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Dan Rather’s statement to Viewers
Rather broke the news to his viewers on the CBS Evening News:
"A few words now about the 'CBS Evening News' and your reporter. After nearly a quarter of a century as the anchor of this broadcast, I have decided it is time to move on. I will be leaving the 'Evening News' next March. I will not be leaving CBS, however. I will continue to report to you working full-time on both editions of '60 Minutes' and on other assignments for CBS News. It has been and remains an honor to be welcomed into your home each evening, and I thank you for the trust you've given me. In the meantime, there's news to report, and we'll have more of it in a moment."
CBS News Statement on Dan Rather
The following message was sent out to all CBS affiliates from CBS News Division president Andrew Heyward:
Dan Rather announced today that he will step down as anchor and managing editor of the CBS EVENING NEWS on March 9, 2005, 24 years after his first broadcast in that position. Dan will continue to work full-time at CBS News as a correspondent for both editions of 60 MINUTES, as well as on other assignments for the Division.
Dan has symbolized the CBS EVENING NEWS for nearly a quarter century. He will continue to apply his extraordinary talents to everything he does at CBS News.
Like many of you, I've worked closely with Dan for a long time. It was thanks to Dan that I joined the CBS EVENING NEWS in March 1981 as a field producer, just two weeks after he moved into the anchor chair. Over more than two decades, I've seen first-hand why Dan's dedication to his craft and his remarkable skills as a reporter are the stuff of broadcasting legend.
In a statement issued today, Dan said: "I have decided to leave the CBS EVENING NEWS on March 9, 2005. I have been lucky and blessed over these years to have what is, to me, the best job in the world and to have it at CBS News. Along the way, I've had the honor of working with some of the most talented, dedicated professionals in the world, and I'm appreciative of the opportunity to continue doing so in the years ahead.
"I have always said that I'd know when the time was right to step away from the anchor chair. This past summer, CBS and I began to discuss this matter in earnest--and we decided that the close of the election cycle would be an appropriate time. I have always been and remain a 'hard news' investigative reporter at heart. I now look forward to pouring my heart into that kind of reporting full-time."
{CBS President and Viacom Co-President} Leslie Moonves said: "Dan's 24 years at the CBS EVENING NEWS is the longest run of any evening news anchor in history and is a singular achievement in broadcast journalism. He has been an eyewitness to the most important events for more than 40 years and played a crucial role in keeping the American public informed about those events and their larger significance. We congratulate him on all he has accomplished and look forward to the future."
We will all have ample opportunity to salute Dan and his extraordinary tenure in the EVENING NEWS chair early next year. In the meantime, please join me in wishing Dan the best and looking forward with him to all that is yet to come.
Thanks,
Andrew
The Washington Post's weekly winners and losers of the Neilsen ratings:
For CBS, a November to Remember
By Lisa de Moraes washingtonpost.com Wednesday, November 24, 2004; Page C07
For the first time in nearly two decades, CBS is going to win the November ratings sweepstakes among the 18-to-49-year-olds advertisers covet. Last week the network mopped up thanks to the 100th episode of "CSI," the first episode of "Amazing Race 6" and the final episode of two-parter "Category 6: Day of Destruction."
Here's a look at the week's hills and vales:
WINNERS
"CSI." CBS's kinky crime drama marked its 100th episode with a story line in which the crack CSI team investigated the brutal stabbing and mutilation of a transgender woman, leading the team, CBS said, "into the fringe world of sex changes and transgenders." Naturally the episode scored the series's biggest audience ever -- nearly 32 million viewers -- and became the most watched broadcast of any kind so far this season, beating even Game 7 of the Yankees-Red Sox baseball playoffs.
"Desperate Housewives." ABC hit pay dirt when its "Desperate Housewives" promo on "Monday Night Football" outraged sanctimonious sportswriters and conservative media watchdog groups, whose collective howling resulted in record young-viewer numbers for the series six nights later. That included its largest audience ever among women 18 to 34 -- nearly a third of the available audience in that demographic group. "Desperate" was the week's No. 1 show among 18-to-34-year-olds. In the broader 18-to-49 demographic, the show topped its combined competition -- NBC, CBS, Fox and WB -- by 22 percent.
"Category 6: Day of Destruction." Actually two nights of destruction, starting two Sundays ago when the first half of CBS's special-effects extravaganza scored more than 19 million viewers. Part 2 logged nearly 17 million viewers, giving CBS its most watched Wednesday of the season to date.
"Amazing Race." The sixth edition of CBS's hurry-up-and-wait reality series premiered to 11.8 million viewers -- the franchise's biggest opening audience since the first edition in September '01.
"House." Fox's new doc drama built on its "Rebel Billionaire Weirdsmobile" lead-in by nearly 30 percent.
"Complete Savages." ABC's all-guys sitcom scored a best-yet 6.7 million viewers last week; the network gave it a full-season order.
"Biggest Loser." NBC's fat-farm competition -- this really is the Golden Age of Television -- clocked nearly 11 million viewers last week -- the network's best entertainment number in the Tuesday time slot in a year.
"The Wizard of Oz." TBS's gazillionth telecast of MGM's 65-year-old flick -- which is also the collective age of development suits at some networks -- was basic cable's No. 1 movie last week among the 18-to-34 set. In its Saturday 8-10 p.m. slot, "TWOZ" scored more viewers than did CBS.
Vibe awards. UPN's taped trophy telecast enjoyed nearly a million more viewers than last year thanks to a move from Friday to Tuesday night and advance publicity about a stabbing at the event. The Vibe awards ranked No. 1 among teens, marking UPN's best Tuesday teen delivery in more than three years.
LOSERS
"LAX." Say so long to NBC's campy airport drama after last week's ratings crash -- a worst-yet 6.3 million viewers.
"The Simple Life 2: Road Trip." Paris and Nicole's clip-job channeling Bing and Bob copped an anemic 5.6 million viewers -- a worst-ever for the "Simple Life" franchise.
"My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss." Down to 3.4 million viewers -- Fox's smallest Sunday audience for any original program during a TV season in at least 13 years.
NBC Bets Conditions Are Ripe For a New Weather Channel
Network Chases Viewers, Ads In the Nascent Digital Arena
THE SMALL SCREEN
By JOE FLINT The Wall Street Journal November 24, 2004
NBC is betting that the tide is turning in favor of digital television.
The network's launch last week of an all-weather channel slid under the radar of many media watchers. But the creation of the digital-only network is a big gamble for NBC that could have major implications for the broadcasting industry.
For now, few television viewers have access to Weather Plus or its brethren across the digital spectrum. But NBC is hoping that new niche ventures such as its weather network can help recapture some of the revenue-generating advertising that is slowly being gobbled up by cable competitors.
But first, NBC will have to persuade cable and satellite operators to carry Weather Plus. Although in theory the channel is available over the air to consumers who own new, high-definition digital television sets, the vast majority of viewers in the U.S. watch all their television over cable or satellite.
The channel, called NBC Weather Plus, premiered last week only in New York City, primarily as a place for people to check their local forecast. The potential audience is limited to Time Warner's 700,000 digital cable subscribers in New York, though NBC expects that cable carriers in other regions will soon begin carrying the channel.
To transmit the channel, NBC is using a portion of the digital spectrum it has been allocated free by the government to broadcast high-definition television, an allotment that every television station in the country received.
Broadcasters will use up some of that spectrum to send out crystal-clear, high-definition pictures of their regular programming. But that will leave them with plenty of digital space to create new services. While broadcasters are wary of the cost of broadcasting in high definition, they are attracted to the prospect of creating channels that eventually could add revenue.
Many stations already are using their digital allotment for new local channels. Some broadcasters are even talking about teaming up and using their spectrum to form a service that essentially would operate as an alternative to cable transmission, delivering the most sought-after cable television networks to consumers on a digital platform. Although the odds of success are long, if telephone companies can seek to compete with cable and satellite companies in the distribution business, why shouldn't broadcasters try it, too?
"I think there is a general excitement about the opportunity to leverage millions of dollars we've invested in a digital infrastructure," says Terry Mackin, an executive vice president with New York-based station owner Hearst-Argyle Television. Hearst-Argyle, which owns three NBC affiliates, is one of several major broadcast partners on the Weather Plus channel, along with Post-Newsweek, New York Times Co.'s television arm and A.H. Belo. NBC, which is owned by General Electric Co., says Weather Plus will be available in 15 cities over the next three months, which will allow it to reach 50% of the U.S.
But bringing the digital channel to the other half of the country could be tough. Many local stations, who have been hit just as hard by cable's ascent in the fight for ratings and ad dollars, want to keep their spectrum for themselves rather than partnering with a network.
Creatively, NBC's entry into digital broadcasting is fairly low risk. The station, which is seen on channel 731 on New York's Time Warner Cable, consists simply of a weather map of local and national conditions. The channel has an L-shaped bar on the screen with information on the New York tri-state area. During some parts of the day, there is a weather reporter on camera, but mostly Weather Plus just offers a screen with background music.
There is advertising on Weather Plus, but not enough to guarantee profits for NBC and its affiliate partners anytime soon. For now, the service is being offered free to cable and satellite operators. The partnership, says Brandon Burgess, NBC's executive vice president overseeing the venture, has invested tens of millions of dollars in the channel.
Mr. Burgess says there is a need for the channel because "half the time when you tune into the Weather Channel, you don't get what you hope to get, instead you get a national story or long-form programming."
The Weather Channel, the cable network owned by closely held Landmark Communications, recently has made a push to broaden its audience by launching shows such as "Storm Stories," about, well, big storms. But if viewers want to find out what is going on right outside their door, they often have to wait, since Weather Channel's local updates come only every eight minutes.
Still, the Weather Channel has little reason to worry about its nascent rival. For starters, it already is available in some 90 million homes. Weather Channel chief Patrick Scott also points out that in any market, there are 40 or 50 sources of weather. "Clearly we'll watch it, it would be dumb of us not to," he says of the new Weather Plus. But, he adds, "there is a lot more to this than just aggregating some data -- this is about trust and brand and depth."
NBC is the first network to officially launch a digital service, though Walt Disney Co.'s ABC has an experimental network up and running, called ABC News Now. That channel, which started out as a broadband service, had its digital-television premiere in July during the Democratic convention, and specialized in campaign news, offering coverage that was distinct from what was available on the main network.
Currently, ABC News Now offers a mix of live coverage and segments of material that has already appeared on ABC News. Last week, it carried live the opening of President Bill Clinton's library in Little Rock, Ark. The channel is available to about 6.5 million digital cable subscribers nationwide.
ABC is still contemplating whether to proceed with its digital service. On the one hand, it could be a way for the network to get into the 24-hour news business. But until digital television sets and cable boxes are in a majority of homes, it will be an uphill battle. Bernie Gershon, ABC News's senior vice president and general manger of its digital media group, says that "at this point it is some tire-kicking on our part to see what works and doesn't work."
NBC likely has some tire-kicking of its own in store. While weather is a popular subject, NBC has waded into the digital world with a rather bland first venture. If the network wanted to send a signal to advertisers that it was primed for new business, it might have started out with something that drove up the thermostat a few more notches.
I have heard rumors of a nifty new information network that provides instant, up-to-date weather conditions and forecasts for, well, pretty much every single major city on the whole damn planet.
It's called the Internet and it's increasingly displacing every means of finding out the weather other than looking out the damned window.
More and more homes have it available 24/7 than will ever have antennas to pick up digital broadcasts and / or ever find channel 7 million and 41.
More great innovation from the geniuses who killed Boomtown.
(From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com)
Primetime Tuesday Ratings:
CBS and NBC Split Leadership
Metered Market Ratings for Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2004
Night 20 of the November Sweeps
Household Rating/Share
CBS: 8.8/13
NBC: 8.2/12
ABC: 6.7/10
WB: 5.4/ 8
Fox: 3.7/ 6
UPN: 2.7/ 4
Percent Change From the Year-Ago Night (Tuesday11/25/03):
WB: +42
NBC: +14
CBS: - 4
UPN: - 7
ABC: -13
Fox: -51
Fast Affiliate Ratings
Total Viewers:
CBS: 12.25 million
NBC: 11.21
ABC: 9.82
WB: 6.04
Fox: 5.11
UPN: 2.86
Adults 18-49:
NBC: 4.7/12
ABC: 3.6/10
CBS: 3.6/ 9
Fox: 2.3/ 6
WB: 1.7/ 4
UPN: 1.2/ 3
Yesterday's Winners:
NCIS (CBS)
Samantha: An American Girl Holiday (WB)
The Amazing Race 6 (CBS)
According To Jim (ABC)
Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
Honorable Mention:
The Biggest Loser (NBC)
Rodney (ABC)
Yesterday's Losers:
The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best (Fox)
All of Us (UPN)
Eve (UPN)
Scrubs (NBC)
Ratings Breakdown:
Although yet another victory for CBS in households and total viewers is certainly worth noting, on the forefront last night was original WB made-for movie, Samantha: An American Girl Holiday, at a healthy (and fourth-place) 5.4/ 8 in the overnights, 6.04 million viewers (also No. 4), and a fifth-place 1.7/ 4 among adults 18-49 from 8-10 p.m. Comparably, that was an increase over the year-ago time period occupant (theatrical Never Been Kissed on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2003 -- 3.8/ 6; Viewers: 3.93 million; A18-49: 1.6/ 5) of 42 percent in the overnights, 2.11 million viewers and 6 percent among adults 18-49. Note: total viewers and adults 18-49 from last night are based on the fast affiliate ratings; year-ago levels for Never Been Kissed are based on the final nationals.
Over at CBS, The Amazing Race 6 is a more than ample replacement for canceled drama Clubhouse with an overall No. 1 finish in the overnights (8.1/12), total viewers (11.43 million) and adults 18-49 (4.7/12) from 9-10 p.m. Earlier in the evening, the Eye net's growing NCIS remains a force to reckon with a first-place finish in the overnights (10.8/16) and total viewers (14.99 million), and a second-place 3.4/ 9 among adults 18-49 at 8 p.m.
Since no network is without its problem spots, CBS' veteran Judging Amy looks like it might be time to call it quits with a 7.8/12 in the overnights (#2), 10.34 million viewers (#2) and a third-place 2.7/ 7 among adults 18-49 (#3) at 10 p.m. Comparably, that was a decrease of 22 percent in the overnights, 1.29 million viewers and 4 percent among adults 18-49 from the year-ago telecast (10.5/15; Viewers: 11.63 million; A18-49: 2.8/ 8 on Nov. 25, 2003).
Over at NBC, although a 90-minute edition of The Biggest Loser (#2 overall: 6.7/10; A18-49: #2 overall, 4.2/11 from 8-9:30 p.m. / #3, 7.4/11; A18-49: #1, 4.5/11 in the 9 p.m. half-hour) remains a decent reality hit, lead-out Scrubs (#3: 6.3/ 9; A18-49: #3, 3.6/ 9 at 9:30 p.m.) proves that creativity is not synonymous with a mass audience. Even so, Law & Order: SVU at 10 p.m. remained a solid first with an 11.5/18 in the overnights, 15.20 million viewers and a 6.0/16 among adults 18-49 at 10 p.m.
On ABC, there were two things worth noting in its combination of My Wife and Kids (#2: 6.1/ 9; A18-49: #3, 3.0/ 9), George Lopez (#3: 5.9/ 9; A18-49: #3, 3.3/ 9), According To Jim (#2: 7.7/11; A18-49: #2t, 4.2/11), Rodney (#2: 6.5/10; A18-49: #2, 3.9/10) and the soon-to-conclude NYPD Blue (#3: 6.8/10; A18-49: #2, 3.8/10). The first was growth for According To Jim out of George Lopez of a considerable 31 percent in the overnights and 27 percent among adults 18-49. The second was Rodney moving into the No. 2 spot among adults 18-49 at 9:30 p.m., with retention of 93 percent out of According To Jim in the demo. ABC was wise to renew Rodney for the remainder of the season.
Although week two of Fox drama House was nothing to crow about with a fifth-place finish in the overnights (4.4/ 6), and fourth-place finish in total viewers (6.09 million) and adults 18-49 (2.6/ 7) at 9 p.m., growth of 47 percent in the overnights, 1.95 million viewers and 37 percent among adults 18-49 out of lead-in The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best (#5: 3.0/ 4; Viewers: #5, 4.14 million; A18-49: #4, 1.9/ 5) is worth highlighting.
Last, and least, was UPN's combination of All Of Us (#6: 2.7/ 4; A18-49: #6, 1.1/ 3), Eve (#6: 2.8/ 4; A18-49: #6, 1.1/ 3) and Veronica Mars (#6: 2.7/ 4; A18-49: #6,1.3/ 3). Considering that Veronica Mars was up a considerable 36 percent among adults 18-34 over former time period occupants Rock Me Baby and a repeat of Half and Half on the year-ago night, there is hope for this promising Buffy-esque drama.
Source: Nielsen Media Research data
[/B][/U]National Ratings in Primetime - Week of Nov. 15: [/B][/U]
CBS Dominates By Considerable Margins
In yet another solid victory for the Eye net, CBS' advantage over second-place NBC for the week of Nov. 15 was 26 percent in households, 3.25 million viewers, 10 percent in adults 18-49, and 17 percent among adults 25-54. NBC remained No. 1 among adults 18-34 -- 6 percent above CBS. Although CBS was close to year-ago levels in households and total viewers, year-to-year growth demographically for the network by as much as 30 percent among women 18-34 (3.0/ 9 to 3.9/11) is the story worth telling this week (and season).
Comparably, ABC and Fox were close to Nov. 2003 levels, while NBC, UPN and the WB were all on the downside. Biggest loser: the WB, with erosion of 10 to 17 percent in the below five categories.
What follows are the final national ratings for the week of Nov. 15 (with percent change versus the comparable year-ago period in parentheses) followed by the top-rated programs of the week:
Households:
CBS: 9.1/14 (- 2)
NBC: 7.2/11 (- 8)
ABC: 6.8/11 (- 3)
Fox: 4.4/ 7 (no change)
UPN: 2.8/ 4 (- 7)
WB: 2.5/ 4 (-14)
Total Viewers:
CBS: 14.07 million (- 1)
NBC: 10.82 (- 7)
ABC: 10.54 (- 1)
Fox: 6.84 (+ 1)
UPN: 4.19 (- 6)
WB: 3.83 (-12)
Adults 18-49:
CBS: 4.4/12 (+ 7)
NBC: 4.0/11 (-11)
ABC: 3.9/10 (- 5)
Fox: 2.9/ 8 (- 3)
UPN: 1.7/ 4 (-11)
WB: 1.6/ 4 (-11)
Adults 18-34:
NBC: 3.5/10 (-10)
CBS: 3.3/10 (+22)
ABC: 3.2/10 (- 6)
Fox: 3.0/ 9 (-12)
WB: 1.8/ 5 (-10)
UPN: 1.8/ 5 (-14)
Adults 25-54:
CBS: 5.5/13 (+ 6)
NBC: 4.7/11 (- 8)
ABC: 4.5/11 (no change)
Fox: 3.0/ 7 (+ 3)
UPN: 1.7/ 4 (-11)
WB: 1.5/ 4 (-17)
Source: Nielsen Media Research data
Ratings Box: What's Hot/What's Not
Evening News Rating Update:
Now that Dan Rather is stepping down from his anchor chair at the CBS Evening News, what follows is a season to-date ratings look at the three-network news race. Considering CBS is last with noticeable year-to-year erosion, maybe this is not as big a deal as everyone seems to think. Take a look and not that percent change versus the comparable year-ago period appears in parentheses:
Households:
NBC Nightly News: 7.1/14 (+ 1)
ABC World News Tonight: 6.2/12 (- 6)
CBS Evening News: 5.0/10 (- 9)
Total Viewers:
NBC Nightly News: 10.0 million (+ 2)
ABC World News Tonight: 8.85 million (- 5)
CBS Evening News: 6.97 million (- 9)
Adults 25-54:
NBC Nightly News: 2.7/10 (no change)
ABC World News Tonight: 2.5/ 9 (- 7)
CBS Evening News: 1.9/ 7 (-10)
Source: Nielsen Media Research data
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(From Marc Berman’s Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com)
November Ratings Update:
CBS Dominates
Based on results through Friday, Nov. 19 (16 days into the November sweep), CBS rules by a rock-solid margin, with an advantage to-date over No. 2 NBC of 31 percent in households, 4.01 million viewers, 17 percent in adults 18-49, and 22 percent among adults 25-54. Although an above-average performance for miniseries Category 6: Day of Destruction certainly helped, CBS' strength is based predominantly on regularly scheduled programming. The CSI franchise, Without a Trace, Everybody Loves Raymond, Two and a Half Men, Survivor: Vanuatu, The Amazing Race 6, 60 Minutes, Cold Case, NCIS, King of Queens...you name it and CBS has it.
Elsewhere, minor year-to-year losses for NBC coupled with minor growth for ABC means that the alphabet network has narrowed the gap, while reality populated Fox is close to year-ago levels. Although UPN and the WB are also on par with ratings in Nov. 2003, UPN holds an advantage in three of the below four categories. The exception: adults 18-49, which both networks are tied at with a 1.6/ 4 each.
What follows are updated ratings for the November sweep (with change versus the comparable year-ago period in parentheses):
Households:
CBS: 9.7/15 (- 1)
NBC: 7.4/12 (- 6)
ABC: 6.6/11 (+ 2)
Fox: 4.3/ 7 (- 2)
UPN: 2.6/ 4 (+ 4)
WB: 2.5/ 4 (- 7)
Total Viewers:
CBS: 15.12 million (no change)
NBC: 11.11 (- 5)
ABC: 10.09 (+2)
Fox: 6.75 (- 1)
UPN: 3.90 (+ 3)
WB: 3.80 (- 7)
Adults 18-49:
CBS: 4.9/13 (+14)
NBC: 4.2/11 (- 9)
ABC: 3.8/10 (+ 6)
Fox: 2.9/ 8 (no change)
UPN: 1.6/ 4 (no change)
WB: 1.6/ 4 (no change)
Adults 25-54:
CBS: 6.0/14 (+ 7)
NBC: 4.9/11 (- 6)
ABC: 4.3/10 (+ 2)
Fox: 2.9/ 7 (no change)
UPN: 1.6/ 4 (no change)
WB: 1.5/ 4 (- 6)
Source: Nielsen Media Research data
Back when this thread was beginning, someone asked about ratings for Pax.
I finally found some.
They are not for this past week, (released yesterday) but for two weeks ago (ending Nov.14th.)
CBS 8.5/13
NBC 7.4/12
ABC 7.1/11
Fox 4.1/6
WB 2.7/4
UPN 2.5/4
Pax 0.4/1
In no case did any Pax show get more than a one share.
It's highest rating was as 1.0 for a showing of "Doc".
By night, Pax's numbers were:
Mon 0.1/1
Tue 0.3/1
Wed 0.3/1
Thu 0.6/1
Fri 0.5/1
Sat 0.3/1
Sun 0.8/1
(From Neilsen research and Broadcasting & Cable)
Idol Way Up Down Under
By John Eggerton – Broadcasting & Cable,
Fox must be counting the days until its New Year launch of the next round of American Idol, particularly after news out of Australia about that country's Idol final.
According to FremantleMedia, Network Ten's audience for last weekend's show that crowned Casey Donovan Australia's Idol peaked at 3.47 million.
That number might be enough to get a Hawaii or Dr. Vegas canned in the states, but in Australia, where the total population is only about 20 million, that amounts to a 67.5% share of total viewers and a whopping 74.1% of the key 16-39 demo.
The broadcast was the top-rated of the year for Australia. It is the second installment of Idol in Australia, which is produced by Grundy Television.
American Idol launches its fourth contest Jan. 18, but Fox is looking to start peaking interest with an Idol holiday special tonight featuring past winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, and Fantasia Barrino.
(This is also posted a a stand-alone thread, so I won't put in in Latest News.)
Broadcasters to Fund USDTV
By Linda Moss Multichannel.com
U.S. Digital Television Inc., a low-cost “best-of-television” wireless service, is completing a deal to get a round of funding from several major broadcasters.
“These leading broadcast groups are going to own and control the business of USDTV,” CEO Steve Lindsley said. “This has been my primary objective from day one.”
USDTV’s strategy -- which entails leasing spectrum from local TV stations in order to offer a limited digital lineup of cable networks and broadcasters -- was recently cited by the Federal Communications Commission in its report panning a la carte.
Lindsley was buoyed by that report, which noted that “more choices in program selection,” like the $19.95-per-month offering from USDTV, are appearing through marketplace forces, and not regulation.
Since launching earlier this year, USDTV has tallied 10,000 subscribers in Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Albuquerque, N.M. The company is providing an over-the-air package of 20-30 channels, including one-dozen popular cable networks like ESPN and HDTV signals, for $19.95.
USDTV’s game plan is to lure cable and direct-broadcast satellite subscribers, as well as cable-nevers who don’t want to pay $50 or more per month for a huge battery of cable networks.
For the fans of The Apprentice 2, this late news from NBC (and thefutoncritic.com)
THE APPRENTICE (12/16; 3 HR.)*
Air Date: 12/16/04 (THURSDAY)
Time Slot: 8:00 PM-11:00 PM EST on NBC
Episode Title: "Season Finale Event With Live Reveal!"
THE APPRENTICE --(8:00PM-11:00PM) --(TV-PG)
"Season Finale Event With Live Reveal!"
Decision Time
The final two tasks are underway as the remaining two candidates battle it out to be Donald Trump's next apprentice. But each one faces huge obstacles during their respective task: Trump is directly involved in missteps at both a polo match and an NBA charity game, and a Tony Bennett performance causes a last minute scramble. This all leads up to the final LIVE boardroom showdown where someone will hear the words "You're Hired."
Fast National ratings for Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2004
'NCIS' Powers CBS to Tuesday Win
A week after scoring its best ratings ever, the CBS drama "NCIS" put up another strong number Tuesday, leading the network to a win for the night.
CBS averaged an 8.0 rating/13 share in primetime to finish slightly ahead of NBC's 7.5/12. ABC was third at 6.4/10, and The WB, thanks to its first original movie, came in fourth at 3.9/6. FOX averaged 3.2/5 and UPN 2.0/3.
NBC grabbed a win among adults 18-49 with a 4.7 rating in the ad-friendly demographic. ABC and CBS tied for second at 3.6, and FOX took fourth with a 2.3. The WB's 1.7 was fifth, beating UPN's 1.2.
At 8 p.m., "NCIS," 9.5/15, easily won the hour for CBS over "The Biggest Loser," 6.3/10, on NBC. "My Wife and Kids," 5.7/9, and "George Lopez," 5.6/9, put ABC in third. "Samantha: An American Girl Holiday," based on the stories behind the American Girl dolls, posted a 3.8/6 for The WB. FOX's "Rebel Billionaire" sunk to fifth, while UPN's "All of Us" and "Eve" trailed.
At 9 p.m., CBS held onto the lead with "The Amazing Race," 7.1/11, which just beat the 7.0/11 average of ABC's "According to Jim" and "Rodney." NBC dropped to third with the last half-hour of "The Biggest Loser," 6.8/11, and "Scrubs," 5.3/8. The WB's movie stayed in fourth. "House," 3.9/6, couldn't move FOX out of fifth but did improve substantially on its lead-in. "Veronica Mars" posted a 1.9/3 for UPN.
At 10 p.m., "Law & Order: SVU" (10.1/17) won the hour for NBC with the night's biggest audience. "Judging Amy," 7.4/12, was second for CBS, beating ABC's "NYPD Blue," 6.4/11.
• Ratings information is taken from fast national data. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change.
Cablevision Unit Buying Satellites
By Associated Press
November 24, 2004, 11:47 AM EST
WASHINGTON -- Cablevision Systems Corp. said Wednesday its Rainbow DBS satellite television unit will buy $740 million worth of satellites from defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp.
Lockheed will construct five satellites for Cablevision and provide related equipment, software and training, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The satellites will be delivered over a period from 38 months to 50 months after the deal closes.
Rainbow DBS, which operates the VOOM satellite TV service, expects the cost for the five satellites to be $740 million, subject to certain adjustments and not including launch costs.
Rainbow DBS said existing cash on hand will be sufficient to make all required payments under the contract through the first year, estimated to be $48 million.
Rainbow DBS hasn't identified the funding sources it will use for the payments due after the first year, but the cable TV and entertainment giant Cablevision has said it plans to spin off the unit, which also includes the television channels AMC, The Independent Film Channel, WE: Women's Entertainment and the Mag Rack.
New York Stock Exchange-listed shares of Cablevision, based in Bethpage, N.Y., traded Wednesday morning at $21.73, down 45 cents, or 2 percent.
NYSE-listed Lockheed shares traded at $59.23, up 19 cents, or 0.3 percent.
DirecTV Dumps Trio
By Allison Romano – Broadcasting & Cable
Pop-culture digital network Trio is losing its place on DirecTV Inc., which also means about one-half of its available audience.
As expected, the satellite company plans to pull the NBC Universal-owned channel off its system Dec. 31. Starting Dec. 1, DirecTV will run a crawl on the channel informing viewers of Trio’s fate.
Trio says it is “committed to programming the network for its loyal viewers and cable distribution partners.” A Trio spokesperson added that NBC Universal “continues to evaluate the future of the network in relation to its overall digital strategy.”
Translation: The future looks pretty grim.
DirecTV accounted for more than half of Trio’s 20 million subs. NBC inherited the network–a critical darling–last spring through its acquisition of Vivendi Universal Entertainment and has been evaluating its growth potential.
Network President Lauren Zalaznick, who also heads Bravo, has been an passionate advocate and appealed to NBC Universal Television chief Jeff Zucker and cable head Jeff Gaspin to save the network.
Trouble is, Trio is a low priority in a big NBC Universal Cable portfolio. To make Trio viable, NBC would need to lean on cable and satellite operators to get better distribution deals, but it also has USA Network, Sci Fi Channel, Bravo, CNBC and MSNBC to promote, as well as digital initiatives like a high definition channel and video on demand.
Fred, did the info about the Apprentice say when the next one will start? I'm assuming that NBC is trying to follow the pattern that CBS has with Survivor, i.e. airing Survivor Sept thru Dec and late Jan thru the end of the tv season.
I also have one suggestion for this informative thread. When you use the white lettering for title headings it is very hard to see. Could you use a color is that is easier to see without having to highlight the title? I have the eyes of a 27 yr old b/c I am 27 but it's still hard on the eyes.
Thanks,
Originally posted by AFH
I also have one suggestion for this informative thread. When you use the white lettering for title headings it is very hard to see. Could you use a color is that is easier to see without having to highlight the title? I have the eyes of a 27 yr old b/c I am 27 but it's still hard on the eyes.
Thanks,
Are you using the alternate display scheme? With the blue-grey(standard) forum scheme it looks fine, just a suggestion.
Antonio: I would expect NBC to start Apprentice 3 in February (sweeps) and have it conclude in May sweeps.
I have seen nothing definitive about that, though.
When I get information, I'll post it.
As to the white, it appears far easier to read (for me) than the light blue headlines were.
But if everyone prefers a different color for headlines, I'll be happy to oblige.
Morris Jones
11-24-04, 04:32 PM
Same thing with me. Yes I use the alternate display scheme. We like it better, which is why we use it. :)
Mojo
This is a problem.
I have always used the standard display, but when I switched over to the alternate, things changed dramatically.
Many colors which were crystal clear in the standard are barely readable (white, skyblue).
Others, which are very hard to read in the standard setup (blue and green for example) are great in the alternate version.
Again, I am willing to bow to the majority...I've posted a few new colors in the first few stories in Latest News.
(To be honest, I find the alternate view a lot easier on my eyes, and it woudl be easier to run the thread using the many more colors which seem to work better in alternate.)
But the entire object of this thread is to post items of interest about HD and TV so as many people as possible can enjoy and learn.
well maybe i'm not using the default color scheme. Here is how it looks on my monitor:
http://www.corporation-x.com/howitlooks.jpg
I use the alternate display too because the AVS original is an eye killer.
If there is a neutral headline color that works with both, that'd be really great.
Fred, this thread is an all-time best.
I dint know there was an alternate color. I love it, thanks guys.
fredfa,
Not sure if this goes under cancelled, but the PAX show Doc has its scheduled series finale this Sunday.
Originally posted by rogo
I use the alternate display too because the AVS original is an eye killer.
Interesting, the white background is hard on my eyes, too much bright white spaces, whereas the black background makes it easier to see individual posts and delineate the post text itself from everything else on the page and it just has a softer look, to me anyhow...
Personal choice...
thanks rogo!
f44 -- frankly I have too hard a time finding Pax info, and its ratings are so low it doesn't seem like much of an omission - at least to me.
But since you are interested in Pax, and if its OK with you, feel free to continue posting Pax info here.
Thanks in advance.
On the color scheme -- I'll continue to experiment for a while.
You guys have never been hesitant to give me feed back -- which I (almost always) greatly appreciate, so I'll do my best to come up with something that will at worst be an acceptable compromise.
Also, as a favor to me, if you know people who are interested in television and TV news, please turn them on to the thread.
Page views make the work I put into keeping this site updated worthwhile.
We're now averaging a little better than 1,100 during week days - about half that on weekends.
That's about three times what we were getting a month after I started this thread, so things are looking up.
Any help you can give me to get even more views will be greatly appreciated.
The more (page views) the merrier!
I also have to thank KenH and the other moderators who have allowed me to stray from the HD-only premise of the AVS Programming Forum to include other TV news and commentary I believe is of note.
The moderators' forbearance has been great (and although I try to post as much HD news as I can find, I would assume they get their share of complaints about the non HD material posted here.)
Sorry to ramble.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Originally posted by fredfa
thanks rogo!
f44 --
But since you are interested in Pax, and if its OK with you, feel free to continue posting Pax info here.
Not that interested, just coincendental that i read the thing on Doc when you posted the ratings. So it seems like all their new shows, including that Cold Turkey one, are flopping, right?
mp3trojan
11-24-04, 11:06 PM
Fred,
Where would you go to find ratings for a specific market i.e. Dallas? Just curious as to who's winning the sweeps war between the local news programs. Thanks
f44:
Both "Doc" and "Cold Turkey" did an 0.3/1 the week I saw the Pax ratings (Nov 1-7.)
I'll see if I can find something more recent. But to answer your question -- it seems everything on Pax is failing.
mp3trojan: Does the Dallas News have a TV columnist?
If so, email him or her and ask for local news ratings on a regular basis.
I have no immediate access to local Dallas ratings -- but will see if I can come up with anything for you.
Sometimes a week or so after sweeps Broadcasting & Cable runs ratings for the top 25 markets. If they do in the next few weeks, I'll try to remember to post Dallas for you.
mp3trojan:
I have found a couple of items that may be of interest (until this sweeps ends and hopefully I can get the Nov. Dallas news ratings).
First, here is a PRNewswire piece about ratings for election night in Dallas/Fort Worth:
Dallas-Fort Worth Viewers Vote for NBC 5 on Election Night
DALLAS AND FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- More North Texans
watched NBC 5 / KXAS-TV for 2004 election night coverage than any other single
local or national television news source.
NBC 5 News @ 10pm was #1 with a 11.5 rating/ 16 share and NBC's "Decision
2004" primetime national election coverage finished #1 with a 9.9 rating/
13 share.
Election day began with NBC 5 morning reports being the most watched local
newscasts in Dallas-Fort Worth. Both NBC 5 Today at 5am and 6am led in
viewership with a 2.9 rating/ 15 share and 5.4 rating/ 19 share, respectively.
"The 2004 election was a big story," comments Tom O'Brien, NBC 5 president
and general manager. "While many news organization just report the facts, we
did a great job of providing context for North Texans, conveying insight that
each viewer will find personally relevant. We're serious about our mission,
by covering 'Not just what happens. What matters.'"
NBC 5's dominance over the competition on election night reflects the
continued success of the station in delivering news and information that area
residents find valuable. NBC 5 News @ 10pm has been #1 for eight consecutive
key A.C. Nielsen ratings periods.
NBC 5 / KXAS-TV / nbc5i.com and Telemundo 39 / KXTX-TV are the NBC owned
and operated media centers serving the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
Election Night - November 2, 2004
Dallas - Fort Worth, Texas
TV Household Rating/Share
7-10 p.m. 10-10:30 p.m.
Rating Share Rating Share
KXAS / NBC 5 9.9 13 11.5 16
WFAA / ABC 8.6 12 10.1 14
KDFW / FOX 6.4 9 7.4 10
CNN 4.6 6 7.5 10
FOX News Channel 4.3 6 4.8 7
KTVT / CBS 3.9 5 3.6 5
MSNBC 1.4 2 2.2 3
KERA / PBS (1) 0.7 1 1.8 3
(1) KERA prime is 9-10 p.m. (not 7-10 p.m.) to reflect election
programming
One rating point equals approximately 22,560 households
Source: Nielsen Media Research / Overnight Report 11/2/04 / Dallas-Fort
Worth DMA
and here is a ling to a Columbia Journalism Review article about WFAA TV (almost a year old now.)
http://archives.cjr.org/year/94/1/lonestar.asp
lastly, from mediaweek, what the ratings were back in 2001:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mediaweek/top50/dallas.jsp
Sorry I can't easily find anything more specific (or current) than election night ratings (which, of course, heavily lean toward a station's network affiliation.)
Fred
Improved Numbers Shelter CBS From the Fallout
By BILL CARTER and JACQUES STEINBERG The New York Times November 25, 2004
The face of CBS News has announced his retirement from the anchor chair. The division still anticipates serious fallout from the investigation into the National Guard story that went wrong. Important news employees expect to be disciplined; some may well be fired.
Still, it is hard to wipe the grins off the faces of CBS's top executives.
CBS is doing so well right now with its entertainment programming that the developments in its news division - led by Dan Rather's sudden announcement Tuesday that he will step down sooner than expected from the anchor position after a 24-year run - are being taken entirely in stride.
"Our news division is not hurting us," said Leslie Moonves, the CBS chairman, who is also co-president of Viacom, the network's parent company.
That may not represent a ringing endorsement, but it also does not signal the kind of management displeasure that in the past led to major layoffs, big budget cuts or other batterings of CBS News.
Mr. Moonves was by no means shrugging off the seriousness of what may come out of the report by an independent commission looking into Mr. Rather's "60 Minutes" segment examining President Bush's National Guard record. That broadcast relied on what turned out to be unsubstantiated documents.
Mr. Moonves said that when the commission report is released - it is expected by the middle of December - he fully expects it to be a tough day for CBS. But he has many reasons not to be unsettled by a tough day here or there - hundreds of millions of reasons, in fact.
That is the kind of profit increase, in dollars, that the network expects to collect as a result of the best competitive performance by its prime-time entertainment in a generation.
Moreover, CBS - long identified as the gray-haired network - is in position to record a significant breakthrough with younger audiences once the complete results of the November ratings sweeps are in. (Sweeps are special ratings periods that advertisers use to buy commercial time for the next quarter of the year.)
For the first time since 1987, when Nielsen Media Research began measuring the age composition of audiences on a daily basis, CBS is expected to win the sweeps competition in every important ratings category: total viewers, viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, even viewers between the ages of 18 and 49.
The latter group, considered the most valuable to advertisers, has always been CBS's nemesis. (In the past, CBS has had to endure jokes about its viewers being less a hip audience than a hip-replacement audience.) The 18-to-49 group has long been the demographic area the other three broadcast networks use as their only measure of success.
Now CBS is comfortably winning there. As of this week, CBS had a 4.6 rating in the November sweep with that group, to NBC's 4.1, ABC's 3.9 and Fox's 2.9 rating. (Each ratings point in that group represents about 1.2 million people.)
CBS is even beating NBC in the 18-to-49 group on Thursday nights, the biggest advertising night of the week and formerly NBC's "must-see TV" stronghold.
David F. Poltrack, the executive vice president of research for CBS, said the network's share of what he called "the salable audience," which spans both the 18-to-49 demographic and the 25-to-54 age group, had increased by more than two percentage points this television season. That should transfer to more than $200 million in additional advertising revenue for CBS, Mr. Poltrack said.
Far from wringing its hands about what is happening in the news division, where Andrew Heyward has been president since 1996, CBS is rubbing its hands at the prospect of cashing in on its expanding success.
"The network," Mr. Moonves said, "has never been healthier."
Mr. Moonves included the news division in that assessment, at least as far as profits go. While Mr. Rather's newscast has fallen to a distant third in the ratings competition among the network evening newscasts, Mr. Moonves said the program remained profitable. He also said "60 Minutes," CBS's twice-weekly newsmagazine program, was continuing to generate strong profit numbers.
Best of all, he said, has been the recent ratings increases for CBS News' morning program, "The Early Show," which Mr. Moonves said is up 25 to 30 percent in profits this year despite remaining a distant also-ran to NBC's powerhouse program, "Today," and behind ABC's "Good Morning America."
"Look, it's not the 'Today' show," he said. "NBC makes more money as a network than us because 'Today' makes so much money." Some estimates have put the annual profit of "Today" at $250 million.
But a third-place news program that makes money is no disaster, Mr. Moonves said. "Do we want to do better than third? Of course. But it's really not hurting us."
Even CBS's affiliated stations are so happy with the network's overall performance that few are still complaining about the controversy surrounding Mr. Rather.
"The 6:30 network news is important to them because it leads into their 7 p.m. access shows," Mr. Moonves said, referring to syndicated programs like "Entertainment Tonight," which are significant profit centers for local television stations. "But the affiliates are very supportive of what we've been able to do."
Alan Bell, president and chief executive of Freedom Communications, which owns five CBS affiliates in cities like Albany; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and West Palm Beach, Fla., said: "It's a fabulously well-managed company, which is more than I can say about other past eras of CBS."
He called the issues surrounding Mr. Rather's decision to retire a "delicate situation," adding that "I don't think any of us who have to manage people and events in a fishbowl relish the role they played."
But he expressed confidence that CBS, under Mr. Moonves, will find answers to its problems in its news division.
"Let me make it real simple," Mr. Bell said. "The success you're seeing CBS achieve right now is a reflection of the talents and capacities of Leslie Moonves. He ultimately will figure out how to help the news division reach the same level of performance as the rest of CBS."
A couple of show notes
thefutoncritic.com
C.S.I.: NEW YORK (CBS) - Spike TV has scored the off-network rights to the latest "C.S.I." spin-off in a record deal with syndie distributor King World vauled at $1.9 million per episode. Said deal marks the largest off-network sale for a drama series in television history, second only to Spike's deal for the parent series "C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation." The record setting deal comes despite not much of a bidding war for the series as Viacom is said to have been intent on keeping the series under its corporate umbrella. While full details weren't released, "New York" will likely begin its run on Spike TV with a once-a-week play come fall 2006 with an expansion to five-nights-a-week come fall 2008.
DYNASTY: THE MAKING OF A GUILTY PLEASURE (A.K.A. DYNASTY: BEHIND THE SCENES) (ABC) - The Alphabet has slated its "behind-the-scenes" telefilm about the 1981-1989 ABC soap for Sunday, January 2 at 9:00/8:00c. Among the project's principal cast are Melora Hardin as Linda Evans, Bart John as John Forsythe, Alice Krige as Joan Collins, Pamela Reed as Esther Shapiro, Ritchie Singer as Richard Shapiro and John Terry as Vince Peterson. Here's how the Alphabet's press materials describe the project: "From 1981-1989, ABC broadcast the phenomenally-successful primetime drama serial, Dynasty, a series that reflected the Reagan years of excess and glamour. Now ABC takes viewers behind-the-scenes with a satirical, yet poignant, look at the show that allowed people to forget about their ordinary lives and drink in the champagne and caviar existence of the Carrington's - a TV family dripping in jewels but short on basic morality. Dynasty was not an instant hit series when Esther and Richard Shapiro first created the show, but it eventually dazzled audiences around the world with one of TV history's most notoriously wicked female characters, Alexis Carrington; revolutionized the term 'cat fight' as Alexis and Krystle went at it through a lily pond and mud puddle; and inspired millions of women to beef up their shoulder pads. With success came bigger salary demands from the stars and an over-inflated budget, making it one of the most expensive shows on television at that time. Dynasty: Behind The Scenes tells of the sometimes desperate, and frequently hilarious, efforts to keep the show at the top of the ratings. No plotline was too outrageous or inconceivable for the show that left an indelible imprint on the '80s."
It’s Rate-Hike Season
By Linda Haugsted Multichannel.com
Cable rate increase notifications are as predictable as holiday cards in the mail in November and December, and cable’s competitors are already poised to take advantage of any consumer discontent.
Operators said they are feeling the full impact of programming-price and fuel increases. Representatives also said they invested in upgrades and beefed up their customer service and channel lineups -- all factors that justify coming rate hikes.
An online check of local news coverage shows that notices so far warn of basic-cable-rate increases ranging from 9.5% in locations such as Lansing, Mich. (Comcast Corp.), and Pine Level, N.C. (Time Warner Cable), to 2.9 % in Holland, Mich. (Comcast).
A Time Warner spokesman said rate hikes are set division by division. Hikes are announced and rolled out according to the local billing cycles.
Time Warner divisions in North Carolina and Ohio have already begun sending notices, according to press coverage. There cable rates will escalate by 5.5%. By comparison, the cost of living increased about 2.5% in 2004.
Companies are contextualizing the rate increases. Comcast plans no hikes for its 6.5 million high-speed-data customers or its 1.2 million telephony customers, spokeswoman Jenny Moyer said. The company’s planned 2005 increase will be about 3% averaged across all products, she added.
The rate hike will help to pay for the hundreds of hours of new linear and video-on-demand programming the company has added and will launch, such as a planned children’s channel set for next year.
Comcast has also taken significant steps across the country to expand service hours, to put more technicians in the field and to offer consumers shorter service windows. The company continues to upgrade its plant to voice-over-Internet-protocol readiness, she added, and 95% of the MSO’s plant will be able to provide telephony in 2005.
Cablevision Systems Corp. has announced that it will increase rates an average of 2.8% in its systems. The company noted that charges for phone and Internet service would remain unchanged for the second year in a row.
One company that is not currently in rate-hike mode is Adelphia Communications Corp. Spokeswoman Erica Stull said the company is changing its strategy of spreading hikes throughout the year around the country to a uniform increase date. That date has yet to be set, however.
Several companies declined to state the amount of their planned rate increases.
Direct-broadcast satellite competitors are already touting coming cable-rate hikes in an effort to capture consumers who are angry over another cost increase.
DirecTV Inc. is running commercials attributing nothing but continually higher costs and bad service to digital cable.
And EchoStar Communications Corp. is being even more aggressive. It has invited local reporters across the country to call the company as soon as writers receive notice of a cable-rate hike.
EchoStar vowed to provide interviews with angry local cable customers who have switched to its Dish Network. The company will also put writers in touch with local retailers, provide Federal Communications Commission reports dunning rate hikes and provide anti-cable analysts’ reports.
D'Onofrio returns to 'Law & Order':CI
By ARMY ARCHERD Daily Variety
HOLLYWOOD -- "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," which was shut down for six shooting days due to Vincent D'Onofrio's hospitalization for exhaustion, was back onstage Tuesday with D'Onofrio (Detective Robert Goren) on hand.
I spoke to him in his dressing room via phone. He sounded fine and assured me that he was indeed OK. He insisted the cause of his absence was strictly "exhaustion."
"I guess I'm a perfectionist," he noted. "And the only thing that would stop me (from working) was falling down -- and that's what happened."
I asked if his doctors had recommended any changes. "We went over my lifestyle," he admitted, "and we all decided -- I shouldn't smoke. My daughter Leila is most influential in trying to get me to stop smoking."
He added, "I have to get more rest. I have been working on a short movie, 'Five Minutes, Mr. Welles,' a fictitious event that happened during the filming of 'The Third Man.' I got interested in it when I was playing (Welles) in 'Ed Wood.' "
D'Onofrio hopes to take the film to Cannes. He wrote it with Will Conroy, with whom he's also writing a Western, "Mac Dog Williams." "Thumbsucker," in which he stars, is also headed to Cannes, he says.
I asked if he had any plans to depart the series after the fifth season. "I'm here as long as Dick (Wolf) thinks I should be. But I can't get myself that exhausted again. I can't let that happen again."
He's in 30-35 scenes of every show and, despite the long hours, he allowed, "It's not digging ditches."
waltinvt
11-25-04, 09:18 AM
The red headlines read much better - for me anyway.
Thanks Fred
WaltinVt
mp3trojan
11-25-04, 10:05 AM
Thanks Fred for the efforts. I tried to do this during the may sweeps and came up mostly dry. I look forward to you future post. Thanks again
Wednesday's ratings have been posted.
Yes I use the "alternative" white AVS look. As Mark said it is much better on the eyes. The red is much better. Fred this thread is a good depature from the typical hd stuff and I'm glad the mods have given you some room to provide the forum with general television news as well as some hd related stuff. I like reading the other hd threads, but this thread has gotten better b/c it stays interesting and relevant to what is happening in the television industry. Everyone enjoy your Thankgiving dinnner if you haven't already done so. 2 more hours and I can some turkey and enjoy some wine with friends.
Thanks Fred
Top 20 Prime Time Programs, Season-To-Date
Through Nov. 21
# PROGRAM NETWORK DAY TIME HOUSEHOLDRATINGS/SHARE
1 CSI HD CBS Thu 9:00PM 18.2/27.0
2 CSI: MIAMI HD CBS Mon 10:00PM 13.6/21.0
2 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES HD ABC Sun 9:00PM 13.6/20.0
4 WITHOUT A TRACE HD CBS Thu 10:01PM 13.4/21.0
5 SURVIVOR: VANUATU CBS Thu 8:00PM 11.7/18.0
6 E.R. HD NBC Thu 9:59PM 11.5/18.0
7 EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND HD CBS Mon 9:00PM 11.2/16.0
8 NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL HD ABC Mon 9:07PM 11.1/18.0
9 LOST HD ABC Wed 8:00PM 10.9/17.0
10 TWO AND A HALF MEN HD CBS Mon 9:31PM 10.8/16.0
11 CSI: NY HD CBS Wed 10:00PM 10.7/17.0
12 COLD CASE HD CBS Sun VAR 10.5/16.0
13 60 MINUTES CBS Sun 7:00PM 10.1/17.0
13 APPRENTICE 2 NBC Thu 9:00PM 10.1/15.0
15 LAW AND ORDER:SVU HD NBC Tue 10:00PM 9.4/15.0
15 NCIS HD CBS Tue 8:00PM 9.4/15.0
17 EXTREME MAKEOVER:HM ED-8P ABC Sun 8:00PM 9.3/14.0
18 LAW AND ORDER HD NBC Wed 10:00PM 9.1/15.0
19 JOEY HD NBC Thu 8:00PM 8.9/14.0
20 NFL MONDAY SHOWCASE HD ABC Mon 9:00PM 8.6/13.0
20 WILL & GRACE NBC Thu 8:30PM 8.6/13.0
NASCAR’S TV Future
Despite Success, Nascar Faces Yellow Flags on Its TV Future
By RICHARD SANDOMIR The New York Times November 26, 2004
When NBC and Fox, with their cable television partners, signed deals promising Nascar $400 million annually, the points system to win the Winston Cup had been in place since 1975 and the stock-car racing circuit's Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, started the season.
Much has changed since then. Winston was replaced this year by Nextel, and the points system was overhauled to create a playoff during the final 10 races of the season.
On Sunday, Greg Biffle won the Ford 400, and Kurt Busch won the Nextel Cup by 8 points, the closest points finish in the circuit's history. Busch's triumph - which was not certain until the final lap - vindicated Nascar's change to the playoff as a reaction to Matt Kenseth's championship last year, which was presumed for months.
It also registered in the ratings. Although the first three races of the playoff, two on TNT and on NBC, showed decreases, the last seven on NBC surged. The Ford 500 earned a 6.2 rating (with 9.9 million viewers), up 38 percent from last year. The 10-race Chase showed a 12 percent ratings increase, to a 4.6, with 7.3 million viewers.
The playoff, of course, was not anticipated when the current contracts began in 2001.
Back then, the idea in selling the first half of the season to Fox and FX, and the second half to NBC and TNT, was to create order out of Nascar's chaotic TV universe, and to expand viewership by showing more races on broadcast TV.
"The TV partners expected ongoing changes," said Dick Glover, vice president for broadcasting for Nascar. "Did anyone expect anything of the magnitude of what the Chase would mean? No."
The Chase amounted to an unexpected bonus for NBC, which did not have to pay an extra fee for the shift to the playoff. NBC, with TNT, televises the second half of the Nascar season largely because Fox carries the National Football League. The combined NBC-TNT rating is about 25 percent lower than Fox's.
Anything that potentially changes the value of a television property will enter into discussions over a new contract.
Both packages expire after the 2006 season, although Nascar holds an option to extend the Fox deal for two more years. But if there is more money to be gotten, Nascar is not likely to trigger that option.
Ken Schanzer, the president of NBC Universal Sports, called the playoff a "terrific innovation that worked as well as you could hope for," but he would not say how much it would add to the cost of the next contract.
"At the end of the things," he said, "we'll discuss the value, and they will make an assessment if they'll continue with us or someone else."
Contract talks are expected to start late next year.
One complication may be the financial losses the networks have sustained; in 2002, Fox's parent company, News Corp., wrote off $297 million from the value of the Nascar deal, saying that it could not meet its revenue projections because of an advertising recession worsened by the 9/11 attacks. Conditions have improved since.
David Hill, chairman of the Fox Sports Television Group, is adding another element of doubt, or at least spinning the financial talks the networks' way.
While praising Nascar's innovations and its decision to shift races from cable to a broader broadcast TV audience, he said the attention and success of the Chase for the Nextel Cup "detracts value from the Daytona 500," which NBC and Fox carry in alternate years. "By creating, in effect, a postseason, the value of the Daytona 500 will decline."
He added, "Life is like a seesaw, and the Daytona is at the wrong end of the season."
The Daytona 500 is, by far, the highest-rated race on the Nextel series. Its 10.6 rating, with 17.8 million viewers, this past February on NBC was 38 percent better than the Subway 400 at Rockingham, N.C., last February, the second-highest rated race, which was carried by Fox.
Since Fox and NBC began to carry the Daytona race, it has attracted more viewers than ever.
"We look at the Daytona 500 as unique and special," Glover said. "All 43 competitors gear up for it, point toward it, and everybody is tied going in.
"I'm going to call David and make a friendly wager on how well the Daytona 500 will do next year. I feel strongly that with all the excitement of the last 10 races, there will be a carryover to the Daytona 500," which Fox will be showing.
Gentlemen, start your calculators.
Here are some strongly-held views of Robert Bianco of USA Today -- a TV critic who actually likes prime time television.
You won’t agree with everything he says, but he is provocative and I thought you might enjoy reading his opinions – and the reasons he uses to back them up.
Watch it, tape it, enjoy it
By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY
Times are good for TV fans.
After a few dismal seasons in which the networks seemed to concentrate on one-upping one another’s tasteless reality ideas, TV has rediscovered the allure of scripted hits.
The out-of-the-gate success of ABC's Lost and Desperate Housewives has proved there's still a healthy appetite not simply for dramas, but for dramas whose world extends beyond police stations, courtrooms and forensic labs.
Nor are Lost and Housewives the only good news this fall. A host of strong hours arrived this season, led by Fox's House, WB's Jack & Bobby and UPN's Veronica Mars. We've seen an old favorite, Gilmore Girls, bounce back after a bumpy year and some newer shows come into their own — such as Without a Trace, Two and a Half Men, CSI: Miami, Arrested Development, Cold Case and Joan of Arcadia.
That's a lot to watch, and we're still awaiting the return of two of TV's best series, 24 and Alias, in January.
But time's a problem. As is so often the case, too many of the good shows compete in the same time slots — a problem that will be compounded when the best of the cable series return: FX's Rescue Me and Nip/Tuck and HBO's Deadwood.
How can a time-pressed viewer cut through the clutter? An hour-by-hour prime-time guide to what to watch and, when necessary, what to tape, follows (all times ET/PT):
SUNDAY
7 p.m.
King of the Hill/Malcolm in the Middle (Fox); tape 60 Minutes (CBS) Reverse the order if you're in a serious mood, or if the Fox football game runs over (as it usually does), because Fox doesn't push back its schedule. That means on a lot of fall nights we miss King entirely and land in the middle of Malcolm. That's a shame, because Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston are worth a full half-hour on their own.
8 p.m.
The Simpsons/Arrested Development (Fox); tape Cold Case (CBS) Let's get this over with upfront: After 16 years, The Simpsons is showing its age. Too many of the jokes are either variations on things we've heard before or twists we haven't heard because they don't really fit the characters. Well, too bad. Even diminished, The Simpsons is a national treasure.
Plus, this season we have an added reason to root for The Simpsons: It provides the lead-in for the best sitcom on TV, Arrested Development. Brilliantly original in its writing and its casting, Arrested is a family sitcom as seen through the filter of reality TV. The joy of Arrested isn't that every line is hilarious, though many are. It's that nearly every joke is unexpected, from a crude throw-away about a yacht called "The Seaward" to Jessica Walter's gleefully goofy scream every time her private eye shows up in disguise.
Though Arrested may have Emmys, Cold Case has the ratings. Another variant on the CSI theme, Case is less consistent than Without a Trace, but it does share Trace's ability to trigger an emotional response. Plus it's less graphic than CSI, because the corpses aren't just cold; they're old.
9 p.m.
Desperate Housewives (ABC) Housewives isn't just the show of the night; it's the show of the season — the series that got people talking about scripted series again. I don't want to oversell this mystery/sitcom/soap: Housewives isn't The Sopranos, nor does it claim to be. It's just an incredibly entertaining, refreshingly witty blend of Twin Peaks, Knots Landing and Designing Women —fast moving, brightly colored and gloriously unafraid to be out-there. Any show this instantly, hugely popular sparks an equally instant backlash, so please take note. The title isn't Normal Housewives, nor is it All Housewives Are Desperate.
This is a series about four very specific women who are unhappy with their lives — some because they didn't get what they wanted, some because they did. Of course all women aren't like that. But if you don't know any women like that, you need to get out more. Just wait until the show's over.
10 p.m.
Boston Legal (ABC) Let's end the week with one of the season's most pleasant surprises, a blissfully bizarre Practice spinoff from David E. Kelley. I was no great fan of the characters played by James Spader and William Shatner on The Practice. But transferred into their own playground, they're amusing in a larger-than-life, guard-the-scenery kind of way.
MONDAY
8 p.m.
7th Heaven (WB) You know how some slots have too many good choices? Here we have a time slot with no compelling choice. For most adults, 7th Heaven's sap-factor remains a deterrent. Even so, it's one of the few dramas families can watch without parents worrying they'll have to explain why some naked woman just jumped into the arms of a football player.
9 p.m.
Las Vegas (NBC) Come January, the choice will be 24, assuming Fox sticks with its plan and moves the show into this time slot. Until then, all you need is something to tide you over until Two and a Half Men begins at 9:30, and on most weeks, Las Vegas is your best bet. It's not a great show or a huge hit, but when it's on its game, Las Vegas works quite well as high-gloss, low-thought entertainment — the kind of show you don't have to feel bad about catching or missing.
9:30 p.m.
Two and a Half Men (CBS) Some day, the sitcom slump is bound to end. Until then, I can think of only four comedies worth catching every week: Arrested Development, Scrubs, Less Than Perfect and Two and a Half Men. In its second season, Men has grown even funnier and more confident. While still based on the effervescent comic rapport between stars Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer, the show has expanded its scope to include its supporting cast, particularly Holland Taylor and Conchata Ferrell. It is a shame Men has to follow CBS' anti-maternal Monday comedy pattern, which requires all grown men to hate their mothers. But at least the show has explored the issue, and Taylor's mom is more than capable of defending herself.
10 p.m.
CSI: Miami (CBS) Though this spinoff has done much to distinguish itself from the CSI mother ship, you can sum up the most important difference in two words: David Caruso. Miami has provided a welcome safe harbor for this excellent actor, and his continued presence here is one of TV's happiest developments. The show also has a strong supporting cast, led by Emily Procter, Khandi Alexander and recent addition Jonathan Togo, and has done a good job adapting CSI's plot-driven procedural template to a new climate.
TUESDAY
8 p.m.
Gilmore Girls (WB) Few things are more pleasant than watching an old favorite return to form. After treading water last season, Gilmore has rediscovered the virtue of plot, linking Lorelai with Luke and letting Rory's adulterous dalliance with Dean trigger Lorelai's maternal instincts. And while I'm not a huge fan of Emily and Richard's separation, the story did give Kelly Bishop an Emmy-worthy scene, as she returned from a seemingly perfect date and broke down, alone, in tears.
9 p.m.
House (Fox); tape The Amazing Race (CBS) Actually, you'd better have more than one VCR handy. You're also going to need a tape for UPN's Veronica Mars, a fine successor to the Buffy teen heroine tradition, and for Scrubs, which NBC has once again marooned in the middle of a mismatched schedule.
If you have only one recorder, however, set it for The Amazing Race. Though it's just begun this season's run, Race has already re-established itself as the best of the reality shows, despite an overabundance of models and the instant overexposure of Jonathan, who may be the most obnoxious racer ever.
Yet as much as I love Race, the class act in this time slot is Fox's medical mystery House. Hugh Laurie is playing one of the year's best and most novel characters: a crotchety, difficult, damaged doctor who is fascinated by disease and repelled by people. And yet so strong is Laurie's performance, and so great are his gifts as an actor and comic, that he makes this potentially repellent man appealing — and oddly enough, even sexy. Who would have guessed?
10 p.m.
NYPD Blue (ABC) In terms of novelty, and maybe even quality, Gilmore or House might be better choices for the night's top show. But nostalgia and well-earned regard for a soon-to-be-departed television classic tip the scales toward Blue. Clearly, you can sense that the show is winding down.
Certainly Andy — played by the incomparable Dennis Franz — can see the writing on the wall: Times and police work have changed, and his new bean-counter boss has no use for him. (And if you think the writers are taking a sly stab at ABC, you're no doubt right.) But there's still life left in Andy and in his relationship with Clark (the underrated Mark-Paul Gosselaar). And the show is still able to tug at your heart, as it did with Bobby Simone's ghostly return. Now wouldn't it be nice to see John Kelly drop by, just once before we go?
WEDNESDAY
8 p.m.
Lost (ABC); tape America's Next Top Model (UPN) It was obvious that Lost was one of the year's best pilots; the question was how well it would fare as a series. The answer thus far is "terrifically." J.J. Abrams and a top-rate team of writers have worked miracles with this fantasy island premise, smoothly flying between past and present, and from sweeping adventure to intricate character development. No one is quite who he or she seems to be, and no secret is completely revealed. I don't know where they're going with Lost, but I know I want to go along for the ride.
Compared to Lost, Top Model offers more modest pleasures, but it's a pleasure to watch nonetheless. Sure, it helps that the girls are beautiful and that they're competing for a prize that is both attainable and worth winning (unlike, say, The Bachelor). But the secret to Model's success is host/den mother Tyra Banks' refusal to let the girls skate by on their looks. She imparts lessons and expects them to be learned, and rare among reality bosses, she punishes bad behavior rather than rewarding it. I've never thought all that much of models, but Banks has won me over.
9 p.m.
Jack & Bobby (WB); tape West Wing (NBC) The first choice in this time slot is easy. Despite the gimmicky intrusion of its future-cast narration, Jack & Bobby is an incredibly promising family drama — one that boasts some of the season's strongest performances.
The tough choice is what to tape, West Wing or UPN's Kevin Hill. Of the two, Kevin Hill got off to the stronger start, but later episodes have faltered, relying too much on Taye Diggs' personal appeal and not enough on plot. Plus, like so many UPN series, Kevin lacks the visual sheen you expect from network TV: You can't help feeling they're cutting corners on everything from the lights to the sets to the costumes.
Which leaves us with West Wing. It's a shell of what it once was, and the cynical way NBC is rushing the administration out the door isn't helping matters. And heaven knows, those season-opening Middle East summit episodes were so heavy-handed, you could almost feel them slapping you across the face. Yet if you can look past C.J.'s unfortunate stint as the newly crowned Queen of Foreign Policy, the show has definitely improved over the past few weeks. When push comes to shove, Wing still has one of the best casts on TV, even if they are no longer working with a comparably talented writer. So go with Jack and Wing —at least until ABC's Alias arrives in January.
10 p.m.
CSI: NY (CBS) While CSI has the edge here, the show's hold on this time period is increasingly tenuous. Where the original CSI is cherished for its flashes of dark humor, NY is just dark. It's like they think they can build an entire series around mood lighting. Worse yet, the plots have been unrelentingly grim and sick (with the nadir a shared story between a mass murderer and a wannabe amputee). And while Gary Sinise is a fine actor, neither he nor anyone else has been given anything interesting to play. There's nothing wrong here that tweaking can't fix, but CBS would be wise to get to it. After all, NBC's Law & Order is just a prosecutorial cast change away from being an acceptable alternative.
THURSDAY
8 p.m.
The O.C. (Fox); tape Joey (NBC) Remember when this was the most hotly contested time slot on TV? Now CBS' Survivor wins the ratings race with ease — and Fox's soap-on-speed The O.C. wins the must-see contest just as easily. Endearingly off-kilter and yet emotionally on-target, The O.C. welcomes new and regular viewers alike: On any given week, the show's likely to be launching a whole new story.
Normally, the series to tape would have been Survivor, but bad luck and worst casting have turned this battle between dumb men and dreary women into a South Pacific soporific. Things may improve as the group dynamic changes, but it's still hard to imagine anyone caring much who wins.
That brings us to the season's most crushing disappointment, Joey, which has squandered the promise of its pilot along with our affection for Matt LeBlanc. For weeks, the show has made the same mistakes as the equally pointless (but at least still amusing) Will & Grace: The characters live in some hermetically sealed alternate universe where nothing they do or say matters. What's more, Joey has taken a beloved, well-defined character and made him indecipherably fuzzy — one week he's smart enough to trick another actor out of his sick bed; the next, he's so stupid he gets tricked into barking at an audition.
So why tape it? Because the writers have finally given Joey a job, a sign that they realize his world needs to expand beyond his sister and his apartment. I hope it's not too late.
9 p.m.
CSI (CBS) It's amazing, really. After two spinoffs, TV's trendsetting procedural is not only as popular as ever, it's as good as ever, maybe better. Competition from its offspring seems to have inspired CSI to take new risks, shaking up the office by sending some of the staff to the day shift and shaking up the formula by delving more into its characters' personal lives.
With all its changes, CSI has not lost sight of what made it so popular in the first place: intricate mysteries, lightened with touches of humor and gussied up with high-tech anatomical tours. And the cases have been particularly strong this fall, from the return of the blue-paint serial killer to a twist-filled tour of the transsexual community. I wish the show would cut back on the near-ritual abuse of women, but that complaint can be levied at almost every cop show.
10 p.m.
Without a Trace (CBS) As good as CSI has been this season, Without a Trace, the missing-persons drama it inspired, has been even better. To be fair, when it comes to drawing us into its stories, Trace does have a built-in advantage: There's always a chance its victims are still alive. Even so, what's amazing about Trace is how efficiently the show is able to hook you into the plight of its weekly lost lamb. Nor do the writers stop there: A recent episode about a missing single mother used her disappearance as a jumping-off point for an exploration of the problems facing the working poor. Throw in a rock-solid cast, led by one of America's top actors, Anthony LaPaglia, and you can see why Trace has taken over this time slot from a flagging ER.
Should you tape ER anyway? That depends. Generally the answer is "yes" if the plot focuses on the women, "no" if it focuses on the men.
FRIDAY
8 p.m.
Joan of Arcadia (CBS) Wrapped within this lyrical ode to faith and metaphysics lies TV's finest family drama. To some fans' dismay, that family has gone through a hard stretch this season: a lawsuit triggered by the accident that crippled Kevin, a new boss for Will, the death of one of Joan's friends. Better days seem to lie ahead, but the show's well-delivered message was well worth hearing: Life isn't easy, even with God's help.
9 p.m.
Hope & Faith/Less Than Perfect (ABC) In today's sitcom climate, beggars can't be choosers. So no, Hope is hardly the ideal companion for the much-better Perfect, but it will have to do. And as long as you're braced to expect very broad, very basic comedy, Hope can deliver — though it would do so more reliably if star Kelly Ripa would just learn to pull back a little.
It's a small screen, but we can still see you; you don't have to mug to the rafters.
There's nothing wrong with Perfect's star: Like her character, Sara Rue becomes more assured and more delightful each week. True, the show's humor is just as silly and broad as Hope's, but the plots are generally more clever and the jokes are delivered by a much stronger cast. Indeed, this season the entire ensemble — Rue, Sherri Shepherd, Andrea Parker, Zachary Levi, Patrick Warburton, Will Sasso, Eric Roberts and Andy Dick — has hit its stride. Now if we could only get a few more viewers to stride along with them.
10 p.m.
Medical Investigation (NBC) Given its cast, led by Boomtown standout Neal McDonough, this CSI/ER blend really should be much better than it is. Like Mission: Impossible medics, this team of medical investigators flies to a new trouble spot every week — which may be why the show seems to have so much trouble finding its center. The cast alone is enough to make MI a decent way to kick off the weekend, but it's also the reason you keep wanting something more.
SATURDAY
Take the night off. You've earned it.
Interesting article, but you should put Scrubs in red.
We all have our favorites TV shows -- of the past and prsent, and now many of them are selling millions of copies in DVD collections.
Here is a list (not guaranteed to be complete) of some of the upcoming DVD releases of TV shows.
Upcoming DVD Releases of TV Shows
Coming November 30
'Tru Calling - The Complete First Season'
"Northern Exposure: The Second Season"
Coming December 7
"Carnivale: The First Season,"
“24” Season Three
'Gilmore Girls - The Complete Second Season'
'M*A*S*H - Season Seven (Collector's Edition)'
'Crusade - The Complete Series'
'Star Trek Voyager - The Complete Sixth Season'
Coming December 14
'Everybody Loves Raymond - The Complete Second Season'
'Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids - The Ultimate Collection'
'Newlyweds - Nick & Jessica - The First Season'
'Reba - Season 1'
'Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete Third Season'
'Quantum Leap - The Complete Second Season'
Coming December 21
'The 4400 - The Complete First Season'
'The Simpsons - The Complete Fifth Season'
'Star Trek Voyager - The Complete Seventh Season'
Coming December 28
'King of the Hill - The Complete Third Season'
'Sex and the City - Season Six, Part 2'
Coming January 4
'Las Vegas - Season One Uncut & Uncensored'
'Millennium - The Complete Second Season'
'C.S.I. Miami - The Complete Second Season'
'God, the Devil and Bob - The Complete Series'
Coming January 11
'Oz - The Complete Fourth Season'
'Monk - Season Two'
'Gilligan's Island - The Complete Second Season'
'Hunter - Season One'
Coming January 18
'Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Third Season'
'Kung Fu - The Complete Second Season'
Coming January 25
'Coupling - The Complete Fourth Season'
'Homicide Life on the Street - The Complete Season 6'
'MacGyver - The Complete First Season'
'Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman - The Complete Season Five'
'One Tree Hill - The Complete First Season'
'The Dukes of Hazzard - The Complete Second Season'
'Renegade - Season One'
'Soap - The Complete Third Season'
'Married... with Children - The Complete Third Season'
Coming February 1
'Charmed - The Complete First Season'
'Wonderfalls - The Complete Series'
'Sealab 2021 - Season 2'
'Cheers - The Complete Fourth Season'
Coming February 8
'Miami Vice - Season One'
'Highlander The Series - Season 6'
'Murphy Brown - The Complete First Season'
'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air - The Complete First Season'
'Deadwood - The Complete First Season'
'Night Court - The Complete First Season'
Coming February 15
'Angel - Season Five'
Coming February 22
'The Shield - The Complete Third Season'
Coming March 8
'Felicity - Senior Year Collection (The Complete Fourth Season)'
Originally posted by fredfa
Here are some strongly-held views of Robert Bianco of USA Today -- a TV critic who actually likes prime time television.
You won’t agree with everything he says, but he is provocative and I thought you might enjoy reading his opinions – and the reasons he uses to back them up.
Watch it, tape it, enjoy it
By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY
It is interesting, it follows my preferences to a degree, where it seems to vary quite a bit is determined by whether I can get the Fox programs in HD, which I cannot, and whether the program runs repeats, such as L&O and Without A Trace, whereas ER and NYPD have not. Plus, I do not have a method to Tivo anything yet but that will probably change because I'm definitely going to have some conflicts with 24 and Alias when they return. Plus, I rarely ever watch anything that is not in HD.
It would be interesting to have an AVS Forum ratings/poll to see what members watch and how it stacks up against Nielsen's.
It would be interesting, but considering how many members who say that network TV is of no use to them, I am not sure it would prove anything!
(But it might be fun, nonetheless.)
One of my favorite TiVo functions is the ability to only tape first-run episodes of a program -- it saves a lot of disc space.
I find I disagree with Bianco a LOT -- but find him a good read all the time.
Originally posted by fredfa
It would be interesting, but considering how many members who say that network TV is of no use to them, I am not sure it would prove anything!
(But it might be fun, nonetheless.)
No, not looking to prove anything, but among the members who do watch TV, I agree, I think it would be fun to see..:)
HeHe!! That even rhymes..:D
Thursday's ratings have been posted.
A somber Post-Thanksgiving story
CBS 'CHEERS' STAR IN SHOCKING OVERDOSE
By BILL HOFFMANN The New York Post
November 26, 2004 -- Bubbly blond "Cheers" star Shelley Long - depressed over the bust-up of her marriage - was rushed to the hospital after taking an overdose of painkillers in an apparent suicide bid.
The 55-year-old actress, who played ditzy waitress Diane Chambers on the classic TV sitcom, was taken to UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles after the heartbreaking incident.
Long had been extremely depressed in recent months, was barely eating and often spent long periods of time in bed, said friends, speculating that she tried to kill herself. "It is very sad to see this woman, who is only 55, looking like she's turning 90," one pal told The Sun newspaper of London.
Another friend said, "For 18 months, she's been getting more and more depressed. It's like seeing someone falling off a cliff.
"She told some of her good friends she felt she had nothing to live for."
The incident took place Nov. 16, and hospital records show that Long was discharged Tuesday. Her mom, in a brief telephone interview, confirmed to The Post that her daughter is no longer in the hospital.
In a weird twist, Long once played a depressed woman committed to a hospital for depression in the 1979 TV movie "The Cracker Factory."
She's not the only "Cheers" cast member to have been felled by depression — Kelsey Grammer, too, has also had severe bouts with the blues.
Things got rough for the actress last year, when her securities-broker husband, Bruce Tyson, walked out after 22 years of marriage. They are now divorcing, and Long had to leave their Hollywood mansion when it was sold. She now lives alone.
She met Tyson on a blind date in 1979. They were wed two years later — it was her second marriage — and have a daughter, Juliana, 19.
The actress starred in several films since bolting "Cheers" in 1987, six years before it ended in 1993.
Among the flicks were 1995's "The Brady Bunch Movie," in which she played Carol Brady, and 2000's "Dr. T and the Women."
Many see her career as a classic example of what happens to some TV stars who give up popular roles to seek movie fame.
She never regained the popularity she enjoyed as the overeducated "Cheers" barmaid, who was a foil to bar owner Sam Malone, played by Ted Danson.
She's slated for a rare, pretaped guest appearance tonight in the ABC series "Complete Savages."
For "Cheers, " she won an Emmy and two Golden Globes.
Eddie Doyle, the real-life Ted Danson who's served drinks for 30 years at the Bull & Finch Pub in Boston, the bar on which Cheers was based, said:
"I'm just really surprised and hope she's going to be all right. I guess they say things like that happen around the holidays."
Additional reporting by Mark Bulliet, David K. Li and Bill Sanderson
Originally posted by fredfa
Thursday's ratings have been posted.
heh, for once the ratings deviated from my viewing.
I ended up watching all of spiderman and the second half of seinfeld.
Where Only the Housewives Are Desperate
Programming Turnaround Boosts ABC's Fortunes
By William Booth Washington Post Staff Writer
BURBANK, Calif.---They're not running around with lampshades on their heads, but with the November ratings sweeps underway, the vibe at ABC's red-brick corporate headquarters is go-go again at long last.
The Disney-owned broadcast network has snapped out of its death spiral, where it has been trapped in recent years as a perennial fourth in overall ratings and the all-important 18-to-49 demographic among the Big Four.
Now, with a handful of blister-hot fall shows like "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" and "Wife Swap," the network suddenly finds itself creatively, financially competitive again -- what a difference a few frisky hausfraus make.
Overall ABC is now placing third, behind CBS, virtually tied with NBC and ahead of Fox. In the first nine weeks of the fall season, CBS averaged 13.3 million viewers in prime time, NBC garnered 10.3 million, and ABC a hair behind at 10.2 million. Fox scored 9.8 million for the same period.
Last season the alphabet network was dead last in total viewers. Now, on Sunday and Wednesday, the network's showing is so strong that it may claim victory on both those nights at the end of the season.
"The executives seem to be drinking a lot less at parties now," quips ABC late-night talker Jimmy Kimmel. "For a long time, the network was doing so badly. And yeah, there is a bump in self-esteem."
Fred Ryan, president of Allbritton Communications and general manager of WJLA, the ABC affiliate in Washington, says in the past few years exchanges between ABC and its affiliates were grim.
"Those years when the network was placing near the bottom," Ryan says, "the meetings were not as fun to attend, for either side."
Now the Mouse House network is kind of sparky, actually. "I'm not going to tell you that it isn't much better to come into work Monday morning, and look at the overnight ratings," says ABC spokesman Kevin Brockman.
But perhaps it's a cautious spark. Steve McPherson, ABC Entertainment president, is trying to manage expectations, but he admits that "it is nice to get off to this kind of encouraging fall. But it really is just the beginning. This is an incredibly competitive business."
So the uptick is like a gift basket for network executives. But what does it really mean for a broadcaster to turn itself around?
For starters, it might mean fewer people get fired. In the months before the new fall season premiered, Disney brass swept the executive suites, removing Lloyd Braun and Susan Lyne, two of the top managers who picked what later turned out to be some of this season's hottest shows.
Though ABC is only a slice of the Disney empire, the company's stock has pumped itself up since the network turnaround, from around $22 a share to $27 -- even though in its fourth-quarter earnings report Disney said revenues from ABC fell about 4 percent (plus there's that nasty and delicious shareholder lawsuit, featuring the testimony of the Michaels -- Ovitz and Eisner -- going on in Delaware).
Fortunes may soon turn. Traditionally, networks sell about 80 percent of their advertising time slots -- their "inventory" -- months in advance in the so-called "upfront market." The nets offer blocks of time -- "packages" -- to big advertisers like Procter & Gamble or Ford, guaranteeing them a certain number of eyeballs over the course of a season. If they fall short of their promises, as ABC has repeatedly in the past, they have to make up for the difference by giving advertisers free 30-second spots.
But the networks also hold back about 20 percent of their inventory to sell on the "scatter market." At ABC, prices are going up.
Mike Shaw, ABC president of sales and marketing, says the net is beating its projections, and the success of some of its prime-time lineup was immediate: "We started getting calls right away" from prospective advertisers.
In the upfront market, ABC sold a 30-second spot for "Desperate Housewives" for around $150,000. Now that same buy in the scatter market could cost an advertiser $400,000.
ABC's bounce from the bottom is generally seen as driven by a handful of unusual shows like "Lost." In the past, ABC has had trouble making hour-long dramas that people wanted to watch (it hasn't had a hit drama since "The Practice" in 1997).
"I think the shows are character-driven, serialized, and they are a breath of fresh air compared to dramas of the last few years," McPherson says. The "fresh air" that McPherson alludes to is in comparison to procedurals like the "Law & Order" and "CSI" clones on other networks. But he admits, "Don't get me wrong, we would take a 'CSI.' "
Dramas tend to trump sitcoms in the profits game. The rule of thumb, according to Shaw, is that if you're going to have a hit, you want it to be an hour-long drama, because audiences who watch those shows skew toward the wealthier demographic prized by advertisers.
Richard Weitz, a prominent agent with A-list talent agency Endeavor, says that ABC now has "five cornerstones on the map," meaning it can use its successful programs as both promotional platforms and lead-ins to other, less watched shows. "ABC is back," Weitz says. "They have the launching pads." ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" has compiled its best ratings ever in recent weeks, and "Monday Night Football" continues to be the network's third most watched show.)
The way McPherson describes it, ABC will use "Desperate Housewives" to push viewers to "Boston Legal," which follows it on Sunday night. The network is also employing a neat programming trick: For example, an episode of "Desperate" might not end now until 10:01, so a viewer who clicks over to "Crossing Jordan" on NBC finds that show has already started, increasing the likelihood that he'll stick with ABC and give "Boston Legal" a try.
And the importance of a good lead-in cannot be overstated, says WJLA's Ryan, to get viewers to sample his nighttime news show. "No matter what you do, you're tied to prime-time lead-in. It's very hard for a local station to have a large audience when our competitors have a lead-in that is far greater than ours."
The network is feeling confident, too, because it plans to bring three new dramas out in its 2005 mid-season -- "Eyes," a show about private investigators starring Tim Daly from "Wings"; "Grey's Anatomy," about medical residents; and "Blind Justice," a Steven Bochco production starring "ER's" Ron Eldard as a detective who loses his sight. The critically popular "Alias" is also returning in January with all original episodes.
ABC has not yet been deluged by better ideas from more creative TV producers and writers, but that might change come spring, as new show ideas are peddled around town. McPherson certainly hopes so. "I believe the community is starting to see ABC as a place they can succeed," he says. "It's good for us, good for everybody, good for the audience. It's a wider range of choices."
Staff writer John Maynard contributed to this report.
Friday's ratings have been posted in Latest News.
Surmounting the High-Definition Divide
By Steve Donohue Multichannel.com 11/29/2004
While HDTV sets continue to fly off retail store shelves, convincing consumers to buy a high-definition programming package remains a huge challenge for both cable and satellite companies.
There are about 8 million to 9 million U.S. households that have at least one HDTV set, but only 2.3 million households subscribe to an HD programming package from cable operators or satellite providers, according to Leichtman Research Group.
Cable and satellite companies have focused much of their HD marketing efforts on joint campaigns with consumer-electronics companies looking to push more TVs, but some analysts say more needs to be done to sell programming packages to consumers who already have HD equipment.
“I think the low-hanging fruit is the 6 million people today, the early adopters who have an HD set and are not watching HD from anybody,” says Leichtman Research head Bruce Leichtman. He says the HD proposition offers cable and satellite services an opportunity to induce customers to switch to a new multichannel provider.
Educating consumers about the differences between standard and high-definition TV is also key. About half of the 5 million to 6 million U.S. households with an HD set but without a cable or satellite HD programming package think they are watching HDTV, Leichtman says, citing the results of a consumer survey his firm recently conducted.
“It’s tragic that these phenomenally expensive pieces of hardware are ending up in people’s living rooms, yet the reason they bought them is not being realized. It’s nuts,” says Jimmy Schaeffler, an analyst at the research and consultancy firm The Carmel Group. “It’s like buying a luxury car because you want to go faster, but they don’t sell you the right gas to take it any faster than 40 miles per hour.”
Schaeffler believes cable and satellite firms need to team up with broadcasters and consumer-electronics companies to educate consumers on HDTV.
But don’t expect the Consumer Electronics Association to aid that cause. When recently asked what the CEA was doing to help educate HDTV buyers on the need for cable or satellite programming packages, CEA president Gary Shapiro commented that the organization believes that consumers get a compelling proposition when they hook up their HD sets to DVD players.
But the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing is of the same mindset as Schaeffler. In October, the association kicked off its “Go for 2” HDTV marketing campaign designed to emphasize that consumers need an HDTV programming package in order to take full advantage of the capabilities of their new HD sets. The campaign is a joint effort with Sony Corp., which markets cable as the best way to watch football games in HD.
The campaign comes at a time when the gap between the number of HDTV sets sold and the number of consumers that subscribe to cable or direct-broadcast satellite is growing, according to CTAM CEO Char Beales. “We’re both [cable and satellite] fighting a common enemy, and that is a lack of consumer knowledge about buying an HD set and service as a two-step process,” she says.
But figuring out exactly how good — or bad — the HDTV situation is for multichannel platforms is hardly an exact science. For example, EchoStar Communications Corp. and DirecTV Inc., which are both pitching consumers HDTV receivers that also contain a digital video recorder, haven’t released HDTV subscriber numbers. And cable operators are also reticent to reveal their HD progress with customers.
One exception is the Rainbow DBS subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp. The company recently reported that it counted a paltry 26,000 customers for its Voom HDTV programming service, which includes several exclusive, niche HD channels.
After its October 2003 debut, Voom did not begin charging customers for its programming package until March 31. As a consequence, it has lost 2,000 customers since the end of August.
Comcast Corp., the country’s largest cable operator, also doesn’t release its HDTV subscriber count. But Comcast CEO Brian Roberts told analysts in October that Comcast systems nationwide are adding about 15,000 HDTV subscribers weekly. At that pace, Comcast is doubling Voom’s total subscriber count every two weeks.
Leicthman says that at this time last year, DBS companies were winning a greater share of new HDTV customers than their total share of the multichannel video market. But he believes the HDTV battle between cable and satellite is “drawing a lot closer.” A survey of HDTV consumers Leichtman conducted this fall found that 8% of cable subscribers and 8% of DBS customers say they bought an HDTV programming package.
Regardless, “it’s too early to say who’s winning the war for HD, because I think people are still lining up their armies,” says Joe Rooney, senior vice president of marketing for Cox Communications Inc.
Rooney maintains that cable has the advantage in the HD war because operators have the ability to carry every local HD broadcast signal in any given market, while satellite providers don’t have the bandwidth capacity to do the same. DirecTV Inc. hopes to eliminate that advantage next year, when the company launches two additional satellites that its says will allow it to carry 500 local HD channels.
Of course, viewers can also receive HD signals from local ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates with an over-the-air antenna and receiver. But analysts note that few customers own HDTV broadcast receivers, which cost at least $300 apiece.
“Frankly, the [HD] consumer is watching regular digital cable with a DVD player, and what we as an industry need to do is convert those customers who already have HD to our high-definition service, and make sure that we win the battle of the HD covert,” Rooney says.
Report Forecasts HDTV Purchases
By Matt Stump Multichannel.com11/29/2004
A new study by Frank N. Magid Associates finds that 29% of all consumers in the market for a TV in the next year will or are very likely to buy an HDTV set. Another 17% said they are somewhat likely to buy an HD set.
“That’s very encouraging,” says Maryann Baldwin, executive director of Magid Media Futures, which has been surveying consumers about HD over the past four years.
Magid sent out an online survey to 1,251 people across the country in October. Some 8% of those who returned the survey were HD set owners. But like the general HD population, only half of those set owners had signed up for HD programming from a cable or satellite provider. Some used the sets to watch DVDs with greater clarity, but some were watching TV, thinking they were receiving an HD signal when, in fact, they were not.
“There is still a lot of confusion in the marketplace,” says Jill Rosengard, managing director at Magid. Baldwin says that many people believe that since their HD set cost so much money, the programming will also be expensive, curtailing the number of people getting HD programming packages.
But that gap is closing. The most recent HD set buyers are shortening the time gap between when they get an HD set and when they subscribe to HD programming, Baldwin says.
For those that have both an HD set and an HD package, the primary complaint is lack of programming. “They are just more desperate for more channels,” Baldwin says. Many new set owners believe all channels are available in HD. “They don’t understand [the] acquisition and production process,” she says.
Some 32% of HD set owners who responded to the Magid survey said they look to see what’s available on HD every time or most times when they sit down to watch TV. Nearly 8% of HD set owners said they watch HD programming 75% to 100% of the time, while 14% said that they watch HD fare 50% to 75% of the time, and 50% said they watch it 25% or less of the time.
Magid found that 23% of non-HD set owners will be in the market for a new TV next year, about the national average. With nearly half of those very likely or somewhat likely to buy an HD set, Magid is projecting HD set penetration will double next year, closing in on 20% of the population. And a greater proportion of the potential buyers are falling into the middle income group. Still, the chief reason most consumers weren’t looking at HD sets was price, even though some sets are available for $700 or less.
And there is still a need for education on what programming is available in HD. Some 40% of shoppers could name only one HD network. Only 28% could name four or more networks in HD. “There is still a lot of education that needs to go on,” Baldwin says.
But the growing base, Baldwin says, should make HD appealing to programmers that have been on the sidelines until now. “There is going to be a large enough market that it’s going to be worthwhile,” Baldwin says. “From the programmer’s perspective, the shelf space is filling up. There won’t be unlimited shelf space.”
An in-depth, detailed look at DirecTV's strategy and the hurdles it faces from next week's issue of Broadcasting & Cable:
Whatever It Takes To Get Ahead
News Corp. plays to win with DBS service
By Paige Albiniak Broadcasting & Cable 11/29/2004
With 13.5 million subscribers, DirecTV has pushed ahead to become the second-largest multichannel provider in the country, behind only Comcast. But in an extremely competitive environment it's going to need every bell and whistle to wrest subscribers from cable and EchoStar's Communications' rival Dish TV.
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which since January has owned 34% of DirecTV, isn't backing away from the battle. It is out to win, and win big. DirecTV is pouring money into upgrading its service, offering everything from TiVo to NFL game packages to upgraded HDTV capability in order to woo subscribers.
DirecTV's partnership with TiVo allows customers to get a digital video recorder that is integrated into their receivers. DirecTV research shows that customers who have DVRs buy more premium services and also turn over, or churn, at a lower rate.
“One of the reasons DBS has gained so much share from cable is because it's frankly a more attractive consumer offering,” says Todd Mitchell, media and entertainment analyst for Blaylock & Partners. “That's due to two components: more channels for less money, and more variety. And their set-top boxes are just better than cable's. They got DVRs out first and theirs are better.”
DVRs are so important to DirecTV's strategy that CFO Mike Palkovic says, “Rolling a truck in and giving a customer a DVR upgrade is a good thing to do. It costs you money during the quarter, but you get an increased revenue stream immediately.”
As DirecTV pushes into more high-definition offerings, it has started to offer subscribers an HD DVR for $999 retail. Sales of the box are currently slow, but HD remains a technology that has yet to catch on.
DirecTV is banking on HDTV. It has plans to launch satellites that will provide customers with their local broadcast stations in high-definition. Two satellites previously used to offer busin