old son, Connor.

"I don't think she ever counted on being first lady," Ms. Smart said, "and I think she's not well suited for the job. Intellectually she is. But I think she's way too emotional to make the kind of compromises you're forced to make, to appear unrelentingly supportive all the time , even when you're not. She can't stand that."

Howard Gordon, one of three executive producers of "24," freely admits that the original model for Ms. Smart's character was Martha Mitchell, the volatile wife of Richard M. Nixon's attorney general, John N. Mitchell, known for her late-night calls to reporters outlining outrageous theories about conspiracy in the Nixon White House, a number of which turned out to be true. The Nixon administration response — just as in the fictional Logan administration — was to label Martha Mitchell as "unstable."

"We think of her as the first lady who cried wolf," Mr. Gordon said of the fictional Martha Logan, "a woman who is armed with the truth" — that a high-ranking administration official is involved with a terrorist plot — "but who is discredited by her own mental health history, the fact that she's had breakdowns and delusions in the past."

"It's a fun part to write," he continued, "but it's kind of a high wire act, to make sure she's not so hysterical that you can't see she's still an incredibly powerful and capable woman. To make it work, we had to have an actress you could believe had the strength and intelligence to be a first lady, but the unpredictability of never knowing when she might snap. Jean's name was the first we brought up."

In the 15 years since she left the hit comedy series "Designing Women," Ms. Smart, now in her early 50's, has carved out a steady but esoteric career, drawing rave reviews for roles in independent films like "Garden State" and "Guinevere," scene-stealing parts in mainstream movies like "The Kid" and "Bringing Down the House," her Emmy-Award winning guest appearances on "Frasier" and frequent returns to the theater (she started out with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 1978 and received an Obie nomination for her first Off-Broadway role, 1980's "Last Summer at Bluefish Cove), including a 2000 Broadway revival of "The Man Who Came to Dinner" with Nathan Lane.

Although she has tried, unsuccessfully, to get three comedy series off the ground since "Designing Women" ( 1995's "High Society," 1998's "Style and Substance" and last year's "Center of the Universe" with John Goodman) Ms. Smart said that being a television star is never what she had in mind.

"I grew up with a feeling that money was not that important, almost a reverse snob thing," she said, asked why she walked away from "Designing Women" at the peak of its rating success. "And I could feel myself getting used to the money. I felt like I was getting lazy. We worked maybe 30 hours a week, three weeks a month, I mean, good Lord. ..."

Her choices, she acknowledged, may have led to smaller paychecks and less star wattage, but they also gave her the freedom to pick her spots and feel good about the parts she took.

"I always wanted to be taken seriously," she said. "I always wanted to feel good about what I was doing and have my peers think that I was talented. I think I've had a really good reputation and that's very important to me."

"What I admire about Jeannie is that she's not afraid to get her hands dirty," said Mr. Itzin, a co-star with Ms. Smart in a play, "Mrs. California," at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles 20 years ago. "There are a lot of actors who won't take roles because they think it might be unflattering. But Jeannie's not afraid to let herself look bad."

Because of the way "24" is structured — plot lines and character twists are often being revamped even as episodes are being filmed — Ms. Smart said she had no idea whether First Lady Logan will turn out to be a heroine or a lunatic, whether she'll forgive her husband for trying to have her committed or whether she'll end up by his side, saving his presidency and possibly the free world. Producers, however, have strongly hinted that her character will still be around when the season ends.

"I think, whatever happens, her fate is tied to the President's," Ms. Smart said. "If something happens to him, then I'm done."

But what, she was asked, if the first lady were somehow responsible for the President's demise.

"Oh, that would keep me around for several extra episodes, wouldn't it?," she said. "I've thought about that, President Logan floating face down in the pool, like William Holden in 'Sunset Boulevard.' That would — be fabulous."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/arts/television/19rhod.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

The Winter Olympics
They just can't wait for the results

By Rick Maese Baltimore Sun

TURIN, Italy -- Used to be we'd gather around the water cooler the next day and talk about what happened last night.

"Did you see Bode bomb?!"

"Kwan couldn't land a triple if you spotted her two spins and the landing!"

"Gretzky says Canada will cover, so why would I bet against them?"

Not anymore.

These Turin Games mark a whole new chapter for the Olympics. The way we consume the Olympics has been revolutionized. I don't buy the talk that the sky is falling on the sacred Games.

Sure, Americans don't understand all of the sports, attendance is sparse and television ratings are down. That is apparently reason enough for the fantasy-football crowd to declare the Olympics obsolete. But the truth is the Games are very relevant — you just have to realize that we've ridden the monorail into a techno age.

You can look back on Sydney in 2000, Salt Lake City in 2002 or Athens in 2004, and you won't see a single Olympics affected by the Internet like these Turin Games. Go ahead and blame new media for sagging ratings, but it also illustrates that people are still interested in what's happening up on the slopes and down on the ice.

This week, NBC puffed out its chest. The network is boasting about winning four straight nights of the prime-time ratings war for the first time since August 2004. We can attribute that to the weak lineup NBC normally presents, not Olympic intrigue. Actually, the ratings are down more than 33% from the Salt Lake City Games in 2002 and nearly 20% from the Nagano Games in 1998. Last week's opening ceremony brought in half the viewers from four years ago. In the past few days, the Olympics has lost out to "CSI" and "Grey's Anatomy." More viewers were interested in "American Idol" than the Alpine idol, and many of you nixed desperate figure skaters for "Desperate Housewives."

And here in Turin, many venues have been only half full. Olympic organizers are actually filling the stands with schoolchildren, charging them only $3.50 for admission. But none of this is to suggest that people are ignoring the Games. They're just receiving and digesting the information in a whole new way.

On Monday, 21 million people tuned into NBC's coverage of the Games. On that same day, NBCOlympics.com registered 29 million page views. The Internet is changing everything.

Young people "don't want to be engaged for hours on end," says Larry Weber, CEO for W2 Group, an Internet marketing services company. "They just want to check it out when they can. They inform themselves. They don't wait for someone to inform them."

Weber notes that before many viewers watch the Games each night, they've already read about the results online.

"We can't wait until 8 o'clock," he says. "Part of the problem television has is that it's not live. We've quickly become a society of immediate gratification. If someone has heard about a big wipeout on the mountain, they want to see video of it right now. There's no waiting."

While TV ratings slip, websites are booming. Early numbers are more than twice what they were in Athens and nearly 10 times higher than Salt Lake City. At Athens, NBC seemed hesitant to invest too much in its digital offering. After all, it spent hundreds of millions of dollars for broadcast rights.

Earlier this week, Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics, said that "nothing replaces the shared experience of watching the Olympics on television."

I guess that might be true for the 1% of American people who are still scared of computers. It's a safe bet that NBC's sponsorship dollars are mostly tied to TV, but more and more, actual consumers are following the Games online.

No matter how many commercials we see, the Olympics aren't designed for the mainstream. They're sports Americans can't relate to and athletes we've never heard of. That makes the Games perfect for the Internet audience. The web is where we go for our niche interests — things like the Danish stock market, single women who love goldfish and Doritos and the latest biathlon results.

Study after study suggests that the prime demographic, 18- to 34-year-olds — especially men — spend more time online than any other group. Doesn't it make sense that they'd move from their spreadsheet window to their Internet browser and check out Olympic results during the course of their workday? Or they might have watched some streaming video on their cellphone? Or listened to Bob Costas' daily podcast through iTunes?

So why in Kwan's name would they tune in to even three minutes of NBC's 418 scheduled hours of Olympic coverage when they already know that Norway stomped the Americans eight hours earlier?

It's something the network has struggled with. Officials at NBC seemed resistant to embrace the Internet during the Athens Games. But 1 1/2 years is an epoch in the world of computers. This time around, in addition to a half-dozen channels, NBC is covering the Olympics in as many ways as possible. Online, it has more streaming video. It also has created the youth-targeted site, OffThePodium.com.

On mobile phones, users can get regular updates, and also download national anthems from around the world as ring tones. Maybe by 2010 and definitely by 2014, it will become increasingly difficult to sell the entire Olympics package to the broad world of sports fans. Reliance on the Internet will increase, and to sustain long-term relevance, the Games will have to be marketed piecemeal and through a wide variety of mediums.

In the age of the Internet, there's no such thing as one-stop shopping, as Olympic officials are slowly learning. The guess here is that the investment isn't translating into big money for the network yet — which only lends false weight to the dinosaurs' argument that no one cares about the Olympics.

The Games are slowly changing their program, opening their hallowed arms to a generation with short attention spans and lots of electronic gizmos. With the advent of cable television and other new media over the past couple of decades, our outlet for information and entertainment has been fractionalized. The Olympics are no different. More than ever before, fans are following the Games without ever flipping on the television.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-sp-olymaese18feb18,0,4634708,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

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.

The Winter Olympics
NBC gives 'Joey' one last chance
(Note: All times are Mountain)
By Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News

It's a measure of how far "Joey" has fallen that the sitcom's impending return to the NBC schedule was almost an afterthought in a network programming announcement.

The headline? "NBC keeps 'The Office' lights burning."

Item No. 2? The premiere of the new sitcom "Teachers" has been pushed up a week.

Oh, and, by the way, "Joey" returns to the lineup on Tuesday, March 7, at 7 p.m.

This is really all about "The Office" and not so much about "Joey." NBC programmers have perhaps realized that taking "The Office" off the Thursday schedule after March 30 isn't the best way to build an audience for the show. Duh.

So instead of airing the season finale on March 30, the network is going to stretch out the schedule through May 11 by inserting a bunch of repeats and "an extra original episode."

NBC is certainly working mightily to make "The Office" a hit. It hasn't been an entirely successful effort, but the network has already renewed the show (and "My Name is Earl") for next season.

And the network is taking advantage of the fact that "Dancing With the Stars" airs its season finale on Feb. 23. The week before the Olympics, NBC's sitcoms went up against CBS ratings powerhouse "Survivor" and "Dancing," the latter dominated the ratings, the former held onto its audience and the sitcoms suffered.

What with the decision to leave Thursdays alone, here's what NBC is doing to Tuesdays:

• "Joey" returns with original episodes on Tuesday, March 7, at 7 p.m. (A dozen new episodes of the sitcom remain in this, its second season.) "Joey" repeats will air Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. on March 7, 14 and 21, and then . . .

• On March 28, "Scrubs" repeats move from 8:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Original episodes of what has become perhaps TV's funniest half hour will continue to air Tuesdays at 8 p.m.

• Also on March 28, "Teachers" moves into the Tuesday-at-8:30 p.m. timeslot. (I've only seen a few clips of that show — and they weren't particularly promising.)

NBC execs long maintained that "Joey" was suffering in comparison to "Friends" — that if it wasn't a spinoff of that hit and was judged on its own merits, "Joey" would be fine.

There's some truth to that, but "Joey" has also been wildly inconsistent. There have been laughs in every episode, but nearly every episode also falls down in spots.

"Joey" is ailing badly, but it isn't dead. If it does well on Tuesdays — and if NBC doesn't think it has anything better for next season — it could return in the fall. But it's a longshot.

There is good news — "Fear Factor" is going away until sometime this summer. And, after failing to make the fall schedule and failing to find viewers when it returned at midseason, maybe the end is near for that gross-out festival.

OVER AT CBS, the network pulled the plug on the thoroughly charming "Love Monkey" because, well, not much of anybody was watching.

So now the network will probably just fall back on still more crime dramas. Drat.

CBS aired a repeat of "NCIS" last Tuesday; it's airing a repeat of "CSI" this Tuesday at 9 p.m.

On Feb. 28, it's the two-hour season premiere of "The Amazing Race" at 8 p.m. A week later, on March 7, "Race" moves to its new time slot at 9 p.m.

Also on March 7, at 8 p.m. it's the premiere of "The Unit," a drama about a covert Army unit and their wives.

http://www.desnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,635185272,00.html

I also think NBC needs to go with more live coverage. At least pick up some of that viewership that they will certainly lose by delaying a lot of the coverage. They need to be showing all of events. You cant build any drama by cutting and pasting up events.

I don't watch any sport on delay, sports should absolutely be live. With "Live" Olympics, it's all about the event - you watch knowing that nothing, or something very dramatic may happen.

The problem with the current "highlight" format is that it becomes heavily dependent on the results, rather than the event. What good is a primetime highlight reel when there are limited "high"lights to show? Those with even a moderate interest or curiosity about the Olympics are inundated with results via the internet or other non-NBC sources. The result is people picking and choosing what limited coverage they continue to care about enough to tune in, already knowing the outcome.

The fight over a la carte
Cable-channel a la carte menu not on table yet

Tim BarkerOrlando Sentinel Staff Writer February 20, 2006

It sounds so good: the freedom to choose and pay only for those cable channels you really want to watch.

Not interested in American Movie Classics or Toon Disney? Maybe you would rather invest your couch time engrossed in ESPN or the Hallmark Channel.

Then a la carte pricing may be just what you need. But you're not likely to get to pick and choose which cable channels you subscribe to anytime soon.

"I don't see a day when you'll be able to choose only eight channels. That scenario is never going to happen," said Rick Gershon, professor of telecommunications at Western Michigan University.

Still, that doesn't mean there won't be changes as cable operators look for ways to stave off unwanted government regulation.

The idea that consumers could save money while having more choices is at the center of a battle pitting the Federal Communications Commission against the powerful cable industry -- with consumer and special-interest groups lining up on both sides of the fight.

The uproar started earlier this month, when the FCC reversed its two-year stance, saying now that a la carte pricing could save consumers as much as 13 percent a month on cable bills. Not surprisingly, the industry started screaming -- arguing that the marketplace should dictate what's offered.

"We're not ruling anything out. But we draw the line at the government mandating pricing controls and packaging," said Brian Deitz, a spokesman for the National Cable Television Association.

Bright House Networks -- Central Florida's largest cable provider, with more than 800,000 customers -- does not view a la carte pricing as a viable option.

"We've said before, we think it would be more expensive for our customers," Bright House spokeswoman Sara Brady said.

Consumer groups have long supported the unbundling of cable channels to allow families -- the average household watches only 17 channels -- more control over the type of programming making it into their homes.

What nobody knows for certain is how much it would cost.

Along with concerns about equipment upgrades, there is the pricing structure itself. It's not as simple as taking your cable bill and dividing it by the number of channels you get -- in Orlando, for example, Bright House offers more than 70 channels for $48.49, an average of 70 cents each.

Actual prices vary widely, with premium channels such as ESPN and MTV costing the most, while religious programming and less-popular channels are generally carried cheaply, if not for free.

ESPN, owned by Disney, was quick to sound off against a new pricing structure. In a statement, the company said many viewers would be loath to pay the premium price -- keeping desirable programming in the homes of the privileged.

The Faith and Family Broadcasting Coalition, likewise, sees nothing but trouble in a world where viewers have to choose to let a program in their home.

If you haven't heard of a channel, "there's no reason to get it," said Colby May, director of the Washington office of the American Center for Law & Justice, and a spokesman for the coalition.

Still, cable companies and big programmers know that it will be difficult to keep things just as they are.

"The arguments in favor of it have a clear political appeal," said Paul Gallant, senior media analyst for the Stanford Washington Research Group. "So cable is taking a la carte very seriously."

Seriously enough that companies such as Comcast and Time Warner already have announced the addition of "Family Tier," a new packaging option. Locally, Bright House also has plans for such an offering within a few months.

The idea of a Family Tier is to offer a variety of channels -- in the 15-to-20 range -- with offerings such as the Disney Channel, Discovery Kids and Nickelodeon.

It's the sort of compromise that industry observers expect to emerge from the a la carte battle. Other possible groupings could include sports or lifestyle packages.

The debate is forcing companies such as Disney and Viacom, neither of which allows cable operators to sell their channels separately, to rethink their policies, said Fritz Messere, chairman of communications studies at the State University of New York at Oswego.

"Disney is not stupid," Messere said. "I think they realize there is a whole new world out there."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/orl-alacarte20_106feb20,0,7879486.story?coll=orl-caltvtop

Well, I'm not an Olympic fanatic or anything even close to that, but Idon't read the sports section of the paper and I don't watch network news, I've pretty much been able to view NBC and not know the results beforehand. So, I record it all and then FF through what I don't care to watch. But, even with all that, the coverage is so disjointed that it is downright annoying and oftentimes not worth my time even for the events I enjoy.

I am also very disapponted so far with the lack of emotion from the Americans who don't fininsh as expected. And then there was the total turnoff of the showboating in the women's snowboard-moto final. While there was definitely an air of total shock, there didn't seem to be much disappointment, then or during post event interviews. Maybe I just live too far in the past when losers were very disappointed/emotional at losing and showed it. :(

The Winter Olympics
Taped coverage not a hit with audience

By Dusty Saunders (Denver) Rocky Mountain News February 20, 2006

Two young men were in a Subway sandwich shop late Saturday afternoon excitedly discussing Shani Davis' victory in the 1,000-meter speedskating competition.

"That's really cool," one man said, while asking his companion if he was going to view the race during NBC's prime-time tape replay.

"I don't think so," came the reply. "I'll watch the highlights on a sportscast."

He added he didn't like spending a lot of time watching a sports event when he already knew the results.

Such comments provide a major reason why NBC's prime-time Winter Olympics is having problems consistently beating entertainment programs on rival networks in audience ratings.

Actually, NBC's taped coverage of Davis' win is not the best example of viewers staying away from taped coverage of early-in-the day competition.

The fact that Davis is the first black American gold medalist in the Winter Games probably brought viewers to the set, even though many knew the results.

Also, there was an intriguing, controversial back story - something that always intrigues Olympics fans.

Davis had been criticized for dropping out of team skating competition in order to concentrate on his drive for the gold.

Without him, the U.S team finished sixth in its competition last week.

Thus, overnight Saturday Nielsen ratings provided NBC with one of its strongest nights since the Olympics began Feb. 10, finishing ahead of all network competition.

But Saturday night is traditionally the loneliest night of the week on network television as far as popular series are concerned.

And NBC didn't have American Idol, Lost, Dancing With the Stars and Grey's Anatomy as audience competition.

But overall, the delay has hurt NBC. Most were aware of NBC's prime-time delay policy before the Games started.

But knowing is not the same as accepting, particularly when viewers were spoiled during the 2002 Salt Lake Games, when many major events were aired live near or in prime time.

As Dick Ebersol, NBC Universal Sports chairman has noted, the network is striving to serve three constituencies - viewers, affiliates and sponsors.

And not necessarily in that order.

Ebersol has claimed surveys show that most Olympics fans want key competition broadcast in prime time for convenience reasons.

With advertisers and affiliates demanding such prime-time coverage, delays are an unshakable part of NBC's ritual.

Are Ebersol's surveys accurate?

As the age of instant information and increasing competition becomes more prevalent, viewers seem to have less tolerance with the delay policy.

Blocking our eyes and ears to results can be a pain. And finding out results early seems to diminish fan interest, particularly because NBC is up against popular prime-time programming.

The result: Prime-time viewership is down about 30 percent compared with 2002.

"Consumers these days are proactive, according to John Padgett, media director for the Hauser Group in Atlanta. He told Media Life magazine that "technology has trained consumers that they don't have to wait for prepackaged programs to get what they're interested in seeing."

He added that NBC has relied too long on a format of attempting to please all segments of the audience by offering a bit of everything in prime time.

For NBC, this exploding information age is a double-edged sword.

While prime-time ratings are below expectations, audience figures for live competition on MSNBC, CNBC and USA have boosted audience figures by 40 percent above normal daytime programming.

And the Turin Games have been a boon to the network's Web site, which, according to NBC executive Gary Zenkel, has drawn more than 167 million page views, surpassing the 145 million views during the entire coverage in Salt Lake City.

Instead of showing only brief video highlights, the Web site is providing, on a delayed basis, the complete runs and routines for the top finishers in nearly all major events.

Still, prime time remains the battleground for viewership and advertising dollars. And this week could be a make-or-break battle for NBC, as far as sponsor happiness is concerned.

Tuesday is a key night, when ladies figure skating, the most anticipated Olympics event, opens with live coverage against a key edition of Fox's American Idol, which earlier clobbered the taped highlights format of the Olympics.

It's Dick Button vs. Simon Cowell in commentary competition during the first of three competitive meetings.

URL: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/spotlight_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23962_4481276,00.html

The Winter Olympics
Not watching the Olympics? Too bad for you.

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Monday, February 20, 2006

In the pantheon of bad ideas as they pertain to newspapers, you will almost always find an editor or nine. It's uncanny how they can ceaselessly come up with something obvious or dull -- hey, let's write about ratings! -- but when applied to the Olympics there's also what they perceive to be a Bigger Picture. Namely, what does it mean for us as a country and a people if the Olympics get trounced by prime-time soap operas or reality series about treacly cats?

While we suspect it has a lot to do with the Nordic combined or the biathlon, it could conceivably have something to do with meritless male divas performing badly on ice skates or an adult's inability to tell a child the difference between the luge and the skeleton -- other than one goes head first, the other feet first and that neither should ever be copied off the roof.

Despite the fact that ratings stories are traditionally poison for readers -- there's a superficial curiosity but no deep care -- let's end the discussion with a couple of difficult truisms:

1) You can't mandate what people watch, even if you believe that patriotism should trump entertainment. That's partly why this worry about ratings in the Olympics and what it all means is misplaced. Nobody gets worked up when the State of the Union address -- foisted on most of the networks -- is ignored en masse by Americans. There's no outrage about how few Americans watch C-SPAN, where the gumming up of the entire governmental process is displayed regularly and for free.

(By the way, where were these editors when nobody was watching "Arrested Development"? If you want to fret over American priorities, start with our country's love of soul-suckingly lame comedies at the expense of comedic genius.)

No, we're constitutionally entitled to take a pass on ice dancing or curling or skating around an oval, where the goal is not so much beating the person next to you as it is besting a tiny clock that stops on a hundredths of a second, confusing an already math-challenged nation. Freedom of choice, of choosing "American Idol" over American slalom skiers, is fundamental to who we are.

That doesn't make it right. People should be watching the Winter Olympics. But they should also be reading the classics, not some made-up tripe that gets dissected on "Oprah." The world is full of people who opt out of enlightenment.

2) This is not the first time networks have programmed hits against the Olympics and won. And it won't be the last. Television is a business run by people afraid to lose their jobs, and if they roll over in a sweeps month, which February is, they will in fact lose the race and their posh Beverly Hills homes. A perfect storm -- NBC being weak; Fox and ABC having powerhouse hits; dubious decision making by NBC on what, when and how it shows events in prime time during the Olympics -- it all may play a part in the Torino numbers. (Comparisons to Salt Lake are ridiculous because those took place on our so-called home field and that Winter Olympics came close on the heels of the Sept. 11 attacks when the country was still looking to heal.)

So, theories posited, facts stated and editors appeased, we've still left out one important point: Who the hell cares? If people choose to ignore the Olympics, let them. Whores to culture, people, whores to culture. (Google: "Dorothy Parker").

And anyway, NBC claims the Olympics are averaging 21 million viewers each night in prime time across the board and, after one full week, "152 million total, unduplicated viewers have watched the Olympics on the networks of NBC Universal."

Good enough for us. With that, let's move on to what we've learned so far watching the Winter Olympics:

• Don't make Lindsey Jacobellis the poster girl for showboat karma. She made a mistake and she'll pay for it in a way far more painful than hackneyed gibes at her. But by all accounts she's a talented, graceful, hardworking and humble young woman.

• Save your indignation for all the wannabe rebels and meretricious peacocks elsewhere in the Games. Like Alpine skiers Julia Mancuso, who wore a tiara on her helmet-less head and became queen of nothing, while teammate Resi Stiegler wore pearls but finished well back with the swine. One can only hope those two went temporarily insane from jealousy of all things Bode or the fact that all the hip-kid snowboarders were stealing all the media attention (and the medals, which is important to remember if you're gonna talk the talk). Give us Lindsey Kildow -- or pretty much any foreigner -- any day.

• Say what you want about the snowboarders, but they have a unique sense of purpose all to themselves, and they have infused the Winter Olympics with some much needed drama. And they have proven they're not too cool to care about patriotism and the Olympics, all the while winning and losing with dignity and a sense of fellowship with their competitors.

• On top of that, snowboard cross is a total rush. That sport and short-track skating are more than enough reason to watch. We're all for anything where judging doesn't taint the results. Note to Dick Ebersol, NBC's Olympics guru: The rules of attraction have changed. You'd better change with them. Ice dancing is dead. Long live snowboard cross.

• Congratulations go to Shani Davis, but he proved in his post-gold medal win interview that he's a jerk. You can be annoying and me-against-the-world trite no matter what color your skin is. Just look at Johnny Weir.

• If you want to see how to win (or lose, if you think gold is the only color that matters, which would be unfortunate but totally American of you), look no further than Apolo Anton Ohno. He got the bronze and said he was happy to have it. Refreshing.

• Of course, if you want to be genteel and understanding about not winning, then don't jump on the anti-Bode bandwagon just because the guy is imploding in Torino.

• It may be that the rest of the country is just fine with NBC's decision to be all about the American Olympians, win or lose, but Bay Area viewers have expressed e-mail disappointment in droves about the one-sided nature of the coverage. While it's likely true that NBC did some kind of research that showed -- U.S.A.!, U.S.A.! -- we want to see our own, that sheltered, blinders-on approach robs broad-minded people of the thrill of international competition.

• Jacobellis and unlucky curling skip Cassie Johnson can always find solace at our house.

• If you haven't watched "Push Dick's Button" on the USA Network, well, you're not getting enough Dick Button. The man has single-handedly saved these Olympics.

Just give him a microphone and let him walk around complaining. "What is the MATTER with this cappuccino?" "No bangs, Bob Costas, no bangs." "There's nothing cute about warm-weather countries sending a sole athlete here. Keep your pathetic losers AT HOME." "Say what you will about the ice dancing, but for the LOVE OF GOD, what are those kids doing in the half pipe?"

• Do viewers win a gold medal for memorizing commercials that are repeated endlessly?

• Is the ski jump on every night?

• And finally, we'll ask it once again: Where are the Italians? Find someone who lives in Turin. Interview them. Then ask them if they're worried about ratings.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/02/20/DDGKGHA48V1.DTL&type=printable

The New York Times Obituary
Richard Bright, 68, an Actor in the 'Godfather' Movie Series, Dies

By Ben Sisario The New York Times February 20, 2006

Richard Bright, a veteran character actor who appeared in all three "Godfather" films and "The Sopranos," died on Saturday in New York. He was 68 and lived in Manhattan.

He was hit by a bus as it rounded the corner of Columbus Avenue and 86th Street at about 6:30 p.m., and was pronounced dead at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center shortly thereafter, the police said.

A versatile actor with a characteristic rasp in his voice, Mr. Bright had a busy career in movies and theater that stretched back to the late 1950's, when he made his film debut in a small part in Robert Wise's "Odds Against Tomorrow." During the 1970's, he appeared in "The Panic in Needle Park" with Al Pacino, Sam Peckinpah's "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid," "Marathon Man" with Dustin Hoffman, "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" and "The Getaway."

In the "Godfather" pictures he played Al Neri, one of Michael Corleone's toughs, whose murders came at crucial plot points: in "The Godfather: Part II," he took a fateful ride in a fishing boat with Michael's untrustworthy brother Fredo, played by John Cazale.

Mr. Bright's theater credits included "The Beard" by Michael McClure, "Short Eyes" by Miguel Pinero, and a number of productions with Mr. Pacino, including "Richard III" at the Cort Theater in 1979 and "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel."

Among his other films are "Vigilante," Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America," "Red Heat," "Beautiful Girls," "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "The Ref." In recent years he appeared on episodes of "Law & Order" and "The Sopranos."

Mr. Bright is survived by his wife, the actress Rutanya Alda; a son, Jeremy Bright, of Manhattan; and a brother, Charles, of Rowland, Pa.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/20/arts/television/20bright.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

The 2005-2006 TV Season
Ask Matt

(from the Ask (TV Critic) Matt (Roush) column at TVGuide.com
By Matt Roush TVGuide.com TV Critic

Question: Matt, I look forward to your columns each week and agree with most everything you write — due in large part, I'm sure, to the fact that we share similar taste in programming. However, the one idea that I just can't get onboard with is your appreciation of Mary Lynn Rajskub's acting ability. As much as I love the show, to me, MLR is 24's answer to Beverly Mitchell. Her overdone facial expressions and bitten-off phrasing most often leave me cringing. (But, I have to admit, a couple of times she's made me smile.) Still, what's the attraction? — Katherine

Matt Roush: Focus on that smiling thing. The thing to keep in mind is that Mary Lynn Rajskub is primarily a comic actress, and her being cast against type is what makes her portrayal of the eternally grouchy, socially inept computer whiz Chloe such a joy. (Note to fans of hers, and of Louis Lombardi's Edgar: Check out the interview in this week's issue of TV Guide.) She never fails to amuse me, especially when she's at her most impossible — yelling at her bosses, scowling at every command and browbeating all those she deems inferior, which is just about everyone but Jack. She is so unlike the typical CTU drone, bringing some sly comic relief to the monotony of watching characters gather info on their computer screens. And I'm still marveling over the episode last season where she was forced out into the field, becoming an action hero when her life counted on it. I'm not saying she's a perfect actress, just a perfect Chloe.

________________________________________

Question: Hey Matt, bring on the Emmy for a thinner (he looks great), smiling, soft-spoken (he scares the bejesus out of me) Forest Whitaker of The Shield. He had Vic and the Strike Team looking up at the tower as he raised the blinds with a look of, "What is he up to next?" It was hair-raising. I love this show, and Forest has added so much more to it. He keeps me on the edge of my seat. You go, Forest!!! Wake up, Emmy people!!!!! — Mrs. E.

Matt Roush: No, you go with all those exclamation points!! Couldn't agree more, and while FX often goes begging for Emmy attention, I have to think he's a lock for a nomination, the way Glenn Close was last season. (Helps when you've got a marquee guest star whom the Emmy voters have actually heard of.) He really has ratcheted up the tension in these last few episodes, especially since moving into the Barn and taking the doors off the Strike Team's inner sanctum. Speaking of Emmy-worthy work on The Shield, do not miss this week's episode with CCH Pounder giving a remarkable performance, as Claudette tackles a fiend in the interrogation room while battling her recurring illness. The last scene is a stunner.

And for balance, I should note that there are those who haven't been won over yet. Such as Tracy: "I think I'm one of the rare people who finds Forest Whitaker's character on The Shield horrible and annoying. For me, the entire season has been ruined because of him. Can you tell me how much longer he will be on?" Sorry, Tracy, he's not going anywhere. He's driving the story line this season, like it or not.

________________________________________

Question: Why won't NBC move Scrubs to Thursdays — after My Name Is Earl? Are they trying to kill it so another network won't try to pick it up? — Lisa

Matt Roush: NBC seems happy with how The Office is holding on to Earl's audience, as well as growing in critical acclaim and buzz via iTunes. The network just announced that The Office will continue in the post-Earl slot, with a mix of repeats and originals, through May 11. That's why Scrubs is staying put on Tuesdays, not out of some network conspiracy (you people give the networks too much credit for skulduggery, when mostly it's just incompetence). I've argued long and often that Scrubs would be a great fit with the equally stylized and irreverent Earl, but no one but my readers, my friends and my colleagues seem to be listening. Matters probably won't be helped much next month when NBC gives Scrubs a new lead-in: fresh and repeat episodes of (gulp) Joey.

________________________________________

Question: I'd like to use your forum to express my dissatisfaction regarding the recent Grey's Anatomy episode (Feb. 5) in which an anesthesiologist exited the operating room, leaving his anesthetized patient in the care of an EMT because he "has a family." Being a board-certified anesthesiologist in practice at a major university in the United States, I find this poorly written scene to be an appalling antithesis of our current ethics and guidelines. An anesthesiologist values patient safety above all else, and would never abandon a patient, even at one's own personal risk. Please feel free to contact the American Society of Anesthesiologists in the future regarding other ethical quandaries that may surface on this lousy television series. — Dr. Kenneth Saliba

Matt Roush: Sorry, Doctor, but while I empathize with your dismay (imagine how many unethical journalists I've seen dramatized on TV), I would argue that Grey's Anatomy is a drama in which characters often make terrible mistakes. That's what makes it dramatic. If this doctor, who abandoned poor Christina Ricci after making his speech (pretty well written, by the way) about "pink mist," had been portrayed as heroic in any way, I would agree with you. But for the rest of the two-parter, everyone in the loop expressed disgust and horror over how this doctor acted so unprofessionally and cowardly. Because he's not a major character, I don't know if they'll follow through and note that this doctor was fired, as he deserves to be (although the circumstances were awfully dire, to be sure). But I can't imagine that the millions of fans, new and old, watching these episodes actually believed this jerk was in any way representative of his profession.

________________________________________

Question: I was very upset when I read that The Book of Daniel had been canceled. I, however, have been following the episodes on the Internet and have been really enjoying this show. I love it, and I know I'll regret following it to the Internet. Did you follow it to the Internet, too, and what did you think of its only and final episodes? — Matt

Matt Roush: I have seen most of the remaining episodes, either before the show was canceled or afterward. And as is the case with so many series, Book of Daniel just kept getting better and stronger, and these episodes available for viewing on the Internet are well worth any fan's time. I particularly recommend the "God's Will" episode, dealing with the gay-bashing of Daniel's son, Peter, with flashbacks of Peter's twin brother's death from leukemia. Powerful stuff. Too bad an intolerant social climate, an incompetent network and a spineless ad industry combined to seal this show's unhappy fate.

________________________________________

Question: I was interested to read the question about House on Monday — I was the total opposite. I never paid any attention to the show in the first season, then blew through the episodes once I discovered it on DVD. Now I can't get enough. Sure, House doesn't digress from its formula (neither does CSI for that matter), but it is so well acted (especially by Hugh Laurie) that I wish it were on three times a week. I think the show hit a high point at the end of the first season with the episode where House is forced to teach a class and retells the story of how he came to be the way he is, and I haven't missed an episode since, constantly watching House while TiVo-ing another favorite medical show, Scrubs. — Daniel

Matt Roush: Not only was that the best episode of the first season, it won the show's creator/writer an Emmy. Another reaction to this subject, from Mike P.: "I really liked your response to last week's question about what is wrong with House. I agree with the inquirer in the sense that the show follows a formula. In terms of the basic plot of each episode, they do not differ that much. But the real beauty of this show, which you mentioned, is the subtle nuance that each main character shows and the way they react to each other in order to solve the medical puzzle. House grows into a more complex and emotional person in every episode. It is just that it is done in a very slow and calculated way that is very intriguing to watch. Another show that has a main character who grows slowly over a long period of time is Patricia Arquette's Allison on Medium — although instead of becoming more complex and emotional, she is slowly becoming more confident in her psychic abilities. What do you think?"

You're right about Patricia Arquette. Her Emmy win was a shock, but not unearned. Her portrayal of Allison, like Hugh Laurie's House, is not that of a simplistic hero. Her gift is also a curse, and as she struggles with that, while solving bizarre cases and keeping her messy family together, there's plenty for Arquette to play. And play well.

________________________________________

Question: When I was posted overseas, I found myself an avid watcher of a Brazilian telenovela called Terra Nostra. Luckily, I know some Spanish and was able to get the gist of the dialogue using Spanish and English cognates. It was a great story and made me realize that I'd like to see a series that had a beginning and an end. My question: Don't you think the telenovela format would be a welcome change from TV shows that you start to get invested in, such as Threshold or Love Monkey, just as they're prematurely canceled? Or do you think it would be more like a longer miniseries, such as Roots or North and South? Of course, Centennial doesn't count because they switched that around so much I lost track of when it was on. Maybe it was too long? — Diane M.

Matt Roush: If the networks' experiments with the telenovela format means a sideways return to the old-style miniseries, I'm all for it. (Actually, I've been saying for a long time that many of HBO's acclaimed dramas, most notably The Wire and Rome, might work better scheduled as miniseries, since they play better in big gulps rather than weekly hour increments.) I do like the idea of a serialized story being presented with an endgame already on the horizon, but remember, that didn't stop Fox from killing Reunion midway through what was always intended to be a single-season-long mystery. Let's hope the networks don't yank these telenovela soaps before they come to their natural end. Given that some of these are expected to air in the summer, when less is at stake, that might not be such a problem.

________________________________________

Question: Your constant bashing of ER and its "mediocrity" gives me the impression that you really haven't even given yourself the possibility of liking the show this season, maybe due to disillusionment with the last couple of seasons. John Leguizamo's Doctor Clemente has been one of the best (or at least most enjoyable) new characters on TV this season, bringing comedic relief to a cast clearly in need of it. You can cynically brush off Cynthia Nixon's and James Woods's guest roles as stunt casting, but the respective episodes have been high-quality drama, especially last week's ALS-themed outing. I agree that the show is very different from its first seasons (I've been rewatching Seasons 1 through 4 on DVD), but in my mind it still delivers the goods drama-wise. So what do you say, Matt? Give ER one more chance? — Eetu

Matt Roush: I tuned in to the beginning of the season with an open mind. But from the torpor of the opening episode, with Luka and Sam going in search of her brat, to the numbing story line of Pratt and his father, to being subjected to Morris as a full-time character and Kristen Johnston's obnoxiously officious nurse, there's little for me to like. John Leguizamo does bring some energy to the show — what I've seen of him — but each time I check into ER these days, it's like I've taken a tranquilizer and it's all I can do to stay conscious. And by the way, I'm not cynical about those Cynthia Nixon/James Woods/Ray Liotta casting stunts. They tend to represent ER at its infrequent best. I just wish the core cast had as much vitality and human interest as the occasional star patient.

________________________________________

Question: One of the few new shows I've been watching since the mid-season replacements premiered is ABC's In Justice. I was looking at its ratings and it's not necessarily a big hit. However, considering its schedule (late Friday night), I wasn't really expecting all that much. I don't have a source for Threshold ratings, so I can't compare the two, but do you think ABC will keep the show with the ratings it currently has or just bump it off like it did Threshold? Both shows are (or were) excellent, and I'd hate for them to pull In Justice. They have to reach a general consensus that no show is going to do great business on a Friday night, so they should just settle for mild success. Do you think it'll stay on? Thanks for the time. You always keep me looking forward to the dread of Mondays, if only to read your opinion. — Jorge

Matt Roush: Thanks, but you probably won't like this one. I watched the first batch of In Justice episodes and found it to be predictable and tiresome, even by the standards of this most formulaic genre. In Justice, which at least means well (and that counts for something), was met with a pretty collective yawn by the critical establishment, which doesn't always mean much (witness the success of the far less appealing Criminal Minds). But given where ABC has put it, and the lack of buzz or ratings on what is without doubt a difficult night, I would be surprised if it survives the season. If it hangs around, I'd be cool with that — I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to bash it — but I don't see it happening.

________________________________________

Question: I'm a big fan of the Law & Order franchise (more of Law & Order: SVU than the original), but I was wondering what the chances are that the new series Conviction will survive on Friday nights. Trial by Jury didn't do very well in that time slot, and, speaking as a future prosecutor, I'm very optimistic about this show. I was just wondering if you think it will do well or not, and if you've seen more than just the previews of the show in order to form an opinion about it. Thanks. — Ali

Matt Roush: Hard to know if it will survive on Fridays. Special Victims Unit did very well there, but that was before CBS found a winning formula for the night. I know I would much rather watch Numbers than Conviction, which seems to me a very clumsy effort by Dick Wolf to try to make a David E. Kelley-style series. (My review of Conviction will appear in the next issue of TV Guide, out later this week.) It may depend on how well Las Vegas survives the transfer to Fridays. If Vegas boosts NBC's Friday ratings, that might drive an audience to Conviction, which certainly tries to amp up the sex appeal, with office affairs, shirtless young lawyers and plenty of bedroom scenes, as if that's enough to make you care. I've seen two episodes so far, and that was two too many. (In my review, I compare it unfavorably to ABC's short-lived Equal Justice from the early '90s, which also followed young prosecutors with much more appeal and zeal, and with a far superior cast that included Joe Morton, Jane Kaczmarek and, long before Sex and the City, Sarah Jessica Parker.)

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

The Winter Olympics
NBC's Olympics Pacing for Bronze Medal

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com FEBRUARY 20, 2006 -

The Olympic Games may not be the ratings juggernaut they once were, but NBC’s demo delivery is up between 150 percent and 350 percent over regular programming during its telecasts of the 2006 Winter Games from Torino, Italy. A sizable portion of its new viewers have been drawn away from ad-supported cable.

A study by Mediaedge:cia comparing prime-time ratings for the first week of the Olympics versus the week ending Jan. 29, using Nielsen Media Research data, shows NBC increased its adults 18-49 rating by 150 percent, from a 2.2 to a 5.5, while ad-supported cable overall fell from a 17.1 to a 14.9, a decline of 13 percent. NBC’s ratings among teens showed the highest percentage gain, soaring by 350 percent to a 3.6 from a 0.8.

The broadcast network losing the biggest share of adults 18-49 is CBS, down 20 percent during the Games. But, as reported in Mediaweek (Feb. 6), CBS is the only Big Four network to have chosen to air mostly repeats. Fox, whose powerhouse American Idol has outdrawn Olympic telecasts by a three-to-one margin, is still down 3 percent overall in the 18-49 demo compared to the last week in January. The network still plans to take on the Olympics’ biggest draw, figure skating, with a Feb. 23 special edition of Idol.

Other than NBC, only ABC—whose Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy and Lost have all outrated the Olympics—is performing better during the games overall in adults 18-49 than in late January (up 22 percent to a 4.1).

NBC Sports executives late last week, fed up with the media’s
focus on ratings declines in prime time compared to previous Winter Games, went on the offensive with data to show that the event still holds great value to advertisers. “Everyone is comparing these games’ ratings to the ratings from Nagano [the last Winter Games held outside the U.S.] in 1998,” said Mike McCarley, NBC Sports vp of communications and marketing. (The current ratings are down about 25 percent across the board from Nagano.) “But the ratings of all major TV events are down significantly since then,” he continued. “Compared to 1998, the World Series ratings in 2005 were down 21 percent, Monday Night Football was down 22 percent, the NBA finals were down 56 percent, the Academy Awards were down 27 percent and the Grammy Awards were down 32 percent.”

The ratings drop in all major TV events, noted McCarley, has much to do with an explosion in viewing choices. “In 1998, the average home was receiving 57 channels, while today they are receiving 96 channels,” he said. “More than one-third of the U.S. households have 158 channels. There is a behavior shift in how people consume media—they’re watching more cable and using the Internet.” McCarley noted that ratings on NBC’s cable properties—which are carrying much of the 1,200 hours of coverage—are up and that Web users have viewed more than 2.9 million video streams on the NBC Olympics Web site through Feb. 16.

Over that same period, the Olympics have averaged a13.3 in prime-time household ratings. NBC executives said their ratings guarantees fell between 12 and 14, depending on the client and spending levels, and they were not yet in any makegoods situations. But more than one media agency executive said some clients were guaranteed 15 ratings, so some makegoods may end up being handed out.

But by and large, a random survey of buyers showed they are not overly concerned with NBC’s bronze-medal ratings performance.
“The Olympics are not what they once were,” said Rino Scanzoni, chief investment officer for Mediaedge:cia, “and the ratings on some nights may be lower than we expected. But for most of the advertisers who have made major investments in the Olympics, it goes beyond just prime-time ratings and TV spots. They are buying across platforms.”

Other media agency execs with clients in the Games who did not want to speak for attribution agreed that many of those clients advertise because of corporate image. “Many Olympic advertisers are involved not only in the U.S. but also in the international marketplace, and it’s important for them to project the image of being global players,” said one.

Sam Armando, vp and director of TV research for Starcom, pointed to one possible reason the Olympics in certain time periods is being outrated by other programming. “For years, NBC had all the top-rated shows like Seinfeld, Friends, Frasier, ER,” Armando said. “When this programming was pre-empted for the Olympics, those viewers stayed with NBC. Now ABC and Fox have the most watched shows, and by airing them in first-run during the Olympics, their viewers are simply staying with those shows.”

Despite advertiser affinity for the Olympics, the significantly lower ratings produced by these Games could adversely affect buyer negotiations for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. “The other networks have shown that programming aggressively against the Olympics can take some audience away,” one major buyer said. “This will affect the price-value equation as to what advertisers are willing to pay for ads on future Winter Games. It might also cause more advertisers in the future to save dollars by buying more cost-efficient shows around the Olympics.”

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002035074

The Business of TV
NBC's and ABC's New Crime Series to Rival CBS' CSI: NY

By A.J. Frutkin MediaWeek.com FEBRUARY 20, 2006 -

On Wednesday, March 22, the time slot NBC’s Law & Order once dominated becomes midseason’s most hotly contested hour.

That’s when the veteran procedural drama moves up to 9 p.m., making way at 10 p.m. for NBC’s new action crime series, Heist. That same night at 10 p.m., ABC launches procedural drama The Evidence. Both series will compete against time slot leader CBS’ CSI:NY.

Several advertisers said Law & Order’s time period shift signaled an acknowledgment on the network’s part that the franchise’s original iteration is waning. “The show has been a rock for NBC at 10 o’clock,” said Kris Magel, senior vp/account director at Zenith Media. “So I think the move is significant.”

Despite its decline, Law & Order remains one of NBC’s strongest performers on an otherwise struggling schedule. And executives there believe giving Heist as good a lead-in as possible is key to its success.

“Things are so competitive and so tough out there, we need to create opportunities,” said Mitch Metcalf, executive vp of program planning and scheduling for NBC Universal. “We need to be willing to shift a show like Law & Order to create a launching pad for Heist.”

Even before NBC decided to move Law & Order, ABC had been considering a 10 p.m. berth for The Evidence. But up against two procedurals like CSI: NY and Law & Order, “the prospects were daunting,” said Jeff Bader, executive vp at ABC Entertainment. Then, when Law & Order moved, it “gave us an opportunity to say to viewers who watch procedurals, ‘Come, check out a new one,’” he said.

What’s more, while NBC uses Law & Order to launch Heist, ABC has at its disposal the formidable hit Lost. “Assuming both are first-run, Lost is a more potent lead-in than Law & Order is now,” said John Rash, chief broadcast negotiator at Campbell Mithun. “So from a strategic standpoint, The Evidence may have a slight edge.”
But as ABC discovered with its Wednesday 10 p.m. show Invasion, strong lead-ins can’t guarantee success. Ultimately creating hits comes from a combination of elements, ranging from the quality of a program to audience flow (Invasion was deemed too similar to Lost) to a little bit of luck.

With CBS already leading in the time slot, there may not be enough luck to go around. “There often is room for two successful dramas in a time period,” said Steve Sternberg, executive vp and director of audience analysis at Magna Global. “But there is very seldom room for three.”

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002035041

Sunday’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.

I'm so very happy to see Grey's Anatomy performing so well. I have mixed feelings on what happened last night, so I hope next week's episode clears things up a bit.

TV Sports
MLB's Baseball Channel Scrapped?

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com FEBRUARY 20, 2006 -

Sources familiar with Major League Baseball's planned start-up of a Baseball Channel say the league has decided not to go forward with it, although the league is saying it is just being delayed.

An MLB spokesman said the league wants to renew all of its TV rights deals with the broadcast and cable networks before determining what type of package of games to air on the new channel. But sources said personnel scheduled to be brought in to work on the new channel have been told it is being scrapped. MLB owners approved funding for the channel 19 months ago, and it has been in a state of flux since then.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/cabletv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002035038

I'm so very happy to see Grey's Anatomy performing so well. I have mixed feelings on what happened last night, so I hope next week's episode clears things up a bit.

Yea, I dropped Desparate Housewives around 6 weeks ago. I expected Grey's to do better post Superbowl, then for the cliff-hanger conclusion. But, it also beat it last night. I didn't know if it would hold.

It's hard to imagine, but maybe George will decide that the reality doesn't live up to the anticipation.

Obituary
Hall of Fame broadcaster Gowdy dies

(from redsox.com)

By Mike Petraglia Special to MLB.com

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The unmistakable Hall of Fame voice of the Red Sox and a national baseball audience for a generation has passed away.

Curt Gowdy, enshrined in Cooperstown in 1984 as a Ford C. Frick Award winner, died Monday after battling leukemia while living in his West Palm Beach, Fla., home. He was 86.

Gowdy broadcast 13 World Series and 16 Major League All-Star Games.

The Wyoming native made his debut in 1944 broadcasting a football game atop an orange crate in sub-zero weather. His enthusiasm quickly caught on and earned him a job broadcasting the New York Yankees alongside Mel Allen in 1949.

Two years later, he moved to Boston to do Red Sox games and a New England broadcast legend was born.

"I'll never forget him," Red Sox patriarch Johnny Pesky said Monday morning in Fort Myers upon hearing the news. "I was talking about him just the other day. People ask you about people you've met. The announcers back in our day used to travel with us [on trains] and we would play cards with them. Those years there just seemed like there was a lot of affection there."

Gowdy earned the George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting in 1970 for his "blend of reporting, accuracy, knowledge, good humor, infectious honesty and enthusiasm," becoming the first sportscaster to be so honored.

But it was in Boston that he touched the hearts and souls of countless New Englanders with a professional, conversational and witty style all his own.

And no one knew or trusted Gowdy more than the players he covered.

"I loved Curt Gowdy and I think he loved Ted [Williams], Bobby [Doerr], Dom [DiMaggio] and me," Pesky said. "We had some great guys and great people and I wish we could have won more.

"They were the guys you grew up with and stayed with them for a lot of years. I knew Curt for over 50 years."

Pesky recalled Gowdy's distinctive style.

"He had a great voice but he wasn't a hotshot," Pesky added. "Some guys get so big and think people listen to them because they're the thing. He was nothing like that. He and Mel Allen were the two best announcers in my era. He was an exciting guy. He had that expression, 'rounding third and heading home,' and I'll never forget that if I live to be 100."

Gowdy was named "Sportscaster of the Year" on three occasions. After leaving the Red Sox following the 1965 season, he quickly ascended to the status of national sportscaster.

Gowdy's numerous network assignments included the World Series, the Super Bowl, the 1976 Montreal Olympics and the "American Sportsman" series.

"I tried to pretend that I was sitting in the stands with a buddy watching the game -- poking him in the ribs when something exciting happened," Gowdy said in accepting his 1984 Cooperstown honor. "I never took myself too seriously. An announcer is only as good as yesterday's performance."

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/content/printer_friendly/bos/y2006/m02/d20/c1316438.jsp

Maybe that's another reason I'm so turned off by sports these days, even most announcers are full of themselves. Curt was definitely one of the best there was. RIP!

The New York Times Obituary
Curt Gowdy, Versatile Sportscaster, Is Dead at 86

By Richard Sandomir The New York Times February 20, 2006

Curt Gowdy, the Wyoming-bred outdoorsman whose voice defined big-game network television sportscasting during the 1960's and '70's, died today. He was 86. Mr. Gowdy died at his home in Palm Beach, Fla., after a long battle with leukemia, said a spokesman for Mr. Gowdy's son, Curt Jr., the executive producer of SportsNet New York.

Nicknamed The Cowboy, Gowdy was the quintessential generalist of the pre-cable television era, serving as the No. 1 announcer at NBC Sports for many of the premier events in baseball, football and college basketball.

Gowdy was not a lyrical, larger-than-life announcer, but an easygoing, low-key listen who modeled his objectivity on Red Barber, who called games for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees.

"I'm no cheerleader," he once said. "Besides, you have to instill confidence in your listeners."

In an extraordinary run that was emblematic of his multisport versatility, he called seven Super Bowls between 1967 and 1979, 10 consecutive World Series from 1966 to 1975, and many Rose Bowls, N.C.A.A. men's basketball championship games and Olympics. ABC Sports wooed him to be the first play-by-play announcer for "Monday Night Football" but NBC would not release him from his contract.

While most of his network assignments were for NBC, he was the host of "The American Sportsman" for ABC. The program played to his lifelong love of the outdoors (a state park is named for him in Wyoming) and was as different as possible in content and pace from the games he called. With no one keeping score, Gowdy hunted and fished for 20 years with the likes of Bing Crosby; the bandleader Phil Harris; the actors Peter O'Toole and Robert Stack; President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn; and the former Boston Red Sox slugger Ted Williams, one of his closest friends, who made fishing his second pursuit of perfection outside of hitting a baseball.

"Harris was an excellent wing shot," Gowdy told The Times in 1984 before the program's 20th and final season. "Some years ago, we did a pheasant-hunting show in Nebraska and he showed up with a 28-gauge Winchester pump. When our Nebraska host saw it, he said, 'Mr. Harris, I'm not being smart, but these Nebraska pheasants are big and tough and you can't bring them down with that little thing.' He was wrong."

Curtis Gowdy was born in Green River, Wyo., where his father, a Union Pacific Railroad superintendent, taught him to hunt and fish.

"I was a very lucky guy," Gowdy said in 2002. "I grew up in Wyoming. My father was the best fly fisherman in the state. We had free access to prime-time fishing and hunting. The outdoors was a way of life for me. I should have paid them to host 'American Sportsman.' "

At the University of Wyoming, he was an accomplished basketball and tennis player. A spine injury cut short Gowdy's Army Air Corps career, enabling him to start his sportscasting career on a radio station in Cheyenne, Wyo. He made his debut, standing on a wooden grocery crate, calling a football game between two six-man teams.

Success in Cheyenne led Gowdy to work in Oklahoma City, arriving in time to call University of Oklahoma games, as Bud Wilkinson was building the football team and Hank Iba was coaching the basketball team.

In 1949 and 1950, Gowdy was Mel Allen's partner on Yankee radio broadcasts on WINS-AM. I n Curt Smith's book "Voices of the Game," Gowdy recalled that he had benefited from Allen's help in learning to announce baseball. Allen taught him, Gowdy said, "how far from a hot shot I was. Timing, organization, reading a commercial — I had so many bad habits, but Mel's polish helped me learn."

Rather than linger indefinitely as Allen's apprentice, Gowdy wanted to be a baseball team's lead announcer. So he left for Boston, where he called Red Sox games for the next 15 seasons.

His defining moment as the voice of the Red Sox was his call of Ted Williams's final at-bat in the major leagues, on Sept. 28, 1960:

"Everybody quiet now here at Fenway Park after they gave him a standing ovation of two minutes knowing that this is probably his last time at bat," Gowdy said. "One out, nobody on, last of the eighth inning. Jack Fisher into his windup, here's the pitch. Williams swings — and there's a long drive to deep right! The ball is going and it is gone! A home run for Ted Williams in his last time at bat in the major leagues!"

Gowdy also called the New York Jets' victory in Super Bowl III in 1969 over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts, which demonstrated to National Football League stalwarts that the upstart American Football League was its equal.

A few months before, however, he and his partner, Al DeRogatis, were involved in what became known as the "Heidi" game when NBC switched abruptly at 7 p.m. Eastern time to a scheduled showing of the children's film when there were still 65 seconds left in the game and the Jets ahead of the Oakland Raiders 32-29. The Raiders scored two touchdowns to win but Gowdy's final calls were heard by no one, replaced by the tale of the little Swiss girl.

"I didn't know we were off the air," Gowdy said in an interview with The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "When the game was over, I was packing to get out of there and the stage manager yelled at me, 'Hey, you've got to do those two touchdowns again.' " Gowdy quickly returned to the booth to reconstruct his call, which ran on NBC's news programs and on the next morning's "Today" show.

In 1970, he became the first sports broadcaster to win the George Foster Peabody Award, but five years later, following the World Series, NBC replaced him on baseball with Joe Garagiola, then parted ways with him as its lead football announcer in 1979, ending his era of ubiquity. NBC forced him off the baseball beat one month after he called the 1975 World Series. The network denied that it was the result of an accusation by an American League umpire, Larry Barnett, that Gowdy and Tony Kubek, his broadcast partner on the World Series, were personally responsible for threats on the lives of Barnett and his family. The announcers, especially Kubek, said that Barnett failed to call interference on a Cincinnati Reds pinch-hitter in Game 3 of the series against the Boston Red Sox.

Gowdy is survived by his wife, Jerre, two sons, Trevor and Curt Jr., ; a daughter, Cheryl Ann, and five grandchildren.

Without baseball, Gowdy fulfilled his NBC contract by calling football and other events, but left, and eventually called baseball for CBS Radio.

In later years, he was the host and producer of the public television series, "The Way It Was," reminiscences of great games with a panel of players who had participated in them. Gowdy also provided historic commentary for the HBO Sports program "Inside the NFL." He became wealthy through his ownership of five radio stations, a business that he started to pursue when a back problem kept him from working for part of the 1957 baseball season and he wondered if he would return to sportscasting, said his son, Curt Jr.

In 2003, Gowdy returned to Fenway Park to call a Red Sox game against the Yankees as part of an ESPN promotion that brought back great broadcasters. He thought at the end that he could have done better.

"We'll give you another chance," ESPN's Chris Berman promised.

"Call me back," Gowdy said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/20/obituaries/20cnd-gowdy.html?ei=5094&en=f37c7ae35bdf66bb&hp=&ex=1140498000&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

I don't watch any sport on delay, sports should absolutely be live. With "Live" Olympics, it's all about the event - you watch knowing that nothing, or something very dramatic may happen.


I'm curious what you do during all the commercials?

And if you were to start watching a football game an hour late, catching up to live near the end, and something dramatic happened during the game, are you saying you would be upset because you hadn't seen it live a little earlier?

Or is your comment just an 'Olympics" thing with the NBC delay schedule?

I'm referring to Sports in general. A Tivo buffer isn't really problematic, but I avoid internet (including AVS) as long as I have that buffer. I'm not going to go out of my way to avoid TV news channels and the internet for the long delay between Turin and the NBC Olympics.

But generally, I watch the commercials during live sports.

Critic’s Notebook
McEvil?

The Newark Star-Ledger’s Alan Sepinwall TV blog

Happy President's Day, everybody. In honor of this day, I've decided to grow a beard with no mustache and stop flossing to increase the likelihood I'll have to wear wooden teeth down the road. Needless to say, my wife is a huge fan of both decisions.

Oh, "Grey's Anatomy," you just want people to despise Meredith, don't you? Forget her sledgehammer narration or her uncanny ability to make everyone's problems be all about her, now she's about to rip the heart of George -- the most universally-liked character on the show -- into a million little pieces by using him to work out all her issues with daddy and McDreamy. Maybe the plan is to turn her into the villain of the show, like Heather Locklear or Joan Collins or Melinda Clarke, because I'm not sure how she recovers from this one with even a shred of likability intact. How was George to know he'd be making his pitch at both exactly the right time (to get laid) and wrong time (to become her boyfriend forevuh)?

Liked the rest of the episode well enough, but I was really struck by the transformation of Eric Dane, who played McDreamy's ex-pal. A few years back, he was playing a clueless intern on one of ABC's previous attempts at a hospital franchise show, "Gideon's Crossing," and he could not have been less interesting. But add a few years and lines to his face, and suddenly, he's someone who might have a career yet. I wouldn't be shocked at all if the show contrives a way to have him move to Seattle Grace, too. Eventually, the entire surgical population of Manhattan is going to get jobs there, all of them tangentially lated to the McDreamy break-up.

It's hard for me to talk about "Battlestar Galactica," since I watched Friday's episode back to back with my screener of this week's. Friday's was good, don't get me wrong -- the special effects in the space battle were among the best the show's ever had, and I liked Hey It's That Guy inner circler John Heard as the latest redshirt Pegasus commander -- but I've already started working on my entry for Friday's episode, which is a doozy and a half.

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/

I think we're just going to have to wait until the next week's episode of Grey's airs before we judge this little arc they're doing with Meredith and George.

I have faith it'll all work out, but it has the potential to royally screw things up.

Sports TV
NBC's got one Olympic victory: Cable

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Feb 21, 2006

NBC’s viewership for the Winter Olympics has been disappointing, but the Games will be a success in one area: the network's cable news channels.

MSNBC and CNBC, the weakest of the four major cable news networks, have seen their ratings triple during the last 10 days with coverage of ice hockey and that cult favorite from the last Winter Games, curling.

Coverage of the women’s curling match with Italy Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. averaged 1.26 million total viewers, MSNBC’s best average in that timeslot since Election Day 2004. It was the network’s most-watched Saturday broadcast since the start of the Iraqi war nearly three years ago, on April 5, 2003.

Comparatively, MSNBC averaged 349,000 total viewers during primetime last month, according to Nielsen data analyzed by Turner Networks. It more than tripled that average Saturday night.

CNBC has also seen tremendous Olympic gains. The network, which averaged an anemic 155,000 total viewers during primetime last month, averaged 1.04 million total viewers last week for its curling coverage, up 700 percent over last February’s average in the 5 to 8 p.m. timeslot and three and a half times more than its January average.

What’s perhaps most interesting about the Olympic surge is whether MSNBC and CNBC will manage to keep some of that audience once the Games end. Both networks have long been on the decline, with new executives, new shows and new approaches to delivering the news added over the past three years with little success.

With the big Olympics audience, NBC’s cable news networks have a chance to promote themselves to viewers who might not otherwise watch the networks, and it seems to be helping.

Over the past two weeks, MSNBC has finished ahead of CNN at 7 and 8 p.m. among the adults 25-54 that the news networks target a majority of the days.

Last Thursday, CNBC’s “On the Money” averaged 121,000 25-54s, 37 percent above the network's January primetime average and just 6,000 behind CNN’s “Paula Zahn” in the same timeslot.

Media people said before the Games that cable stood to benefit the most from the Olympics. If the NBC networks can keep even a few of those viewers, it would be a major lift for a Games that haven’t had many bright spots.

Meanwhile, in other sporting events last week, the week ended Feb. 12, Saturday’s primetime Olympics coverage finished No. 1, averaging a 13.5 household rating. NBC had the top seven shows, including six windows of Olympic coverage and one three-hour block of Daytona 500 qualifying.

CBS’s coverage of the Pebble Beach Pro Am finished No. 10 on Sunday with a 2.5 household rating, 0.2 ahead of Saturday’s 2.3 rating. That was well behind the two-day 3.5 average for last year’s Pro Am.

On cable, the NFL Pro Bowl on ESPN averaged a 4.5 rating, down 13 percent from the previous year’s 5.2.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_2977.asp

Sports TV
NBC Sports spins Daytona, Olympics Ratings

(NBC Press Release)

87 MILLION VIEWERS WATCH NBC's SUPER SPORTS SUNDAY

Best Daytona 500 in History: 37 Million Watch Most Viewed & Highest Rated NASCAR Race Ever

164 Million Have Watched the Torino Winter Olympics on NBC Through Sunday Night, Only 2% Behind This Same Point During Salt Lake Games

TORINO, Italy Feb. 20, 2006 ? 87 million total, unduplicated viewers watched NBC Sports on Sunday, which included the highest-rated NASCAR race in history, the Daytona 500 and primetime coverage of the Torino Games, and also featured live afternoon coverage from Torino of the U.S. men's hockey team falling 2-1 to Sweden. NBC's coverage of the "Great American Race" attracted 37 million total, unduplicated viewers and drew a record 11.3 household rating and 23 share, the highest NASCAR rating in history and the most viewed Daytona 500 ever, according to fast national data from Nielsen Media Research.

"This is why the Olympics are so valuable, because they're an amazingly powerful promotional platform," said Randy Falco, President and COO, NBC Universal Television Group. "The Torino Winter Games are drawing more viewers than ever before to our other sports properties, to our cable networks and to our web sites."

HIGHEST NASCAR RATING IN HISTORY: The 11.3/23 makes NBC's only three Daytona 500 broadcasts three of the top four highest rated and most viewed Daytona 500s ever (NBC 2002 and Fox 2005, 10.9; NBC 2004, 10.6). Last year's coverage of the Daytona 500 on Fox drew a 10.9/23 as the sport's two biggest stars, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. dueled to the checkered flag. Yesterday's rating peaked with a 13.6 between 6-6:30 p.m. as Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth traded paint and Johnson took the crown in the "Super Bowl of stock car racing."

"I am thrilled that we were able to give NASCAR this record-breaking rating for the exciting sport of stock car racing," said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics.

164 MILLION WATCH TORINO OLYMPICS TO DATE: Through Sunday, 164 million viewers have watched the Torino Winter Olympics on the networks of NBC Universal, pacing only two percent behind this same point during the Salt Lake Games (166 million).

NBC DOMINATES PRIMETIME: Last night's coverage of the Torino Winter Olympics on NBC rated a 11.6/18 and delivered an average of 19.2 million viewers (7:00 p.m.-11:45 p.m. ET/PT) as the U.S. ice dancing duo of Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto climbed into second place going into tonight's gold medal final. NBC once again claimed the night in primetime, outrating ABC for the night by 7 percent in households (10.8) and 7 percent in total viewers (18.1M) and outrating CBS and Fox combined in both households and viewer delivery (CBS, 6.1/9.5 million; Fox, 3.2/5.3 million).

TORINO OLYMPICS ON CABLE REACHES NEARLY 53 MILLION VIEWERS: Through Sunday, coverage of the Torino Games has reached 52.7 million total, unduplicated viewers on the cable networks of NBCU, more than 30 percent higher than the comparable time periods last year (40.4 million).

THE OLYMPICS IN PRIMETIME ON NBC

Sunday Torino to Date through Sun., Feb. 19
HH Rating 11.6/18 12.1/19
A18-49 5.5 6.2
Average Viewers 19.2 20.4
Total Unduplicated 56.4 million 164 million

The top ten metered markets for Sunday's broadcast of the Daytona 500 on NBC were:
1. Greenville, S.C. 24.7/39
2. Greensboro, N.C. 23.0/37
3. Orlando, Fla. 22.7/39
4. Indianapolis, Ind. 21.2/34
5. Charlotte, N.C. 21.0/36
6. Knoxville, Tenn. 19.2/31
7. Jacksonville, Fla. 18.7/29
8. Nashville, Tenn. 17.8/30
9. Dayton, Ohio 17.7/30
10. Louisville, Ky. 17.3/28


Following are the ranked metered markets for Sunday night's Olympic broadcast:
1. Salt Lake City 18.7/32
2. St. Louis 18/25
3. Portland 17.2/29
4. Minneapolis 16.6/27
5. West Palm Beach 16.1/26
6. Denver 15.9/27
7. Cleveland 15.6/24
8. Indianapolis 15.5/24
9. Milwaukee 15.3/23
T10. Sacramento 14.6/24
T10. Ft. Myers 14.6/22
12. Phoenix 14.5/22
13. Las Vegas 14.4/23
14. Jacksonville 14.3/21
T15. Pittsburgh 14/21
T15. Providence 14/23
17. San Diego 13.7/22
18. Columbus 13.6/21
19. Baltimore 13.4/21
T20. Nashville 13.2/19
T20. Buffalo 13.2/20
22. Seattle 13.1/23
T23. Boston 13/22
T23. Orlando 13/19
T23. Norfolk 13/19
T26. Greenville-Spartanburg12.9/19
T26. Greensboro 12.9/19
28. Oklahoma City 12.8/17
29. Kansas City 12.7/19
T30. Cincinnati 12.5/19
T30. Tulsa 12.5/18
32. New York 12.4/19
33. Chicago 12.3/19
34. Albuquerque 12.1/20
35. Tampa 12/18
36. Louisville 11.9/18
37. San Francisco 11.6/21
T38. Detroit 11.5/18
T38. Hartford 11.5/18
40. Knoxville 11.4/18
41. Philadelphia 11.2/17
42. Charlotte 11.1/17
43. Austin 11/16
44. Dayton 10.7/16
T45. Dallas 10.5/15
T45. Raleigh 10.5/16
T45. San Antonio 10.5/15
48. Washington 10.4/17
49. Richmond 9.9/15
50. Los Angeles 9.8/17
51. Birmingham 9.2/13
T52. Atlanta 9.1/14
T52. Memphis 9.1/12
54. Miami 8.8/14
55. Houston 8/11

Following are the ranked metered markets through Sunday, Feb. 19:
1. Salt Lake City 21.2/35
2. Denver 19.5/32
3. Minneapolis 18.9/31
4. Portland 18.8/32
5. St. Louis 17.3/25
6. Milwaukee 17.2/26
7. Cleveland 17/27
8. West Palm Beach 16.9/27
9. Seattle 16.2/28
10. Sacramento 16/26
T11. Phoenix 15.8/24
T11. San Diego 15.8/26
T13. Indianapolis 15.2/23
T13. Providence 15.2/24
15. Columbus 15.1/24
16. Ft. Myers 14.7/22
17. Jacksonville 14.6/22
T18. Baltimore 14.4/22
T18. Hartford 14.4/22
T20. Nashville 14.2/21
T20. Las Vegas 14.2/23
22. Tampa 14.1/21
23. Norfolk 13.9/21
24. Pittsburgh 13.8/21
25. Cincinnati 13.6/22
26. Boston 13.5/23
27. Buffalo 13.4/21
28. Oklahoma City 13.2/19
29. New York 13.1/20
30. Chicago 12.9/21
31. Kansas City 12.8/19
T32. Albuquerque 12.5/20
T32. Austin 12.5/20
T34. Dallas 12.4/19
T34. Orlando 12.4/19
T34. Greensboro 12.4/19
37. San Francisco 12.3/22
38. Dayton 12.2/19
T39. Philadelphia 11.9/18
T39. Tulsa 11.9/18
T41. Washington 11.8/20
T41. Greenville-Spartanburg11.8/18
43. Richmond 11.7/18
T44. Detroit 11.4/18
T44. Louisville 11.4/17
46. Atlanta 11.3/17
47. Los Angeles 10.8/18
48. San Antonio 10.7/16
49. Knoxville 10.6/16
50. Charlotte 10.5/16
51. Raleigh 10.3/16
52. Houston 9.8/14
53. Birmingham 9.2/13
T54. Miami 9/13
T54. Memphis 9/12

Monday’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.

Anyone see a trend here?


1. Greenville, S.C. 24.7/39
2. Greensboro, N.C. 23.0/37
3. Orlando, Fla. 22.7/39
4. Indianapolis, Ind. 21.2/34
5. Charlotte, N.C. 21.0/36
6. Knoxville, Tenn. 19.2/31
7. Jacksonville, Fla. 18.7/29
8. Nashville, Tenn. 17.8/30
9. Dayton, Ohio 17.7/30
10. Louisville, Ky. 17.3/28


And Indianapolis doesn't count.

Why doesn't Indy count? :confused:

I think he's trying to point out the number of southern markets ;) (News flash! NASCAR is popular in the south!)

Indy has its racing heritage, of course, but Dayton really isn't in the south...

Monday Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
A rare night of Olympic glory for NBC

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Feb 21, 2006

Finally some American athletes overachieved. And finally the Olympics smashed the competition on the other networks, finishing well ahead among adults 18-49 with its best average in that demo.

Last night’s Winter Games coverage on NBC averaged a strong 6.8 Nielsen overnight rating average in primetime, 1.3 ahead of runner-up Fox. It was the first time NBC had cracked a 6.0 since last Monday, when it averaged a 6.5.

Not surprisingly, ice skating provided the big boost for NBC. Last night Americans Tanith Belbin and partner Ben Agosto became the first U.S. pair since 1976 to earn a medal in ice dancing.

Belbin and Agosto finished second in the competition, boosting ratings as the night went on. NBC peaked with a 7.4 rating during the 10 p.m. hour, and may have done even better after 11 p.m. Overnights measure timeslot data through 11 p.m. and not after.

That came against a strong lineup from Fox, which moved “House” from Tuesday at 9 p.m. to Monday at 8. Even then, NBC still won the timeslot with a 5.8 to the latter’s 5.3.

For the night among 18-49s, ABC finished third behind NBC and Fox at 4.0/9, CBS fourth at 3.4/8, Univision fifth at 1.8/4, UPN sixth at 1.4/3 and WB seventh at 0.9/2.

NBC’s Olympics coverage led each hour of the night among 18-49s, beginning with a 5.8 rating during the 8 p.m. hour. Fox was second with a 5.3 for “House,” ABC third with a 3.5 for the first half of “Wife Swap” and CBS fourth with a 2.7 for repeats of “The King of Queens” and “How I Met Your Mother.”

Univision was fifth with a 1.9 for “Contra Viento y Marea,” UPN sixth with a 1.3 for “One on One” (1.2) and “All of Us” (1.5), and WB seventh with a 0.9 for the first hour of the movie “Agent Cody Banks.”

At 9 p.m. NBC held onto its lead with a 7.1 average for the Olympics. Fox finished second with a 5.7 for “24,” ABC third with a 4.5 for the second half of “Wife Swap” and CBS fourth with a 3.4 for repeats of “Two and a Half Men” and “Courting Alex.” Univision was fifth that hour with a 1.9 for “Alborada,” UPN sixth with a 1.5 for “Girlfriends” (1.6) and “Half and Half” (1.5) and WB seventh with a 0.9 for the second half of “Cody Banks.”

At 10 p.m. NBC grew again, averaging a 7.4 rating among 18-49s for the Olympics. CBS moved to second with a 4.1 for a repeat of “CSI: Miami,” with ABC third with a 4.0 for “The Bachelor” and Univision fourth with a 1.6 for “Cristina.”

Among households, NBC led the night with a 13.5 average rating and a 20 share. Fox was second at 8.4/12, CBS third at 6.7/10, ABC fourth at 6.1/9, UPN and Univision tied for fifth at 2.2/3 and WB seventh at 1.9/3.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_3001.asp

Sports TV
Confessions of an Olympic luger -- er, loser

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog February 21, 2006

I’ve tried to conform, really I have.

But after 10 days of steady failure, I have to come out of the closet and admit something I can no longer deny to myself:

The Olympics are boring.

You may have been wondering why I haven’t written more about the Turin games. I should be writing more, but I can’t think of a thing to say, unless it involves Shaun White’s hair or the general hideousness of the ice skating costumes. OK, one high point was seeing Tim Gunn discuss Olympic fashion on MSNBC (he pronounced the Chinese pair-skating costumes “appalling,” in that perfectly reasonable and unassailably right voice of his), but I hardly think that counts as “watching the Olympics.”

I’ve tried to watch the games, really. Ice dancing, various kinds of ski events, hockey, luge. My attention span, thus far, has rarely lasted more than 10 minutes.

I can’t get into the back stories of the athletes, the dramatic face-offs between top competitors, blah blah blah. I’ve never heard of any of these people, except Sasha Cohen (and that’s mainly because she recently guested on “Project Runway”). When I sit down to watch the Olympics, I feel like a Klingon attack armada: I’m repelled by an invisible force field, bounced back from something I’m supposed to be able to get into without much effort.

I can’t entirely explain my short Olympic attention span, but I think it frankly comes down to the fact that I just don’t care. That fact came home to me as I flipped around the dial Monday night, watching snippets of “Dr. 90210” on E! and sitting through half of Rachel Hunter’s dreadful new fashion-reality show, “Style Me,” on Oxygen, instead of watching the Olympics, as I had planned to do.

I tried to watch the ice dancing on Monday, but honestly -- those costumes. Barf! So back to Rachel and her horrid, leg-warmer-oriented fashion makeovers I went, for five minutes. Then on to something else that didn't involve shiny spandex or snow.

It’s not that there hasn’t been compelling stuff to watch: the gold-medal winning snowboarding runs have been a treat, and Lindsey Jacobellis’ mess-up is classic train-wreck TV. And any time someone falls down a mountain, skids across the ice or flames out spectacularly on the luge run, that’s pretty compelling stuff.

But I can get those images in five minutes or less per day of Olympics watching -- and lots of it is easily found on NBC’s Olympics Web site.

I make no apology for being part of the TiVo/iTunes generation. I download the one good song I want from that bloated, overhyped record. I watch the one good clip from that week’s “Saturday Night Live” or “MadTV” online. I want to access my chosen entertainment quickly, and via the Web or through the combo Jay Leno/Olympics roundup that NBC airs each night, I can easily get my fill of whatever was watchable that day.

Hence I’m not buckling down to watch three hours of prime time coverage every night. Three hours? Heck, I’m lucky if I have the attention span for half an hour of luging.

No doubt NBC thinks I’m a luger, er, loser. And there appear to be millions more like me, since the Olympics have had a less-than-impressive performance in the ratings, especially among younger people. “American Idol” pretty much killed the Olympics the two nights they went head to head last week, and non-repeat programming on other networks, notably ABC's Sunday blockbuster "Grey's Anatomy," has handily beat the Turin games in the 18-49 demographic.

I reserve the right to change my mind, of course. Women’s figure skating airs Tuesday, and despite Michelle Kwan being out of contention, it ought to be interesting to watch.

Then again, I might just watch the most hyped skating performances online. Who wants to wade through three hours of prime time coverage (and tons of commercials) to see a few potentially medal-worthy performances? I don’t have the time. Who does?

And I’m not crying too much for NBC -- despite the fact that the Turin games are not doing all that well in the Nielsens, NBC is getting millions of clicks on their Olympic Web site, and those snippets of Turin video are preceded by advertising. And let’s face it, even if “Idol” kills the Olympics again Tuesday, figure skating is bound to get a better number than “Joey” will when it limps into its new Tuesday slot come March.

Who knows, maybe the next Olympics will be broadcast entirely online. Perhaps iTunes will be selling an Olympics greatest hits before the closing ceremonies even takes place.

All things considered, a three-hour nightly commitment to the Olympics is just too much to ask.

It’s even too much to ask, I’m almost ashamed to admit, from someone who gets paid to watch TV.

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

Sorry this posting is so late...

The Boston Globe Obituary
Sportscaster Curt Gowdy dies at 86

A big-game voice that defined an era
By Mark Feeney Boston Globe Staff February 21, 2006

Curt Gowdy, who went from being the voice of the Red Sox for 15 seasons to becoming America's premier sportscaster in the late '60s and early '70s, died of leukemia yesterday at his Palm Beach, Fla., home. He was 86.

Mr. Gowdy was ''one of the greatest sports broadcasters in history," NBC Universal sports chairman Dick Ebersol said yesterday. Mr. Gowdy, who spent most of his career at NBC, also broadcast for ABC and CBS Radio.

''He was in a class with Mel Allen and all those great announcers," Johnny Pesky of the Red Sox said of Mr. Gowdy yesterday. ''You always go by the voice, and when they got that good voice, you could listen to them all day."

Mr. Gowdy's voice was a warm, mellow twang. With it, he called Carl Yastrzemski's first at-bat -- and Ted Williams's last. ''It was one of the big thrills of my life," Mr. Gowdy said in a Globe interview last August about announcing Williams's last home run.

''He hit that ball, and I saw it start to soar and get some distance. I got all excited and I said, 'It's going, going, gone!' and then I stopped and said, 'Ted Williams has hit a home run in his last time at bat in the major leagues.' "

The winner of 13 Emmy Awards, Mr. Gowdy was the first sportscaster to win a Peabody Award, a prestigious honor in broadcasting. He broadcast 16 World Series, nine Super Bowls, eight Olympics, 12 Rose Bowls, and 24 NCAA Final Fours. As ESPN's Chris Berman told The New York Times in 2003, ''When Curt Gowdy called a game, it was big."

Mr. Gowdy was a member of some 20 halls of fame, including those of baseball, professional football, and basketball. For seven years, he served as president of the Basketball Hall of Fame; and the hall's annual sportswriting and broadcasting awards bear his name. He was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995.

Perhaps Mr. Gowdy was proudest of his membership in the International Game Fishing Association Hall of Fame. A passionate outdoorsman, he hosted ''The American Sportsman" on ABC for two decades. His native Wyoming named a state park for Mr. Gowdy in 1972. He owed his nickname, ''The Cowboy," to his background and love of the outdoors.

Curtis Edward Gowdy was born in Green River, Wyo. His father, Edward Curtis Gowdy, was a dispatcher for the Union Pacific railroad. His mother, Ruth (Smith) Gowdy, was a housewife.

An excellent high school athlete, Mr. Gowdy started on the University of Wyoming basketball team and played varsity tennis.

A bad back led to a medical discharge from the Army in 1943. In fact, back pains would plague him throughout his career. Mr. Gowdy's back was so bad, he missed the entire 1957 Red Sox season. To seek relief, he often slept on the floor of his hotel room. ''The maids thought I was nuts," he told The Palm Beach Post in 1999.

Mr. Gowdy made his first broadcast in 1943, of a high school football game featuring six-man teams, in Cheyenne, Wyo. There were 15 fans in the stands. The temperature was below zero, and Mr. Gowdy stood on an orange crate to get a better view of the action. ''Nobody wore numbers," he told the Post. ''I made up the name of every player. I had to guess where the goal line was."

Other than a public speaking course in college, Mr. Gowdy had no preparation for broadcasting. But the station manager liked what he'd heard.

Mr. Gowdy read news headlines and commercials, called local sporting events, and delivered telegraph re-creations of major league games.

In 1946, Mr. Gowdy was hired as a sportscaster by a CBS affiliate in Oklahoma City. He did his first national broadcast from Oklahoma, which earned him a telegram from broadcast legend Edward R. Murrow. ''The message said I'd done a great job with the game," Mr. Gowdy told The Denver Post in 2002. ''I wish I had kept it."

In 1949, Mr. Gowdy was chosen from 300 applicants to become Mel Allen's partner on New York Yankees broadcasts. He became the Red Sox play-by-play announcer in 1951.

''In the 1950s and '60s, his was the voice that told the stories of the Red Sox to a generation of fans," Red Sox executive vice president Charles Steinberg said in a statement yesterday. ''His was the voice under the pillow."

''It was the greatest spot in the American League," Mr. Gowdy said to the Times in 2003 of the old broadcasting booth at Fenway Park. ''You could reach out and just about touch the players. It was the happiest 15 years of my life, here in Boston."

Although Mr. Gowdy left the Red Sox job after the 1966 season to broadcast NBC's game of the week, he maintained his local ties. He lived in Wellesley Hills, and later Boston, and had a summer home in Sugar Hill, N.H. The team held a tribute to Mr. Gowdy at a pregame ceremony on Aug. 28.

Mr. Gowdy's years in Boston were not the best for the Red Sox. His tenure largely coincided with the team's feckless Country Club era. But he voiced no complaints. He and Williams became close friends, and he professed great admiration for the man who'd hired him, team owner Tom Yawkey.

''Everything I did in Boston worked out great," Mr. Gowdy said in that August interview. ''Mr. Yawkey was great to me, and [general manager Joe] Cronin was like a father to me. They were top people. I hated that they couldn't get a better team, but I was lucky."

Mr. Gowdy's favorite sport was basketball, and in his Red Sox stint he broadcast Celtics games.

If Celtic great John Havlicek is to be believed, he made a far greater contribution to the team than any he made to the Red Sox. According to Havlicek, coach Red Auerbach once asked Mr. Gowdy which player had most impressed him when he broadcast the 1962 NCAA Final Four. He said Havlicek, and Auerbach proceeded to draft the future basketball Hall of Fame member.

His biggest sports moment, Mr. Gowdy told The Denver Post, was announcing Super Bowl III, when the New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts. ''In the fourth quarter, I delivered a little editorial in which I said this would change the map of football in America. . . . I was accused of rooting for the [American Football League]. But I was just telling the facts."

Mr. Gowdy's willingness to go his own way got him in trouble in 1971. When the AFC divisional championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins went into overtime, Mr. Gowdy started referring to ''sudden victory" rather than ''sudden death."

His attempt at being upbeat drew criticism, but it was consistent with his style.

Pesky, who was a player and later the manager when Mr. Gowdy did Red Sox games, said of him yesterday, ''I don't think he ever embarrassed anybody. He was always a class act."

Mr. Gowdy, who also did some sportswriting during his early broadcasting days, wrote two books: ''Cowboy at the Mike" (1966), with Al Hirshberg, and ''Seasons to Remember: The Way It Was in American Sports, 1945-1960" (1993), with John Powers.

In 1963, Mr. Gowdy purchased the first of what would eventually be seven radio stations in his portfolio, WCCM, in Haverhill.

His all-time broadcasting thrill, he told The Palm Beach Post, involved sports only tangentially: it was ''Doing 'Casey at the Bat' with the Boston Pops, in1998. The music, the children, the summer breeze at Tanglewood. Yes, that has to be the greatest."

Mr. Gowdy leaves his wife, Geraldine ''Jerre" (Dawkins) Gowdy; two sons, Trevor of Boston, and Curt Jr. of New York; a daughter, Cheryl Ann of Palm Beach; and five grandchildren.

A funeral is scheduled for Saturday at Trinity Church in Boston.

(Dan Shaughnessy of the Globe staff contributed to this obituary. )

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2006/02/21/sportscaster_curt_gowdy_dies_at_86?mode=PF

The Winter Olympics
Olympics coverage will be profitable, Ebersol says

By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter Feb. 22, 2006

NEW YORK -- Despite a less-than-spectacular showing by the U.S. and corresponding lower ratings, NBC will make between $50 million and $75 million on this year's Winter Olympics.

That's the word from NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, who told reporters Tuesday that things weren't as bad from Turin as it seemed.

"We're profitable. We see on these games a profit between $50 (million) and $75 million with the number being closer to $75 million," Ebersol said.

This year's Winter Olympics have faced strong competition from several networks, including ABC and particularly Fox's "American Idol." In years past, the other networks would mostly show repeats for the duration of the games.

NBC's coverage is down nearly 25% from the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, and even further from the 2002 Salt Lake City games.

But NBC, which promised between a 12 and a 14 household rating to advertisers, doesn't expect major shortfalls that will cause it to scramble among advertisers.

"At this point we are not even discussing makegoods and it's the belief of the business side of the company that we won't need to," Ebersol said.

One bright side: NBCOlympics.com is playing an even bigger role than ever before. Ebersol said it's the first time that the company will make a profit from the Web site, between $5 million and $6 million.

"Our Internet business is exploding. We've already reached in the first eight days of these Olympics the total number of people that we reached during the Games in Salt Lake City," Ebersol said.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002035678

TV Notebook
Primetime Emmy voting to be overhauled

By Tom O’Neil Los Angeles Times

Uh-oh. There's bad Emmy news for all of those Desperate Housewives, but good news for "Veronica Mars" star Kristen Bell and other TV rookies on the rise. The primetime Emmys just announced a radical overhaul of its nomination process that will probably boost underdog stars like Bell and make it harder for TV grandstanders like those Housewives to get automatic bids.

Emmy nominees for best series actor and actress plus best comedy and drama series will now be chosen in part by judging panels. In the past the top five nominees in those categories were selected by popular vote of academy members, which usually favored the most popular contenders when measured by Nielsen ratings or industry buzz. From now on they'll actually be judged by their TV work too.

Academy members will still use a popular ballot to determine finalists in those categories, but now they'll cite 15 entries for acting and 10 for series instead of 5. The finalists must submit a sample TV episode to judging panels, which will convene at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in North Hollywood, Calif., on June 24 and 25. The judges will then whittle down the entries to five per category, announcing the full list of nominees on July 6. Winners will be chosen at the Emmy ceremony to be telecast on Aug. 27.

The voting overhaul is likely to be welcomed enthusiastically by TV critics, who often mount nuclear attacks on the academy because Emmy nominations frequently ignore great work on low-rated TV programs. There is little criticism of the Emmys' method of picking winners because it's far more careful and fair. Voting is limited to peers who must sign affidavits attesting that they've viewed sample videos submitted by every nominee in a category.

"This new voting initiative hits the issue of a narrow nominations process head on and significantly increases the potential for the widest and most diverse selection of nominees possible," said academy chairman Dick Askin (who is also president and CEO of The Envelope's sister company, Tribune Entertainment Co.). "It is also representative of the effectiveness of collaboration between our peer groups and the focus of our board to advance and improve our voting process whenever we are able to do so."

"The voting change really isn't new," insisted the academy's awards chief John Leverence. "We currently use the same process to determine the nominees for performers in a music variety show and guest actors in a series. Now we're extending it to the lead acting categories and best series. At this point we are not yet introducing it in the supporting acting races."

Rules were also changed to permit 700 directors and casting executives to vote in the acting categories, which were previously restricted to 1,400 performers.

http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2006/02/primetime_emmy_.html

The Winter Olympics
Olympics coverage will be profitable, Ebersol says

Does anyone else get the impression that "the media" is stoking (dare I say pouring gas onto) the "Battle of the Speed Skating Rink" in a vain attempt to increase ratings.

Tuesday’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.

TV Notebook
FOX TO LAUNCH MY NETWORK TV

(NewsCorp Press Release) February 22, 2006

New Station-Friendly Primetime Option Set for September
Primetime Dramas “Desire” and “Secrets” to Inaugurate My Network TV Debut

NEW YORK – February 22, 2006 - FOX will launch My Network TV, a new primetime program network scheduled to debut this fall. Fox Television Stations, Inc., and Twentieth Television will operate the new venture. The announcement was made today at a press conference in New York by Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer, News Corporation; Roger Ailes, Chairman of Fox Television Stations; and Jack Abernethy, CEO of Fox Television Stations.

Upon launching on Tuesday, September 5th, 2006, My Network TV will feature quality primetime programming from 8:00-10:00pm (EST/PST) Monday through Saturday, totaling 12 hours of original content per week. Providing broadcasters a viable and station-friendly option for primetime, involving no reverse compensation, My Network TV will position stations with operational flexibility through an appealing affiliation term and attractive inventory split, further building asset value.

Fox Television Stations’ WWOR/New York, KCOP/Los Angeles, WPWR/Chicago, KDFI/Dallas, WDCA/Washington, D.C., KTXH/Houston, WFTC/Minneapolis, KUTP/Phoenix, WRBW/ Orlando and WUTB/Baltimore will serve as anchor affiliates of My Network TV, representing 24% of the United States. Supported with powerful branding and marketing initiatives that tie-in locally, the service will maintain and strengthen affiliates’ community brand recognition with a complete look and feel of a national network that empowers localism.

Regarding the announcement, Mr. Chernin stated, “No other media company comes close to Fox when it comes to launching new networks and gauging audience appetites. Over the past 20 years, we’ve proved it time and again with FBC, FX, Fox News Channel and National Geographic Channel among many others. And with My Network TV, we think we’ve come up with a unique format that will resonate with today’s consumer and a model that can be profitable from day one.”

Mr. Ailes added, “Backed by the strongest media company in the world, My Network TV is a viable alternative brought to you by proven winners who know quality programming. Independent stations are in need of a solid option for primetime and we believe no other company is providing this service to the market.”

Commented Mr. Abernethy, “We’re thrilled to be launching My Network TV this fall. We consider this to be a station-friendly alternative that will deliver more local inventory to its affiliates, uphold each station’s localism and feature quality programming supported by strong branding and marketing. We are looking forward to signing additional affiliates in the coming weeks.”

Twentieth Television’s new hour-long scripted dramas “Desire” and “Secrets” will inaugurate My Network TV. Structured in a 65-episode story arc stripped Monday through Friday for 13 weeks, “Desire” and “Secrets” are based on the worldwide success of the telenovela format. “Desire” chronicles the destruction of a family and the bonds of brotherhood take center stage when two brothers on the run from the mafia find themselves in a heated battle of passion, betrayal, deceit and murder over the woman they both love. “Secrets” goes deep behind-the-scenes to focus on the glamorous, yet sometimes brutally ruthless fashion industry, in which greed, lust and blind ambition surround a violent corporate takeover of the business’ hottest company. Principal photography on the dramas will commence early March.

Twentieth Television is aggressively developing additional programs and proven formats spanning reality, drama, comedy, game, news, movies and talk for My Network TV as the network develops, while also exploring opportunities with its sister companies. The company is opening its doors to all other major Hollywood studios to negotiate future programming concepts. Programs currently in development include:

• “Catwalk” (Twentieth Television) -- The ultimate search for the next “It” supermodel begins by crossing the country to discover 30 of the hottest, hippest and freshest faces who will compete for the once in a lifetime opportunity to be catapulted into stardom.

• “Celebrity Love Island” [Granada (“Nanny 911”)] -- Six gorgeous celebrity and six non-celebrity singletons are thrown together in a fantasy island setting, where a star-studded search for love takes place.

• “On Scene” (Fox News) -- This crime investigative series will cover all angles, examine all of the evidence and trace every single clue of the most compelling crimes committed today.

• “America’s Brainiest” (working title) [Celador (“Who Wants to Be A Millionaire”)] -- This quiz show, based on the hit British program, will find the country’s smartest individuals and reveal them in an exciting format.

• In addition, Twentieth Television is in advanced negotiations with FremantleMedia North America (“American Idol”) on an international format.

The Fox Television Stations group, one of the nation’s largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprises 35 stations in 26 markets, covering nearly 45% of U.S. television homes. This includes five duopolies in the top 10 markets, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Washington D.C., as well as duopolies in Houston, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando.

http://www.newscorp.com/news/news_277.html

Looks like Fox is looking to fill the void left behind by CW. Kind of humorous to picture a company like Sinclair with a MNTV programming lineup. :)

Does anyone else get the impression that "the media" is stoking (dare I say pouring gas onto) the "Battle of the Speed Skating Rink" in a vain attempt to increase ratings.

Well, sure, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Good TV is good TV, as the speed-skating dustup showed - certainly the press conference was at least as entertaining as the race itself, especially since the heat format kept the two antagonists from a face-to-face faceoff. The best part of the Italian ice-dancers' routine came after their number was finished as the girl stared lasers into the head of her partner who had the temerity to make a mistake.

NBC has to find a formula to draw casual viewers in; what would you have them do?

NBC has to find a formula to draw casual viewers in; what would you have them do?

If you follow the Fox formula, you'd get the Olympic committee to put Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson in as judges and use call-in votes to figure out who wins. :)

Survey Says: HDTV Tops Shoes


By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/22/2006 9:50:00 AM

Women would pick an HDTV set over a toaster, a day off or a new pair of Manolo Blahniks.

That's according to a Scripps Networks lifestyle research survey. The only thing that beat out HDTV, chosen by 29% of respondents as their top pick, was a weekend getaway (42%).

The survey found that the top programming category respondents were interested in seeing in HD was documentaries, with dramas and sports next at 69% and lifestyle programming--like Scripps' HGTV or Food Network, for instance--at 62%.

The survey--of 878 adults 18-plus, margin of error plus or minus 3%--is in conjunction with HGTV's launch in HD next month.

http://broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6309409.html?display=Breaking+News

Tuesday Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Sweet bump for NBC's Winter Games

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Feb 22, 2006

American figure skater Sasha Cohen’s gold medal hopes gave NBC its second straight night of stronger Olympics coverage.

Highlighted by Cohen’s No. 1 finish in the women’s short program, NBC’s coverage averaged 24.6 million total viewers last night, according to Nielsen overnights, a 12-day high and up 21 percent versus the 20.3 million viewers the network had averaged through the first 11 days of the Torino Games.

NBC also matched a Torino best with a 7.2 overnight rating among 18-49s, and delivered a 2006 Games-high 15.1 overnight household rating. That was according to primetime ratings, which measure 8 to 11 p.m. Final ratings will likely rise, as Cohen skated after 11 p.m.

NBC’s 18-49 rating was up 18 percent versus the 6.1 it had averaged through 11 days, and its household rating up 25 percent versus the 12.1 it had averaged during that period. NBC hit its previous high in 18-49s Monday night.

Most impressively, NBC’s strong night came against two hours of Fox hit “American Idol,” which held the first night of elimination competition. Fox averaged 29.9 million for the night, but NBC was still able to grow 32 percent week-to-week among total viewers on Tuesday.

On the strength of “Idol,” Fox led the night among 18-49s with a 12.9 average rating and a 30 share, comfortably ahead of NBC’s 7.2/17. CBS was third at 3.0/7, ABC fourth at 2.6/6, Univision fifth at 1.7/4, WB sixth at 1.3/3 and UPN seventh at 0.6/1.

Fox began the night in the lead with a 12.0 rating for the first half of “Idol.” NBC was second with a 5.2 for the Olympics, CBS third with a 2.5 for a repeat of “NCIS” and ABC fourth with a 2.3 average for a repeat of “According to Jim” (2.2) and a new “Rodney” (2.4).
Univision was fifth with a 1.8 for “Contra Viento y Marea,” WB sixth with a 1.3 for the first half of the movie “Final Destination 2” and UPN seventh with a 0.6 for the first hour of the movie “Black Knight.”

Fox grew during the 9 p.m. hour with a 13.7 average for the second half of “Idol.” NBC was second that hour with a 7.1 for the Olympics, with CBS and ABC tied for third at 2.6, CBS for another “NCIS” repeat and ABC for “According to Jim” (2.6) and a repeat of “George Lopez” (2.6).
Univision was fifth with a 2.0 for “Alborada,” WB sixth with a 1.3 for the last half of “Final” and UPN seventh with a 0.7 for the second hour of “Knight.”

At 10 p.m. NBC took over with a 9.2 average for the Olympics. CBS was second with a 3.9 for a repeat of “CSI,” ABC third with a 2.8 for “Boston Legal” and Univision fourth with a 1.2 for “Var Para Creer.”

Fox led the night among households with a 16.8 average rating and a 24 share. NBC was second at 15.1/22, CBS third at 6.7/10, ABC fourth at 4.8/7, WB fifth at 2.1/3, Univision sixth at 2.0/3 and UPN seventh at 1.2/2.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_3011.asp

Ratings Notes
NBC Wins Week in Adults 18 to 49, Total Viewers

By Christopher Lisotta TVWeek.com February 22, 2006

Telecasts of the Winter Olympics gave NBC the gold medal in adults 18 to 49 and in total viewers for the week ended Feb. 19, but the top-rated show in both demos was still Fox's "American Idol."

The Wednesday edition of "Idol" was the highest-rated program in adults 18 to 49 with an 11.9 rating, a number that includes live-plus-same-day DVR viewing, according to Nielsen Media Research. The second-highest program in the demo was "Idol" Tuesday with an 11.4, followed by ABC's Sunday night medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" (10.7), "Grey's" lead-in "Desperate Housewives" (9.8), Wednesday's "Lost" (7.8) and Fox's Tuesday night "Idol" lead-out, medical drama "House" (7.7). NBC's highest-rated night of Olympics coverage came Monday with a 6.6 in the demo, ranking seventh for the week.

In total viewers, "Idol" Wednesday was tops for the week with 28.8 million, followed by Tuesday's "Idol" (27.0 million), "Grey's" (24.4 million), "Housewives" (23.4 million) and NBC's Monday night Olympics coverage (21.1 million).

NBC was the top-rated network for the week in adults 18 to 49 with a 5.9, followed by Fox (4.4), ABC (4.3), CBS (3.1), The WB (1.6) and UPN (1.0).

In total viewers NBC was also the top-rated network with 19.4 million, followed by distant second ABC (11.4 million), Fox (10.4 million), CBS (10.2 million), The WB (3.7 million) and UPN (2.6 million).

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9434

Well, sure, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Good TV is good TV, as the speed-skating dustup showed - certainly the press conference was at least as entertaining as the race itself, especially since the heat format kept the two antagonists from a face-to-face faceoff.

That's where I must disagree. I think this is one case where "the media" went out of it's way to create a story. Whatever you think about Davis, he was deliberately provoked by the media on several occasions. This isn't "Survivor."

Last week’s complete network average prime-time results (with demographic averages) are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS the first post in this thread.

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

The Business of TV
News Corp. Creates New Network for Orphaned Affiliates

By John O’Neil The New York Times February 22, 2006

In a move that amounts to turning lemons into lemonade, the News Corporation announced today that it was creating a new prime-time network to provide shows to stations it owns that are losing programming because of the merger of the WB and UPN networks.

The new venture will be called My Network TV and its shows will be seen beginning this fall, the company said. The programming will also be offered to other independent stations around the country that have found themselves facing the same primetime gap.

Fox Television Stations, owned by the News Corporation, was the hardest hit of the many broadcast companies affected by the creation of the CW network out of WB and UPN, both of which had been struggling financially. The CW network begin operations in September.

In markets where two stations carried each of the now-merged networks, only one will get CW's shows, under the deal worked out by CW's owners, CBS and Warner Brothers. Fox was the biggest loser among the stations cut out, with 10 of its biggest stations, including Channel 9 in New York, facing a programming gap. The CW station in New York will be Channel 11, which carried WB.

Not all stations owned by the News Corporation are affiliated with its flagship Fox television network, since the company owns more than one station in some markets. In New York, for instance, Channel 5 is a Fox affiliate, but Channel 9 has been a UPN affiliate.

The Fox stations affected by the merger will be the core of My Network TV, reaching 24 percent of the American audience, the announcement said. Along with WWOR Channel 9 in New York, the others are KCOP in Los Angeles, WPWR in Chicago, KDFI in Dallas, WDCA in Washington, KTXH in Houston, WFTC in Minneapolis, KUTP in Phoenix, WRBW in Orlando and WUTB in Baltimore.

The new network will provide 12 hours of new programming, for the 8 to 10 p.m. slot Mondays through Saturdays, the announcement said.

The new shows will be created by Twentieth Television, Fox's syndication subsidiary, and will include its new soap operas "Desire" and "Secrets."

Other offerings will include reality shows featuring aspiring models, celebrities and single people searching for love "in a fantasy island setting," a crime show examining evidence from "the most compelling crimes committed today," and a quiz show, "America's Brainiest."

Since the WB/UPN merger was announced last month, companies that syndicate television programming have been scrambling to sell their shows to the stations left high and dry by the merger. CBS Paramount Domestic Television renewed its pop newsmagazine show "Entertainment Tonight" through 2012 in 60 percent of the country. Its spin-off, "The Insider," was renewed in five major markets.

But Fox executives said in today's announcement that they, too, hope to attract buyers of their new wares beyond the stations they control.

"My Network TV is a viable alternative brought to you by proven winners who know quality programming," said Roger Ailes, the chairman of Fox Television Stations. "Independent stations are in need of a solid option for primetime and we believe no other company is providing this service to the market."

Peter Chermin, the president and chief operating officer of the News Corporation, cited the company's strong track record in introducing new networks, beginning with the Fox Broadcasting Company.

"Over the past 20 years, we've proved it time and again with FBC, FX, Fox News Channel and National Geographic Channel, among many others," he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/22/business/media/22cnd-fox.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

Note: If I lived in NE Ohio, I would be at the Beacon Journal next Wednesday night at 7:30 (see end of Rich’s notes)
Critic’s Notebook
Digging Through the Viewing Pile -- With a Late Wednesday Addition

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

I actually managed to get a little bit ahead on my work today, finishing a mailbag column and a Tom Amandes story reasonably early. That let me spend the day catching up on new DVDs (the Monty Python ''Personal Best'' series, a ''Drew Carey Show'' sampler, ''Bleak House,'' some other things) for my Friday DVD column, and looking at some of the upcoming shows, including ''The Unit'' and ''Free Ride.''

I especially liked ''The Unit,'' which was created by David Mamet and more than a little resembles his movie ''Spartan.'' Mamet has a very specific writing rhythm, one that it's always impressive to see people master. (Among the masters: William H. Macy and Joe Mantegna.) The cast here, which includes Dennis Haysbert, Regina Taylor, Scott Foley and Robert Patrick, all handle the dialogue ably. The story, about a top military unit dealing with various crises, gets some interesting spins in Mamet's hands, although he can also drop an obvious plot in your lap. (The revelation of a pregnancy isn't even close to revelatory.) CBS sent out three episodes and after watching the first, I was ready for the second. Unfortunately, there was at least one unseen episode between the two I watched, and this isn't a show I want to play catch-up with. But that second episode, not written by Mamet, still felt entertainingly different.

''Free Ride'' I'm still thinking about. I actually found it more than a little funny in spots, even as I recognized the influences -- it's a younger variation on ''Ed'' with a lot of ''Arrested Development'' tossed in. I don't know if I would watch it every week, though. (And would still rather have ''Kitchen Confidential'' back, snff snff.) The underlying story in two episodes made available for preview is kind of bleak, the situations pretty painful for the main character.

Tonight, meanwhile, I have ANOTHER evening meeting. Fortunately -- for me, anyway -- ''Lost'' and ''Veronica Mars'' are both reruns. I hope to be home in time for most of ''American Idol,'' and will have the DVR running for it regardless. So I hope to talk ''Idol'' some here later.

Well, I expected to, anyway. That meeting went two hours, and by the time I got home 10 of the contestants had sung, and my day was winding down. So I'll have to wait until later to post.

Still, for those of you in Northeast Ohio, don't forget that George Thomas and I will be talking TV, movies and trash on March 1 at the Beacon Journal. As I said before, likely topics will include the February sweeps, the Olympics, the Oscars (which will take place a few days after this event) and, of course, ''Brokeback Mountain.'' But we're open to just about anything.

We will start talking at 7:30 p.m. Tours of the Beacon Journal will also be available before our chat, from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. Reservations are not required. Come on down.

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

Critic’s Notebook
Oh, to be 28 again, NBC says with `Conviction'

By Phil Rosenthal Chicago Tribune Media Columnist Published February 22, 2006

Watching NBC's Winter Olympics--some people do, you know--you hear it countless times.

The average age of a New York assistant district attorney is 28.

Over and over, the network keeps pounding that stat in an effort to drum up interest in "Conviction," its new drama from "Law & Order" kingpin Dick Wolf. The message is clear.

Here's a show about young people it hopes will attract young people. Because that's who brings in ad money and they aren't watching NBC much.

NBC last season, its first without "Friends," plunged from first place to fourth in the age 18-to-49 demographic advertisers lust after most. The median age of its prime-time viewers rose from just under 46 two seasons ago to around 49 this season.

So it's pushing 28-year-olds. Hard.

"Everybody wants the demo to go down," said Wolf, 59. "It's not limited to NBC. ... It's just a reality.

"The audience is getting older," he said. "I'm the first year of the Baby Boom [generation]. They're all coming up behind me, and ... half of them are already out of the demo. ... So the network, because of the continuing obsession of advertisers with 18-49, is obviously looking for younger-skewing shows."

The network's hope is that Wolf, who has had unmatched success since 1990 with the original "Law & Order" and its profitable bevy of rumpled, middle-age regulars, can tap some kind of fountain of youth with a younger cast and a different approach that's more character-driven than Wolf's hits.

Of course, young viewers weren't resistant to "Seinfeld" and "Frasier" in NBC's glory days, and the casts of those shows were hardly twentysomethings.

"You can get into a generalization that, `Oh, you've got to go young to get young,' and I don't think that's the case," NBC Entertainment boss Kevin Reilly said.

"I think actually `Friends' almost helped skew the perception of that in a way because it was almost the conclusion that young and sexy equals young audience," Reilly said. "But I think it's a question of tonality and execution."

But it's tough to sell tonality and execution in a promo, and NBC has enough trouble reaching younger viewers as it is.

The Winter Olympics bear that out. The competition brims with young, attractive athletes from all over the world, yet Fox's "American Idol," CBS' "Survivor" and ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy" have dramatically cut into its audience, particularly among the coveted younger viewers.

That's why, as part of its "Conviction" campaign, NBC began making the series pilot available Tuesday on Apple's youth-friendly iTunes site for free download in advance of its March 3 debut. It's a smart move as long as viewers like what they see. Otherwise it's like a free meal at a lousy restaurant; it won't exactly promote return visits.

Some at NBC credit iTunes exposure with helping boost viewership of its offbeat comedy "The Office," and the aim is to create some buzz among people who might not otherwise devote a lot of time to network TV.

"You can see that the young audience, in particular nowadays, really does want that something new, and that's why I think they've been so passionate about `The Office' and have led the charge on that," Reilly said. "The older audience takes a while to warm up and get comfortable."

Wolf's new show won't even have the security blanket of the "Law & Order" brand under which three series have flourished. But a fourth, "Law & Order: Trial by Jury," was canceled last year at least in part because the median age of its viewers was nearly 54.

"This is not a `Law & Order,'" Reilly said. "It doesn't sound like one. It doesn't look like one. ... It's sexy, and it's character-based, and it has an incredible cast of fresh faces."

The median age of their characters? 28.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-0602220050feb22,0,2129330.column

The Business of TV
Merger or break-up? Both miss big picture

By Diane Mermigas The Hollywood Reporter Media Columnist

CHICAGO -- The tussle with dissident investor Carl Icahn has left Time Warner no better off. And the affair reflects the classic takeover, merger, acquisition and spinoff folderol that has menaced the media and entertainment industries for two decades, destroying more value than it has created.

That is because none of those sweeping moves sparked the innovation and creativity that are the prized assets in media's brave new world.

Icahn cut his losses last week by abruptly settling the issue, with Time Warner expanding its stock buyback from $12 billion to $20 billion, appointing two independent members to its board of directors, making another $1 billion in cost cuts and considering sale of a larger public stake when it spins off its cable systems this year.

It was hardly the mutiny Icahn promised under his plan to break Time Warner into four pieces and then realize fuller value through their own separate mergers and acquisitions (HR 2/8). Instead, Icahn won short-term gain for himself and other Time Warner shareholders.

Unfortunately, the settlement contributes nothing to the ongoing struggle by Time Warner (and its media peers) to reposition itself, its brands and its businesses to capitalize on the digital broadband revolution -- a change that no longer can be casually ignored.

After all, Time Warner's America Online unit managed to miss the broadband train and still is playing catch-up. Another of Time Warner's delayed responses is folding its WB Network into rival UPN to create a stronger fifth broadcast TV network, which should have occurred years ago.

Neither move demonstrates an astute grasp of digital consumers, advertisers or content production and distribution.

While Time Warner management has been distracted by the Icahn siege, the digital broadband revolution races on. Just last week, Amazon acknowledged that it is negotiating with major music labels and hardware sources to launch a music-download service and player to rival Apple's iPod player and iTunes. With television video and film downloads expected to follow, Time Warner and other major content providers again are allowing the value of their unique assets to be determined by other marketplace players. The prevailing $1.99 downloads of series episodes, initially set by the Walt Disney Co.'s ABC and Apple's iTunes, was just a place to start.

While various forms of paid on-demand content continue to emerge, a parallel trend with very different economic ramifications is the advent of bulk open access content bundled with new portable devices and services. This reinforces the point that the new-media marketplace is evolving so rapidly that companies can't afford to look the other way for long.

That is a critical difference between these times and others in the past when media companies have found themselves under assault by disgruntled shareholders, unwanted suitors, itinerant controlling family members and radical new rivals. Today, media and entertainment players must remain fixed on the extension, enhancement and re-creation of their core business value on a new playing field where new rules are in and all bets are off.

Media companies no longer can afford such foibles as over-paying for properties, fumbling with changing business dynamics, losing investor confidence, sustaining declines in individual businesses, lacking clear direction and purpose and failing to blend corporate cultures.

The fact that such failings have repeatedly compromised balance sheet and enterprise growth leads to the inevitable conclusion that what media companies still need more of is intrepid, visionary leadership.

There's nothing new about the bold antics of frustrated shareholders like Icahn. When the late billionaire investor Larry Tisch bullied CBS into a takeover play in the mid-1980s, he did exactly what Icahn proposed for Time Warner but in a more discreet dissident role. Tisch forced hundreds of millions of dollars in cost cuts, sold off assets and dragged the Tiffany Network kicking and screaming into an era that saw Big Business buying and restructuring Big Media in its bottom line-focused own image.

Nearly two decades later, Time Warner and its peers are being sucked into a new-media vortex where no one appears to have their bearings.

It's not that the vertical-integration strategy or quest for synergies that fueled mergers and acquisitions in the 1990s were misguided lies. They are achievable and can be lucrative even today with the right management, vision and business plan.

It's just that all media conglomerates would be better off creating new, distinctive services and content that will give them a competitive edge in a marketplace increasingly characterized by fragmented audience and on-demand usage.

To be sure, that will not keep players from trying to best last year's $56 billion in media mergers and acquisitions, according to investment banker Jordan Edmiston Group. Expect a free-for-all for dominant Spanish-language broadcaster Univision among CBS Corp., NBC Universal, Comcast Corp. and others as well as an eventual bidding war between Time Warner and Comcast Corp. for Cablevision Systems.

Just as such consolidation is inevitable, it also is doomed to miss its driving objectives.

In 2002, a Bernstein Research report noted that only about one-fifth of the media companies engaged in the "murderous mergers" of the 1990s and new millennium ever outpaced the S&P 500, implying that only 1 in 5 media deals ever were deemed successful. The report concluded that the Viacom-CBS merger completed in 2000 created the most shareholder value of any media deals.

The Viacom-CBS merger prospectus promised an $80 billion cradle-to-grave content powerhouse "with an enviable stable of global brands" -- ironically a not-so-different argument as that for their break-up last month into the separately traded Viacom and CBS Corp.

Although Viacom stock traded 15% ahead of the S&P two years after its CBS acquisition and Viacom actually increased shareholder value through a string of acquisitions that include Paramount and Blockbuster, it has become the first media giant to break itself on the assumption that it is the best way to mine its assets in the digital broadband age.

If nothing else, Time Warner's merger with AOL painfully demonstrated just how dangerous and destructive assumptions can be as an old-line media company tried to buy its way into the Internet era.

Time Warner management should have suspected something was amiss when AOL shares lost 82% of their value in the two years after the merger agreement struck in early 2000. The factors contributing to the AOL-Time Warner fiasco were "a lack of dynamic leadership at the top that failed to overcome the recalcitrant balkanization that is the culture of Time Warner" and the failure of either side to grasp the other's complicated financial and partnership structures, the Bernstein report notes. In the process, Icahn's investment banker, Lazard Ltd., contends that Time Warner has whittled away $40 billion in shareholder value.

The 10% drop in Time Warner's stock price last year and the more than 2% decline since Icahn presented his formal break-up plan for the company this month isn't much different from the decline and stagnation of other media stocks in recent years in an erratic market.

What was right about the notorious union is what remains the best thing about Time Warner today: It is an unparalleled collection of content and distribution assets. (That sounds like something Time Warner chairman and chief executive officer Richard Parsons would say.)

A self-proclaimed fan of vertical integration, Parsons also is fond of a saying that could become the media and industries' new-world mantra: "Shame on us if we can't make this thing work."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/columns/mermigas.jsp

The Winter Olympics
Gold Standard

By Michael Malone at bcbeat.com

Some genuinely unique displays of emotion have made the Olympics a fun watch the last few days.

Poor Maurizio Margaglio, wearing the face of a man who’s returned home from work to find he’s left his mistress’s Valentine’s Day card on the dresser, absorbing the coldest of shoulders from partner Barbara “Ice Queen” Fusar Poli after he slipped in their program’s final seconds--only to get an effusive embrace and nuzzle from her following their sterling performance next time on the ice. It made for wonderful television.

Same for the chilly press conference featuring speedskaters Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick, famously feuding since Davis eschewed the team relay to concentrate on winning the gold in the 1,000 meters.

After they both medaled in the 1,500, Davis chastised Hedrick at their press conference for not congratulating him after his win. When it was Hedrick’s turn to address the media, the shaken Texan smiled, grimaced, sipped his water, grimaced, stammered, sipped his water, grimaced, thought of a couple hundred acts of violence he’d like to commit against Davis, then sipped again before calmly dissing his rival for skipping the Opening Ceremonies and generally being a crummy teammate.

Then there was sprightly figure skater Sasha Cohen (no relation to Sascha Baron Cohen of Ali G fame), overtaken by rapture in the kiss-and-cry pen after a job very well done.

In truth, I think many of the winter sports are silly; ice dancing belongs on television, but not in the Olympics, and I can think of several better uses for $40,000 than purchasing a bobsled (or bobsleigh, as the NBC graphics state).

http://www.bcbeat.com/

Survey Says: HDTV Tops Shoes


By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/22/2006 9:50:00 AM

Women would pick an HDTV set over a toaster, a day off or a new pair of Manolo Blahniks.

That's according to a Scripps Networks lifestyle research survey. The only thing that beat out HDTV, chosen by 29% of respondents as their top pick, was a weekend getaway (42%).

The survey found that the top programming category respondents were interested in seeing in HD was documentaries, with dramas and sports next at 69% and lifestyle programming--like Scripps' HGTV or Food Network, for instance--at 62%.

The survey--of 878 adults 18-plus, margin of error plus or minus 3%--is in conjunction with HGTV's launch in HD next month.

I hope they will show some of their Fine Living shows on the new HD network since there are some good shows on there. Also, I hope they are able to get their new network onto the major distributors (DirecTV, Dish, Comcast).

The TV Column
The Week’s Winners and Losers

Turin, Turin, Turin: A Time to Laugh, a Time to Weep
By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, February 23, 2006; C07

Wham! Wham! Wham! That's the sound of the Winter Olympics getting pounded by other networks' hotter shows: "American Idol," "Grey's Anatomy," "Dancing With the Stars" -- you know the drill. And yet, with its entire prime time turned over to the Games in You-Say-Torino-and-I-Say-Turin, NBC still won enough hours to take last week in the ratings race.

Here's a look at the week's Flying Tomatoes and Bode Millers:

WINNERS

Games' Glass Half-Full : NBC logged its highest-rated week since the second week of the Athens Summer Olympics in 2004. During an "official" TV season, it was NBC's best week since the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games among viewers of all ages and among the 18-to-49-year-olds the network chases, the best week since the "Friends" finale.

"Grey's Anatomy." Post-Super Bowl exposure pays off; for a second consecutive week, ABC's docs-at-work-and-in-the-shower drama beat not only the Winter Games but its own lead-in, "Desperate Housewives."

"Dancing With the Stars." Inept dancing trumps tribal kvetching on CBS's "Survivor" and gold-medal chasing on NBC's Olympics.

"American Idol." Inept singing in Hollywood triumphed over trained athletes in Italy, to the tune of a 65 percent advantage on Tuesday, causing a pile-on of columnists to conclude "Idol" is the New Olympics.

LOSERS

Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show . Rufus the bull terrier's crowning as the country's top dog was marred somewhat by the fact that the two-day competition averaged only 2.6 million viewers -- a big drop from the previous year's nearly 4 million. It was, in fact, the canine competition's smallest audience since at least 1999.

Games' Glass Half-Empty . It was the lowest-rated week for a network carrying a full week of Olympics coverage since at least 1988. Among younger viewers, it was the smallest weekly advantage by a network with a full week of Games since at least 1988.

"Get This Party Started . " "Get this series over with!" said all but 870,000 viewers who watched last week's original episode. And UPN listened, scrubbing the series about helping needy people -- by throwing them a party.

"Skating With Celebrities." The Winter Olympics finally managed to impact another program, slicing the Fox reality show's audience from the previous week's 10.5 million to just 7.7 million -- a 27 percent decline.

"Dr. Phil: Love Smart." Same time last year, Dr. Phil's Valentine's Day special, "Dr. Phil: Romance Rescue," clocked 10.9 million viewers. Last Tuesday, "Dr. Phil: Love Smart" mustered only 8.8 million. Vice President in Charge of Yelling at The TV Column will argue, "But this year it aired against the Games!" TV Column will cleverly respond: "But this year Dr. Phil was giving love advice to Paula Abdul, who has been cleaning the Games' clock over on 'American Idol.' "

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/22/AR2006022202522_pf.html

"This is not a `Law & Order,'" Reilly said. "It doesn't sound like one. It doesn't look like one. ... It's sexy, and it's character-based, and it has an incredible cast of fresh faces."

The median age of their characters? 28.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-0602220050feb22,0,2129330.column

Oh really? How are they going to explain the presence of Stephanie March (aka ADA Alexandra Cabot), formerly of L&O:SVU?

She was shot and killed (her death was a ruse), went into witness protection (in Wisconsin), came out of witness protection to testify against her shooter (being tried on another case) and went back into witness protection (where now? Oklahoma, New Mexico, Montana, Minnesota?).

Once someone goes into WP, his or her old identity ceases to exist, right? Isn't that the idea of "witness protection"? (You think it's hard on an adult...think about that little boy who testified against the man who murdered his parents - the same episode and case where Cabot makes her return out of WP! )

How will they explain it? It was, like, "just a dream"? :eek:

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 first post in this thread.

Jupiter: Price Drives TV Service Switches
Wednesday, February 22nd 2006 @ 12:30 PM PST

By Geoff Duncan
Staff Writer, Designtechnica News

JupiterResearch finds over half of consumers would switch TV services to pay less for channels they currently receive, while few want high-def or video-on-demand programming.

A new study from JupiterResearch finds that 52 percent of consumers surveyed would switch to a different pay TV service to get a better price for the same channel lineup they currently access.

"While Internet Protocol TV proponents get caught up in the futuristic possibilities of the technology, consumers remain much more levelheaded about what they look for in a TV service," said Joseph Laszlo, Research Director at JupiterResearch and author of the report. "Competitors looking to deploy IPTV should avoid overwhelming the consumer with Jetsons-like 'TV of the future' and focus, instead, on delivering real value in terms of TV of the present," added Laszlo.

Cheaper prices was the most common motivator consumers cited when considering switching pay TV services, but 46 percent said they could also be lured by a la carte channel selection—e.g., the opportunity to cherry-pick an all-sports channel lineup, or perhaps omit sports stations altogether in favor of cartoons and educational programming. Very few consumers exhibited any interest in high-definition or video-on-demand programming: 6 percent of consumers surveyed said high-definition programming could motivate them to switch providers, while only 3 percent were attracted by a greater selection of video-on-demand services.

If accurate, the results pose a challenge for phone companies and IPTV operators looking to move into the traditional television space: consumers will make their decision on price and, to a lesser extent, a la carte selection. An IPTV infrastructure makes a la carte service technically feasible, but providers are likely to have a tough time getting studios and networks to enter into programming agreements: studios like Disney (which controls ABC, ESPN, and its own branded networks) typically makes its programming available to operators in large, revenue-generating blocks: IPTV providers would probably have to purchase (and charge customers for) ESPN even if they don't want to watch it.

"Although a la carte channel selection is highly feasible over an IPTV infrastructure, the business case remains uncertain, and media companies are likely to resist such service plans," said David Schatsky, Jupiter's Senior VP of Research. "To address a la carte's popularity, IPTV services should focus on giving consumers greater choice and control over their television experience, if not true a la carte."

http://news.designtechnica.com/article9611.html
Jupiter: Price Drives TV Service Switches - Home Video News - Designtechnica

Note: If I lived in NE Ohio, I would be at the Beacon Journal next Wednesday night at 7:30 (see end of Rich’s notes)

Thanks for the heads up!

Ratings Notes
ABC Still Tops Sweeps

By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable

Through Feb. 21, day 20 of the 28-day sweeps period, ABC was still No. 1, with an average 5.8 rating/14 share in the 18-49 demo and 15,624 total viewers.

But ABC’s lead over NBC is less than it was a week ago, now that another week of ratings has diluted the bump the network initially received from strong Super Bowl numbers.

NBC through Feb. 21 averaged a 5.0/12 in the demo, Fox averaged a 4.5/11, CBS averaged a 3.5/9, The WB averaged a 1.4/3 and UPN averaged a 1.1/3.

Fox’s numbers are likely to rise a bit due to its juggernaut American Idol, which continues to hammer NBC’s Olympic Games.

The TV Watch
In the Evening News Derby, CBS Is Betting on Folksy

By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times

It's a scary world, except on CBS News, where it seems downright cuddly.

"Well, Jim, this is some pretty strong talk," Bob Schieffer said companionably on Tuesday after the CBS correspondent Jim Axelrod described Washington's reaction to the Bush administration's plan to allow an Arab-owned company to manage six American ports. "This is fairly weird; there is no other way to put it."

So are the adventures in Anchorland. The three major networks have recently undergone drastic changes, but the downshift at CBS is perhaps the most striking. The high-strung showboat that was Dan Rather is gone. Now, the newscast is led by a folksy country doctor who consults younger specialists and applauds their work, while gently reminding them to keep it simple for the patient. "Jan, what do you think the significance of this case is going to be?" Mr. Schieffer asked a legal expert on Tuesday after she described in some detail the Supreme Court's decision to take up a case that involves a ban on so-called partial-birth abortions. "Is it important?"

It used to be that the evening news at all three networks looked the same: a sober-faced man in a suit and tie delivered the news with what Leslie Moonves, chief executive of CBS, recently described as "voice of God" authority. Now, network news looks as if it is ruled by a gaggle of competing Roman demigods. At the moment, age and geniality seem to be gaining on youth and beauty.

Brian Williams anchors solo at NBC in the same polished, authoritative style as his predecessors. After Peter Jennings died, ABC tried to rejuvenate its evening newscast with a younger duo, Elizabeth Vargas, 43, and Bob Woodruff, 44. (On a program in January, the two anchors rather patronizingly referred to baby boomers as "they.")

That plan has been sidetracked since Mr. Woodruff was wounded in Iraq; it is not clear when he will recover from his injuries. Since then, ABC has propped up Ms. Vargas with bigger, and older, star power: Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson alternate so they can co-anchor the evening news and still do their day jobs at "Good Morning America." Barbara Walters, in turn, is pitching in at "G.M.A." ABC News looks like what it is: a family with a health emergency on its hands. Yet all the havoc has cost the network viewers, and the ratings of "World News Tonight" had already started sagging after the new team took over.

That has worked to CBS's advantage. The news division, which has long lagged in third place, tapped Mr. Schieffer, the veteran correspondent, as a temporary anchor almost a year ago and has yet to name a younger, flashier replacement (though rumors are rife that CBS is wooing Katie Couric of NBC for the job). Meanwhile, Mr. Schieffer has made a virtue of a necessity, balkanizing his newscast to showcase younger correspondents. All network newscasts open with teasers of the big stories to come, but on CBS, the reporters introduce themselves on camera alongside their summaries. Later in the broadcast, a chosen few are sometimes brought on the set for a friendly chat with Mr. Schieffer.

Still others are encouraged to play starring roles in their stories. For the most part, network correspondents are fleetingly seen on camera until the close of the report; at best, the camera cuts to their faces, nodding wisely as they conduct interviews. Nowadays on CBS, correspondents are allowed anchorish star turns. On Monday, for a report on a new drug to prevent blood clotting, Trish Regan donned a white lab coat and safety glasses to talk to a researcher, then stood behind a table on which conical images of DNA were graphically imposed. Her science demonstration looked like a late-night infomercial for blenders.

The audience for network news is older, and CBS's is the oldest, which might help explain why Mr. Schieffer's ratings are up. But the network hopes to lure the Internet generation with spunky interactive features like "Assignment America," which allows viewers to vote online for the Friday feature story they would prefer to see. Most, however, still seem preoccupied with the topic of aging: the winning story this week was a profile of a 104-year-old man credited with inventing the western shirt, who still runs his company.

However gray-haired, there are still more than 22 million people who regularly watch network evening newscasts. Right now, their choices are more consequential than Web site features.

NBC offers the old, familiar one-man anchor format; ABC is experimenting with multiple anchors. CBS is testing a hybrid of both: a voice of God with backup singers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/23/arts/television/23stan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

The Business of TV
Time Warner Sells Turner South to Fox

By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable

After months of deep discussions, Time Warner has sold Atlanta-based regional cable channel Turner South to Fox. Seven-year-old Turner South, a division of Turner Broadcasting System Inc., reaches about 8 million subscribers across six states with mainly sports programming including Atlanta Braves, Hawks and Thrashers games.

In acquiring the network, Fox also inherits the long-term broadcast deals Turner South had with Atlanta’s baseball, basketball and hockey teams.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but industry analysts have estimated Turner South to be worth about $200 million. With the addition of Turner South, Fox Cable Networks (FCN) now owns 15 regional cable networks and partners with 44 MLB, NBA and NHL franchises.

FCN already owns Atlanta-based FSN South, the country’s largest regional sports network with more than 11 million subscribers.

Time Warner put Turner South and the Atlanta Braves up for sale in December. Fox, which at one point owned the Los Angeles Dodgers, did not buy the Braves as part of this deal.

Turner South, available in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina, gives Fox ownership of two sports-focused networks in the Southeast.

Fox could convert Turner South into an all-sports network by dropping its other programming – Turner South programs some old movies and low-wattage original series – but regardless, the second channel gives Fox the opportunity to purchase more regional sports. Fox operates two separate regional sports networks in L.A.

In a statement, TBS Inc.CEO Phil Kent called the sale “a win for Turner Broadcasting and for viewers of the Fox Cable Networks. It creates significant financial return for our company, adds quality programming to Fox’s portfolio and enhances the value for consumers of a popular cable service.”

The Business of TV
Media buyers question My Network TV

By Kevin Downey MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer

When media buyers attend this spring's upfront marketplace to place ad orders for the coming TV season, they'll have not one but two new broadcast networks to consider for their clients' ad dollars.

Yesterday, in a huge surprise, News Corp., parent of Fox, announced the formation of yet another new network following the creation of the CW just weeks ago with the announced merger of the long-struggling WB and UPN networks.

To be called My Network TV, the second new network is being formed from the 10 News Corp.-owned UPN affiliates in top markets like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago that won’t become part of the CW.

The new network will target the same 18-49 demographic as the existing major networks.

Yesterday, News Corp., which had obviously put together the idea for My Network in a rush, was out touting the originality of its plan, even rolling out the beginnings of a programming schedule.

But media buyers have their doubts. Those interviewed by Media Life are not convinced there's any need for another sixth network. They're also not sure whether the network would offer a slate of shows sufficiently different to draw in new viewers.

“Obviously, the WB and UPN struggled for 10 years," says one buyer, who asked not to be identified. "So I find it incredible that two companies think that within six months they can have two new networks up and running that will be anymore viable than the two that are folding.”

Says this buyer: "We have plenty of broad-based 18-49 networks, so this will be an even bigger struggle than the [18-34] niche its predecessors were trying to sell.”

The 10 UPN stations reach 24 percent of television households.

News Corp. expects to sign on more affiliates by the fall, when it hopes to have My Network TV in 90 percent of the country. Twentieth Television, News Corp.’s distribution arm, will jointly operate My Network TV with Fox Television Stations.

My Network TV will have 12 weekly hours of primetime programming. Under Nielsen Media Research’s guidelines, My Network TV would need to be in 70 percent of households with at least 15 hours of programming to be measured as a full-service network.

Though My Network TV will target adults 18-49, there will be an an initial emphasis on English-speaking Hispanics, with two English-language novelas, the soap operas that make up the bulk of primetime on Spanish-language networks. The two novelas, “Desire” and “Secrets,” will air in a two-hour block on weeknights for 13 weeks.

The two novelas had been positioned for months as upcoming syndicated strips by Twentieth Television. Those plans were abruptly changed with the announced merger of UPN and the WB.

The novelas will have multi-ethnic casts, perhaps with the intention of also reaching African American viewers who have been watching UPN.

The new network has several other programs in development, including reality shows, game shows, dramas, sitcoms and a program from the producers of Fox’s “American Idol.”

Still, most buyers suggest that News Corp. is simply scrambling to salvage its orphaned stations by putting together a primetime block, noting that it will face tough competition.

“These are major-market stations, so these are Hispanic markets, so that part of this is not a bad idea,” says one buyer. “But to spin that into a full, national network seems a little overzealous.”

Further, if My Network TV does target bilingual Hispanics, it will compete with the general-market broadcasters and Spanish-language networks Univision and Telemundo, both of which are now included in Nielsen’s national ratings.

Univision, in particular, has been performing well, often ranking in the nightly ratings ahead of both UPN and the WB and sometimes outperforming the larger networks.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_3038.asp

TV Sports
NASCAR Ratings Move Into Fast Lane

By Larry Stewart Los Angeles Times Staff WriterFebruary 24, 2006

In December, NASCAR announced an eight-year, $4.48-billion television deal that goes into effect in 2007 and provides an annual TV income of $555 million. Only the NFL's $3.735 billion yearly TV income, the NBA's $767 million and baseball's $713 million rank higher.

In an era of generally declining TV ratings, NASCAR household ratings have increased more than 20% over the last five years. NASCAR proved good to go again last weekend, when NBC got a rating of 11.3 for the Daytona 500 — a record for a NASCAR event.

Fox will be drafting off of all this good news as it begins its NASCAR Nextel Cup season with Sunday's Auto Club 500 at California Speedway in Fontana.

Dick Glover, NASCAR's vice president in charge of broadcasting, said, "I think a testament to how well we're doing as a sport is that our two biggest stars, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., were not in the championship chase last year and we still had our highest-rated season.

"I think there is a combination of things responsible for our success. The competition on the track with good, young drivers is better than it has ever been. Our broadcast partners have really stepped up with their production. Sometimes forgotten is the job Speed [Channel] has done since Fox took it over, especially in the past six months.

"And I think another factor is how we have been embraced by the mainstream media."

Fox will use more than 60 cameras and 100 microphones to cover Sunday's race. Mike Joy will call the race with analysts Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds, who is a former crew chief. Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond will be in the "Hollywood Hotel" for the pre-race show, and covering the pits will be Jeanne Zelasko, Dick Berggren, Steve Brynes, and Matt Yocum.

In addition, Fox on Thursday said it had signed Waltrip to a multi-year contract extension.

Short Waves

With Todd Blackledge having left CBS to work on ESPN college football telecasts with Mike Patrick, CBS has hired Gary Danielson away from ABC to replace Blackledge. Danielson will work with Verne Lundquist on Southeastern Conference games. … Look for FSN West to announce next week that it will be changing the name of FSN West 2 to FSN Prime Ticket.

The ESPN2 nightly telecasts of the Amgen Tour of California bicycle race are an example of competing networks working together for the good of a sport. ESPN2 is using OLN cycling commentators Paul Sherwen and Bob Roll, generally considered the two best in the business. The Tour of California ends Sunday with circuit races in Redondo Beach. Sherwen said he has been impressed by just how well-organized the race has been. … OLN's international cycling schedule begins March 5 with the Paris-to-Nice race.

Curt Gowdy, who died this week, was largely responsible for Chick Hearn's leaving Peoria, Ill., for Los Angeles in 1956. Gowdy had worked with Hearn on a couple of NBA telecasts for NBC and told the head of NBC Sports, Tom Gallery, he should hire Hearn. Gallery took Gowdy's advice and hired Hearn to do the nightly sports for Channel 4. Hearn ended up doing USC football as well, and of course, later the Lakers.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-sp-tvcol24feb24,0,363218,print.story?coll=cl-tv-features

The Winter Olympics
NBC belongs on podium -- really

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Friday, February 24, 2006

We're going to give NBC a bronze medal for the Winter Olympics. The more cynical among you might suggest that NBC fell down a number of times and so how could they, in the parlance of the snowboarder set, "podium."

Well, first off, it's damn hard to please people these days, especially in this country. And secondly, falling down no longer precludes you from the medal stand, as you may have noticed. Besides, a bronze is about appropriate for what we've seen so far. It's a nod to getting there through the pain and the twists of fate (Michelle Kwan out, Bode Miller imploding, hockey going to hell, etc., etc. etc.), and a judgment just harsh enough to suggest you failed, at least on American terms where it's often gold or go home.

So before we bash NBC and the egregious and glaring blunders, let no one dismiss so easily this idea that it's hard to get the Olympics (summer or winter) just right. It will never happen. Nobody can stage a modern Olympics and please more than 50 percent of the people. Or, in NBC's case, stage-manage the Olympics. The purists want more events. The busy want fewer events (or at least more of the good ones). The economically clueless want fewer commercials (when the rest of us would have taken a better variation in those commercials, which we can now see in our sleep, which might actually be the point).

The problem with telling complainers to shut up and produce a better Olympics is that, well, they don't know anything about television outside of watching it. So ideas on how to fix it aren't exactly plausible. Honestly, Dick Ebersol, NBC's Olympics czar, has been doing this a very long time. He's clearly not flawless. But you're no Dick Ebersol. When it comes to fixing the Olympics, the guess is you're not even Dick Button.

But that doesn't mean NBC didn't go through this birthing process upside down and helmetless on a skeleton. Here's what Ebersol needs to consider next time, by stepping back from the yes-men and talking to the people (well, at least the professional critics):

• You may have aired more than 400 hours but the average American watched only the nightly block, which generally ran from 8-to-11:30 p.m. Two things: First, that's asking the country to watch two feature films every night before bed (or a Peter Jackson film and some Coke ads). When the other networks schedule hits against you -- and you've got the Nordic combined or two guys on skates with their hands on their backs not racing each other -- then you've got problems. Secondly -- and pay real close attention here -- if you start an event, then finish it. Don't say, "We'll be right back to women's figure skating, but first, let's go to a dark, foggy mountain for something the Austrians do really well."

That's a fatal flaw. We know what you're trying to do -- get a Lunestra-fed nation to stick around for three hours and 30 minutes. But the logic is off. The reason you got beat by dramas like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" and the Death Star that is "American Idol" (which is essentially an Olympic-style event) is that those series tell a story or sell drama uninterrupted. ABC doesn't break into the pre-sex-in-the-closet part of "Grey's Anatomy" and run 20 minutes of "According to Jim." Learn from that.

• Don't bogart the good sports until primetime. Every time we turned on the TV in the afternoon, there was curling. Now, curling is fun to mock. It's nice to watch Our Skip Cassie. But until they put a frosty kegger in that event, it's TV death.

• If you're going to edit everything to death, hire reality guru Mark Burnett ("Survivor," "The Apprentice," etc.). That's a guy who can manipulate a story and make you come back again. He's an artist. You guys channeled Edward Scissorhands.

• Whoever told you to cut back on the athlete profiles was wrong. Don't make the whole thing a Hallmark card, but if we don't know who the Swiss or Korean stars are, how can we care?

• Next time -- more snowboard cross, more short track, less speedskating (apologies to the Dutch), ice dancing and medal-less elimination rounds. Not that anyone will think you got it right or thank you.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/02/24/SPGNHHE0MR1.DTL&type=printable

Critic’s Notebook
Hy and Jean: A recipe for disaster

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn”

"Mrs. Harris," a trippy new HBO film airing at 8 p.m. ET/PT Saturday, bills itself as a "darkly comic tale" that revisits the 1980 killing of Herman Tarnower, the renowned diet doctor, at the hands of his lover Jean Harris. Tarnower's death caused an immediate sensation at the time, driving his Scarsdale Diet book back to No. 1 on the best-seller lists.

Meanwhile, Harris, a 50-something headmistress at a Virginia girls' school, was portrayed in the press as a wronged woman, whose beloved "Hy" had abandoned her for younger blood.

Indeed, "Mrs. Harris" at first seems like it's going to be a movie about the perils of crossing Jean Harris. The opening credits are a montage of old black-and-white movies featuring jilted lovers pumping bullets into the cads who dun them wrong.

But as we soon learn, there's more to this film than that. "Mrs. Harris," which stars Annette Bening as Jean and Ben Kingsley as Hy, offers a fascinating psychological autopsy of two articulate and intelligent people who, as Bening puts it, "only argued about the use of the subjunctive," yet wound up destroying each other.

Harris and Tarnower both emerge as emotionally damaged people: He a relentless seducer of women who was incapable of committing fully to any one, she a divorcee with two sons whose tough exterior masked a need for intimacy that was eating her alive. Together they made quite a couple. "Mrs. Harris," adapted from a best-selling book about the case, recounts many of the happy times they shared, but there's always a tinge of comedy to those scenes, as if to ask, "Why is she falling in love with this man?"

When they first meet at a dinner party in 1966, the conversations around Hy and Jean continue, but it's like someone has taken a mute button to them. All she can hear is Hy's voice, accompanied by the tune of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You." Even then, there are dark clouds. As Hy leaves he spends a little too much time saying goodbye to all the lovely ladies in the room.

But Hy makes Jean feel special, and so for the rest of his life, she is his. We watch as Hy moves on to other conquests and Jean slowly comes unglued, yet gamely refuses to become unstuck from him.

The story of how these two drift apart and finally become an affair in name only is told in a hopscotch of flashbacks and fast-forwards. These are interspersed with scenes from the Harris murder trial and footage made to look like early-1980s interviews with various intimates of the couple.

The constant toing-and-froing of "Mrs. Harris" might have gotten tiresome, as an earlier HBO effort at revisionist biography, "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers," did. Bening, though, is somehow able to conjure up a completely new mood for each time and setting.

She is combative and snobbish in the courtroom, dazed and disoriented in the police house, smitten and hopeful in the earlier courtship scenes, growing ever more unstable as the '70s drag on.

She medicates herself with an ill-advised mixture of uppers and downers, prescribed to her by dear Hy, of course. Finally, her discontent boils over in a long letter, filled with psychotic hate, that she unfortunately mails to him just before driving up to his house in a raging thunderclapper on that fateful night.

"Mrs. Harris" presents two competing re-enactments of Tarnower's killing, reflecting the defense and prosecution scenarios offered at Harris' murder trial. The jury sided with the prosecution, of course, but the public sided with Harris.

In 1981 Ellen Burstyn portrayed her in "The People vs. Jean Harris," a miniseries that aired on NBC shortly after the trial ended. Burstyn said at the time that she took the role "to make sure they treated Jean Harris gently." That Burstyn did -- too gently, it seems, as even Harris was heard to complain that she was never as mousy on the witness stand as Burstyn was.

It may be a little surprising to see Harris depicted in this movie not as a meek little doormat but as a voluble, foul-mouthed, pill-popping, self-hating doormat. My guess is that the real Jean Harris, who has been quiet about this latest portrayal, is happier that Bening is a lot more interesting to watch than Burstyn was.

As for Kingsley ... while I agree that the real Hy Tarnower wasn't much in the looks department, the photographs show a man quite a bit more dashing than the bald, beak-nosed actor playing him here. But with his warm, attentive eyes, even Kingsley can conjure up that knee-weakening quality that has defined many a ladies' man.

Hunting is an overworked metaphor in the film, but it certainly seems to describe the doc's modus operandi. And it produces the film's signature moment, when Tarnower brings Harris breakfast one morning in his dining room. These are clearly happier times for the couple.

As the music swells, and they dote on each other, the camera circles around them, slowly tilting upward, redirecting your gaze to the four walls of the room. There you see the other trophies in Tarnower's life: the birds, fish and wild game he captured when he wasn't out hunting and gathering women.

By some uncanny stroke of timing, the film is airing the same week that law enforcement officials are scouring the Midwest looking for Toby Young, a married dog trainer and prison volunteer who apparently disappeared with a convicted murderer she allegedly helped escape from the Lansing State Prison.

I'm fascinated, like many of you are, with what causes a woman to tie her fate so inextricably to a man she has no business being with. "Mrs. Harris" doesn't solve this mystery, but it's a reminder that such tales are not just last week's news.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2006/02/hy_and_jean_a_r.html#more

Critic’s Notebook
Shows to Watch This Weekend

A murderous dame, friends, crocodiles and ... good Cylons?
By Maureen Ryan and Sid Smith Chicago Tribune

(All times are Central)
What to watch this weekend. Our lead picks are first, followed by six other good options:

• “Mrs. Harris,” 7 p.m. Saturday, HBO: The killing of Scarsdale Diet guru Herman Tarnower in 1980 by schoolmistress and his mistress Jean Harris was the ancestor to our now endless string of tawdry, tabloid media fixations. This movie version boasts a truly stellar cast, from Annette Bening and Ben Kingsley as the ill-fated lovers, to bits by Ellen Burstyn, Brett Butler, Chloe Sevigny, Mary McDonnell and even pundit and “West Wing” exec Lawrence O’Donnell Jr. as the courtroom judge. Cloris Leachman chews up the scenery even more than usual as Tarnower’s embittered sibling. Addicting, like watching a really grimy train wreck, this sorry, sordid tale of Harris’ obsessive love and descent into prescription pill addiction is icy, ironic and typically HBO in the frankness of its sex talk. Harris and Tarnower come off as bizarre, creepy and repugnant, while Bening’s performance is a chilly blend of arrogant determination and self-pity. “Suicide came naturally to me,” Harris boasts at one point, even though she never succeeded at it. She also notes, “I wish I’d been born a doormat. Or a man.”

• “Friends and Crocodiles,” 9 p.m. Saturday, BBC America: In the opening minutes of this compelling British TV movie, by “The Lost Prince” writer/director Stephen Poliakoff, we meet Paul Reynolds — whom an old friend appears desperate to avoid. That’s not surprising, because Reynolds looks down on his luck, to say the least. Flash to 1981, where the flame-haired Reynolds, Damian Lewis of “Band of Brothers,” is a Gatsby-esque property magnate, living in magnificent estate with dozens of eccentric hangers-on who sponge off him and attend his lavish parties. On a whim, he hires a meticulous young secretary, Lizzie Thomas (Jodhi May), to sort out his chaotic affairs. How the relationship of these two polar opposites — the impulsive Reynolds and the buttoned-down Thomas — progresses through the financial booms and busts of the ’80s and ’90s, constitutes the heart of this film, and the story of Lizzie and Paul turns out to be quite an intriguing — and by the end, unmissable — ride.

Also on the tube:

• “Battlestar Galactica,” 9 p.m. Friday, Sci Fi: Ever wonder what the Cylons get up to when no one’s looking? This excellent outing of “Battlestar” is premised on just that question. We’ve heard on the show that Cylons that die are reborn, and in this episode, “Downloaded,” we see how rough that process can be — and how the group-think mentality of the Cylon race doesn’t always “take.” Guest star Lucy Lawless and series stars Grace Park and Tricia Helfer all do typically good work in this intriguing episode, and we even briefly see Starbuck’s Caprica-based lover again. An added bonus: There are several good scenes with Doc Cottle, one of the show’s many fine character actors. This well-crafted episode only adds to “Galactica’s” deftly drawn moral confusion over whether the robotic Cylons, who appear capable of strong emotion, are as good — or as bad — as humans.

• “DMC: My Adoption Journey,” 8 p.m. Saturday, VH1: It’s rare to see a hip-hop star speak in a trembling voice or cry on TV, let alone see one visit a therapist or talk about his Sarah McLachlan fixation. But when Darryl McDaniels, a.k.a. DMC of the pioneering rap group Run-DMC, looked into his own adoption as an infant, he got pretty emotional, and with good reason. He was well into adulthood before he found out he was adopted, and getting the information he wanted about his real parents was not easy. Though DMC’s self-aggrandizing about his rap group is occasionally grating, most of the emotions in this documentary, the first in a series of new “VH1 Rock Docs,” run the gamut from vulnerability to fear. McDaniels is to be commended for letting the world watch him walk this difficult path.

• 2006 Winter Olympics, 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday, NBC: Scheduled events include women’s slalom and men’s speedskating Friday;, the men’s slalom and four-man bobsled Saturday; and closing ceremonies Sunday, where competitors will be serenaded by Andrea Bocelli and Avril Lavigne.

• “Dancing With the Stars,” 7 p.m. Sunday, ABC: There’s no Friday edition of this hoofing competition, but there is a 2-hour finale Sunday. That seems about an hour too long, but far be it from ABC to stop milking this unexpected hit, which has stood up surprisingly well to the Olympics on NBC.

• “Dances With Wolves,” 7 p.m. Sunday, Encore: Hard to believe this movie is 15 years old, but there you are, and here’s a fine chance to revisit this long, but visually captivating saga of western revisionism, an Oscar powerhouse in its day. This one had its critics, too, but, as a wintertime popcorn epic, it’s a fine couch-potato wagon ride, a chance to marvel and/or gape at normally lightweight Kevin Costner’s homage to Native Americans and feats as an auteur.

• “Knight School,” 9 p.m. Sunday, ESPN: What do NASCAR races have in common with a show about Bobby Knight? People glued to either one are watching, in large part, to see if there will be a crash. This reality program starring Knight, which premiered Feb. 19, trades on the famed basketball coach’s legendary anger-management issues — will he explode at a player or even a fellow Texas Tech coach (his assistants do seem pretty afraid of him, with good reason)? The idea is that Coach Knight and his staff will pick a walk-on player from a field of 16 aspiring players. How many egos he will shred in the process remains to be seen.

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

The 2005-2006 TV Season
Ask Matt

(from the Ask (TV Critic) Matt (Roush) column at TVGuide.com
By Matt Roush TVGuide.com TV Critic

Question: Battlestar Galactica is my favorite show on television right now. It's so well done and feels so real for a sci-fi show. But whenever I bring the show up to my friends, they always laugh. I've noticed that because the show is in the sci-fi genre, people don't give it a chance. Do you think that this is going to change, or will the stereotype always be there for this show? Also, how is this show doing with ratings? Is it gonna stick around for a long time? — Mike
Matt Roush: Battlestar is doing just fine, and there's no reason to think Sci Fi will pull another Farscape with this one. And while we're on the subject, tonight's episode (Feb. 24) is one of the best hours of TV in any genre you're likely to see all year. So many twists and revelations, including a welcome return to the Cylon-occupied planet of Caprica. It's smart, suspenseful, surprising — just a wow of an episode. But, as Mike suggests, just try convincing your friends who look at you like you're wearing Vulcan ears when you reveal you're a huge Battlestar Galactica fan. (I have even found myself in a situation where I needed to convince several TV-industry professionals to consider this show as seriously as they do anything on HBO.) The show has several strikes against it, most notably a generic-sounding militaristic title that not only pegs it within an often marginalized genre but invariably brings up memories of the laughable earlier series. If the legions who could convince themselves to sit through the numbing second trilogy of George Lucas' Star Wars cycle would give a show like this a chance, just to see how deeply thrilling and emotionally rich this sort of storytelling can be, we'd all be a lot better off. As it is, the new Battlestar enjoys a fair amount of critical acclaim (mine was not the only top-10 list that included the show), and I have to believe its cult following will grow in time and through DVD exposure. Eventually, it will be considered one of the classics, if it isn't already.
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Question: I know you would never say anything bad about Grey's Anatomy, but come on! Last Sunday's final five minutes were appalling! The writers have made Meredith into such a horrible person that it honestly makes the show hard to stomach. What she did to George was cringe-worthy. I understand that they are both consenting adults, but Meredith clearly doesn't love George the way George thinks that he loves Meredith. I know people say that she is flawed and that makes her more real as a character, but watching someone consistently make selfish, unwise decisions and then whine about them is frustrating and doesn't make for very compelling or interesting TV. So I guess (finally getting to the reason for this post): I'm just wondering if you think that the Grey's writers are steering the show in the wrong direction. — Lam

Matt Roush: Not at all, but we do agree on one point: I'm not going to say anything bad about Grey's these days. The show is on fire. I don't know how long it's going to stay churning on this level, but I intend to enjoy the ride while it lasts. And while I have come to understand (through my mail anyway) that Meredith is the show's most polarizing character, my take on the Meredith-George "relationship" is a lot more forgiving. Meredith has been a mess all season, to be sure, and last week she was in a particularly vulnerable place, when George finally, at long last, once and for all made his move. But look at it from the other perspective: George's puppy-dog panting may be adorable, but his needs and desires are also rather selfish, which is only human. If he were less blinded by desire, he could see that Meredith is in no shape, psychologically or otherwise, to begin a relationship of any sort with anyone, let alone with the sort of true friend that George is meant to be. Yes, that final scene was cringe-worthy but only in the "no good can come from this" sense. I dread, and yet can't wait, to see the fallout this Sunday.
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Question: I was wondering what's happening to the family dramas. I used to watch all of them when they were on, but with 7th Heaven going off the air, The Book of Daniel being canceled, Once and Again long gone and American Dreams ending last year, there just aren't family dramas anymore. I miss them. Do you think it's because of the NCIS, CSI, Law & Order shows or because of reality TV? I just want good family dramas back! — Katie

Matt Roush: I hear you, and I'm especially worried that with WB and UPN collapsing into CW, Everwood (my personal current fave in the family-drama category) will disappear, making the genre even more of an endangered species than it already is. It's not just that crime dramas and reality shows have taken over the network slots, which is true, but that the TV audience itself has fragmented over the years, with families watching less TV together as a unit; this may have dampened the ratings for some of these "family" shows. These dramas also tend to be harder to pigeonhole, which can make them harder to sell, promote and nurture. Were Once and Again and The Book of Daniel, with their provocative adult story lines, actual "family" viewing? I happen to think so. Were WB shows like Everwood, 7th Heaven, Felicity and Dawson's Creek strictly "kids" shows because of that network's demographic emphasis? Absolutely not. Unfortunately, I think that, where these sorts of shows are concerned, the situation will get worse before it gets better.
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Question: I am a huge Alias fan, so I have been all over the Web looking for sites with petitions and other things asking to bring Alias back for at least another season. There are so many fans who don't want to see it go and are trying to find ways to get it back for another season. Do you think there is any way Alias could be brought back, even though ABC has already canceled it and has started making the final shows? Is there any way another network could pick it up, or is that just wishful thinking? — Megan

Matt Roush: I don't know any nicer way of putting it than this: Let it go. The real reason to be angry with ABC is for putting the show in limbo for the last half of this final season, with none of us yet knowing when or where it's going to show up next to air its last episodes. That is unfair, wrong, confusing and annoying. But if the producer/writers can bring this show to a proper and exciting conclusion, with everyone involved (including fans) knowing that this is the end, that's cause for gratitude. I'd rather Alias go off after five enjoyable seasons, mostly solid but some shakier than others, than limp off the air, as I imagine it would do if it tried to keep going much longer. No show lasts forever, and Alias was lucky to last this long.
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Question: So now that Santino has made it to the final three of Project Runway (no Uncle Nick!), what are your thoughts on the matter after you said that he shouldn't make it? Do you think the producers kept him because he made for good television, or did he deserve it? Personally, I would like to have seen Chloe, Daniel and Nick in the top three, but what can you do? — Aaron

Matt Roush: There's still a good argument that Santino stayed in the running because he was among the most interesting contestants, if not the most adept. The only reason Santino didn't get bounced during the makeover episode, when the outfit he made was falling apart on the runway, was because Nick (an early favorite of mine as well) produced such a hideous suit for Daniel to wear (no pockets, terrible fabric and color). I've always thought the judges, and no doubt the producers, have believed all along that if given the chance, Santino could turn out a collection for Fashion Week that would have more of a "point of view" (a favorite judging term) than many of the others. But that's the only reason he deserves to make it to the end. When I saw him guesting on Live with Regis & Kelly the other morning (apparently without Chloe and Daniel along), I was so disgusted I changed the channel. He doesn't deserve that sort of solo exposure yet, but it's clear that in Santino, Project Runway has created an instantly tiresome media monster.
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Question: What's with the continued backlash against Desperate Housewives? So far the 2006 episodes have gotten the show pretty close to what it was in the first season, so I don't understand how it can still be called "uneven." Story lines that weren't working have either been wrapped up or have been allowed to move forward (Tom being a stay-at-home father, Susan and her dad, Bree and George, Carlos' attorney being attracted to Gabrielle). It's also a little funny how, now that Grey's Anatomy outdrew DH for the first time last week, all the talk about DH saving the network last season is forgotten and the show is supposedly in trouble. — Erik

Matt Roush: Anyone who's saying Housewives is in actual "trouble" is overstating the case. It's still hugely popular. But I haven't been much won over by the argument that the show has found its footing lately. Characters like Susan, Mike and Gabrielle have been largely adrift all season, the workplace story lines for Lynette and Tom often feel like subpar sitcom situations (watching her eat a pound of raw bacon was a real low point for me), the Applewhite "mystery" was a nonstarter, and I would argue that only Bree's alcoholism evokes the suburban "desperation" that gave the show its initial kick. I'd still rather watch Housewives than anything else in that time period on Sundays — once I get to screen the new episodes of The Sopranos, I'll let you know if that's still the case — but I think calling the show "uneven" these days is not only fair, it's generous.
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Question: Matt, seriously. Bones is Fox's best new show of the season? Better than Prison Break? Are you serious, or was it just a momentary lapse due to PB's hiatus? Please tell me it's the latter. Bones is OK, more watchable now than it was when it started, but it's no Prison Break. David Boreanaz wishes he had 20 percent of Wentworth Miller's screen presence. — Lynn

Matt Roush: Do not be dissing my Angel, but otherwise, mea culpa. Prison Break has many flaws, but it's my kind of show (see: 24), and I would agree that it's more gripping and a more significant newcomer to Fox's schedule than Bones — although the nature of Prison Break's story line makes me wonder if Bones might not have more staying power in the long, long run. When I answered that question about Bones, I did momentarily forget that Prison Break's return is just around the corner (mark March 20 on your calendars, and March 19 if you missed some episodes and want to catch up with a marathon on FX).
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Question: I have a suggestion to save Commander in Chief: Kill the president's husband (or at least divorce them). The plotline that has erased my interest for Chief is the idea of watching Mackenzie's husband as a "supporting" chief of staff. The entire concept is boring and offensive to the original concept: a woman capable of being the president of the United States. I am sorry, but I signed up for a show that leaves the man in the house while his wife is running the country, not this annoying double team formed by a married couple. So by killing the husband, you'll add a huge dramatic twist, plus the chance to get back on track. What do you think about my suggestion? Is there another way to creatively save Commander in Chief? Hopefully ABC will give the show a chance. However, I think if ABC wants to save a show, they should go with Invasion, since that one is completely flawless. Thanks for taking the time to read my question. — Mindy

Matt Roush: Is anyone listening? Fan as I have been of Kyle Secor since Homicide: Life on the Street and all the way back to St. Elsewhere, this seems like the best, most dramatic option to rescue this series from the doldrums in which Steven Bochco and his new team have put it. If not kill Rod, split them up. Making him more or less an equal partner has been more than detrimental — it may have been fatal.
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Question: I enjoy reading your columns; I feel like you have a great perspective on the shows and actors. I do think you should give The Office more of a chance, though. Instead of focusing so much on how Scrubs should have its spot, watch the show and notice how Season 2 has evolved and deserves the attention it is getting. It is not just Steve Carell, either. The subtle and often hilarious nuances of the other workers at Dunder-Mifflin often have me laughing more than the antics of Michael Scott. Kudos to the actors who play Stanley, Kevin, Phyllis, Kelly, Meredith and Oscar. Thanks for listening. — Jennifer

Matt Roush: Are you reading my regular review column? Not long ago, I revisited The Office in a column that made many of these points. I did not have room to single out all of the coworkers by name, but I agree with you wholeheartedly. (Although you left out Toby and Angela, who also score every time they're on screen.) Much as I have come to appreciate The Office lately (though with reservations: Michael wreaking havoc on the loading dock went too far without being funny, for example), I still wish Scrubs had been given an opportunity to air alongside My Name Is Earl. But since that isn't the case, I give NBC a lot of credit for sticking to its guns where The Office is concerned and nurturing it behind the one show that can deliver a decent-size audience with a taste for good comedy.
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Question: I enjoy your column each week and I usually agree with you. However, today I felt prompted to write in, as I totally disagree with your comments regarding the predictable nature of In Justice. I believe it is extremely unpredictable television, and a welcome change from the predictability of the CSIs and Law & Orders of today's TV. It is also extremely well acted, especially by Jason O'Mara. Did you happen to catch last week's episode regarding the mentally challenged prisoner on death row? If you did, need I say more about the unpredictability and the acting? Thanks, and keep up the great work! — Pam P.

Matt Roush: After receiving several letters about last Friday's (Feb. 17) episode in the wake of my dismissal of the show, I decided to watch, figuring (rightly) that our heroes at the National Justice Project must have lost their appeal this time. The result was a better episode than the norm, though I could have done without the manipulative use of "Amazing Grace" to underscore the execution by lethal injection of the unjustly accused death-row prisoner. I did not mean to imply that In Justice was any more or less predictable or formulaic than the many other procedurals on TV. I get why people like the show, which more often than not (the handful of times I've watched) ends with a "feel-good" emotional release as the wrongly jailed person is set free — though not always to an easy life. Where I have a problem, I guess, is with the dramatic mechanics of the National Justice Project: how they take on each new case and how they go about re-solving the crime, invariably discovering some pivotal clue that went unearthed the first time around. (In the death-row episode, it was the fact that the murdered priest counseled prostitutes on Thursdays, the night he was killed.) After watching the show a couple of times, I didn't feel and still don't feel a need to keep tuning in for more of the same. (I'm sure there will be an episode down the pike, if it lasts that long, where the person they go to the mat for is actually guilty, but that's the only other conceivable twist I can imagine.) Like all other forms of TV, crime dramas come in many varieties, some of which I find more appealing than others. For instance, Cold Case is probably every bit as contrived as In Justice when it comes to revisiting old crimes, but I simply enjoy it and its characters more. (For the record, I do think Jason O'Mara is a strong series lead and am confident he'll eventually find a show that will make him a star.)

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

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 first post in this thread.

Critic’s Notebook
“Conviction”: Don’t Call It Another “Law and Order”

By Michael Starr The New York Post

Dick Wolf draws a sharp demarcation line between his successful "Law & Order" franchise and his new NBC series, "Conviction," which revolves around a group of young assistant DAs in Manhattan.

"This is more character-driven. We're getting to literally go home at times with these characters," says Wolf of "Conviction," premiering next Friday (10 PM ET/PT, NBC).

"We're literally seeing the effects of this job on their souls and psyches," he says. "In this show, the characters' personal lives are intertwined with their cases."

In "Conviction," former "Law & Order: SVU" star Stephanie March reprises her role as assistant DA Alexandra Cabot, who's returned to work after a stint in the witness protection program.

Eric Balfour, Milena Govich and J. August Richards are among the show's ensemble cast.

"It's very different from 'Law & Order,' " says Wolf. "Except for a couple of dozen violent rapes on 'SVU,' all the ['Law & Order'] crimes have been murders, which requires a certain type of focus, both investigatorily and on the judicial side.

"If 'Law & Order' is ripped-from-the-headlines cases, these are stories that never get headlines and are rarely in the papers," he says.

"Murder is the most serious crime on the planet and doesn't lend itself to the type of peregrinations, humor and character moments on 'Conviction.' This show is its own animal.

"It's the grunts of the legal system, the privates and corporals — not the majors and generals on 'Law & Order.' "

And, he says, "Conviction" draws its dramatic power from its youthful cast.

"The reality is, there are probably two areas where people like this, in their late 20s, have this much power," Wolf says. "One is in medicine and the other place is the district attorney's office.

"These are people sending people to prison — and they're three years out of law school."

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

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
It was a heck of a night for network TV

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Feb 24, 2006

Usually the broadcast networks step aside when the women’s figure skating finals come gliding onto the television every four years, scared of getting stomped by the sequined pixies and the huge ratings they generate.

But this year CBS, Fox and ABC aired some of their most popular shows opposite NBC and its skaters, and the result was the most competitive night of the TV season so far, and perhaps of the last decade, as 62 percent of the nation’s 109 million TV-watching households tuned into the big four networks during the 8 p.m. hour.

Fox’s “American Idol,” NBC’s Olympics, ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” and CBS’s “Survivor” combined for a 62 household share during the 8 p.m. hour last night, according to Nielsen overnight numbers, a 41 percent increase over the 44 share those networks have combined to average this season so far.

Together the networks averaged 70.4 million total viewers that hour, 63 percent more than the 43.1 million the networks have averaged in primetime so far this season. Also, the Big Four combined for a 58 share among viewers 18-49, up 45 percent from the 40 they’ve averaged this season.

Not surprisingly, Fox’s “Idol,” the No. 1 show on television, paced everyone during that hour, averaging 23.1 million total viewers and a 9.7 rating among 18-49s.

NBC averaged 17.7 million viewers for the Olympics, including some figure skating, while CBS and ABC each averaged about 14.8 million.

As the night went on the competition waned, and NBC grew a commanding lead, averaging 25.5 million viewers during the 9 p.m. hour and 30.2 million at 10 p.m. But it will likely be the lowest-rated night of ladies’ figure skating finals since at least 1992, according to numbers provided by Nielsen.

Overall, the networks averaged 11 million more total viewers than they regularly draw on Thursday night, according to ABC.

Meanwhile, NBC led the night among 18-49s with a 7.5 average rating and an 18 share. Fox was second at 6.6/16, CBS third at 4.8/12, ABC fourth at 4.7/11, Univision fifth at 2.6/6, WB sixth at 1.0/3 and UPN seventh at 0.8/2.

Fox started the night in the lead with a 9.7 for its “Idol” results show. CBS was second with a 5.4 for “Survivor,” NBC third with a 4.4 for the Olympics and ABC fourth with a 3.7 for the first half of “Stars.”
Univision was fifth that hour with a 2.6 for the first hour of “Premio Lo Nuestro 2006,” WB sixth with a 1.0 for the first hour of the movie “Just Married” and UPN seventh with a 0.8 for repeats of “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Love, Inc.”

At 9 p.m. NBC took the lead with an 8.0 for its coverage of the Olympics, followed by a 6.1 for ABC for the second half of “Stars.” CBS slipped to third with a 5.2 for a “CSI” rerun, with Fox fourth with a 3.4 for a repeat of “Skating with Celebrities,” Univision fifth with a 2.6 for “Premio Lo Nuestro 2006,” WB sixth with a 1.1 for the second hour of its movie and UPN seventh with a 0.7 for repeats of “Chris” and “Eve.”

NBC extended its lead during the 10 p.m. hour with a 10.0 average rating for its Olympics coverage. ABC was second with a 4.4 for “Primetime,” CBS third with a 3.8 for a repeat of “Without a Trace” and Univision fourth with a 2.5 for its last hour of “Premio Lo Nuestro 2006.”

NBC took the night among households with a 15.0 average rating and a 22 share. ABC was second at 10.2/15, Fox third at 9.1/13, CBS fourth at 8.6/13, Univision fifth at 2.8/4, WB sixth at 1.7/2 and UPN seventh at 1.4/2.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_3067.asp

The Winter Olympics
Medialife Readers hand NBC an F for the Games

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Feb 24, 2006

When it comes to explaining the low ratings for these Winter Games, it's easy to peg them to the increased competition from other networks. For sure, the competition is much stiffer.

But ultimately many Media Life readers place the blame directly on NBC for doing what they feel is a super-terrible job of presenting the Olympics.

The network blew it, and on a number of levels, media planners and buyers tell Media Life in a survey on the Olympics earlier this week.

Their biggest beef with NBC is how it programmed and promoted the events.

We asked why viewership had fallen off so much for these Games. Nearly a third of respondents, 32.6 percent, agreed with the statement: “NBC’s presentation. The announcers are awful, the Games run way too late into the evening, and there’s not enough focus on foreign athletes. No wonder people aren’t watching.”

Another 30.8 percent blamed competition from other networks, while 27.3 percent pointed to the new technology that allows viewers to find out results well before the taped competitions air.

But Media Life got another rash of complaints when it asked what NBC needs to do to fix its coverage of the Games.

We asked: “Pretend you’ve joined NBC as the new Olympics guru. What changes would you make to its coverage?”

"NBC has lost focus," wrote one respondent. "They didn't start promoting it far enough out and didn't give us 'heroes' we could become emotionally invested in. They've spread their messages too thin."

Many readers complained about what they saw as NBC's smugness. Wrote another: "The Olympics are about the athletes, not the NBC anchors. NBC needs to get over themselves."

Here's a sampling of other complaints about the anchors and presentation generally:

"I would rather watch more of the competitions and less of the fluff and annoying announcers."

"They are relying on old sportscasters for coverage/replay and they are out of it when it comes to interviewing snow boarders and the younger athletes."

"It appears as though the announcers are grasping for chitchat to fill the timeslots."

"I usually love Bob Costas, but his demeanor has made this year even more boring."

"The graphics and accompanying music have been downright silly."

Readers also fault NBC for not providing viewers with a clear primetime schedule so that they know when to tune in for their favorite sports.

“No one knows what is being shown when,” one reader complained. “Not everyone is interested in figure skating, or luge, or whatever.”

Another big complaint, echoed throughout the survey, was that NBC continues to present the Games as strictly an American event rather than a global competition. Americans may want their countrymen to win, but they’d also like to hear about the other competitors.

“Stop acting like we only care about the Americans,” gripes one reader.

Another complaint, a surprising one, was the belief that NBC did a poor job promoting the Games in advance.

“From what I've heard, most people didn't even realize the Olympics were going on,” wrote one reader. “There didn't seem to be as big an advertising campaign compared to other years.”

Another had this to say: "Not until a week or two before did I even know that the Olympics were coming on air."

And finally, readers say, the network erred by airing the marquee events way too late at night, when many viewers have stopped watching.

“Sorry, but the East Coast has to go to bed. Show something major before 11,” writes one reader.

We asked what time top events such as ice skating should air. Nearly half, 48.2 percent, chose, “In the 9 p.m. hour. That’s when much of the toughest competition from other networks airs.”

Another 42.4 percent chose the 10 p.m. hour, and just 9.4 percent chose after 11 p.m.

Perhaps moving those events back would help NBC with another potential problem. The network guaranteed advertisers an average household rating of between 12 and 14 for the Games, and it’s just above 12 as of Wednesday. We asked readers whether NBC will finish above or below its guarantee, and they were almost evenly split.

Just over half, 51.7 percent, said that ladies’ figure skating will help boost the network above that guarantee, while 48.3 percent said NBC will finish under it.

Finally, we asked readers whether they’d been watching the Olympics, and a surprising share, 23.1 percent, said not at all. Another 28.3 percent said they had watched them rarely, only if “American Idol” or “Grey’s Anatomy” wasn’t on.

More than a third, 42.2 percent, said they’d watched the Games often, and 6.4 percent said they hadn’t missed a moment of competition.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_3066.asp

TV Notebook
Westin: Woodruff Being Brought Out of Sedation

By Michele Greppi TVWeek.com

ABC News President David Westin had a dramatic and heartening update Thursday on the condition of "World News Tonight" co-anchor Bob Woodruff, who suffered severe head and other injuries in a roadside bomb blast Jan. 29 in Iraq.

"The doctors are slowly bringing him out of sedation and are very pleased with the progress they've seen so far, especially in the last few days," Mr. Westin said in an e-mail to ABC News staffers. "As the doctors have explained to [Mr. Woodruff's wife] Lee and the family, the process of lowering the sedation is a slow one -- both so Bob can continue to heal and also to keep him as comfortable as possible while he deals with the understandable pain associated with his injuries.

"Despite the fact that he continues to be mildly sedated, Bob has been out of bed in a chair and his physical strength continues to impress his entire team. Bob's responses to Lee and the children are even more heartening -- Lee told me that Bob 'reacts to their voices, returns their smiles and is initiating kisses,'" Mr. Westin's e-mail said.

"In another sign of Bob's moving along his path to recovery, the doctors have said that in the next few weeks it is reasonable to expect that he will be able to move to facilities in the New York area, bringing him closer to his family, his home, and the support structure here."

Mr. Woodruff is being treated at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland and has been kept sedated since the explosion to aid his recuperation.

Mr. Westin also reported that Doug Vogt, the cameraman injured along with Mr. Woodruff, has been released from the hospital and was headed with his wife back to their home in France.

"Doug will continue to undergo further treatment in Europe and will be coming back for check-ups in the United States as he continues to recover," Mr. Westin said.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9444

Critic’s Notebook
Three's a crowd, four's a marriage

HBO's "Big Love" probes the polygamists next door. It's family values of the provocative kind.
By Lynn Smith Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 26, 2006

Maybe you know a family like the Henricksons. But probably not.

The father, Bill, is a genial home improvement chain store owner in Salt Lake City. He lives with three wives and seven children, in three adjacent homes in the suburbs. Needless to say, it's complicated.

Some of their problems are the usual ones — work, money, sex, children — scaled up by a factor of three. The others are extraordinary. As extralegal, consenting polygamists trying to blend into respectable society, they must hide their arrangement from the neighbors, the police and the mainstream Mormon community. And then there are the fundamentalist relatives — eccentric, corrupt and possibly homicidal — who live off the grid in a rural compound but can't stay out of Bill, Barb, Nicki and Margene's life.

What glues them all together is "Big Love," the title of HBO's new version of the twisted family drama that attracted so many devotees to "The Sopranos" and "Six Feet Under." Though the modern-day polygamy might shock some and repulse, tickle or titillate others, the network and the family's creators, Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, expect people will relate to the Henricksons because they epitomize, in their own way, the essence of Middle American family values.

Big love, Scheffer said, is "that bigness and generosity of heart that allows you to survive the messiness." The series, which has 12 episodes this season, premieres March 12.

After middling successes with original series such as "Rome," "Deadwood" and "Entourage," and misfires such as "The Comeback," HBO executives must surely hope "Big Love" will renew its reputation for top-notch original series. In "The Sopranos" and "Six Feet Under," audiences related to characters who would otherwise appear alien through the ordinariness of their family lives. In "Big Love," the characters would be quilts-on-the-wall, family-dinner-type, sports-loving suburbanites were it not for their secret life.

The ensemble project has attracted the talents of feature film veterans Bill Paxton in his first romantic lead as the square-jawed, work-a-daddy Bill; Jeanne Tripplehorn as the reluctant but solid first wife, Barb; Chloë Sevigny as the troublemaking, shopaholic second wife, Nicki; and Ginnifer Goodwin as the inexhaustible and naïve third.

Besides the wives, who struggle to get along, scheme, lie and stand up for one another, the show has other unusually rich roles for women: Lois, Bill's feisty, gun-toting mother (Grace Zabriskie); Adaleen, Nicki's figurine-collecting fundamentalist mother (Mary Kay Place); and Sarah, Barb's thoughtful teenage daughter (Amanda Seyfried).

Harry Dean Stanton plays Roman Grant, the particularly creepy, corrupt and possibly murderous prophet of the Juniper Creek compound who has 31 children and 187 grandchildren. Bruce Dern is Bill's whacked-out father.

"We're playing these characters dead earnest," said Paxton, who portrays the head of the family with his own soft Texas lilt and the hint of a shaman's powerful inner life. He sees Bill as a contemporary Michael Corleone figure who hopes to break away from Juniper Creek but is constantly pulled back.

Though the actors knew next to nothing about the modern-day polygamists they would play, they said they came to understand and even, in some cases, admire their characters. "Once you get past the logistics and the shock, you actually fall in love with them," Goodwin said. The suburban Henrickson family clearly abhors such abuses as the marriage of young girls to older men on the compound, and Bill works hard to support the family and keep in touch with the children. Each wife has her own reason for choosing the situation.

"In the society we are representing, there are these women for whom this is the answer to their problems, not a problem in and of itself," Goodwin said. "It will bowl over our audience, and will educate them."

Separate and apart

Predictably, the show has struck a few nerves with Mormons, who officially banned polygamy more than a century ago but can't shake the association in the public mind. To keep church officials in the loop, but not in a consulting role, HBO scheduled several meetings with them in which they listened to the church's concerns and shared a few rough cuts.

"Obviously, we don't like the program," said Mike Otterson, director of media relations for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "The sexuality of the program, the nature of the program, is not what we would like, relate to or recommend," he said. "We're a church. You wouldn't expect us to like that sort of programming."

In the show, the Henricksons have the sex lives of bunnies. In demand from the enthusiastic Margene, the seductive Barb and the intense Nicki, Bill gets by with a little help from Viagra. It is clear, however, that while they also have a rich spiritual life, they are not churchgoers and do not belong to the mainstream Mormon community.

Specifically, Otterson said, "We could see just another wave of confusion about our association with polygamy. The church discontinued polygamy in 1890 and yet there are polygamous groups in the U.S. and Canada. Not all claim to have origins [in the Mormon Church], some do."

Already, in fact, Vogue magazine is preparing a correction of an article about the show that described it as portraying Mormons, he said. The first episode will end with a clarification explaining there are 20,000 to 40,000 polygamists in the U.S. who have had no official affiliation with the church.

The idea for a show about modern-day polygamists arose one Christmas when Olsen and Scheffer, who are writing and domestic partners, were driving home from visiting relatives in Nebraska. "We were doing our seasonal TV movie go-out-and-pitch gig" Olsen said. "I said, 'Let's do a series on polygamy.' "

The more they explored the idea, the more they realized polygamists could embody universal and admirable qualities that define the best family love. "We're very much populists in what we're going for. We don't like cynical.... We want people to fall in love with these characters and to root for this family," Olsen said. The show, produced by Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions, has become their biggest project to date.

Because the show subtly champions an expanded definition of marriage and family, one Internet critic called it a "stalking horse" for gay marriage rights. In one episode, Stanton's character explains to fictional Los Angeles Times reporters that if courts recognize privacy rights for homosexuals, it's time they do the same for polygamists. Later, his wives are taken aback when the headline quotes him as saying "We're just like homosexuals."

"We thought that made such interesting, strange and perverse bedfellows that it was just too delicious not to use," Olsen told a gathering of television critics last month. More recently, he said they never aimed to use the show to promote gay marriage rights. "It's a complex stew with a complex rendering," he said. "If people in the gay community want to embrace the show, identify with their struggle, so be it."

To achieve cultural accuracy with their scripts, they said they embarked on a steep and intensive learning curve involving historical research, discovering that families of consenting adults are common enough in cities, towns and suburbs in the intermountain West to have their own magazines and popular novels.

Utah state officials confirmed that thousands of polygamists, like the fictional Henricksons, are leaving rural compounds and trying to fit into mainstream society. "They live among us," said Paul Murphy, a spokesman for the Utah attorney general's office. "It used to be hidden, but it's becoming more open," he said, noting that such families often have a hard time blending in because they were raised in isolation. Most are consenting relationships, but even among those that are abusive or coercive, prosecutions are extremely rare, partly because it is hard to find practitioners to testify, he said.

Olsen and Scheffer visited, briefly, some of the best-known fundamentalist enclaves, such as Colorado City in Arizona. They also sent away for popular novels published for the polygamist community. "They had titles like 'The Murder of a Polygamist' or 'A Teenager Cries All Night,' " Olsen said.

Initially shocked at the tawdry material, he said he was hooked after 10 or 15 pages. The writers were inspired by the humanity of the characters and the dramatic moral decisions they must face, he said. "When a parent has to turn to a child and say, 'Your father and I have decided we're going to take another wife into the marriage,' it's insane. You just become pulled into it," he said. "It's riveting stuff."

To make the characters relatable, the creators cherry-picked qualities from members of their own families — particularly the women. The outspoken Lois, for instance was based on Olsen's mother. "In the pilot, everything out of that character's mouth came out of my mother's mouth at one time or another." His mother, he said, "went to Berkeley, studied anthropology with Margaret Mead. She's a smart woman. At the end of the day, she is a character."

'These are dream roles'

At a time when strong female roles are rare in movies and television, "Big Love" is a candy store for actresses. "There are feminist analogies in the material," Scheffer said. Polygamist women, who are bonded to one another as well as to their husband, have strong and close relationships, he said. "They find their power with and in each other."

"It's not just a marriage between a man and a woman," explained Tripplehorn who, like the other cast members, spoke of the characters as if they were real people. "A woman doesn't enter into that relationship without the agreement of the other woman, or women. If one had said no, then Margene wouldn't have been in the marriage."

As Bill's first wife, Barb is a mainstream Mormon whose motives for agreeing to polygamy are said to be related to a previous bout with cancer, but remain murky. "The reason she did it shows how controlling Barb is, going to pick out her husband's new wife," Tripplehorn said.

At first, Tripplehorn had trouble relating to her character and understanding the nuances of the relationships, she said. "Up to that point, I had never given polygamy a thought." Eventually, she realized it is a sisterhood. "Barb has to look at Nicki and Margene as co-wives. It all boiled down to the essence of family," she said. "They are family, and when push comes to shove they are going to be by each other's side, possibly for eternity, I don't know."

Though Barb can be saintly, Tripplehorn said, "I have to remember that whenever she's out in the world, she's living a complete and total lie."

In contrast, Sevigny's Nicki grew up in the fundamentalist compound, as did Bill. A catalog shopaholic who wears braids and pioneer clothes and calls Suze Orman for advice, Nicki is the most likely to fly off the handle. "That's why I was so attracted to her," Sevigny said. "You don't know what she's going to do next."

Olsen and Scheffer said they wrote the part with Sevigny in mind. "We find her fascinating and enigmatic," Olsen said. Sevigny, who had been angling for a role in "Deadwood" or any HBO drama, said she was thrilled.

"These are dream roles," said Goodwin, who plays the playful Margene, a lonely outsider who longed to join the family expecting to find a loving, perfect environment. The three wives are the richest female characters she's ever come across, said Goodwin, who recently portrayed the first wife of Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line."

Margene, a mother of two who still relates to the family's teenagers more than the adults, is constantly shocked and appalled that the household doesn't run smoothly, Goodwin said. "She exhausts me."

Still, there remains the question of whether or not the show glamorizes the practice of polygamy.

"I don't think it does," said Carolyn Strauss, president of HBO Entertainment. "These are people who struggle with their life. The compound shows a very different side of it. What this show does is really examine marriage as an institution.

"It's marriage writ large."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-ca-biglove26feb26,0,5722297,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

Critic’s Notebook
Extra War at Home After Idol

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com FEBRUARY 24, 2006 -

Fox is going to give added exposure to its freshman sitcom The War at Home by airing an episode on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 9:30 p.m. leading out of mega-hit American Idol.

The War at Home regularly airs on Sunday nights at 8:30. It ranks first in the time period for the season in teens, male teens and men 18-34. On a weekly basis, the show also ranks in the Top 20 among persons 12-34 and adults 18-34. Airing the show leading out of Idol will draw more female viewers, giving the show exposure in those demos.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/networktv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002074726

TV Ratings Notebook
'Nightline' numbers up post-Koppel

By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter Feb. 25, 2006

NEW YORK -- When Ted Koppel signed off Nov. 22 after 25 years of "Nightline," he asked viewers to give the new crew a chance.

"If you don't, I promise the network will just put another comedy show in this time slot," Koppel said. "Then you'll be sorry."

Viewers of the late-night news show may be heeding his warning: After a rocky beginning, ratings have steadied to the Koppel era in total viewers and have recently jumped in the adults 25-54 demographic.

"Nightline" has averaged 3.5 million viewers and a 1.4 rating/5 share in the demographic since Koppel's departure, according to data released Friday by Nielsen Media Research.

That's the same as the show had been doing (in a combination Koppel- and multianchor format) between September and November.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002074960

TV Review
From love to loathing

The anatomy of a famed relationship and murder is studied in HBO's "Mrs. Harris."
By Daryl H. Miller Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 24, 2006

The title may be, simply, "Mrs. Harris," but this new movie about Jean Harris' conviction for the 1980 shooting death of "Scarsdale Diet" Dr. Herman Tarnower is very much about both of them. Looking back over their 14-year relationship, it sees two deeply connected people who slipped slowly, inexorably out of alignment with each other.

Entering HBO's movie rotation Saturday at 8 PM ET/PT, the picture presents Annette Bening as a strongly principled, hard-working, single mother of two who finds herself in a fairy-tale romance with Ben Kingsley's wealthy, charismatic doctor. As their middle-of-life infatuation settles into dull routine, however, another woman enters the picture, as do prescription drugs. Harris' quickness and poise devolves into weariness and paranoia, while Tarnower's attentiveness shifts from that of fascinated lover to that of doctor studying a patient.

It's a psychologically rich study of love's mutability, presented in a boldly stylized, darkly comic manner by playwright Phyllis Nagy, working from her own screenplay as she makes her film directing debut.

Right from the opening title sequence, the movie slyly addresses the ways in which the shooting impressed itself on the American public. Here was a story that titillated the nation yet left it a bit rattled. After all, if the respected headmistress of an exclusive private school could end up on trial for shooting her bestselling doctor of a lover, you had to wonder: Is absolutely anyone capable of such things? Myself included?

Barely has the title scrolled across the screen when gunfire erupts in excerpted, classic-movie scenes of Louise Brooks, Joan Crawford, Gloria Swanson and others portraying women pushed to extremes.

The story then plunges straight into the shooting. It's a dark and stormy night when Bening's Harris shuffles into Tarnower's sleek, Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired bedroom in Purchase, N.Y., and tiredly raises a gun to her head. An almost comic wrestling match ensues, as the gun repeatedly goes off or goes flying.

Two versions of the shooting frame the story. This first is Harris', the second is the chief prosecutor's. In between, the 14 years of the Harris-Tarnower relationship unfold in a format that adopts, yet playfully subverts, common storytelling techniques.

It's a courtroom drama that has Bening's Harris all but openly ridiculing the prosecutorial techniques of Frank Whaley's George Bolen, looking cartoonish behind giant wire-framed glasses. Details of the story are categorized under chapter headings — "Opening Statements," "Cross Examination" and so on — as courtroom scenes give way to snapshots of the relationship. Period music wryly underscores many of these developmental scenes, as at Harris and Tarnower's first meeting: Their eyes lock across a crowded dining table and all sound fades away, to be replaced by the sappy strains of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You."

Meanwhile, documentary-style "interviews" are added to the texture. Portraying Tarnower's sister, a sour-faced Cloris Leachman tells the camera that Harris was jealous of the doctor's fame. Elegant Frances Fisher, as Harris' best friend, admiringly describes her pal as strong, unconventional and uncompromising. And if you watch closely, you'll notice that Ellen Burstyn, who portrayed Harris in a 1981 TV movie, makes a stealthy cameo interview appearance as one of Tarnower's past lovers.

The tone can and will be criticized as inconsistent. One scene in particular has been much talked about since the film's appearance at the Toronto and Palm Springs film festivals. Staged almost like a musical-comedy chorus number, it sends Kingsley strutting regally through a locker room to cause a ripple effect as men turn to stare at his purportedly massive endowment.

"Mrs. Harris" neither blames nor beatifies. Harris and Tarnower come across as a post-sexual-liberation-era couple who were too independent-minded to marry, too brainy to be anything but brutally honest with each other and, well, too much of just about everything for them to ever be able to live happily ever after.

Still, there's something quietly heartbreaking about the decline charted by Bening as she changes from the Holly Golightly-like figure, dressed in radiant pink, who waits for Tarnower's chauffeured Cadillac to whisk her off to an evening of dancing, to the hollow-eyed, dead-voiced zombie who materializes in his bedroom one fateful night.

"I feel so safe with you," Harris tells Tarnower at one point, to which he replies: "No one is ever safe with anyone." How sadly true that turns out to be.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-harris24feb24,0,5696970,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

The Digital Revolution
Step-by-Step To High-Def Cable

networks conquer production challenges to launch HD channels
By Glen Dickson Broadcasting & Cable 2/27/2006

Premium movie networks like HBO and Starz had plenty of HD-ready film content to draw from when they launched HD services years ago.

But basic-cable HD players like MTV's new MHD, National Geographic's new NGC HD network and Scripps Networks' upcoming HD versions of HGTV and Food Network have had to significantly change their production workflows to ensure a reliable stream of HD content.

Nat Geo's Year of Planning

NGC HD went live in January, after almost a year of planning. The HD network offers a simulcast of the programming on the standard National Geographic network in the 720-line progressive-scan format preferred by Fox for its HD offerings; Fox Cable Networks is a part owner of Nat Geo, and the HD channel is uplinked from Fox facilities in Los Angeles.

“Everything basically comes out of our server uplink that's HD,” says John Ford, Nat Geo executive VP of programming, “and that either goes directly to the HD channel or we do a 'pulldown' for 4:3 [aspect ratio] to run on the standard-definition network.”

But National Geographic doesn't air much content in the 4:3 aspect ratio on its standard-def channel. Instead, it shows many programs letterboxed, and it did so even before its HD launch. Ford asks producers to frame a “safe area” for 4:3 on some shows, to give Nat Geo the option of filling the screen on the standard-def channel.

A year ago, Nat Geo told program producers that they would have to begin providing new material in HD. Previously, most producers used 16mm film or Digital Betacam tape, not 35mm film or HD video.

“We found their budgets went up somewhat but not astronomically, and our producers responded well,” Ford says. “It's a benefit for them, too. It gives more value to their archive and gives material a long-term shelf life.”

Most Nat Geo independent producers rent HD cameras, although National Geographic will also lend out its five Panasonic Varicams. The network prefers HD content in either the Panasonic D-5 or Sony HDCAM SR (Super Resolution) format and has built its operations around HDCAM SR. NGC tries to avoid accepting tape masters in the basic HDCAM format because of its compression rate: The video-data rate of HDCAM is 140 megabits per second (Mbps) compared with 440 Mbps for HDCAM SR. The SR version also records more audio tracks to support Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.

Ford also doesn't want producers to work in the low-cost compressed HDV format, which has a data rate of 25 Mbps. The quality isn't sufficient. But he makes exceptions: “If you are going to hang over the side of a mountain and shoot a snake crawling up into a bird's nest, you probably don't want to do that with a $150,000 camera.”

About 90% of National Geographic's prime time fare is now in HD, and the network is adding 30-35 hours of HD programming each month.

Sometimes, Nat Geo documentaries have to incorporate standard-definition archived footage, which the network improves by running it through a color-correction system and a Teranex upconverter.

“We try to make it look as good as possible, but we're acknowledging it's not HD,” says Ford. “It's like using black-and-white films from the '20s. Viewers expect certain things not to be HD. They know they didn't have HD cameras on D-Day.”

MHD: The Network in a Truck

MTV Networks introduced its high-def channel, MHD, in January. It's delivered in the 1080-line interlace HD format and draws content from MTV and sister channels VH1 and CMT.

MHD is all about live concerts and awards shows. And in reality, that's the best way to bring high-def to music fans. While many music videos are shot on film, only a handful have been produced in HD. MHD is talking with record labels to start filling that void.

MTV created an MHD studio on top of Vail Mountain in Colorado, but that facility is used only to capture short interstitial segments in high-def, such as MTV “veejays” introducing a concert telecast.

Supporting MHD's early high-definition production is Pegasus HD, a new 54-foot mobile HD production truck used to produce a series of live Music With Altitude concert specials in Breckenridge, Colo., last month. The oversize truck will be kept rolling to produce major events, such as the MTV Music Awards, and live music shows, such as CMT's Crossroads.

“It's brand new and built by us to our specifications,” says Steve Kaufman, senior VP, production operations and technology, MTV Networks. “It's an entertainment-specific production truck for major events to shoot high-def.”

Because it has such a specific use, Pegasus HD has a host of digital audio gear for producing concerts in full Dolby Digital 5.1-channel sound, including a Calrec digital audio console and an array of Dolby surround-sound encoders, monitors and decoders.

Kaufman contends that producing live music events in Dolby Digital sound is more challenging than sports audio. Part of the challenge is technical; the rest, creative.

“It's difficult to do a live surround-sound 5.1-channel mix,” he says. “Usually, we do a reference mix for an event, a 48-track recording, and remix it later to surround sound. Switching from band-to-band music mixing in surround is a bit more delicate. Surround-sound music is historically two-channel front, left and right. And psycho-acoustically, when you're watching a performance in front of you, you don't expect [to hear] music behind you, like a movie, where you might expect noise behind you when a train or plane goes by.

“There has got to be some sort of psychological basis for putting it behind the viewer,” Kaufman continues, “and we're still playing with what goes behind you in the performance. You have to delicately listen to that in the production truck, and it's hard to get a delicate mix done [live].”

To keep the quality as high as possible, MHD uses Dolby E compression technology only to deliver satellite feeds back to its Long Island, N.Y., tech center. It does not use Dolby E to record audio on tape or server, instead recording six discrete audio channels.

In part, that is why MHD adopted the Sony HDCAM SR tape format, which has 12 audio channels in addition to MPEG-4 advanced video-encoding technology.

Other Pegasus HD gear: Ikegami cameras with Fujinon HD lenses, a Sony MVS-8000 video switcher, Chyron graphics systems, EVS disk recorders and Utah Scientific routers. Most editing is done in New York on a mix of Avid Media Composer and Apple Final Cut systems.

MHD records most camera feeds to Sony HDCAM SR tape decks. Kaufman says that's because the network experiences a “format-compatibility problem” with different manufacturers' servers.

“That is one of the hazards in the digital world,” he says. “When you make a Betacam tape, you can carry it anywhere and play it. In the digital world, it's a much different bag. There are no assumptions you can make about the compatibility of media; you have to call ahead and see what to bring with you.”

Scripps set to launch two networks

Scripps Networks is playing a doubleheader. It will launch HGTV HD in late March and Food Network HD in the second quarter. Executive VP of Operations Mark Hale began preparing for the shift to 1080-line interlace HD early last year, getting gear in place at the network's Knoxville, Tenn., headquarters and in New York.

He replaced several aging post-production systems in Knoxville with new HD-capable systems, including Avid Symphony Nitris and Adrenaline editing systems and Discreet Flame graphics. Scripps also began augmenting Food Network's newer New York production facility with HD gear. Hale estimates that a third of Scripps' post-production systems are already HD-capable.

Scripps used Sony Digital Betacam as its house tape format but is shifting to HDCAM tape, which is backwards-compatible with Digital Betacam.

In Knoxville, Scripps up-­ graded field cameras to Sony Cine­Alta F900 models. In New York, HD video-processing cards were added to Thomson 5000 studio cameras.

“From a legacy standpoint, we want a format that can move content back and forth,” says Hale about Scripps' decision to go with HDCAM.

Other HD gear at Knoxville: Thomson Grass Valley Trinix HD signal router and the Octimax 5.1 audio processor by Linear Acoustic for 5.1 surround-sound simulation. Scripps is also testing an Omneon HD server for playing out programming.

Scripps hasn'tripped out Knoxville's existing routing infrastructure, already standard-def digital, but it has overlaid high-def capability where necessary.

Because 90% of HGTV's programming is produced by outside companies, Scripps needed their cooperation. It mandated that all its programs be delivered in two versions: one on HDCAM tape, the other in a standard-definition version on Digital Betacam.

So far, Scripps has amassed a library of 750 hours of HD material and plans to broadcast 1080i HD at a data rate of 15 Mbps. It will use a Teranex format converter to upconvert standard-def interstitials and commercials to maintain a consistent look.

Teranex technology, Hale says, “takes the center 50% of screen and leaves it untouched and takes the outer 25% [at each side of] the screen and gently stretches it to fill the 16:9 raster [display area]. So you don't get pillar-boxing going in and out of breaks.”

HGTV HD won't simulcast the standard-definition service but will instead offer distinct content, including different episodes of the same show in a given time slot. The new network will also draw high-def content from sister networks DIY and Fine Living.

The programming strategy for Food Network HD, where the bulk of production is field- and studio-based, is being fine-tuned, says Hale, but likely will be similar to HGTV's. He says, “We have an interesting year ahead of us as we see where the audience migrates.”

Ratings Notes
Olympics Skate Around Mount 'Idol'

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, February 25, 2006; C07

Thursday's Prime-Time Perfect Storm -- in which the Winter Olympics on NBC battled not just Fox hit "American Idol" but also no-slouches "Dancing With the Stars" on ABC and CBS's "Survivor" -- left everyone bloodied but some happier than others.

"Idol" snagged far and away the biggest audience in the 8-to-9-p.m. hour -- 23.4 million viewers. Now, that's the smallest audience for this edition of "Idol," but it catapulted Fox to its biggest Thursday night in 13 years.

Though the Games once again got pounded by "Idol" in head-to-head competition, snaring fewer than 18 million viewers in the hour, NBC recovered by holding back all the taped women's figure skating play until after "Idol" and running until nearly midnight. In prime time, NBC averaged nearly 24.5 million viewers -- the biggest Thursday prime-time audience for any network this season.

But NBC's Olympics coverage wound up with about a third fewer viewers (nearly 13 million) than the prime-time night of the women's figure skating finals at Nagano in '98.

Of, course, at Nagano, women's figure skating did not face "American Idol," "Survivor" and "Dancing With the Stars." The competition faced a repeat of the flick "Maverick," a repeat of the flick "Speed" and the memorable Muppets special "Elmopalooza."

At Nagano, the women's figure skating finals -- always the most watched Winter Olympics competition -- were held on Friday, protected from NBC's extremely powerful Thursday lineup.

CBS's "Survivor" took a hit this Thursday night, copping its smallest audience ever for a regular episode -- fewer than 15 million viewers.

"Dancing With the Stars" fumbled nearly 2 million compared with the previous week but, in the expanded two-hour block, it produced ABC's biggest Thursday audience with regular programming in more than five years.

Viewers were happy with the Thursday bloodshed. According to Nielsen, about 11 million more people watched television -- broadcast and cable -- that night than usually tune in.

That said, the combined prime-time averages of all six English-language broadcast networks -- ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN and the WB -- only slightly exceed the 73.5 million who watched the women's figure skating finals from Lillehammer in 1994 -- aka the Nancy Kerrigan vs. Tanya Harding Games.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/24/AR2006022402086_pf.html

The Winter Olympics
Actually, It's Amazing Anybody's Watching This Stuff


By Richard Sandomir The New York Times

TURIN, Italy--In many ways, it is a miracle that American viewers pay attention to the Winter Olympics at all. Here is a collection of sports, except for figure skating, that fade to niches, or to black, from one Olympics to the next.

You can marvel at the achievements of Joey Cheek or Ted Ligety, but six months from now they will be largely forgotten. (Cheek is a speedskater, Ligety a skier, for those in need of a cheat sheet.) Curling will be gone from CNBC, and everyone will wonder what you do with brooms and big rocks.

The reality of those routinely crowded mixed zones — where the news media gather after events to question sweaty athletes — will yield to sports pages in this country that are devoid of coverage of nearly all these sports.

In the four years until the Vancouver Games, programs for skiing, speedskating and other winter sports will receive negligible ratings, and those low viewership figures will not soar even for pre-Olympic events.

Consider that the most popular ongoing winter sport is hockey, but National Hockey League viewers comprise a mighty small lot.

It is astonishing that NBC is averaging 21 million viewers a night for the Turin Games, which is a testament to NBC's storytelling, the power of hype (though this time less potent than usual) and a strange quadrennial routine practiced by viewers these past 40 years. Somehow, they watch, as if the sports they formerly ignored had grown hundredfold in stature.

Much the same can be said for Summer Games viewing patterns, except that the United States is better in the heat than in the cold.

And the Beijing Games in 2008 will cause NBC the same type of time-zone woes that the Sydney Games did in 2000.

NBC is likely to face new and greater challenges four years from now in Vancouver, even though it will be a virtual domestic Olympics. CBS cannot help but see what ABC and Fox did to attack NBC's soft underbelly with new episodes of "American Idol" and "Desperate Housewives."

Electronic breakthroughs will further fragment viewer attention spans, and make people wonder just why they watched the Winter Games at all.

And what has amazed viewers in the past about the technological advances that NBC deployed for the Olympics already seem routine.

What, then, should NBC do in an environment of an Olympics every two years that has diminished the anticipation of the Summer and Winter Games in the same year, a practice that ended after the 1992 cycle?

Were we excited about Turin 18 months after Athens? Hardly. The biggest hoop-de-do was over Bode Miller's interview on "60 Minutes."

NBC's prime-time model is likely to stay the same. It pays as much as it does to dominate prime time. For Turin, NBC's rights and production costs totaled about $750 million; they will be close to $1 billion in Vancouver.

The best stuff will rightly be saved for prime time because it would be asinine financially to carry the downhill live at 10 in the morning.

But here are some ideas:

• NBC should actually return to more storytelling. Once the home of too many overwrought athlete profiles, NBC appears to have gone the other way and isn't telling viewers enough about enough athletes. The vast majority of the 21 million viewers just didn't know most of these people.

Without a stronger foundation of profiles, NBC might as well just show the always-improving world feed, and throw in some announcers.

• ¶NBC should invest heavily in electronic graphics that give viewers a greater sense of what these athletes must do. Let viewers feel like they know far more than they do. Let them feel like an anonymous skating judge. It is one thing to use technology to compare how two skiers, side-by-side, traverse the slalom, another to delve deeply into slalom strategies.

• Loosen the anchor job. Unleash Bob Costas. Get him out of his blazer and tie, get him outside. NBC's studio is removed from the world, and athletes and newsmakers must be invited in. Let Bob go out and play.

• ¶Embrace pay-per-view, or at least study it. Let viewers pay to see live what NBC tapes for prime time. There are already lots of live events on cable, and a pay-per-view model might please some fans, especially figure skating's. NBC would, of course, have to determine if such a plan would deprive its prime-time program of a significant number of viewers.

In Vancouver, women's figure skating might start in the afternoon, so it would be held for prime time. Would the real fans want a peek at the world feed before NBC takes hold of it? Would NBC even allow it?

• Accelerate the interactivity that it is being tested on eight Time Warner cable systems with technology from BIAP Systems. Digital subscribers can press their remotes to view medal counts, athlete biographies and news about the United States team, but the technology exists to let viewers buy video clips and vote midrace on who will win.

Winston Churchill, the chairman of BIAP (and no relation to the former British prime minister), said by telephone: "When the viewer feels like they're in the vent, it will conquer passivity from the sofa."

But was sofa passivity the enemy of these Olympics in America?

Or is it a big, expensive event on the verge of jumping the shark?

Ciao!

The Digital Revolution
Step-by-Step To High-Def Cable



Nat Geo's Year of Planning

NGC HD went live in January, after almost a year of planning.
Who carries this channel, is it even live anywhere..?

I am not sure where it is available.

Sorry for the delay, but Friday’s network prime-time ratings have (finally) been posted at the top of Latest Prime Time Ratings news which is the first post in this thread.

Who carries this channel, is it even live anywhere..?According to post #4 in this thead (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=419472), it is not available anywhere yet. Not sure just where they went live in January. :)

Obituary
Don Knotts, star of 'The Andy Griffith Show,' dead at 81


Knotts died Friday night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills
By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 25, 2006

Don Knotts, the saucer-eyed, scarecrow-thin comic actor best known for his roles as the high-strung small-town deputy Barney Fife on the 1960s CBS series "The Andy Griffith Show" and the leisure-suit-clad landlord Ralph Furley on ABC's '70s sitcom "Three's Company," has died. He was 81.

Knotts, who lived in West Los Angeles, died Friday night of lung cancer at UCLA Medical Center, according to Sherwin Bash, his longtime manager.

Family members said that his longtime friend Griffth was one of his last visitors at Cedars on Friday night.

Despite health problems, Knotts had kept working in recent months. He lent his distinctive, high-pitched voice as Turkey Mayor in Walt Disney's animated family film "Chicken Little," which was released in November 2005. He also did guest spots in 2005 on NBC's "Las Vegas" and Fox's "That '70s Show." He occasionally co-headlined in live comedy shows with Tim Conway, his sometime co-star in Disney films such as "The Apple Dumpling Gang." Knotts also appeared as the TV repairman in director Gary Ross's whimsical 1998 comedy "Pleasantville," and voiced the part of T.W. Turtle in the 1997 animated feature "Cats Don't Dance."

As he grew older, Knotts became a lodestar for younger comic actors. The new generation came to appreciate his highly physical brand of acting that, at its best, was in the tradition of silent-film greats such as Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel and Harold Lloyd.

Knotts first rose to prominence in the late 1950s, joining Louis Nye and other comedy players on "The Steve Allen Show." In 1961, United Artists Records released a comedy album entitled "Don Knotts: An Evening with Me," which featured various takeoffs on the "nervous man" routine the comic had made famous on Allen's show. One of the bits, "The Weatherman," concerned a TV forecaster forced to wing it after the meteorology report fails to make it to the studio by air time.

During the mid to late 1960s, in a largely unsuccessful bid for major film stardom, Knotts made a series of family films that many connoisseurs now say were critically underappreciated at the time. These include "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" (1964), "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" (1966) and "The Reluctant Astronaut" (1967). The latter two were made as part of a five-picture deal with Universal Pictures.

"Limpet," the tale of a meek man who is transformed into a fish, has particularly won recent acclaim. Its early mix of live action and animation was a forerunner of such later films as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and "Space Jam."

At one point, Jim Carrey was said to be considering starring in a "Limpet" remake, although the project has yet to materialize. Once, when Knotts visited the set of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," Carrey paid tribute. "I went to him, and I was just like, 'Thank you so much for "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken,"' Carrey later told an interviewer. " 'I watched it a hundred times when I was a kid.' "

Martin Short has likewise hailed Knotts as a major influence, and at least one of Short's recurring characters, shifty-eyed lawyer Nathan Thurm, owes a debt to Knotts' "nervous man" character, created for "The Steve Allen Show" in the 1950s.

Many TV viewers remember Knotts as Ralph Furley, the ascot-wearing middle-aged landlord who mistakenly viewed himself as a swinger on ABC's hit sex farce "Three's Company." The series starred the late John Ritter as Jack Tripper, a chef who pretended to be gay in order to share an apartment with two attractive young women. The plot of many episodes hinged on Tripper struggling to keep his secret from an ever-suspicious (and homophobic) Furley. Knotts introduced the character in 1979, during the show's fourth season, when the original landlords (Norman Fell and Audra Lindley) had departed for their own spin-off, "The Ropers."

For Knotts, who typically worked in Disney comedies and other family-friendly fare, appearing in a sex comedy — then decried by critics as "jiggle TV" -- constituted a major departure. But he stayed with "Three's Company" until it went off the air in 1984 after eight seasons.

However, it was his portrayal of Barney Fife — a role for which he won five Emmy Awards -- that immortalized Knotts to TV viewers. Deputy Fife, an inveterate bumbler, was not in the series pilot, and was at first intended simply to be part of a large ensemble that would surround Griffith, who played Sheriff Andy Taylor in Mayberry, a fictional North Carolina town near Raleigh.

But not long after the series debuted in October 1960, Knotts stole the show. Griffith, who was meant to be the series' comic focus, shifted to playing straight man. The writers began beefing up Fife's role and creating episodes that depended on the sheriff rescuing Fife from his latest predicament. "Andy Griffith" was the most popular comedy on television during its first season, and never dropped from the Top 10 for the rest of its eight-year run.

In Knotts' hands, Fife was a fully realized stooge, a hick-town Don Quixote who imagined himself braver, more sophisticated and more competent than he actually was. His utter lack of self-control led him into desperate jams that usually culminated with Fife at the end of his rope, bug-eyed and panting with anxiety. Sheriff Taylor allowed his deputy to carry just one bullet, which he was obliged to keep separate from his service revolver due to past trigger mishaps.

Asked how he developed his most famous character, Knotts replied in a 2000 interview: "Mainly, I thought of Barney as a kid. You can always look into the faces of kids and see what they're thinking, if they're happy or sad. That's what I tried to do with Barney. It's very identifiable."

Jesse Donald Knotts was born in Morgantown, W.Va., on July 21, 1924, the youngest of four brothers. His family life was troubled; Knotts' father twice threatened his mother with a knife and later spent time in mental hospitals, while older brother Earl — nicknamed "Shadow" because of his thinness -- died of asthma when Knotts was still a teenager.

Years later, the actor did not recall his childhood fondly.

"I felt like a loser," he recalled in a 1976 interview with the Los Angeles Times. "I was unhappy, I think, most of the time. We were terribly poor and I hated my size."

Knotts turned to performing in his early teens, doing an Edgar Bergen-inspired ventriloquism act with a dummy he named Danny.

He enlisted in the Army in 1943 and served in the Pacific, receiving the World War II Victory Medal among other decorations. After the war, in 1948, he graduated from West Virginia University with an education degree.

He soon borrowed $100 and moved to New York to pursue an acting career. He auditioned for several radio gigs but was turned down. One of his earliest TV roles was on the CBS soap opera "Search for Tomorrow," where he played Wilbur Peterson — a neurotic young man so troubled he communicated only with his sister -- from 1953-55. It was the only non-comedic role he ever played.

But Knotts did not receive widespread attention until he appeared on Broadway in Ira Levin's 1955 comedy "No Time for Sergeants." Based on Mac Hyman's novel, the play concerned a hillbilly — played by a then-unknown Andy Griffith -- who was drafted into the Air Force. Knotts won plaudits as an overly tense military evaluator.

From 1956-60, Knotts further cemented his reputation on NBC's "The Steve Allen Show," where he would play a character named Mr. Morrison, aka "the nervous man." Interviewed on the street, Morrison was asked whether something was making him nervous and would inevitably offer a terse, anxiety-wracked "No!"

In the meantime, "No Time for Sergeants" was made into a feature film in 1958, with Griffith and Knotts reprising their roles. The two actors kept in touch, and when Griffith signed to do the TV series as a rural sheriff, Knotts half-jokingly suggested that the lawman would need a deputy.

Knotts left "Andy Griffith" in 1965, later explaining that he believed the producers had always intended for the series to last just five seasons. In a 1967 Times interview, he said, "The grind gets to you in television, and that's primarily the reason I'm concentrating on pictures."

Griffith stayed with the program for three years after Knotts' departure, however, and Knotts agreed to revive his role as Fife in a number of guest spots. Even without Knotts, "Andy Griffith" remained popular, and the show was ranked No. 1 in its final season, 1967-68. Episodes remain syndication favorites and still appear in frequent rotation on cable network TV Land.

But many fans now believe "Andy Griffith" fizzled creatively without Knotts' manic energy — a point that even Griffith himself has conceded. On the TV fan site www.jumptheshark.com, one viewer wrote, "When Barney Fife left town, 'The Andy Griffith Show' changed from a television classic to just another 60's TV show."

After "Griffith," Knotts stayed busy, although he never quite matched the success he had seen as Barney Fife. An NBC variety hour, "The Don Knotts Show," premiered in 1970 and lasted just one season. The actor subsequently appeared in several live-action Disney features: as a bumbling bandit in "The Apple Dumpling Gang" (1975), a would-be safecracker in "No Deposit, No Return" (1976) and an auto-racing veteran in "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo" (1977). He also reprised his role as Fife in "Return to Mayberry," a nostalgic TV movie that delivered enormous ratings for CBS in 1986, and had a recurring role in "Matlock," CBS' courtroom drama starring Griffith.

A self-described hypochondriac, Knotts suffered numerous health reversals in recent years. He developed vision problems that made driving and some other tasks difficult. In the fall of 2003, he injured his Achilles tendon while starring in "On Golden Pond" at the New Theatre in Overland Park, Kansas, and had to wear a brace onstage.

Two of Knotts' three marriages ended in divorce. The first, to Kathryn Kay Metz, lasted from 1947 to 1964 and produced two children, Karen, an actress who co-starred with her father in a 1996 stage revival of "You Can't Take It With You," and Thomas, both of whom survive him. From 1974 to 1983, Knotts was married to Loralee Czuchna. He was married to actress Francey Yarborough at the time of his death.

"He saw poignancy in people's pride and pain and he turned it into something endearing and hilarious," Yarborough, who is also an actress, said in a statement Saturday.

Knotts received a star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame in January 2000.

In the foreword to Knotts' 2000 memoir, "Barney Fife and Other Characters I Have Known," Griffith wrote that Knotts personally had little in common with his most famous creation. "Don was not Barney Fife," Griffith wrote. "I know Don to be a bright man and very much in control of himself. As everyone knows, Barney Fife had very little control of himself. In the comedy scenes we did, I was often closer to Don than the camera and I could look at him before we started those scenes, and through his eyes, I could see him become Barney Fife."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-donknotts-obit,0,6517299.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Obituary
Darren McGavin dead at 83

The Associated Press reports that Darren McGavin, the husky, tough-talking actor who starred in several TV series, played a grouchy dad in the holiday classic "A Christmas Story" and had other strong roles in such films as "The Man with the Golden Arm" and "The Natural," died Saturday. He was 83.

I've heard through the grapevine that DirecTV will be carrying WrestleMania 22 in HD this year...Can anyone confirm this?...Thanks

Always liked Darren McGavin, the original Night Stalker. RIP!

I've heard through the grapevine that DirecTV will be carrying WrestleMania 22 in HD this year...Can anyone confirm this?...Thanks

I dont think it will be in HD to begin with.

TV Notebook
The Last Aria of Tony Soprano

By Bill Carter The New York Times February 26, 2006

HIGH on the wall of the otherwise-nondescript conference room inside the production offices of "The Sopranos" hangs a small, framed photograph of a man with his face half shadowed by a fedora.

Ambling by in his lumbering gait, slowed by a slight limp from a recent leg injury, James Gandolfini stopped to take a look at the photo. "Who's that?" he asked.

"Fellini," said David Chase.

Federico Fellini might seem an odd choice to oversee the room where an American television series is planned, but why not? Has there ever been one that was richer, more dense with the complexities of family life — in all its connotations — and yes, more atmospherically Italian (Italian-American in this case) than "The Sopranos"? "It's all a big discovery process," said Mr. Chase, the creator and executive producer of the series, summing up how it has all unfolded. "Actually, I think Fellini said making a movie is like a voyage."

The voyage of "The Sopranos" has been among the most celebrated in television history. The series, the most popular ever on cable television, is a force to be reckoned with across the whole landscape of the medium, and even the larger culture. No two people have been more instrumental in guiding that voyage than Mr. Chase, whose hand has been on every episode in the show's seven-year run, and Mr. Gandolfini, a three-time Emmy winner for best actor, who has brought Mr. Chase's central character, Tony Soprano, to vivid, visceral life.

In a joint interview at Silvercup Studios in Queens, where the interiors for "The Sopranos" are shot, the two men considered the fascinating, volatile, deeply conflicted man they have jointly created. Mr. Gandolfini, as laconic in person as he is mercurial in the show, replied, "I hate to say this, but it's a bit of a blur at this point."

Mr. Chase threw in, "You know, what's interesting is, being your own self is kind of a blur."

One thing both men now know for sure is that the voyage of "The Sopranos" is coming to an end. After several years of speculation, Mr. Chase and the executives of HBO came to an agreement that the latest season of 12 episodes, which starts up on March 12, would be the show's last — and then they renegotiated again and added a mini-season of eight more episodes that will be shot in the coming months and played starting next January.

Mr. Gandolfini called the additional episodes "a reprieve," allowing him to delay for a bit having to think about what the end of the show will mean for him.

Mr. Chase conceded that he has known generally how he will end the series "for a couple of years now."

Mr. Gandolfini said: "He told me one thing. But I think it's different now."

Though they did not appear to be especially close, and even sat at the conference-room table several chairs apart, the two men clearly have an ease with each other, joking easily back and forth about moments from the past seven years of joint creative effort. The work has always been a collaboration, though not the kind you often hear of in television, where a star begins dictating plotlines and character points. Mr. Gandolfini is not that kind of actor — and Mr. Chase is not that kind of producer. "Some actors suggest things and they don't even know why they're suggesting it," Mr. Gandolfini said. "If I started imposing my own ideas, that would be complete pandemonium."

Mr. Chase, despite a preference for film and a personal antipathy toward television — in an earlier interview he confessed, "I just resented every moment I spent in television" — worked most of his pre-"Sopranos" career on network series, and so he spoke from long experience when he made the point: "Actors will say, 'My character wouldn't say that.' Who said it was your character?" As Mr. Gandolfini laughed, Mr. Chase added, "By the way, Jim has never said that."

Mr. Gandolfini has, however, made significant contributions — in particular, Mr. Chase noted, a sense of the emotional depth behind Tony's physical menace, conveying so much just with his eyes.

Mr. Gandolfini was quick to mention the other cast members, including Edie Falco and Michael Imperioli, saying, "They all convey that depth — that's why the whole thing has more than just a surface quality."

But as Mr. Chase said, the show "has been engineered" around Tony's point of view. Nothing illustrated that more, and more helped differentiate the series from any previous gangster saga, he said, than the scenes between Tony and his therapist, Dr. Melfi (played by Lorraine Bracco.) "They opened up this whole feminine side of Tony," Mr. Chase said. "The thing with his mother, and the thing with the shrink. It had all been about men before. Here he had this other aspect to him."

Mr. Gandolfini labeled his scenes with Dr. Melfi "a Greek chorus." He said: "You go to the therapist and he explains what is happening to him. And you see how it is affecting him. I'm not sure without that the show would have been successful."

Mr. Gandolfini and his imposing physical presence influenced Mr. Chase's understanding of the character from the very first days of filming. Mr. Chase recalled that in the pilot script, originally written in the late 1990's for the Fox network (one of the great misses in TV history), he had conceived a scene where Tony's nephew, Christopher, reveals that he is thinking of selling his story to Hollywood. In the script, Tony responded by cuffing Christopher behind the ear.

After HBO finally agreed to shoot the script, that moment remained in the pilot. When they got to the scene, Mr. Chase, who was directing, called "Action," and instead of that affectionate little cuff, he remembered: "Jim picks the guy up and just throws him. I can still see Michael Imperioli. He was just sitting there with a beer bottle in his hand and the next thing I know there's like this blur of movement and the beer bottle is rolling along the ground and Michael is up off his feet." Mr. Chase laughed, remembering the impression Mr. Gandolfini's move left on him. "Of course, this is how you lead people," he said.

That one gesture changed the show. "He was always going to be a tough, hard person for most people to love," Mr. Chase said. "But that is what a gangster is. "

Mr. Gandolfini doesn't take much credit for the insight. "It was just logical," he said. "I was younger," he said, "and even more volatile at the time."

Another transformative moment came when Fox passed. "In retrospect," said Mr. Chase, "the reason I think the show never went at Fox is that there was no murder in it." At least none committed by Tony. "And I realized afterwards: who wants to see a mob show where no one gets killed?"

Of course Tony did get around to killing people. In one of the series's most famous episodes, the fourth after the pilot, he breaks away from taking his daughter, Meadow, on a tour of elite colleges in Maine to garrote a former mobster turned informer. When he saw that episode, Chris Albrecht, the top HBO executive, was appalled. "Chris said, you've invented one of the best leading characters in television in 20 years and you're going to destroy him," Mr. Chase said. "I said, at this point: 'That guy is a squealer. Tony is a Mob boss. If he doesn't kill him, you've lost more of the audience than you're going to lose if he does.' "

It was also about that time that the show got an unexpected endorsement. Mr. Chase said the show has, on occasion, "indirectly heard" from real-life mobsters. "After about four episodes," Mr. Chase said, "we heard, 'You're O.K.' With one caveat: 'We got word about those barbecue scenes where Jim would wear shorts. A don does not wear shorts.' "

"Of course he walks around in his underwear all the time," Mr. Gandolfini said.

Another plot point that Mr. Chase conceded might not stand up to such fact-checking was Tony's decision after Season 1 to allow his Uncle Junior, played by Dominic Chianese, to live after Junior tried to have Tony killed. Mr. Chase said he loved the scenes between the two characters too much to take that step. But Mr. Gandolfini found it completely understandable. "I think there's a place Tony knows that if he goes to, he's not coming back, and that's the place," Mr. Gandolfini said. "If you start killing family members, what's next?"

Tony did eventually kill one family member, his cousin, but only to spare him from a worse fate at the hands of enemies. In that and other ways, Tony has diverged from gangster conventions. He is clearly more curious about the world. At the very least, he spends more time watching the History Channel.

But another significant factor in the development — or perception — of Tony's character has been its unusually slow roll-out. Between each of the "Sopranos" seasons, cast and crew have gone on long breaks, something no hit series has ever experienced before. The current break — new episodes haven't been on the air since June 2004 — has been the longest. "Honestly, the last break affected me detrimentally," Mr. Gandolfini admitted. "It was long. I think your brain starts to eke out other places. I don't think I was horribly affected — I hope not. But it was long."

Looking back, both he and Mr. Chase confessed to being somewhat amazed at having wrought a work so memorable, so indelible. "I remember sitting around during that barbecue scene," Mr. Gandolfini said, recalling the skepticism that prevailed at that time, "looking around at everyone and thinking: this is a collection that has never been assembled on a TV show before. Look at this group. I was thinking: all right, maybe a few people in Jersey will watch this."

Mr. Chase — who, like Mr. Gandolfini, is from an Italian, New Jersey background — said: "It was strange. I remember thinking I had been to those barbecues in North Caldwell, eating that sausage, when I was 17. And I'm here again, but we're making all of this up? How the heck did this ever happen? I had the same feeling as Jim: who are all these people? They were certainly not Hollywood people; they were real people."

Though much work remains on the final season, Mr. Gandolfini and Mr. Chase acknowledged that they have considered what it will mean finally to move on. Mr. Chase said he believed he would "three-quarters miss doing it, one-quarter not." Mr. Gandolfini, having earlier said "half and half," decided Mr. Chase's equation sounded about right.

Asked if he was concerned about having to shift into something new after having played such an iconic character, he all but snickered. "Not at all," he said. "Ask the crew if they think I'm an iconic character." Then he went out of his way to praise them: "They are not like some movie crew. They are really involved. They make a real contribution." Many have been there from the beginning. The end of the series will be a big change for them, too.

So how will "The Sopranos" draw to a close? Mr. Chase was revealing nothing, of course, other than reasserting that "this is the absolute end." But, he added: "I could not promise that we would not come back and do a movie. It may be that in two or three or four years I could be sitting around and get an idea for a really great 'Sopranos' movie. I don't think that will happen. But if one morning somebody woke up and said this would make a really good, concise, contained 'Sopranos' story, I wouldn't rule that out."

Mr. Gandolfini has only tentative plans for his first post-"Sopranos" work. He is talking about starring in a film about the mid-life of Ernest Hemingway.

Mr. Chase said he has not yet formed a plan for future ventures. In the past he has chafed just slightly under the demands of producing more episodes under such intense scrutiny, including protests from an Italian-American group, caviling from some fans with ever more demanding expectations.

Now all that is behind him, overwhelmed by the excellence of what he, Mr. Gandofini, and the others involved with the show have put on film since 1999. For Mr. Chase, the looming end of what, by any standard, is a classic, career-defining achievement, seems to have finally dispersed the ambivalence he always held about expressing himself on television, an art form, which, as he put it, "I was always trying to get out of." Now he will always be known as the creator of one of television's greatest series, and he seems fully appreciative of that recognition.

"I do think that I've been a part of something extraordinary here," Mr. Chase said. "It's been an amazing ride. This is not being coy. We really work hard here. I'm not going to say that we don't. But you have to believe at some level in luck. We still try to do work that pleases us. But, you know, a lot of things happened. For some reason there was a zeitgeist going on, where this thing connected to whatever was out there. Who knows why that happens? "

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/arts/television/26cart.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

TV Notebook
Darren McGavin

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

To me, the great good fortune for an actor is to find a great role somewhere along the way -- a role that sticks in the public imagination, a role that is satisfying to play, a role that other actors can look at with awe. Don Knotts, eulogized below, found that role in ''The Andy Griffith Show.'' Ray Walston, an actor who had done wonderful work along the way, once longed for that kind of role; he looked more than a little enviously at Burgess Meredith, who at the time was enjoying just such a role in ''Rocky.'' Of course, Walston was stuck doing dinner theater at the time, which may have added to his depression; years later, he would have another grand moment in the sun on ''Picket Fences,'' winning Emmys for it.

I'm rambling about this because Darren McGavin has died, and I hope that he has gone to his grave knowing he had had not just one grand role, but two.

The first, of course, is as Carl Kolchak, the intrepid, brash, loud-mouthed reporter in the ''Night Stalker'' movies and TV series. The material was not always what McGavin might have hoped -- especially when it came to the TV series -- but McGavin himself was a joy to watch. He might have inspired a few folks to become reporters, so clear was his ''The Front Page''-style love of scoops and scandal.

His impact -- and I mean HIS impact, not just his show's -- was certainly felt on another generation of thriller writers. When McGavin appeared on ''The X-Files,'' it was not just a guest shot, it was tribute being paid. When his image was edited into the wan, recent updating of ''Night Stalker,'' the homage proved ironic -- a reminder that the new Kolchak had none of the zest of McGavin.

And what was that other great role? If I say ''Christmas,'' does it shake your memory tree?

We could probably argue about the quality of the various ''Night Stalker'' projects. There is no arguing about ''A Christmas Story,'' the big-screen movie that has become a small-screen perennial. And as many good things as there are in the movie, one of the best is McGavin's performance as the Old Man. Think not only of his world-weariness. Think, too, of the way he played a man with a dream, someone who just wanted to have a little well-earned success in his life.

Think of his joy at the leg lamp.

I'm smiling just at the memory.

I have other memories of McGavin over the years, of course, because the man worked steadily. I began to pay attention to him before my age hit double-digits, when he starred in a show called ''Riverboat.'' He had a memorable (though unbilled turn) in ''The Natural.'' But in the end, it did not matter how much he worked. I know the two things that first came to mind when I learned of his passing, and I know those are good enough roles to validate a career.

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

TV Notebook
Don Knotts

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

The whole family was out for the evening; when we came home about 11 p.m., there was a message from my office that Don Knotts had died. It went without saying that a beloved TV actor was gone.

And one who has been a regular part of my screen-watching life. I only knew his work for Steve Allen from retrospectives, since I was too young to see it new. But I've spent much of my life watching and admiring -- heck, loving -- ''The Andy Griffith Show.'' And I remember feeling as if it just wasn't the same when Knotts left the show. Andy and Barney were a great team, as were Knotts and Griffith, two guys who had known each other -- and worked with each other before ''Andy Griffith,'' in the play and movie of ''No Time for Sergeants.''

In Richard Kelly's book about ''The Andy Griffith Show,'' Knotts recalls how he was looking for work after Allen's show, and read about Griffith's show. At the time, it did not have a deputy for Sheriff Andy Taylor, so Knotts called Griffith and suggested one. Griffith referred Knotts to producer Sheldon Leonard -- and a wonderful collaboration was born, one that echoed across TV (and that made Knotts's appearance in ''Pleasantville'' resonate with the audience).

And let us never forget how important that collaboration was. Knotts could be funny and touching on his own -- ''The Incredible Mr. Limpet'' remains a fond memory of my youth -- and worked well in tandem with Tim Conway. But it's crucial for Barney Fife that Andy loves and respects him; it makes us love Barney even when he messes up. And Barney is key to our watching Andy; not only do we admire Andy more for his loyalty to Barney (a loyalty that is returned, as we would often see in episodes where Andy ran into trouble), but Barney's extremes of behavior make Andy look solid and respectable.

Indeed, in Kelly's book, Griffith's performance as Andy changed when he realized that he did not have to be a broad character, that others were carrying a lot of the comic water. ''I just realized that I'm the straight man,'' he is heard saying in the book. ''I'm playing straight to all these kooks around me.''

Knotts, of course, was the greatest of all the kooks -- and the most heart-rending. I'll always remember the feeling I had the first time I saw the episode where Barney comes back to claim Thelma Lou -- only to find she is no longer available. It almost broke my heart, since any ''Griffith'' fan wanted Barney to be happy, and he had lost a chance for it. It wasn't just that Barney was a wonderful character, it was that Knotts played him so wonderfully.

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

TV Notebook
You Beat All, Barney

By John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable at bcbeat.com

John Larroquette may have tied him for most best supporting actor Emmys with four, but Don Knotts aka Barney Fife is still the funniest second banana in the TV bunch.

I was at a consignment store Saturday and had a used tape of the first five Andy Griffith episodes in my hand, ready to add one thing to my thing-overflowing house.At the last minute I decided there just wasn't enough of me and time to watch shows I had already seen numerous times while sprawled out in front of that big TV with the button that glowed orange before it came on and the built-in turntable (with a 78 setting), and record cabinet underneath.

I came home to hear the news that Knotts had died and wondered which TV god's sign and portent I had ignored in putting that tape back at the last minute in favor of one of a pair of petrified wood bookends (don't ask).

I may have put the tape back, but I put Griffith and Knotts up there with the great film comedy teams, and certainly with Gleason and Carney as the top twosome of TV's first 25 years. I know, there are some who will argue for Fred and Barney, but since the Flintstone's pair was simply a nifty homage to Gleason and Carney, I lump them in with The Honeymooners duo.

My top team in recent years may be Hugh Laurie and Stephen Frye in the Jeeves series on British TV.

I can still see Knotts/Barney failing to unholster his gun in some imagined crisis, his hair askew, eyes bug-wild, the uniform too baggy no matter how small it was, cinched at the waste to prevent a wardrobe malfunction.

But I also remember the moments of pathos and tenderness that showed him to be far more than simply a skilled comic foil. His impassioned defense of Andy in one episode, or their crooning of the hold alma mater of Mayberry Union High can still bring a Hallmark tear to the old eyesocket.

http://www.bcbeat.com/

TV Review
Bird-watching: Legal eagles and funny fledglings

'Conviction' just flaps wings, but 'Free Ride' soars
By Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel Television Critic February 26, 2006

The big theme in television these days: Make it young.

Programmers serve up stories about young adults to please viewers in that age group and the advertisers who covet them. Fox's Free Ride, a diverting comedy premiering Wednesday, focuses on a hapless college graduate who moves home to his impatient parents. Dick Wolf, the estimable creator of Law & Order, concentrates on young assistant district attorneys in NBC's Conviction, a drama debuting Friday.

Wolf installs Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March) of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as a bureau chief of the district attorney's office in New York. Cabot displays a serious manner that reflects the Law & Order brand.

The other lawyers in Conviction come across as attractive, driven and two-dimensional. There isn't one as remotely dynamic as older, grayer Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) of Law & Order.

Nick Potter (Jordan Bridges, son of Beau) is the enthusiastic newcomer who left a high-paying firm for the chance to try cases. Jim Steele (Anson Mount) is the relentlessly tough boss. Sara Finn (Julianne Nicholson) is the tightly wound prosecutor stumbling through her first case.

Conviction is minor Wolf, diffused and slick. He overstuffs the premiere with characters and cases, then takes awkward detours into private lives. Conviction strives to be frisky with tepid results. The main issue in one sexual liaison is the dark, confusing photography. How's that for hot?

With time, Wolf might fix these problems. He explores the law with more finesse than the personal stuff. But his Law & Order: Trial by Jury, a stronger drama, failed last year after only a half season. In catering to youth this time, Wolf has delivered a ho-hum show.

More successful is Free Ride, an offbeat comedy that's partly improvised. Filmed as a movie, Free Ride sheds the laugh track and studio audience. Instead, it offers fresh humor that should appeal to fans of My Name Is Earl.

Creator Rob Roy Thomas is clear-eyed about his central character. Nate Stahlings (Josh Dean) is handsome, witty and directionless. After graduating from a California college, Nate has landed back in his small Missouri hometown. His unhappy parents plop him in the garage and want him out soon.

In charming scenes, Nate yearns for former classmate Amber (Erin Cahill), and they seem right for each other. There's just a small hitch: She's engaged to another.

In wackier moments, party animal Mark Dove (Dave Sheridan) flails at showing Nate a good time in a deadly dull place.

Two later episodes are funnier than the premiere, always a good sign. Nate finds work at an Australian-themed restaurant, where he must fake an accent. In another installment, he takes his father in for a medical test with scary but uproarious consequences.

The parents, Margo (Loretta Fox) and Bob (Allan Havey), emerge as the funniest and most likable characters. Free Ride has mastered a quirk of today's TV: It delivers a youth-oriented show that should appeal to older viewers, too.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/orl-haltv2606feb26,0,5922747,print.story?coll=orl-caltvtop

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.

I haven't read every "Conviction" article so it may have been mentioned already, but the pilot episode is available free at Apple's iTunes site for download. Speaking of "Night Stalker", there is also 4 unaired episodes from that show as well although they cost $1.99 a piece.

Has anyone heard a premier date for FOX's Hell's Kitchen 2?

It's filming now as far as I know....

scanpa:
I understand it will be shown this summer. No dates yet.

The Digital Revolution
In Sony's Stumble, the Ghost of Betamax

By Ken Belson The New York Times February 26, 2006
(Martin Fackler contributed reporting for this article.)

At first glance, Amir Majidimehr does not look like a game-changer in the battle to develop the next generation of DVD players and discs. As the vice president for Windows digital media at Microsoft, he neither steers a Hollywood studio nor controls one of the many consumer electronics giants that are betting billions of dollars on one of the two new formats that promise to play high-definition movies and television shows.

Yet when he and his team in Redmond, Wash., decided last September to abandon their neutral stance and to support Toshiba and its HD-DVD standard over the Blu-ray format led by Sony, the unexpected change of heart reverberated through the technology industry.

Suddenly, Toshiba's seemingly quixotic defense of its format had new life. Intel joined Microsoft in backing HD-DVD. Hewlett-Packard withdrew its exclusive support of Blu-ray. This month, another member of the Blu-ray camp, LG Electronics, hedged its bets, too, signing a deal to license Toshiba's technology.

And earlier this month, one of the main reasons underpinning Microsoft's move to shuck its neutrality — the complexity of producing Blu-ray technology — led to Sony's acknowledgment that it might delay this spring's scheduled release of its PlayStation 3 game console partly because the needed technology was still being worked out.

The possible delay and the Blu-ray group's loss of its once-commanding lead are not encouraging developments for Sony in its attempt to revive its electronics group after a series of bungles. PlayStation 3 is crucial to Sony's future, and not only because the latest version of its gaming consoles could generate billions in revenue; the new machines will include disc drives that will turn them into Blu-ray DVD players as well.

"The PlayStation is more than a game system to them; it's one of their attempts to own the digital living room," said Robert Heiblim, a consultant to electronics companies. "Blu-ray is also critically important to get right. They don't want to be weak in an area they feel they can dominate."

A DECADE ago, a prospective death match between competing first-generation DVD players was averted when Sony and Philips agreed to back down and join the Toshiba/Warner Brothers side, in exchange for a share of royalties that all DVD player producers pay to the format's creator. Now, no truce seems near, as neither side wants to settle for a small piece of what could be a big electronics success.

So consumers and retailers may be in for a reprise of the confusing VHS-Betamax showdown of the early 1980's, with Toshiba replacing Matsushita as Sony's adversary. But Sony hopes to have a happier resolution this time. Sony lost the battle two decades ago when its highly regarded Betamax technology was defeated by VHS, a more widely accepted alternative.

Once again, the differences between the two technologies are not huge. And a growing chorus of critics, including some studio chiefs eager to sell new products as quickly as possible, call the Blu-ray format unnecessarily elaborate and expensive.

The first HD-DVD machines from Toshiba and the competing Blu-ray players from Sony, Samsung and the other Blu-ray companies will all play movies with crisper pictures, enhanced sound and a bevy of interactive features like pictures within pictures and links to the Internet. The machines will also play older DVD's.

Technophiles got a preview of the HD-DVD technology on Wednesday at an electronics store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. As Jessica Simpson and Johnny Knoxville cavorted in the movie "The Dukes of Hazzard," prospective buyers were able to see the difference between a plain old DVD and the high-definition kind. But the main feature was the price. Toshiba will sell two players starting in March; one will cost just $499, half the price of the cheapest Blu-ray machines, the first of which will hit the stores this spring. Samsung's first machine will cost $1,000, while Pioneer's Blu-ray player will run $1,800.

Toshiba executives have said that because more high-definition movies will be distributed over the Internet in coming years, they have essentially upgraded existing DVD technology to keep prices down. Blu-ray discs, however, include an architecture that Sir Howard Stringer, Sony's chairman, calls "revolutionary, not evolutionary."

The Blu-ray camp is trying to create a brand-new technology that will accommodate features that are still to be created. In preparation for that future, Blu-ray discs will store 25 gigabytes of data, compared with the 15 gigabytes on comparable Toshiba discs and 4.7 gigabytes on today's DVD's.

The first batch of high-definition DVD's from the studios' vaults will highlight rich graphics, vivid scenery and fast-moving action. The films include "Rambo," science fiction thrillers like "The Matrix" and "Dune" and animated features like "Ice Age." The DVD's are generally expected to cost $19 to $25.

But movies are only one front in the format war. In throwing its weight behind Toshiba, Microsoft has expanded the fight into the computer and game industries. Later this year, Microsoft will start selling an external drive for its Xbox game that will play HD-DVD discs, countering Sony's effort to turn PlayStation into a high-definition DVD player by adding Blu-ray technology. Microsoft and its ally Intel have also convinced Hewlett-Packard to consider making HD-DVD drives for computers. This would give Toshiba an answer to Dell, which remains committed to the Blu-ray format.

"The pendulum is swinging back to the HD-DVD camp," said John Freeman, who runs a technology research firm, Strategic Marketing Decisions, which last year declared Blu-ray the front-runner. "It will be interesting to see if the Blu-ray group can recover. It's only a matter of time before people start backing out of the Blu-ray camp."

Still, even with Microsoft on board, Toshiba may have only closed the gap, not overtaken the Blu-ray group. With Samsung, Panasonic and others siding with Sony, consumers will see more Blu-ray machines in the stores. And Blu-ray has more studios in its camp, which means more choice in movies. Every major studio except Universal plans to release Blu-ray DVD's, while Toshiba has commitments from only Universal, Warner Brothers and Paramount.

But one thing is clear: given Microsoft's growing power and scope in the entertainment realm — thanks to its Xbox machines, its media player software and forays into Internet television — its support of HD-DVD has deepened, and has probably prolonged, the format battle. That means consumers must figure out each format's advantages and risk being stuck with obsolete machines if one camp backs down.

This is giving retailers fits, not only because they have to carry twice as many machines and discs, but also because they have to train their employees to explain the differences between the standards.

"Both sides are digging in their heels and stupidity has prevailed," said Joe McGuire, the chief executive of Tweeter, a high-end electronics chain. Mr. McGuire called the failure of the two camps to agree on a single format "criminal" and said he would have a hard time advising consumers. "The answer to which is better is: 'We don't know,' " he said. "I'm tempted not to sell anyone these machines."

But sell they will, because retailers — and studios — need something new to throw at consumers now that DVD players are in 82 percent of American homes. Sales of DVD players are "pretty dead," said John LaRegina, a senior buyer at P.C. Richards, which has 49 stores in the New York area.

But Mr. LaRegina said format battles confused consumers and gave them an excuse not to buy. The uncertainty over who may win also forces film studios and electronics companies to hedge their bets.

Warner Brothers and Paramount, which were originally committed only to HD-DVD, decided last fall to make movies in both formats.

"It was very, very clear that Sony was not going to back down from Blu-ray, and they are basically betting their company on it," said Kevin Tsujihara, the president of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Group. But, he added, Toshiba has mounted "something of a comeback" by winning endorsements from Microsoft and Intel.

Some Blu-ray companies are also waiting to see how the market develops before jumping in with machines of their own. If the PlayStation 3 is priced below Toshiba's $500 player, it could double as the poor man's Blu-Ray player and undercut Sony's partners. (It will also cost Sony dearly; Merrill Lynch issued a report on Feb. 17 estimating that the first PlayStation 3 players would cost about $900 to produce. If so, Sony could end up with substantial losses on those machines if they are priced around $299, as analysts expect, to compete with the Xbox 360, which has been out since November.)

"It's too early to move into this market," said Katsuhiko Machida, the president of Sharp, a Blu-ray company that has not released details for its players in the United States. "Blu-Ray won't be a big business until probably 2008," he said, so "we can watch and see what happens."

Those doubts are a far cry from Blu-ray's bravado last summer and fall, when it won endorsements from Fox, Lions Gate, Warner Brothers and Paramount. Those agreements, coupled with the presumed sway of the PlayStation 3, led industry analysts at Forrester and elsewhere to predict that Blu-ray would ultimately win the format war.

But two unexpected and little-noticed decisions by the Blu-ray group last spring managed to alienate Microsoft and ultimately revive Toshiba's sagging fortunes.

First, Sony and the Blu-ray group adopted a Java program for interactive features. Microsoft favored a rival called iHD because, among other things, it would work better with its new Vista operating system. The Blu-ray group's board also approved an encryption technology called BD+, which Mr. Majidimehr, Microsoft's vice president for Windows digital media, deemed superfluous.

THESE decisions led Mr. Majidimehr to take a deeper look at the Blu-ray format and whether it would be more expensive to produce, as Toshiba had long contended. Mr. Majidimehr and his deputy, Jordi Ribas, spent the next few months on the phones and flying to Asia to meet with Sony, Panasonic and the other Blu-ray companies.

"We asked them if they are serious, and they told us they were," Mr. Majidimehr said, referring to the added software. Microsoft also received more data that showed that the Blu-ray group was not meeting its targets for producing discs and optical drives. "We were getting a lot of data saying the HD-DVD format was a walk in the park and Blu-ray was having trouble developing theirs," Mr. Majidimehr said.

Microsoft's announcement last September raised alarm bells at Hewlett-Packard, which was coming to similar conclusions. Hewlett-Packard worried that the software included in the Blu-ray format would cost so much in royalties that H-P would be unable to add affordable DVD drives to its computers.

Blu-ray drives cost up to 75 percent more than HD-DVD drives, according to Maureen Weber, the general manager of the personal storage group at Hewlett-Packard and a former spokeswoman for the Blu-ray coalition. "There's not a lot of elbow room," she said of the thin profit margins on computers. "The economics of HD-DVD make a lot more sense for us. I'm starting to wonder about the manufacturing ability of Blu-ray."

A Blu-ray spokesman, Andy Parsons, says his group's royalties, which have not yet been set, will be far lower than critics expect. He also disputed the idea that Toshiba had any advantage because Microsoft or Hewlett-Packard might promote the use of HD-DVD in computers.

"DVD's are about movies and people watch them in their living rooms," he said. "How many people actually use their computer drives to sit and watch movies?"

He added that the price of Blu-ray machines and discs was bound to fall as volume rose. Besides, he said, Toshiba is missing the point by selling cheaper machines, because the first people who buy new technologies typically care less about cost and more about the technology.

There are other industry analysts who contend that Microsoft is simply propping up Toshiba to further its own aims, like countering the PlayStation and combating the spread of Sun's Java software. Nonetheless, Toshiba is happy for the backing, given that the format was written off for dead just a few months ago.

"There's no doubt that everyone has various agendas," said Mark Knox, an adviser to the Toshiba promotion group. "But whatever their agenda, Microsoft's support has been a huge boon to HD-DVD."

For Sony, a fortified rival spells trouble. Not only does it make it harder for Blu-ray to catch on, but it raises questions about Sony's approach of trying to create new formats when consumers turn out to be content with something less ambitious.

That is the lesson Sony learned the hard way in the 1980's with Betamax, and more recently when Apple outdid the Walkman with the iPod. Now it is Toshiba's and Microsoft's turn to challenge Sony's strategy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/business/26disks.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

NBC's surprise game-show success is back, but can it still win over viewers?
By Kevin McDonough Special to Newsday

Is "Deal or No Deal" the real deal? Or just a game-show flash in the pan? NBC took quite a gamble when it broadcast the hour-long "Deal" each weeknight during the week of Dec. 19. To the surprise of many, the show found a strong and passionate home audience.

Starting Monday, NBC will air "Deal" every night this week at 8, and then program it once a week on Monday nights, also at 8, beginning March 6. And just to make matters more complicated, "Deal" will also appear on three successive Friday nights in March at 8 p.m., starting March 10.

"Deal's" early success "has made people sit up and pay attention to the game show again," says Steve Beverly, professor of broadcasting at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., who runs TVGameshows.net, a Web site devoted to the genre.

Beverly was surprised and a little suspicious at NBC's decision to debut it in December, a time when viewers are often distracted by shopping and family gatherings. "Frankly, I wondered, 'Is NBC just throwing this one away?'"

Craig Plestis, NBC's senior vice president, alternative programming and development, admits it was "scary" to program "Deal" as a weeklong "stunt" during one of the lowest-rated weeks of the year. But he had good reason to be confident.

New territory

According to David Goldberg, president of the show's production company, Endemol USA, the United States is the latest and largest television market to fall for the show, a phenomenon in more than 30 countries, including England, Italy and India. "After only five nights, it already seems to have worked its way into the popular culture," he says.

He cited "Deal's" international appeal as well as its ability to cross lines of age, class and gender. The show's simple "bird-in-the-hand" premise appeals to young viewers. But anyone who has ever managed a stock portfolio or sold real estate can relate to the art of the "Deal." During its December run, The Wall Street Journal featured "Deal" in a front-page article about probability theory and decision-making - skills essential to stock buyers and sellers. You can even find an abstract for a highly technical academic research paper about "Deal" at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id= 636508. Is a seminar on "Deal or No Deal" far behind?

No one is a greater convert to "Deal or No Deal" than its host, Howie Mandel. In a telephone interview, Mandel admitted to grave reservations. When first asked by his manager to consider the "Deal" job, "My response was immediate: 'Absolutely not.' I had this image of myself standing at a podium in a suit reading trivia questions off a card. It's not how I saw my career going."

Language no barrier

But after only one glimpse of "Deal," Mandel was hooked. And he was watching the Italian version. "Without understanding a word, I got caught up and started screaming at the TV." He noticed the host's ability to tease tension from every scene; to live and die with each contestant's decision and to use prolonged silences and strategic delay to work the home and studio audience into a frenzy of sympathetic excitement.

The formula for "Deal" is simple: Every contestant is given one briefcase containing a secret amount of money ranging from one cent to $1 million. Then he or she gets to open six other briefcases and reveal the amounts contained within. If the opened cases hide small sums, then the probability that the player's briefcase contains a major jackpot increases. But if the opened cases have six-figure sums, then the perceived value of the player's case descends.

At the end of each round, "The Banker," a figure seen only in silhouette, calls Mandel on a special phone and offers the contestant an instant payoff for his or her briefcase. The number goes up or down depending on the revealed amounts. As the game proceeds, and more briefcases are opened, and the banker's offers change, the pressure to make a deal becomes excruciating for player and audience alike.

Once you look beyond its 21st century set and the bevy of 26 beautiful and identically clad female briefcase-toters, "Deal" may look somewhat familiar.

"'Deal or No Deal' is not a whole lot different than 'Let's Make a Deal,'" Beverly says. "Only it's all cash and for much higher stakes." Gone are the prizes of Broyhill sectional sofas, avocado-hued appliances and new cars. "No one is going to go home with an Autumn Hays Mink Stole from Dicker and Dicker of Beverly Hills," quips Beverly.

And then there is the Banker.

The bad guy

Mandel has no idea who the Banker is, and he wants to keep it that way. "It helps me as an actor" to stay in the dark. "He's just a voice on the phone."

"The banker was conceived to create an element of conflict," Goldberg says. "Someone the audience can root against."

Goldberg likes that Mandel seems to side with each contestant, playing George Bailey to the Banker's Mr. Potter. "The tone of 'Deal' is the opposite of the negative shows we've seen in the past," Goldberg says. "Shows like 'Greed' or 'Weakest Link.'" He compares it to the feel-good atmosphere of "Extreme Makeover Home Edition," another Endemol-produced show.

Unlike many game shows, "Deal" puts a great deal of thought into its contestants, selecting possible "Deal" makers down from tens of thousands of wannabes. "We're actually casting 'Deal' the way you would a reality show," Goldberg says. "They're chosen for their personality and life story."

Given the money at stake, and the dramatic setting, Mandel believes virtually any contestant would make for good television. "Do you know that every male contestant so far has cried?" Mandel cites the rigors of standing "in front of a national audience, under hot lights, in front of 10 cameras, 350 people - including your friends and loved ones - and a host screaming 'Deal or no deal!'" "That's a lot of pressure," Mandel says. "People break down."

Despite early success, the fate of "Deal" is hardly assured. Harry Friedman, executive producer of "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" thinks it's just too soon to tell. While the show "has certainly captured the viewer's attention and imagination," he wonders if it can sustain this interest "when viewers have lots of other choices than they did in December."

Facing a powerhouse

And there's some choice competition: When "Deal" airs this week, it faces "American Idol" on three consecutive nights (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday).

Should "Deal" continue to thrive, some worry it will fall prey to the same strategy that cooked the golden ratings goose named "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Too many celebrity episodes diluted the appeal of "Millionaire," Beverly argues. "This may sound heartless," he says, "but nobody ever turned on a game show to watch a celebrity play for charity."

Both Mandel and Plestis agreed that a celebrity "Deal" would be a "Jump the Shark" moment. But look for Donald Trump on Monday's "Deal" - not coincidentally, the latest edition of "The Apprentice" premieres Monday night following "Deal." Trump will offer strategy tips and advice to a surprised contestant. According to Plestis, Trump was supposed to do his scene and then leave. "But he ended up staying in the audience for the entire taping, and getting caught up in the excitement."

Besides celebrities, there is the possibility of overexposure. Plestis all but guaranteed that the network would not use "Deal" as a Band-Aid to plug any future programming holes in NBC's schedule.

Endemol's Goldberg noted that despite the best intentions, sometimes the realities of TV production force a network's hand. Faced with a scheduling vacuum, "You can't call up Dick Wolf and say, 'We want 10 new episodes of 'Law & Order' in two weeks.' You can do that with our show. And that is the danger."

Said Mandel: "I can only wish that [overexposure] will be our biggest problem."

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-fftv4637797feb26,0,3449525,print.story?coll=ny-television-headlines

• Accelerate the interactivity that it is being tested on eight Time Warner cable systems with technology from BIAP Systems. Digital subscribers can press their remotes to view medal counts, athlete biographies and news about the United States team, but the technology exists to let viewers buy video clips and vote midrace on who will win.

Winston Churchill, the chairman of BIAP (and no relation to the former British prime minister), said by telephone: "When the viewer feels like they're in the vent, it will conquer passivity from the sofa."

This was the worst thing about the Olympics! All it did was reboot my box just aobut every time I tried to use it. It was real junk, someone got ripped off for setting this up BIAP has a bad product that is not any good and a real waste of time.

TV Notebook
'Apprentice' Punches a New Timecard

By Bill Carter The New York Times February 27, 2006

Still looking for a turnaround in its ratings momentum, NBC, with the prime-time disappointment of the Olympics over, is turning right away to another of its hugely publicized champions: Donald Trump.

Mr. Trump, who returns tonight with a fifth edition of his reality show, "The Apprentice," does not skate or luge, but he remains world class in one competition — spotlight-grabbing.

In most cases, a network has to worry when it decides to restart a show that has been off the air for while and move it to another night. It is hard to seize the attention of viewers to let them know about the changes.

Mr. Trump glides by all such concerns; he knows exactly how to get his message out — in this case that "The Apprentice" is moving from Thursdays to Mondays. For much of the last week Mr. Trump has skillfully put himself back in the news, engaging in a highly public feud with Martha Stewart, the former star of a show in which he had a production partnership.

Has anyone not heard that Mr. Trump believes NBC's second weekly edition of "The Apprentice" — the fall series that starred Ms. Stewart — was a ratings failure that contributed to some of the ratings fall-off his own show suffered? He and Ms. Stewart have traded barbs in the news media — including gossip columns — leaving Ms. Stewart apparently upset and Mr. Trump apparently unregretful.

The net effect of all of that has been to make viewers more aware that the original "Apprentice" is back starting tonight — and Mr. Trump surely has no regrets about that.

"I have these great 'Apprentice' fans," Mr. Trump said in an interview in his office on the top floor of Trump Tower in Manhattan. "Do you know they were angry at me for allowing that other show to happen?"

All will be forgiven, he said, segueing expertly, when they drop in to the new edition starting tonight at 9 (8 Central time). "We've got great new characters," he said, touting the addition of some foreign-born "Apprentice" applicants this time, including Lenny from Russia and Sean from Britain.

Then there's the inclusion of a couple of other characters, who had a certain in with the star. Ivanka Trump, Donald's daughter, will fill in for Mr. Trump's sometimes acerbic aide-de-camp, Carolyn Kepcher, for five episodes; and his son Don replaces the other assistant, the gently curmudgeonly George Ross, for two episodes.

Can "The Apprentice" repeat its success on Thursdays, having been moved off that day to make room for two promising comedies, "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office," which NBC hopes to rebuild its Thursdays around?

Unsurprisingly, Mr. Trump seems full of confidence, noting first that the show, despite stern competition and a host of other factors, managed in its finale last fall to land as the second-highest-rated show of the week. "I like the move to Monday," Mr. Trump said, adding quickly in case that was not enthusiastic enough, "I love it."

The main reason he favors the move, he said, was that NBC finally found a way to give his show a decent lead-in again. During its first season, when "The Apprentice" took the country (or at least most of the young, upwardly mobile sections of it) by storm, it benefited from being on Thursday nights at 9, right after NBC's powerhouse duo of comedies, "Friends" and "Will & Grace."

But the next season brought the replacement of "Friends" with "Joey," which Mr. Trump summed up as "a disaster." It did not help, he acknowledged, that the third edition of "The Apprentice," which concluded last spring, contained a cast "full of marshmallows," a result, he said, of his not taking a stronger hand in casting. For the fourth go-round, last fall, and the fifth, starting tonight, he said he had been extremely hands-on with casting.

NBC was "very gracious" about including him in the plan for the shift to Monday, Mr. Trump said, and he was won over chiefly by two points. The network made a sincere effort to improve the lead-in by slotting its new game show, "Deal or No Deal," which enjoyed a successful run in December, as the new Monday-at-8 program. And then there's the difference in competition.

At 9 p.m. on Mondays "The Apprentice" will face some formidable competitors, like "24" on Fox and the comedy "Two and a Half Men" on CBS. But to Mr. Trump that is still nothing like having to compete against the most popular drama on television, "CSI," on CBS.

"We did really well against 'CSI,' but if I don't have to face 'CSI' I don't mind," Mr. Trump said.

To try to jump-start the help from the Monday lead-in, Mr. Trump is even appearing on "Deal or No Deal" tonight, serving as a special consultant to a contestant trying to win the big money concealed in an array of aluminum briefcases.

He would not reveal how his consulting efforts turned out, only that "nobody's going to believe it." The contestant, a policeman from Las Vegas, was willing to listen to his advice, he said, because of his expertise in financial analysis. "It was instinct through calculation, 'cause that's my life," Mr. Trump said.

Maybe, but increasingly it seems that Mr. Trump's life revolves around being a television star, something he did not expect when he started the show. He said that he was "involved with building 12 buildings" at the moment, but they are hardly as high profile as a prime-time show that remains crucial to NBC's plans.

The network has already committed to another edition of "The Apprentice" for next fall, which for the first time will be shot outside New York, home base for Mr. Trump. The next version will be in Los Angeles, which happens to be where the show's creator, Mark Burnett, is based.

Mr. Trump noted that Mr. Burnett, also the production hand behind the still thriving "Survivor" on CBS, pointed out that changing locales had been crucial to sustaining that reality show. "We're using different jungles also," Mr. Trump said. "Los Angeles, maybe we go to Las Vegas, maybe we go to Miami."

That does not sound like a star preparing to leave the stage any time soon. "NBC is treating me great," Mr. Trump said. "Of course, it's easy to be treated well when you've got a hot show. I'll let you know in two years or so how they feel."

He recalled a conversation he had with Lorne Michaels, the producer of "Saturday Night Live," when Mr. Trump was the host of that show. "I said: 'You know, Lorne, it won't always be like this. Someday NBC will call me and say, "Donald, the ratings are no good; we're going to have to cancel your show." ' And Lorne said, 'No, Donald, you're wrong about one thing: they won't even call.' "

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/27/arts/television/27trum.html?pagewanted=print

The Business of TV
DirecTV Back at Portals with Adelphia Deal Concerns

(skyreport.com)

Late last week, DirecTV went back to the Federal Communications to battle Adelphia's acquisition by Comcast and Time Warner Cable, and again the company's concerns focused on access to must-have regional sports programming.

According to a filing from the satellite TV service, DirecTV officials met with staff for FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate to discuss their issues with the deal. They reiterated the company's chief worry: How Comcast and Time Warner Cable have arranged to withhold or raise the cost of key regional sports programming in a number of markets.

The DirecTV representatives said approval of the transaction should contain conditions that would prevent Comcast and Time Warner Cable to pursue similar strategies in other markets.

DirecTV also presented Tate's staff with a four-page memo outlining its concerns.

The filing stated that through the deal and other transactions Comcast and Time Warner Cable would divide up the Adelphia cable systems, and swap some of their own systems, "with the stated goal of increasing regional concentration. By doing so, Comcast and Time Warner will make it easier to withhold, or raise the price of, regional programming - particularly must have local sports programming," the DirecTV filing stated.
The company added, "At the same time, the purported public interest benefits claimed to flow from the transaction are exaggerated at best."

Earlier in the month, DirecTV held similar meetings on the Adelphia deal with staff working for FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, and with the Office of General Counsel.

The Business of TV
DirecTV Back at Portals with Adelphia Deal Concerns


Definitely need to see how this plays out, my Comcast system is so pathetic I can't even get the already withheld sports networks.

TV Notebook
FX drama 'Thief' stars Andre Braugher in title role

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist Posted on Mon, Feb. 27, 2006

After two cops, Andre Braugher is ready to be a robber.

In FX's new drama, Thief, the ex-Homicide and Hack star plays a professional burglar who experiences a crisis of conscience after the unexpected death of his wife. The six-episode series launches March 28.

"I love flawed characters," Braugher, 43, said in a recent interview in L.A. "They kind of remind me of real people, as opposed to generic heroes."

Nick Atwater, a New Orleans car dealer, decides to go straight for the sake of his teenage stepdaughter. (His family knows nothing of his criminal past.) Then he and his motley crew, which includes Malik Yoba and Will Yun Lee, get pulled into one last heist.

"Everyone is outraged by thieves and liars," Braugher says. "I think I understand why Nick does what he does. For me, it's not nearly as outrageous as other people might think it is. He evolves before our very eyes. I like this guy."

Braugher also likes that Nick and his gang are Old School.

"There's no fiber optics, no rappelling off buildings. We're craftsmen, dinosaurs in our own right. We're old-fashioned criminals who do things the old-fashioned way."

A respected veteran of theater and film, Braugher wasn't looking for a series when he met with FX Entertainment president John Landraf in L.A. "to see what was going on" at the edgy cable network, home of Nip/Tuck and The Shield.

"From the moment I read the script, I was totally on board," he says. Creator Norman Morrill "really understands how to write men. I like that. He was creating a world I could understand and revel in."

Thief was set to begin production in New Orleans in September, but Hurricane Katrina forced a relocation to Shreveport.

Landgraf calls Braugher "one of the deepest actors I've ever seen." He compares Nick to Tony Soprano and The Shield's Vic Mackie "because he's morally compromised to his core and struggling toward some kind of redemption."

Braugher's last series, CBS's Hack ('02-'04), was beyond redemption. A critical dud, it was shot in our town and starred David Morse as a disgraced Philly cop-turned-crusading-cabbie. Braugher was his corrupt former partner; George Dzundza, his best friend, a priest.

"It started out as a different show," Braugher says. "It was very dark. I was David's bad angel, George his good angel. We were supposed to be in a tug-of-war over his soul.

"CBS wanted an old-fashioned hero... . George's role was no longer necessary. It was frustrating. The piece changed beneath my very feet. I always had hopes that it would revert back to what it was, but as we all know, hope is a good companion and a poor guide."

Braugher needed no guide on NBC's late, great Homicide: Life on the Street (1992-98). He won an Emmy for his riveting portrayal of Frank Pembleton, a brilliant detective with a tortured inner life. ("One of the great cop characters of all time," according to FX's Landgraf.)

In real life, Braugher lives in the North Jersey suburbs with his actress wife, Ami Brabson, and their three young sons. ("Even our dog is male.")

The world may see him as an actor, but Braugher thinks of himself as a sailor. "I get a job. I do it. A couple weeks later, I float back over to land."

Moving on. After getting passed over for the anchor job at CBS, former White House ace John Roberts plans to hit the ground running at CNN. Literally.

As senior national correspondent, "I'm free to chase anything that moves, and a lot of things that don't move," says Roberts, 49, who debuted on Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room last week. "The opportunities are boundless. I am, at my very core, a reporter."

A 14-year CBS veteran, Roberts was at one time the leading candidate for the Evening News. "It was an honor to be on the short list for a while," he says, "but it became pretty clear there were narrowing options."

His reaction to his departure surprised him.

"You don't realize it, but to leave a company after a long time is a little bit like death or divorce, emotionally. You become the glue that's holding the wallpaper up... . When I was younger, if I had a job for a year, it was a long time."

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//13970228.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

TV Notebook
Games Don't Help NBC Win Sweeps

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com FEBRUARY 27, 2006 -

NBC’s 17 nights of prime-time Winter Olympics coverage will not be strong enough to propel the network to win the February sweeps in the key adults 18-49 demographic. Both ABC, based on the strength of the Super Bowl and its aggressive strategy of scheduling first-run programming against the Olympics, and Fox, based on the drawing power of juggernaut American Idol, are expected to finish ahead of NBC in the demo.

Through the first three weeks of sweeps, ABC was leading 18-49 demo race with a 5.6, compared to NBC’s 5.0 and Fox’s 4.9. CBS, which, unlike ABC and Fox, chose to not air primarily first-run programming during the sweeps, was averaging a 3.5, with the WB and UPN trailing with a 1.4 and 1.1, respectively.

But Randy Falco, president and COO of NBC Universal Network Television Group, said prime-time ad revenue accounts for only 45 percent of NBC’s $900 million in total ad revenue for the Games, and that prime-time ratings alone should not be used to judge the effectiveness or success of the telecasts. He added that even though NBC was outrated in the 18-49 demo in certain time periods by ABC shows Desperate Housewives, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and Dancing with the Stars, as well as Fox shows Idol and House, the Olympics was watched by more than 200 million people on all the networks of NBC Universal during its half-month run. The Games, he said, will earn a profit between $60 million and $70 million for NBC when all the paperwork is sorted out.

A study by IAG Research that monitored the effectiveness of advertising during the Olympic telecasts lends some support to Falco’s contention that ratings are not the only measurement of success. The study showed that, on average, ads in the Olympics generated 17 percent higher brand recall, 35 percent higher message recall, and 36 percent higher likability than ads in the average prime-time show. Heavy Olympic advertisers like McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Target saw their ads attract significantly higher brand and message recall during the Games’ telecasts, IAG said. Even if there were some ratings shortfalls—which Falco denied—some advertisers may not be concerned because of the environment in which their ads were seen.
That both the Olympics and the Super Bowl fell in this year’s February sweeps has made it hard to analyze. But clearly ABC and Fox have had highlights. Factoring out last year’s Super Bowl ratings on Fox, the network is still up by 9 percent this year in its February sweeps 18-49 ratings, and is also averaging 1.2 million more viewers per night than last year. Factoring out this year’s Super Bowl on ABC, the network is flat compared to last year in the 18-49 demo, and up 4 percent in viewers.

Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy and Dancing with the Stars are all producing better 18-49 ratings and more total viewers during the February sweeps (in some instances competing head-to-head with the Olympics), than they each cumulatively averaged through the first 19 weeks of the season. And Fox’s drama House, which averaged a 4.5 in adults 18-49 in January, boosted that by 62 percent to an 8.2 during the sweeps.

Perhaps the best example of how aggressively networks programmed against the Olympics was on its biggest night, Thursday, Feb. 23, when it aired the women’s figure skating finals. From 8-9 p.m., CBS aired a first-run Survivor, ABC aired an original Dancing with the Stars, and Fox slated a special American Idol. Both Idol (9.7) and Survivor (5.4) drew higher 18-49 demo ratings than the Olympics (4.5). Dancing with the Stars recorded a 3.7, but the first hour was the recap portion of a two-hour show. In the second hour, Dancing with the Stars improved to a 6.2. The Olympics won that hour with an 8.0.

Jeff Lindsey, who handles ratings research publicity for ABC, said nearly 11 million more viewers watched TV on Feb. 23 in prime time than on a typical Thursday night during the season. ABC, he said, grew by 6 million viewers and by 62 percent in adults 18-49 from the same night last February. American Idol delivered its best Thursday ratings ever.
Through the first 14 days of the Olympics, NBC was down 29 percent in the 18-49 demo to a 6.4, compared to the 9.0 CBS averaged in 1998 televising the Winter Games from Nagano, Japan. NBC was averaging 5 million fewer viewers than the Nagano games. The percentages were even greater when compared to the 2002 Winter Games that NBC televised from Salt Lake City.

“We wish prime time would have performed at the high end of our expectations,” NBC’s Falco said, “but we have added programming and content that was very well received, and can be studied as a template for the future. Our Olympic strategy has evolved so we reach our audience through various means—network, cable, Internet, VOD, wireless, to name a few.”

But Falco conceded that the aggressiveness of the competing broadcast networks did impact NBC’s ratings. “The Olympics have never faced such competitive programming,” Falco said. “We faced seven of the top 12 shows, while during the Salt Lake City games we faced no top 10 shows. The only top 10 show that CBS faced with its coverage of the Games from Nagano was Home Improvement. The other networks are in a sprint toward a photo finish for first place [in the 18-49 demo race for the season]. We didn’t expect any of them to give up. We wouldn’t.”

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002074957

A rare contribution by me. A solid actor.

Dennis Weaver Passes (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060227/ap_on_en_mo/obit_weaver)

Sunday’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.

The Winter Olympics
Olympics, Website Hit It Off

NBC's TV ratings slipped but it more than doubled its Internet page views from 2002
By David Wharton Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 27, 2006

TURIN, Italy — As Olympic TV ratings sagged over the last two weeks and viewers switched channels from the Games to "American Idol," NBC got one piece of very good news.

The network's website for the 2006 Turin Games, NBCOlympics.com, recorded 338 million page views through Saturday, more than doubling the number of hits from the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

And that, some experts said, was promising not only for broadcasters but for the entire Olympic movement. "We are clearly in a new era," said David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute. "We have to see a new model for how the Olympics are delivered."

The Internet could lead straight to a group that broadcasters and the International Olympic Committee covet most — young fans. Enmeshed in a world of text messaging, chat rooms and instant news, this demographic appears to be turned off by nightly packaged programming.

With the time difference in Italy, that meant waiting around to watch events that had finished hours earlier.

"They're saying, 'What do you mean I can't see it now?' " said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon.

Not only are young consumers hungry for quick information, experts said, they are accustomed to paying for it.

Unlike their parents, who grew up watching over-the-air television and listening to the radio, the newer generation is comfortable with monthly cable bills and pay-per-view and spending money to download music.

In an odd way, putting more of the Games online with streaming video would hark back to the "Triplecast," an old broadcasting experiment gone awry.

At the 1992 Barcelona Games, NBC offered a subscription package that gave viewers live and greatly expanded coverage. There weren't many takers and the "Triplecast" flopped, considered something of a joke within the industry.

Yet, more than a decade later, the model might be updated.

"The notion of what it represented is not a bad idea in 2006," Swangard said. "This idea that someone is willing to pay for the Olympics when they want it, how they want it."

The tricky part will be figuring out how to package myriad events and how to charge for them.

Should viewers have to subscribe to the entire Games? Might they be able to order specific events or days? And how can the IOC protect itself against piracy in a wide-open medium?

"It's an incredible challenge and an incredible burden," Carter said.

In light of television ratings the last two weeks, it might be a challenge worth facing.

"For generations, the media has supplied [the Olympics] on their own terms," Carter said. "Now consumers are demanding how they want it, and it's about time the industry woke up."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-sp-olymedia27feb27,0,3394114,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

(thanks, cgh3rd!)

Remembrance
The Third One: Dennis Weaver

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

Many folks insist that deaths come in threes, and so it wasn't exactly a surprise that the news of Dennis Weaver's passing came today -- on the heels of Don Knotts and Darren McGavin.

I don't have as strong feelings about Weaver as I do about Knotts and McGavin, although his resume was certainly impressive. (He was also outspoken on environmental and political issues. See www.dennisweaver.com. ) And don't just go by TV.

Take a look back at him in Orson Welle's ''Touch of Evil'' for evidence. His official biography from 1969 mentions an early stage performance as Stanley in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' -- opposite Shelley Winters. He and Winters were colleagues at the Actors Studio in New York, and Winters helped get Weaver a movie contract at her studio. He worked as a director and acting teacher.

But in terms of the public he was, to the end, a TV guy. His final work was for TV, in a role on the ABC Family series ''Wildfire'' and in special segments for the Encore Westerns channel.

Before that, there had been an array of TV series, most successfully in ''Gunsmoke'' and ''McCloud,'' but also in the likes of ''Kentucky Jones'' and ''Gentle Ben.'' And we have to mention ''Duel,'' a TV movie by an up-and-coming director named Steven Spielberg; Weaver was crucial to the movie's man-against-machine story working.

That 1969 bio notes that he was not happy in the movies, where the better roles at his studio went to Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis and Jeff Chandler while he played ''small roles in almost every western the company produced.''

Then, in 1955, came ''Gunsmoke.'' As Chester, Marshal Dillon's limping sidekick, Weaver was both memorable and easily parodied. He could have made a living just by staying on the show but decided to move on after a decade. ''I wanted to grow as an actor, to create, to expand,'' he once said. ''From the standpoint of money and security it could not be beat. But money is a drag when you let it become an end instead of a means. ... In addition, I just couldn't make one character my whole life's work.''

Instead, he took the name recognition from ''Gunsmoke'' and made an ongoing, respectable career.

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

The Winter Olympics
Olympics, Website Hit It Off

NBC's TV ratings slipped but it more than doubled its Internet page views from 2002
By David Wharton Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 27, 2006

TURIN, Italy — As Olympic TV ratings sagged over the last two weeks and viewers switched channels from the Games to "American Idol," NBC got one piece of very good news.
The website was a great resource, I found myself checking it everyday for information and to read some of the the blogs on the site. The partnership with espn.com was a great complement to the content on the nbc site.

The Digital Revolution
Virginia Eases Way for Telcos

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cabl 2/27/2006

Virginia has joined Texas as the second state to pass legislation easing the entry for cable competitors. While not a statewide franchise like Texas, Virginia is essentially guaranteeing a franchise anyplace in the state where a new entrant agrees to meet certain specific franchise terms.

Verizon says the Virginia House and Senate have both passed legislation that makes it easier for telco video services, like Verizon's FiOS, to roll out video service in the state. Essentially the idea is to agree to a set list of access and provision requirements without having to go through the time-consuming local franchise process.

The FCC and Congress have made easing the roll-out of broadband a priority.

If signed by the governor--one of his aides helped negotiate the final compromise bill, according to Verizon--the legislation would become effective July 1.

Unlike the Texas bill, which created a statewide franchising regime, the Virginia franchises remain under the control of the municipalities, according to Verizon spokesman Harry Mitchell. Verizon had pushed for a statewide franchise, but was foreclose that route by the Virgininia Constitution, which establishes municipalities' control over their rights of way. Verizon would still prefer the state franchise route.

Instead, in a sort of must-carry take on the franchise process, new video entrants can opt for either a standard franchise process, or after 45 days of negotiations without a deal, officially opt for a so-called "ordinance" franchise.

So long as the video service provider agrees to the terms of that franchise, which include service build-out requirements as well as fee and channel commitments similar to incumbent cable operators, the new provider may begin offering video service within 75 days and the municipality must accommodate it.

Mitchell said the company still thinks the build-out requirements-100% of a pre-established coverage area within three years, for instance--are a barrier to entry, saying neither side got everything it wanted.

Still, Verizon got a faster track to entry, and essentially a guaranteed franchise wherever it agrees to requirements for access and service provision, franchise fees, and customer service as set forth in the bill.

Verizon also got a three-year out clause. That means that if it finds after three years it cannot make a business out of the franchise, it can get out of the deal--a provision it has gotten in most other markets. But there is a compromise there, too.

If it does exit, it cannot re-enter for the balance of the unexpired franchise, which would be a dozen years in most cases.

There is no three-year out clause in its Fairfax franchise, but that is grandfathered, said Mitchell.

“With this compromise legislation, Verizon will be able to accelerate investment in our fiber-optic network in Virginia, more quickly adding an awesome FiOS TV component to our reliable voice phone service and blazing-fast FiOS Internet Service," said Verizon Virginia President Robert W. Woltz Jr.

“We will have more to say about our investment plans in Virginia in coming days," said Woltz, "but it’s safe to say that – as this legislation becomes law – those plans will reflect the progressive business environment in the Commonwealth."

Verizon, the most aggressive telco video provider to date, has launched a franchise in the Virginia suburb of Herndon, Va., having secured a franchise to overbuild the market last July. Cox has the cable franchise there.

FiOS expanded its Virginia presence with a franchise deal with Fairfax County, the suburb that surrounds the separately incorporated Herndon.

Verizon had been working to secure franchises in over 200 Virginia municipalities but was also seeking some help from the Virginia legislature.

Telcos argue that not having to seek individual franchises will allow it to more quickly provide more competition in the multichannel video market, one of the Bush administration's, the FCC's and Congress's stated priorities.

Cable argues that if the franchising process is to be streamlined or short-cut, the same advantages should apply to cable.

Verizon's FiOS TV debuted in Keller, Tex., Sept. 22. Verizon. Texas' Public Utility Commission last month approved that state's first statewide franchise for telco video service. Verizon had filed for franchises in 21 communities under the state's franchise law.

The Winter Olympics
NBC's Olympic Closing Ceremonies Lowest Rated Since '88

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com FEBRUARY 27, 2006 -

NBC's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremonies on Sunday night (Feb. 26) were the lowest rated among the adults 18-49 demo and in total viewers since the introduction of Nielsen People Meters in 1988.

NBC, with a 3.5 rating on the night in 18-49 finished third, overall, behind ABC (7.8) and Fox (4.3). Worse for the network, its Olympics coverage finished fourth out of five networks at 8 p.m., garnering a 3.4 rating in the demo, behind Fox's The Simpsons (4.6), CBS's Cold Case (3.7) and ABC's Dancing with the Stars (6.7).

At 8:30 p.m., the Olympics was outrated by both Dancing and Cold Case. And at 9 p.m., it drew a lower rating, a 4.0, than Dancing with the Stars (9.6) and Fox's animated Family Guy (4.2). Then at 10 p.m., it was trounced by ABC's Grey's Anatomy, which drew a 10.8 18-49 rating and 24.7 million viewers, compared to the Olympics' 3.7 rating and 14.5 million viewers. All the ratings are based on preliminary national data from Nielsen Media Research.

At 7 p.m., an overrun of Fox's coverage of a Nascar race drew a 4.7 18-49 rating, comnpared to the Olympics 2.7. From 7-8 p.m., the Olympics telecast was also outrated by ABC's America's Funniest Home Videos, which garnered a 3.1 in the demo.

For the entire 17 nights of Olympics coverage in primetime, NBC was down 33 percent in the 18-49 demo compared to the 1998 CBS telecast of the Winter Games from Nagano, Japan, the last time the Winter Games were broadcast from outside the U.S. CBS was also down 20 percent in viewers from the Nagano Games, averaging 20 million per night, compared to 25 million from Nagano.

The ratings were even further down from the last Winter Games, which were televised from Salt Lake City in 2004.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002075679

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Monster mash: 'Dancing' finale kicks

Draws a series-high 27.1 million total viewers
By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Feb 27, 2006

ABC’s surprise summer hit has become a bona fide regular-season juggernaut. Last night’s second-season finale of “Dancing With the Stars” became not only the latest competing show to stomp the Olympics but also moved into mega-hit territory, with numbers bettered only by Fox’s “American Idol,” CBS’s “CSI” and ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” this season.

“Stars” averaged 27.1 million total viewers over two hours last night, according to Nielsen overnights, setting a new series high while finishing as the night’s most-watched program. It drew 83 percent more than the 14.8 million NBC averaged in the same 8 to 10 p.m. timeslot with the Games' closing ceremonies.

“Stars” also averaged an 8.6 rating among viewers 18-49, a 15 percent jump over the 7.5 ABC had averaged in that period over the last four Sundays, not including Feb. 5’s Super Bowl.

Viewership peaked at 9 p.m., when the show averaged 29.6 million to the Olympics’ 15.7 million. It more than doubled the Games among 18-49s, 9.7-4.0.

“Stars’” viewership grew 24 percent versus the 21.8 million who tuned into last summer season’s finale. Its 18-49 rating was a 32 percent boost over the 6.5 that summer telecast posted.

“Stars,” which aired on Thursdays at 8 p.m., bettered its second-season average among total viewers by 8.4 million and 3.6 rating points among 18-49s.

Former boy-bander Drew Lachey took last night’s crown, beating out fan favorite and NFL great Jerry Rice. Judges pet Stacy Keibler, a WWE star, was knocked out in the first hour of last night’s finale.

ABC easily finished first for the night among 18-49s with a 7.8 average rating and an 18 share, well ahead of second-place Fox’s 4.3/10. NBC came up third at 3.5/8, with CBS fourth at 3.2/7, Univision fifth at 2.3/5 and WB sixth at 1.5/3.

Fox began the evening with the lead, posting a 4.7 among 18-49s during the 7 p.m. hour for its last hour of NASCAR racing coverage. ABC was second that hour with a 3.1 for “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” NBC third with a 2.7 for the Olympics, CBS fourth with a 2.2 for “60 Minutes,” Univision fifth with a 1.5 for soccer and WB sixth with a 1.3 for an hour of “Reba” repeats.

ABC took the lead for good during the 8 p.m. hour with a 7.5 for the first hour of the “Stars” finale. Fox dropped to second that hour with a 4.1 average for “The Simpsons” (4.6) and “The War at Home” (3.7), with CBS third with a 3.9 for “Cold Case” and NBC fourth with a 3.7 for the Olympics. Univision came in fifth with a 2.3 for “Bailando por un Sueño,” and WB sixth with a 1.9 for “Charmed.”

At 9 p.m. ABC led again with a 9.7 for the second hour of the “Stars” finale. Fox held onto second with a 4.1 average for a repeat of “Family Guy” (4.2) and a new “American Dad” (4.0), and NBC was third with a 4.0 for the Olympics. CBS dropped to fourth that hour with a 3.1 for a “CSI” repeat, with Univision fifth with a 2.8 for “Sueño” and WB sixth with a 1.3 for a repeat of “Charmed.”

At 10 p.m. ABC led again with a 10.8 rating for “Grey’s Anatomy,” the night’s highest-rated program among 18-49s. NBC was second that hour with a 3.8 for the Olympics, CBS third with a 3.4 for another “CSI” rerun and Univision fourth with a 2.6 for the last hour of “Sueño.”

Among households, ABC was first for the night with a 13.1 average rating and a 20 share. NBC was second at 8.5/13, CBS third at 7.4/11, Fox fourth at 5.6/8, Univision fifth at 2.3/3 and WB sixth at 2.1/3.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_3118.asp

The Winter Olympics
CBS Backs Repeats Vs. Olympics

By A.J. Frutkin MediaWeek.com FEBRUARY 27, 2006 -

Following the stunning wins over NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage scored both by ABC and Fox, advertisers are questioning whether CBS should have been more aggressive in its counter-programming strategy, too. But CBS executives stood firm in their decision to have aired mostly repeats against NBC’s Torino coverage.

Kelly Kahl, executive vp of program planning and scheduling at CBS, said typical CBS viewers are closer to Olympics viewers than those watching other networks, and therefore, ratings could have been squandered on first-run broadcasts then. “Women 25-54, that’s where the Olympics lives and breathes,” Kahl said. “Airing originals during the Olympics just wasn’t the best use of those episodes.”

Despite ratings declines, buyers noted the Games still have pulled in solid—if not spectacular—numbers for NBC, the prospect of which fueled most of the competition’s counter-programming plans. “There is always the expectation that the Olympics will take a good chunk of the audience,” said Melva Benoit, senior vp of research at Fox Broadcasting. “But you don’t want to lay down for it.”

Such proactive strategies hold especially true during the sweeps. “I don’t know how many stations will sell off this book, because it’s so odd. But we do have a responsibility to our affiliates,” noted Jeff Bader, senior vp at ABC Entertainment. “We couldn’t just give up on February.”

With procedural dramas like the CSI franchise repeating stronger than most other series in prime time, Kahl countered that CBS hardly gave up on sweeps. What’s more, he added, original episodes of those series will run when most of the other networks are themselves in repeats.
But with shows like Fox’s American Idol and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy having battered NBC’s Torino coverage, Kahl did give credit to the competition. “They hit upon a nice break of having hot shows against a not-so-hot Olympics,” he said.

Come May, when CBS pitches its Fall ’06 schedule to advertisers at the upfront presentations, Kahl said he knows that that buyers likely will see charts that omit sports programming from the mix. “What we’ll talk about is who has the strongest core schedule, and the strongest numbers on its core schedule, and that’s CBS,” Kahl said.

Still, several advertisers observed that if CBS lost any ground these past two weeks, it may point less to having programmed repeats during the Olympics than it does to the need for a new generation of so-called “hot” shows at the network. Sam Armando, vp, director of TV research at Starcom, said while freshman dramas ranging from Criminal Minds to Ghost Whisperer have performed well, “there is still a reliance on older series, like CSI and Without a Trace, for its ratings.” Armando added, “CBS just hasn’t had a breakout hit this season.”

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/networktv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002074923

The Winter Olympics
NBC's Olympic Closing Ceremonies Lowest Rated Since '88

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com FEBRUARY 27, 2006 -

NBC's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremonies on Sunday night (Feb. 26) were the lowest rated among the adults 18-49 demo and in total viewers since the introduction of Nielsen People Meters in 1988.

It's no wonder. The number of commercial breaks was simply outrageous! Even my girlfriend who was excited to see the closing ceremonies finally gave up and turned them off at 9:30pm.

It's no wonder. The number of commercial breaks was simply outrageous! Even my girlfriend who was excited to see the closing ceremonies finally gave up and turned them off at 9:30pm.

It didn't help that almost the first hour of the closing cermonies was a biography of a Buffalo Soldier. I can say that they did a great job on the story, and I enjoyed it a lot, but it seemed like the only thing it had to do with the olympics was that it happened in the Turin area. Seems like it would have been more fitting to have it on something like 60 minutes or some show like that.

A Critical View:
'Conviction' offers twist on `Law & Order' bag of tricks

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News

There were so many promos for NBC's ``Conviction'' during the two weeks of the Olympics that you may think you've already seen at least two or three episodes of the new legal drama from the ``Law & Order'' factory. At the very least, you know the age of the average prosecutor in the New York District Attorney's Office: 28! 28! Let's say it again, 28!

Now that the Games are over, ``Conviction'' finally gets around to making its debut Friday (10 p.m., Chs. 8, 11). And while it hardly breaks new TV ground or sends off the kind of sparks you want in a first-rate drama, the series has a certain watchable quality to it. At the very least, it isn't just another variation on the ``L&O'' format.

In fact, ``L&O'' emperor Dick Wolf seems to have gone out of his way to make ``Conviction'' the anti-``Law & Order.'' In that world, as we've known it, the lead characters seem to have no home or personal lives. (OK, ``Special Victims Unit'' occasionally goes there.) Certainly, they have no sex lives. Jack McCoy, Olivia Benson and Robert Goren are work-driven human beings.

But in the first episodes of ``Conviction,'' much of the action takes place away from the office. The young prosecutors have more sex in the Friday opener than McCoy and his colleagues have had in 16 years. The focus is on who these people are, rather than on what they're doing.

All of which is fine, except Wolf and his writers are treading on turf that they have shown no particular affinity for in the past.

As a result, the opening episode is a bit of a mishmash, with borrowed bits and pieces of other, more character-driven legal series. There's a bit of ``NYPD Blue'' lite here; a couple of moments that look like outtakes from ``Ally McBeal'' there. (It doesn't help that one of the main characters is played by Julianna Nicholson, who was Ally's Mini-Me in the disastrous last seasons of the David E. Kelley show.)

All that being said, things do get better in Episode 2, and there are things to like about ``Conviction.''

The cast may have been picked for their youthful good looks, but most of them can act. (It would be nice if the writers would give more time to Stephanie March, reprising her role as Assistant DA Alexandra Cabot on ``SVU.'') The show does give you some sense of the chaos of a DA's office and the intense pressure that falls on young, overworked prosecutors. And some of the characters flash moments of real complexity.

Bottom line: ``Conviction'' is worth a look and could evolve into a decent, entertaining hour of television. Whether it gets the chance to do so against its competition -- CBS's ``Numbers,'' a solid show with a strong following -- is another question entirely.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/columnists/charlie_mccollum/13972223.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

A Critical View:
Reviving ABC's 'Commander in Chief'

Here's what must be done to save this show
By Kit Brown in MediaLifeMagazine.com Feb 28, 2006

Tonight at 9 PM ET/PT you might well be watching “Commander in Chief,” the first-year ABC drama about the first woman president.

You will not be, and you cannot. It's off the schedule for the next six weeks and it won’t be back until April, presumably after undergoing its second intense makeover in the span of just four months.

But even then there's probably not much hope for “Commander.”

“Commander” is one of those rare shows on network TV that starts off well but instead of going on to become a hit is forced to fall on its own sword, a victim of bad judgments on the part of network bosses.

In the case of “Commander,” it was the firing of creator Rod Lurie last fall in favor of Steve Bochco.

Bochco's best work is years or perhaps decades behind him, and his effect on “Commander” has been disastrous. Viewership has fallen off by nearly 40 percent, to 10.4 million, from its second-episode peak until its last airing on Jan. 24. The plotlines became cliched and ridiculous.

Under Bochco, “Commander” has withered into just another “West Wing” knockoff.

Yet "Commander" can be saved, and it ought to be. But to do so, ABC must correct and reverse some bad decisions. It needs to take chances, reinvigorating this show with the unexpected.

First, ABC must dump Bochco and bring back Lurie.

Lurie was booted not because he was producing a trite show, or a dumb show, or even a poorly rated show. "Commander" debuted to 16.2 million viewers, making it the highest-rated new Tuesday drama series in five years. It was holding its audience.

Lurie's problem was that he was turning in his scripts late, which drove up production costs and drove network bosses nuts. That's not a good thing, of course, but if you've got a potential hit, maybe the better solution is to figure a way to get the scripts in on time.

Here’s one solution: Get the guy a pit bull of a secretary who makes sure he types in a timely manner. Here's another: Pay his mother to stand over him. Yet another: Put a gun to his forehead.
With Lurie back, ABC must then allow him to return the show to his original vision. It was that vision, after all, that brought in all those initial viewers.

NBC's "West Wing" worked for so long because it gave America a fictional look inside the White House. There was always the unexpected: What would the president and his staff do in this or that new situation? We got to be there.

“Commander” advances that basic idea but with the unique premise of a woman president, a person who leads the country while functioning as a wife and mother.

Lurie understood that to build a compelling president we needed to see all sides of her: leader, wife, mother, woman, with each side revealing yet another shading of personality. Lurie understood the power of the unexpected simply in having a woman serving as president.

How would a woman run our country? Each decision had the potential of surprise, of deliverying the unexpected.

Under Lurie, “Commander” illustrated how President Mackenzie Allen (Geena Davis) arrived at her decisions. He melded her home life with her Oval Office life and showed how they played into one another.

Bochco wiped out all of that subtlety. The president loses her feminine side, becoming a stick figure of sorts whose facial expression alters between serious and presidential.

Each week she saves the planet anew. Allen is now the busiest leader in the free world. In the most recent episode she saves Air Force One from being blown up by an angry war veteran while her kids back at the White House throw a kegger. The Gettysburg Address turns up missing. Mind you, this came just days after Allen diffused a potentially nuclear situation when the North Koreans caught a U.S. spy submarine.

Bochco’s president is a woman but could just as easily be a man. Or a broom with arms and legs.

Bringing back Lurie would also give Davis something to do each week. Though certainly not to everyone's taste, she's a competent actress who is underserved, and underserving, in the role as president.

It may in fact be too late to save “Commander.” But it certainly will not survive under Bochco. It would have a chance with Lurie. It's a test of ABC as to whether it has the will and the right sense of risk to call him back.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_3121.asp

Monday’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.

It didn't help that almost the first hour of the closing cermonies was a biography of a Buffalo Soldier.

I don't know, maybe in our self-centered, "modern," game-boy, latte-fueled world, it's good to get things put into perspective. I'd trade that hour for all of the frivolous Davis vs. Hendrick / Bode-Miller-Implosion foolishness any day.

My only complaint with the closing ceremonies was that the talented "angry" young Canadien singer only got one song when "little Ricky" seemed to drag on forever. :)

My only complaint with the closing ceremonies was that the talented "angry" young Canadien singer only got one song when "little Ricky" seemed to drag on forever. :)

I am not sure what you are talking about. That would be my other complaint, they put everything on too late. My wife and I didn't get to see the top women skaters because it came on after 10pm, we didn't get to see some of the great styuff, because of the time. They should have started earlier than 8pm and stopped earlier, or at least put the stuff that they know is a big draw on earlier, it is all tape delayed anyway, so they controlled the time.

DTV legislation: It may not be over yet!

Feb 27, 2006 1:57 PM
Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter

After months of squabbling, Congress finally passed a controversial budget-reconciliation bill that set a deadline for the 2009 shutdown of analog television. President Bush signed the legislation into law Feb. 8. It’s over now, right?

Well, not quite.

It seems that due to a clerical typo the House and Senate bills were not identical, as the law said it must be. The Senate version contained a 13-month subsidy for Medicare patients’ equipment, while the House provided 39 months for equipment. The final bill sent from the House to the president’s desk contained the Senate’s 13-month limit. The error, apparently the fault of a Congressional clerk, resulted in $2 billion spending difference between the two bills.

What does this have to do with DTV? Everything, since the entire DTV legislative package is contained in this $39 billion dollar spending package. If the legislation is found not to be valid, neither is the new DTV policy.

In a less contentious time, members of Congress would simply vote to fix the technicality. But since the legislation is highly controversial due to its severe spending cuts for social programs, it barely passed both bodies in the first place. Neither body wants to revisit the issue in fear that a second vote may rip the entire bill apart. Several legislators, feeling pressure from constituents, have indicated they may vote against the measure if the opportunity arises again.

Don’t expect the matter to be ignored. One taxpayer is already suing in an attempt to topple the legislation, which a court is very like to do. Congressional leaders are currently at an impasse.

http://broadcastengineering.com/newsletters/bth/20060227/dtv-legislation-yet-20060226/
DTV legislation: It may not be over yet!

************************************************************ ******
Incredible eh..? :rolleyes:

Re: Olympics Closing Ceremonies

I am not sure what you are talking about.

We were promised a concert (of sorts) featuring Avril Lavigne, Ricky Martin, etc ... and all we got was one song from Avril and a bunch of dreck from "little Ricky."

The rest was mostly the expected fluff and pomp anyway.

I wonder how old this ESPNU article is? Dish Network has had this channel for a couple of months now. What "launch" could they be referring to?

I wonder how old this ESPNU article is? Dish Network has had this channel for a couple of months now. What "launch" could they be referring to?

Exactly one year. Look again, it says 2/28/2005

About Television
Alias To Return on ABC, Other Shows Shuffle

By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 2/28/2006

ABC is finally uncovering Alias, which will return to the lineup on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET beginning April 19. The Jennifer Garner spy drama returns to the network for its final run of original episodes.

ABC is also making several other scheduling moves:

• Two-part TV movie The Ten Commandments will air from 9-11 p.m. Monday, April 10, and Tuesday, April 11.

• Sitcom Hope & Faith will move to Tuesday nights at 8:30 beginning March 21.

• What About Brian moves to Mondays at 10 p.m. beginning April 17, although it will get a special airing Sunday, April 16, at 10.

• Invasion will return to its plush post-Lost timeslot Wednesday, April 19, at 10.

"ALIAS" RETURNING
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Michael Vaughn returns to "Alias" when the
series returns for its final episodes in April. The two-hour
episode not only marks Vaughn's hoped-for return, it'll show Sydney
having her baby. The final episodes start airing April 19th. The
series goes off the air after five seasons in May.
.

Exactly one year. Look again, it says 2/28/2005

I swear that said 2006

Geez... the old man in me is coming out.

Ratings Notes
Discovery, USA Net Enjoy Ratings Gains;
ESPN, Lifetime, Comedy Central See Declines

By Anthony Crupi MediaWeek.com FEBRUARY 28, 2006 -

Discovery halted its ratings slide in February, increasing its prime time audience 11 percent year-over-year with an average 1.09 million viewers tuning in this month. The network did particularly well with women, upping its 18-49 demo 11 percent and raising its stake among the 25-54 demo by 16 percent.

The network has a surprise mid-winter hit on its hands with season two of Dirty Jobs, an unscripted original series that’s averaged 1.3 household rating and 1.7 million total viewers since debuting in January, and has had continued success with its returning strip MythBusters, which averages 1.4 million viewers per premiere episode.

Sibling network TLC hasn’t had quite as stellar a month, averaging just 719,000 viewers in prime, but that dip of 1 percent is relatively stable, given the network’s precipitous 23 percent decline between 2004 and 2005. The net has seen a slight increase in women 18-34, upping that segment of its audience by 5 percent over February 2005.

A number of the larger ad-supported cable nets were down in February, including Sci Fi Channel, which was off 18 percent on the month, dropping to an average 1.09 million total viewers from a year-ago average of 1.33 million. ESPN and Lifetime were both down 10 percent in prime; Comedy Central dropped 14 percent; Animal Planet fell 12 percent; Spike TV tumbled 16 percent and Nick at Nite was off by 19 percent.

Bigger nets that showed ratings growth in February include USA Network, up a hearty 13 percent to an average 2.54 million viewers in prime, and the non-ad-supported Disney Channel, which parlayed its original movie hit, High School Musical, into a 20 percent ratings surge, averaging 2.27 million viewers in prime for the month. FX also continued to shine in February, luring 22 percent more viewers with the return of its gritty cop drama, The Shield. VH1 raised its ratings by 15 percent in prime, averaging 670,000 viewers per night, while Hallmark Channel jumped 11 percent.

On the whole, most cable nets were flat or slightly down. TNT was off 5 percent, although its 2.45 million viewers was enough to put it in second place for the month behind USA. TNT sister net TBS was flat, averaging 1.61 million viewers in prime. MTV was up 3 percent in the time slot, Court TV was down 3 percent, and TV Land was up 5 percent with an average 976,000 viewers tuning in.

On the news side, the smaller news outlets showed the greatest growth as CNN Headline News soared in prime, elevating its audience by 73 percent to 347,000 total viewers. MSNBC was up 24 percent to 357,000 total viewers, and CNBC jumped 37 percent with 164,000 viewers. CNN was up 3 percent with 657,000 viewers, while ratings king Fox News Channel was off 5 percent, averaging 1.49 million viewers.

In the core 25-54 demo, MSNBC, Headline News and CNBC were up significantly in prime (35 percent, 61 percent and 37 percent, respectively), while CNN was up 3 percent. FNC was off 21 percent in the demo in prime, with 344,000 viewers in the category tuning in.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002076520

Someone asked recently about the next season of Fox's "Hell's Kitchen".

The network announced today it will begin on Monday, June 12th at 9 PM ET/PT.

Last week’s complete network average prime-time results (with demographic averages) are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS the first post in this thread.

(Note the broadcast flag and multi-carry comments in the final paragraph.)

Ratings Notes
Barton Voices Support for National Cable Franchising

By Doug Halonen TVWeek.com February 28, 2006

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Joe Barton said Tuesday he supports replacing the nation's existing system of local cable TV franchising with a national scheme-a proposal advanced by major telephone companies-and hopes to release a legislative draft on the subject later this week.

Rep. Barton, R-Texas, also said he planned to meet with other top committee legislators Tuesday afternoon, with hopes of working out a bipartisan consensus on video franchise reform and other key telecommunications issues. "It's my intention to mark some bill up in subcommittee this month," Rep. Barton told reporters after an appearance at a conference hosted by the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington.

In remarks to the broadcasters, Rep. Barton also said he doesn't think DTV-related legislation that broadcasters hope will include a provision to require cable TV operators to carry all signals multicast on digital channels will move this year. Also unlikely this year, he said, is legislation that would resurrect a broadcast flag-technology that broadcasters think is necessary to prevent downloading of digital broadcast programming.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9463

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

From The Hollywood Reporter. (I'm posting this because an all-time favorite actress mine, Julia Ormond is coming to network TV. :) There's some other interesting info in the article as well..)

Spate of pilot castings, pickups

By Nellie Andreeva
Feb. 28, 2006

Julia Ormond is venturing into series television with CBS' drama pilot "The Way," while Bobby Cannavale has landed the lead in Paul Reiser's untitled comedy pilot for CBS.

Meanwhile, "The West Wing" co-star Bradley Whitford has joined Aaron Sorkin's new show, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," with Sarah Paulson and Timothy Busfield also coming on board the NBC drama.

In other pilot castings, Katheryn Winnick has landed a lead role opposite Matthew Lillard in Fox's drama pilot "13 Graves"; Luis Guzman and Nicole Sullivan have joined Jeff Goldblum in NBC's drama "Raines"; Jarrad Paul, Rhea Seehorn and Conor Dubin have been cast in NBC's comedy "The Singles Table"; William Baldwin has been tapped to star opposite Joe Pantoliano in CBS' drama pilot "Waterfront"; and Rebecca Mader has landed one of the leads in Jerry Bruckheimer's drama for Fox, "American Crime."

In pilot pickups, the CW has ordered "Split Decision," a drama from former Revolution Studios partner Todd Garner and Aaron Spelling, with Simon West in negotiations to direct.

"The Way," from Sony Pictures TV, revolves around a powerful New England family -- two brothers and a sister -- who use witchcraft to further their business enterprises. Ormond will play the sister.

The actress next appears in David Lynch's feature "Inland Empire," set to premiere at the Festival de Cannes in May.

The untitled Reiser project, from CBS Paramount Network TV, centers on an ambitious young man (Cannavale) who takes over the family car dealership in Queens, N.Y. Cannavale's recurring guest role on "Will & Grace" earned the actor an Emmy in the fall.

His upcoming features include "Romance & Cigarettes" and "Fast Food Nation." He is repped by Paradigm and Brillstein-Grey Management.

The WBTV-produced "Studio 60" is set behind the scenes of a fictional broadcasting network's flagship late-night sketch comedy show. Whitford will play a producer-director and recovering cocaine addict who has come back to run the sketch show he used to work for. Paulson plays a Christian fundamentalist, while Busfield will play the control-room director.

Busfield, who also enjoys a successful career as a TV director, also will serve as a producing director on "Studio 60."

Whitford won an Emmy in 2001 for his role on "West Wing."

Paulson most recently appeared in the feature "Serenity" and on HBO's drama "Deadwood."

Busfield often has collaborated with Sorkin. He starred in the Broadway run of Sorkin's "A Few Good Men"; was a director on the writer-producer's comedy for ABC, "Sports Night"; and recurred on "West Wing."

"13 Graves," from 20th Century Fox TV, centers on a man (Lillard) whose search for his missing brother leads him on a treasure hunt across the U.S.

Winnick, who portrayed Ivana Trump in the ABC biopic "Trump Unauthorized," next appears in the feature comedy "Failure to Launch." She is repped by APA Agency and manager Mark Schumacher.

"Raines" (formerly "Seeing Red") centers on an eccentric, brilliant cop (Goldblum) with the ability to talk to dead victims, who help him solve his cases.

In addition to Guzman and Sullivan, Dov Davidoff also was cast in the project.

Sullivan most recently starred on ABC's comedy "Hot Properties."

"The Singles Table," from 20th TV, revolves around five strangers who form an unlikely bond when they are forced to sit together at the infamous singles table at a mutual friend's wedding.

Paul, who next appears in the feature "The Shaggy Dog," is repped by UTA and Bob McGowan of McGowan Management.

Seehorn, who most recently co-starred on Fox's dramedy "Head Cases," is repped by Phoenix Artists and Untitled Entertainment.

Dubin, who has been recurring on CBS' "Close to Home," is repped by Abrams Artists Agency.

"Waterfront," from WBTV, stars Pantoliano as the wildly charismatic and ethically challenged mayor of Providence, R.I. Baldwin will play the district attorney.

"American Crime," from WBTV and Bruckheimer TV, revolves around a boutique firm of powerful L.A. defense attorneys who specialize in high-profile cases.

Mader (NBC's "Conviction") will play a thrill-seeking blueblood lawyer. The actress, who next appears in the feature "The Devil Wears Prada," is repped by Innovative Artists.

"Split Decision," from Spelling TV, WBTV and CBS Paramount TV, is a coming-of-age story about a teenage girl living through the drama of the high school social scene with a twist in the vein of the feature "Sliding Doors," which told one person's story from two different perspectives as she made different decisions in her life.

Liz Tigelaar penned the script, with Garner and Spelling exec producing.

In other pilot castings, Deidrie Henry has joined CBS' drama "Edison," while Sprague Grayden and Kenneth Mitchell have come aboard CBS' drama "Jericho."

Kimberly Nordyke contributed to this report.

Thanks, Jim.

TV Notebook
George and Meredith explained

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog

If you haven’t been reading the “Grey’s Anatomy” writers’ Web site this week, you’re really missing out.

First, Krista Vernoff, who wrote the Feb. 19 episode in which George and Meredith got together, addressed the whole “George and Meredith got together” controversy on greyswriters.com. A big chunk of “Grey’s” fans were very, very mad about those two hooking up; you can see that in the comments left on Vernoff’s post. Most of them were of the “If Meredith hurts George, she must die” variety.

I thought Vernoff made the case for the George-Mer hookup rather eloquently, but I wish those reasons had come out more in the actual episode. For instance, when I was watching that episode, I didn’t make the connection that just before George made his move, Meredith was drowning in grief about just having seen her pathetic excuse of a dad for the first time in 20 years. And that’s a big part of the explanation for why she took comfort with George.

Stacy McKee then wrote a funny post about the following episode of “Grey’s,” which she wrote and which featured even more footage of George and Mer’s ill-fated encounter. McKee knows fans are freaked out by George and Mer getting together. She was freaked out too (witness her many uses of all-caps to indicate her distress).

“It’s just so WRONG,” she writes. “On so many levels -- they were friends. Now they’ll never be able to go back. It’s like messing with a really good thing in a way it just DIDN’T need to be messed with. It feels wrong. It feels awful. It feels… icky.

“DUH. That’s the point. OF COURSE it’s icky. Of course it’s awful. You’re feeling exactly the way you’re supposed to be feeling. You’re feeling exactly the way these characters are feeling. You’re feeling kinda like, the only thing left to do is… crawl under your desk and pretend it never happened.

“Only it did. Because -- really -- it had to.” Read the rest, really.

Finally, on a new page of Frequently Asked Questions, “Grey’s” creator Shonda Rhimes addresses the whole George-Mer kerfuffle.

On the FAQ, Rhimes also addresses the origin of the word “va-jay-jay,” which makes me laugh every time I even think of it, let alone remember Dr. Bailey saying it.

Unaddressed is the question of whether we'll ever see an episode in which Meredith does not cry, or at least have her eyes well up with tears. But back to the issue at hand, which is the painful-to-watch George-Meredith hookup.

“At one time or another, we've all slept with a guy friend when we knew we shouldn't (and Dad, if you are reading this, I mean ‘we’ in an ‘every single woman on the planet but me’ kind of way). You know what I'm talking about, you know you do.

“And here's the thing I really would like you to remember on dark nights when you lie in bed hating my guts: In movies and most TV shows, when two friends sleep together, it's a magical start to a wonderful relationship. In life, it's quite often a hideous beginning to a very long awkward nightmare. I wanted to take a leap and keep our characters honest. Come on and leap with me, people.”

And now, for my grand theory of “Grey’s Anatomy”: This show breaks out from the pack, and has become must-watch TV, because it’s one of the few shows on network television -- or cable television -- written mostly by women. It has a female showrunner and creator. It represents the voice of modern, confused, funny, smart women in such a hilarious, heartbreaking, engrossing way that I will leap with Rhimes and her crew every time, no matter where they end up going. They get it. They just get it. Not that men can't get into "Grey's" too -- they can and do -- but ladies, you know what I'm talking about, you know you do.

And, as a bonus, every week, the "Grey's" writers’ site makes me laugh out loud.

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

From The Hollywood Reporter, ( I clipped some unrelated stuff from this article-financials of internet companies and the like- the two interesting segments are posted below). Oh, and personally, I think News Corp is out in left field with what they think people will pay, by at least 50%.

March 01, 2006

News Corp. exploring high-def film rentals/CBS close to retrans deal

By Georg Szalai

NEW YORK -- News Corp. is betting that people will pay $25-$30 to watch Fox films at home in high-definition quality via cable and satellite TV 60 days after their theatrical release.

Speaking during the second day of the annual Bear Stearns Media Conference in Palm Beach, Fla., in a session available via webcast, News Corp. president and chief operating officer Peter Chernin said Tuesday the conglomerate has been "talking to the cable operators and satellite operators about the idea of a 60-day, high-priced high-def rental" offer costing $25-$30.

He later repeated the $25 price range as a possible model in a hint that this could be closer to the final price point but didn't specify what kind of revenue split was likely for the HD-to-home product.

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Chernin first mentioned that Fox was working on a plan for HD-to-home video on-demand offers 60 days after theatrical releases to establish a new HD window between theatrical and DVD runs amid a recent trend of shrinking distribution windows. However, pricing and other details of the planned HD service had not been clear.

Chernin on Tuesday indirectly admitted that $25-plus might sound like a high price point, but he argued that more than 1 million Americans spent more than $25,000 last year on a home cinema setup, and they would be "desperate consumers" of such offers.

Sources also said Tuesday that the HD window would target consumption by families and groups. For example, consumers could get some friends together, have food and drinks and enjoy a home premiere, one source suggested. With movie tickets in New York costing well above $10, the pricing actually could be attractive to high-end users, another industry observer suggested.

Asked about the new-technology revolution in the industry, Chernin told investors that it will allow News Corp. and others to also monetize content in the broadband, wireless, set-top box storage and other fields beyond HD-to-home.

Saying he was "happy" News Corp. doesn't own a music company, Chernin argued that the film business is in a stronger position to benefit from the current digital tidal wave partly thanks to its different distribution windows and price points.

Discussing DVD market trends, the executive said pessimists sometimes overdo their concern for the home entertainment business. "The DVD business is not declining, but the rate of growth is slowing," Chernin said.

Asked about News Corp.'s TV operations, he said he is "probably more bullish on our overall TV business than any other assets" in terms of future growth outlook, predicting that it will remain the fastest-growing part of the conglomerate.

The distribution opportunities for TV product was much more limited in the past, but the digital age is proving to be "a real liberation," Chernin said.



In a late session with CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves, the executive said his company was close to announcing its first deal with an unspecified cable operator to get retransmission-consent dollars for CBS.

"We are going to begin to get paid for our signal in a very short period of time," said Moonves, who later elaborated that a deal would be announced in the next six weeks.

Since CBS' split from the rest of the Viacom cable networks, which leveraged CBS and other brands to get carriage for newer channels, Moonves has been pledging to get new revenue on retransmission consent as a stand-alone property. He would not offer details but hinted that its value would be comparative with license fees paid to cable services that eventually could "amount to hundreds of millions in revenues to the CBS network."

Paul Bond and Andrew Wallenstein in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Some of us may be desperate but not stupid Mr. Chernin. You must be kidding with those prices. Try $5.99 tops and even that is high as far as I am concerned.

Some of us may be desperate but not stupid Mr. Chernin. You must be kidding with those prices. Try $5.99 tops and even that is high as far as I am concerned.
Yes, even $5.99 is too high. There's an old saying " a pig gets nothing". It'll be interesting to see this bird take flight!

If I can wait 2 months, I can wait 2 or 4 more for NetFlix.

Now, if it were same day release, I might consider $25 - but still only for mega, mega-blockbusters (probably superhero related ;) ) maybe once a year. In other words, it would only directly replace my theater going - not entice me to see more.

And they better find a distribution method that delivers full bandwidth/resolution.

I swear that said 2006

Geez... the old man in me is coming out.

I've deleted the article. Comcast is negotiating with Disney (for ESPN2 HD, among other things) so things may have changed.

Wow.. Every day I just scratch my head more and more.. From AACS, managed copy to the analog hole and now this.. Although.. being a directv sub, this kind of anti consumer announcement is only par for the course...

although to their defense - if I take the family to the movies it will cost me at least $18 in matenee tickets.. but still.. $25 - thats too high.. I can wait a few months for the dvd :)


From The Hollywood Reporter, ( I clipped some unrelated stuff from
this article-financials of internet companies and the like- the two interesting segments are posted below). Oh, and personally, I think News Corp is out in left field with what they think people will pay, by at least 50%.

March 01, 2006

News Corp. exploring high-def film rentals/CBS close to retrans deal

By Georg Szalai

Hmmm, if NewsCorp Chief Chernin is really convinced there are 1 million home theater "desperate consumers", perhaps he should have a talk with Chase Carey and make sure the DirecTV folks don't degrade the PQ for any of those desperate folks.

well said fred!!

The TV Column
The Week’s Winners and Losers

NBC's Two Tales of Olympic Ratings
By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, March 1, 2006; C07

Depending on whether you are NBC, the final week of that network's Olympics coverage, like Notorious Chuck D said the other day, was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

Here's a look at the week's Shizuka Arakawas and Italian ice-dancing couples:

WINNERS

Winter Games . Under "best of times, spring of hope, blah, blah, blah": NBC scored more viewers last week than any other network -- not that far behind CBS and ABC combined, in fact. With Turin Games coverage, NBC won three consecutive weeks in the ratings, something it has not accomplished in 18 months, aka since it covered the Summer Olympics from Sydney. NBC further notes that 184 million people sampled at least six minutes of the Games across its broadcast and cable networks.

SpongeBob SquarePants . The most watched basic cable program last week? Not Olympics coverage on any of the Networks of NBC Universal, but Nick's Monday SpongeBob SquarePants prime-time special, "Lost in Time," in which SB(P{+2}) was transported to the Middle Ages after a freak jousting accident at a medieval-themed restaurant. SB(P{+2}) nabbed an average of nearly 9 million viewers, beating ABC's "Wife Swap" (8.1 million viewers) -- not to mention UPN and WB (aka the two halves of the new CW network) combined.

"American Idol." Against Games every night (plus "Dancing With the Stars" and "Survivor" on Perfect Storm Thursday), "American Idol" took the No. 1, 2 and 7 spots in last week's rankings. Thursday's heavily padded results episode delivered Fox's highest rating in that night's 8 p.m. hour in 13 years.

Reality Thursday. Four unscripted ratings magnets went head-to-head from 8 to 9 p.m. Thursday. "Dancing With the Stars," "Survivor: Too Long Name," the Winter Games and "American Idol" collectively satisfied an average of 70 million viewers in the time slot. Proving once again it's not the broadcast TV audience that's gotten so small over the past couple of decades -- it's just the shows.

"Dancing With the Stars." Sunday's finale, in which Jessica Simpson's ex-bro-in-law was named best C-lister dancer, drew more viewers than any season finale of CBS's "Survivor" since that show's third edition and a larger audience than any finale of NBC's "The Apprentice" since its first-season closer.

Joran van der Sloot. The No. 1 suspect in Natalee Holloway's disappearance got to argue that he himself is a victim to nearly 12.5 million viewers Thursday at 10. It was the biggest "Primetime" audience in three years.

LOSERS

Winter Games . Under "worst of times, epoch of incredulity, yak, yak, yak": In its final week of Games coverage, NBC broadcast networks averaged fewer than 20 million viewers. Over its entire coverage, NBC averaged just over 20 million, a steep decline from the nearly 32 million a night average for the Salt Lake City Winter Games in '02 and the 25.1 million for Nagano in '98. Among the 18-to-49-year-olds NBC targets, the Turin Games took a nosedive; last week Fox won prime time in the coveted age bracket. Fox says it's the first time in at least 25 years a network has outstripped a full week of Olympics coverage in that demographic.

Fox's Friday. Talk about lousy follow-up: After three nights in which "Idol" blitzed everything in sight, Fox airs a night of "24" reruns that averaged 3.1 million viewers and dropped the network into fifth place.

WB. What's left of the once glorious WB network curled up and died last week when it ran flicks on four of the six nights it programs, Monday through Thursday. Yes, on three of those nights, the WB scored more viewers than UPN -- still, it's just sad.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/28/AR2006022801588_pf.html

Why not just release these movies on Blu-ray earlier?

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

And they better find a distribution method that delivers full bandwidth/resolution.
There is no method, as Marcus said, I'll wait for the Blu-ray release as there is no broadcast medium, OTA, cable or sat, that will compete with that quality, and there is likely not going to be for a very long time.

Chernin is flippin' nuts with the prices he mentioned, at that price you can own the movie on BRD, at a much better quality. If this plan flies at all, I bet the price will be in $5-10 range at the most, it will be simply early release PPV.

Everyone is salivating because of the morons downloading free TV to their iPods for $1.99 an episode. Personally, I hope the whole business model dries up.

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Less than amazing premiere for 'Race'

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Mar 1, 2006

CBS’s long-struggling “The Amazing Race” went through a ratings revival last year, becoming a top-30 show among adults 18-49. But those gains disappeared last season, when a family edition of the show turned off viewers and led to its lowest-rated season in four editions.

CBS hoped the show would rebound with last night’s ninth season premiere of “Race,” but that just wasn’t the case.

The two-hour “Race” premiere averaged a 4.0 overnight rating among viewers 18-49 last night, down 9 percent from the 4.4 last season’s premiere earned at 9 p.m. It was also off five percent from a 4.2 for last season’s finale.

It was off more than 15 percent from last year’s premiere episode on the same night. The previous three editions of the show before the family edition all averaged above a 4.5 for the season.

Last season featured teams of families competing rather than the usual two-person teams. Because many of the teams included kids, the challenges were watered down and not as exciting to watch.

“Race” returned to the old two-person formula last night, but it also faced a show that wasn’t there last year, Fox’s “American Idol.” “Idol” was expanded to 90 minutes last night, meaning part of the show aired directly against “Race.”

The final 30 minutes of female competition on “Idol” posted a 13.8 during the 9 to 9:30 p.m. slot. “Race” earned a 3.4, its lowest-rated half hour of the night.

“Race” won’t air against “Idol” the rest of the season, but it will still face stiff competition from Fox in its medical drama “House.”

On the strength of “Idol,” Fox finished first for the night among 18-49s with a 10.7 average rating and a 26 share. CBS finished second at 3.8/10, NBC third at 3.8/9, ABC fourth at 2.8/7, WB fifth at 2.0/5, Univision sixth at 1.6/4 and UPN seventh at 0.6/1.

Fox opened the night with a huge lead, posting an 11.5 rating at 8 p.m. for its first hour of “Idol.” CBS was second with a 3.4 for “NCIS,” NBC third with a 3.3 for “Deal or No Deal” and WB fourth with a 2.2 for “Gilmore Girls.” ABC was fifth with a 2.0 average for a repeat of “According to Jim” (2.0) and a new episode of “Rodney” (2.0), Univision sixth with a 1.6 for “Contra Viento y Marea” and UPN seventh with a 0.6 for a repeat of “America’s Next Top Model.”

At 9 p.m. Fox led with a 9.9 average for the last half hour of “Idol” (13.8) and the sitcom “The War at Home” (6.0). CBS was second with a 3.9 for the first hour of “Race,” NBC third with a 3.2 for an hour of “Scrubs” and ABC fourth with a 3.0 average for a new “Jim” (2.6) and a repeat of “George Lopez” (3.3). Univision and WB tied for fifth that hour at 1.8, Univision for “Alborada” and WB for “Supernatural,” with UPN seventh with a 0.6 for repeats of “Girlfriends” and “Half and Half.”

NBC took the lead during the 10 p.m. hour with a 4.9 for “Law & Order: SVU.” CBS was second with a 4.1 for the second half of “Race,” ABC third with a 3.4 for “Boston Legal” and Univision fourth with a 1.5 for “Lo Que No Vio.”

Among households, Fox led the night easily with a 14.7 average rating and a 22 share. CBS was second at 7.6/12, NBC third at 6.8/10, ABC fourth at 5.3/8, WB fifth at 2.9/4, Univision sixth at 2.1/3 and UPN seventh at 1.0/1.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_3156.asp

Everyone is salivating because of the morons downloading free TV to their iPods for $1.99 an episode. Personally, I hope the whole business model dries up.
It's not going to, in fact I think it's going to get bigger and bigger as more bandwidth becomes available. SureWest in Sacramento CA has 20Mpbs download speed now and there may be other providers with even higher.

BTW, I am one of those "morons" who downloaded the un-aired eps of Night Stalker from iTunes as it was the only way to see them. :p PQ is atrocious though...

un-aired isn't really free TV since it was never available via broadcast. It's those using $1.99 downloads in lieu of a DVR that doesn't make any sense.

If my DVR misfires and I miss an episode I might pony up the $2 if it's an edisodic show like Lost or Veronica Mars. With shows like that missing 1 episode can really screw you up. I can't see doing this with standalone shows like CSI, L&O, etc...

Reps. Seek Adelphia Conditions
By Ted Hearn 3/1/2006 1:38:00 PM

Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable should be banned from signing new local-sports-programming contracts if the cable giants are allowed to acquire Adelphia Communications Corp., a group of House lawmakers said in a recent letter to Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin.

The 19 House members, including Republicans and Democrats from rural districts, told Martin in a Feb. 21 letter that the FCC should condition the Adelphia deal on Comcast and Time Warner agreeing “not to enter into exclusive contracts for their local sports programming.”

As the lawmakers view it, cable exclusivity would mean that satellite subscribers would have to pay for cable to see “their favorite regional sports teams’ games.” In rural areas where cable is unavailable, satellite subscribers would have no access at all to their sports teams, they added.

“If [satellite] companies are barred from carrying regional sports programming, it effectively bars many rural fans from viewing their teams,” the House letter said.

Among those signing the letter were Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), Chris Cannon (R-Utah), Walter Jones (R-N.C.) and Stephanie Herseth (D-S.D.).

In a prepared statement, Comcast spokesman Tim Fitzpatrick noted that while federal law requires cable companies to provide satellite with vast quantities of programming, the same law does not require direct-broadcast satellite provider DirecTV Inc. to offer cable access to “NFL Sunday Ticket,” a package of out-of-market National Football League games.

As a result, “millions of rural Americans who might want to see these games have no other choice. If there is a problem with rural access to sports, that’s it,” Fitzpatrick said.

The Federal Trade Commission approved the $17.6 billion Adelphia merger in January without conditions. The FCC’s review has lasted nine months.

The House letter reflected some of the Adelphia merger conditions sought by DirecTV and fellow DBS provider EchoStar Communications Corp.

Under federal cable law, cable-owned networks that are distributed via satellite must be sold to DirecTV and EchoStar. Comcast’s Philadelphia sports network is exempt because it is distributed terrestrially. Because Comcast makes the sports network available to other local terrestrial pay TV providers, it is unclear whether the House letter’s call for a ban on local sports "exclusive contracts" would actually address the lawmakers' concerns.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6312029.html?display=Breaking+News

Statewide Telco Franchising Approved in Indiana

By Doug Halonen TVWeek.com

The Indiana House of Representatives late Tuesday passed legislation backed by the telephone industry that would replace local franchising with a statewide franchising system. The bill now heads for the desk of Gov. Mitch Daniels, who has said he will sign it.

The Indiana Senate approved the measure Feb. 21.

In a statement, AT&T spokesman Mike Balmoris said, "At the state level, we hope to build on clear progress we made in Texas, where video legislation passed last year. At the end of the day, we know that lawmakers at all levels, federal and state, want to do right by consumers by creating the environment for more competition, choice, and control over their TV and entertainment."

Said Kyle McSlarrow, president and CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association: "If the goal is to promoting broadband for all, this special-interest legislation clearly fails. Nonetheless, Indiana legislators recognized that a level playing field for all providers should be part of the regulatory framework, and the cable industry will continue to vigorously compete to provide all customers the best and most innovative services in America."

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9467

Ha, ha. That News Corp is so funny. $25 dollars to dollar a movie two months after it's release date! Uh, no! As the News Corp guy said, you have to DESPERATE to pay $25 for a hd movie two months after it is release so that you can watch it on your tv or big screen but not own it. What, is the person who paid for the movie going to invite a bunch of people over and charge those individuals a fee so that his or her money can be recouped? You'll almost have to do that for this to make any sense and you better have a projector not a tv for your friends or people from the neighborhood or apt complex to fall for it.

The Amazing Race article said it would compete with House. I thought Amazing Race was going to be on 10 ET this season. Am I wrong?

If my DVR misfires and I miss an episode I might pony up the $2 if it's an edisodic show like Lost or Veronica Mars. With shows like that missing 1 episode can really screw you up. I can't see doing this with standalone shows like CSI, L&O, etc...
This is sort of what I used it for, ABC pulled Night Stalker right in the middle of a 2 part episode and I wanted to see the 2nd part. I ended up buying all 4 eps for about $8. Missing an aired ep would also be a good reason, especially for the type of shows you mention. Veronica Mars has been especially hard to follow lately with all the breaks and the way they move plot lines in and out each week. VM is really a show that needs to be seen consecutively, without interruption.

The Business of TV
TV May Be Free but Not That Free

As downloads increase, executives have to figure out how to convince people it's stealing.
By Dawn C. Chmielewski and Meg James Los Angeles Times Staff Writers March 1, 2006

Amanda Palmer hardly fits the profile of an Internet outlaw, but her obsession with the ABC show "Lost" makes this self-described "bubbly, nutty mum" the television industry's worst nightmare.

Like thousands of other British fans, the 30-year-old personal assistant can't bear to wait the nine months it can take for new "Lost" shows to air in England. So, soon after the closing credits roll in America, she downloads each episode off file-sharing networks.

And most alarming to TV industry executives, Palmer admits not a twinge of guilt.

"It's TV, isn't it?" she said. "It would probably be different if it was a movie. If it is free on everybody's TV, why worry about it?"

The $60-billion TV industry has a simple answer to Palmer's question: because the future of free TV may depend on it.

Although still far behind music, television shows represent the fastest-growing type of files downloaded online. As Internet speeds increase and software improves, almost anyone can get high-quality bootlegs of such popular shows as "Desperate Housewives," "24" and "The O.C." — minus the commercials that make "free" TV free.

As Palmer can attest, piracy has never been easier.

Software such as ********** makes pirated material easy to download, episodic TV ensures a fresh supply of content and the popularity of devices such as Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod creates an appetite for video.

"In the same way that the original Napster was synonymous in the minds of virtually everyone who used it with free music, today if you say '**********,' they're thinking television," said Eric Garland, chief executive of BigChampagne, a research firm that tracks online traffic. "Even people who are not eye-patch-wearing pirates think nothing of grabbing a show from **********."

In fact, some people now use file sharing as a source of on-demand programming, outpacing the industry's efforts to set up their own pay-for-view services. Instead of programming a VCR or digital video recorder to record the latest episode of FX's "Nip/Tuck," these users simply download it the next day.

Clicking the mouse instead of the remote has dramatic implications for the TV industry.

Producers of popular programs often take in as much as a third of their revenue from foreign sales — a pot of money that would presumably evaporate if overseas downloading catches on.

In addition, producers also rely heavily on the profits that flow from DVD compilations of their biggest hits.

"It's a serious problem," said Peter Levinsohn, president of Fox Digital Media at News Corp. "There is a voracious appetite for this content."

On Monday, CBS asked YouTube.com to pull a "CBS Evening News" clip that had been posted on the site devoted to videos made by users. The clip — about an autistic high school student who scored 20 points in the final minutes of a basketball game — was viewed more than 1.5 million times.

"The protocol here would have been to come and say, "Hey, this is something we'd really like to post, give us permission to do it," said "Evening News" executive producer Rome Hartman. "I'm almost positive that if they had done so, we would have said 'yes.' They posted without asking us."

Just two weeks earlier, NBC had asked YouTube to remove hundreds of videos from its website, including highlights from the Winter Olympics in Turin and a "Saturday Night Live" skit called "Lazy Sunday."

To be sure, television piracy is not yet as pervasive as the unauthorized downloading that has accompanied the decline of music CD sales.

A popular song, such as the Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps," can be found on as many as 4.7 million computers. By contrast, there are only a few hundred thousand bootlegged copies of a hit show like ABC's "Desperate Housewives."

"The television business deals in tens of millions of people," said Dick Wolf, creator and executive producer of the "Law & Order" series on NBC. "When you are talking thousands of people … that's less than the change that falls off the table. But that's for now."

During the last year, both the number of people sharing pirated shows — and the number of files available for download — have increased faster than movies or adult films, according to BigChampagne. In the Britain, illegal downloads of the hit "24" increased by more than 150% in a single year.

"It's really grown enormously over the last 12 months," said David Price, head of piracy intelligence for the Internet monitoring company Envisional Ltd. in Cambridge, England. "It's partly because broadband has become more broadly available. It's becoming easier to do. It's becoming quicker."

TV shows are enticing because a half-hour show takes much less time to download than a 90-minute feature-length film. And freely available software compresses the files so they're compact enough for an hourlong show to fit on a single CD and be played on a DVD player.

In some ways, the industry's dilemma boils down to this: how to convince consumers that you can steal something that is perceived to be widely available free of charge. The half-century-old business model of subsidizing TV production by selling commercial time to advertisers is invisible to the audience.

"Unlike downloading a Hollywood film, which I think everyone intuitively knows is a clear violation of the copyright, people do not have that sharp line, that distinction, in their minds when they download free TV," said Garland of BigChampagne.

After watching the music industry blame online piracy for ravaging sales, television producers are trying to make legal downloading so easy that no one steals.

Walt Disney Co. was the first major media company to strike a deal to sell some of its most popular shows through Apple's iTunes Store. NBC Universal and Viacom Inc.'s Comedy Central and MTV quickly joined.

"We are trying to be on the leading edge of utilizing digital technology to make our TV shows available to consumers in as convenient of a way as we can," said Richard Cotton, general counsel of NBC Universal.

CBS distributes its shows through Google Video and its own website. Time Warner Inc.'s America Online announced that later this month it would begin offering TV classics such as "Welcome Back, Kotter."

"Whether or not this curtails any of that [illegal] usage, time will tell," said Michele Ganeless, general manager of Comedy Central.

Meanwhile, the Motion Picture Assn. of America began suing online sources of pirated TV shows in late 2004. Last month alone the movie industry's trade group filed seven lawsuits against sites that traffic in pirated material.

Apple's launch of the video-playing iPod in the fall spurred demand for TV shows. An estimated 4.5 million people own the portable device, and the video iPod's introduction heightened awareness of the Internet as a new distribution outlet for television for the mass audience.

Still, studios have required that iTunes limit downloads to domestic consumers. That prevents fans in Britain and other countries from downloading TV programs before they are broadcast locally.

Palmer said she learned the intricacies of how to download the latest episodes of "Lost" in a private section of an online fan forum. She noted her husband now downloads a whole lineup of American TV shows.

"You can pretty much guarantee, as soon as the episodes hit the states about 8 o'clock Eastern time, by 3 or 4 o'clock GMT it's going to hit the Internet," said Palmer, referring to 10 p.m. Eastern time. "Don't worry: I don't stay up that late. I have the nice advantage of having a taxi driver husband who helps me."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tvpirate1mar01,1,4677275.story?coll=la-headlines-business&ctrack=1&cset=true

The Business of TV
TV May Be Free but Not That Free


After watching the music industry blame online piracy for ravaging sales, television producers are trying to make legal downloading so easy that no one steals.


They need to do this ASAP as the public is not going to slow down on illegal downloading if there is no legal way available. IOW, if they learned anything from the Napster thing it was that they better get on board quick with the downloading program as the public is going to continue to do it, legal or not.

(For the record I am opposed to illegal downloading, but the reality is, the same thing that happened to the music industry will happen to TV if they don't get moving with it.)

Wow.. Every day I just scratch my head more and more.. From AACS, managed copy to the analog hole and now this.. Although.. being a directv sub, this kind of anti consumer announcement is only par for the course...

although to their defense - if I take the family to the movies it will cost me at least $18 in matenee tickets.. but still.. $25 - thats too high.. I can wait a few months for the dvd :)

Chernin can kiss my hiney. Sure, I spent untold thousands of dollars finishing my basement and building a state-of-the-art home theater. BUT NOW I'M BROKE!!! :D No way I'm dropping three Hamiltons on a movie that I can only watch once!

Chernin is nuts if he thinks all those home theater enthusiasts will be willing to spend thirty bucks for one lousy pay-per-view showing. If Fox was simultaneously releasing HD movies with their theatrical releases, a $30 PPV would be worth considering. But that's not on the table (yet).

Apparently Chernin doesn't realize that those $25,000 theaters probably include sophisticated video technology (scalers, SDI-modded DVD players, etc.) that makes good ol' DVDs look nearly HD in quality. Given that, why would anyone spend thirty bucks on one showing of a 60-day-old movie when these days most movies are being released on DVD within two months anyway, and at a fraction of the price?

Idiot.

The Amazing Race article said it would compete with House. I thought Amazing Race was going to be on 10 ET this season. Am I wrong?

No, you're right. It's supposed to come on after The Unit which is scheduled for 9pm.

From Broadcasting and Cable,

Moonves Predicts Nine-Figure Retrans Pot

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/1/2006 12:47:00 PM

CBS will, eventually, get "hundreds of millions of dollars" from retransmission-consent deals covering the total 60 million households reached by the CBS and soon-to-be CW stations it owns, President and CEO Les Moonves predicted at the annual Bear Stearns Media Conference Tuesday night.

While most of its bigger deals are down the road--2008 and 2009. Moonves said to look for one new retrans deal within six weeks. He said that the stations would also eventually be getting a cut of the new cash-and-carry regime.

Spurring the CBS move to ask for cash for cable carriage was the split-up of CBS and Viacom. Before, station carriage was tied up with Viacom's powerhouse MTV Networks carriage, and so the compensation was carriage of new channels rather than cash. As a stand-alone, said Moonves, "cable operators are going to have to pay for our signals."

Answering questions about the new CW network--a joint venture of Time Warner and CBS--Moonves said that, while it took a dozen years to figure out that The WB and UPN were two "mediocre channels," though with some successful programming, the combination of the best from each would be a case of "one plus one equals three." He reiterated that the network should make money from day one.

Moonves assured the financial types that all the new competing video delivery technologies would be "additive" rather than cutting into CBS' ad model of delivering a mass audience.

He pointed out that while 29 million people still watch CSI every Thursday night--arguing the core "communal" appeal of network TV had not been lost to fragmentation, he also said that even the most loyal fan base--to CSI, or Housewives, or even American Idol--only watch an average of two weeks out of four.
"They are looking for a place to go the other two weeks," he said, and that will be VOD, or to something they have recorded on their DVR, but "it won't hurt our core audience."

Saying that CBS was a content company, he also pointed to the additional revenues the network--and the stations--would get, from deals with companies like Google for Internet delivery. In fact, he said, in 60% of the country, CBS and the stations split the revenue from the Google deal (CSI is available on Google Video for $1.99 a pop, for example).

"Everything we have seen," he said, suggesting that "that the new rev streams [wireless, internet, VOD] will be additive."

Moonves also said that the fragmentation of the audience actually helps those who can deliver a mass audience. "If you want to reach one tenth of one hundredth of the audience, go to cable," he said, pointing out that, on one recent night, almost 75% of the audience was tuned to broadcast TV.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6312015.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP&nid=2228
Broadcasting & Cable: The Business of Television

The TV Column
With the Bar Set Low, Trump Limps Over

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, March 2, 2006; C07

In its move to Monday night this week, "The Apprentice" did exactly what NBC predicted, and the debut totally met NBC's expectations, we're told.

That is, a fourth-place finish in its time slot among total viewers and among the 18-to-49-year-olds the network targets.

NBC sets the bar pretty low for its prime-time schedule, apparently.

Neither gobs of free publicity in the form of a deliciously catty spat with Martha Stewart nor the move out of the rarefied atmosphere of Thursday night could save Donald Trump's reality series from a saggy return to NBC's lineup.

Monday's audience of 9.7 million viewers makes it the lowest-rated regularly scheduled Trump episode in "Apprentice" history.

In the fall, when "The Apprentice" opened with only 9.8 million viewers, it set The Donald to complaining that NBC's Martha Stewart edition of the show was killing his mojo. It's true Stewart's version failed to attract viewers.

The homemaking diva responded to Trump's comments by agreeing that two versions of "The Apprentice" were one too many. More specifically, she told Fortune magazine that she had been assured hers would be the only version on the air in the fall and that the two simultaneous versions were confusing viewers.

"It was even discussed that I would be firing The Donald on the first show," she said in the article.

NBC moved Martha's show from 8 to 9 p.m. Wednesday in an effort to salvage it, to no avail. By November, the network's official position was that it had planned all along to air just one round of the Stewart-hosted "Apprentice" and that she would not be back on prime time because she was far too busy doing her syndicated daytime show for NBC Universal.

Meanwhile, Trump's version had dropped to 10 million from an average of 14 million weekly viewers in its previous edition.

Last month Martha gave an interview to Newsweek in which -- it having played so well in Fortune -- she repeated her Coulda Fired The Donald routine.

The Donald, who knows a publicity opportunity when he sees one, fired off a letter to Stewart -- sending it to her only after sending it to the media, Martha whined -- in which he called her version of "The Apprentice" "a mistake for everybody especially NBC." He added: "Essentially, you made this firing up just as you made up your sell order of ImClone," referring to the stock sale scandal that landed Stewart in the slammer.

Trump does have a way with the zinger.

Martha then went all girly, saying she was stunned by his "mean-spirited" and "reckless" letter. The celebrity suck-up shows and gossip columns gobbled it up with a spoon. Trump was ready to make his comeback, newly moved to Monday, where, he pointed out to the New York Times in an article that ran Monday, he would have a better lead-in in Howie Mandel-hosted reality hit "Deal or No Deal" (instead of that "disaster" sitcom "Joey"), and he would not have to compete in a time slot with CBS ratings giant "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

Only his show didn't really open.

Even though it had been heavily promoted during NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics from Turin. Which puts a little chink in NBC Universal TV Group President Randy Falco's claim in the Los Angeles Times that the Games are so valuable because of their amazingly powerful promotional platform.

Despite a "Deal or No Deal" lead-in of more than 13 million viewers (and an appearance by Trump), "The Apprentice" finished behind CBS's "Two and a Half Men" and "Courting Alex," behind Fox's "24," behind ABC's finale of "The Bachelor."

Exactly what NBC predicted, and totally meeting NBC's expectations.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102492_pf.html

The TV Column
Most humiliating sweeps ever for NBC

Stands to finish in third behind ABC and Fox
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Mar 2, 2006

Just two weeks ago, the feeling was that even though ratings for the Olympics would be down, NBC could at least console itself with a win among adults 18-49 for the February sweeps.

Now, having just wrapped up the worst-ever Games among adults 18-49, not only will NBC not win the February sweeps, it will likely finish in third place behind both ABC and Fox.

NBC is already set to become the first network since the advent of people meters in 1987 to carry the Olympics during the February sweeps and not win the ratings period.

What’s perhaps worse for NBC is that things don’t look any better going forward. After a humiliating sweeps, it’s facing a spring that could be just as dismal.

Sweeps ended last night. Through Tuesday night, the most recent numbers available, ABC led sweeps with an average 5.3 18-49 rating and 13 share. NBC was in second with a 5.0/12 and Fox third at 4.9/12, but the two are expected to swap places after results from last night, when Fox aired No. 1 show “American Idol,” are tallied, several sources say.

That leaves NBC in front of only CBS at 3.4/9, and that’s more than a bit embarrassing considering nearly half of CBS’s schedule was repeats this month.

“It was surprising,” one media researcher says of NBC’s poor sweeps performance. “I thought they would win. But the other networks didn’t roll over and play dead for NBC during the Games.”

Certainly NBC’s problems started with the Olympics, which averaged a 6.1 among 18-49s, the worst in Games history. But its problems were compounded by the rest of its schedule.

Through the entire sweeps rating period, NBC won only one night among 18-49s outside of the Olympics, the little-watched first Friday of sweeps. The network currently has just one top-15 show among adults 18-49, Thursday’s “My Name is Earl.” ABC, by contrast, has five of the top 10.

Only one of its new shows from the fall, “Earl,” is still on the schedule.

And media people say the changes NBC plans for March won’t do much to boost it. “Joey,” tied for No. 63 for the season among 18-49s with a 2.9 average, returns next week but will face Fox’s “Idol” on Tuesday night, ensuring its ratings will dip even more.

Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice,” the network’s fourth-highest-rated show, finished fourth in its new Monday timeslot this week, and NBC buried its only new midseason drama, Dick Wolf’s “Conviction,” on little-watched Friday nights. If the network had higher hopes for the program, it would have put it on a night that really needs help, such as Sunday or Wednesday.

Even with the boost from the Olympics, which averaged 44 percent better than NBC’s season-to-date average of 3.4, NBC is still in a distant fourth place for the season and will end there for the second straight season.

Looking to next fall, there are some positives. “Sunday Night Football” will give NBC a welcome boost on a night where it consistently ranks fourth, and “Earl” and “The Office” show promise on Thursdays.

But NBC still carries an awful lot of duds on its schedule, and until it finds two or three big hit shows, that deadweight is enough to weigh down even the Olympics during a four-week sweeps.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_3155.asp

Critic’s Notebook
Tips to tide you over till TV critic returns

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News Thu, Mar. 02, 2006

This column will be on hiatus next week while I take a brief break from skating divas, pop star wannabes, dancing stars, the hectic world of Jack Bauer and Meredith Grey's sex life.

Still, there's enough going on in television land these days that I wanted to leave behind a little tip sheet about what's taking place over the next few days. Two shows generating the biggest noise -- HBO's new ``Big Love'' and the highly anticipated sixth season of ``The Sopranos'' -- will be reviewed before they debut on March 12. And until the column returns on March 13, here are some other things to look for:

• Speaking of the life and times of Jack Bauer: ``24'' checks in Monday (8 PM ET/PT, Fox) with a two-hour episode that includes, among other things, the return of Elisa Cuthbert as Jack's daughter, Kim. (The producers promise clueless Kim won't be facing any cougars this season.) It's reaching a point where you need a scorecard to keep track of all the cast members. Among upcoming additions: William Devane, reprising his role as Defense Secretary James Heller; Peter Weller (``Robocop'') as Christopher Henderson, Jack's onetime mentor; JoBeth Williams (``The Big Chill'') as Henderson's wife; B-movie fave C. Thomas Howell as Kim's therapist; and Ray Wise (``Good Night, and Good Luck'') as the vice president.

• NBC reworks its Friday night lineup this week with ``Las Vegas'' (9 pPM ET/PT) moving over from Monday and ``Conviction'' (10 PM ET/PT), a new legal drama, making its debut. ``Las Vegas'' is hyperkinetic and sometimes too slick for its own good, but it's rarely less than entertaining. ``Conviction,'' which involves young prosecutors in the New York district attorney's office, has its moments and could develop into a watchable hour of TV.

• Average guys who always dreamed of being pro athletes get their chance (sort of) on ``Pros vs. Joes'' (10 p.m. Monday), a new reality show from Spike TV. The Joes are pitted in various sports against the likes of Jerry Rice, Bill Romanowski, Brandi Chastain, Dave Stewart and Matt Williams. From what I've seen, the show is fun and some of the Joes actually hold their own.

• There's going to be a temptation to compare ``The Unit'' (9 PM ET/PT, CBS), CBS's new drama about a covert team of special forces operatives, with NBC's ``E-Ring.'' It's not even close. Created by noted playwright David Mamet and Shawn Ryan of ``The Shield,'' ``The Unit'' has its rough spots -- particularly in the first episode -- but it just oozes potential with sharp dialogue and a strong cast headed by Dennis Haysbert, Robert Patrick, Scott Foley and Regina Taylor. I particularly like the way the show juxtaposes the military actions and the unit members' home lives.

• This is an unfortunate clash of interesting new shows, but ``Sons & Daughters,'' a fresh and very appealing new comedy, also makes its debut Tuesday at 9 PM ET/PT, ABC. The show, involving three generations of the same family, is partially improvised and does not go for the standard punch-line humor of way too many sitcoms. It's created by -- and stars -- Fred Goss, the guy behind Bravo's very inventive ``Significant Others,'' and is definitely worth your time.

• Next Wednesday is a fairly cluttered night on TV as ``Project Runway'' (9 p.m., Bravo) has its two-hour finale and ``America's Next Top Model'' (8 PM ET/PT UPN) starts its sixth season. But if you're a foodie, you might want to check out ``Top Chef'' (11 p.m., Bravo), a new cooking competition show that makes its debut after the ``Runway'' closer before moving to 10 p.m. Wednesday on March 15. Filmed largely in San Francisco and environs, the series has a familiar format, but the opening episode suggests it may have some real spark to it.

• The issue of race in America is still a touchy one on television, so you have to give FX some credit for trying to explore the racial divide in its new ``Black. White.'' (10 p.m. Wednesday). Produced by documentary filmmaker R.J. Cutler (``The War Room,'' ``American High''), the six-episode series has two families -- one white, one black -- trying to live the other's life. (The show uses the makeup artistry of Keith Vanderlaan who did ``The Passion of the Christ,'' among other films.) What I've seen suggests an intriguing show, although there's something so contrived about the series that it makes me more than a bit uneasy.

• As noted, much of the attention on March 12 will go to ``The Sopranos'' and ``Big Love.'' But it's also worth noting that after a lengthy absence, ``The West Wing'' (8 p.m., ET/PT) will return that night, starting a run of nine new episodes leading up to the drama's series finale on May 14. There are a couple more hours with the late John Spencer playing Leo McGarry. (McGarry's funeral will be the focal point of the March 26 episode.) The election fight between Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) and Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) will come to a climax on April 2 and 9. (And, yeah, the writers do know who wins, but they're trying to keep it a secret.)

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/columnists/charlie_mccollum/13997680.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

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

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Fast National ratings for Wednesday, March 1st

A cushy ride for new post-'Idol' sitcom
By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Mar 2, 2006

Any show that debuts after Fox’s ratings juggernaut “American Idol” is guaranteed big ratings, and that was indeed the case for the new sitcom “Free Ride” last night. But more promising, “Ride” had a better rating than the last post-“Idol” sitcom premiere, “Life on a Stick.”

“Free Ride” posted a 6.3 overnight rating among viewers 18-49 last night, 57 percent better than a 4.0 for “Stick’s” premiere last year. Of course “Idol” also had stronger numbers last night than last year, which helped “Ride” become the second-best sitcom debut this year, behind “My Name is Earl’s” 6.4 on NBC last fall.

That’s a good start for “Ride” for sure, though the show did lose a lot of its lead-in. “Free Ride’s” 6.3 at 9:30 p.m. was down 52 percent versus the 12.9 “Idol” posted during its final half hour.

To compare, “Stick” last year lost 53 percent of its lead-in, an 8.5 for a special “Idol” results show. Meanwhile, “Stacked,” another Fox show that premiered last year on Wednesday, actually grew 29 percent on its lead-in, a 2.8 for “The Simple Life,” to a 3.6.

But despite the loss of lead-in audience, “Ride” performed well in a formidable timeslot. It finished second during the 9:30 p.m. half hour behind ABC’s “Lost,” ahead of CBS’s “Criminal Minds.”

Fox finished first comfortably on the final night of sweeps, averaging a 10.6 rating and a 27 share. It will likely move into second place behind ABC for the sweeps period.

ABC was second at 4.3/11, CBS third at 3.3/9, NBC fourth at 3.2/8, Univision fifth at 1.6/4, WB sixth at 1.2/3 and UPN seventh at 0.7/2.

At 8 p.m. Fox led with an 11.5 among 18-49s for the first hour of its 90-minute “Idol.” NBC was second with a 3.3 for “Deal or No Deal,” ABC third with a 2.2 average for “George Lopez” (2.1) and “Freddie” (2.2), and CBS fourth with a 2.0 for an hour of “Still Standing.” Univision was fifth that hour with a 1.7 for “Contra Viento y Marea,” ABC sixth with a 1.4 for “One Tree Hill” and UPN seventh with a 0.9 for an “America’s Next Top Model” special.

Fox led again during the 9 p.m. hour with a 9.6 average for the last half hour of “Idol” (12.9) and its premiere of “Free Ride” (6.3). ABC was second with a 6.8 for “Lost,” CBS third with a 3.6 for “Criminal Minds” and NBC fourth with a 2.4 for a repeat of “Law & Order.” Univision held onto fifth with a 1.9 for “Alborada,” with WB sixth with a 0.9 for a repeat of “Beauty & the Geek” and UPN seventh with a 0.6 for a “Veronica Mars” rerun.

CBS took the lead during the competitive 10 p.m. hour, averaging a 4.4 for “CSI: NY.” NBC and ABC tied for second at 4.0, NBC for “L&O” and ABC for a Barbara Walters Oscars special, with Univision fourth with a 1.3 for “Don Francisco Presenta.”

Among households, Fox led the night with a 14.5 average rating and a 22 share. CBS was second at 7.3/11, ABC third at 6.9/11, NBC fourth at 6.8/11, WB and Univision tied for fifth at 2.1/3 and UPN seventh at 1.2/2.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_3191.asp

Ever since discovering this thread I have been intensely making note these last 4-5 months to what exactly is television. It is clear to me that inbuilt within its structure there is so much false conjecture on the part of the industry itself that it is impossible for them to put together 4 good hours of television on any given night. Television is a failed experiment to sell soap and unless they get the soap out of their ears we are all witness to its quickening demise. I mean within years not decades it would have gone the way of the Dodo.

I am not sure I disagree with you, Joe3.
With the imminent availability of producers to sell their product directly to consumers, the current network (broadcast or cable) business model seems in dire danger.
Yet good programs which appeal to masses of people will probably always find their audience -- how they will do it is an interesting question.

What about over the internet...for free?

ABC to Offer Ad-Supported TV Show Downloads
March 2nd 2006

In order to expand its content and advertising presence online, ABC has announced that it will offer its hit television shows to users via ABC.com. Bob Iger, President and Chief Executive Office of the Walt Disney Company outlined the network’s plans at the Bear Sterns Media 2006 Conference in Palm Beach, Florida. My ABC, which has not been launched yet, will offer users the ability to download shows for free.

According to Adage, Iger announced at the Bear Sterns Conference this week, “Mike Shaw [ABC’s president ad sales and marketing] announced today we are going to take a product to market in May. Viewers will have the ability to access shows such as ‘Lost,’ ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ on ABC.com. They will be ad supported, free to the consumer.” The advertisements that run with the videos, however, may not be the same ads that appear with the shows’ TV broadcasts.

ABC, like NBC, already sells shows through Apple’s iTunes store for $1.99 each. CBS has a deal to offer user shows through Comcast’s video-on-demand platform.
Source (http://www.adotas.com/2006/03/abc-to-offer-ad-supported-tv-show-downloads/)

This sounds VERY exciting. Can't wait. I've been very hesitant to purchase videos from iTunes, simply because of the fact that the shows are FREE OTA. Just never felt right having to pay for them, when they should be free.

Now this approach I have nothing against.

Here's a nother article about the advertising aspects from Broadcasting & Cable (maximum of 4 1/2 minutes of ad's per half hour):

Advertisers Pitched My ABC (http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6312417.html?display=Breaking+News)

17 Sinclair Stations Join Fox Mini-Network

Mar 2, 5:34 PM (ET)


NEW YORK (AP) - Seventeen TV stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. (SBGI) (SBGI) will carry programming from a new mini-network being launched by News Corp. (NWS) (NWSA)'s Fox television unit this fall, the companies announced Thursday.

Adding to the 10 Fox-owned stations already lined up to carry the shows from MyNetworkTV, the new mini-network will now be available in 36 percent of American homes when it launches Sept. 5.

News Corp. came up with the plan after 10 of its stations were left without prime-time programming following the announcement from CBS Corp. (CBS) that it would shut down its money-losing UPN network.

MyNetworkTV will start out carrying just two shows, soap-opera style dramas modeled after the hugely successful and steamy "telenovelas" that appear on Spanish-language television. The shows will air Monday through Saturday from 8pm to 10pm.

TV ratings Notebook
ABC Tops Feb. Sweeps, Fox a Close Second

By Rebecca Stropoli Broadcasting & Cable 3/2/2006

February Sweeps 2006 have come to an end, and ABC gets the crown.

Boosted by Super Bowl ratings on Feb. 5, the network took February with an average 5.3 rating/13 share in the 18-49 demo. That was up 29% from February 2005 (although down 2% when excluding the Super Bowl numbers).

Fox was in a close second place—with numbers heightened by the spectacular performance of American Idol—with a 5.1/13. But that was actually down 22% from last year (although up 9% when Super Bowl numbers were excluded).

In third place this sweeps period was NBC with a 4.9/12. And although Olympics ratings may have been disappointing, the Games did boost the peacock 36% year-to-year.

CBS came in fourth with a 3.5/9, down 8% from last year.

Univision was fifth for its first sweeps year with a 1.8/5.

The WB was flat compared to February 2005, with a 1.4/3, and UPN was down 21% with a 1.1/3. In February 2007, they will no longer be in the sweeps race, as the two will have merged to form The CW.

Telemundo’s 0.5/1 put it in last place this sweeps, its first year being counted.

Sinclair's MyNetworkTV Stations


The WB-affiliated Sinclair stations signed in the deal include WTTA-TV in Tampa, Fla., (the 12th-largest market in the country), WCWB-TV in Pittsburgh (market No. 22), KVWB-TV in Las Vegas (48), WSTR-TV in Cincinnati (34), WBSC-TV in Greenville, S.C. (35), KRRT-TV in San Antonio, (37), WTVZ-TV Norfolk, Va. (42), WNYO-TV Buffalo, N.Y. (49), WNYS-TV Syracuse, N.Y. (76), and WDKA-TV in Paducah, Ky. (80).

The UPN-affiliated stations affiliating with MyNetworkTV include WRDC-TV in Raleigh, N.C. (market 29), WUXP-TV Nashville, Tenn. (30), WCGV-TV in Milwaukee (33), WABM-TV in Birmingham, Ala. (40), WUPN-TV Greensboro, N.C. (47), WMMP-TV Charleston, S.C. (64).

Also part of the deal is Sinclair's independent station WFGX-TV in Mobile, Ala. (market 62).

Well, that leaves Las Vegas without an HD capable CW affialite. :(

About Television
Channels bloom, and viewers pick

On average, homes receive 96 stations but watch far fewer, a study finds
By Lynn Smith Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 2, 2006

IN the early '90s, according to Bruce Springsteen, there were "57 channels (and nothin' on)." Now, according to Nielsen Media Research, there are 96 channels in the average U.S. home. And though they may have plenty on, the average person watches only 15 of them.

As the number of niche and boutique channels mushrooms, people are watching more TV than ever before, said Brad Adgate, research director for the New York-based media service company Horizon Media, who is familiar with the study. "In 1985, the average number of channels was 18. Now it's approaching 100."

Of course, viewers are not all watching the same 15 channels. People tend to have their favorite eight to 10 "destination channels," followed by a second tier of back-up favorites if they can't find anything they like, Adgate said. Those with TiVo watch more channels than people who don't have it, he said. That's because the system can reference a viewer's profile to choose to record other programs on relatively unwatched channels.

Factors other than simple program preference are also in play, he said. If two channels show the same movie, a viewer might rather watch it on one of their destination channels, he said. Cable networks with low channel numbers, closer to the broadcast networks, tend to get stronger ratings than those with higher numbers.

The number of channels viewed does not increase substantially until the number of available channels in the home rises above 110, Nielsen researchers said. Homes receiving more than 40 channels tuned in to 12 to 20 channels, according to the updated annual study released last month. In homes with an average of 158 channels available, 20 of them are actually tuned in.

"This is only going to continue," Adgate said. "The FCC says there are 530 national satellite-deliverable cable networks. A year ago there were 188."

As a result, he said, some of the top-rated cable networks such as USA and Lifetime are now facing the sort of competition the networks once faced from cable. To retain their viewers, the more established cable networks are casting a wider net to reach a mass audience, Adgate said, citing ESPN's decision to start showing movies.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-wk-channels2mar02,0,1543007,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

TV Review
'Conviction': Even the Legal Do-Gooders Have Their Own Sordid Sides

By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times March 3, 2006

Young lawyers in love is somehow a comical notion, like battlefield dentists. "Conviction," a new crime series created by Dick Wolf, takes the romantic entanglements of prosecutors quite seriously, which in itself is evidence of how far this drama veers from the familiar "Law & Order" formula.

There is no "ching-ching" sound or gravelly introduction about the people being represented by two separate yet equally important groups. "Conviction," beginning tonight, focuses on only one, the district attorneys; their cases serve mostly as measuring sticks of each prosecutor's commitment and personal growth. In other words, "Conviction" is the kind of touchy-feely workplace drama that at one time would have made Mr. Wolf sick.

People don't change, television tastes do — but only a little. "Law & Order" is now in its 16th season, and its two spinoffs, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" have been successful for years. But more recent attempts to extend the franchise have flopped. Mr. Wolf's remake of "Dragnet" in 2003 didn't work, and neither did "Law & Order: Trial by Jury," two years later. Both series were a little too dry and impersonal, but Mr. Wolf has apparently learned from those mistakes. He refers to his new procedural drama as "character-cedural."

"Conviction" is accordingly closer in spirit to "ER" or "Grey's Anatomy" than to any of the other "Law & Order" versions. The series is smart and engrossing, though not in a particularly novel way, and that is not a bad thing.

Like children who demand to hear the same bedtime story over and over, viewers find comfort in familiarity. It's not a coincidence that some of the most beloved shows on television have been on the air for ages: "The Amazing Race" is in its ninth edition; "The Apprentice" has been going on for five. "ER" is in its 12th season. "American Idol," now in its fifth season, keeps growing. The "Idol" contestants change, but they are essentially interchangeable. Everything else, from the ghastly early auditions to the bickering of judges throughout, remains the same.

"Conviction" is bleak, gritty and violent in a cozily familiar way. Its Wolf Films ancestry serves as a kind of Good Housekeeping seal of approval — viewers know the cases will be torn from the headlines, but the music alone (brassy jazz, as on "Boston Legal") guarantees that the characters will have juicy personal lives, and not just office idiosyncrasies.

And like "ER," where one of the central characters in a multicultural hospital is a rich, white young doctor, the district attorney's office is first seen through the eyes of Nick Potter (Jordan Bridges), a preppy lawyer with the soft, babyish good looks of Tom Cruise in "Risky Business," or a pretrial Robert Chambers.

When Nick decides to leave his cushy job at a prestigious law firm, his snooty friends are stunned and contemptuous. "Change is picking Nantucket over East Hampton," a friend drawls over drinks at a party. "It's not throwing your life away." (The unflattering snapshot of New York's privileged few is another "Law & Order" trait, perhaps because Mr. Wolf, who graduated from Andover the same year as President Bush, revels in being a traitor to his class.)

On his first day, Nick steps into a district attorney's office that is as crowded and chaotic as the "ER" emergency room. A bride, her white gown stained with blood, wanders aimlessly while crack addicts, suspects, defense lawyers and police officers noisily and matter-of-factly go about their business. Nick is inducted without ceremony or warmth by a harried and hard-boiled deputy district attorney, Jim Steele (Anson Mount), who is deadly serious and intense at all times, but secretly has a kind heart.

Nick is hazed unmercifully by his more experienced co-workers, a group of ambitious, hardened prosecutors that includes Jessica Rossi (Milena Govich), who climbed up from a working-class background, and Brian Peluso (Eric Balfour), who lives hard and gambles after hours. Nick is treated only a little more gently by another neophyte, Christina Finn (Julianne Nicholson), who has a sweet disposition that does not always help her in court, or on dates.

The prosecutors are idealistic about their work but not very chivalrous after hours. Even some of the nicer men act like cads. Brian leaves his ID badge in a woman's apartment and sends a secretary downstairs to retrieve it from her — unwilling to even say hello. Nick takes a pretty young woman home from a party, then leaves her in his bed the next morning by saying, "Just let yourself out, O.K.?" In the second episode, Christina is rejected after a blind date because her escort decides that her breasts are too small. And even some of the women take a prosaic approach to sex, banning attachment or commitment.

It's a new generation of lawyers, but there is one carry-over: Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March), an assistant district attorney from "Law & Order: SVU," is back at work as the bureau chief and Steele's take-no-prisoners boss.

There is one other symbol of interconnectivity in the Dick Wolf universe. In the first episode, District Attorney Arthur Branch (Fred Dalton Thompson) also makes a fleeting cameo appearance. It's a way of reminding viewers not to worry about the new cast: characters may change, but television dramas remain the same.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/03/arts/television/03conv.html?pagewanted=print

TV Review
Trials of young prosecutors

"Conviction" is more character-driven and soap opera-like than its siblings in the Dick Wolf den, and well cast
By Robert Lloyd Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 3, 2006

The ads for "Conviction," which premieres tonight (10 PM ET/PT) on NBC, have taken pains to point out that the average age of an assistant district attorney (or perhaps a New York assistant district attorney, I don't recall specifically) is 28, which I read as a preemptive strike against complaints that here again is a drama top-loaded with improbably young, good-looking kids. Well, I will grant them the "young," but as to the universal beauty of lawyers, I daresay they may have stretched the truth. Conveniently, they're all single.

That this is a show aimed at least in part at the Whatever Letter Generation This Is Now That Represents the 18-34 Demographic is demonstrated by the fact that NBC has already made the pilot available on iTunes, for pod-watching, in order to create some advance hubbub.

Dick "Law & Order" Wolf is the man behind the curtain here; he calls the show a "charactercedural," an unhappy neologism that he should pack away forthwith, especially given how little of the "cedural" there is about it. Built from multiple story lines and with its alternation of personal business and courtroom scenes, "Conviction" is, structurally speaking, "Ally McBeal" or "Boston Legal," but with cheap office furniture, an inverse ratio of comedy to drama, and a lot of location shooting.

Location, location, location — it's one of the secrets of Wolf's success. The first time the show comes fully alive is with a wintry street scene, a composition in whites and grays, that unleashes the energy of the authentic street and ties "Conviction," like its Wolfean predecessors, to the great New York cop films of the '70s and early '80s, "The French Connection" and "Serpico" and "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three," and on and on.

At heart, it's a soap opera, just another tale of being young and sexy and gainfully employed in The City That Barely Sleeps (and sometimes sleeps together, and sometimes oversleeps). The educational and philosophical and headline-ripping impulses that animate much of the "L&O" franchise are downplayed here in favor of personal business: What matters not is how the lawyers construct their cases so much as how the cases deconstruct the lawyers. They jockey for position, let personal agendas sometimes pervert their concern for justice, wonder why they sometimes have to help people not worth helping or hurt people who don't really deserve it.

After work they hang out together in bars and go dancing — presumably not to the music of Vonda Shepard. In the morning, there are hangovers.

It is not the ultimately tidy universe of the original "L&O." Whereas nearly every episode of "Law & Order" was to see justice done and the world set straight, the titular order restored — its very predictability on this account is part of what makes it so endlessly easy to watch and makes the earliest episodes of a piece with the latest — "Conviction" as a serial drama is necessarily about a world out of balance, where happiness is just a transient state between crises. (The writers use some narrative shock tactics, not entirely original or new to television, but still shocking.)

As with most things Wolf, it is superbly cast, almost too well — each of the regulars seems the inarguable quintessence of his or her character. There is the rich kid (Jordan Bridges, son of Beau) jumping from a cushy corporate firm in order to get to "try cases," the sexy rake living too close to the edge (Eric Balfour) but sweet deep down, the unsure ingénue (Julianne Nicholson), the ambitious hotshot (J. August Richards), the man-eater (Milena Govich) masking her pain by insisting on her freedom, the hard-nosed bureau chief (Stephanie March, importing the character she played on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") and the prickly but ultimately sensitive deputy D.A. (Anson Mount).

But every small role is well cast too — the judges, the defendants, the policemen. They help create a lively world that's more believable than it sometimes deserves to be, and it is almost always engaging.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-conviction3mar03,0,6968812,print.story?coll=cl-tv-top-right

TV Notebook
Bochco Could Be Exiting “Commander”
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable
(Jim Benson contributed to this report.)

Rumors swirled Thursday of another impeachment behind the camera at ABC’s Commander in Chief.

Executive producer Dee Johnson is sliding into the showrunner’s role, while Stephen Bochco is away on pre-production of his drama pilot, Hollis and Rae. But sources close to the show said Thursday that Bochco and Commander may have parted company over what one source described as a “bad fit” between the show and the veteran producer. This comes with the show currently on the sidelines from ABC’s schedule.

While ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson is said to be a fan of the show, it remains unclear whether Commander will make the spring return that ABC previously indicated. The network had said the show would return on April 18 with seven straight episodes through the end of the season.

After original showrunner Rod Lurie left in the fall (reportedly over continuing to turn in scripts behind schedule), Bochco took over on the heels of his new deal with Commander studio Touchstone Television. But he faced an uphill battle to get the show back on track. He led a three-week hiatus around the holidays to allow the product to "regroup," a source said, but the show never got its ratings groove back.

Now, one source close to the situation speculates that Bochco and ABC may have clashed over the amount of notes the network was giving on the show, which ABC denies.

“Bochco just wasn’t about to take notes from them,” the source says. “ABC is very involved, and their success has made them increasingly involved, but that is the price of doing business with them - and any network today. The ABC people are smart, their notes are good, but under the day-to-day pressure of a series, it can be a lot.”

Both the network and the studio denied that Bochco has been pushed out, instead maintaining that the plan for Johnson to take over in Bochco’s absence was always in place.

The studio also denied speculation that Lurie and fellow producing partner Marc Frydman could become involved in the project once again.

Commander in Chief, which stars Davis as the first female U.S. president, had a relatively strong fall before falling off as the season wore on. It was pulled off the schedule last month.

An email request for comment to a Bochco press rep was not returned at press time.

TV Review
The Weakness of His 'Conviction'

By Tom Shales The Washington Post TV Critic Friday, March 3, 2006; C01

Bang bang -- you're bored.

With "Conviction," premiering tonight on NBC, producer Dick Wolf might have shoved his little crime-drama pushcart down one too many a city block. Like Chico Marx in "A Day at the Races," he's palming off just a few too many heavily padded books disguised as "tootsie-fruitsie ice cream."

Ironically, Wolf has finally worked up the courage to vary from the established, nearly self-parodying formula that has made him six or seven fortunes via "Law & Order" and its numerous spin-offs. Many's the viewer, however -- especially the hard-core "L&O" fans -- who will wish that Wolf had played it safe and hewed to that formula without ever straying. After all, it does appear to be working -- and working several times a week, at that.

"Law & Order" dramas are remarkable for their spare, no-frills, exposition-heavy structure, as distinctive a trademark for Wolf as all those clipped sentences and deadpan deliveries were for Jack Webb with "Dragnet" and its progeny years ago. The "Law & Order" series are sort of the thinking man's "Dragnet," dealing with solidly relevant issues as they dramatize criminal cases that often, despite the perfunctory disclaimer, seem very similar to actual news stories from three, four or more months earlier.

One could grow extremely fond of the continuing characters on these shows without ever learning very much about them. There wasn't time for us to visit their homes and play peekaboo with their spouses and offspring, if any. By merely sketching out the characters rather than giving us fully detailed portraits, "L&O" writers invite us to complete the personalities in our heads as we watch them do their jobs.

"Law & Order" and its clones are participatory storytelling -- true interactive television.

With "Conviction," Wolf turns over an unwelcome new leaf. He stops the investigations in their tracks to give us the "back stories" -- details about the home lives, romantic lives and mostly the sex lives of his ambitious young characters, legal eaglets working as assistant district attorneys in and for the city of New York.

At last we'll go beyond the very cryptic office behavior, and dialogue, of the attractive dramatis personae and follow them into the nooks and crannies of their living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms, right? But guess what: Who cares? It's a step forward that's a step backward. The characters' lives just aren't fascinating, and by reverting to a more traditional way of telling crime stories, Wolf simply reminds us how superior his other version is.

The characters in "Conviction" are younger than the usual "L&O" crowds, which should make them livelier and wilier -- and, of course, hotter -- than the Sam Waterstons and the S. Epatha Merkersons. The new kids might have those alleged virtues, but they're so young that their youth defines them; we pretty much know they'll either be naive, dewy-eyed idealists or ruthless, sexy upstarts.

The cast in the pilot includes Stephanie March -- having been transplanted, along with the assistant DA she plays, from "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" -- as dear a sweetheart as Little Buttercup from Gilbert & Sullivan's "H.M.S. Pinafore." She's easily contrasted with the striking young actor Eric Balfour (whose first big break seems to have been on HBO's "Six Feet Under") as Brian Peluso, a brash, highly practical manipulator whose vices include heavy-duty gambling debts owed to the less than scrupulous.

Ever since Balfour made his prime-time entrance, I've been trying to figure out which famous actor of olden times he resembled (he has the ability to play members of various ethnic groups) and seeing him again on "Conviction," I finally figured it out: He's Basil Rathbone, a dashingly versatile gent who could play a noble Sherlock Holmes or a swine dueling Danny Kaye (in "The Court Jester"). Trust me on this one: Eric Balfour is Basil Rathbone redux.

Others filling out the scorecards on "Young DAs" (as the show really begs to be campily called): Julianne Nicholson as sweet Christina Finn, Milena Govich as another tough young team member (frankly, it's not only hard but pointless to try telling them all apart) and, impressively, Jordan Bridges as Nick Potter, a well-educated rich kid who could be working in a posh Park Avenue firm but wants to try cases here in hell instead. Like other novices in the show's early episodes, he flubs and bumbles his first case in court, earning him a lecture or two from the judge and jeers of derision from his fellow Young Turks.

That's another trouble with the show, though; the young DAs waste too much time making elementary mistakes in their various courtrooms and then suffering for it later. In tonight's script by Walon Green and Rick Eid, that note is played to death.

Eventually the kids make so many mistakes that a viewer gets the feeling he's watching "The At-Best Semi-Competent Young District Attorneys." Wolf should know that the audience won't care to learn more about the private lives of people whose professional lives are messes.

"Conviction" has plenty of polish on the surface, as any Wolf show would, but it also needs a great deal of fine-tuning before it will be truly see-worthy -- so much fine-tuning that there might not be enough time left in the current TV season to do it all.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/02/AR2006030202172_pf.html

Man, that's why I love Tom Shales. He is brutally honest, but in a funny sort of sarcastic way without being over the top and mean-spirited.

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

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
'Deal' breaker: 'Idol' sinks NBC's gamer

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Mar 3, 2006

It appears three straight nights of airing head-to-head against Fox’s “American Idol” finally took its toll on NBC’s new game show “Deal or No Deal.”

The Howie Mandel-hosted game show posted a 2.9 overnight rating among viewers 18-49 last night in the 8 p.m. timeslot, its lowest rating ever and off 22 percent from the 3.7 the show had averaged through its first three episodes this week.

It was also down from NBC’s usual average in the timeslot for “Will & Grace” and “Four Kings,” though that was to be expected. “Idol” does not usually air on Thursdays and so those shows haven’t had to face it.

Last night’s 2.9 was also down 33 percent versus the 4.3 overnight rating “Deal” averaged in its first five-episode run back in December.

Facing “Idol,” ranked No. 1 among 18-49s this season, is certainly tough for any show, much less a new one returning after a two-month layoff. Last night “Idol” averaged a 10.8 rating, and it averaged a 12.9 Wednesday and a 12.3 on Tuesday.

Despite last night’s falloff, “Deal” still performed decently for NBC during its one-week special run before settling into the 8 p.m. Monday timeslot. It gained on NBC’s 8 p.m. average the previous three nights.

“Idol” helped Fox to a first-place finish for the night among 18-49s, as the network averaged an 8.0 rating and a 19 share. Usual No. 1 CBS was second at 6.7/17, NBC third at 4.5/11, ABC fourth at 2.7/7, Univision fifth at 1.7/4, WB sixth at 1.4/3 and UPN seventh at 1.0/3.

Fox led easily during the 8 p.m. hour with its 10.8 for “Idol,” followed by a 5.5 for CBS for “Survivor.” NBC was third with its 2.9 for “Deal,” ABC fourth with a 2.2 for the first hour of the movie “Sweet Home Alabama” and Univision fifth with a 2.0 for “Contra Viento y Marea.” WB was sixth with a 1.3 for a repeat of “Smallville” and UPN seventh with a 1.2 average for “Everybody Hates Chris” (1.5) and “Love, Inc.” (0.9).

CBS took the lead at 9 p.m. with an 8.9 rating for a new episode of “CSI.” Fox dropped to second with a 5.2 for the season finale of “Skating with Celebrities,” NBC third with a 4.8 average for “My Name is Earl” (5.1) and “The Office” (4.4), and ABC fourth with a 3.0 for the second half of its movie. That left Univision fifth with a 1.8 for “Alborada,” WB sixth with a 1.5 for “Beauty & the Geek” and UPN seventh with a 0.9 average for “Eve” (0.9) and “Cuts” (0.9).

At 10 p.m. CBS and NBC tied for the lead at 5.8, CBS for “Without a Trace” and NBC for “ER.” ABC was third with a 2.9 for “Primetime” and Univision fourth with a 1.4 for “Aqui y Ahora.”

CBS did manage to stay on top among households, averaging a 13.0 rating and a 20 share. Fox was a competitive second at 11.8/18, NBC third at 6.9/11, ABC fourth at 5.5/8, WB and Univision tied for fifth at 2.1/3, and UPN seventh at 1.7/3.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_3219.asp

TV Notebook
'Chief' Changes

More administration shifts on ''Commander in Chief'': Steven Bochco is replaced as showrunner on the White House drama, though he retains his exec producer credit

by Lynette Rice & Michael Slezak Entertainment Weekly

ABC's troubled White House drama Commander in Chief is under fire again: Exec producer Stephen Bochco, who took the reins from creator Rod Lurie back in October 2005, has been replaced as showrunner by Dee Johnson, a veteran of the series since its premiere last September.

The rumor mill has been abuzz that Bochco refuses to take notes from the network; creatively, the amped-up testosterone level on the series has resulted in an almost asexual portrayal of the first female president. In February, ABC put the show on hiatus to make way for its new comedy, Sons & Daughters.

Bochco, who will retain his executive producer credit on Commander in Chief, won't be a lame duck on the Disney lot; under his rich development deal with ABC's sister production studio, Touchstone, the NYPD Blue vet is developing a drama pilot called Hollis and Rae for fall.

Despite the behind-the-scenes shakeup, an ABC insider said the series is still scheduled to return April 18.

http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1169591_3_0_,00.html

TV Review
'Conviction' lacks conviction but 'The Unit' could be a hit

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic Friday, March 3, 2006

What a television series' success often comes down to is how much you care to be around the people in it. The creator's reputation can play a part but, in the end, if you don't like the characters you're watching, what's in a producer's name? Not much.

Given that "Conviction," "Law & Order" maestro Dick Wolf's new "character-cedural" (a lame term he concocted to avoid calling an average drama by its true name), premieres tonight at 10 on KING/5, you may think I'm referring to his rep, or measuring the appeal of the young Turks in New York City's DA's office. I am not, and, in fact, we'll get back to it much later.

Our time is better spent first considering "The Unit," CBS's counterterrorism squad meets cul-de-sac drama coming next Tuesday at 9 on KIRO/7, and a prime-time marriage of playwright David Mamet and Shawn Ryan's talents.

To know these names is to expect great things; each man has his signature style of directing, although Mamet's rep dwarfs Ryan's, even though the latter created "The Shield." This is the first television series the Pulitzer Prize-winning Mamet ("Glengarry Glen Ross") has helmed.

In case the above names are lost on you -- and if that's so, you have some reading and DVD renting to do -- there's Dennis Haysbert, whose leonine portrayal of President David Palmer in "24" stood well against Jack Bauer's relentless energy. Haysbert's "24" character is gone, but many can't quite let him go.

So Haysbert could have a greater task than Mamet or Ryan in our post-Palmer TV world: living up to the expectation of nothing less than total manliness.

"The Unit's" Special Forces operative Jonas Blane is a smooth transition for the actor. He's a tough, paternal, slightly warm guy with a dented soul who isn't too far removed from Palmer in spirit.

Those who don't count themselves among Haysbert's fans may be content to drool over Scott Foley, who wears new recruit Bob Brown's stern expressions quite fetchingly. He's a strong backup to Haysbert, as is Robert Patrick's rough Col. Tom Ryan, who runs the outfit from behind the scenes.

A promising cast and respected executive producers conspire to give "The Unit" a shot at being this spring's breakout hit. But the real proof's in the pilot, a thrilling balance between the action of this sharpshooting brotherhood and the schemes of their secretive, slightly overbearing wives.

Scheduling this drama between "NCIS" and "The Amazing Race" has given CBS a Team America night: You have military crime solvers at 8, fun with operatives who introduce themselves as Mr. Black and Mr. White at 9, and adventurous Yanks dashing through the world's villages at 10. America! Bleep yeah!

Without actually calling the group Delta Force (the series is loosely based on Eric Haney's memoir "Inside Delta Force"), "The Unit" is pretty much the same deal. They blow up terrorists and save hijacked passenger jets all in a day's work, and yet they do not officially exist.

"The Unit's" first few episodes aren't perfect, and sadly, it's the female characters who suffer. As the counterpoint, Jonas' intimidating wife, Molly (Regina King), herds the ladies and tries to keep Bob's stubborn wife, Kim (Audrey Marie Anderson), from blabbing about their husbands' missions. Kim and duplicitous Tiffy Gerhardt (Abby Brammell) fuss about in Molly's shadow for the first few episodes, arguing every once in a while with Kim over such things as why the young wife doesn't pray. Her answer is a relatively flimsy one, and the issue's resolution drips with treacle.

King is capable of greater range, and we can only hope Mamet and Ryan challenge her and the other actresses a bit more as the series rolls on. I'll bet plenty of people will be watching regardless of how the plot develops.

But I don't have the same hope for "Conviction."

It's not a terrible show; if you don't have anything else to watch, well, it won't kill you. You may even like it a little. That's the best defense I can offer.

Oh, and "Conviction" brings back Stephanie March's Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot, formerly of "Law & Order: SVU." So there's a plus. (Yes, that means Cabot is no longer in the witness protection program.)

Wolf said the main difference between this show and the other "Law & Orders" is that we'll see the characters' lives outside of the office -- in restaurants, in bars and in bed. They are an office full of young, green, sexy ADAs., and this show intends to make the most of their firm bods and their mistakes on the job.

And there's nothing sexier than a mistake, right? Take this show's lead-in, the recently relocated "Las Vegas," which is about nothing but mistakes and sex appeal. That fluffy casino series coasts on the seduction of casino glamour, and it was an innocuous nightcap to the severest cases of the Mondays. Moving it to Friday may not have been the best idea.

But "Conviction" needs an established lead-in, because it has no glitz, and what else is NBC going to move? The "character-whosis" doesn't have any actors people might follow, either, save for Eric Balfour, doing his typical sexpot role as Brian Peluso, and "Angel's" J. August Richards, as politically ambitious Billy Desmond.

Co-workers include rising-star attorney Jessica Rossi (Milena Govich), Deputy District Attorney Jim Steele (Anson Mount), and nervous newbies Nick Potter (Jordan Bridges) and Christina Finn (Julianne Nicholson).

In contrast to the somewhat orderly legal headquarters in "Law & Order," this ADA's office is chaotic, and the assignments are grim, particularly one involving a powerful drug dealer. One of their own is murdered, driving home the grave risks associated with being an inexperienced prosecutor.

Ho-hum.

The actors perform as well as possible, but there's little in the way of spark, or great energy. Even a last-second glance at some clandestine hanky-panky fails to entice.

Not to worry, Tuesday's only a few nights away.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/261515_tv03.html

TV Notebook
Bochco out as 'Chief' showrunner

By Josef Adalian Variety.comFri., Mar. 3, 2006

There's more behind-the-scenes intrigue at ABC's "Commander in Chief."

With just a few episodes of the Touchstone drama left to be filmed, Steven Bochco is no longer serving as day-to-day showrunner, people familiar with the situation said. Dee Johnson, who's been with the show since the original Rod Lurie administration, has now taken command of the writer's room and is serving as showrunner.

Bochco hasn't exited the series, however. A Touchstone spokeswoman said he remains exec producer of the Geena Davis starrer and that Steven Bochco Prods. is still producing via Touchstone.

In addition, Bochco continues to work for Touchstone via his overall deal with the studio. He's also busy exec producing the pilot "Hollis and Rae" for ABC.

Reached at his office, Bochco declined to talk specifics about the "CIC" situation. Instead, he politely asked a reporter to call Touchstone reps for information about the situation.

Bochco came on board "CIC" last fall after production delays prompted Touchstone and ABC to force a regime change. Lurie then inked a new overall deal with Touchstone.

"CIC," currently on hiatus, is slated to return to ABC's sked April 18.

TV Notebook
The Deal on Deal

By John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable at bcbeat.com

It's clear that Georgia Republican Nathan Deal is no fan of retransmission consent, at least as presently constituted.

He has led an effort to get the FCC to unbundle TV station cable carriage deals from the affiliated cable channels that are often the currency of the transaction.

He also wants cable to have to unbundle its channels so that consumers won't be required to mix wholesome children's programming with some of that alternate lifestyle stuff.

I'm not sure that cable can't offer a la carte--I know it doesn't want to--but there is something to their argument that forcing per-channel offerins would be like forcing newspapers to sell the sports section separately for those who don't want the front page. It doesn't work like that. Still, other countries have done it.

Broadcasters are increasingly unbundling their own deals and going for cash for their stations, but the government doesn't need to be mandating that.

Anyway (how's that for a transition), Rep. Deal's office sent me an op ed on retrans Friday, so I thought I would publish it here for loyal blog readers to find out where he stands.

So, Rep. Deal, the floor is yours.

"On July 2, 1928, the first regular television broadcast service was transmitted from a small suburb on the outskirts of Washington D.C. Since that fateful day, media technology has undergone tremendous change and development, leading to previously unimaginable possibilities. In less than eighty years, television has gone through such an amazing revolution that today’s Americans can view their favorite television show or personality through a wide variety of mediums, including satellite, cable, broadcast and internet providers.

"As we move steadily into the twenty-first century, many have begun to question if the current television regulations allow our media companies sufficient freedom to meet the demands of their viewers. Under the current regime, whenever an individual or family chooses to signup for a cable or satellite service, they are presented with a relatively limited number of bundled packages. These packages consist of a pre-determined set of channels, ranging from family friendly cartoons to controversial gay and lesbian programs. The viewer is left with very limited choice as to which channels they want to include in their particular package. It is a take it or leave it deal, with the viewer being forced to accept stations they would never watch nor support.

"In an ideal, free market based economy, consumer demand would dictate the television programming supplied. Cable, satellite and broadcast companies would formulate business models likely to ensure the greatest success. Unfortunately, such a scenario is unlikely to unfold in today’s market, due to a federal regulation known as retransmission consent. In 1992, while examining the growing cable industry, Congress mandated cable and satellite companies carry local broadcast stations. In return for providing their signal to the companies, the broadcasters could negotiate for some form of compensation via cash or carriage. Under such a Congressional mandate, cable and satellite companies are now left in an impossible bargaining position. It should be of no surprise that receiving broadcaster’s consent to retransmit often proves an expensive proposition.

"Retransmission consent rules initially proved beneficial in increasing access to programs such as the news and weather, as the media market expanded it became more of a hindrance than help. Broadcast monopolies, whose very existence relies on taxpayer owned broadcast airwaves, backed cable and satellite providers into either paying overly steep prices for their local stations or taking extra programming produced by the parent company which either owned or affiliated the local channel. By the end of negotiation, dozens and dozens of extra channels were forced upon the cable and satellite companies. End result: consumers are left with a package full of channels they would never have requested. Thanks to a Congressional mandate, enacted over a decade ago, consumers are left with little choice as to the channels they want in their homes. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the top six programming conglomerates, of which four are broadcasters, own or have interest in 153 cable channels, including nearly 75% of the top 50 channels, leading to a combined revenue of $149.6 billion.

"By reforming the antiquated and anti-competitive retransmission consent rules, Congress can provide cable and satellite companies with the ability to offer innovative and new packaging options. This will certainly be true with broadband video service providers. Federal regulation must no longer prohibit the free market by enabling large network broadcasters to force limited choice on consumers. Retransmission consent rules must be reformed such that broadcasters receive just compensation for their programming while allowing cable, satellite and soon to be broadband video providers the flexibility needed to offer business models which best suit both their needs and their customer’s demands. It is time our telecommunication laws be based on free market principles where demand dictates supply. Currently, demand is harnessed by retransmission consent rules, thus preventing new and inventive programming services."

Nathan Deal
Member of Congress

http://www.bcbeat.com/?q=node/1092

FONT=ARIAL BLACK] Critic’s Notebook [/FONT]
Is edgy Jon Stewart too hip for the Oscars?

By Gail Pennington St. Louis Post-]Dispatch Television Critic Sunday, Mar. 05 2006

Like proud parents, Jon Stewart's fans are excited but jittery as he prepares
for his debut as host of the Academy Awards.

The stage is vast, the audience huge - 41.5 million in the United States last
year, hundreds of millions more around the world - and the potential for
failure enormous. Just ask David Letterman, whose 1995 hosting gig lives in
infamy.

As all those who wouldn't dare miss "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" can
attest, Stewart on many nights is the funniest person on TV, and maybe even in
America. With his brilliant, Emmy-winning writing team, he skewers events in
the news, mocks media coverage, and spotlights society's absurdities with wit
and insight. Relentlessly topical and unfailingly self-deprecating, Stewart is
clearly an ideal Oscar host.

Except that he's too political. His humor is too dry. All that absurdity won't
play at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. He'll surely be too hip for the room.
Although his 1.5 million "Daily Show" audience is big for Comedy Central, most
of those watching will never have seen Stewart's shtick before.

"To have a public intellectual host the Oscars, that doesn't happen too much,"
pop culture maven Robert Thompson of Syracuse University told one interviewer.
"My biggest worry would be that he'd upstage the entire night."

Tom O'Neal, an author and awards-show scholar, said, "Stewart has the potential
of being a catastrophe of Cecil B. DeMille-size epic proportions. ... Sure,
he's edgy and full of the kind of defiant 'tude that attracts young, hip TV
viewers, but he's a comic assassin. When Stewart aims his jokes, he goes in for
the kill."

As three-time host Whoopi Goldberg once commented, doing the Oscars is a
thankless job. The in-house crowd doesn't really want to be entertained; it
just wants to find out who won. Viewers at home want to be amused, but they
also want to get to bed eventually, and preferably sooner rather than later.
Audiences around the world probably don't get much of the American humor,
anyway.

'A TV guy'

Of much concern to many who worry about the choice of Stewart as host is the
fact that he's a TV guy, not a movie guy. Oh, Stewart has made movies, but they
include "Mixed Nuts, "Half Baked," "The Faculty," "Big Daddy" and the immortal,
oft-referenced "Death to Smoochy."

Of course, Johnny Carson, who did the job five times beginning in 1979, was
also a TV guy. In the beginning, purists worried that Carson would turn the
Oscars into something tawdry, a sort of late-night TV show, rather than
maintaining the dignity of ceremonies celebrating film with a capital F.

But Carson always delivered what he promised: "two hours of sparkling
entertainment spread over a four-hour show." Now, he's a popular choice as the
best Oscar host to date.

Stewart accepted the gig, he told The Associated Press, because the Oscars are
"the ultimate stage. Now, you're in the club."

His challenge is to find fun in a year in which many of the nominated movies
are deadly serious (is there a good joke in "Munich"?) and many people who'll
be watching haven't actually seen the movies Stewart will be talking about.
He'll also need to balance his own hip style, which ABC hopes will draw younger
viewers to an aging Oscar telecast, with humor that won't make the older, more
traditional Academy Awards crowd feel shut out.

'Daily Show' team gets onboard

On his side is the fact that the opening routine and scene-setting monologue
are being written by Stewart and his "Daily Show" team, including Ben Karlin
and David Javerbaum. They aren't scripting the "banter" between presenters,
however. "Celebrity Fit Club" veteran Bruce Villanch is back for that, so don't
blame Stewart.

In various interviews, including a hilarious segment on CNN's "Larry King
Live," Stewart has strongly suggested that he won't turn the Oscars into an
extended "Daily Show." In other words, no fake news.

And what if he bombs? He's already bombed in front of a lot of different
audiences, Stewart told King:

"This will just be the most famous audience that I bombed in front of. I bombed
once so badly at Radio City Music Hall (that) when I walked off stage, Shirley
Jones hugged me."

Anyway, if he does bomb, Stewart asks rhetorically, "What are they going to do,
bump me down from basic cable?"

Oscar hosts: Who brought home the gold?

In 1929, actor Douglas Fairbanks was host of the first Academy Awards. Conrad
Nagel, another actor, did the job in 1930 and '32. If either got reviews,
positive or negative, for his performance, those clips have long since
crumbled. But here's how some other Oscar hosts are remembered.

Bob Hope was host (or co-host) 18 times, beginning in 1940, and he was at the
helm for the first televised Oscars in 1954. His big joke: He never won. "You
oughta give me an Oscar just for attendance," he said one year. Hope was
clearly a popular host but, by his last appearance in 1978, even devoted fans
found his act getting old.

Billy Crystal is second to Hope with eight Oscar gigs, the first in 1990. At
his best, nobody could top Crystal, remembered for his song medleys commenting
on nominated films and for inserting himself into movies, either on tape or in
person. In 1992, he was wheeled in as Hannibal Lecter from "Silence of the
Lambs." If he accepts, he'll be back as Oscar host any time.

Johnny Carson was host five times, beginning in 1979, and was so popular that
the Academy kept trying to lure him back even after he retired from "The
Tonight Show."

Whoopi Goldberg, in her four times as host, was funny, memorable ("I am the
African Queen," she declared in 1999, coming out in white face and Elizabeth I
regalia) but uneven.

Steve Martin hosted just twice, in 2001 and 2003, but the Academy reportedly
made him its first choice this year. "I was going to wear my swan, but to me
they were so last year," he said in 2001, the year Bjork wore feathers and a
beak.

David Letterman's 1995 gig is remembered for "Uma, Oprah" and a potentially
inappropriate venue for "Stupid Pet Tricks." But Jon Stewart, this year's host,
says that in retrospect, Letterman was very funny - and notes that his career
doesn't seem to have suffered.

Chris Rock was a polarizing host last year, often hilarious and popular with
younger viewers but, some thought, too mean-spirited. He drew particular
criticism for joking about stars who weren't really stellar, naming names
(including Jude Law) and earning an on-stage retort from Sean Penn. In general,
however, Rock was perceived as coming off better than Penn.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/emaf.nsf/Popup?ReadForm&db=stltoday%5Centertainment%5Ccolumnists.nsf&docid=1C3A00C7DF2F9737862571260037D50B

The Digital Revolution
Local Broadcasters Make the HD Leap

Gannett emerges as a leader of a handful of affiliates that get the big picture
By Glen Dickson Broadcasting & Cable 3/6/2006

With HD equipment costs coming down to standard-definition prices and the HD audience growing, local stations are going high-def.

Using the NBC high-definition coverage of the Olympics as a logical launching pad, Gannett NBC affiliates WXIA Atlanta and KDSK St. Louis started HDTV newscasts last month. WXIA had made the decision in early fourth quarter 2005, so it had to act quickly. A year ago last spring, Gannett launched an HD newscast at KUSA Denver in spring 2004 and at WUSA Washington last May. Nationwide, nine stations are airing HD newscasts.

WXIA offers four hours of HD news daily, and WXIA President/General Manager Bob Walker says viewer feedback has been “overwhelmingly positive.” He feels that having local news in HD gives WXIA a competitive edge, particularly since the station’s late newscast follows high-def NBC prime time dramas and leads into The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, the first regularly scheduled NBC program to be presented in HD.

“A Significant Investment”

Walker won’t divulge how much it cost to launch HD news at WXIA but says the station made a “significant investment” in purchasing new cabling, studio cameras, SD-to-HD upconverters, a new master-control room switcher and a new production switcher in the newsroom. The station also upgraded its news studio to look sharp in the HD format.

“We had to upgrade the guts of the plant,” says Ken Highberger, WXIA director of technology and operations. That included putting in a new digital router from Utah Scientific, upconverters from Miranda and Ensemble, and Sony 930 cameras for the studio.

Highberger, who started his television career 29 years ago when news was still shot on film, prefers the lighting required for HD video.

“It’s a lot less harsh lighting, much like the way you do with film,” he explains. “It has some texture, some modeling and some subtleties, and I like that. I think the viewer does, too.”

Like the handful of other stations producing high-def news, WXIA doesn’t acquire HD pictures from its news trucks and helicopter in the field. Those are shot in widescreen SD, using Sony DVCAM cameras; WXIA upconverts the pictures. That’s because of the lack of digital micro­wave gear that can transmit high-def pictures back to the station.

Only a few stations are using HD microwave systems on their news choppers; KGO San Francisco launched HD helicopter feeds just last month.

Most broadcasters say they are waiting to convert their existing electronic news­gathering (ENG) infrastructure until a complicated spectrum-relocation process being coordinated by Sprint Nextel is completed. The telco is relinquishing some of its spectrum on the 800 megahertz (MHz) frequency band and taking some from the 2 gigahertz (GHz) band, which broadcasters use to send both live and taped feed from trucks to the station.

To placate stations, the telco agreed to spend $500 million getting stations new ENG gear that will allow broadcasters to operate in a smaller swath of spectrum.

One of the challenges of the ENG relocation process is that, while stations will be getting new digital compression gear, they will actually wind up with less bandwidth per ENG channel—12 MHz compared with the current 17 MHz. That won’t make sending back live feeds of HD video any easier. HD has four to five times the information of SD video. Like other stations, WXIA doesn’t want to fool with HD ENG until that spectrum deal takes shape.

Other station groups are plowing straight ahead. CBS is buying new optical-disk–based XDCAM HD gear from Sony; the network will be ready to start HD newsgathering in some markets once the microwave conversion is completed. But many broadcasters say getting HD pictures from the field is years away.

Gannett’s KUSA was able to launch HD feeds from its helicopter because the topography of the Denver market allows one digital-microwave receiver site on a hillside to cover most of the metropolitan area. In Atlanta, WXIA relies on five or six ENG receiving sites. So the station is sticking with its standard-def 4:3 helicopter camera for now, occasionally stretching the picture where appropriate.

“It’s worth our while to wait for the big 2 GHz relocation before we do something radical with our helicopter,” says Highberger.

As part of the HD news conversion, WXIA also purchased an Omneon HD server to play back high-def commercials and promos.

The station has produced some high-def promos but is still waiting to air high-def spots. “We’re following the lead of our advertisers on that,” says Walker.

Hearst-Argyle’s WESH Orlando, Fla., an NBC affiliate, isn’t yet offering HDTV newscasts. But it decided to capitalize on NBC’s high-def coverage of the Olympics by producing several news promos in HDTV for airing during the Games.

“We didn’t realize what a challenge it would be to produce the promos in high-def,” says WESH Creative Services Director Suzanne Grethen. WESH had to quickly upgrade some equipment, says Chief Engineer Richard Monn, including adding an HD card to its Avid Media Composer Adrenaline system, which allowed it to edit high-def material and record it on high-def tape. The station played the HD promos off a DVCPRO HD 100 tape deck, which has a bit rate of 100 megabits per second (Mbps), but the original material was generated in other formats, including 35mm film transferred to tape, Sony HDCAM footage, and HDV.

“Most of the promos were shot on 35mm film,” says Monn. “We had a film transfer done to Sony HDCAM. We’ve used Sony HDCAM footage in the Adrenaline, and some of the promo material integrated HDV as well.”

WESH spent around $10,000 to produce the promos, which included transferring film to HD tape and renting an HDCAM deck to play back some archive footage. Avid helped out by loaning the station an HD card for the Adrenaline.

It may be money well spent. Monn says the station has received some interest in airing HD commercials and is “gearing up for that” with an HD- capable playout server.

“We would also like to do news in high-def,” he says, “and we’re working with corporate to make plans toward that.”

ABC Stations Get Ready to Go

ABC’s high-def broadcast of Super Bowl XL was a major impetus to launch HD news at KABC, the ABC O&O in Los Angeles. The station began producing its news in 720-line progressive-scan HD over Super Bowl weekend. It’s generating true-HD pictures from its ENG helicopter and studio and relying on upconverted widescreen pictures from the field.

Dave Converse, VP/director of engineering for the ABC-owned television stations, says that most of ABC’s nine other stations could convert to HD news relatively quickly, given the state of their existing infrastructures.

“Most of the plants’ infrastructures would be able to do some level of HD in a short period of time,” says Converse. “Quite honestly, one of the problems in making this sort of change is dealing with all the other issues on our plates, like the Nextel project. That takes a lot of time and energy, and it makes it difficult for people to take the time and effort to devote to retooling the station for high-def.

“It was not a painless and quick transition for KABC,” he continues. “They just had the fortitude to do it.”

The Digital Revolution
CBS, Sinclair Toss Fuel on Retrans Fire

By Mike Farrell Multichannel.com 3/6/2006
(Linda Moss contributed to this report)

The campaign for retransmission-consent cash gathered steam last week, as two prominent broadcast executives predicted that cash payments to their companies from cable operators carrying their signals would increase significantly in 2006.

CBS Corp. CEO Les Moonves, speaking at the Bear Stearns & Co. Media Conference on Feb. 28, said the first cash-for-retransmission deal for his network’s owned-and-operated stations could be announced as early as next month. Moonves wouldn’t name the operator — despite hinting it could involve about 3 million to 5 million subscribers — nor say how much his company would receive.

How Sinclair Sees It
Sinclair Broadcasting has seen its revenue from retransmission consent grow since 2004 and expects bigger things in future.
2004 Retransmission Rev. $3.5 million
2005 Retransmission Rev. $19.2 million
2006 Retransmission Rev. (est.) $25 million
2009 Retransmission Rev. (est.) $80 million to $100 million
2005 Overall Revenue $692.1 million
Source: Sinclair

“You will hear of a deal within six weeks,” Moonves said. “I can’t comment on how much, but if some of the cable networks that have half our material get 25 cents [per subscriber, per month], we should be worth more than that.”

CABLERS DENY IT’S THEM

The identity of that mystery cable operator remained unknown last week, as virtually every major cable operator that approached the 3 million to 5 million subscriber size that Moonves alluded to denied that it would pay cash for retransmission consent.

Officials at Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable, Cablevision Systems Corp., Charter Communications, Cox Communications Inc. and Adelphia Communications Corp. all denied that they were the subject of Moonves’ comments.

All have said that they have already completed retransmission deals with CBS, none of which included cash payments.

Cable operators have resisted paying cash for broadcasters’ signals and have been able to avoid it mainly by agreeing to carry less popular cable networks owned by the major broadcasters.

CBS took that route when it was part of Viacom Inc., eschewing cash for carriage of less-popular networks within Viacom’s stable, which includes MTV Networks.

Since CBS was spun off as a separate company on Jan. 1, the network has been unshackled from its cable cousin and is free to seek deals on its own terms. Moonves estimated that there are about 60 million cable subscribers within CBS owned-and-operated markets, all of which could eventually be paying cash for retransmission consent.

Moonves said CBS’s major retransmission deals don’t come due until 2008 to 2010. “If you start figuring out what that money could be, it comes to a very significant figure,” he said. “And we really believe we’re going to get that, we’re going to get cash for that.”

But while Moonves said he did not expect other broadcast networks to follow CBS’s lead — mainly because they are getting high fees for their cable networks — the flip side appears to be true for independent station groups.

Earlier at the same conference, Sinclair Broadcasting Group CEO David Smith said his company boosted its retransmission revenue to $19.2 million in 2005 from just $3.5 million in 2004. He expects retransmission revenue to climb again, to $25 million in 2006. He said he expected retransmission revenue to reach between $80 million and $100 million annually by 2009.

Sinclair, based in Baltimore, owns 58 television stations in 36 markets across the country.

Smith said the question isn’t whether cable operators will pay cash for retransmission, but when and how much.

“It is very clear to us that everybody is going to pay,” Smith said at the conference. “The true market forces in our view are going to mandate that that happens, otherwise there will likely be substantial losers on the cable end of the equation.”

SMITH CITES COLUMBUS

Smith pointed to Sinclair’s Columbus, Ohio market, which has two satellite companies (DirecTV Group Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp.) and three cable operators (Time Warner Cable, Insight Communications Co. and WideOpenWest). Regional Bell operating company AT&T Inc. (former SBC Communications Corp.) also has plans to offer video in that market, Smith said.

“The reality of that marketplace is if Time Warner elects not to do a retransmission deal that we can both agree on, they have no place to go but down, because SBC by definition is going to pay, and everybody else already is,” Smith said.

Smith said that eventually, retransmission fees could reach $4.50 per month per subscriber, although he didn’t say whether Sinclair would charge that much.

In a statement, America Cable Association president and CEO Matt Polka said that fees that high could lead to the end of retransmission rules all together.

“If broadcasters want to use the public airwaves and federal rules in such a way — never intended — to harm consumers and increase rates, then all of their behavior, rates, terms and forced conditions should be made completely public so that Congress, the FCC and the public can decide whether their stations are worth as much as they claim and whether the current retransmission consent rules should be changed to stop this egregious behavior,” Polka said in the statement.

POLKA: 'PROFITEERING’

Polka added that a $4.50 retransmission fee only “advances Sinclair’s corporate financial interests and nothing more. Congress never intended the retransmission consent rules to be abused in such a way to guarantee corporate revenues and profiteering off of the backs of the viewing public.”

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

The Digital Revolution
CBS, Sinclair Toss Fuel on Retrans Fire

By Mike Farrell Multichannel.com 3/6/2006
(Linda Moss contributed to this report)

Smith said that eventually, retransmission fees could reach $4.50 per month per subscriber, although he didn’t say whether Sinclair would charge that much.

In a statement, America Cable Association president and CEO Matt Polka said that fees that high could lead to the end of retransmission rules all together.

Why in the world would I pay that much to watch something I can get off the antenna for free? They must be counting on a lot of "lazy" people. :D

This is even more evidence that consumers must be given the power of "ala carte" so that the "playing field" can truely be "level."

Cities push for cable TV competitors

Cable costs have grown 86 percent in a decade

BY DENNIS CAMIRE
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
March 4, 2006

WASHINGTON - Angela Moody pulled the plug in disgust last year when her family's bill for cable television and high-speed Internet service hit $130 a month.

Moody, who transcribes medical records for the local hospital, said she had seen her bill climb over the past 14 years from about $25 a month as the cable company kept rearranging cable channels and charging her a little more to regain her favorites.

But Moody, of Essex Junction, Vt., said it wasn't long before she plugged back into service from Adelphia Communications because she needed high-speed Internet service for her job and the rooftop antenna captured only a poor TV picture.

After all, Adelphia is the only cable company in town.

"If there was competition, prices would drop," Moody said. "I don't think this kind of stuff would happen if you had more than one company to work with."

Cable rates increased an average of 86 percent during the decade that ended in 2004, but consumers' rates around the country are more than 15 percent cheaper when there is competition between providers, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

In response to rate increases, consumer complaints and requests from would-be cable competitors, local, state and federal governments are exploring ways to bring more competition -- and possibly lower prices -- to the cable TV marketplace nationally.

Doug Fiske of Encinitas, Calif., is ready for it to happen after seeing his cable bill grow from about $26 a month a decade ago to $44.50 a month.

Fiske, 62, has become something of an activist after the 1996 telecommunications law failed to spur competition in the local
phone, cable and high-speed data sectors.

"The (law) was supposed to keep the (cable) rates down," said Fiske, who filed complaints with the Federal Communications Commission, his congressman, the city of Encinitas, and other places. "According to what I was being billed, it wasn't happening."

Fiske, who lives in a condominium, said he looked into alternatives but found nothing satisfactory since satellite service is too costly and an outside antenna is prohibited. A self-proclaimed news-hound, Fiske said traditional rabbit ears wouldn't give him enough selection.

"If there were another cable company . . . part of the basis on which they would compete would be price," said Fiske, a course development writer for the Gemological Institute of America. "As it is, I'm stuck with one. It's a monopoly. I don't have a choice."

The largest competitor to traditional cable television so far is satellite TV, which now serves almost 28 percent of the nation's 94 million subscribers to non-broadcast TV.

Joe Laszlo, an analyst with JupiterResearch, said that while satellite is a competitor, the up-front cost of the service's installation and equipment keeps a lot of consumers out of the market, even when the provider subsidizes it.

"The market would be a more competitive one if there were more ground-based, more wire-line-based pay-TV competitors," he said.

That competition is starting to develop with telephone companies now launching live TV service carried by fiber-optic cables and regular telephone lines.

Verizon, for example, is building up its network in some 800 communities in 16 states, passing 3 million homes with their fiber-optic wires by the end of last year. The company expects to double the number by the end of this year.

AT&T is also pushing out a system to reach 18 million homes in the next three years.

To help make that happen, local, state and federal governments are exploring ways to speed up the process to bring more competition -- and possibly lower prices -- to the cable TV marketplace nationally.

Texas adopted regulatory changes last fall so telephone companies and other competitors could set up their TV systems faster to compete against traditional cable companies.

Legislatures in Virginia and Indiana recently adopted similar legislation and sent it to their governors, who are expected to sign it. At least six other states -- including New Jersey and Missouri -- are now considering similar changes.

Laszlo said a recent survey showed more than half of current subscribers would switch providers if they could get a lower price for the same channels. There is "a lot of dissatisfaction and probably a lot of wishing" among consumers for more competition, he said.

The survey also showed that about 66 percent of cable and satellite subscribers are satisfied with their service.

That's because satellite customers are "really, really" satisfied and digital cable subscribers "tend to be fairly happy" with their service, Laszlo said.

"Folks who are still buying analog cable TV services are where you do start to see a fair degree of dissatisfaction," he said.

Subscribers in areas where cable companies face competition from telephone companies might find TV rates even lower than the competitive markets the FCC reported on.

A recent Bank of America report found that in three communities where Verizon started selling its TV service, which is priced nationally at $39.95 a month, local cable operators were willing to quietly drop their rates to match or undercut Verizon's prices.

In Keller, Texas, for example, the cable system lowered its price to $30 a month from $52.44 for customers who called and mentioned the cost of Verizon's service, the report said.

Competition paid off for Michael Marando of Sacramento, Calif., who dropped his bill for television, high-speed Internet and telephone service to $100 a month from $160 a month when he subscribed to a package that SureWest Communications is offering in his area.

SureWest Communications, a telephone company serving about 200,000 customers in the Sacramento region, started its TV service in 2002 and now has about 17,000 subscribers, said Ron Rogers, spokesman for the company.

Marando, an information officer for the California Office of Traffic Safety, said he wasn't satisfied with his local cable company so when SureWest wired his neighborhood, he signed up.

"They really offered a package that I couldn't refuse," he said.

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060304/BUSINESS/603040313/1003

Critic’s Notebook
A midseason night’s dream?

Edgy dramas, inventive sitcoms and even inventors are sprouting up on the networks this spring
By Diane Werts Newsday Staff Writer March 5, 2006

(Note: All times are Eastern)

The fall season is so (yawn) passe. It’s midseason that makes TV exciting. The quirkier shows, the genre-benders, the sitcom rethinkings - they're part and parcel of an annual spring fling when the networks can concentrate on introducing individual shows, providing the platform necessary to launch an out-of-the-ordinary approach into a high-concept universe.

In the case of something like last Friday's NBC legal arrival "Conviction," midseason can actually bring too much attention. Audiences were likely just as primed to loathe the show as they were lured by the network's Olympics blitz of condescending "youth" promos ("The average age of a New York City assistant district attorney is just 28 ..."). The target demo might well resent the hype (especially with such bland preview clips and cliched music), while mature viewers get hit right in the reading glasses with the network's too-old/get-lost message.

But the remainder of the 2006 midseason slate, debuting mostly over the next three weeks, has more creative thinking behind it than yet another "Law & Order" iteration from "Conviction" producer Dick Wolf. Many of the yet-to-come series try to broaden their character focus, portraying not just some hot young studs/stud-ettes, but lending balanced weight and worth to college grads and their parents; young marrieds and grandparents; military heroes and stalwart families on the home front; caper-plotting criminals and the cops on their trail; even wealthy and working-class cuties thrown together in a new reality competition.

Not all the shows are superb. The networks' midseason batting average isn't necessarily better than fall's. But the failures tend to at least be reaching for something fresh. Where the fall shows have failed, their replacements need to be better, or why bother?

Only Julia Louis-Dreyfus' new CBS situation comedy, "The New Adventures of Old Christine," is a star vehicle (and it's trying to stretch the sitcom format). The other 15 March-April arrivals spring from more specific settings, such as the secret-unit commandos of CBS' "The Unit," or from distinct points of view. The latter can involve the improvisational rhythms of ABC's "Sons & Daughters" or Fox's "Free Ride," or the do-it-yourself mystery solving of ABC's "The Evidence" (with its "buddy" byplay). Most of these shows feel less cynically paint-by-numbers or contract-fulfilling, and more imbued with ingenuity - whether the attempt ultimately succeeds or not. Here's a look at what's ahead:

MIDSEASON 2006

Monday: The Miracle Workers (ABC, 10 p.m.) - Extreme makeover, medical edition. "Elite" health professionals take on the toughest real-life cases. Guaranteed teary heart-tugger.

Tuesday: The Unit (CBS, 9 p.m.) - "Elite" American commandos tackle secret missions to save the world, leaving behind families who must maintain their camouflage at any psychological cost. Intriguing premise, great pedigree (playwright David Mamet and "The Shield" creator Shawn Ryan), interesting cast (Dennis Haysbert, Regina Taylor, Scott Foley). So why does it feel so hackneyed?

Sons & Daughters (ABC, 9 and 9:30 p.m.) - Nothing elite here, just average schmoes stumbling through life. Improvised ramblings depict the peculiar daily doings between everyman creator-star Fred Goss, wife Gillian Vigman, their kids, his siblings, step-relatives and ever-present mom and pop (Dee Wallace, Max Gail). Its moseying rhythms are an acquired taste America may not be ready for. ("Arrested Development," anyone?)

March 12: Free Ride (Fox, 9:30 p.m.) - More partial improv in a likably empty-headed comedy about college grad Josh Dean moving back in with his newly footloose parents (Allan Havey, Loretta Fox). He might reclaim his old life, or he might build a new one, but he's stuck in the middle for now. (Series previewed Wednesday.)

March 13: The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS, 9:30 p.m.) - Or the new sitcom of an old "Seinfeld" star. Julia Louis-Dreyfus leads a live-audience look at a divorced mom named Christine trying to spice up her life when her ex gets serious with a younger Christine. Appealing cast, out-of-studio sequences and some smart dialogue may make up for the show's too-frequent fallback on standard sitcom business.

March 15: The Loop (Fox, 9:30 p.m., preview; then Thursday 8:30 p.m.) - Bret Harrison is an ambitious young Chicago exec. But all his friends are wacky slackers. What will he do? Sleep with randy colleague Mimi Rogers? Exasperate boss Philip Baker Hall? Be canceled within a month?

March 16: American Inventor (ABC, 8-10 p.m., then 9 p.m.) - Simon Cowell of "American Idol" tries another competition, spotlighting not talent but American ingenuity. No footage available for preview.

March 17: Modern Men (WB, 9:30 p.m.) - Three doofus dudes work on their way with women by consulting "life coach" Jane Seymour. It's airing in the WB's Friday night lineup. Need we say more?

March 22: Unan1mous (Fox, 9:30 p.m.) - Enough already with the numb3rs. This $1.5-million live-together competition keeps the losers in the house till each and everybody votes the ever-shrinking prize to one contestant.

The Evidence (ABC, 10 p.m.) - Miami vice moves west and gets giddy. San Francisco detective partners Orlando Jones and Rob Estes crack wise while solving crimes simultaneously with viewers who've been given all the clues at the beginning.

Heist (NBC, 10 p.m.) - Beware the show that struts its "cleverness." This smart-mouthed chronicle of both the sleek crooks planning a Rodeo Drive stealing spree and the cool cops tracking them isn't half as smart as it thinks. But it's twice as bogus.

March 29: The Bedford Diaries (WB, 9 p.m.) - NYC college students do homework for their sex-and-relationships class. After a too-cute start, this high-class soap from producer Tom Fontana actually delves smartly into the emotional stakes of relationships.

March 31: Survival of the Richest (WB, 8 p.m.) - Spoiled kids share the requisite reality mansion with working slugs who resent their sense of entitlement. Odd couples are paired up in real-world "challenges." Hal Sparks hosts.

April 4: Pepper Dennis (WB, 9 p.m.) - Salt in the wounds of the women's movement. Rebecca Romijn faces every absurd cliche as a smoking-hot TV news wannabe whom the gosh-darn boss men just won't take seriously. She might have to stamp her pretty little feet while proving herself.

April 6: Teachers (NBC, 9:30 p.m.) - No pilot available for preview. We're promised hilarity, heart and a hard-chortling studio audience for high-school handlers whose ranks include the rule breaker (Justin Bartha), the best-friend black guy (Deon Richmond), the hot blonde (Sarah Alexander), the wisecracking vet (Phil Hendrie). Beware, it's in NBC's 9:30 Thursday death slot.

April 16: What About Brian (ABC, 10 p.m.; then Monday at 10 p.m.) - In what universe do ultra-sensitive, pseudo-screwball characters like these actually exist? Where do they get these impossibly cool houses? How can they sit around all day long assessing Barry Watson's aching singleness among his paired-up pals? Have the makers of this sledgehammer navel-gazer ever heard of nuance? Enough questions.

On the horizon

RETURNING SERIES

Monday: Supernanny (ABC, 9 p.m.)

Tuesday: Joey (NBC, 8 p.m.)

Wednesday: America's Next Top Model (UPN, 8-10 p.m., then regularly 8-9 p.m.)

March 16: Supernatural (WB, 9 p.m.)

March 20: Prison Break (Fox, 8p.m.; first-half finale repeats March 13 at 8 p.m., first-half episodes repeat on FX noon- 7 p.m. March 19)

March 23: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC, 8 p.m., four "After the Storm" specials)

March 27: Everwood (WB, 8-10 p.m.; then 9 p.m.)

April 18: Commander in Chief (ABC, 9 p.m.)

April 19: Alias (ABC, 8 p.m.)

SERIES FINALES

May 14: The West Wing (NBC, 7-9 p.m.)

Malcolm in the Middle (Fox, time TBA)

May 18: Will & Grace (NBC, 8-10 p.m.)

That '70s Show (Fox, 8-9 p.m.)

PROMOTED TO CRITICS, BUT NOT YET SCHEDULED

Thick and Thin (NBC weight-loss sitcom) - Jessica Capshaw is a former fatty (yeah, right) in this offensive-every-which-way collection of stereotypes. Mom Sharon Gless is considered obese? Only in Hollywood.

Misconceptions (WB sperm-donor sitcom) - "Frasier" fave Jane Leeves is a got-it-together single mom with a 13-year-old daughter itching to know who dad is. Investigation of her test-tube paternity reveals an immature slob whose arrival may crank up the laugh track, but not our interest.

Wide world of cable offers eclectic mix

What's ahead on cable:

Tuesday: 8th & Ocean (MTV, 10:30 p.m.) - This "reality drama" a la "Laguna Beach" finds its pretty cast among wannabe models "in the cutthroat world of fashion" in Miami Beach.

Wednesday: Black. White. (FX, 10 p.m.) - Powerful documentary series follows two families living together and switching races through makeup to taste the other's social experience.

Top Chef (Bravo, 11 p.m.; thereafter at 10 p.m.) - Katie Lee Joel hosts competitive challenges for 12 aspiring chefs. Winner gets featured in Food & Wine magazine.

March 12: The Sopranos (HBO, 9 p.m.) - Finally, a sixth season with 12 episodes (another eight to come in 2007). Johnny Sack's trial weighs heavy on Tony (James Gandolfini). He's back with a newly steely Carmela (Edie Falco) and coping with a grown-up A.J. (Robert Iler). Guest stars include Frankie Valli, Hal Holbrook, Ben Kingsley and Julianna Margulies.

March 12: Big Love (HBO, 10 p.m.) - The next generation "Sopranos"? Bill Paxton's everyday suburban polygamist is juggling not two but three families, four if you count those strange folks back at "the compound." Takes the situation surprisingly serious, albeit with a lighthearted tone.

March 14: Nashville Star (USA, 10 p.m.) - Wynonna Judd and Cowboy Troy host the fourth "country idol" competition.

March 17: Doctor Who (Sci Fi, 9 p.m.) - The immortal British time-tripper is on his ninth life. Christopher Eccleston leads a new hour drama update from developer Russell T. Davies ("Queer as Folk").

March 17: John Edward Cross Country (WE, 10 p.m.) - The Huntington medium hits the road to do readings and revisit families he's touched in the past.

March 24: Hannah Montana (Disney, 9:30 p.m.; thereafter Fridays at 7 p.m.) - Miley Cyrus and dad Billy Ray play a teen singing star and her father, trying to keep her fame secret from school pals. (Joins ABC Saturday mornings this fall.)

March 28: Thief (FX, 10 p.m.) - André Braugher, Yancey Arias, Malik Yoba and Linda Hamilton pull high-class capers in this riveting thriller/character/family drama. Braugher is also raising a suspicious stepdaughter (Mae Whitman, "State of Grace").

April 2: So NoTORIous (VH1, 10 p.m.) - Tori Spelling's sitcom casts her as a pampered Hollywood princess surrounded by stars. Not a reality show. Loni Anderson plays mom.

Huff (Showtime, 10 p.m.) - Hank Azaria's troubled shrink starts a second season. Guest stars include Sharon Stone and Anjelica Huston.

April 9: God or the Girl (A&E, 9-11 p.m.) - Three would-be priests reconsider their calling in this sincere documentary series with a deceptively flippant title.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-fftv4646722mar05,0,3711673,print.story?coll=ny-television-headlines

The Digital Revolution
FCC ISSUES 12th ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS ON VIDEO COMPETITION

(Federal Communications Commission Press Release)

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today adopted its 12th Annual Assessment of the Status of Competition in the Market for the Delivery of Video Programming. Section 628(g) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, requires the Commission to report annually to Congress on the status of competition among multichannel video programming distributors (“MVPDs”), including cable operators, direct broadcast satellite (“DBS”) providers, local exchange carriers (“LECs”) now entering the field, and others.

In its examination this year, the FCC scrutinized changes that have occurred in the market in 2005 and factors that have facilitated or impeded competition among rival providers. The report also examines market structure and conditions affecting competition, including programming issues and technical issues, and provides a survey of developments in foreign markets.

Americans are voracious consumers of media services. On average, we spend close to 30 percent of our day engaged in some activity involving media, with television viewing the dominant media activity. For the September 2004 – September 2005 television season, the average household tuned into TV for 8 hours, 11 minutes a day. This is almost 3 percent higher than the previous season, more than 12 percent higher than 10 years ago, and the highest level observed since television viewing was first measured by Nielsen Media Research in the 1950s. Within the same period, the average person watched 4 hours, 32 minutes each day, again a record high.

In this year’s Video Competition Report, the FCC finds that the competitive MVPD market continues to provide consumers with increased choice, better picture quality, and greater technological innovation. The report concludes that almost all consumers may opt to receive video services from over-the-air broadcast television, a cable service, and at least two DBS providers. In addition, a growing number of consumers can access video programming through digital broadcast spectrum, fiber to the node or to the premises, or video over the Internet. Moreover, once consumers have selected a provider, technology such as advanced set-top boxes, digital video recorders, and mobile video services give them even more control over what, when, and how they receive information. Furthermore, many MVPDs offer nonvideo services in tandem with their traditional video services.

The FCC reports that the MVPD market continues to grow. While the largest MVPD remains a cable operator, cable subscribership declined slightly in the past year. According to the FCC’s traditional measure, cable’s share of the MVPD market is now approximately 69.4 percent, down from almost 71.6 percent a year earlier. The second and third largest MVPDs now are DBS operators. They currently serve almost 27.7 percent of all MVPD subscribers, compared to approximately 25.1 percent in 2004. Other delivery technologies serve small numbers of subscribers in limited areas, but at least one new type of provider—LECs such as SBC (now AT&T) and Verizon—hold promise to become a growing presence in the marketplace. LECs continue to partner with DBS providers to offer video service but also have expended significant effort in the past year preparing to offer video in their operating areas and building out their facilities to support those new offerings.

Cable operators generally have responded to the growth of DBS and other competitors by expanding service offerings rather than lowering prices charged to consumers. Cable efforts to address their rivals include expanding channel line-ups and bundling video service with other service offerings, such as cable modem service (i.e., Internet services) or voice service. DBS operators are matching cable operators’ efforts by offering local broadcast channels, additional sports and international programming, and advanced set-top boxes with digital video recorder (“DVR”) capabilities. Similarly, broadband service providers continue to offer a triple play of video, voice, and Internet access service and have proved to be price competitive with cable. LECs also are upgrading their traditional copper facilities to high-speed digital subscriber line (“DSL”) and fiber-based platforms that allow them to offer a suite of video, telephone, and data services.

The FCC also finds that data submitted in the record this year raises questions as to whether the so-called “70/70 test” has been satisfied. Section 612(g) of the Communications Act provides that when cable systems with 36 or more activated channels are available to 70 percent of households within the United States and when 70 percent of those households subscribe to them, the Commission may promulgate any additional rules necessary to promote diversity of information sources. Accordingly, the Commission is seeking further public comment on the best methodologies and data for measuring the 70-percent thresholds and, if the thresholds have been met, what action might be warranted to achieve the statutory goals. Should the FCC’s analysis of this input indicate that new regulatory action may be appropriate, the agency will issue a notice to open a proceeding.

A list of key findings of the report is below.

Specific Finding of the FCC’s 12th Annual Video Competition Report:

• The number of TV households and the number of MVPD subscribers increased in the past year. As of June 2005, there were 109.6 million TV households, compared to 108.4 million in June 2004. Of that number, approximately 94.2 million TV households subscribe to an MVPD service, as compared to 92.2 million as of June 2004.

• Cable serves the largest percentage of MVPD subscribers, but cable’s share of the MVPD market continued to decline. As of June 2005, the FCC’s traditional measure indicates that 69.4 percent of MVPD subscribers received video programming from a franchised cable operator, as compared to 71.6 percent as of June 2004.

• DBS subscribers comprise the second largest group of MVPD households, representing 27.7 percent of total MVPD subscribers as of June 2005, as compared to 25.1 percent in June 2004, an increase of over 10 percent. DBS operators continue to add local-into-local broadcast television service. In 167 of 210 television markets (i.e., designated market areas, or DMAs), covering 97 percent of all U.S. TV households, at least one DBS provider offers the signals of local broadcast stations (local-into-local service).

• The number of MVPD subscribers choosing all other delivery technologies decreased, representing 2.9 percent of all subscribers in June 2005, as compared to 3.3 percent in June 2004.

• There are 15.36 million U.S. TV households that do not subscribe to an MVPD service and thus rely solely on over-the-air broadcast television for their video programming, representing 14 percent of all U.S. TV households. The major broadcast networks now provide their most popular programming in high-definition. Hundreds of local stations are using their digital channels to provide multicast programming, including news, weather, sports, religious material, music videos and coverage of local musicians and concerts, as well as foreign language programming.

• BSPs served approximately 1.4 million subscribers, as of June 2005, representing 1.5 percent of all MVPD households.

• Incumbent local exchange carriers (“ILECs”) have reported plans to provide video service. The larger LECs have accelerated their plans to roll out video services. Verizon has received franchises from numerous local communities and began offering multichannel video service, under the brand name “FiOS,” in several of them. SBC is planning to deploy an IP-enabled broadband network called “Project Lightspeed,” and Qwest and a number of smaller incumbent LECs are offering, or preparing to offer, MVPD service over existing telephone lines using VDSL or ADSL technologies.

• PCO subscribership has declined to one million subscribers this year, a decrease of 9.1 percent from last year’s 1.1 million. More than one-hundred electric and gas utilities provide video service, 128 offered high-speed Internet access, 52 offered local telephone service, and 42 offered long distance telephone service. Of the 102 offering video services, 10 are offering video-on-demand (VOD). Wireless cable systems provide video competition to incumbent cable operators only on a limited basis. The number of wireless cable subscribers has declined steadily from a peak of 1.2 million in 1996 to approximately 100,000 as of March 2005, down from an estimated 200,000 subscribers in April 2004.

• Several major cellular telephone companies are offering video services through handheld devices such as mobile telephones. Verizon Wireless rolled out V-Cast, a service that offers video programming to cellular telephone users, in February 2005.

• The amount of web-based video provided over the Internet continues to increase significantly each year. The sale and rental of home videos, including videocassettes and DVDs, offer consumers an alternative to the premium and pay-per-view offerings of MVPDs. Video-on-demand services provided by cable, DBS, and Internet providers have emerged, in turn, as competitive alternatives to home video.

• In 2005, we identified 531 satellite-delivered national programming networks, including ___ foreign-produced or foreign-langauge program channels. Of the 531 networks, 116 networks (21.8 percent) were vertically integrated with at least one cable operator. We also identified, 274, or 51.6 percent, that are not affiliated with any cable operator or other media entity. In addition, we identified 107 national, satellite-delivered nonbroadcast networks that are owned by a DBS operator or one or more national broadcast networks (i.e., Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC Universal, and Univision) and that are not also owned by a cable operator.

• In 2005, we identified 96 regional networks, the same number as last year. These networks provide programming of local or regional interest and are distributed to subscribers of one or more MVPDs in an area. Of the 96 regional networks we identified, 44 networks, or 45.8 percent, were vertically integrated with at least one MSO. There are 37 regional sports networks, representing 38.5 percent of all regional networks, devoted to sports programming, as compared to the 38 we reported last year. Of the 37 regional sports networks, 17, or 5.9 percent were vertically integrated with a cable multiple system operator (MSO).

• In 2005, the sale of DTV consumer electronics continued to accelerate. Industry estimates indicate that 8.2 million HD-ready monitors will be shipped to retailers. CEA reports that during the first six months of 2005, DTV products sold at a faster rate than during any previous comparable period of time, with 3.8 million DTV products sold, a 40 percent increase in unit sales from the same time period in 2004. In 2005, the average retail price of a DTV set is expected to drop to $1,189 from $1,489 in 2004, down from the average price of $3,147 in 1998. CEA states that currently several DTV models are available for under $700, and it expects that soon there will be DTV sets that sell for as low as $400.

• The development and deployment of CableCARDs continued in 2005. CableCARDs permit the reception of secured digital cable services without the addition of a set-top box. As of November 30, 2005, there were 375 certified or verified models of CableCARD products collectively offered by 22 manufacturers, up from 60 models offered by 11 manufacturers the previous year. One-way CableCARDs have been deployed to more than 90,000 subscribers by the ten largest MSOs.

• The video industry continues to evaluate the use of advanced compression technologies, such as MPEG-4/H.264 and Microsoft’s VC-1, to replace the MPEG-2 standard in order to decrease the amount of bandwidth required to transmit digital video. These advances are expected to allow existing video delivery services to provide more programming and to decrease barriers to entry for new entrants to the MVPD market.

• In foreign markets, a number of incumbent operators and new entrants are providing Internet protocol television (IPTV) over DSL. Services are offered generally through a “triple play” service package of video, telephone and broadband Internet access. Operators also offer a wide selection of a la carte and themed video programming packages.

http://www.fcc.gov/

A Critical View:
Oscars Foundering in Era of Niches

Patrick Goldstein”s Big Picture Column in Los Angeles Times March 5, 2006

The hissing you hear is the air going out of the Oscars' balloon.

The usual aura of Academy Award anticipation dissipated weeks ago. Wherever I went last week, the talk was about how bad the ratings would be.

Conventional wisdom holds that the academy has become infatuated with celebrating low-budget art films that don't connect with mainstream America. This year's best picture nominees, while all having turned a tidy profit, are clearly not big crowd pleasers.

But the problem with the Oscars is more deeply rooted than just public lack of interest in the nominees. Ratings are crumbling for the Oscars, and award shows in general, because the Era of the Mass Event is drawing to a close.

With the exception of the Super Bowl, which seems immune to anything short of a civil war, even the biggest sports and show biz events find their ratings in decline.

Last fall, the World Series had its lowest TV ratings of all time, dropping 30% from the 2004 Series. Last year's NBA playoffs ratings reached near-record lows as well, down nearly 25% from 2004. The ratings for this year's Grammy Awards were off 10%, with the show easily eclipsed by an "American Idol" installment that attracted nearly 12 million more viewers. Last month, the Winter Olympics, arguably the season's ultimate sports awards-cast, had its lowest ratings in 20 years, down 37% from the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

We are now a nation of niches. There are still blockbuster movies, hit TV shows and top-selling CDs, but fewer events that capture the communal pop culture spirit. The action is elsewhere, with the country watching cable shows or reading blogs that play to a specific audience.

In the movie business, for example, many of the most profitable films in recent years haven't been costly sequels, but low-budget comedies and horror films that could be cheaply marketed to a loyal fan base.

No one is sneezing at the profits from the "Harry Potter" series, which has grossed about $3.5 billion worldwide. But the most envied business model in Hollywood is the one at Lionsgate Films, whose two "Saw" horror movies, made for a combined cost of $6 million, have racked up $142 million in domestic box office alone.

Talk about the power of niches. For all their accolades, none of this year's best picture nominees — "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Munich" — has made as much money as "Saw II." The biggest hit is "Brokeback Mountain," with just over $75 million so far.

There is another, even more radical shift in today's pop culture that is helping to undermine the Oscars and other tradition-bound award shows. For years, the Oscars have mattered because the awards served as a barometer of cultural heft. Just the name alone — the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — has the air of high-minded authority.

Millions of moviegoers who would've been wary of seeing a challenging film like 1969's "Midnight Cowboy" or 1999's "American Beauty" caved in and plunked their money down, soothed by the academy's best picture badge of distinction.

But this elite, top-down culture is being supplanted by a raucous, participatory bottom-up culture in which amateur entertainment has more appeal than critically endorsed skill and expertise.

The most obvious example is "American Idol," which has tested its ratings clout against the Grammys and the Winter Olympics, easily trouncing its competition.

In top-down culture, subtlety and sophistication rule. But like so much of today's bottom-up culture, "American Idol" is far more about aspiration than art. It is a musical kissing cousin of MTV's "The Real World," allowing us to wallow in its subjects' depressingly banal dreams and show biz ambitions.

It's telling that "Idol" devotes much of its airtime to interviews in which contestants rhapsodize about their yearnings for stardom, excitedly recalling their first visit to Hollywood Boulevard or their first trip down a paparazzi-strewn red carpet.

Even though the show, for me, is little more than a tedious night at a karaoke bar, its contestants offering second-rate renditions of familiar pop fluff, it has captured the imagination of its young, largely female audience. They don't need any gray-bearded critics to tell them what they like — they prefer creating their own stars.

Last summer, during the height of Tom Cruise's sofa-jumping meltdown, I asked a friend's 11-year-old daughter her opinion of Cruise. She said, forget about him. "Do you know ["American Idol" contestant] Bo Bice? He's much cooler."

The era of the suffering artist is over, replaced by the insufferably self-confident wannabe. After a thoroughly forgettable rendition of Donna Summer's "Last Dance" the other night, singer Brenna Gethers was asked by Paula Abdul how she thought she did. "I think I did wonderful," she said, full of assurance. "I think the audience loved it, and I think America loved it."

The lone dissenting voice on the show is that of Simon Cowell, who with his British accent and disdain for his fellow judges' slack standards, is a perfect symbol of the top-down culture. Scornful of mediocrity, he's a voice of sanity on the show, often wearily lecturing contestants about their show biz delusions. Still, he seems to be fighting a losing battle, cast as a highbrow scold whose deflating opinions are regularly played for comic relief.

Our bottom-up culture puts little premium on subtle craft, not to mention expert opinion, whether it's Olympic judges or academy members. Young people want to be a member of a group, encouraged by their peers.

Nowhere is this more evident than on MySpace.com, the wildly popular youth-culture website that has become the MTV for today's Internet generation. Populated with about 35 million young people, it has become a hugely influential social networking vehicle, brimming with photo-strewn home pages and blogs, the aim being to amass as big a friends list as possible.

Rupert Murdoch paid $580 million in July for the site, which he hopes will give News Corp. a conduit to the increasingly hard-to-reach youth audience — an audience that wouldn't watch the Oscars on a bet.

Murdoch is the first mogul to grasp the magnitude of today's elite vs. amateur divide. As he said in a speech last year: "Young people don't want to rely on a Godlike figure from above to tell them what's important…. They want control over their media, instead of being controlled by it."

The era when studios, networks and record companies were tastemakers is long gone. Ask kids today where good music comes from and they'll say iTunes or MySpace, not Warner Bros. Records. The best brands are being built from the bottom up.

After once proclaiming that Yahoo would bring an assortment of sitcoms and talk shows to the Internet, Lloyd Braun, head of the firm's media group, told the New York Times on Thursday that the company was shifting gears, having realized that the best way to prolong user stays on its site was to offer ways for them to create their own content.

Record labels are jumping on the fan-friendly MySpace bandwagon as well. As Interscope Records new media chief Courtney Holt told Wired recently: "This generation is growing up without ever having watched programmed media. They don't think in terms of the album, and they don't think in terms of the TV schedule."

So if the Oscars look dated and irrelevant, they have plenty of company.

Although many conservative commentators, led by Michael Medved, have accused Hollywood and the Oscars of being out of touch with mainstream America for making left-leaning films, there is little evidence to back up this charge. In fact, if you put Medved's favorite movies — the ones he chose for his 2005 top-10 list — up against the five Oscar best picture nominees, the Oscar pictures come out with a higher per-picture box office, averaging $46.5 million to $38 million for Medved's choices.

Does that mean Medved is even more out of touch with America than Hollywood is? It's more likely that, as a critic, he has just as much of a top-down view of the world as any academy member — neither wants to put his stamp of approval on forgettable action pictures or dumb teen comedies. Does this mean the Oscars need to dump Jon Stewart for Ryan Seacrest?

I don't think an "extreme makeover" is the solution. The Oscars, at least as long as the academy elders hold sway, are never going to stoop to conquer. But if the ratings keep sliding, the show will never have the influence it once had either. All great show biz institutions have their day in the sun. But the Oscars are in their twilight years, a fusty symbol of top-down entertainment in a frisky, MySpace world.

It isn't hard to imagine a day when a kid spots an Oscar and says with a puzzled frown, "Geez, what on earth is that?"

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-goldstein5mar05,0,3177719.story?coll=cl-tvent

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

A Critical View:
When it comes to 'Sopranos,' I'm glad to be kept waiting

By Matthew Gilbert The Boston Globe staff March 5, 2006

Thank you, David Chase, for being a darn slug.

Thank you for protecting the best interests of ravenous ''Sopranos" fans when planning your production schedule. Like a good parent, you've saved us from ourselves and from our insatiable hunger for more candy, always more candy. By taking an audacious 21-month absence between seasons of ''The Sopranos," you've only made my heart grow fonder.

And I'm sure it hasn't been easy. HBO has probably been as persistent as a caffeinated telemarketer in urging Chase to shoot a new batch of episodes. ''The Sopranos," which returns next Sunday at 9 p.m., is still the pay channel's most valuable signature franchise. And fans have been bellyaching and belly-blogging about the lack of a season 6 since the day season 5 ended in June 2004, with Tony ambling away from Johnny Sack's house through the snow. Like trained TV-watching monkeys, we've become so conditioned to expect a network production pace that we whine when quality-minded forces such as Chase subvert that faulty system. It's 22 episodes a year or bust.

But remember: Big-screen filmmakers often have the luxury of years to perfect just two hours of film, and yet we ask TV talent to churn out exceptional new material on the fly like, well, newspaper writers. Maybe that's why ''The Sopranos" has become Exhibit A in the ongoing argument that TV can be as good as if not better than the movies. The show is a serial, for sure, but its creators take enough time to fashion the rich scripting, editing, and acting of a top-notch theatrical release. With Chase leading them, for instance, they had the opportunity to make Tony's 20-plus-minute fever dream into something artful and psychologically knowing.

With all due respect, even network TV gems such as ''Lost" suffer from the Great Network Episode Suck. Right now, ''Lost" is a good adventure mystery that gets more watery with each new hour, as the writers rush to stretch their story across 22-episode seasons that will probably stretch across this decade. Midway through its second year, after 38 episodes, the ABC hit is already redoing old material in its character back stories, and its ever-complicated mythology poses the risk of an ''X-Files" plot flameout. Think about how tight and eventful ''Lost" could be if it had the advantage of intermittent, 13-hour seasons. If ''The Sopranos" had to bang out filler to feed an ad-driven TV beast every year, it too would become a bit of a baggy monster like ''Lost."

As a result of the time Chase takes between seasons -- 16 months between 3 and 4, and 15 months between 4 and 5 -- he has been able to exercise the care, focus, and intelligence that leave us wanting more of Tony, Carmela, Meadow, A.J., and the crew. Without an elongated production break for Chase, there would be no ''Sopranos" as we know it. If the show had aired on Fox as originally planned in the late 1990s, he'd probably have had to expand Meadow's college life into a WB-like subplot to fill up time, and he probably would have needed to spell out mob plot points over and over again. Instead, Chase can keep things compact and honor the viewer's ability to parse them out. That kind of compression can't be hurried.

And the fact is that, generally speaking, Chase does not disappoint. His show is well worth waiting for, even if dissenting fans might disagree as they continue to grieve season 1. Chase and HBO stand as proof that fewer hours can mean more impact. If the 65 already-aired episodes of ''The Sopranos" had run in 22-episode chunks, the show would have had only three seasons so far. And those seasons would have flown by. Instead, it feels as though ''The Sopranos" has been among us for a sizable period -- certainly longer than a three-season series such as ''Cold Case" or ''Two and a Half Men."

Chase also deserves credit for holding out as a cultural rebel. Yes, financial negotiations with HBO have probably played a role in his extended delays. But no matter how dodgy he has been, and no matter how much money he has earned, he's still upending the greedy, feed-me-now rules of pop entertainment. By making HBO wait, and making viewers wait, he is challenging a decidedly unsatisfying status quo. He is pushing us to consider the creative merits of slowing down, of not forcing out new product, of making TV into something more than a busy cotton-candy machine.

I know, waiting for new ''Sopranos" episodes isn't fun. And after this run of 12 episodes, the show will retreat yet again, until January 2007, when the final eight shows begin. But I have a feeling that after the series finale next year, when the show is gone for good, we'll even begin to miss all this waiting.

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2006/03/05/when_it_comes_to_sopranos_im_glad_to_be_kept_waiting?mode=PF

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6313045.html?display=Breaking+News

Looking to create a telecommunications behemoth that could prompt consolidation in the cable sector, AT&T Inc. said Sunday that it will acquire BellSouth Corp. for $67 billion in AT&T stock.

The move could position AT&T to deliver video, high-speed-Internet service and telephone communications to consumers over new Internet-protocol networks. The agreement also streamlines ownership of top mobile-phone carrier Cingular Wireless and its 54.1 million customers.

The landmark deal is the latest in a string of mergers led by SBC Communications Inc. CEO Ed Whitacre, who has slowly resurrected "Ma Bell," the old AT&T, which was broken up in 1984 through an agreement with the Department of Justice. That led to the creation of several regional bell operating companies, including SBC and BellSouth.

Whitacre, who will be chairman of the combined company, also led SBC's acquisition of Pacific Telesis Group in 1997, Southern New England Telecommunications Corp. in 1998 and Ameritech Corp. in 1999.

SBC adopted the AT&T brand in November after it closed on its $16 billion acquisition of AT&T.

In Sunday's announcement, AT&T said, "Consumers seeking a real alternative to cable monopolies should see faster and more economical deployment of next-generation IP-television networks and similar services as a result of AT&T's groundbreaking entry into IPTV and the unparalleled research and development work at AT&T Labs."

Verizon was the first RBOC to market a video product, FiOS TV, in several states, including Texas, California, New York and Virginia. AT&T has taken more time to develop its Project Lightspeed product, committing to spending $4 billion on a network that would deliver video, voice and high-speed Internet via an IP fiber network

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6313045.html?display=Breaking+News

TV Notebook
Will Reality Spring Back? “Apprentice”, “Amazing Race” off to sluggish starts

By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 3/6/2006

While American Idol’s audition stage has come and gone, March kicks off a new array of tryouts for the broadcaspt networks. They’ll trot out the last of their midseason replacements, hoping for a spring hit like ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy from a year before.

But with the Olympics over and spring schedules falling into place this week and next, the networks will also be keeping watchful eyes on their returning reality shows.

After the disappointing Olympics left NBC in third place for the February sweeps, the network hopes another competition, Deal or No Deal, grabs the gold.

The early returns were good, with the game show winning its regular Monday 8 p.m. time slot in its first outing (Deal ended with a 4.5/12 average in 18-49). While NBC stripped the show the rest of the week to less-impressive returns, it will now scale back to two times a week, with an episode also on Fridays at 8 for the next month.

Mitch Metcalf, NBC executive VP of program planning and scheduling, says the network wants to use Deal to launch its new Friday-night lineup, which features the relocated Las Vegas at 9 and debuting Dick Wolf drama Conviction at 10. But Metcalf knows that using the game show multiple times in a week risks going down the path of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, which flickered out quickly when ABC ran it too often.

“It’s a balancing act,” Metcalf says. “While it’s hot, there is always the temptation, but you want to do what’s right for the show and not burn it out too quickly.”

Metcalf adds that NBC probably won’t use Deal over the summer but will assess the situation in a few weeks.

A more troubling note for NBC was the debut of the latest installment of The Apprentice, which was the lowest season premiere to date with a 3.9 rating/9 share in 18-49 in its new Monday 9 p.m. slot.

Metcalf blames the sluggish debut on stiff competition from ABC’s season finale of resurgent The Bachelor and notes that Donald Trump’s normal reality competition will be a less threatening Supernanny.

He says NBC won’t use one episode to judge whether the Apprentice franchise is getting tired. “There is always a concern with any reality franchise. They seem to age at different rates than scripted shows, and it’s something you always look at,” he says. “Let’s see how we finish up.”

Losing the Race?

CBS is also keeping an eye on a returning reality franchise after The Amazing Race debuted lower than each of its previous two season premieres. But the first episode ran into the Idol buzz-saw until its final half-hour, when its numbers perked up to finish with a 4.1/10 average in 18-49.

CBS is hoping Race rebounds from last season, which went with a family format that underwhelmed fans. Kelly Kahl, CBS executive VP of scheduling and program planning, says a fallback is flipping Race with The Unit, which is Race’s lead-in Tuesdays at 9.

He adds that the network is “thrilled” with its other reality competition, Survivor, which is off to another strong start. Kahl thinks both venerable franchises still have a strong future: “There is plenty of kick left in both of them.”

ABC’s reality competition slate still looks strong with The Bachelor and Dancing With the Stars, and it hopes to add a player this month in American Inventor, from Simon Cowell.

In addition to Idol, Fox has So You Think You Can Dance and Hell’s Kitchen returning. But it has yet to decide whether or not to give Skating With Celebrities a spin for season two.

The 2005-2006 TV Season
Ask Matt

(from the Ask (TV Critic) Matt (Roush) column at TVGuide.com
By Matt Roush TVGuide.com TV Critic

Question: This week's How I Met Your Mother episode (Feb. 27) was easily the best of the season. I started thinking about why this show isn't a bigger hit. The show has great characters, better-than-average humor, and Seinfeld-esque catch phrases, and still nothing. Why do you think it's not a bigger hit? Do you think it's on the wrong network? Do you think it'll ever break out? — Luis A.

Matt Roush: Lots and lots of mail flooded in about this sleeper sitcom after Monday's episode, which was one of the better ones of the season. (Focused in large part on Barney's surprising backstory: basically, how he learned to suit up. More on him later.) Actually, it's probably a good thing that Mother has lived its first season pretty much under the radar. This is very much a show that has been finding its way in fits and starts through an uneven yet highly enjoyable first year. If it was overhyped, which on the strength of its sensational pilot it could have been, the impatience with its growing pains would have been louder. In its offbeat setup and style, it may seem closer in spirit to a Fox or NBC sitcom, but CBS has the resources to nurture the show on Mondays, so even being a moderate hit should be enough to guarantee its survival. I'm not sure it will ever hit Seinfeld heights, but it's a solid show with one, maybe two, breakout characters.

Consider this from Chandra: "Recently, watching the first new episode in several weeks of How I Met Your Mother, I couldn't help but wonder if I'm the only viewer who thinks the creators should dump all the characters except for Barney and Robin and rename the show The Adventures of Barney and Robin or just Barney and Robin for short. I mean, that dynamic duo is utterly awesome in its utter awesomeness. This first hit me during the last new episode in early February, where Robin suited up and showed Barney a good time 'old-girl style.' Did you get a gander at those guys throwing down with the kiddies in paintball? Classic! How is it that two such engaging and side-splittingly funny characters wind up playing second banana to the unbelievably boring and hopelessly forgettable central character, Ted, instead of the other way around? Even Marshall-of-the-big-boned-mayonnaise-family and his fiancée (whose name I can never remember, so let's just call her Willow) are lackluster. But Barney and Robin rock 24/7/365! How could the show end up this way? Do you think the creators, or whoever, will eventually wise up and revamp the show to focus on the real stars, Barney and Robin? Every character in all my other favorite sitcoms of the moment, like Scrubs, The Office, My Name Is Earl and the fairly recently departed Spin City (which I just discovered in syndication), are hilarious in their own right, with no second fiddles whatsoever in the laughs department. So what's up with the unevenness of How I Met Your Mother? Am I on to something here, or should I just shut up and suit up?"

I'm too nice to say shut up, but I'll say again that unevenness often comes with the territory in a show's first season, especially a sitcom. (Earl being an exception this season; that show got it right and has kept it going from the start.) Ted is Mother's every-schmo entry point to a world of characters who even he would concede are funnier and more interesting than he is. No question that Barney and Robin are the most appealing people in this universe, but if we're lucky, they'll draw new and funnier characters into Ted's orbit as time goes on. Mother has the makings of a future classic, or it might just settle for being a solid B-plus diversion. These days, that's looking pretty good to me, though I'd love for the show to realize its full potential (with dumping everyone but Barney and Robin not being an option, but not a terrible idea).

________________________________________

Question: I can't even tell you how much I'm enjoying 24 this season. It's the first season I've watched completely (mostly because Fox finally switched it to a time slot that doesn't conflict with anything else I watch), and what makes it even better is that I'm guaranteed a new episode each and every week. Has this scheduling had any effect on 24's ratings? I'd also like to say how much I love Jean Smart as First Lady Martha Logan — there's a contingent out here who think the last five minutes of the season should show her running off with loyal Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce while President Logan whines to Novick, "Mike, what should I dooooooo?" — Lisa

Matt Roush: Oh, Lisa, you have no idea what a little hornets' nest you have stirred up. Just wait until you see tonight's (March 6) two-hour episode. There's a moment between ambush survivors Martha and Aaron that will tickle you to no end. (And let me just say that no 24 fan can afford to miss these episodes. It's a real and shocking turning point, and so far it looks like Fox has kept a lid on the biggest twist of the show's mid-season.) To answer your bottom-line question: The "nonstop" scheduling of 24, with no breaks or repeats because Fox keeps it off the air for half a year, is a resounding success. It stimulates interest and desire for the show upon its return each year, and like most other constant TV viewers, I wish more shows could adopt this sort of pattern. But that's not the way network TV generally works (example: Lost), and my advice is just to suck it up and enjoy the new episodes whenever they show up. This time of year, unless you're talking 24, it's stop-and-start, and that's just the way it is.

Here's another shout-out to Agent Pierce from Santos, with whom I totally agree: "What are your thoughts on 24 finally giving Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce his moment to shine? Despite being a bit player, Pierce has always been a character worth watching, due mainly to actor Glenn Morshower's quietly intense performance. Recent episodes have already shown promise of giving Pierce more to do, and the Feb. 27 episode fulfilled that promise. A groggy Pierce managing to wake up in enough time to take out the two terrorists who were attacking the presidential motorcade was a terrific, applause-worthy moment and evidence of why 24, despite whatever flaws it may have, still works as a whole."

Yes, it does, and I expect to be reading testimonials to another relatively unsung 24 hero as this week progresses.

________________________________________

Question: Love your column! My question is in regards to casting for The Amazing Race. I am curious about what makes the producers/casting agents choose certain teams. Do you think they try to avoid picking teams that "remind" them of previous teams, or even other contestants on other reality shows? For example: My roommate and I are both deaf, and we are convinced that we don't have a chance of making it onto a season of The Amazing Race because there has already been a deaf contestant on Survivor, which is, obviously, on the same network as Amazing Race. What do you think? In my opinion, I think it would provide a very unique perspective on what it'd be like to compete in The Amazing Race, don't you? — Molly

Matt Roush: Given that past Survivor contestants have actually been cast on The Amazing Race, and that it often looks like these shows are trying to find new versions of old favorites in the casting from season to season, I can't imagine why the Race producers would automatically rule you out just because Survivor has been there, done that. Go for it. You're right: It would be a fascinating new way to experience my all-time favorite reality show.

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Question: Someone recently wrote in about the poor chances of Invasion getting a second season. That would sadden me (I like the show), but I have wondered where it would even go for a second or third season. Some shows seem to be able to keep it fresh and fun for years, and others burn themselves out quickly. I know networks want shows that keep making money year after year, but do you think they might keep the "Arrgh, they canceled my show!" viewers happier if sometimes they released a show that was only meant to have one season? Some stories are too big for cinema, but they're not long enough to last five or six seasons. Sometimes one season is just about right. (I got this idea from animé, in which stand-alone 26-episode stories are very common.) — David G.

Matt Roush: We'll see how this plays out when the networks experiment this summer and into next season with the telenovela format (on My Network TV), which (from what I understand) tells closed-ended soap-opera stories in season-long formats. I totally get where David is coming from. Some shows no doubt would be better off if the whole intent were to tell a story within the confines of a season (just think how much stronger Twin Peaks' reputation would be if it had stopped with the reveal of who killed Laura Palmer). Unfortunately, as I've said before, network TV works on a different financial model, one that looks toward the syndication of multiple seasons' worth of episodes to cover the staggering cost of weekly series production (not sure that DVD revenues of a single season of Invasion would justify the expense to the studio). But creatively speaking, I would love to see someone try. (Arguably, Reunion attempted just such a thing, with a murder-mystery arc that would have been resolved at the end of the season. And we all know what happened there.)

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Question: Hey, just wanted to let you know that, based on a recent comment by Greg Daniels, a new petition to supersize the season finale of The Office has been created. Jenna Fischer even mentioned it in her MySpace blog. Just wanted you to check it out, and maybe help give The Office a boost. The site is www.supersizedoffice.com. Thanks! — K.J.

Matt Roush: I gave The Office a boost by re-reviewing it recently and by letting it be known that I had come to enjoy the show more as it got creatively stronger (see above comments regarding comedy series' growing pains), but for the love of god, can we please not indulge this ridiculous mind-set that longer is better in the world of the TV comedy? When NBC started "supersizing" its comedies out of hubris and greed, that was the beginning of the end. The very idea of sitting through the final night of Will & Grace, with a self-congratulatory "tribute" show and an hourlong finale, makes me almost think fondly of their dreadful live outings this season. No. No. No. At its best, The Office is a model of economy in its sly, painful parables. Ballooning to 45 minutes or an hour is not the way to go. Same for Earl, Scrubs or any other NBC sitcom that starts getting too big for its britches. Less is more — fact of life.

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Question: I keep reading that Everwood hasn't seemed to make the cut for the new CW network. I am so bummed. This is the only drama left on WB that I make an appointment to watch. (I like Gilmore Girls, too, but as a working mom with two young children, I don't get to actually sit and watch much TV.) Anyway, my question to you, Matt: Have all the episodes for this season of Everwood already been filmed? If Everwood, sadly, does not return, do we have any hope of seeing the series end with an actual ending? Or will it be with one of the usual season-ending cliff-hangers? As great as they are, I would hate to see the series end that way. In the meantime, I will just plan on thoroughly enjoying the upcoming new episodes. Thanks! — Kathi

Matt Roush: I wish I could ease your worries about Everwood's future. I'm not giving up hope yet, but there's no way to know just yet if this will make it on CW's schedule. But I can, with the help of the latest Ask Ausiello column, put your mind to rest about the show signing off with a never-to-be-resolved cliff-hanger. If this is the end of Everwood, sounds like they truly will end it. And I guarantee there won't be a dry eye in any fan's house.

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Question: I love your column and your candid insights. Matt, do you share my opinion that Lost is on the verge of Twin Peaks-ing itself into oblivion? The first season of Twin Peaks was so awesome and must-see. By the second season, they seemed so full of their own cleverness and press that they forgot what made their show compelling to begin with: awesome, mysterious plotlines and various twists and turns. With Lost, the second season is having the same problem. The show that I ordered all of my friends/family to watch this season has morphed into a scattered, disjointed, meandering story with barely any of the wonderful features of Season 1. Just as Twin Peaks suffered a premature death, I think Lost is headed there as well, particularly when they keep going on hiatus and bombarding us with reruns. 24 blows away all competition for me in the drama department, not only because of the fast-paced action but because I can tune in and rest assured I will never see a rerun. Lost is on the verge of not being TiVo-worthy for me anymore! — Laura

Matt Roush: I think we're watching different shows. Just since the new year, the Mr. Eko episode, the Sawyer episode with those reversals involving the faked kidnapping of Sun and the control of the island arsenal, the Sayid episode with the capture of the mysterious Mr. Gale (and the heart-stopping moment when we thought they weren't going to "push the button" in time), all were completely absorbing and added new layers to my enjoyment of this show. I honestly don't know what people expect from Lost, except a new episode each and every week, which (sorry to say) is too much to ask. Because ABC isn't going to take such a monster hit off the air for half the year — it just isn't going to happen. If it were a cult show, yes. If ABC were more of an alternative network like Fox, yes. But Lost is the very opposite of Twin Peaks, which was more about mood and atmosphere than story. Which made Twin Peaks great when there was that one great mystery tying the bizarre fabric together, and not so great when it was just being surreal for surreal's sake (and I kinda loved it even then). Lost is all about story, about character, about mystery. It's doing its thing deliberately, carefully, with a view of continuing the story for many years to come, not going there fast enough to satisfy many, but not in such a way that it is too oblique to enjoy. With shows like The Shield, 24, Battlestar Galactica and the astonishing new season of The Sopranos (more on that in future columns) to contend with, I'm not sure Lost will end up at the top of my top-10 list for a third straight year. But it's still a contender.

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Question: I don't get it. How can Criminal Minds be such a hit? I would like to know your theory on how this show, which is not nearly as good as any other procedurals, attracts more than 12 million viewers each broadcast. I understand that on a quiet night some mediocre shows could succeed. However, Minds is against Lost, and that does not seem to pose a problem. Do you think America is taking this crime trend a little bit to far? I mean, when will the audience say "enough" to procedurals. I enjoy Without a Trace, Cold Case and CSI (with all of their spin-offs), but Criminal Minds is just setting a very low standard. — Amanda

Matt Roush: I swear I did not plant this question, but I couldn't agree more. Not so much the Minds-vs.-Lost situation. I totally get why people who resist getting caught up in a show as dense and unusual as Lost would rather watch something as pat and self-contained as Criminal Minds. That's called effective counterprogramming. But from the mannered acting to the pretentious literary references to the shallowness of a premise that at the very least would be enhanced by telling some of these so-called "suspense" tales in a multiepisode arclike fashion, there is nothing about Criminal Minds that appeals to me in the slightest. It panders to an audience that appears willing to swallow just about any formulaic crime drama CBS serves up. I keep waiting for the addiction to these shows to cool. But not yet. This is without doubt my least favorite new hit show of the season — unless Dick Wolf's unbearable Conviction somehow finds an audience. Go, Numbers!

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Question: It sounds like there are a number of interesting shows amongst the new pilots, and I'd really like to see how some of them come out, even if we never get the series. In these days of TV downloads, what are the chances of the pilots being posted online? I think it would be a very good way for the networks to get real large-scale audience feedback on what they would like to watch in the fall (assuming they actually get feedback and reactions, rather than just check download numbers). It might be skewed in the direction of those who are net-savvy or purchase high-tech mobile gadgetry, but aren't those the same people who are in the 18-49 "key" demographic? — Elle

Matt Roush: Good question. Wish I had a real answer. I would think downloads would be more likely for pilots that had been picked up, giving them a new avenue for exposure and sampling prior to a show's premiere, rather than being part of the development/selection/testing process. But this is all uncharted territory (one I rarely venture into), so anything could happen. It's also possible, I suppose, that once a pilot is rejected, the studio and/or network could make even the losers available for download as a way of offsetting production costs. But that could open a Pandora's box of contractual issues that I'm not plugged into well enough to understand. Still, given the way NBC has hyped The Office's iTunes numbers, it's also conceivable that someday a busted pilot with a cult following in downloads could be resurrected. That would be cool.

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Question: I've been watching a lot of reruns of Roseanne on Nick at Nite lately and I wonder if there can ever be another show to match it. It was brilliant, especially in its early years. I would love to watch another family comedy on the same level as Roseanne. — Kim

Matt Roush: So would we all. Those first seasons of Roseanne were so raw, so honest, so true to the star's vision, and, of course, so hilarious. One of the saddest observations I can make about today's TV comedy scene is to look at ABC and to realize that the network that once showcased Roseanne, Brett Butler and Tim Allen is now the network of Jim Belushi, Freddie Prinze Jr., George Lopez and Hope & Faith. It's enough to make you cry. (But then, ABC's Sons & Daughters, premiering Tuesday, may give you hope. Just pray someone actually watches.)

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

Oscars Ratings Drop 10 Percent From 2005
By LYNN ELBER , 03.06.2006, 11:21 AM


ABC is in for a "Crash" landing in the Oscar ratings.

The Academy Awards were down 10 percent from last year's ceremony, based on preliminary Nielsen Media Research ratings from the nation's 55 biggest markets. If the full national ratings follow suit later Monday, this year's ceremony will likely be the second least-watched Oscars telecast behind 2003, when "Chicago" won best picture.

The ceremony, where "Crash" won a surprise best picture trophy, drew a 27.1 rating and a 40 share. Each rating point is equivalent to 1.1 million homes, while the share indicates that 40 percent of the TVs in use last night were tuned to the awards.

Last year's metered markets had a 30.1 rating and 43 share, Nielsen said.

The ceremony's central lesson: Play a real person enmeshed in wrenching drama, win an Academy Award.

It worked last year for Jamie Foxx in "Ray" and this time around for Reese Witherspoon's portrayal of June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line" and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the glory-hungry writer in "Capote."

Sunday's Oscars were anything but predictable, however, as the explosive race drama "Crash" denied "Brokeback Mountain" the best-picture Oscar - despite the gay Western love story's front-runner status and its best-director award for Ang Lee.

With six different films dividing up the top six Oscars, the ceremony hosted by first-timer Jon Stewart denied anyone unmitigated bragging rights.

Witherspoon, who joined co-star Joaquin Phoenix as country legend Johnny Cash in singing in the film, gave credit for her performance to her mother and grandmother.

"They taught me a lot and a lot of characteristics that a woman should have in life, and how tough women are and how strong we are," she said backstage. "And I feel like it really helped my performance with June, because I sort of came in with an innate knowledge of who she was as a woman."

Hoffman's performance captured Capote's charm and the author's self-serving style as he gathered material for his groundbreaking book, "In Cold Blood."

Asked what the late author would have thought of his portrayal, Hoffman said backstage: "He's a pretty elusive guy, so I don't know. I don't know. It depends on if he liked me or not and I don't know if he would."

"Crash," featuring an ensemble cast in intersecting story lines over a violent, disturbing 36-hour period in Los Angeles, was lifted by a late surge of praise that carried it over "Brokeback Mountain," which had won most other key Hollywood honors.

"We are humbled by the other nominees in this category. You have made this year one of the most breathtaking and stunning maverick years in American cinema," said "Crash" producer Cathy Schulman.

The film was also honored for original screenplay by the film's director, Paul Haggis, and Bobby Moresco, and film editing. "Brokeback Mountain" captured best adapted screenplay for Larry McMurtry ("Lonesome Dove") and Diana Ossana, and musical score for Gustavo Santaolalla.

"I'm so proud of the movie," Lee said backstage, where he was asked if he was disappointed that "Brokeback Mountain" lost best picture and what might have kept it from winning. "Why they didn't go for it I don't know. You're asking a question that I don't know the answer. ... Congratulations to the `Crash' filmmakers."

Front-runners usually prevail, but there have been some notable dark-horse winners at past Oscars. Underdogs that came away with best picture include "An American in Paris," "The Greatest Show on Earth" and "Oliver!"

Supporting-performer Oscars on Sunday went to George Clooney in "Syriana" and Rachel Weisz in "The Constant Gardener."

Clooney's win capped an exceptional year in which he made Oscar history by becoming the first person nominated for acting in one movie and directing another. (The Edward R. Murrow tale "Good Night, and Good Luck" earned him directing and writing nominations.)

"Crash," an Oscar rarity that was shot outside the studio system on a meager $6.5 million budget, became a solid box-office hit, grossing $55 million domestically.

The cast of "Crash" includes supporting-actor nominee Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Thandie Newton, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Jennifer Esposito and Ryan Phillippe.

Although Comedy Central's Stewart proved a relatively tame host, the ceremony was given a jolt of life by the raucous hip-hop tune "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow." The song, with expletive-laden lyrics edited for the ceremony, won the prize for best song. The song was written by the rap group Three 6 Mafia, consisting of Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard.

"You know what? I think it just got a little easier out here for a pimp," Stewart joked after the performance.

The stop-motion family tale "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" won the Oscar for best animated feature film. The Antarctic nature tale "March of the Penguins," a surprise smash at the box office, was honored as best documentary.

"King Kong," from "Lord of the Rings" creator Peter Jackson, won three Oscars, for visual effects, sound mixing and sound editing. The Japan drama "Memoirs of a Geisha" also earned three, for cinematography, costume design and art direction, while the fantasy epic "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was picked for best makeup.

South Africa's drama "Tsotsi," based on Athol Fugard's novel about a young hoodlum reclaiming his own humanity, won for foreign-language film, beating the controversial Palestinian terrorism saga, "Paradise Now."

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/feeds/ap/2006/03/06/ap2573180.html

Sorry for the delay, but Sunday’s network prime-time ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the first post in this thread).

The 2006-2007 Season
CBS Renews 14 Series

By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable3/6/

CBS on Monday announced 2006-07 full season orders for 14 shows, representing 13 hours of its prime time schedule.

Of the pickups, three were series that debuted this season: Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer and How I Met Your Mother.

However, not making the initial short list were veteran comedies King of Queens, Still Standing and Yes, Dear. 2005-06 freshmen Close To Home and Out of Practice also were not on the list.

In addition to the three rookies, CBS also will bring back 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race, Cold Case, NCIS, Numb3rs, Survivor, Two and a Half Men, Without a Trace and all three C.S.I. shows.

TV Review
Memo to Jon Stewart: Keep Your 'Daily' Job

By Tom Shales The Washington Post TV CriticMonday, March 6, 2006; C01

"Crash" was not only the film chosen Best Picture at the 78th Academy Awards last night; it was also the sound made by the show itself as, metaphorically speaking, it drove into a wall.

It's hard to believe that professional entertainers could have put together a show less entertaining than this year's Oscars, hosted with a smug humorlessness by comic Jon Stewart, a sad and pale shadow of great hosts gone by.

The movie "Munich" was represented in one category, musical score, by a clip in which suspense built over a bomb that didn't go off. The Oscar show on ABC, televised live from Los Angeles, was a bomb that did.

Film buffs and the politically minded, meanwhile, will be arguing this morning about whether the Best Picture Oscar to "Crash" was really for the film's merit or just a cop-out by the Motion Picture Academy so it wouldn't have to give the prize to "Brokeback Mountain," a movie about two cowboys who fall reluctantly but passionately in love.

"Mountain" won two of the major awards leading up to Best Picture: Best Screenplay Adaptation (co-winner Larry McMurtry wore baggy jeans with his tuxedo jacket) and Best Director, for Ang Lee. In his acceptance speech, Lee said the movie was not just about a homosexual affair but about "the greatness of love itself."

But the Academy ran out of love for the film at that point, making "Crash" the surprise winner. To its credit, "Crash" (which won two other Oscars) deals with important social issues too, especially racism in American society.

Among the more beguiling acceptance speeches was that given by Reese Witherspoon, who won for playing country singer June Carter in "Walk the Line," the story of Johnny Cash. "I never thought I'd be up here in my whole life," she said with ingenuous charm. She also quoted June Carter's succinct philosophy of life: "I'm just trying to matter."

The program looked gorgeous in high-definition television from the Kodak Theatre, but it was filled with so many clips -- piles and piles and miles and miles of clips from films present and past -- that the visual luster was squandered. The audience at home does not want to look at clips. It wants to look at big-time movie stars.

Unfortunately, those are in increasingly short supply. When Jack Nicholson strode out to give the Best Picture prize at the evening's end, there was not only an ovation but a huge sigh of relief in the audience -- a sense of the whole crowd saying, "Oh yes, we still have giants in the business."

This point was made earlier as well when Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin did a masterly, breathless impression of a film by special honoree Robert Altman, replete with overlapping dialogue, half-finished thoughts and constant interruptions. This was a piece of presentation that must have taken weeks to master in rehearsal; it was a double virtuoso performance.

Stewart began the show drearily, loping through a monologue that lacked a single hilarious joke with the possible exception of "Bjork couldn't be here tonight. She was trying on her Oscar dress and Dick Cheney shot her."

That was about it -- and Stewart had five months, working with his legions of writers from the "Daily Show" on Comedy Central, to come up with good material. It goes to prove that there's still a big, big difference between basic cable and big-time network television after all.

The liveliest moment of the night was contributed by the hip-hop ensemble Three 6 Mafia performing a nominated song, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," from the film "Hustle & Flow." The group practically brought the house down, leading Stewart to ask, following the riotous performance, "How come they're the most excited people here tonight?" He said more Oscar acceptance speeches should be as rollicking. But it's the host's job to generate excitement, too, and Stewart generated none.

There was a cute taped bit before he appeared in which past hosts turned the job down. Billy Crystal and Chris Rock said no because they were sharing a tent a la "Brokeback." Even David Letterman, who has joked for years about flopping as an Oscar host, made a gracious reappearance as if to say "no hard feelings."

Letterman's hosting gig, however, was better than Stewart's by far.

For some strange reason, ABC decided to play music under most of the acceptance speeches, instead of just having music interrupt winners when it was time for them to walk off. Perhaps the music was there to facilitate the use of a 10- or 15-second delay, part of the new morality inflicted on TV by the FCC, which levies fines for naughty words even when they are spoken spontaneously and with no malice aforethought on shows like this.

Among other highlights: Jessica Alba's dress; Jessica Alba; a handsome Plexiglas lectern that facilitated some dramatic shots from just in front of the stage; the usual tastefully done "in memoriam" montage for film figures who died since the last Oscarcast; and Jennifer Lopez looking particularly attractive.

Winners of Best Documentary Feature for the film "March of the Penguins" had the clunky bad taste to bring stuffed penguins onto the stage with them. It was a joke that laid a penguin-size egg.

The epitome of honesty perhaps came when Stewart muttered "I am a loser" into the microphone. He was speaking not only for himself but for the whole show.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/06/AR2006030600029_pf.html

The 2006-2007 Season
CBS Renews 14 Series

By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable3/6/

CBS on Monday announced 2006-07 full season orders for 14 shows, representing 13 hours of its prime time schedule.

Of the pickups, three were series that debuted this season: Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer and How I Met Your Mother.

However, not making the initial short list were veteran comedies King of Queens, Still Standing and Yes, Dear. 2005-06 freshmen Close To Home and Out of Practice also were not on the list.

In addition to the three rookies, CBS also will bring back 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race, Cold Case, NCIS, Numb3rs, Survivor, Two and a Half Men, Without a Trace and all three C.S.I. shows.

Any word on a renewal for Big Brother?

I have heard nothing about Big Brother yet. The ratings for the last cycle were down quite a bit.

TV Reviews
'The Unit' and 'Sons & Daughters'

Big Names, Biting Talk in Disparate Settings
By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times March 7, 2006

David Mamet is famous for bringing a terse military staccato to the vernacular of real estate salesmen, con men and gamblers. On "The Unit" (9 PM ET/PT Tuesday) on CBS, the playwright turns over his distinctive dialogue to actual soldiers.

But tough talk is less striking in combat — the men who belong to this elite, top-secret Special Forces unit are not all that special. "The Unit" becomes distinctive only when the action shifts back to the wives left behind on the base (and not just when the platinum blonde dons black underwear, though that is a sure sign that adultery is soon to follow).

The wives are the ones who converse in Mamet-speak, exchanging taut, fraught dialogue that mystifies more than it enlightens. The newest member of wives' club, Kim Brown (Audrey Marie Anderson), is young and resistant to living on base under the older wives' vigilant, snoopy supervision. When she asks the base queen bee, Molly Blane (Regina Taylor), what the 303rd Logistical Studies Group really is, Molly shuts her down. "That is his cover. It is your cover," she says with long, meaningful pauses. "Other than that, the unit has no name. Other than that, it doesn't exist."

Perhaps because Mr. Mamet is a writer, director and executive producer of the show (alongside Shawn Ryan, creator of "The Shield") it is hard to take these women's brave fronts at face value: something sinister seems to be going on beneath the helpful hints. Something sinister lurks behind that welcome wagon.

And that is the benefit and burden of marquee names on a television show. "Sons & Daughters," (also 9 PM ET/PT Tuesday, ABC) a new sitcom on ABC, is an entirely different show in the same situation: one of its executive producers is Lorne Michaels, a creator of "Saturday Night Live." Viewers expect the show to be more than just another sitcom about a wacky family; it is, but not much more. "Sons & Daughters" is a milder, more humane version of Fox's canceled "Arrested Development" — it milks the humor of absurd people and brutally frank conversation.

"I heard Aunt Rae tell Grandma we're going to hell," an adorable little girl brightly tells her family at breakfast. "Grandma, we're going to hell. Because we're Jews!"

The show has funny moments, but it doesn't stand out as much as the ABC promos suggest. Even the blandest network sitcoms now color their comedy black. "Sons & Daughters," which is shot without a live audience or a laugh track, is amusing in the same affectionately satirical way as "My Name Is Earl," or "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Arrested Development." There are very few sitcoms that celebrate strong family bonds and filial affection with a straight face, which may explain why so many college students are ignoring prime time and watching reruns of "Full House."

There certainly isn't much humor in "The Unit" or even human error in the field. It is loosely based on a memoir, "Inside Delta Force," and its author, Command Sgt. Maj. Eric L. Haney, retired, is a producer of the show. The chosen few who serve in the unit are tough and brave and always seem to successfully complete their assignments — be it going undercover in Afghanistan to take out an arms dealer or rescuing a jet hijacked by terrorists.

Dennis Haysbert, who played President Palmer on "24," is Jonas Blane, the unit's senior man in the field. He takes the fresh-faced new guy, Bob Brown (Scott Foley), under his wing and shows him how it's done. Lesson one is to ignore the dithering law enforcement bureaucrats on the ground. "You, you and you: panic," he tells F.B.I. agents who want to delay until jurisdiction in the crisis is clear. Turning to Army Rangers, he says, "The rest of you come with me."

Jonas is a natural leader of men, real men. He persuades another group of soldiers to ignore their superior officer's instructions. "Rangers, did you sign on to get out of the house, or do you want to come with me and kick the door down?" It's not Mamet dialogue; it's action-hero talk.

Of the many consequences of Osama bin Laden's crimes, one is the "24"-ification of television: the more terrorism turns scary and intractable in real life, the more producers feel compelled to create a childlike imaginary world where a handful of good guys improbably, but cleverly, defeat terrorist enemies.

Forty-some years ago, before the Vietnam War escalated into a national nightmare, the prime-time schedule was quite the opposite: shows like "Gomer Pyle" and "No Time for Sergeants" poked fun at military brass and bureaucracy. The American family, be it on "The Andy Griffith Show" or "My Three Sons," however, was sacrosanct. Nowadays, all families are flawed. It's the men in uniform who never falter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/arts/television/07stan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

The Business of TV
[FONT=Arial Black,][COLOR=red][SIZE=4] AT&T's BellSouth Buy Could Spark Cable Consolidation

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com MARCH 06, 2006 -

AT&T's $67 billion acquisition of BellSouth will put the telco giant back in the TV business, analysts say. The deal, which was announced yesterday, could also spark further consolidation in the cable industry, according to a new report from UBS analyst Aryeh Bourkoff.

"Time Warner Cable could be poised to spark a wave of consolidation in the cable sector, and we believe potential candidates include Cablevision and Insight Communications," Bourkoff wrote. "We believe that Time Warner Cable could be in an acquisitive position following the close of the Adelphia transaction, expected by mid-year, at which point the company will have a publicly-traded cable currency."

The deal will also allow AT&T to push back into the video space, an area the company vacated in 2002 when it sold its AT&T Broadband cable systems to Comcast. According to AT&T chairman and CEO Edward Whitacre, when the company begins offering video service, it will look to embrace an a la carte subscription model, a plan cable operators largely disdain. Of course, the efficacy of that plan depends on the willingness of the big networks like ESPN and TNT to go along with selling their services in that manner.

While AT&T's return to the video wars is expected to add another power in an already crowded field, cable may not be at the greatest risk if and when the deal is approved by the Department of Justice. According to Bourkoff, satellite operator DirecTV "currently co-markets bundled offerings with BellSouth, as well as Verizon and Qwest," which puts the DBS provider in direct opposition to AT&T. UBS estimates that nearly half of DirecTV's subscriber adds over the next three years are expected to come from its telco partnerships.

Meanwhile, EchoStar's DISH Network is seen to be a likely beneficiary of the AT&T/BellSouth deal, as it already has a bundling agreement with AT&T.

Speculation regarding AT&T's place in the video sphere may be premature, as two consumer advocacy groups said they would lobby the DOJ to refuse approval for the deal. Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America said the merger would lead to higher local, long distance and cell phone prices and would create an "unregulated duopoly."

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002116532

The TV Column
And the Oscars Go to 39 Million, but Who's Counting?

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, March 7, 2006; C07

Despite its star wattage and earlier start time, this year's Academy Awards broadcast bagged its second smallest audience in nearly two decades, according to preliminary stats.

Almost 39 million viewers slogged through Sunday's 3 1/2- hour parade of lent jewels, borrowed gowns and faux humility at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. That's down about 3 million viewers from last year, and the smallest crowd since 2003, when a mere 33 million tuned in to see musical "Chicago" named the year's Best Picture, just days after the start of the war in Iraq.

Before that, the last time the Oscarcast dropped below 40 million viewers was 1987.

Pundits had predicted this year would be among the lower-rated Academy Awards.

It was an easy call, given that none of this year's best-flick nominees was considered "mainstream" -- "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Munich" and winner "Crash" collectively have seen less box-office action than the most recent "Star Wars" alone.

This year's host, Jon Stewart, also has niche appeal, averaging just 1.4 million viewers this season for his Comedy Central late-night program, "The Daily Show."

Additionally, Stewart got mixed reviews for his performance Sunday night; the Kodak Theatre crowd certainly treated him throughout the night like an interloper.

The show itself was largely bereft of spontaneity, though the movie industry audience got a swift kick about halfway through when rap group Three 6 Mafia's "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," from "Hustle & Flow," was named Best Original Song.

No sooner did the Kodak Krowd recover from that one than Jack Nicholson, to thunderous applause, apparently just for not being Jon Stewart, stunned them again with news that "Crash" had nabbed the night's final trophy, Best Picture, triumphing over odds-on fave "Brokeback Mountain."

Last year's Chris Rock-hosted horse race likewise included no box-office blockbusters, but the show managed to average about 42 million viewers, who watched Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" secure the top trophy, as predicted.

In 2004, on the other hand, nearly 44 million tuned in to see "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" sweep the trophy show.

But the reigning champ remains the 1998 Oscar broadcast, when more than 55 million tuned in to see "Titanic" cop the big prize.

This year's Academy Awards broadcast started at 8 p.m. -- 30 minutes earlier than usual -- presumably in an effort to get the show to end earlier, when the number of Homes Using Television is higher. And yet it wrapped around 11:30, same as last year.

Eating up all that extra time: tributes to film noir, to bioflicks, to films that teach us to be better people; pleas to watch movies in theaters instead of on DVD; produced pieces that looked like some of the better comedy bits from "The Daily Show"; nominated-song performances that looked like some of the better comedy bits from "The Daily Show."

ABC noted yesterday that Sunday's show stands as the most watched entertainment telecast this season to date.

Oscar won't hold that title for long: Sunday's orgy of excess came in only about 3.3 million viewers ahead of this season's "American Idol" season debut, and the real action in the singing competition, among the 12 finalists, doesn't kick off until next week.

Meanwhile, did you know that a 30-second commercial on the Academy Awards reportedly cost $1.7 million while a commercial on "Idol" this season, according to news reports, has been put in the $650,000-$700,000 range?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/06/AR2006030601668_pf.html

TV Review
Simultaneous and must-see TV premieres

By Jonathan Storm Philadelphia Inquirer Television Critic

Two wonderful series premiere tonight, kiddies, which means it's time for a little lesson in the laws of TV. You won't really need your math book.

In fact, you'd better throw it away, since your professor today will be someone who has been a TV critic for more than 15 years and has lost all touch with actual facts.

I couldn't even determine how many coconuts Misty should have delivered to her teammates to avoid getting voted off Survivor a couple of weeks ago.

But this isn't about reality shows. It's about another TV law, and the best new comedy, ABC's Sons & Daughters, and the best new drama, CBS's The Unit, to appear in a dog's age. Both premiere at 9 PM ET/PT tonight.

An entire TV season presents maybe five shows that make it worthwhile to adjust your viewing schedule. And there are 22 separate prime-time hours in each week. So the odds that two of the five shows would air at exactly the same time are 110-1.

Or maybe they're 4.4-1. I'm pretty sure it's one of those.

But, like I said, it doesn't matter, because the laws of TV supersede mathematics. The laws of TV decree that it's certain that if there are five good new shows in a season, two of them will air at exactly the same time. And if there are four or three or even only two good new ones, two of them will both air at the same time, which clearly violates all the rules of hard science.

So which will it be tonight: Sons & Daughters, ensemble comedy with an aura of Woody Allen when he's funny, and never a canned laugh, but lots of real ones that will come from your tummy? Or The Unit, a different ensemble that combines the drama of Desperate Housewives with the excitement and suspense of 24 and dialogue and situations reminiscent of David Mamet?

Mainly because David Mamet, in his first TV foray, is one of the producers.

The Unit is that rare TV show filled with recognizable names and faces who pull their weight as well as they ever have. Shawn Ryan (creator of The Shield) is another producer. The stars include Dennis Haysbert (President Palmer on 24), Robert Patrick (Agent Doggett from the X-Files and Ahnohld's shape-shifting nemesis in Terminator 2), Scott Foley (Noel from Felicity), and Regina Taylor (Lily from I'll Fly Away).

Even the less familiar folks, particularly Audrey Marie Anderson, as Kim, the wide-eyed wife of the newest member of the crack undercover Special Forces outfit, deliver eye-catching performances.

"Here you are," Taylor's character, Molly Blane, mother hen in the group, tells her. "A pretty little girl [and] a child on the way. A man in combat. You're frightened, and you want him home. This is not your own special circumstance. You know what this is? It is the history of the world."

So we have the history of the world in this crackling drama that alternates between tough guys going through all sorts of elegantly produced horrors at some of the most authentic-looking ends of the Earth you've ever seen on TV, and their nervous wives, with their own poignant domestic stories, back home.

Like The Shield, The Unit does not shrink from violence. In the third episode sent out by CBS (and many shows are so awful, it's tough to get into a second episode), the unit is subjected to the physical and psychological torture of a long-term prisoner-of-war drill.

The action is intense and excruciating, while back at the base, there's drama on a more intellectual and spiritual level, as the wives try to persuade a godless Kim that faith and prayer are important ingredients for survival at home.

Only an occasional over-spicing of melodrama keeps The Unit from TV's top echelon. Even so, it's the best new dramatic series of a TV season that started way back in September.

Sons & Daughters has a little tougher-quality competition this season: My Name Is Earl, Everybody Hates Chris. Still, this sparkling saga of an extended dysfunctional family has more laughs than regular characters. With most cheapo sitcoms these days, that would be maybe five. Sons & Daughters has a regular cast of 15. It's astonishing how the script, and the loads of improvisational material included in the show, service every one of them, even little Lexi Jourden.

"We're going to hell," she chirps, in the role of Marni Walker, "because we're Jews." Marni's mother, you see, is Jewish, and Marni's Great Aunt Rae, who is not, apparently, disapproves. Aunt Rae gets her comeuppance at the big party when Marni's half-brother Henry, a budding cineaste, fits her with a Hitler mustache while she's sleeping.

Henry's videos, which usually involve a practical-joke setup and always end with fin flashed on the screen, include "Ezra Sits on a Tack," in which his little half-brother gets a sore rear end, and "Cameron Sleeps With Eggs," in which his father rolls over and cracks several eggs in bed, definitively emerging sunny-side down.

"My dad crushed life," Henry explains, as a whiff of the Beatles' "I am the egg man" runs underneath the dialogue. A sitcom with that kind of attention to detail? Amazing.

Max Gail, from Barney Miller, and Dee Wallace, from E.T., as family patriarch and matriarch, are the most recognizable actors in a show that lyrically lampoons a family whose surface level of dysfunction seems matched by an equally strong underpinning of love.

ABC plans to broadcast back-to-back episodes of Sons & Daughters Tuesdays at 9 p.m. End of lesson.

Your assignment: Make sure you've mastered the VCR, so you can watch them and The Unit every week.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//14034500.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Big Brother was picked up for next summer.

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/newswire.cgi?id=7004

Hi guys. I haven't been keeping up with this thread for a while. The pressing daily needs of life make sure of that :)

Just wondering what happened to the show about a white person being made up to be black and a black person being made up to be white and then switching places.

Did it premiere already? Who was carrying it?

Thanks.

slocko, you haven't missed it. It's called Black.White. and it debuts tomorrow night at 10/9C on FX. Apparently two whole families make the switch, not just two people.

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 first post in this thread.

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
ABC's 'Miracle Workers': Not so much

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Mar 7, 2006
Apparently viewers prefer their doctors angst-ridden and fictional as on “ER” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” as opposed to heroic and real. The series premiere of ABC’s “Miracle Workers,” about a team of doctors performing miracle surgeries on previously hopeless cases, received only so-so ratings last night.

“Miracle” posted a 3.4 overnight rating among viewers 18-49, down 19 percent from the 4.2 “The Bachelor” averaged in the same 10 p.m. timeslot over the last two months.

Further, the show lost 11 percent from its lead-in, a 3.8 for “Supernanny.” “Miracle” did grow slightly as the hour went on, posting a 3.3 among 18-49s during its first half hour before bumping to a 3.4 for the final 30 minutes.

“Miracle” didn’t receive a ton of promotion, certainly not as much as upcoming ABC launches “Sons & Daughters” and “The Evidence.” And it was up against strong competition at 10 p.m. It finished third in its timeslot behind CBS’s “CSI: Miami” (6.1) and NBC’s “Medium” (4.1).

But what also may have hurt the show is the fact that many people aren’t big fans of real-life doctors. And those who are can certainly find better-done documentary-style shows about pioneering medicine on TLC and Discovery on cable any day of the week.

Not surprisingly, the show did not get strong reviews. Media Life TV critic Toni Fitzgerald writes: “The doctors certainly don’t display the emotional attachment to the family that the carpentry crew [on ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition] does, and that, too, renders ‘Miracle’ very dry. That’s the opposite of what a show like this should be.”
Fox, with two hours of the Kiefer Sutherland drama “24,” led the night among 18-49s with a 5.3 average rating and a 13 share. CBS was second at 4.9/12, NBC third at 4.3/11, ABC fourth at 3.6/9, Univision fifth at 1.8/4, and UPN and WB tied for sixth at 1.2/3.

NBC led during the 8 p.m. hour with a 4.9 rating for “Deal or No Deal,” the network’s highest regular program rating in that timeslot since November 2004. Fox was a close second with a 4.8 for its first hour of “24,” CBS third with a 3.6 average for “The King of Queens” (3.6) and “How I Met Your Mother” (3.7), and ABC fourth with a 3.5 for “Wife Swap.” Univision was fifth with a 1.9 for “Contra Viento y Marea,” with WB and UPN tied for sixth at 1.2, WB for a repeat of “7th Heaven” and UPN for repeats of “One on One” and “All of Us.”

Fox took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 5.9 for its second hour of “24.” CBS moved into second with a 5.1 average for “Two and a Half Men” (5.7) and “Courting Alex” (4.5), with NBC third with a 4.0 for “The Apprentice” and ABC fourth with a 3.8 for “Supernanny.” Univision remained in fifth with a 2.1 for “Alborada,” while WB and UPN again tied for sixth at 1.2, WB for “Related” and UPN for repeats of “Girlfriends” and “Half and Half.”

At 10 p.m. CBS was on top with its 6.1 for “CSI: Miami.” NBC followed with its 4.1 for “Medium,” with ABC third with its 3.4 for “Miracle” and Univision fourth with a 1.4 for “Cristina.”

CBS won the night among households, averaging a 9.6 rating and a 15 share. Fox finished second at 7.6/11, NBC third at 7.3/11, ABC fourth at 6.0/9, Univision fifth at 2.3/3, and UPN and WB tied for sixth at 2.0/3.

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_3279.asp

Big Brother was picked up for next summer.

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/newswire.cgi?id=7004

Thanks. I figured that it would be renewed. I just didn't know when.

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

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

thxs.

slocko, you haven't missed it. It's called Black.White. and it debuts tomorrow night at 10/9C on FX. Apparently two whole families make the switch, not just two people.

Never heard of Miracle until now and it seems kind of tough going up against CSI:Miami and Medium, don't you think?