TV Notebook
Tuning in to summer

Thanks to cable, it's TV's slow season no more. Just look at what's coming Sunday night.
By Jonathan Storm Philadelphia Inquirer Television Critic Sat, Jun. 10, 2006

Any sane person, even a TV critic (most of us are at least legally, if not practically, sane), cuts back on TV in the summer.

There's lots more to do in the beautiful 8:30 p.m. daylight, and by the time night does fall and lightning bugs light and sweet summer smells waft through the dark, TV doesn't always seem like the most pleasurable alternative.

But summer TV, because of cable, has gotten better and better. You may have missed it.

Tomorrow is a sort of informal premiere night for the season. HBO revises its entire schedule, returning two of the best shows on TV at any time of the year and adding a couple of not-as-good new ones. USA brings back the sci-fi thriller The 4400. And there are a pair of nature specials.

Viewers may be reluctant to come late to HBO's Deadwood and Entourage and The 4400, entering their third seasons. Such concerns are groundless.

If you're going to try to understand every detail, you might as well stay outside at the barbecue. But if you suspend your little questions, you should be all caught up by the end of the evening and plugged in for the season to some pretty good entertainment.

A summertime cable bonus: These shows all repeat four or five times every week, so you have plenty of chances to catch up if something more interesting's going on on Sunday.

In order of interest:

Deadwood (HBO, 9 PM ET) With its distinctive language (and not just the curse words that flow like gravel through a sluice) and primo sets and costumes, Deadwood can actually transport you out of this world. It's life in the gold rush camp in what is now South Dakota in the 1870s. Mark Tinker's direction is so beautiful tomorrow night, it barely matters what anybody is doing. But plots are a-bubble, as poor Al Swearingen - hard to believe, but a testament to the amazingness of this show, that you can sympathize with the evil dastard - struggles to make his way in what is now only a semi-lawless world.

Entourage (HBO, 10 PM ET) "The master plan is happening here," agent Ari, the venal vulture, tells his wife, as he tries to pry another $100,000 out of her trust fund. It's happening with Entourage, too, which grew last season from an obvious study of strange louts in the strange land of La La, to an arch satire that may be the funniest thing on TV.

The 4400. (USA, 9 PM ET) Our heroes (or are they?) all disappeared and then magically returned to Earth in a big ball of light, each with powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men. They're back, in a two-hour season premiere. Instead of phoning them to beat up on Lex Luthor or Mr. Mxyzptlk, the authorities are leery of these supermen (and women and children). The series is more sophisticated than a lot of TV sci-fi, with many parallels to what some see as the current mistrust between government and citizenry. The twists tomorrow should surprise veteran viewers and newcomers alike.

Lucky Louie. (HBO, 10:30 PM ET) This is HBO's first standard sitcom, filmed before a studio audience. But with its ultra-raunchy language, it takes the sitcom to an entirely new place. It's the same poor-schlub-husband theme that has characterized domestic TV comedy since The Honeymooners, but Louis C.K. finds himself in the closet for masturbating, instead of trying to sneak out with the Racoons. Frequently offensive - even, I suspect, to the most open-minded HBO fan - Lucky Louie can be pretty darn funny too, as it dives right into sticky situations that standard sitcoms, wink-wink, nudge-nudge, have been tiptoeing around for 50 years.

Gorillas Revisited, With Sigourney Weaver. (Animal Planet, 8 PM ET) The actress, looking surprisingly unchanged from when she played conservationist Dian Fossey 18 years ago in Gorillas in the Mist, returns to Rwanda, hoping to see some of her old ape pals in the Virunga mountains. This low-budget message piece can be quietly moving, especially when Weaver visits an orphanage run by 94-year-old Ros Carr, a friend of Fossey's before she was murdered in 1985, and takes a couple of the genocide refugees up into the mountains to meet the gorillas.

Krakatoa: Volcano of Destruction. (Discovery Channel, 9 PM ET) The film tries to mix dramatic re-creations and scientific explanation, but winds up with a combo that does disservice to them both. Still, the 1883 explosion of the Indonesian island was the biggest boom in recorded history.

Dane Cook's Tourgasm. (HBO, 11 PM ET) Hugely popular on the college circuit, Dane Cook can be hilarious on stage. But this reality-show tagalong with him and three friends, on a 20-show tour last year, is flatter than an Academy Awards thank-you speech.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/television/14784873.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Washington Notebook
Cable measure moves ahead

It could lower bills, but Net access an issue
By Eric Benderoff Chicago Tribune June 10, 2006

Legislation passed to open up local cable markets to more competition could lower cable bills, but it includes a controversial provision that might lead to higher charges to access the Internet.

The House of Representatives passed a sweeping new telecommunications bill Thursday that eliminates the need for programming providers to negotiate with individual communities.

If approved by the Senate, the "national franchise proposal" would not only increase cable competition, it could also prompt phone companies, including AT&T and Verizon, to speed a national rollout of video services.

Consumer groups and business interests agree this is a good development that could lead to lower cable bills.

"It will lead to new investment and a dramatic impact on consumer prices," said Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, a group that favors lower taxes and less government control.

But the House bill also includes a controversial notion known as "net neutrality," an idea that providers should not be able to discriminate against certain competitors or users by limiting access or charging higher fees.

The so-called Barton bill gives the Federal Communications Commission authority to enforce net neutrality principles and set fines of up to $500,000 for violations.

Many Democrats, backed by a diverse lobby of content providers such as Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp., and users ranging from religious broadcasters to liberal bloggers, said this wasn't enough to maintain the Internet's freewheeling openness.

"We are concerned for the future of the Internet," said Steve Worona, director of policy and networking programs for Educause, a group that represents the interests of universities. "The notion that the Internet would be gated will destroy the Internet as we know it."

Worona said executives like Ed Whitacre, chief executive of AT&T, use terms such as "my pipes" to describe the Internet. "That assumes that the Internet is his network and that we are privileged to use it," Worona said. "That is a radical departure from the way the Internet has developed, which is that everyone had access to everything on the Internet in a nondiscriminatory manner."

Rick Fox, an AT&T spokesman in Illinois, said his company is "pleased with the way the bill went through the House" and is hopeful the Senate will do something similar. AT&T is expected to roll out video services to Illinois customers later this year, he said, no matter what happens in the Senate. "Our timeline hasn't changed."

But Fox wouldn't comment on the possibility that AT&T would charge higher fees to companies such as Google to use AT&T's network. "It's too premature," he said.

Kibbe said it is possible there could be higher fees charged to Internet content providers in the future, because consumers are paying the freight for the development of the Internet. The question now, he says, is, "How are you going to finance all of this pipeline that needs to be developed?"

"The consumer will pay for a certain speed," Kibbe said. "But if the Googles and eBays are clogging the pipe, and not paying the freight for that pipe, then consumers are getting a raw deal."

But Worona said that once a consumer has paid for Internet service, he should have access to everything he wants to use.

Under some scenarios, consumer advocates say, it is possible that widespread tiered pricing structures could be implemented by Internet service providers to restrict access to some sites by not allowing customers enough bandwidth to watch a video at a Web site.

"The House vote against net neutrality should be a wake-up call to those who care about the future of the Internet," said Jon Murchinson, a Google spokesman. "We think [that] as consumers and businesses realize that the House has actually voted to create a two-tier Internet, they will voice their concerns."

Furthermore, it is conceivable that an ISP could block customer access to an Internet phone service provider unless customers pay more for it because the phone service competes with a similar one offered by the ISP.

The House passed the telecom bill, 321-101. But the vote by the Senate is not expected to be so one-sided.

Still, Kibbe does not believe there will be enough votes in the Senate to block the net neutrality issue. He said many senators do not seem interested in solving a "non-problem."

John Windhausen, an independent telecom consultant and lobbyist in Washington, said that, as it stands, a telecom bill has a "50-50 chance" of passage in the Senate. "And there are negotiations going on that could result in a brand new bill," he said

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-bz.cable10jun10,0,6265216.story?coll=bal-artslife-tv

Media Frenzy
Coming Soon (Maybe): Even More TV Channels

By Richard Siklos The New York Times June 11, 2006

Let’s take a poll, couch potatoes. Raise your hand if you are excited about the possibilities of television multicasting.

We jest, of course. Chances are that only people who work as lobbyists or media executives have a vague notion what multicasting means, though it has been kicking around for years.

But the word is likely to gain a much higher profile in coming weeks — not just because a regulatory showdown is looming but also because of a wave of new television channels and ventures that are suddenly being hatched.

Indeed, as America careers toward its much-touted conversion to the all-digital transmission of television signals — the digital switchover is now set in stone for February 2009 — the debate over multicasting is looking like another shining example of the law of unintended consequences when technology comes into play.

Multicasting, by the way, is the entertainment industry term for broadcasting several television channels in the space, or bandwidth, of a current analog broadcast signal.

There are technical issues related to this, but the upshot is that with new digital frequencies and equipment, a local station can now beam roughly four digital channels on its signal where a single analog channel once existed. Or it can broadcast the current signal and sublet the extra spectrum, or space, for other purposes, like Internet access, infomercials or pay-TV services.

Now, the first question one might rightly ask is this: Who cares about multicasting when there are already hundreds of cable channels available in millions of households, and a bewildering array of new download services and Webby ways of getting video material? Where television programming is concerned, there is no reason to believe that more is more.

But there is a compelling argument to be made that multicasting is a public good because it uses a national resource — the airwaves — to deliver more and better free television into people's homes. While only 15 percent of America's households currently receive their television over the airwaves, rather than through cable or satellite, some cool new channels may help to quell a potential uproar over the fact that old analog televisions will not work with new digital signals. Bruce Leichtman of the Leichtman Research Group in Durham, N.H., estimates that when the digital switch is thrown in 2009, there will be about 75 million analog TV's nationwide that get their signals only from rabbit ears. Their owners will need to buy $50 converter boxes to tune in after that.

Unfortunately for broadcasters — and, arguably, for viewers — that 15 percent of households is not a big-enough market to make these new niche channels economically viable. For the model to work, broadcasters also need to make the new channels available to people with cable and satellite services — and they want the channels to be distributed free, in the way federal law currently obligates cable companies to carry their primary local channels.

The law is known as the must-carry rule, and several groups, led by the National Association of Broadcasters, are lobbying for what they call the digital must-carry rule: that all their broadcast signals, including whatever new digital multicast channels they cook up, should be included, free, on the basic cable lineup.

There are several arguments for this. One of the most sensible is that local broadcasters have had to invest small fortunes in equipment to convert to digital broadcasting at Washington's behest, and that this is a way for them to recoup their costs.

The broadcasters have a powerful ally for this cause in the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin J. Martin. The F.C.C. has rejected digital must-carry twice already — the last time in 2005, when Mr. Martin, before he was chairman, was the sole vote in favor — but the composition of the commission has changed and the subject is expected to come up for a vote again in the next few weeks.

Some cable companies are already carrying the big television networks' new channels — NBC Weather Plus, for instance, is carried by Time Warner Cable in Manhattan. But that is because cable companies have broad relationships with the big broadcast networks, which supply much of the programming that causes people to buy cable service in the first place. Digital must-carry is crucial for independent station groups, which do not have that leverage.

The cable industry, to no one's surprise, regards this as rubbish and views digital must-carry as an unconstitutional way to force them to put free channels on their private networks. Kyle E. McSlarrow, president of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, has said that his members spent $100 billion upgrading their systems over the past decade and would be forced to carry channels "that may have no appeal at all." That would be unfair not only to operators like Comcast, the argument goes, but also to all the CNN's and ESPN's that have to compete on their merits for places on the cable dial.

Besides, some broadcasters are talking about multicasting eventually growing into a free, over-the-air alternative to bare-bones cable service.

Even as that regulatory showdown shapes up, some viewers are already seeing glimpses of what multicasting promises to bring into America's households: CBS is planning an entertainment-based channel that provides the rough equivalent of extra features on DVD's for some of its top network shows; NBC is already offering local weather channels around the country and, in New York, a spin-off of its Channel 4 flagship called WNBC 4.4.

Broadcasters like multicast channels because they help them to aim at smaller and smaller slices of the overall audience, which is rapidly being fragmented by the Internet and other new technologies. "It's a great advantage for us because it gives us a number of alternative platforms to give more local programming to our viewers," said Jay Ireland, the president of NBC Universal Television Stations.

But in addition to local and network spinoffs, multicasting is giving rise to wholly new national channels. One start-up broadcaster, for example, is offering a channel called the Tube, promoted as a free competitor to MTV; another company, Ion Media Networks, has announced plans with partners to start national channels with health and children's programming as themes.

Ion was previously known as Paxson Communications, a group of 60 TV stations. Ion's new chief executive, R. Brandon Burgess, said he believed that multicasting was the ticket to making free TV a viable alternative to cable for the first time in decades. That is no small matter as he tries to rescue the company from the brink of financial collapse. Mr. Burgess, a former NBC Universal executive (NBC has a big stake in Ion), said that a package of free national channels could be assembled alongside all the new local digital signals.

A typical viewer would then have a package of 30 or more free channels that could represent a far better alternative to cable than what is now available over the air. A similar service in England, called Freeview, has attracted seven million households; it delivers free channels via a set-top box that viewers buy.

Beyond the free services, companies like USDTV and Moviebeam are already leasing spare spectrum from local broadcasters to offer pay-TV and pay-movie services to people who buy special set-top receivers.

Despite all this activity, it is far more likely that you would raise your hand about high-definition TV than about the equally game-changing notion of multicasting. And, indeed, even if cable companies are forced to carry the new channels by the F.C.C., legal challenges could delay their widespread availability.

"The industry has done a pretty good job of marketing HDTV but not as good a job of even hinting to the public that they could get lots more channels for free," Martin D. Franks, executive vice president of CBS, said. The uncertainty over whether these new channels will ever see the light of day, he added, "does not help."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/business/yourmoney/11frenzy.html?pagewanted=print

The fight over a la carte
A la carte push latest volley in Comcast-Verizon battle to bundle services and win over consumers

By Corilyn Shropshire Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sunday, June 11, 2006

"A la carte" used to mean a single serving of strip steak or rack of lamb minus the accoutrements. These days, it also means allowing consumers to cherry-pick and pay for only the cable channels they want.

At least 14 states, including Pennsylvania, are rewriting rules that for decades have given local governments control over who provides cable television in their areas. The changes would give New York-based phone giant Verizon Communications Corp. what it has long coveted -- a big enough opening that would let it jump into the paid-TV market full throttle.

The a la carte push marks the latest round in the ongoing fight between telecommunications titans Comcast Corp. and Verizon. The nation's largest cable company and second-largest phone company are battling to be all things to all people, offering bundled services that include cable TV, high-speed Internet service and both traditional and wireless phone service.

It's a showdown that over time will be a victory for consumers, industry watchers say, with spoils in the form of a lower prices, more services and one monthly bill. But it could take years if not decades to determine which company is a winner.

Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and both are waging high-profile marketing campaigns as they continue to spend tens of billions on new technology, equipment and upgrades to come out on top.

Philadelphia-based Comcast began its latest push last year, when it started offering bundled packages of high-speed Internet access, cable TV and phone service at a discounted price ($99 in Pittsburgh, where it introduced the package in April). It has reeled in nearly half-a-million customers since then.

Industry analysts believe Comcast -- and its cable brethren that also have begun offering phone service -- could woo up to 12 percent of the nation's residential phone customers by the end of next year. And that doesn't include the explosion of cell phone and Internet-based phone providers that already are cutting into what has been Verizon's bread and butter.

Verizon hasn't been standing still. In the last three years, it has spent tens of billions to replace old copper phone lines with brawnier fiber optic cables that have the speed and capacity to carry voice, video and Internet.

The upgrades have allowed it to counter Comcast's encroachment onto its traditional turf with its own version of the "triple play,'' reselling DirecTv satellite and in some cases its own subscription TV service with its phone and high-speed Internet package.

There are signs Verizon's tack is working. Its first move -- last year's price cuts on its digital subscriber line (DSL) high-speed Internet service -- has more than doubled its customer base since 2003 from 2.3 million to 5.1 million.

And in states such as Florida and Texas, where it has been cleared to offer its Fios brand subscription TV service, Verizon has captured between 20 and 30 percent of the paid-TV market in less than a year, analysts say.

It is against this backdrop -- Comcast encroaching on phones, Verizon on TV -- that the showdown over a la carte is playing out.

Changes in state laws in Texas, Indiana, Kansas and South Carolina, and proposed legislation in other states, including Pennsylvania, replace requirements that cable TV providers reach franchise agreements with each municipality where they operate with a statewide agreement.

Verizon and other nontraditional cable operators say the move would speed their ability to provide alternatives to cable companies by forgoing burdensome negotiations with every town and community. The local agreements, Verizon maintains, gives Comcast a big head start in the 36 states where it's rolling out the services.

It's a lead that Verizon and some industry watchers claim is unfair because cable companies didn't have to overcome the same hurdles when they got into the phone business.

"If you look backwards, phone companies have been competing for the past 20 years," said telecom industry analyst Jeff Kagan. "The cable industry hasn't,'' and the result is that its prices keep rising. The Federal Communications Commission says cable TV prices have risen 86 percent since 1995, outstripping the pace of inflation.

Cable supporters maintain that the franchise agreement changes would unfairly allow in new competitors without the costs that traditional cable companies faced -- not only to win local franchise agreements across the country but to build the requisite infrastructure for cable.

The franchise agreements, in which municipalities effectively bestowed local monopoly rights to a cable company, were required to ensure that the young companies in the then-fledgling cable industry offered their service everywhere, not just in affluent areas.

Moreover, observers note it's not as if Verizon is starting from scratch. Thanks to its "Baby Bell'' roots, the company has the advantage of already being the largest phone provider in most of the markets where its seeking to offer paid TV, noted Marvin Sirbu, a professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

"Yes, they are having to spend a lot of money'' to put in fiber optic lines for DSL and video service, he said. "But then, they are in the position to benefit" because of the marketing advantage of already having a relationship with many customers.

The balance could shift once Verizon's refurbished network is completed -- and it begins to bait consumers with unlimited power and better quality for services such as high-definition TV.

Fighting for the remote controls of the 70-plus million and growing households that pay for TV is perhaps the only thing that Verizon and Comcast have in common. Their backgrounds are dramatically different, as are the growth paths taken to get to this point.

Comcast is generations younger than the former offshoot of the former "Ma Bell" AT&T conglomerate that was dismantled in 1984.

A relative youngster in the telecom industry, family-operated Comcast sprouted in the 1960s as a cable TV business from founder Ralph Roberts, whose son Brian now sits at the helm.

Comcast's entrepreneurial roots and Verizon's public utility past have stoked their competitive flames as they publicly bicker about which has the greater competitive advantage to sway the public and lawmakers to their side.

The perpetual sparring is a good thing for consumers who have been flush with options for land-based and mobile phone service, but are typically stuck with fewer options for paid TV -- a cable company or satellite TV service offered by DirecTV or EchoStar. Critics say that's why cable prices keep rising.

Soon, a fourth component will fire up the competition between Comcast and Sprint even more. The cable giant is getting ready to add Sprint mobile phone service to its mix of offerings next year, and Verizon plans to launch its version of the "quadruple play" through its 50 percent stake in Verizon Wireless.

Ultimately, the two behemoths aren't dueling to see who's left standing -- both are equipped to gain money and customers -- but more to see who gets to claim to be king of the hill. It's a battle, said Mr. Kagan, the telecom industry analyst, that consumers should win as long as "the prices stay low and the innovation stays high.''

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/pp/06162/697133.stm

TV Notebook
ABC News Girds For New Bout With 'Today'

By Brooks Barnes Wall Street Journal

ABC'S "Good Morning America" has been trying for 11 years to race past NBC's "Today" show and become the dominant morning program. It's no small prize: The No. 1 slot can mean tens of millions of extra advertising dollars.

But just as "Today" is showing some signs of vulnerability -- its anchor team is in flux after Katie Couric's departure last week, and a huge renovation of its signature studio is causing headaches on and off screen -- "Good Morning America" is having engine trouble.

"Good Morning America" learned in mid-May it would lose its popular host, when Charles Gibson was sent to stabilize the network's faltering "World News Tonight" franchise. The popular weatherman Tony Perkins left the show in December, and last week, the executive producer of "Good Morning America," Ben Sherwood, resigned to move to Los Angeles, where his mother is suffering from cancer. The show's other host, Diane Sawyer, is locked into a long-term contract with no windows, but ABC News a unit of Walt Disney Co., has had to work overtime squashing industry speculation that she is packing her bags, too.

"I want a strong and stable 'Good Morning America,' " Ms. Sawyer said in an email, "and I will be there to do everything I can to make that happen."

Meantime, "Today" is riding the wave of publicity generated by the showy send-off that NBC News, a unit of General Electric Co., gave Ms. Couric. On Friday last week, the "Today" broadcast, sans Katie, delivered an average six million viewers, or 1.7 million more than "Good Morning America" -- more than twice the usual gap of around 800,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. (CBS Corp.'s "The Early Show," in third place but trying hard to improve, attracts an average 2.8 million viewers.)

The latest round of morning-show skirmishing comes as the programs buck the trend in network news: They are actually growing. The long-term outlook for evening news broadcasts is grim and prime-time news shows are struggling: ABC's fall schedule has no time slot for "Primetime," and NBC shunted "Dateline" to the purgatory of Saturday. But the morning shows have inched up 6% in combined viewers since 2003, compared with a comparable drop of 9% for the three evening news programs in that period, according to Nielsen.

The trend is mirrored at local stations, where early-morning news -- even newscasts starting as early as 5:30 a.m. -- are gaining viewers and ad revenue.

Various theories explain the rising fortunes of morning news. Some news veterans point to statistics indicating that Americans are starting their days earlier and occupying themselves with work, activities or cable news later in the evening. "The morning shows are the inheritors of the old function of the evening news," says Bob Bengtson, a retired ABC News executive. "For a lot of people, the morning is the new dinner time." Another camp thinks it's a result of the unsettled state of world affairs, while others speculate that people like the morning shows' entertainment aspects.

Whatever the reason, scrutiny of "Good Morning America" has rarely been greater. Disney executives who normally give ABC News and its president, David Westin, a long leash have been aggressively stepping in. "Intense scrutiny is an understatement," says one senior Disney television executive.

Priority No. 1: Fill the crucial executive producer position and send a signal to viewers and advertisers that the show is stable. "Ben's resignation came as a surprise, but I'm moving as quickly as possible to find a new executive producer," Mr. Westin says.

Mr. Westin says he could announce Mr. Sherwood's successor within days and that he would expect the new "Good Morning America" captain to start work within three weeks. The plan is for Mr. Sherwood to continue at the helm until Labor Day, with his replacement spending the summer planning an informal re-launch and finding a new anchor to share the sofa with Ms. Sawyer and the show's lesser-known third anchor, Robin Roberts.

Mr. Westin declined to discuss his hunt. But people close to him say candidates include "Good Morning America" deputies Tom Cibrowski and Jessica Guff, and Neil Shapiro, former president of NBC News. Speculation that Mr. Westin will hire Tammy Haddad, executive producer for MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," has been overblown, these people say.

Mr. Gibson's June 30 departure from "Good Morning America" will "of course be a significant blow," Mr. Westin says. Since Mr. Gibson returned to the program in 1999 with Ms. Sawyer at his side, ratings have improved 19%. Still, Mr. Westin says not to underestimate the temporary pairing of Ms. Sawyer and Ms. Roberts. "We are fortunate to have some built-in stability with Diane and Robin, who we promoted to anchor not long ago because she deserved it and in anticipation of a day Charlie might leave," he says.

The search for Mr. Gibson's replacement is in its initial stages, but among the early candidates is Bill Weir, co-anchor of the weekend edition of "Good Morning America," according to one ABC News executive. Chemistry with Ms. Sawyer will be key in any hiring. In addition, the show needs to fill Mr. Perkins's weather slot and to hire new on-air contributors.

Several ABC News executives argue that the opportunity to topple "Today" won't come this summer but rather in the fall. That's when Meredith Vieira is set to go to "Today" as Ms. Couric's replacement and viewing levels usually jump after a summertime lull. Summer months are important in terms of retaining a loyal audience, but ABC News doesn't see it as a time to spend lavishly on ratings-boosting stunts.

Jim Bell, executive producer of "Today," says he isn't worried. "We have a team and a plan already in place," he says. "That doesn't appear to be the case elsewhere."

"Today" will move back to its glass-walled Rockefeller Center studio in the fall following a renovation, in which the studio added high-definition equipment. The show has been filming in a temporary outdoor set, which has presented sound problems as well as awkward camera shots of screaming fans during serious news briefings. A spokeswoman says the kinks with the new set-up are being worked out.

Mr. Westin says he is disappointed Mr. Sherwood won't be the one "doing battle" in the fall, noting that "Good Morning America" has notched huge improvements during his tenure. The past two seasons have been the program's best since at least 1991, and viewing gaps with "Today" shrank to their smallest in ten years, he says.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB114981671520675750-Ry3B45MlJJ6V976vI6YklxbYWH0_20060616.html

TV Notebook
60 years of the Tonys

Awards show airs Sunday
By Mike Brantley Mobile Register Saturday, June 10, 2006

So, who is this guy, "Tony," anyway?

No guy at all. The Tony Awards were founded six decades ago in memorial to Antoinette "Tony" Perry, the American Theatre Wing's World War II chairwoman. The first Tony Awards ceremony was held on April 6, 1947 at the Waldorf Astoria's Grand Ballroom.

This weekend will mark the ninth year the Tonys are held at the historic Radio City Music Hall in New York. The event will be broadcast live from there Sunday beginning at 7 p.m. on CBS (WKRG-TV5).

The awards honor outstanding achievement in any of the 39 eligible Broadway theaters during the 2005-06 season. It's a relatively small theatrical community of only 754 voters who select the winners.

Among the presenters will be Hank Azaria, Glenn Close, Ralph Fiennes, Eric McCormack, Cynthia Nixon, Anna Paquin, Bernadette Peters, Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Kyra Sedgwick, Martin Short, Alfre Woodard, Oprah Winfrey and way too many other people to list here.

TNT gives a 'Closer' crash course with marathon

I spent a lot of last summer encouraging people to watch "The Closer" on TNT. And I've spend some time since then answering queries from fans wanting to know when they'll get a chance to watch more of the series starring the just-listed Sedgwick as the cop from Atlanta who has turned the LAPD on its ear.

Good news: "The Closer" is back Monday night, with a second summertime season of episodes showing on TNT. Look for the first fresh episode of the year at 8 p.m. Monday.

Missed the first season? There's good news for you, too. TNT will get you up to speed Sunday with an eight-hour marathon of first-season episodes. The first, the pilot episode that introduced fans to Sedgwick's Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson character, will kick off the marathon at 10 AM ET.

As regular viewers already know, "The Closer" follows a lot of the professional life and some of the personal life of its central character, a transplant from Atlanta who heads up the Priority Homicide Division in Los Angeles.

From the TNT description of the series: Johnson's position on this elite detective squad, which handles high-profile cases of a sensitive nature, is a tenuous balancing act. She faces sometimes-antagonistic roadblocks, even from her own peers, but she and her team forge ahead solving difficult crimes, despite some who are still wary of her unconventional style.

http://www.al.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/entertainment/1149931013317130.xml&coll=3

TV Review
"Entourage" hugs it out on Season 3

By Chuck Barney Contra Costa Times TV critic Jun. 10, 2006

'Entourage," HBO's hysterical comedy about a movie star in the making and his barnaclelike posse, is a testament to on-the-mark creative execution.

Think about it: In recent years, television has spit out a steady stream of inside-Hollywood shows, some of which have been tethered to well-known stars (Lisa Kudrow and Kirstie Alley). Overplaying their hand and blindly assuming that our curiosity for celebrity life knows no bounds, these shows mostly crashed and burned.

But "Entourage" not only survived, it has built momentum along the way. Now entering Season 3, it has a cool factor that no other show in its genre has been able to attain, and HBO is hoping it can become a "Sex and the City"-sized hit.

So why has "Entourage" succeeded where so many others have failed? Relying on brilliant casting and clever writing, the show's creative team pulled off a feat that is much more difficult than you might think: It has gingerly coaxed us to care about -- and like -- colorful characters who are teeming with unlikable traits.

When "Entourage" debuted a couple of years ago, I would have bet against this happening. Yes, the show's four-musketeers-in-Hollywood concept had some spice to it, but I doubted viewers would really want to "hug it out" on a long-term basis with shallow, obnoxious, womanizing doofuses like Vince (Adrian Grenier), "E" (Kevin Connolly), Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara). Toss in Ari (Jeremy Piven), that jerk of a talent agent, and you had the makings of a toxic brew.

But here we are in Season 3 and many of us are actually rooting for these guys to make their Hollywood dreams come true. Vince's potential blockbuster, "Aquaman," is set to debut in theaters. If it hits big, his career will take off like a missile. If it fails, he could be headed to the overpopulated land of has-beens, where his brother, Drama, currently resides. And so darned if we don't become as absurdly obsessed with the box-office numbers as the gang does.

"Entourage" works because, despite all the Hollywood partying, the red-carpet hobnobbing and the big-name cameos (James Woods hilariously spoofs himself on Sunday), the show is really about friendship -- a bond between four guys who will always have each others' backs. And though they may too often think with their genitals, deep down they really do have hearts.

Of course, the same can't be said for Ari, Piven's deliciously acidic, tantrum-throwing character. The agent we love to hate remains one of the best reasons to watch "Entourage" and it's always more fun to watch him when he's under extreme pressure.

To that end, this season has Ari struggling to set up a boutique agency after being rudely booted from his prestigious firm. The rocky transition puts a strain on his marriage, as well as his finances.

But, hey, once you begin wallowing in Hollywood's excesses, it's apparently hard to stop. When his wife suggests that Ari's habit of eating at the Palm four nights a week might be a tad wasteful, he responds with very twisted, Ari-like logic.

"But do I ever order the lobster? No!" he growls.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/entertainment/columnists/chuck_barney/14781119.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

TV Review
Will third year be the charm for 'Entourage'?

By Kevin D. Thompson Palm Beach Post Television Writer Sunday, June 11, 2006

Perhaps the third year will be the charm for Entourage.

It should.

HBO's clever comedy about up-and-coming movie star Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his longtime New York buddies is one of TV's funniest and has everything going for it Sex and the City did when it was a mega-hit and made Manolo Blahniks a household word.

Despite Entourage's comedic brilliance, the series has yet to reach Sex-like ratings. Just under 3 million tune in Entourage, while twice that many watched Carrie and her girls date just about every eligible bachelor in Manhattan.

Entourage's 12-episode third season kicks off in fine form as Vince's Aquaman (directed by James Cameron) is set to open in theaters. But will Vince and his boys, levelheaded manager Eric (Kevin Connolly), skirt-chasing Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and his washed-up actor-brother, Drama (Kevin Dillon), be able to handle A-list fame?

If you haven't watched Entourage yet, start now. Not sure why you should? Well, here are five reasons I love the show.

1. The wonderful chemistry: Chemistry is such an elusive quality. You either have it or you don't. It can't be faked or manufactured. And like those martini-swigging gals on Sex and the City, the party-hopping boys on Entourage have a natural, free-flowing rapport that's fun to watch. That they're close off-screen (Connolly and Ferrara attended Dillon's Las Vegas wedding) certainly helps. As a viewer, you want to hang out with these guys as they explore all the lavish pleasures La-La-Land has to offer. And since we know we can't hang with them, we're more than happy to live vicariously through them. Like true friends, these ex-Noo Yawkas have each others' backs. I loved how they all rallied around Vince last season during his emotional roller-coaster relationship with Mandy Moore. Yes, the Mandy Moore. Boys will be boys. But the Entourage pals proved they're men, too.

2. Jeremy Piven is full of comedic gusto: As Vince's shark-like agent who likes to "hug it out," Piven doesn't chew the scenery; he devours it. He's a force of nature to be reckoned with and one of TV's most fiendishly funny characters. I still can't believe he was robbed at the Emmys last year. In a world that's become so PC, tell-it-like-it-is Ari is like a breath of fresh air who doesn't mind whom he offends. When lady's man Vince, for instance, can't decide who to take to his glitzy Aquaman premiere, Ari, as always, has a crass, but hilarious, solution. "Pick the one skank that's going to be photographed well and be done with it."

3. The fun celebrity guest stars: There's nothing funnier than watching stars poke fun at their images. Entourage has become the hip place to do that. Ask Bob Saget, who was a hoot last season as a pot-smoking, hooker-loving jerk. Tonight the crazy-looking James Woods plays, well, crazy-looking James Woods who huffs and puffs and curses and swears and, oh, you get the point, when he finds out that Drama and Turtle have his Aquaman premiere tickets. You don't want to make James Woods angry.

4. Those chi-chi Hollywood parties: Ever wonder what those glam Tinseltown parties are really like? Well, Entourage gives you a mouth-watering, behind-the-scenes peek. And as one who has been to several of those parties, all I can say is the show is pretty darned accurate. The glittery locales. The hot music. The even hotter babes. It's all there.

5. Kevin Dillon's courage: We all know Dillon's more famous brother. His name is Matt. He was just nominated for an Oscar for his searing role as a racist cop in Crash. Kevin, meanwhile, has never been as famous. And he's not as good-looking, either. That means Kevin gets major props for basically playing himself on Entourage. Matt LeBlanc made Joey a lovable doofus on Friends. Dillon has done the same with Drama, a dim-bulb goof with a heart of gold.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/tv/content/entertainment/arts_entertainment/epaper/2006/06/11/tv_post_story_0611.html

TV Review
World Cup Announcing

By Roger Catlin Hartford Courant TV Critic in his “TV Eye” blog June 11, 2006

It’s not hard to get into the excitement of 2006 World Cup Action, two days into the games in Germany. With ABC/ESPN committed to show all 64 games, and a nifty daytime schedule with games from 8:30 to 4:30 daily, it’s easy to make a day off of it all.

Action, such as it is, may be confined to the 0-0 tie of Sweden and Trinidad & Tobago today, enough to make the Caribbean underdog weep with joy.

The main announcer for ESPN is Dave O’Brien, a baseball announcer who has only recently turned to the sport and purposely talks about everything but the action on the field. He’s full of factoid about each of the players, packing a personal story about each one. He’ll tell you where the countries are located (Costa Rica, apparently, is in Central America!). And he won’t let you down for weather reports.

For a fuller game analysis and lots of advice on what the players should have done is three-time U.S. World Cup player Marcelo Balboa.

The B-announcing teams in Germany for ESPN will be JP Dellacamera with John Harkes and Rob Stone with Robin Fraser.

That’s a step up to the action for Dellacamera, the vet who spent last World Cup barking out the action from a closet-like studio in Bristol, looking at a TV monitor of the action.

That’s where his old partner Tommy Smyth has returned, working with Adrian Healey. The other Connecticut-based team announcing the action while watching a feed – something you too can do if you turn off the sound and do a little research – is Glenn Davis and Shep Messing.

As for the visuals, the direction so far is pretty well done, largely staying on the necessary evil of the wide shots but cutting quickly for the well-placed close-up. What really sets the World Cup apart from every other sporting event on TV is the uninterrupted action every 45 minute period . That kind of unbroken action that is precisely why the U.S. is the only place in the world where the sport is not as big as it is everywhere else in the planet – not enough commercial breaks.

They try to make do with little sponsorship banners in the scoreboard – Budweiser and Phillips among them. And when the breaks do come, there’s such an avalanche of pent-up ads, you can go for a snack, take a bathroom break and get a good start on the lawn chores before returning for the second half. As for the ads especially designed for the Cup, there’s a good one from Adidas but if you’ve seen any game you’ve probably seen it seven times already.

http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2006/06/world_cup_annou.html

Commentary
ESPN still must work on its image

Tim KawakamiSan Jose Mercury News June 11, 2006

It would be just like ESPN to do something asinine today, to schedule wall-to-wall showings of ``Berman on Berman'' or export the ``Cold Pizza'' scream team to show soccer fans what cranky, unhinged sports hooliganism really sounds like.

It would be just like ESPN to do something ridiculous and ethically bankrupt that will make me regret I tried to praise the all-powerful network, this one time.

What the heck, I'm going to do it anyway: Unless I'm getting really soft in my old age, ESPN, particularly ``SportsCenter,'' has become much less shameful of late.

I can see the billboards now: ``Slightly less debasing, except when Chris Berman is on!''

Since last year's departure of former ESPN huckster maestro Mark Shapiro, and the arrival of new programming czar John Skipper, dare I suggest that ESPN has displayed glimmers of a . . . gulp . . . conscience?

My examples: Doug Gottlieb's bracing college basketball commentary, Buster Olney's crucial truth-telling on baseball, the solid nightly ``NFL Live'' discussions, and the increasingly pointed and spotlighted group of general reporters, including Pedro Gomez, Alex Flanagan, Tom Rinaldi, Shelley Smith and Sal Paolontonio.

Of course, I type this acknowledging that 90 percent of the gassy programming that prodded me to launch a monthlong personal ESPN boycott two years ago is still on the air.

I type this knowing that no network should ever be forgiven for that perennially useless NBA studio show, for mindlessly ordering up the ``Bonds on Bonds'' episodes and for regularly foisting Berman, Sean Salisbury, Screamin' A. Smith, ``1st and 10'' and ``Around the Horn'' upon us.

``Bonds on Bonds'' was the rare TV triple crown: It failed commercially, artistically and morally, all at once, but at least Skipper got around to canceling it. Shapiro would have tried to make a movie out of it -- or hey, a theme park ride, now that he's a maven at Six Flags.

Still, ``Bonds on Bonds'' was nothing worse than what CBS provides us every year when it bows down to Augusta National Golf Club or every time there's another gushy, publicist-controlled sports profile on ``60 Minutes.''

Plus, the ratings are so low for Smith's show that penalizing ESPN for it would be like ripping a local station for running a 3 a.m. test pattern. Who cares?

Anyway, I type this fully expecting future ESPN embarrassments, however much credit I give to Skipper and ``SportsCenter'' and game-production guru Norby Williamson.

And I eagerly await Fox Sports Net's latest attempt at a nightly sports show -- ``The FSN Final Score,'' which debuts July 3 and is being shepherded by my friend and former boss, Rick Jaffe, who continually proves to me that newspaper souls can translate to success in TV.

But ESPN is still the standard here, with room for improvement. ESPN doesn't have -- and, I'm guessing, doesn't want -- a Johnny Miller or Charles Barkley on board.

The network has too much athlete kiss-up in its chromosomes to stop now, and Peter Gammons, John Kruk and, to an extent, Joe Morgan should probably register as official Bonds lobbyists from their performances so far this year.

ESPN's signature voice is the blathering, sycophantic Berman, while NBC has Bob Costas and Al Michaels and Fox has Joe Buck.

But, if you ask me, under Skipper and Williamson, ESPN has strengthened its strong points and de-emphasized some of its weak spots.

ESPN's strength is its breadth and depth: It does soccer (thank God no more buffoonish Jack Edwards on the USA World Cup play-by-play), it does the College World Series, it has Barry Melrose's analysis on hockey (100 times better than anything on OLN).

It can send 572 or however many reporters and anchors it sent to Kentucky for Roger Clemens' minor league start last week. Heck, it even has classy Dana Jacobson anchoring alongside the other horrors on ``Cold Pizza.''

Though we don't get ESPN radio in the Bay Area daily, when I travel I always find a way to listen to Dan Patrick's show, especially during the tart hour he shares with old ``SportsCenter'' partner Keith Olbermann.

A big ESPN test will come this fall, when Williamson rolls out his ``Monday Night Football'' broadcast. We'll see how well Tony Kornheiser's charming ``Pardon the Interruption'' shtick translates alongside motor mouth Joe Theismann and smart play-by-play man Mike Tirico.

We'll see if ESPN, in its shiniest moment (``Monday Night Football!''), reverts to emptiness or if it decides it wants to be a real broadcast network with integrity, principles and pride and all that other strange stuff.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/14792125.htm

TV Notebook
Serials get soggy

Nets love dramas with ongoing storylines,
but pricey series are a financial risk
By Michael Schneider Variety.com Sun., Jun. 11, 2006

The networks will fill their bellies with serials this fall, developing an enormous appetite for shows with open-ended storylines.

But once that heavy serving cools down, webheads may not like the bitter aftertaste.

As execs search for the next "Desperate Housewives" or "Grey's Anatomy," the majority of this fall's frosh dramas (including ABC's "Brothers and Sisters," CBS' "Smith," Fox's "Vanished" and NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip") are either sudsers or contain storylines that carry over from week to week.

Even procedural dramas are giving into temptation, adding bits of ongoing storylines. Why the frenzy? On the upside, a hit serial can create a bonanza of press attention, marketing ventures and ancillary returns, like DVD and download revenue.

But on the downside, the shows are more expensive for the webs that carry them, upping the stakes should one fail. And undoubtedly some will this coming season.

"There will be a glut," says Fox's Preston Beckman, exec VP of strategic program planning. "Just look at the history and play the odds ... probably there will be an increase in the amount of failure this year."

Marc Graboff, president of NBC Universal TV's West Coast operations, says serialized dramas must jump an even higher hurdle for success.

"There's nothing worse than a mediocre serialized show," he says. "It's a tough business model."

That's because even mega-hit serialized skeins see their ratings collapse upon repeat -- if they're repeated at all.

Yet networks have traditionally relied on repeats to make money (since the initial run generally covers the license fee). So those shows must outperform expectations in that one-time airing.

"Unless it does big ratings in the first run, it's going to be tough for the network to continue," Graboff says.

"If you can't spread the cost of these dramas over two runs, you've got to find something to replace it in the summer," Beckman says. "That means more programming costs -- and more of a drain on your marketing budget."

Another strike against the form: Shows with complex, ongoing storylines also boast huge ensemble casts, which in success translates to a hefty payroll.

As for the after-market,serialized dramas rarely perform in syndication as well as shows with episodes that can stand alone.

Networks have faced the quandary before. CBS saw its auds drop dramatically for repeats of megahit sudsers like "Dallas" in the 1980s. The following decade, Fox tried to work around the problem by ordering 30 or more episodes of "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Melrose Place" per season, in order to avoid too many low-rated repeats.

The broadcast webs largely got out of the sudser business in the late 1990s. At the same time, execs grew infatuated with the closed-ended format of shows like "Law & Order" and "CSI."

The "Law & Order" franchise, even though it has seen some recent ratings dips, is still the model of how to keep a show alive far beyond the life expectancy of a primetime drama. The "L&O" mothership enters its 17th season this fall, having maintained its basic story structure even with almost constant cast changes.

But then came the rapid-fire success of ABC's "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy," not to mention the ongoing hit status of Fox's "24."

The popularity of those shows reminded webheads that, in success, serialized dramas can explode into bigger phenomena than workhorses like "CSI" will ever be. "Lost," for example, is now a major enterprise encompassing TV, DVD, cell phones, the Internet, broadband and other media.

Fans of serialized dramas are more willing to consume merchandising from their favorite shows, will watch more episodes and are more upscale, according to a network median income study by Magna Global.

The emergence of new platforms has also made it easier to exploit serials to the point that viewers can't miss an episode.

"In success, even with a short shelf life, you can figure out ways to monetize it in a way that captures the audience past the initial run," Graboff says. "You can put it on iTunes, video on demand, stream it on your Web site, replay it on the air ... just look at Fox's '24.' Their DVD sales are bigger than their foreign sales."

The growth of such alternative revenue streams is serendipitous, giving studios some cause to be less leery about producing too many serials.

"The fact that there's less of a syndication back-end is offset by all of the revenues from DVD and other forms," he says.

Still, television, like history, appears destined to repeat its mistakes. Last year, the rush to air sci-fi skeins (in a misguided attempt to emulate the success of "Lost") turned up empty. This year, nets are hungry to recapture the thriller aspect of "24" by focusing on one drawn-out storyline -- in some cases coming up with another round of similar ideas (i.e., Fox's "Vanished" and NBC's "Kidnapped").

But as they frantically search to find the next "event" program, the nets will likely keep tapping the serial well.

The trend has even spread to comedy, where several new shows ("Big Day," "30 Rock") also contain serialized elements -- making their syndication prospects dubious.

"Everybody runs to the same side of the ship, and that's why it keeps sinking," Beckman warns. "Because of the success of '24,' 'Lost,' 'Desperate Housewives,' there's a very simplistic thinking, 'Let's make serials,' never really trying to understand why those shows worked. Everybody thinks, 'These things have worked, clearly that's what we have to do.'"

TV Review
"Deadwood" going without much of a bang

By David Kronke Los Angeles Daily News Television Critic June 11, 2006

Perhaps it's best this way. In the past few weeks, "Deadwood," David Milch's inside-the-sausage-factory glimpse of the creation of a society in the late 1800s, has ascended from merely being considered in some erudite circles the finest achievement in television history to the martyr in the struggle between art and commerce.

HBO declined to renew "Deadwood" for a fourth season, one which Milch had previously said would provide closure for the series.

Instead, the saga will be somewhat hastily wrapped up in two TV films.

Whilst mourning the series' departure, fans can at the very least take solace that this ensures that the network won't try to squeeze any unfocused, meandering seasons out of the show, which is what we to our dismay have seen unravel on "The Sopranos."

In the meantime, "Deadwood" both the show and the town continues to grow. More and more recurring characters have come to town as word of nearby gold strikes got out, which can make following the myriad plotlines a daunting prospect for casual viewers. (The show's easier to follow watching several episodes back-to-back, making the DVD collections indispensable.)

This rudderless expansion is just a headache for Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), the series' iconic brothel/saloon operator. When the series opened, Swearengen ruled Deadwood to the extent that it could be ruled with a mercilessness leavened only by his profane philosophizing. He was none too pleased with Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) appeared, to assume the role of sheriff; lawlessness suited Swearengen's purposes.

Now, however, others just as ruthless as Swearengen including George Hearst (Gerald McRaney), who's every bit as ambitious and ruthless as Al have come to Deadwood with dreams of domination of their own. So Al has entered an uneasy alliance with Bullock, supporting him in the upcoming elections (Seth's friend Sol, played by John Hawkes, is conducting a fairly clueless yet preordained-for-victory campaign for mayor).

Yet Swearengen hardly embraces the town's evolution. "(Expletive) the (expletivin') elections," Al says with what passes, for him, as misty nostalgia; "Let the camp return to its former repute."

Swearengen and Hearst's brutally elemental battle for codifying power ratchets up as the season progresses, culminating in an exhaustingly protracted and shockingly graphic five-minute fist fight between the two's henchmen bodyguards in episode five. You've been warned.

Elsewhere in Deadwood, Brian Cox comes to town playing a theatrical producer interested in bringing a little culture to the place (good luck with that). Alma (Molly Parker) follows tragedy with triumph when she finally opens her bank. Hearst has a particularly decisive way of dealing with employees seeking to unionize.

And Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert) bests her fog of alcoholism just long enough to provide a history lesson on her time with George Custer for Martha Bullock's (Anna Gunn) schoolchildren.

Naturally, what has drawn much just attention to the series is the dialogue, which Milch and his writers have crafted in epigrammatic rhythms landing somewhere between Shakespeare and the Old Testament and alternately seethes and crackles. "Tell your god to ready for blood" is the battle cry when Swearegen and Heart's war escalates.

In a calmer exchange between the two, Al asks George, "You ain't the center of the universe?"

"No, sir," Hearst immodestly replies, which leads to Swearengen's arch rejoinder: "Don't that lead you to despair?"

http://www.dailynews.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3919879

TV Reviews
Laughs stop before HBO's comedies do

By David Kronke Los Angeles Daily News Television Critic June 11, 2006

As season three of "Entourage" opens, "Aquaman" — the movie that promises to transform Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) from B-lister to megastar — is opening nationwide imminently. Through the three episodes of the series that HBO made available for review, we discover the film's box-office fate, but what we don't learn is whether "Aquaman" is actually any good or not.

There's no audience reaction at the premiere, nor any mention of the film's reviews, nor is the Valley audience with whom Vince and his hangers-on watch the movie on its opening weekend allowed to offer any opinion.

This could be because the show's writers are being coy, or because the real-life James Cameron — portraying the fictitious James Cameron, director of "Aquaman" — played along with the producers and they didn't want to suggest he made a junky movie.

Or it could be yet another industry-insider joke in a series chockablock with them — whether the movie is good or awful is irrelevant; it's all about the box office, baby.

"Entourage" kicks off a most curious block of comedies debuting on HBO tonight — its sleek polish segues into the lowbrow posturing of comedian Louis C.K.'s sitcom deconstruction "Lucky Louie," which will find favor mainly with nonreligious fans of "Blue Collar TV." That, in turn, gives way to the amorphous absurdities of stand-up comic Dane Cook, whose material amuses younger audiences but scarcely anyone over, say, 30.

So the evening lacks what broadcasters would call "flow." Or, more to the point, it's almost pathologically schizophrenic.

Back to "Entourage" for a moment. As Vince threatens to blow up big-time, the show itself has assumed a becoming modesty. In tonight's episode, Vince beseeches his neurotic mother (Mercedes Ruehl) to fly in to be his date for his potential blockbuster's premiere. Next week, an unfortunate series of events directs Vince and the gang to a high-school graduation party in Northridge, where they give a boost of self-confidence to the class nerds. After spending the entire episode railing against the lowly San Fernando Valley, Vince's brother, Drama (Kevin Dillon), begrudgingly admits the place ain't so bad.

And in the third episode, a caustic buddy from the gang's past reappears, threatening rifts in the close-knit pack of horndogs.

Even Ari (Jeremy Piven), Vince's evil-genius agent, cavorts with less vitriolic swagger than usual.

Why HBO thinks "Entourage's" fan base will likewise embrace "Lucky Louie" is anyone's guess. Louis C.K. — who has written for Conan O'Brien and Chris Rock and is a decent stand-up in his own right — has reimagined "The Honeymooners" as a vehicle for masturbation jokes.

But rather than parody the sitcom, he's stripped the genre of nuance: Whereas Art Carney's Ed Norton worked in New York's sewer system, here, that's where everyone's mind is. Studio audiences guffaw every time characters say naughty words or express naughty thoughts or engage in naughty activities.

"Lucky Louie" opens with a typical sitcom moment — a beleaguered dad (C.K.) sits with his eternally curious daughter, who challenges his every statement with a plaintive "Why?" After a protracted sequence, an exasperated Louie blurts out, "Because God is dead and we're alone," satisfying her inquisition but, nonetheless, seeming a long way to go for that mild laugh.

Moreover, the show's writers are unburdened by the notion of character development. Tonight, Louie and wife Kim (Pamela Adlon) haven't had sex for months; next week, they're upon one another like ferrets. Tonight, Louie's pot-dealing pal is divorced; in a future episode, Louie tells him, "If you ever get married ..."

The show's plots and performances ape particularly lame sitcoms — some moments are genuinely embarrassing — which means the only real "joke" is that the studio audience is laughing at such rote material.

HBO declares the show to be "the end of the sitcom as you know it," but does so with a pride that the show itself does not merit.

After that comes "Dane Cook's Tourgasm," a lazy, home-movie-type show focusing on people who are clearly confident that they're far more inherently interesting than they actually are. Comics are needy types in the first place, so those Cook — who comes off as an affable guy if not a particularly incisive comedian — has recruited are particularly adept at mugging desperately for the cameras.

For his comedy tour, Cook brought three other stand-up pals along for the ride. Only one, Gary Gulman, betrays any talent; the brief glimpses of his live performances are uniformly entertaining.

The other two just seem like jerks — Bobby Kelly is fairly hostile; Jay Davis is pretty whiny. The series follows the guys as they reconnoiter the country, with staged bits (scooter races, horse rides, faux-rock climbs) added to alleviate their tour-bus claustrophobia and to wring some vestige of "drama" from the proceedings.

"Years down the line, I'm gonna look at this and it's going to be very close to my heart," Cook explicates earnestly. Well, that makes one of us.

http://www.dailynews.com/tv/ci_3919863

The Emmy Awards
New rules should reward most deserving shows

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News Sun, Jun. 11, 2006

At the risk of incurring the wrath of ``Boston Legal'' fans everywhere, let me suggest that James Spader is the poster child for what's wrong with the Emmy awards.

True, Spader is a splendid actor with a delightful quirky sense of comic timing. His performances as ethically challenged attorney Alan Shore are solid pieces of work, deserving of admiration.

But for the past two Emmy seasons, Spader has managed to take home the award for best actor in a drama, even though the field for 2004 included James Gandolfini of ``The Sopranos'' and last year included Ian McShane (``Deadwood'') and Hugh Laurie (``House''). Given the competition, it's even surprising that Spader scored nominations.

It ain't right, folks -- and it appears the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences finally has figured out that it should try to do something about such embarrassments.

So, it has introduced some major rules changes that it hopes will lead to fewer shows and actors making it when academy members vote for them because of reputation, ratings success or simply out of habit. The hope is that some love finally will be given to shows unjustly ignored because of low viewership (i.e. UPN's ``Veronica Mars'') or because Emmy voters aren't part of their core audience (the WB's ``Gilmore Girls'') or for simple lack of clout within the academy (anything on cable's FX).

The way the new system works: Emmy voters will continue to cast ballots for nominees in the best drama, best comedy and lead actor and actress categories. But instead of the top five finishers automatically making up the field, the top 15 choices in the popular vote will go to blue-ribbon panels, which then will pick the final nominees.

``This voting initiative hits the issue of a narrow nominations process head-on,'' academy chairman and CEO Dick Askin said earlier this year, ``and significantly increases the potential for the widest and most diverse selection of nominees possible.''

Whether the new system will cure at least some of the Emmy awards' ills won't be known until the nominations are announced on July 6. Certainly, it won't fix the supporting actor categories (which will operate under the old system) and the fact that the vote is based on a limited number of episodes, not a full season of work.

But the general consensus within TV world is that the retooling could lead to recognition for such actors as Lauren Graham (whose work on ``Gilmore Girls'' should have gotten a nomination years ago) and such series as FX's ``Rescue Me'' (ditto). At the very least, it will add an element of unpredictability to a process that has been mired in a rut for years.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/

TV Notebook
4 women turn to the cameras to find love

By Mike Duffy Detroit Free Press TV Critic June 8, 2006

Love will find a way to give us summertime guilty pleasure.

And "How to Get the Guy" -- a new dates 'n' search for soul mates reality show -- gives it a whirl when it premieres at 10 PM ET/PT Monday on ABC.

The slick, unscripted series follows the relationship odyssey of four young, attractive and available San Francisco women as they try to shape their own true love destinies.

Our pilgrims of the heart include Alissa ("the dreamer"), Anne ("the girl next door"), Kris ("the party girl") and Michelle ("the career girl"). Before setting off on their soul mate safari, the women are given dating and mating tips from two "love coaches": chatty writer Teresa Strasser and TV host/infotainer JD Roberto.

For instance, they counsel shy Anne on how to "drop the hanky," code language for flirting and making eye contact. We observe Anne trying to do exactly that, sometimes awkwardly, in Bay Area stores.

With cameras always rolling, how real or romantic could it all be?

ABC slyly winks at the notion by describing "How to Get the Guy" as a "docu-soap." So think of it as a chick flick with real people; or at least the sort of real people who are willing to go looking for love and undergo relationship therapy on national TV.

For the MySpace.com generation, it's all just self-actualizing rock 'n' roll anyway.

Personal lives lived on camera? No biggie.

Looking for love on national television? Whatever.

Now all ABC has to find out is whether "How to Get the Guy" knows how to get the ratings.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060608/ENT03/606080414/1038&template=printart

TV Notebook
New Emmy System Could Give Sleepers a Chance

By Tom O'Neil, Special to The Los Angeles Times June 10, 2006

Don't expect the Emmy Awards to look like a TV rerun again this year. Although favorite, high-rated nominees usually return year after year, there's a new voting system that aims to boost the chances of low-rated snubees in the top series and acting categories.

This week, ballots were shipped to members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences as usual, but when they're returned by June 20, they won't determine the final five nominees in all categories as they have in years past. New judging panels will convene at the academy's offices in North Hollywood on June 24 and 25 to do that job (as panels have done for years in other award categories) after weighing sample episodes submitted by the top 15 vote-getters among rivals for best lead actor and actress in a series and top 10 finalists for best comedy and drama. Academy members overall usually favor the most popular contenders as measured by Nielsen ratings or industry buzz.

"Up till now the Emmys have been a broadcast TV and HBO world," says Ray Richmond, Emmy writer for the Hollywood Reporter. "In order for the Emmys to be taken seriously, they need to recognize the more cutting-edge programs on the WB, FX, UPN and Showtime networks. What's an Emmy worth if someone like Lauren Graham from 'Gilmore Girls' can't be nominated?"

Five years ago, the Television Critics of America voted "Gilmore Girls" the best new program of the year. Since then it has given the show six more nominations, including two shots at best actress for Graham, but it's only received one Emmy bid — for best makeup in 2004, which it won. That's the only Emmy the WB has ever received out of its four nominations, none higher up than the guest-acting categories.

Now many Emmy-watchers believe "Gilmore Girls" and Graham have a good chance to make the finalists' lists. In past years, when the Emmy process employed judging panels to choose winners, it helped to rescue low-rated programs lucky enough to get nominated, such as "Cheers," "Hill Street Blues," "Cagney & Lacey" and "All in the Family."

This year there may finally be recognition for these often overlooked shows and stars in the series and acting races: "Battlestar Galactica" (Edward James Olmos), "Rescue Me" (Denis Leary) and "Veronica Mars" (Kristen Bell). Michael Chiklis won best drama actor in 2002, but "The Shield" has never been up for best series.

Among low-rated and even canceled new shows and the stars that could benefit: "The Comeback" (Lisa Kudrow), "Commander in Chief" (Geena Davis), "Everybody Hates Chris" (Tyler James Williams, Tichina Arnold), "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and "Weeds" (Mary-Louise Parker).

Other rookies might also make the cut, but they might have done so under the old system, considering their better ratings and buzz: "Big Love" (Bill Paxton), "The Closer" (Kyra Sedgwick), "My Name Is Earl" (Jason Lee), "The Office" (Steve Carell) and "Prison Break" (Wentworth Miller).

TV critics are rooting hardest for such underdogs as "Battlestar Galactica," now in its second season on the Sci-Fi Channel.

"We've been championing it from the beginning and really hope it gets lots of Emmy love," says TVGuide.com senior editor Michael Ausiello.

"The Emmys need to acknowledge the cool kids like Denis Leary, Kristen Bell and Mary-Louise Parker," adds Richmond. "They need to pay attention to the stars and shows that TV critics care about."

Those include the five nominees for best new show at the Television Critics of America Awards, which will be bestowed in July: "Big Love," "The Colbert Report," "Everybody Hates Chris," "My Name Is Earl" and "Prison Break." Nominees for individual achievement awards include Kyra Sedgwick, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Jason Lee and, of course, Lauren Graham.

"The new Emmy voting change is good," adds Ausiello, "because the old system created embarrassing situations like last year when 'Will & Grace' had one of its weakest seasons, but ended up with the most nominations among comedy series. That reflects very badly on the Emmys."

http://theenvelope.latimes.com/la-et-emmys10jun10,0,3305396,print.story?coll=env-home-headlines

TV Notebook
New faces of fall's TV lineup have wrinkles

By Phil Rosenthal Chicago Tribune Media Columnist June 11, 2006

Here's a new wrinkle for you: Old is becoming TV's hot new thing.

At age 59, James Woods will be starring this fall in his first weekly television series , playing a hotshot attorney who doesn't play by the rules while teaching a bunch of hotshot novices how to play to win in CBS' "Shark."

Another new cutthroat TV lawyer will be Victor Garber, 57, as the lead in Fox's "Justice," a step up from his supporting role on "Alias."

Ted Danson, who was a more prototypical lead when "Cheers" made its debut 24 years ago, is now 58 and set to be the star of the ABC group therapy comedy "Help Me Help You."

Then there's NBC's "Twenty Good Years," a comedy starring John Lithgow, 60, and Jeffrey Tambor, 61, as longtime friends who realize they're heading into the home stretch of their lives and want to have some fun before they hit the finish line.

It wasn't that long ago that old TV acquaintances were forgotten and never brought to mind--save for reunion shows, retrospectives and "60 Minutes." That is starting to change.

Maybe it's because there's a move in some industry circles to push advertisers toward older viewers than the 18- to 49-year-olds over which marketers have long obsessed.

"Young people may be cool and exciting, but they don't have the money," Ken Dychtwald told a Chicago audience earlier this year. Dychtwald is a Baby Boom generation expert enlisted by cable nostalgia channel TV Land to make the case for what they tout as "the new power demographic" of viewers age 40 to 59. In any case, with overall viewership threatened by younger viewers replacing their parents' addiction to the tube with surfing the Internet, playing video games and text messaging, it behooves the networks to cast a wider net.

Shows built around older characters once were a TV staple, but that changed in the 1990s with the success of "Friends," a series that CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves (who helped develop it as a studio exec at Warner Bros.) has often said "changed the face of television."

It changed the faces, too.

Almost overnight, "Golden Girls" were devalued in an environment more welcoming of "Son" than "Sanford."

NBC's "Law & Order," set to enter its 17th season, has been and continues to be one of the exceptions. Though it's getting rid of cast member Dennis Farina, 62, it still has Sam Waterston, 65, and Fred Thompson, 63.

The success of reality shows, such as "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race," showcasing characters ranging from students to senior citizens has helped change the perception of what viewers of all ages will accept.

Recent years have seen the inclusion of James Caan, 66, on NBC's "Las Vegas" and William Shatner, 75, on ABC's "Boston Legal," to say nothing of Shatner's castmate, Candice Bergen, who is a fabulous-looking 60.

We're now seeing on-air personalities such as "American Idol" champ Taylor Hicks and CNN's Anderson Cooper, who once might have been sent to a salon for requisite dye jobs, actually celebrating their prematurely gray `dos.'

Much already has been made of the fact that when ABC News decided to replace Elizabeth Vargas, 43, as its weeknight newscaster, it turned to Charles Gibson, 20 years her senior.

When NBC needed a replacement for Katie Couric, 49, it went with Meredith Vieira, 52. "The CBS Evening News" with Bob Schieffer, 68, has been the only nightly network newscast to add viewers this past season.

But the news always has been one place on TV where talent doesn't come stamped with expiration dates. It wasn't that long ago that AARP-eligible Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw held down the top jobs at their respective networks. Lines on the face and a touch of gray are welcome. Without retirement age correspondents, "60 Minutes" would have trouble filling an hour each week.

But in prime-time dramas and comedies, the guiding philosophy has tended to be beauty before age, especially among series leads.

If Diane Keaton, 60, soon will be doing ads for L'Oreal Paris and her fellow sexagenarians Mick Jagger and Keith Richards can continue to draw sold-out stadium and arena crowds with their old-time rock 'n' roll, why should prime time be off-limits to those in the prime of their lives?

Speaking of Jagger, 62, he'll have a recurring role this fall as the potential mark in the ABC sitcom, "Let's Rob . . . "

Like so many others of a certain age this coming season, time is on his side.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-0606110354jun11,0,1405212,print.column

TV Notebook
Professor's Book Finds Clues Hidden In TV's 'Lost'

By Walt Belcher Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - On the night that "Lost" introduced a character named Henry Gale, Lynnette Porter was watching the ABC drama as usual - with her laptop computer up and running full bore.

Making notes and keeping in touch with fellow "Lost" fanatics, Porter fired off a message.

She sought confirmation that Henry Gale was a character in "The Wizard of Oz."

In "Oz," Henry Gale is the kindly farmer and uncle of Dorothy Gale, the lass who goes over the rainbow to a strange land.

"It was a little thrill to discover that connection and ponder if it meant anything," said Porter, co-author of "Unlocking the Meaning of Lost: An Unauthorized Guide."

"Lost," like "Oz," also involves a strange land where characters could be metaphors for other things, she said in a recent telephone interview.

The "Lost" Henry Gale (Michael Emerson) may not be a kindly uncle, but he did fabricate a story about arriving on the island in a hot-air ballon.

In "The Wizard of Oz," the wizard turned out to be a trickster from Kansas who arrived in the Emerald City when his hot-air ballon went astray.

"Are these clues to solving the mystery and meaning of 'Lost'?" Porter said.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. But the fun is in the discovery and the speculation. It's the most layered series ever produced for television."

Where's Cigarette Man?

Many of those layers are sorted and explained in Porter's book, which was published in May by Sourcebooks Inc.

Not since "The X-Files" has there been a series with such a devoted following or such a perplexing mythology.

While "Lost" can be viewed and enjoyed as a mystery-adventure thriller, it also offers an intellectual exercise for the fans who analyze every episode.

Everything from the background music to characters' names to book titles and cultural references is fodder for the devotees.

There are even Web sites that translate "whispers" supposedly laid into the soundtrack.

"Lost" producers feed the process by planting symbolism, metaphors and clues in each episode.

The producers also have created numerous fictional Web sites spun off from the series that tease viewers with information that may or may not be useful in solving the puzzle.

Get To Know Characters

"Unlocking the Meaning of Lost" could be used as a primer for the casual fan who wants to dig deeper into the series or just keep up at the water cooler.

Porter was in Tampa recently to attend a "Lost" finale watching party in St. Petersburg sponsored by ABC affiliate WFTS, Channel 28.

Her guidebook was co-authored by David Lavery, a professor at Middle Tennessee State University.

The book covers the characters and their backgrounds, backgrounds on the series creators and writers and various theories about the unsolved mysteries of the series.

For those who haven't been paying attention, "Lost" follows the survivors of Sydney-to-Los Angeles Flight 815, which broke apart and crashed on a tropical island.

Cut off from civilization, the survivors have faced strange things including a polar bear; a landlocked pirate ship; a bunker furnished with food supplies, running water and electricity; a strange black cloud; a Frenchwoman who has been stranded there 16 years; an unexplained "monster"; and menacing inhabitants called "The Others."

Meanwhile, there seem to be some sort of mind-control and electromagnetic experiments taking place.

The series also involves romantic tension among some characters such as Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway). It also explores themes of redemption, good versus evil, and random fate versus predestination.

Prompting Discussion

Porter, an associate professor of humanities and communication at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, said she was hooked on the series from the outset.

"When you have characters named Locke and Rousseau, obviously named after philosophers, well that is something different," she said.

"I decided to write a book early on because there was so much there to be explored," she added. "The series raises questions about spiritualism, technology and human behavior."

Viewers have various theories about what has happened to the castaways - from being pawns in a corporate experiment to being kidnapped by aliens.

Others suggest they are all dead and stuck in some kind of "Twilight Zone" purgatory.

A survey of fans found 35 percent spend up to two hours a week viewing, researching and talking about the series, Porter said.

Many spend nearly a dozen hours a week on "Lost" activities, she said. These include visiting Web sites, writing and reading blogs, engaging in online chats and reading articles about the series.

"The wonderful thing for me as an educator is that it is introducing people to literature," Porter said. "When a character on the series picks up a book, it sends millions to libraries or bookstores."

Books mentioned on the series include "Watership Down," Charles Dickens' "Our Mutual Friend," Henry James' "Turn of the Screw," "The Third Policeman" and "A Wrinkle in Time."

Porter, who did not interview any of the cast members or production crew, said her book doesn't take a position on any of the theories.

The book does not answer any of the myriad unsolved questions. It just puts all the questions into perspective, Porter said.

"It's an overall guide to what has happened during the first season and nine episodes into the second season," she said.

A second book, covering the remainder of the second season and the first half of the third season, is in the works for next spring.

"That is when we will address the Henry Gale character and other things that happened on and off the island," she said.

http://www.tbo.com/entertainment/tv/MGBYC2J76OE.html

Critic’s Notebook
TNT Takes a Gamble With Complex “Saved”

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star Sun, Jun. 11, 2006

“Saved,” a new drama airing at 10 PM ET Monday on TNT, stars Tom Everett Scott as an emergency medical worker who makes a demanding job look easy.

In his mind, it is, compared with battling the demons that drive him to the poker table for nights of high-stakes action in between shifts.

Scott is good, the writing sings out in that stage-play kind of way, and with a high-quality show like “The Closer” as its lead-in, there’s a good chance “Saved” will find an audience.

“Oh, you mean as opposed to having ‘Wheel of Fortune’ as my lead-in?” jokes the show’s creator, David Manson.

Manson, you see, worked on another show once: “Nothing Sacred,” the heaven-sent drama about a conflicted priest, played by Kevin Anderson, who presided over a struggling urban parish. Manson co-created that series in 1997, but it never stood a chance when ABC put it on at 7 p.m. on Thursdays. Let’s just say the “Wheel” audience was looking for something a little lighter.

Also, a Catholic group faxed the show’s sponsors nonstop, claiming “Nothing Sacred” defamed the church. In reality, it made the church seem more real and credible to watch people struggling with their faith even while performing the sacraments. (Here’s a divine mystery: why “Nothing Sacred” still isn’t on DVD.)

On “Saved,” Scott plays Wyatt Cole, a Portland, Ore., paramedic who’s really good at what he does (as we see several times each hour). But he has resisted letting his talent take him higher up the food chain — namely, to medical school, where he’d finally please his famous doctor dad (played by David Clennon) and maybe woo back his ambitious ex-girlfriend, Alice (Elizabeth Reaser).

But first Wyatt needs to settle a $10,000 gambling debt. And all the while never let people see what’s eating him.

“That’s the key to the character,” Scott said in an interview. “This guy is never going to let people see him vulnerable.”

After “Nothing Sacred” died, Manson went back to films. Now, with edgier cable shows being rolled out, he’s getting work on TV again. The creators of HBO’s “Big Love,” that Mormon polygamy soap opera, called on him to help get the show off the ground. Same story with “Thief,” the FX miniseries with Andre Braugher as a burglar trying to live a double life as a responsible stepdad.

Americans are “not particularly hospitable to notions of complexity. They like things simple. They like their faith simple, and they like their characters unambiguous. But when you look at shows like ‘The Wire,’ ‘The Shield,’ ‘Nip/Tuck,’ ‘The Closer,’ these shows have characters who are rich and dimensional,” Manson said.

And lately TV has taken an interest in people going through some kind of spiritual crisis. Which Manson likes, even though he grew up Reform Jewish and now says he’s agnostic. “I seem to have a fascination for people who have chosen a path that is deeply influenced by religion. Perhaps because I see it as something missing in my own life.”

“Saved” and “The Closer” will both air commercial-free Monday night.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/columnists/aaron_barnhart/14774545.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Critic’s Notebook
Risque HBO shows flying in a no-kid zone

By Susan Young Oakland Tribune 6/11/2006

When HBO programs an evening of adult entertainment, lock the doors. Don't let the kids near the TV set. And then sit down and enjoy yourself.

The cable network busts out a new lineup tonight with shows that could make Morality in the Media members turn to salt pillars with just a casual glance.

On Wednesday, Congress passed the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, which will boost fines for violations from $32,000 to $325,000 once the president signs the bill. This only affects broadcast networks and stations, making cable the last bastion of indecency.

Tonight's lineup of new and returning shows certainly runs the gamut from naughty boy fun on "Entourage" to extreme language and sexual situations in "Deadwood" and the new "Lucky Louie," an adult comedy that could make Richard Pryor blush.

First up is "Deadwood," returning for its third and final season at 9 tonight on HBO — although there will be two, two-hour movies after this 12-episode season wraps.

Let's first sing the praises of "Deadwood," the winner of Emmys, Peabodys and Golden Globes. Based on the brash history of this South Dakota western town, creator David Milch ("NYPD Blue") uses historic characters and gritty photography to evoke the spirit of the West. His characters are finely drawn and blessed by the considerable talents of the actors.

But it is the language of "Deadwood" that has received most of the attention.

Profanity runs as rampant as the violence in this god-forsaken place, and the dialogue is written in almost Shakespearian tones. You don't walk away from this show to check on the laundry. It requires full viewer attention. At first, the flowery language can be off-putting, but after a fairly short time you fall into the rhythm and beauty of it.

In a set visit last July, creator Milch once again defended both the profanity and the difficult language in his scripts as being true to the times. But several of his actors confided that trying to learn their lines was like preparing for a Shakespearian play — except they didn't have to worry about Shakespeare coming back right before a scene was to be shot with new material to learn.

One actress even admitted that she gets so involved in just learning the lines that she often doesn't even know what she said. "It's confusing even to us at times," the wishes-to-remain-nameless actress admitted.

That doesn't seem to be as much of a problem this season. While retaining the beauty of the language, the new episodes seem much easier to grasp. Or perhaps we're just getting used to it.

Tonight's episode is nothing short of exquisite as the town prepares for its first official elections for mayor and sheriff. Current Sheriff Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) looks to retain his post, with his friend and business partner Sol Star (John Hawkes) taking over as mayor from the creepy E.B. Farnum (William Sanderson).

For those who haven't kept up with "Deadwood," both seasons are out on DVD.

'Entourage'

"Deadwood" is followed on a lighter note by the return of the hilarious comedy "Entourage" at 10 tonight. The series, about a young, hot actor and his pals from back home who keep him semi-grounded, takes dead aim at Hollywood. We'll be forever grateful for "Entourage" bringing us such treats as "hugging it out."

Although you don't need to see the previous two seasons to enjoy this series, you'll want to take a look back. The DVD sets for both seasons are currently available.

After "Entourage" are the premieres of two new HBO shows, "Lucky Louie" and the reality series "Tourgasm."

"Lucky Louie" could be just as funny without the pervasive use of filthy language, but then it wouldn't be an HBO show.

Louis C.K, an Emmy-award winning writer for "The Chris Rock Show," created and stars in this series about a hapless working class guy who is married with one young daughter. Wife Kim (Pamela Adlon) puts in long hours as a licensed vocational nurse — and the main breadwinner — while Louie works at the local muffler shop.

Louie reflects life in the blue-collar lane, where bills are overwhelming and folks are just trying to get by. He lives in an apartment building and is trying to become a good neighbor to the African-American couple who just moved there with their young children. So he invites them to his daughter's birthday party.

They give her a black Barbie, which incites daughter Lucy (Kelly Gould) into a tantrum as she flings the doll saying, "I don't want a black Barbie."

Ouch.

Louie and Kim are humiliated. It's an awkward situation that just keeps getting worse as Louie tries to make it right between his family and neighbors Walter (Jerry Minor) and Ellen (Kim Hawthorne).

The other story line has Kim trying to get pregnant by any means necessary.

But while "Lucky Louie" at least has some really funny moments amid the soft porn, "Dane Cook's Tourgasm," which airs at 11 tonight on HBO, is just plain boring.

Follow Cook, who apparently is the hottest comic in America, on his road trip to various venues with fellow stand-ups Gary Gulman, Jay Davis and Robert Kelly. First stop is Sonoma State.

These four try way too hard to be cutting edge and funny in their antics. I'll admit that I barely got through the first episode, which airs tonight, and I fell asleep during the second episode.

Not a good sign.

USA brings back 'The 4400'

Despite those who wish to resurrect it, ABC's "Invasion" is dead in the water. Cast and crew have moved on to other projects and you just have to let it go.

So to salve those open wounds, you might try checking out "The 4400," which returns for a third season at 9 tonight on USA.

The series stars former Hayward resident Mahershalalhashbaz Ali as one of 4,400 people who were abducted by aliens over the decades. They were all returned to earth, and we've spent the last two years trying to figure out what's up with them and if they present a threat to their fellow humans.

These people have certain powers, and at the end of last season it was revealed that their powers have been controlled by the government through medications that resulted in some deaths.

Joel Gretsch and Jacqueline McKenzie return as federal agents Tom and Diana, who are trying to help the 4,400 while protecting the general population. To catch up on the episodes, you can tune in to "The 4400 Marathon: The Essential Episodes" from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Pacific Time) today.

Or you can just get the DVDs of the past two seasons and watch them at your leisure. In either case, sci fi fans are in for a treat.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3925357

Judging by some of those articles it seems like TV Guide is really pushing for BSG to get a few nods.

If you asked me a few months ago what the chances were for BSG to get any Emmy nods I would have said zero. Now it seems like it'll be a disappointment if it doesn't get anything.

I now wouldn't be surprised if it gets three nods; Best Drama, Best Actor (Olmos) and possibly Best Actress (McDonnell).

Olmos now seems like the most possible of the three (probably taking the place of Spader).

Like I touched upon earlier, I think McDonnell was terrible this year, and the show is a shadow of its former pre S2 self. Olmos was excellent as usual, and the show actually suffered some when he was out of commission during the beginning of the season. He is the show. I don't think it would work without him.

But Ausiello and Roush seem to be REALLY pushing the show, and that might be just enough to get it a few nominations.

I agree that they are pushing it -- I am just not sure how many of the TV Academy voters actually read TV Guide -- especially online.

But we'll see.

TV Review
TNT's 'Saved' and 'The Closer'

Heroes With Tics, Flaws and Trouble at Home
By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times June 12, 2006

"Saved," (10 PM ET Monday) a new TNT drama about paramedics, has something rarely seen on television or in movies: a handsome young hero with bad teeth. It's an admirable attempt at realism in an era when even drug dealers and serial killers have smiles as bleached and bright as bathroom tile.

Like "The Closer," (9 PM ET Monday) a TNT police drama about a prickly female homicide detective that returns for a second season, "Saved" fills a gap between "Law & Order" (NBC) and "CSI" (CBS) and rougher cable offerings like "The Shield" or "Rescue Me" on FX.

In "Saved," which has its premiere tonight, Wyatt Cole (Tom Everett Scott) is a medical school dropout with a gambling problem (and poor oral hygiene), but he's not a coarse, corrupt policeman or a middle-aged, emotionally frayed fireman. He is a confused young man who hates pressure from his wealthy, snobbish family but loves the adrenalin and life-and-death stakes of his job as a paramedic.

And that puts him on about the same moral plane as Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick), who on "The Closer" brings more personal tics and back story to her job than most network police detectives but is nevertheless a stand-up heroine. Her worst sins are a complicated love life, brusque manners and an addiction to sweets. (Though you couldn't tell from her teeth.)

A crime series is one of the easiest genres to put on the air and the hardest to pull off well. It requires a fresh, jarring approach to the comfortingly familiar.

"The Closer," for example, works because it recasts a classic television archetype — the Columbo-style detective — along modern, feminist lines. Brenda is known as the closer because her unusually personal, intuitive interrogation style always seems to elicit a confession. Her office manner is rude and abrasive until it suits her to turn syrupy and solicitous, and part of her charm is that she is so easily disliked.

In the new season, beginning tonight, she is more accepted by her subordinates and peers than she was when transferred from Atlanta to Los Angeles to head up a special high-profile crimes unit; it took a while for them to accept her bossy ways and Southern wiles. But the first case — a Los Angeles police officer is found dead next to the body of a major drug dealer — brings Brenda a fresh wave of resentment from the dead officer's comrades, who are angered by her handling of the investigation.

Ms. Sedgwick's Southern accent is unconvincing, but her character overcomes that distraction: she is a complicated single woman who uses her own neuroses to deconstruct suspects' behavior and motives. In every episode, she fishes out a personal weakness that escapes her male colleagues. She is also a single woman who once had an affair with her married boss, Assistant Police Chief Will Pope (J. K. Simmons), and is skittish about commitment to her latest boyfriend, Fritz Howard (Jon Tenney), an F.B.I. agent.

"Saved" is a medical show not a police thriller, and cards not candy are the protagonist's weakness, but Wyatt is supposed to have the same kind of flawed but endearing personality as Brenda.

He is first seen at a high-stakes poker table, where his smart-aleck style lands him in a fistfight so fierce his opponent requires emergency care. "I am 911," he says while examining the wound he just inflicted.

The series has an interesting gimmick: each new case is introduced by a brief, grainy flashback that shows, in a quick montage of images, what led to the emergency call. (A heart attack victim is shown overeating after a love affair and later collapsing on the stairs.)

But Wyatt's story falls together a little too neatly. He is the charming black-sheep son of a prominent doctor and still has a thing for his old girlfriend, Alice (Elizabeth Reaser), who is dating a more reliable doctor. His best friend, Sack (Omari Hardwick), his partner in the ambulance, is a divorced father.

The episodes focus as much on their troubled personal lives as on the lives they try to save. Wyatt is a more conventional television protagonist than Brenda, but "Saved," like "The Closer," seeks a new way into oft-told stories.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/arts/television/12save.html?pagewanted=print

Washington Notebook
Stevens Modifies Telecom Bill

Cable RSNs would be made available to Satellite
By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com 6/11/2006

Phone companies could enter cable markets within 90 days under streamlined franchising rules and cable incumbents could opt in to the new licensing regime when existing agreements expire or when phone companies arrive in the market, according to new telecommunications draft legislation from Senate Commerce Committee chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) obtained by Multichannel News.

On network neutrality, the new 151-page bill is no different from the original (S. 2686) released May 1. It would require the Federal Communications Commission to study the Internet market and file annual reports to Congress over a five-year period.

Stevens is holding a hearing Tuesday on his Communications, Consumer's Choice and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006. He hopes to vote it out of committee June 20 despite strong opposition by Sen. Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) -- the panel's top Democrat -- to the net-neutrality language.

Last Thursday, the House approved a cable-franchise bill that would let phone companies enter new markets within 30 days and that vests the FCC with authority to police discriminatory conduct by broadband-access providers. But net-neutrality proponents consider the House bill insufficient.

With regard to cable franchising, Stevens altered his position some in response to concerns by local officials. His original bill would have allowed AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. to begin offering video service within 30 days.

Local governments won another change: Stevens modified his bill so that a video provider using the new franchising process would have to pay franchise fees based on a definition of gross revenue that includes commissions paid by home shopping channels. Cities argued that the original bill would have cut franchise fees by up to 20%.

While Stevens would not impose video-buildout requirements on phone companies, he would expose them to penalities for denial of service based on a group's income, race or religion. But phone companies could cite commercial infeasibility to defend against red-lining charges.

Under the Stevens bill, local governments would be required to use a simplified franchising procedure crafted by the FCC, in a concession to phone-company concerns that current local franchising system is long, tedious and a barrier to competition.

On program access, the Stevens bill would immediately close the so-called terrestrial loophole, which allows cable operators to withhold terrestrially delivered affiliated program from competing pay TV distributors. That provision is aimed at forcing Comcast Corp. to sell Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia to competitors.

Stevens would also allow satellite carriers to file FCC complaints to gain access to regional sports programming not owned by cable operators but distributed exclusively by undefined "dominant" cable operators. But in a change made to the first Stevens bill, cable operators could not demand access to NFL Sunday Ticket, the National Football League's out-of-market package, to which DirecTV Inc. has exclusive rights.

On carriage of digital-TV stations, the draft bill was unchanged in requiring high-capacity cable operators, until Feb. 17, 2014, to ensure that the digital-TV signals of stations electing must-carry can be viewed on analog- and digital-TV sets. Signal downcoversion from digital to analog and from HD to standard definition is permitted at the cable headend.

Stevens added similar downconversion authority for satellite carriers DirecTV and EchoStar Communications Corp.

TV Notebook
Sedgwick savors her complex 'Closer' role

By Bill Keveney USA Today 6/11/2006

LOS ANGELES — Brenda Johnson, the police interrogator at the center of TNT's The Closer, is anything but simple, which is what persuaded Kyra Sedgwick to join the TV character in a transcontinental move.

The New Yorker plays an Atlantan transplanted to Los Angeles to become deputy chief of the L.A. police department. Johnson, an outsider whose politeness belies a steely professional resolve, spent The Closer's first season winning over her elite homicide division. As the second season premieres (tonight, 9 ET/PT), the unit bumps heads with the entire department.

Johnson's off-duty idiosyncrasies — messy relationships, a battle with her sweet tooth — contrast with her professional skills, which makes her appealing to Sedgwick and, she says, presumably viewers. The Closer finished its first season as cable's most-watched new series.

"She's not what you would expect," Sedgwick says over coffee at the start of one of her many long workdays. "I think we've created something really special, someone people can relate to."

Johnson represents a newer generation of professional women on TV, characters who can be skilled and confident in fields populated mostly by men without abandoning their femininity. The interrogator shows her greatest skill in the claustrophobic "murder room," where she can go instantly from amiable to antagonistic to extract a confession.

"I love that she's very much a woman and she doesn't apologize for her power. She wears skirts, she doesn't wear pants. She's very female and secure enough that she doesn't have to act like a man," says Sedgwick, 40.

This season also delves into Johnson's disorganized personal life, with a visit by her mother (Frances Sternhagen), a potential love triangle with her FBI agent boyfriend (Jon Tenney) and her boss and former paramour (J.K. Simmons), and a possible pregnancy.

When casting, executive producer James Duff initially didn't focus on Sedgwick, known primarily for movie roles (Something to Talk About, Phenomenon, TNT's Door to Door), because the role would require substantial time away from her husband, Kevin Bacon, and her family on the East Coast. Her feelings about temporary relocation changed when she saw the rich possibilities of Johnson, he says.

Duff, whose mother's Mississippi upbringing influenced Johnson's Southern nature, wanted to portray a character who defied the entertainment stereotype that "rarely is the person with the Southern accent the smartest in the room." Sedgwick is a New Yorker, but her skills have allowed her to become Johnson, he says. "She's a fantastic actress. Every part of her is in that performance."

The support of Bacon, who took a break from his acting schedule last season to be "a little bit of a stay-at-home dad" to Travis, 16, and Sosie, 14, made the series commitment possible, Sedgwick says.

Although acting means separation, it also has brought the family together. Loverboy, which opens June 16, was directed by Bacon and features Sedgwick and their teens.

Sedgwick says The Closer might have slipped a little too far into comic elements in one or two first-season episodes, but the drama and comedy now is balanced just right. The lighter side can be seen in Johnson's all-too-relatable battle with sweets.

"Unlike Brenda, I don't struggle with it, because I've learned to embrace it," she says, although her slim figure suggests she's more than holding her own in the fight.

She knows many others face that temptation. "I think there are very few people in America who don't look at a piece of chocolate cake and have a lot of feelings about it — a lot of complicated feelings."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-06-11-sedgwick_x.htm

TV Reviews
Call 911 for TNT's 'Saved'; 'Closer' still beats strong

By Robert Bianco USA Today 6/11/2006

How badly do you want to be saved from the summer doldrums?

If anything even vaguely new will do, you're welcome to try TNT's Saved —but only if you lower your expectations to simmer. True, TNT did delight us last year with the unexpected success of The Closer. But summer lightning does not strike twice with Saved, which hopes to do for paramedics what Rescue Me did for firefighters. All that's missing are the quirks and cast that make Rescue Me a true original and The Closer feel original.

A likable but misused Tom Everett Scott stars as Wyatt Cole, a paramedic with a gambling problem and a violent temper, which are apparently two of the reasons he never finished medical school. Another is his ex-med-school-girlfriend Alice (Elizabeth Reaser), who broke his heart then and bores us now.

Secretly, Wyatt wants to go back to med school. But does he want to go for himself, to please his famous doctor father, or to win back Alice? Wake me if you figure it out.

People do often have conflicting drives and emotions. But the opening crises just feel phony and forced — as does everything else, from the humor to the drama to the bleached-out colors.

Then there's the visual gimmick, which seems to be a post-CSI TV requirement. For Saved, it's a life-flashing-before-their-eyes montage awarded each victim to the sound of a beating heart — a trick that wears out its welcome midway through its first use. If that's what counts as "new" this summer, give me CSI: Miami repeats on CBS

There is, luckily, much better news tonight with the return of The Closer. There also isn't anything particularly original about The Closer, an unofficial Americanization of Britain's Prime Suspect. But there is something extraordinary: Kyra Sedgwick, and she's worth an hour all by herself. She's working with a fine supporting cast, including J.K. Simmons, Jon Tenney, Corey Reynolds, Tony Denison, G.W. Bailey and Robert Gossett.

Fans will be happy to see that Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson's (Sedgwick) staff is no longer working against her, even if the rest of the force is. And while Brenda Leigh's battle with sugar continues unabated, it at least has moved into a new phase.

The plots are still a bit makeshift, but they're strong enough to support Sedgwick's performance. In a medium that tends to prefer pretty girls, Sedgwick's Brenda Leigh is all woman: beautiful, witty, intelligent, troubled, mature, and yet still immature enough to be hiding her boyfriend from her momma. Every moment seems honest, every choice rings true.

And that's something special in any season.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2006-06-11-closer-saved_x.htm

TV Reviews
'Saved,' 'The Closer' and the conventions of cable drama

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog June 11, 2006

Thank goodness for cable television; it brings us complicated people.

That’s not to say that strange, twisted or intriguing people don’t end up on the broadcast networks (paging Dr. House). But in the main, when it comes to lead characters, the networks usually play it fairly safe. Cable networks, on the other hand, attempt to create heat and buzz by bringing us shady or at least deeply quirky folks who, theoretically anyway, create a lasting impression.

The trouble with this strategy is that it can lapse into stereotype. Network dramas regularly bring us square-jawed, manly heroes and the women who assist them; quite often cable dramas bring us screwed-up, sexy rakes and the women who endure them. Cliches are cliches, no matter what channel you’re watching.

Despite a subtle, empathic performance from its skilled star, Tom Everett Scott, as emergency worker Wyatt Cole, “Saved” (10 PM ET Monday, TNT) manages to hit the trifecta of cable anti-hero cliches. Cole’s got women problems (his pined-for ex is a doctor at the hospital he visits as part of his job as an EMT), he’s a disappointment to those around him (especially his doctor dad, a top physician at the hospital, who wants Cole to return to med school), and — no surprise here — he’s got an addiction problem as well.

“Saved” actually does have a challenging idea at its core. Emergency medical workers spend their days working with people who are having terrible crises — car wrecks, fires, heart attacks, etc. And what does it mean to “save” a man from an overdose-induced heart attack when there are children with suspicious bruises in the poverty-stricken house? Scott gives a nuanced idea of what it must be like to get through those kinds of days — a veneer of jocular calm is a must.

The trouble is, “Saved” thrusts several clunky conversations into this intriguing premise. “He makes me feel safe,” Cole’s ex says of her new boyfriend, in the show’s least surprising conversation. “This thing is always about fathers and sons,” says Cole’s partner (who has ex issues and addiction problems of his own) at one point. Well, it often is, but then again, it could be about mothers and sons (“The Sopranos”) or it could be about the Catholic Church, women in general, the bottle and one firefighter (“Rescue Me”).

“Rescue Me” is clearly the model for “Saved” (the premiere does begin and end, after all, with Cole getting beaten up), but it doesn’t have that show’s deeply skilled ensemble to draw on. And it doesn’t have “Rescue Me’s” courage, which is the most necessary ingredient of any drama, on any network. During one crucial scene in “Saved,” the show’s notably fine soundtrack plays Johnny Cash’s version of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt.”

If you’re going to play that song — a lament that could elicit tears from the dead — you have to be willing to show the shattering of souls; that’s what the song’s about. And it’s not at all clear that “Saved” is willing to go that far.

Also on Monday, “The Closer” (9 PM ET Monday, TNT) returns with a terrific season-opener that will keep even the most seasoned procedural-watchers guessing. Thank goodness the overall performance by Kyra Sedgwick (left) as ace investigator Brenda Johnson is far more subtle than her hambone Southern accent, which is grating at times.

It’s also strange that the show’s powers that be have stuck Johnson with a rather square boyfriend, an FBI agent who is about as memorable as a bland bowl of grits (maybe he makes her feel safe?). She clearly has much more of a spark with her boss, Will Pope (the great J.K. Simmons).

And Johnson’s ongoing sugar addiction often feels contrived; it seems as though the writers are determined to give her One Big Quirk, a la Adrian Monk’s OCD. Couldn’t she have a bunch of little quirks, which would be truer to life?

Still, the show works. “The Closer” is smartly written, if a bit obvious at times, and Sedgwick is a master in her interrogation scenes; all flattery and “Steel Magnolias” flounces until she goes for the jugular.

The best cable dramas have a deep bench, and on this show, Sedgwick is supported by an able cast, especially Simmons, Michael Paul Chan as Lt. Tao and G.W. Bailey as the rakish Lt. Provenza. Guesting next week is Frances Sternhagen, who was Charlotte’s fearsome mother-in-law on “Sex and the City.” On “The Closer” she plays Johnson’s fearsome mama, the one person who strikes terror in the brazen police investigator’s heart.

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

TV Reviews
Character-driven drama can't be 'Saved'; just watch 'Closer'

By Kevin D. Thompson Palm Beach Post Television Writer Monday, June 12, 2006

Can Saved be saved?

It's too soon to tell, but after only one underwhelming episode, the odds don't look that great.


Clearly TNT is hoping to duplicate the success of The Closer, its hit detective series starring Kyra Sedgwick as a steely investigator with a quirky personality. Like on Sedgwick's vastly superior show, Saved is also a character-driven drama. At the center is Wyatt Cole (That Thing You Do!'s Tom Everett Scott), a charming paramedic with some serious personal issues.

For starters, Wyatt gets beat up a lot because of his serious gambling problem. But he doesn't look at it as gambling. It's more like "risk assessment."

Whatever, wiseguy.

Wyatt is also something of a slacker. While his dad is a big-shot surgeon now serving as chief of medicine at some hospital, Wyatt dropped out of med school. Well, you can't blame a guy for following his own path.

And what emotionally tortured character would be complete without relationship troubles?

Wyatt was dumped by Alice (Elizabeth Reaser), an emergency room physician, because, like most women, Alice wants a little stability in her life. The whole bad boy attraction thing can only last so long. But that doesn't mean Alice can't have hot sex in an ambulance with her ex every now and again.

Topping off his woes, Wyatt is bored with his job and the world.

"We're not paramedics," he glumly muses, "we're garbage men. We recycle some stuff, but most of the time we throw out the trash."

While Saved isn't trash, it's not very good, either. It doesn't help that viewers will feel as if they've seen this show on FX already. It's called Rescue Me. And Denis Leary is much better at the flawed hero thing than the baby-faced Scott, who doesn't have the emotional heft to successfully play such a demanding role.

There's a reason why Scott, once billed as The Next Tom Hanks, never even really became the first Tom Everett Scott.

Saved, parts of which are shot documentary style (that's so passé now), also has such a been there, seen that, Third Watch feel. In the opener alone, Wyatt and his partner, Sack (Omari Hardwick) treat a cardiac arrest patient, help a pregnant woman give birth, race to a building fire and scramble to the scene of a drunken driving accident.

I'm not caring, people.

The bottom line is this: If you're jonesing for really good character dramas, save yourself from Saved and stick with The Closer and Rescue Me instead.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/tv/content/accent/epaper/2006/06/12/axd_featv_saved_0612.html

TV Reviews
`The Closer' Is Welcome Relief From The Dreary Rerun Mill; `Saved' Isn't

By Roger Catlin Hartford Courant TV Critic June 12 2006

In the second-season return of "The Closer" (TNT, 9 PM ET) Kyra Sedgwick reprises her role as extraordinary interrogator Brenda Johnson, a deputy chief of the LAPD homicide division whose first case this time around concerns a dead fellow officer.

Well-written and more dense than most network cop sagas, which are now in full rerun mode, the series looks likely to settle into another welcome summer run.

It's paired, though, with "Saved" (TNT, 10 PM ET) a series about a paramedic who is such a slacker, you might think twice about dialing 911 if you were in his town. Starring Tom Everett Scott (whose best-known role is still as drummer in the movie "That Thing That You Do"), "Saved" wishes it could be "Rescue Me" but doesn't have anywhere near its humor, heart or realism.

http://www.ctnow.com/tv/hce-tveye0612.artjun12,0,4878244.column?coll=hce-utility-tv

On program access, the Stevens bill would immediately close the so-called terrestrial loophole, which allows cable operators to withhold terrestrially delivered affiliated program from competing pay TV distributors. That provision is aimed at forcing Comcast Corp. to sell Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia to competitors.

Stevens would also allow satellite carriers to file FCC complaints to gain access to regional sports programming not owned by cable operators but distributed exclusively by undefined "dominant" cable operators. But in a change made to the first Stevens bill, cable operators could not demand access to NFL Sunday Ticket, the National Football League's out-of-market package, to which DirecTV Inc. has exclusive rights. Is it only me or does this seem like a double-standard?

I think the difference is that Comcast is the owner and distributor and D* is just the distributor of programming it gained access to by outbidding its competitors. If the NFL owned and operated a cable company (or D*), it would then be a double standard.

This is similar to the conditions placed on Rupert before approving the D* purchase. FOX cannot grant D* an exclusive for FOX, Fox News, etc. - they have to open up their owned programming for distribution by its competitors.

One irony is that Comcast, Time-Warner and Cox were leaders in having that condition placed on NewsCorp before the DirecTV approval.

And cable laughed at how much DirecTV paid for the Sunday Ticket rights (the NFL, of course, tried to get cable interested.) Comcast's Roberts (I forget which one) rather famously noted at the time that the $700 million a year deal was "too rich for our blood".

TV Notebooks
Few Ads Make the HD Grade

By Laura Blum and Steve McClellan Adweek June 12, 2006 -

Picture this: You’re kicking back on the couch watching a ball game on your new high-definition TV. The clarity is stunning. Then comes the first commercial, and you remember just how lousy TV can look.

That’s because experts estimate that less than 1 percent of all TV ads are produced in the HD format today, a fact that’s hard to ignore if you’re among the 20 percent of American consumers with an HD set. “We spend a great deal of time thinking about media strategies that erase the signals that make people aware of commercials,” said Pete Demas, vp, director at MediaVest branded entertainment unit Connective Tissue. “Could there be anything more jarring than seeing your beautiful 50-inch HD image slamming into a [standard definition] ad?”

Probably not, agreed Forrester Research principal analyst Josh Bernoff: “What they’re basically
saying is, ‘This is a commercial, so you don’t have to watch.’”

It’s hard to determine how many ads are now shot in HD. An ABC rep said the network had aired 425 HD spots between August 2005 and May 2006, or an average of 1.4 spots per day. By comparison, each of the four broadcast nets shows an average of 600 ads a day, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus. But nearly all prime-time network schedules are now shot in HDTV, as are a growing number of daytime and sports programs, such as the Super Bowl.

Given the high price of Super Bowl spots (an average $2.4 million per 30 seconds in the 2006 game) and the $1 million or more that most clients spend making in-game ads, surprisingly, only 60 percent of this year’s Super Bowl ads were in HD, according to ABC.

Mark Cuban, who co-founded HDNet, a niche cable net with all-HD programming, sees the issue this way: “Agency employees don’t have HD at home. Where you find agencies with HDTV penetration, they push for HD. Where not, not.”

But others argue that the case isn’t so black-and-white. Peter Gardiner, chief media officer at Deutsch, says the medium simply has not reached critical mass. “You have to have the high-def distribution with the viewership to justify the incremental costs. Consumers aren’t sitting around saying, ‘Gee, where are my high-def ads?’”

Though some research indicates consumers may be noticing, another issue is cost. Dennis Bannon, vp, exec producer at Leo Burnett, says producing in HD can ratchet budgets up to 20 percent. And given that HD spots will only air where there’s HD programming, “it’s not worth the extra money.”

David Perry, director of broadcast production at Saatchi & Saatchi New York, disagrees. He says there are many reasons why HD ads haven’t caught on, but argues that cost shouldn’t be one of them. Perry cited a production cost survey by the American Association of Advertising Agencies that concluded the incremental cost for finishing a 35 mm film ad in HD is a modest $10,000.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002651409

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

TV Q&A
Ask Matt

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

Question: Hey, Matt! I love your column and just wanted to say, as a sci-fi fan, I appreciate all the attention you give to those great yet underappreciated shows. Now to my question. What are your thoughts on TV's growing trend of hooking up every character on a show with each other? I'll use CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as an example because of the fuss the season finale created. The show was great because it focused on the stories and not the characters. Now Grissom and Sara hook up, and it looks like Catherine and Warwick are on their way next season. What's next? Will Greg and Nick suddenly come out of the closet? Samantha on Without a Trace has slept with two guys from her office (one of whom was her boss) and everybody has slept with everybody on Grey's Anatomy. I know we like a little romance in our shows, but enough is enough. It is possible to have a relationship with someone outside the office? — Sarah

Matt Roush: Call it the NYPD Blue syndrome. (On that show, any time a new character was introduced into the precinct, it was like he or she had a "fresh meat" sign hanging around his/her neck.) Despite that startling moment at the end of the last CSI episode, which has stimulated plenty of reaction (see below), I doubt seriously that CSI is about to become a relationship drama. There has always been subtext about the characters' attraction to each other, and in this workplace genre, there tends to be a bit of romantic tension on nearly every show — if only because the characters seem to live at work, and it's a way to bring a little emotional suspense into the daily grind.

I'm a bit more worried about the imbalance on Trace, which initially was quite adept at presenting personal story lines in between the cases of the week. With Jack's lady friend now pregnant, that troubles me. But Grey's Anatomy is an entirely different beast. It's a flat-out romance set in a hospital. That was apparent from the opening scene of the pilot, and whether you like it or not, that's the show. To me, it works beautifully. It's messier for shows that aren't inherently soap-operatic to play with these relationship story lines, and some should probably stay away from it as much as possible. As for the reaction to Gil-and-Sara on CSI, here are two delayed responses that arrived within an hour of each other last week.

________________________________________

Question: I think it was about time GG and SS got together. I love the way it was done without any fanfare. — Margie

Matt Roush: There is that to be said for it. Whether you agree with this pairing or not (usually not, according to my mailbag), the way it was presented was unexpected, to say the least.

And here, from Lois C., is the sort of mail I usually get on the topic: "I think it was disgusting to put Grissom and Sara together as a couple. There is no chemistry. If my best friend were in the hospital, there's no way I would have been off with some bimbo; I would be right at my best friend's side. If it didn't work on CSI: Miami, why would it work on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation? They killed off Horatio Caine's wife five minutes after they got married, and they should end the romance on CSI, or this lady here will never watch it again. I never liked Sara anyway, because she is such a geek, with absolutely no personality."

How do you really feel, Lois? And how exactly does a geek with no personality also qualify as some bimbo? Rather unfair, no? But again, I'll believe CSI has gone for friskiness over forensics when I see it. (And I hope I don't.)

________________________________________

Question: Now that Emmy season is upon us, I'm hearing a lot about Battlestar Galactica. Loyal fans and critics — yourself included — call it one of the best dramas on television and recommend it to viewers as well as to Emmy voters. But I watched a handful of episodes from the second season and couldn't understand what the heck was going on. I admire the show's craft, its grit and its acting, but I am finding it impossible to penetrate its dense mythology. I'm eager to jump on the bandwagon and figure out what all the fuss is about, but I don't want to feel like I'm on the outside looking in for as long as I watch the show. (Now I understand how those frustrated nonfans of Arrested Development felt.)

Not all of us have the time or the money to invest in catching up via DVD. Is there any hope that Battlestar will air a recap episode: you know, the kind of clip show that ABC does for Desperate Housewives, Lost and Grey's Anatomy to catch up viewers and fill space in the schedule? Even USA's The 4400, with mythology that's not as complex, aired such an episode after its marathon this past weekend. It might go a long way toward making me a fan of the series, and I suspect that I'm not alone. — Daniel

Matt Roush: Seriously, at least find time to watch the miniseries that got the new Battlestar up and running. (Like you, when I fall too seriously far behind on a show, even my best intentions pale when presented with an entire-season DVD. Who has time? Sorry about that, Smallville.)

Since October is still a long time away, I haven't heard anything official yet about Sci Fi doing a catching-up recap episode. But it's a good idea, even for those of us who follow the show closely (can't tell you how exciting it was to see a Season 3 teaser at a Museum of Television and Radio panel I moderated recently). I'd be surprised if Sci Fi isn't at least considering something like this, especially given the punishingly long break between seasons. Anything to get more of the curious into the tent, I say.

________________________________________

Question: With the loss of some of my favorite shows over the past few seasons, I have a new favorite HBO's Big Love. What are your thoughts, now that the first season has ended? — Meredith

Matt Roush: I'll reprise the line I used in my initial review of the series: "It's more of a curiosity than a necessity." For my analysis of the season finale, check out my Dispatch. From the start, I've not been entirely sold on this premise being enough to carry an entire series, no matter how excellent the acting and production values. A miniseries, yes, and some of the domestic subplots have been quite intriguing as members of this extravagantly blended family try to keep the details of their lives secret from neighbors, coworkers, friends' parents and so on. Some of the material back in the compound is wildly entertaining, with those hilarious performances by Grace Zabriskie and Bruce Dern, and while I tend to zone out during the Bill-Roman conflicts, I'm always happy to see Harry Dean Stanton chewing the scenery. Let's put it this way: I enjoy Big Love more than I did most of Six Feet Under, but I would have been satisfied if the entire story had been told in one season. (Given the fact that the family was exposed at the governor's mansion, of all places, that sounds like a pretty good excuse for Bill to wake up and pick Barbara as his wife and soul mate — or should that be sole mate — once and for all.)

________________________________________

Question: As an outsider looking in (I've never seen an entire episode of either Everwood or 7th Heaven) can I attempt to defend [CW programming chief] Dawn Ostroff? I hardly think that she rose to the position of power she's in today by being a moron. Of course episodes advertised as "series finales" are going to have much higher ratings than any given episode, and of course that is to be expected. I think her only fault in handling this has been passing that off as the excuse for renewing 7th Heaven over Everwood. Had she been straightforward and said, "Look, we like both shows and we really like Everwood, but it doesn't get us the ratings that 7th Heaven has consistantly gotten us over the years and we're trying to launch a network here," she wouldn't be getting the lampooning that she so rightfully deserves now. I have no doubt that Everwood is an excellent series, much as I have no doubt that 7th Heaven is past its prime. (After all these years, how could it not be?) But the fact of the matter is that more people watch the latter. Therefore, Heaven lives, Everwood dies. Sort of like how War at Home will live another year in Arrested Development's time slot. Any thoughts? — Adam

Matt Roush: Of course you're right. (And thanks for bumming me out by reminding me that War got a second season.) This is the common sense answer to the anguished question, "Whyyyy?" that I keep getting from Everwood fans. Renewing 7th Heaven was strictly business. Perhaps the greater debate is why CW stuck with One Tree Hill, which was getting clobbered on Wednesdays despite staying put without the disruptions that bedeviled the more consistently performing Everwood during its final year. That, I think, is what has Everwood fans even more upset than being passed over for 7th Heaven. This is a network being cobbled together with many series that are on their last wobbly legs. A little positive PR by giving Everwood a half-season pickup (since 7th Heaven may not exist beyond the next 13, although that's unclear to me) would have given CW an immeasurable boost of goodwill.

And just so you know what kind of mail is still pouring in, here's this from Amy (and for my own response to the Everwood finale, go to my Dispatch): "I hope this is only one of many notes of praise for the series finale of Everwood that you received. It was wonderful, but it's sad to think that we won't get to see the rest of the story. But I liked that the ending gave us hope that all the characters we adore have lives full of love and joy ahead of them. There are very few characters on television I have grown to love more. But I am thankful that the show was able to leave with the dignity and grace (and satisfaction for the viewers) that most finales never have. Thank you to all the actors, writers, directors and producers for making Everwood a show so many of us loved. (And shame on you, CW, for promoting your network during the finale of the show you rejected!)"

________________________________________

Question: Where do you think Everwood ranks as far as TV's greatest dramas ever? I am an older viewer and I can honestly say that it is No. 1 for me. Compared with most "great" shows, it had a relatively short run, but it never lost its magic. Every episode gave the viewers something to think about, something to cherish, a quote to remember. I can't think of any other drama that has touched me and gotten inside of my head and heart the way Everwood has these last four years. — Rebecca

Matt Roush: I'm glad you feel that way, and I hope you won't take it as a sign of disrespect when I do a little reality check here. I enjoyed Everwood as much, probably more, than the next person, but it's a show limited by its genre (young-adult soap), even if Everwood often transcended that genre. Much as I loved the characters, enjoyed the writing and acting, and was satisfied by the happy ending, it's still a show that was built around the contrivances and reversals of soap opera, where even characters I liked, such as Jake (Scott Wolf), were so obviously just devices to keep Andy and Nina from getting together too soon. I'm OK with all of that. It's entertainment, the finest kind. But even if I were to put together a list of my favorite WB shows of all time, Everwood would rank below Felicity and Golden Girls, and none of these are of the historic, groundbreaking nature of TV's all-time top series, like Hill Street Blues, All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and (I'm not joking) WB's very own Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

________________________________________

Question: I know that ABC will air the last episode of this season for Commander in Chief [on Wednesday, June 14]. Don't you think that the execs should consider revamping the show and placing it on a new night to gain good numbers? Let's face it, this is a great show, and let's not forget that shows which premiere with 25 million viewers should never be forgotten. When American Idol hit, it lost many of its viewers but then when they brought it back from "break," they brought it back on a Thursday against Without a Trace. I mean, were they trying to sacrifice the show? I'm mad and upset that I don't at least get a second season out of this thing. Aren't you? — Nick

Matt Roush: Between the ratings decline and the creative disarray behind the scenes, not to mention the scheduling in the last half of the season, Commander's collapse from early hit to going out with a postseason whimper is a pretty remarkable story. When ABC announced its fall schedule without this show, there was talk that they were thinking of revamping the show in some format: perhaps as a TV-movie that could rekindle the flame. While the odds are against most shows making such dramatic comebacks, Commander was a pretty slick franchise, and it does seem like they gave up on it too soon.

Also regarding this show, Anthony asks, "Whatever happened to the episodes 'Little Shop of Horace' and 'Family Matters'?" Did they ever air?" OK, now you're scaring me. If these were in fact once announced as episode titles, they don't appear to have aired, part of the fallout of ABC yanking the show from February sweeps and keeping it on hiatus until April. As part of the creative turmoil, bits and pieces of some of these episodes may have been used in others that subsequently aired. Like I said, it was pretty much a mess all around.

________________________________________

Question: What happened to the remaining (unaired) episodes of Book of Daniel? Are they available on DVD along with the first few episodes that were aired? Or is the entire story available in "book form"? It's unfortunate that this program came to a screeching halt. Is it true that the advertisers withdrew sponsorships on their own accord, or was it just made to look like they did? I'm interested. Thanks in advance for your response. — Ed

Matt Roush: For a while, NBC had made the unseen episodes available for viewing on its website, I believe. I also know there will be a public screening of two of the episodes at the annual Outfest in Los Angeles in July. And I've heard that there is talk (nothing confirmed yet) of a DVD release of the full series, which would certainly be the best option. As for the advertisers: this was always a tough sell, and the controversy that surrounded the show even before its premiere scared many sponsors away. That plus NBC's ultimate lack of faith in the series spelled Daniel's early doom. My top five disappointments from the past season, in terms of what either didn't get a chance or didn't get renewed, would be: Everwood, Invasion, Sons & Daughters, Book of Daniel and Love Monkey. How much better would prime-time network be if all of these shows had survived?

________________________________________

Question: I am so disappointed that Out of Practice was canceled. I found the show hilarious. Do you know if the remaining episodes will be aired over the summer? — Alysha

Matt Roush: This hasn't been mentioned in CBS' summer programming releases (burning off canceled shows rarely is). But I wouldn't be surprised if these episodes showed up, relatively unannounced, on Mondays sometime this summer, replacing repeats of some show or other. (After all, the episodes were filmed and paid for. What would be the harm?) Keep watching the listings.

________________________________________

Question: Please, please, please tell me that Nip/Tuck will be back on FX... and when. — Felicia

Matt Roush: Look for it in the fall. The show's already making plenty of news, with Sanaa Lathan joining the cast as McNamara/Troy's new owner and Larry Hagman as her super-rich hubby. Kathleen Turner and Brooke Shields are among the guest stars announced so far. All sounds very juicy, and should more than make up for that ludicrous Carver finale.

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

TV Notebooks
A new look for its news at MSNBC

By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 12, 2006

Do Americans really need a trio of 24-7 cable news networks?

With more people getting their headline fix from websites and blogs these days, and fewer getting it from TV as well as other "old media," a No. 3 news network behind Fox News and CNN looks increasingly like overkill, or maybe road kill. Especially when that network is MSNBC, which in a decade of operation has become electronic journalism's version of the Chicago Cubs.

For NBC Universal — whose parent General Electric has long preached the need to be No. 1 or 2 in every business segment — MSNBC has become the Problem That Can't Be Fixed.

But NBC, which owns a majority stake in the channel with longtime partner Microsoft, still detects a heartbeat. That's why executives keep tinkering with MSNBC, home of Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann and graveyard of such past flops as Phil Donahue, Michael Savage and Alan Keyes.

Last week, just as the channel celebrated scooping cable competitors with early-morning news of the death of terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi, network insiders were digesting — mourning somehow seems the wrong word — the ouster of President Rick Kaplan. You may remember Kaplan, formerly a top ABC News producer, as the executive responsible for CNN's domestic network during the notorious Tailwind report, which used inconclusive evidence to accuse the American military of gassing U.S. defectors during the Vietnam War (the report was later retracted).

With his volcanic temper and healthy ego, Kaplan was hardly a beloved figure. But skeptics wondered why he was let go when MSNBC has been turning a small profit after years of losses. Ratings have also been climbing of late, up 14% in prime-time weeknights this year compared with last, according to Nielsen Media Research. Senior NBC executives, according to insiders, felt the improvement was too little, too late and also worried about rumblings that Kaplan would soon flee back to ABC or perhaps join his old friend Ted Koppel making documentaries for the Discovery Channel. (Kaplan did not respond to an e-mail, and an MSNBC spokesman said he was not talking to reporters.)

The network has yet to name a replacement. Early speculation has centered on Phil Griffin, a veteran MSNBC producer who helps oversee NBC's "Today Show." But NBC News President Steve Capus cautioned that viewers should expect a tune-up rather than a salvage job.

"There's no need to scrap everything and start from scratch," Capus said in a interview Friday. "We're not going to completely change direction…. I see it as part of the continual evolution of this channel." Capus added that he's especially pleased with ratings growth for Matthews' "Hardball" and Olbermann's "Countdown." Capus said that, in contrast to a year or so ago, he now believes MSNBC is in "a good place."

Still, it's clear that some major changes are on the way.

The mother ship

One rationale for starting the cable channel in 1996 was that it would allow NBC to exploit all the resources of its news division, including frequent appearances from stars such as Katie Couric. That type of synergy never came to pass — the talent, for various reasons, often balked at appearing on cable — but the company remains determined to make use of those corporate ties. Among the ideas being batted around: an expanded MSNBC role for "Dateline," the newsmagazine that will be cut back to Saturdays only in the fall on the broadcast network.

Capus said that, several years ago, "We were in a phase where NBC News was not necessarily at the core of MSNBC. I think NBC News has to be at the core."

The end of opinion?

Four years ago, when Fox News and its host Bill O'Reilly began dominating cable news ratings, executives retooled MSNBC to focus on "opinion journalism." Hence the recruitment of right-wing shock-jock Savage and other stars. But that approach largely hasn't worked.

Meanwhile, the bosses at 30 Rock are paying careful attention to "Dateline's" "To Catch a Predator" series on suspected child molesters airing in NBC prime time this summer. Trashed by critics as exploitative, "Predator" nonetheless has become the closest thing the news division has to a "destination" show, something people go out of their way to watch.

Generally, executives want broader thinking about what viewers want, something news purists may not welcome. "I fault news producers at times for being too narrow in their determination of what constitutes news," Capus said. "I think of MSNBC as a news and information network."

Watch out, Rita

Executives have already started scrubbing some initiatives begun under Kaplan's watch, including "Weekends With Maury & Connie," a low-rated series with husband-and-wife hosts Maury Povich and Connie Chung. The brass is also said to be unhappy with "Rita Cosby Live & Direct," a 10 p.m. show with the husky-voiced former Fox News anchor that after a strong start has struggled to build an audience.

Other offerings may just get tweaked, including shows hosted by legal analyst Dan Abrams, former Congressman Joe Scarborough and conservative pundit Tucker Carlson. But no one's immune from scrutiny: Even the hard-charging Matthews, who's spent seven years on the network, has been encouraged to interrupt guests less frequently.

Unclear is whether any of these fixes will sharpen MSNBC's identity. And that's perhaps its biggest problem. What does the network stand for? Bill O'Reilly treats himself as a symbol of Fox News, and many viewers regard him that way. CNN is increasingly associated with Lou Dobbs' sour crusade against illegal immigration and corporate outsourcing.

And MSNBC?

Well, did we mention that Chris Matthews is more polite?

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-channel12jun12,0,3250030.story?coll=cl-tv-features

TV Notebooks
Few Ads Make the HD Grade

By Laura Blum and Steve McClellan Adweek June 12, 2006 -

But others argue that the case isn’t so black-and-white. Peter Gardiner, chief media officer at Deutsch, says the medium simply has not reached critical mass. “You have to have the high-def distribution with the viewership to justify the incremental costs. Consumers aren’t sitting around saying, ‘Gee, where are my high-def ads?’”

He obviously hasn't been to AVS. We notice the ads, generally watch them, and if they're entertaning, sometimes even save them on our DVRs. And unless I'm the only one, when FF'ing through a commercial break, the sudden absence of pillar bars on an HD commercial frequently causes people to hit "Play" prematurely.

He obviously hasn't been to AVS. We notice the ads, generally watch them, and if they're entertaning, sometimes even save them on our DVRs. And unless I'm the only one, when FF'ing through a commercial break, the sudden absence of pillar bars on an HD commercial frequently causes people to hit "Play" prematurely.
I can confirm that, I do the same thing.

Me too.

Sports On TV
Telegenic Wie, Nadal provide a boost

By Michael McCarthy USA Today

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. The Golf Channel and NBC were able to capitalize on two of the sports world's most telegenic young stars, Michelle Wie and Rafael Nadal, because of fortunate circumstances this weekend.

Golf Channel announcers seemed to thank the golf gods for canceling its planned coverage of the Bank of America tournament with torrential rains. That providential flooding enabled them to provide an additional two hours of coverage of Wie, 16, during Sunday's final round of the McDonald's LPGA Championship. Although Wie didn't win, she was a human highlight reel, bashing one drive 342 yards.

"A big thanks goes out to the Champions Tour and Bank of America," studio host Stephanie Sparks said.

After weeks of play, NBC got the men's final it wanted in the French Open: Roger Federer vs. Nadal, the world's top tennis player against the top clay-court specialist.

Nadal, 20, gave viewers quite a show, dancing like a boxer during warm-ups, rolling in the red clay after his victory and leaping into the stands to kiss his parents.

Rivalries always boost tennis' ratings. Federer-Nadal bring back memories of the sport's great duels, such as Jimmy Connors vs. Bjorn Borg in the 1970s. NBC hopes that translates into higher viewership for its 2006 U.S. Open this summer.

"There's a buzz here," said analyst John McEnroe, who participated in memorable duels with Borg. "People are coming up to me in the streets in Paris, people who aren't tennis fans are calling me. That's when you know you hit the jackpot."

Enough with the scroll: Soccer fans probably applaud ESPN for televising all 64 World Cup matches on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. But some don't like that "bottom" line information scoreboard that crawls across the bottom of ESPN2 programming.

ESPN has received 80 viewer complaints since Friday. One called it "annoying." Another said: "No real soccer fan gives a hoot about baseball or any other sport during these games."

The scroll stays, ESPN spokesman Mac Nwulu says. "U.S. sports fans have come to expect the service on ESPN2 for more than 10 years," he says.

O Canada: Every once in a while, our neighbors to the north stop playing it cool and let their inner patriots off the leash. Remember how brewer Molson started a craze with its "I am Canadian" commercial featuring an everyman named Joe decrying American stereotypes of his country.

"I don't live in an igloo or eat blubber or own a dog sled," declared Joe in the TV spot. Molson dropped the spot last year after merging with U.S. brewer Coors.

During NBC's broadcast Saturday of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals matching the Edmonton Oilers vs. the Carolina Hurricanes, producer Sam Flood wisely showed the home Canadian crowd's reaction to their national anthem. Opera singer Paul Lorieau got through only the first stanza of O Canada before holding up his mike and letting the boisterous crow belt out the rest.

"Was that something or what?" asked analyst John Davidson. Play-by-play announcer Doc Emrick agreed: "A wonderful rendition by the 16,000 fans."

The game marked NBC's first Stanley Cup Finals broadcast in three decades. Coincidentally, studio host Bill Clement scored the last goal during NBC's last Finals telecast: a 2-0 Philadelphia Flyers victory against the Buffalo Sabers in the sixth and clinching game of the 1975 Finals.

NBC got a 1.7 overnight rating, with one point equaling 1% of the USA's 77 million overnight TV households, for Game 3, down from a 2.0 for Game 3 in 2004.

Top quotes : ABC play-by-play soccer announcer Dave O'Brien on Mexico's Omar Bravo after his goal broke open a 1-1 tie with Iran: "Bravo, Bravo."... Fox NASCAR analyst Darrell Waltrip after Jeff Gordon's brakes failed Sunday during the Pocono 500, sparking a wreck: "You don't have an insurance policy when you go into the corner." ... Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban when asked by Stuart Scott why he was working out on a Stairmaster before the NBA Finals opener on ABC: "I'm trying to work off my big fat butt."

Around the dial: Around the dial: Sirius Satellite Radio plans to announce Monday that Jerry Rice will host a football show called The Afternoon Blitz three days a week. ... CBS Sports has hired ESPN's Sam Ryan as a reporter for NFL and NCAA men's basketball coverage, according to executive vice president Tony Petitti. She served as a fill-in sideline reporter on ABC's Monday Night Football during the 2005 season.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/mccarthy/2006-06-11-mccarthy-weekend_x.htm

Sports On TV
NBA's Stern Fast-Tracks TV Rights Talks

John Consoli MediaWeek.com June 12, 2006

National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern, buoyed by sizable ratings increases during the playoffs, said last week he would like to renew the league’s current TV rights deals with partners ESPN/ABC and TNT by the end of this calendar year, which would be 18 months before the deals expire.

“It is our intention to sit down and see if we can extend the deals, and would like to do so with our current partners,” Stern said in an exclusive interview with Mediaweek.

John Skipper, executive vp of content at ESPN/ABC Sports, said, “We have had some discussions and getting a new deal done by the end of this year is a doable time frame.”

David Levy, president of Turner Sports, added, “We have every intention of continuing our relationship with the NBA.”

Four years into the current six-year rights agreements, under which ESPN/ABC pays $400 million annually, and TNT pays $366 million per year, Stern said everything has come together in the playoffs. The networks are “in a good operating rhythm,” he said, from each of their pre-game and in-game announcing teams, to on-air game presentation, to their willingness to cross-promote and drive audience to each others’ games.

He said early extension conversations have taken place, but they have mainly been “generalities and us exchanging vows of loyalty and mutual admiration.” The camaraderie of the partners could be seen on national TV when Stern was shown on camera in his courtside seats during ABC’s telecast of the opening game of the NBA Championship in Dallas on June 8. ESPN/ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer was seated to his immediate right, and Levy was seated directly in front.

Stern said he believes a new rights deal should span between six and 10 years, and added that while he feels the NBA telecast rights are more valuable than they were when the current contract was negotiated, he realizes that fee increases will be more modest than they have been in the past.

“We’ve learned from the NFL, Nascar and PGA deals that the days of high, annual double-digit increases are past,” said Stern. “We are not looking to do something volcanic.”

ESPN’s regular season NBA telecast ratings were flat at 1.2 this season, while ABC’s were down slightly from a 2.3 to a 2.2, but ESPN’s playoff ratings were up 26 percent to a 3.3 from a 2.6, and ABC’s playoff ratings lifted 11 percent to a 3.8 from a 3.4, heading into the finals. TNT’s regular season ratings also were flat at 1.3, but its playoff ratings were up 4 percent to a 3.1. ABC’s ratings for the Finals’ game one, in which the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat, were up 7 percent to a 9.2 from an 8.6.

All parties see digital rights as playing a more important role in negotiations. “Since the last deal was done nearly five years ago, digital rights have become more of a focus with anyone wanting to do business with us,” Stern said, adding that NBA digital rights “are a fertile, not yet strategically developed area.”

Added Levy: “As we expand into video-on-demand and wireless, we would like to extend NBA programming along with our brand.”

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002651408

TV Notebook
TNT's `The Closer' begins second season on a high note

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News Mon, Jun. 12, 2006

Last summer, the first season of TNT's ``The Closer'' reminded me a bit of the premiere season of Fox's ``House.''

The initial attraction was a distinctive central character, played in high style by a superior actor. The show was rough around the edges, with writers trying to find their rhythm in dialogue and storytelling while a supporting cast tried to find its place in the dramatic scheme of things. Though never less than interesting, ``The Closer'' was shaky in those early episodes.

But like ``House'' -- where initially the major reason to tune in was Hugh Laurie's performance as the acerbic Dr. House -- ``The Closer'' hit its stride around mid-season, when Kyra Sedgwick was no longer asked to carry the entire load as Brenda Johnson, the headstrong but emotionally fragile police detective. The scripts got sharper, the cast became a true ensemble, and the show developed a reliable pace and style.

That momentum has carried over to Season 2, which starts tonight (9 PM ET TNT) with a striking episode that once again pits Johnson against her fellow police officers in a murder case involving an undercover officer. During the first season, Johnson, a former top CIA interrogator, was brought in to run a Los Angeles Police Department unit devoted to high-profile cases, and her attempts to negotiate the department's ol'-boy politics has been one a dominant story thread.

If anything, Sedgwick's performance this time is to be savored even more. She mines the nuances of the character, creating an imperfect, neurotic human being who is very good at what she does and really tough when she has to be, even if her verbal jabs are coated in a sugary Southern drawl. In one upcoming episode, when one of her detectives tries to apologize for leaving an investigation to take in a ballgame, she slices and dices him, saying, ``Lieutenant Provenza, thank ewwwe for that apology -- which was short, sweet and entirely insufficient.''

Other facets of the series now have risen to Sedgwick's level. Giving her strong support are J.K. Simmons (``Oz'') as her boss (and ex-lover, who would like a encore); Jon Tenney (``You Can Count On Me'') as an FBI agent and her current lover; and veteran character actors Tony Denison and G.W. Bailey as disgruntled detectives.

The writing -- particularly the script from series creator James Duff for tonight's episode -- has a crackle that was missing initially. Though how Johnson solves the crime each week is still more important than the mystery, the stories are fuller and more developed.

Now, all TNT has to do is find another drama to go with ``The Closer.'' Last season's ``Wanted'' didn't cut it, and this summer's new ``Saved'' (debuting at 10 ET tonight) is even worse.

A pale imitation of FX's ``Rescue Me,'' set in the world of paramedics, it tries to be edgy but misses by a mile. A slice of the Johnny Cash version of Nine Inch Nails' ``Hurt'' used in the series opener says more in a few seconds than ``Saved'' does in a full hour.

Read the book

The phrase ``guilty pleasure'' gets overused, but it comes instantly to mind in regard to the new ``Tuesday Night Book Club'' (10 PM ET/PT Tuesday, ABC). A docu-soap in the style of MTV's ``Laguna Beach'' and Bravo's ``The Real Housewives of Orange County,'' it follows a group of Scottsdale, Ariz., women who meet each week ostensibly to ``discuss'' a book but really to talk about sex, their home lives, more sex, relationships and more sex. (Jennifer Weiner's ``Good in Bed'' is the first book that gets ignored.)

This strangely engrossing show comes from Jay Blumenfield and Tony Marsh, who produce a late-night guilty pleasure on Showtime (``Family Business,'' set in the porn industry) and were responsible for ``Welcome to the Neighborhood,'' a reality series about life on a cul-de-sac that was so racially charged it was canceled by ABC before airing.

Like those series, ``Book Club'' is so slick that it's almost impossible to believe there's anything ``real'' about it.

Still, I found myself sucked into the lives of these women -- especially Lynn, a newly married gym rat who is already clashing with her husband; and Cris, standing by a husband who has problems staying out of rehab. (The fact that Cris collects stray animals, and hubby has to share a bed with a skunk and an opossum, among other woodland creatures, may explain part of the problem.)

Watching ``Tuesday Night Book Club'' may involve more guilt than pleasure, but be careful: You could get hooked.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/14798582.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Glitterfest: A bump for 'Tonys' on CBS

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 12, 2006

It was a big year for Broadway at the box office, with a record 12 million tickets sold for the New York stage. And it was, finally, a bigger year for CBS’s Tony Awards show, honoring Broadway’s brightest, which showed a ratings uptick after nine straight years of decline.

Last night’s “Tony Awards” averaged a 5.2 overnight household rating from 8 to 11 p.m., 13 percent better than the show’s 4.6 overnight average in the same slot last year.

The “Tonys” also drew an average 7.79 million total viewers, 1.17 million better than last year. Its rating among adults 18-49 was flat to last year, an anemic 1.5, but CBS nearly managed to tie ABC in households for the night, with a 5.6 average to the latter’s NBA finals-fueled 5.7.

This year’s awards show featured more star wattage than last year. Julia Roberts and nominees Ralph Fiennes and Harry Connick Jr., all of them with substantial off-Broadway followings, were at the show.

And Cynthia Nixon, a favorite of “Sex and the City” fans for her dry portrayal of lawyer Miranda, won a Tony for her performance as a grieving mother in “Rabbit Hole.” Ian McDiarmid, Palpatine in the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, also received a Tony for his work in “Faith Healer.”

Of course the “Tonys” may never reach the level of past years. The show has not drawn more than 10 million viewers since 1998, and a bump over last year isn’t something to get too excited about. Last year’s show was the lowest-rated in “Tonys” history.

If the 5.2 average holds when final ratings are released tomorrow, it would still be the third-lowest-rated show ever, behind 2004 and 2005.

Meanwhile, elsewhere last night, ABC won the night with a 3.5 average rating and 10 share among 18-49s, followed by Fox at 2.2/7, NBC at 2.0/6, CBS at 1.5/4, Univision at 1.1/3, and the WB at 0.7/2.

At 7, Fox and ABC tied with a 1.8 average for “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and repeats of “King of the Hill” and “Malcolm in the Middle.” CBS’s “60 Minutes” was third at 1.7, followed by NBC’s “Dateline” at 1.4, Univision’s “Hora Pico” at 0.9, and the WB’s “Reba” at 0.8.

At 8 p.m., ABC finished No.1 with a 2.7 for a rerun of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and the “NBA Finals Pregame Show.” Fox was No. 2 with a 2.5 for reruns of "The Simpsons" (2.7) and "The War at Home" ( 2.2). Trailing were NBC's "Dateline" with a 2.1, Univision's 1.2 for “Cantando por un Sueno,” CBS's “Tony Awards” at 1.3, and WB's "Charmed" rerun at 0.7.

At 9 p.m., ABC led with a 4.6 for the NBA Finals Game 2. Fox follow with a 2.4 for a "Family Guy" rerun and FX’s "Always Sunny in Philly." NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" rerun was No. 3 with a 2.2, ahead of Univision's “Sueno” at 1.9, the second hour of the Tonys on CBS at a 1.4, and the WB's 0.7 for another "Charmed" repeat.

At 10 p.m., the NBA finals led at a 5.0, followed by NBC’s “Windfall” rerun at 2.1, the “Tonys” at 1.4, and Univision’s “Sueno” at 1.2.

Among households, ABC led with 5.7/10, followed by CBS at 5.6/10, NBC at 4.6/8, Fox at 2.9/5, Univision at 1.6/3, and the WB at 1.3/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5317.asp

TV Notebook
New MSNBC Management Team Announced

(NBC Press Release)June 12, 2006

Dan Abrams to Lead MSNBC as General Manager
NBC News Senior Vice President Phil Griffin to be Executive-in-Charge

SECAUCUS, N.J.--June 12, 2006-- Dan Abrams, a nine-year veteran of MSNBC and NBC News, has been named General Manager of the NBC News 24-hour cable news channel, effective immediately. NBC News Senior Vice President Phil Griffin, who spent nearly ten years at MSNBC, most recently as vice president of primetime programming, will oversee MSNBC. Griffin will also continue to oversee NBC News' "Today." Abrams will report to Griffin. Both announcements were made today by NBC News President Steve Capus.

"MSNBC is a key asset in the NBC News portfolio and this management restructuring will enable it to build on the momentum it already has," said Capus. "With his nine years of experience at MSNBC, Dan will bring an insider's perspective to the job. Dan is passionate about MSNBC and has the experience and strategic vision to lead it into its second decade. We are also extremely fortunate that Phil Griffin will re-assume a leadership position overseeing MSNBC," Capus continued. "Phil is an immensely talented executive and producer whose insight and drive are welcome as we focus on the future of MSNBC."

"Nothing is more important to me than the future success of MSNBC," said Abrams. "I'm looking forward to leading MSNBC into this next phase, building on our recent success. I can't wait to get started."

Abrams will step aside from anchoring his nightly program, "The Abrams Report." He will, however, remain NBC News Chief Legal Correspondent, providing legal analysis and commentary for "Today" and other NBC News and MSNBC programs.

Abrams joined MSNBC in 1997 as a general assignment correspondent and quickly became a regular contributor to "NBC Nightly News," "Today," and "Dateline NBC." He launched "The Abrams Report" in December, 2001. Abrams has reported on all of the highest-profile cases of the past decade including the Bush v. Gore post-election battles, President Clinton impeachment trial, the Scott Peterson and Michael Jackson trials and the Oklahoma City bombing trials. Recently, he has covered legal issues associated with the War on Terror and provided in-depth analysis. An accomplished writer, Abrams has had articles published in, among others: The New York Times, The American Lawyer and the Yale Law and Policy Review. A 1988 alumnus of Duke University, Abrams graduated cum laude with a B.A. in political science. He received his law degree from Columbia University in 1992. He currently resides in New York City.

Griffin was named Senior Vice President of NBC News, overseeing "Today," in April, 2005. Previously, he was Vice President, Primetime programming at MSNBC, where he also served as Executive Producer of "Hardball with Chris Matthews."

TV Review
New season of `The Closer' begins at 9 ET tonight

Characters, not plot, show's main attraction
By R.D. Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal television writer June 12, 2006

Early in the second season of The Closer, Los Angeles deputy chief Brenda Johnson finds herself in a hospital, interrogating a man whose son is dying.

Not for a moment does she consider the sensitivity of the situation. Instead, she's ready to plow into a Q&A, before one of her associates gently pulls her back.

That's Brenda, the single-minded, detail-chewing, sugar-addicted, politics-ignoring detective played so well by Kyra Sedgwick on the series, which begins its second season at 9 tonight on TNT. (The season premiere, by the way, will air without commercial interruption.)

``She is conflicted,'' Sedgwick said in a recent telephone interview. ``She can be understanding, and she can be very empathetic. But in the end, for her it has to be about right and wrong.''

Fans discovered Brenda when the series premiered a year ago, and have been crying for new episodes since the original 13-telecast run ended in September. (TNT will air a marathon of first-season episodes on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The first season has also been released on DVD.)

But Sedgwick said she would not have taken on the series if it had required a broadcast-network commitment to 22 episodes; that would be too much for the actress, who also has a movie career.

Still, she is intrigued by the directions Brenda is taking in the second season.

In the first, she was a new gun in town, clashing not only with higher-ups in her department but with the detectives working for her, who were used to doing things their way.

By the end of the first season, her squad had united around her and that continues in the second season. ``She can utilize her squad in a different way,'' Sedgwick said, although Brenda still finds ways to step on toes.

The second season, Sedgick said, ``is more personal. Brenda's mother (played by Frances Sternhagen) comes to town. Older relationships creep up again.''

Her old lover, assistant police chief Will Pope (J.K. Simmons), is going through a nasty divorce, and his eyes could turn toward Brenda again. Meanwhile, she has to deal with her newest relationship.

As the second season begins, Brenda's FBI-agent boyfriend Fritz (Jon Tenney) is ready for them to move in together. Brenda is slower to come to that conclusion -- and then, in the second episode of the season, has to figure out what she'll tell her mother about Fritz and their living arrangements.

It's a good show, if not a flawless one. The mysteries are sometimes the weakest part of the show, and Brenda's solutions can feel more intuitive than intelligent.

But the show's strength lies more in the characters than the plots, especially when, say, Brenda is trying to overcome her love of sweets. There's also a fine ensemble at work here -- not only Tenney and Simmons, but the likes of Tony Denison, G.W. Bailey and Corey Reynolds, all as members of Brenda's team. Bailey's character, Detective Lt. Provenza, gets a fun series of scenes with Brenda's mother, for example.

So I'll take all the episodes I can get.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/columnists/rd_heldenfels/14798302.htm

TV Notebook
Topple after Koppel? Not quite

Six months into a new format, "Nightline" has had controversies, internal squabbles — and 3% more viewers.
By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 12, 2006

NEW YORK -- In the beginning, Cynthia McFadden couldn't get Ted Koppel's voice out of her head.

McFadden, one of the three anchors who in November took over ABC's "Nightline," the venerable late-night news franchise that Koppel pioneered, described succeeding the veteran newsman as "sort of like walking into a buzz saw."

"At first we were really trying so hard, the show just felt a little stiff," she said. "I kept thinking, 'I can't be Ted Koppel.' "

Critics didn't think so, either. They derided the changes to the program — the anchor trio split between Washington and New York, the flashy new opening, the multi-topic format — and fretted that the show would forgo the kind of sober, in-depth journalism for which it had become known for 25 years.

"It was a challenge," admitted executive producer James Goldston, a former BBC producer who was brought aboard to develop the new incarnation of the program. "There was a real debate about what kind of a show 'Nightline' should be and whether that show had a future in the modern world."

Within weeks, producers abandoned their plan to have all three anchors on every night, deciding that the program felt too crowded. In the ensuing months, the staff continued to tinker with the show's tone and mix of stories — leading to sometimes heated arguments about its content.

It hasn't been easy, but the results have been promising; six months after its uneven start, the new "Nightline" is not only holding its own, but also has gained viewers in recent months. According to Nielsen Media Research, more than 3.5 million people on average have tuned into the program since January, an increase of 3% over the same time period last year. The ratings uptick — along with a boost of 7% among the coveted younger demographic — comes even as late-night competitors Jay Leno and David Letterman have suffered a small erosion in their audiences.

"It has done everything we asked of it: to put on a program of substance, and in that sense continue in the 'Nightline' tradition, but at the same time hold the 'Nightline' audience in a world after Ted Koppel and grow that audience," said ABC News President David Westin. "That's a pretty remarkable accomplishment."

Indeed, the program's measured success in its new form comes as an intriguing counterpoint to the sagging ratings this season at most of the evening newscasts and prime-time newsmagazine programs.

"Nightline" is still very much a show in transition, producers admit, and the process of finding the right balance of substantive news and topical pieces has been bumpy at times. A story that aired last month about the new musical "Tarzan" on Broadway, produced by the Walt Disney Co. — ABC's parent corporation — drew strong objections from anchor Terry Moran, among others, and led to an intense internal debate, according to people familiar with the situation.

But the recast "Nightline" has largely proved reassuring to many who were wary about the post-Koppel era.

"I had a lot of misgivings about what it meant that they wanted to retool the show," said correspondent John Donvan, who has reported for the program since 1998. "I have to say I'm very pleasantly surprised. My main thing was, 'Are we going to get stupid?' And I don't think we've gotten stupid at all."

A range of topics

In recent weeks, the program has offered extensive pieces on immigration, autistic adults, the boom in fertility treatments and the shortage of medication for AIDS patients in Africa. The broadcast has largely dispensed with the newsmaker interviews that used to be the show's centerpiece, in part because it now airs live at 11:35 p.m. EDT, making it difficult to book guests.

But one result is that the main story of the night is often eight to 10 minutes long, a luxurious amount of time unavailable on most other newscasts, save perhaps CBS' "60 Minutes."

"We've seen it happen before where shows with grand traditions remake themselves as less than what they were before, and I was determined we wouldn't do that," Goldston said. "It would be foolish to pretend that it isn't a work in progress. But I think we've come a long way in a very short time."

Added anchor Martin Bashir: "I don't think we're anywhere near where we'd like to be, but the signs are encouraging."

Still, some longtime staffers have watched the program's recent period of experimentation with alarm. A piece about the racially diverse cast of the hit ABC show "Grey's Anatomy" that ran in March as part of "America in Black and White," "Nightline's" long-running series on race relations, was viewed by some as a promotion of the network's entertainment side that would not have happened under the previous leadership.

Even more controversial was the "Tarzan" segment, which ran May 10, the night the show opened on Broadway. Producers agreed to do the piece as a package with another story that ran on "Good Morning America," to the chagrin of some "Nightline" staffers.

"There were some very unhappy people," said one ABC News employee familiar with the debate.

Moran acknowledged that he was one of those who didn't feel comfortable with the segment but declined to elaborate, saying he did not want to get into internal discussions.

"One of the fun things about being at this program is we have knock-down, drag-'em-out fights about what we should cover," he said. "We're making it up as we go along. That's the thrill of it."

Downplaying the debate

Goldston said there was no pressure from Disney to do the piece, noting that "Nightline's" efforts to cover popular culture will inevitably put the program in a position of doing stories about its own company. And he downplayed the debate over the segment, saying it wasn't contentious. "We have discussions all the time," he said. "I think that's inevitable and healthy on a show that's in many ways all about the mix."

Moran, a former White House correspondent, said the program is still evolving but added that he believes it has an opportunity to do the kind of long-form, investigative pieces that are increasingly rare on other newscasts.

"I think we're still carving out what will be distinctive about the post-Ted Koppel 'Nightline,' " he said. "We want to make it feel like nowhere else in television will you be able to get these stories. We aren't there yet."

The most persistent criticism: The new "Nightline" is a paler version of the original, more of a broad newsmagazine than a substantive news program. But Donvan said that many forget that the old "Nightline" did a range of stories as well.

"I think the critics had a skewed view of what the show had been," he said. "I did a lot of light stuff, including an entire half-hour on [PBS'] Mr. Rogers. Before, we had a magazine concept spread across the week. What we have now is more accelerated."

After an interim period in which the new program has been "trying all sorts of things for flash and glitz," Donvan added, "I think we've found our way back to pieces that much more consistently reflect the values of the old 'Nightline.' "

Still, everyone agrees they still have work to do. Westin wants the program to develop "a big tent-pole substantive series," much like the live town meetings Koppel held in South Africa, the Middle East and around the United States.

And many on the show agree that the weakest features are the "Sign of the Times" end pieces, meant to be whimsical stories on modern life. Recent topics include "macho" food advertising, celebrity baby name trends and on-air presidential bloopers.

"When they're on the money, they're terrific," McFadden said. "When they're not — they're not.

"Do I think we're perfect? I don't," she added. "But I think we're shooting in the right direction. There's nothing complacent about this. The worst critics of this broadcast work here."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-nightline12jun12,0,3064197,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

TV Notebook
Legal correspondent Abrams heading MSNBC

By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter June 13, 2006

NEW YORK -- NBC News said Monday that chief legal correspondent and "Abrams Report" anchor Dan Abrams would lead its 24-hour news channel MSNBC.

The move will take Abrams away from his four-year-old legal-themed show although he will remain chief legal correspondent. No replacement has been named.

Abrams replaces Rick Kaplan, the former ABC News producer and CNN president who left MSNBC last week. Abrams' title is general manager; Kaplan's was president.

"MSNBC is a key asset in the NBC News portfolio and this management restructuring will enable it to build on the momentum it already has," said NBC News president Steve Capus, who made the announcement Monday.

Abrams will report to Phil Griffin, senior vp of NBC News who worked at MSNBC for 10 years including most recently in charge of primetime programming. Griffin left MSNBC last April to oversee "Today." Griffin will continue to oversee "Today" as well as overseeing MSNBC.

The changes at MSNBC were addressed in a town-hall style meeting with employees at the channel's headquarters in Secaucus, N.J., on Monday.

Abrams is a graduate of Duke University and Columbia law school who joined MSNBC in 1997 as a correspondent. He's covered the legal fight over the 2000 election, the trials of Scott Peterson and Michael Jackson and the President Clinton impeachment. Griffin's career has included vp of primetime programming at MSNBC and executive producer of "Hardball with Chris Matthews."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002651760

TV Notebook

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News Mon, Jun. 12, 2006

Read the book

The phrase ``guilty pleasure'' gets overused, but it comes instantly to mind in regard to the new ``Tuesday Night Book Club'' (10 PM ET/PT Tuesday, ABC). A docu-soap in the style of MTV's ``Laguna Beach'' and Bravo's ``The Real Housewives of Orange County,'' it follows a group of Scottsdale, Ariz., women who meet each week ostensibly to ``discuss'' a book but really to talk about sex, their home lives, more sex, relationships and more sex. (Jennifer Weiner's ``Good in Bed'' is the first book that gets ignored.)

This strangely engrossing show comes from Jay Blumenfield and Tony Marsh, who produce a late-night guilty pleasure on Showtime (``Family Business,'' set in the porn industry) and were responsible for ``Welcome to the Neighborhood,'' a reality series about life on a cul-de-sac that was so racially charged it was canceled by ABC before airing.

Like those series, ``Book Club'' is so slick that it's almost impossible to believe there's anything ``real'' about it.

Still, I found myself sucked into the lives of these women -- especially Lynn, a newly married gym rat who is already clashing with her husband; and Cris, standing by a husband who has problems staying out of rehab. (The fact that Cris collects stray animals, and hubby has to share a bed with a skunk and an opossum, among other woodland creatures, may explain part of the problem.)

Watching ``Tuesday Night Book Club'' may involve more guilt than pleasure, but be careful: You could get hooked.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/14798582.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

I'll probably record this show, but I must say that from what I've seen so far, these women aren't cartoonish. I would say that they are the typical Scottsdale/Phoenix metro wife and woman to an extent.

Is this guy crazy? He wants to insult Congress (which oversees things like, say, the FCC budget, and the regulations it enforces) at a time when broadcasters need every friend they can get on Capitol Hill?
So I ask again, is this guy crazy?

Washington Notebook
Rehr: FCC Should Make Must-Carry Call

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/12/2006 4:29:00 PM

Saying he was both "disturbed" and "confused" by House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton's letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin last week opposing digital multicast must-carry, National Association of Broadcasters President David Rehr wrote Martin and the other commissioners Monday to try and "correct the record."

Barton, along with House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton, had asked Martin not to reverse an earlier decision confining DTV must-carry to a single channel, saying he would be straying into Congress' territory and that the commission was right the first two times when it found that what Congress meant in its DTV must-carry mandate was one channel, not the several channels broadcasters can fit in their DTV spectrum.

Rehr argued that there is no statutory barrier to "full" digital must-carry, pointing out that the FCC itself has said that the analog must-carry regime does not directly translate to digital and that Congress "did not expressly compel a particular result...[Rehr quoting from an FCC report]." He also said that independent programmers will not suffer from full carriage because broadcasters will need new shows to fill their new channels.

Rehr asked Barton to let the FCC make the call, "as the expert agency...in the best position to resolve the issue in a manner that will serve the public interest."

Barton last week read the Martin move as "usurping" Congressional power, an interpretation not shared by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, though Stevens thought the DTV must-carry decision would be ultimately Congress' to make rather than leaving it to the changing tides (our word, not his) of administrative orders.

Sports On TV
Univision's World Cup Broadcasts Up 53%

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com JUNE 12, 2006 -

Through the first eight games of the World Cup telecasts, Univision is averaging 2.6 million viewers per telecast, a whopping 1.7 million more than its average for the first eight games of the 2002 World Cup telecasts on the network, or an increase of nearly 53 percent, according to Nielsen Media Research data.

Among adults 18-49, the viewer increase is nearly triple to 1.7 million viewers per game. And the teen audience. 12-17 is up nearly five times as much as the 2002 World Cup telecasts.

The match between Mexico and Iran on June 11 drew an audience of 5.4 million, making it the most watched sporting event in Spanish-language television history.

Meanwhile, on English-language television, ABC is producing sizable ratings gains compared with the 2002 World Cup telecasts. ABC's broadcast of three World Cup opening weekend matches delivered an average 2.6 rating in the metered markets, up 65 percent from the 1.7 rating for the network's two first weekend matches in 2002.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002651956

Is this guy crazy? .

He's the NAB president ... doesn't that go without saying? ;)

Eddie Fritts would never have done something this baldly arrogant.

(Privately, of course, but not in public.)

Neutrality to Change in Stevens Bill
By Ted Hearn 6/12/2006 6:00:00 PM

A Senate telecommunications bill sponsored by Commerce Committee chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) will likely undergo changes to accommodate concerns about potential discriminatory conduct by cable, phone and other broadband-access providers, a Senate Commerce Committee source said Monday.

“I think it’s highly likely that it’s going to change,” said the Senate source, asking not to be identified by name.

Stevens is under pressure from Sen. Daniel Inouye (Hawaii), the Commerce panel’s top Democrat, to strengthen provisions related to network neutrality, which relates to the ability of broadband-access providers to use their market power to injure Web-based rivals by engaging in an assortment of activities, including blocking competitive services or demanding fees in exchange for priority delivery of their voice, video and software applications.

Yahoo! Inc., Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and eBay Inc. are at the forefront of the coalition demanding a tough net-neutrality law. The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a net-neutrality hearing on Wednesday, at which Comcast Corp. executive vice president David Cohen is expected to testify.

In his bill (S. 2686), including a revised draft released Monday, Stevens would order the Federal Communications Commission to study the Internet market for five years and file annual reports with Congress on the activities of broadband-access providers.

Inouye, in contrast, issued a draft bill that would impose stringent behavioral restrictions on broadband providers rather than having the FCC address problems as they arise through the adjudication of complaints.

The Senate source said it was “premature” to discuss areas where Stevens and Inouye might be able to close the policy gulf between them. But if Stevens yields, he’ll likely go along with net-neutrality rules with a consumer-protection orientation rather than with rules designed to referee commercial disputes, the Senate source added.

Stevens is holding a hearing Tuesday on the 151-page draft bill called the Communications, Consumer's Choice and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006. But a net-neutrality compromise is not expected to be unveiled until later this week at the earliest.

“A compromise takes two to tango, and we are not quite tangoing yet,” the Senate source said.

Last week, the White House went on record for the first time opposing any net-neutrality legislation, with the Office of Management and Budget saying that the FCC had sufficient authority under current law to rein in broadband-access providers. House legislation passed last week would beef up FCC authority, including the power to review complaints and mete out $500,000 fines.

Stevens is planning a June 20 committee vote on his bill.

Under the new draft Senate bill, phone companies could enter cable markets within 90 days under streamlined franchising rules and cable incumbents could opt in to the new licensing regime when existing agreements expire or when phone companies arrive in the market.

The House would let phone companies enter new markets within 30 days under a national cable-franchising regime that would also let incumbent cable operators opt in at some point.

But many net-neutrality proponents consider the House bill, sponsored by Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas), insufficient because it would not let the FCC draft net-neutrality regulations to ensure fair competition.

With regard to cable franchising, Stevens altered his position some in response to concerns by local officials. His original bill would have allowed AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. to begin offering video service within 30 days.

A Senate source said Monday that the bill tentatively includes language that would include home shopping commissions collected by video providers within the definition of gross revenue. Cities argued that the original bill would have cut franchise fees by up to 20% by omitting home shopping income.

While Stevens would not impose video-buildout requirements on phone companies, he would expose them to penalties for denial of service based on a group's income, race or religion. But phone companies could cite commercial infeasibility to defend against red-lining charges.

Under the Stevens bill, local governments would be required to use a simplified franchising procedure crafted by the FCC, in a concession to phone-company concerns that the current local franchising system is long, tedious and a barrier to competition.

On program access, the Stevens bill would immediately close the so-called terrestrial loophole, which allows cable operators to withhold terrestrially delivered affiliated program from competing pay TV distributors. That provision is aimed at forcing Comcast Corp. to sell Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia to competitors.

Stevens would also allow satellite carriers to file FCC complaints to gain access to regional sports programming not owned by cable operators but distributed exclusively by undefined "dominant" cable operators. But in a change made to the first Stevens bill, cable operators could not demand access to NFL Sunday Ticket, the National Football League's out-of-market package, to which DirecTV Inc. has exclusive rights.

On carriage of digital-TV stations, the draft bill was unchanged in requiring high-capacity cable operators, until Feb. 17, 2014, to ensure that the digital-TV signals of stations electing must-carry can be viewed on analog- and digital-TV sets. Signal downcoversion from digital to analog and from HD to standard definition is permitted at the cable headend.

The National Association of Broadcasters is opposed to allowing cable operators to downconvert HD signals to standard definition at the headend.

Stevens added similar downconversion authority for satellite carriers DirecTV and EchoStar Communications Corp.

http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleid=CA6343190

Thanks, Paul

Call 911: EMT show needs to be ‘Saved’ from miscues

By Mark A. PerigardBoston Herald Monday, June 12, 2006

Stressed-out by your job? Thinking about a career change?

You should become a paramedic.

You’ll have plenty of time for personal errands, joking with your co-workers and needling those fusty old doctors. As a bonus, that ambulance doubles as a love shack, and when the roof’s a-rockin,’ no one will come a-knockin.’

“Saved” could be the summer season’s biggest disappointment.

It’s not an awful show. The performers are likable. Tom Everett Scott (“That Thing You Do”) radiates that rakish charm we’ve come to expect from graduates of the George Clooney School of Acting. The East Bridgewater native plays Wyatt Cole, a paramedic who loves his job.

As he tells one doctor, “We do everything you do. We just do it at 60 miles an hour.”

Wyatt is tormented by the requisite personal demons - think “Rescue Me” minus the misogyny. As you discover in the debut (tonight at 10 on TNT), he is a gambler in debt to a gay bookie with some serious muscle behind him.

Wyatt’s partner, Sack (Omari Hardwick, “Beauty Shop”), is trying to be a good father to his son but is painfully out of touch with what the boy wants. Wyatt also has daddy issues; his father is a brilliant surgeon and the chief of medicine at the local hospital who is ashamed of his son for failing to follow in his footsteps.

Just to prove how small Portland, Ore., is, also at the hospital is Wyatt’s ex-girlfriend (Elizabeth Reaser), an emergency room physician whom he still pines for and whom he even scores with in the back of his ambulance.

What? It’s not like sick people are going to need it or anything.

There are some emergency calls to break up the personal dramas: a guy suffering from a heart attack, a kid hit by a car, a woman giving birth. “Saved” employs one effective dramatic technique. As the paramedics reach a new patient, a series of black-and-white cutaways quickly reveal how the patient got to a crisis point.

The paramedics are a loose bunch, stopping off for kids’ birthdays, hazing each other and laughing when a patient who thinks he’s John the Baptist steals the keys to the ambulance and races off.

“Saved” flatlines on any sense of urgency. Where’s the hurry? What’s the rush? It’s not believable.

A drama focusing on paramedics, the front line for emergency medical care, could be a great series. “Saved” needs help, stat.

http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNews/view.bg?articleid=143188&format=text

TV Review
'Get the Guy' a way to lose the audience

0 * (out of four)

By David Bianculli New York Daily News TV Critic Monday, June 12th, 2006

As the instant weakest link in its sorry summer Monday-night lineup of reality series, ABC tonight unveils "How to Get the Guy," (Tonight at 10 ET/PT) a (very) limited series in which two "love coaches" give dating advice to four single women in San Francisco and push them out of their comfort zones and into the world of volume dating.

ABC calls this type of programming, with its unscripted premise and serialized romantic story, a "docu-soap." I propose another shorthand term: this series, in my opinion, is a "waste-o-time."

"How to Get the Guy" comes from David Collins and David Metzler, whose "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" started out fresh and inspirational, then fell, after a few seasons, into the rut of repetition and predictability.

"How to Get the Guy" doesn't have to worry about a slow slide: It starts out about as low as you can go.

The four women whom we are asked to care about, and follow, through this six-episode series are Michelle, Alissa, Anne and Kris. Self-satisfied coaches Teresa and JD dispense sensible but elementary hints for catching and interesting a man (stare longer than usual, drink less than usual), while almost every man they encounter seems like one of those guys on the loser couch in "National Lampoon's Animal House."

"How to Get the Guy" is a date with boredom. Anyone on the show who thinks it presents them in a flattering way is sadly mistaken. It's especially unflattering to ABC, which hasn't trafficked in reality TV this tacky since the days of "Are You Hot?" and "I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here!"

It might have had an element of entertainment built into it had this new series been called "Who's the Most Irritating?" As is, when shy Anne finds it tough to catch a man's eye for four seconds at a time, you feel for her.

It's tough focusing on this show for four seconds at a time.

As for being impressed enough to return next week for a second date, forget it.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/425762p-359179c.html

TV Review
Is Dating Dead?

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

At least, have we seen the end of dating as we used to know it -- two people meet, go out together, get to know each other? I've been feeling that it's an outmoded form based on the modern dating shows -- ''Date My Mom,'' "Next,'' shows where the idea of making a match also means making a gimmick. But I was especially disheartened by ''How to Get the Guy,'' premiering tonight on ABC, which indicates that smart, capable women still need to be instructed in things like making eye contact and paying compliments.

At least, the show's two love coaches end up giving advice like that to the four women on the show, and it's especially sad that in the premiere a lot of the advice goes to the one repeatedly branded the ''girl next door.'' Isn't ''girl next door'' supposed to refer to homespun qualities that might include how to talk to ''the guy''?

I had modest hopes for ''How to Get the Guy'' since I was entertained by ''Hooking Up,'' ABC's matchmaking series from last summer. But ''Hooking Up'' operated on the assumption that its women had tried other approaches to finding men and just hadn't succeeded, while ''Get the Guy'' goes back to basics. Way back. The people on ''Hooking Up'' also seemed more interesting than the ones on ''Get the Guy,'' where the reduction to cultural stereotypes (as in, ''girl next door'') seemed all too understandable.

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

TV Notebooks
Kyra Sedgwick on . .?

By Kevin D. Thompson Palm Beach Post Television Writer Monday, June 12, 2006

Ten minutes. That's all I have with Kyra Sedgwick.

Rats!

Not nearly enough time to do a deep, probing phone interview with the star of The Closer, TNT's gritty crime drama returning today (9 p.m.) for a second season.

In the show, which became last summer's top-rated original basic cable series, Sedgwick is Brenda Johnson, a tough LAPD deputy police chief who uses her Southern fried charm to close the deal.

That means she gets bad guys to talk. Sing. Confess.

I love the show and Sedgwick in it. I beg the TNT publicist for more time. But she's not having it. The fetching Sedgwick, who's married to actor-director Kevin Bacon, has a schedule to keep.

And I have a Q&A to write, so here it is.

Question: The Closer was cable TV's most watched TV series. Why do you think so many people responded to you and your show?

Answer: Initially, people tuned in because they were interested in the genre, I guess, and then I think they stayed for the character, and they were intrigued by this unusual creature, and they weren't expecting to see someone so different on TV.

Q: That's the beauty of the show. Your character is such a quirky, three-dimensional, fully developed TV character. Not your typical TV detective. Talk a little bit about how you relate to Brenda.

A: I can relate to her struggles on a daily basis to do the right thing at work while trying to put together her personal life. I relate, in general, just to how we struggle to be good people in a difficult world and how we (women) try to manage our self-image in a man's world. I can't relate to her brain. She's certainly a lot smarter than I am in a lot of ways. I can't relate to her being an almost-40 woman without kids (Sedgwick has two children, Travis, 17, and Sosie Ruth, 14, with Bacon), but I can certainly relate to her sugar issues. For years, I struggled with it.

Q: I think Brenda has the sexiest accent on television.

A: How awesome, I love that!

Q: Even when you're interrogating or arresting somebody or cursing them out, it still sounds complimentary. Talk about perfecting that Southern drawl.

A: It is a real accent, an Atlanta proper accent. I work with a dialect coach, and she sends me tapes every week, so it's an ongoing work in progress, and I work very hard to stay true to that accent. I think it's disarming for people. I don't think it's what they expect.

Q: You didn't jump at this role right away. (The show is shot in Los Angeles, and Sedgwick lives in New York.) Why did you do it?

A: The character was so great. I sat down and talked with the creator, and he was so clear about where he wanted her to go and that she would really have a personal life and that we would really go home with her. I just got assured that she would stay very real.

Q: Tell me about the conversations with Kevin and about him staying home with the kids.

A: That was the first year, and Kevin said, 'I'll stay home and won't work.' This year, it was, well, 'If I get work, I'll do it.' You always wait for the right thing. During this work period, he didn't end up working, either. He's really been amazingly supportive. We don't see each other as much as we're used to, and he does have a lot more on his shoulders. He just taught our son how to drive, and I missed out on that whole process.

Q: You've been married since 1988. It's tough enough being married in the real world, but in the fishbowl you're in, being married in Hollywood must be even tougher. How have you guys made it work?

A: Isn't it so great to be married so long? It's the best. Honestly, we've been married for so long, (the tabloids) don't really care about us. There haven't been any affairs. There hasn't been another woman. There hasn't been another man. So, people, quite frankly, are not interested.

Q: You guys met in 1987 on the set of American Playhouse's production of Lemon Sky. Was it love at first sight?

A: It was love at first sight for him — it wasn't for me! I was with somebody else, I didn't think much of him. I thought he was a good actor, but I didn't think much beyond that. But he sort of wined and dined me. I think it was lust at first sight for him.

Q: How long did it take for you to come around?

A: Not very long, honestly. A couple of weeks.

Q: Oh, you were pretty easy?

A: (laughs) Yes, I was.

Q: Oliver Stone once said that you possess a Barbara Stanwyck quality. What did he mean by that?

A: I guess it's a compliment. I think Barbara Stanwyck is pretty amazing. I don't really know what he meant by that. What comes to mind when I think of Barbara Stanwyck is a really strong, solid woman. She's all woman, and she's strong. If that was Oliver's thought, I like that.

Q: You've worked with some pretty big names — Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, John Travolta, Paul Newman. What did you learn from them? Any funny stories?

A: John was always, like, the most important thing was to be a good person. That was his credo. From Paul, I remember once he looked at me with his watery blue eyes and said to me, 'You never, ever stop worrying about your kids.' And I thought, 'Oy! Great!' When I worked with him, my kids were 5 and 3, so when he said that, I thought, 'Oh, God.'

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/tv/content/accent/epaper/2006/06/12/a1d_sedgwick_0612.html

TV Notebook
Hoping to 'Come on Down' to 'The Price Is Right'?

By Jennifer Steinhauer The New York Times June 13, 2006

LOS ANGELES — The daytime television schedule may be littered with gabby talk shows, sunny news programs and adjudications of who, precisely, put his foot through the window of the neighbor's El Camino.

But nearly 35 years since Bob Barker first beckoned Americans to come on down, his game show, "The Price Is Right," continues to corner a certain market.

Thousands of fans — from 19-year-old Midwestern college students to octogenarians who have had crushes on Mr. Barker since he and they were middle-aged — continue to line up along Fairfax Avenue here at 3 a.m., four days a week, most of the year, hoping for one of the 325 spots in the studio audience.

They come in intergenerational groups or solo. They schedule vacations around tapings of the show, and spend months organizing friends and family members to meet them here, wearing T-shirts that identify them by their town or family name. (One man was recently spotted refusing to don his group's shirt at breakfast. Things did not go well for him.)

They stay by the dozens at the Farmer's Daughter hotel across the street from the CBS studio where "The Price Is Right" is taped, and get a nightly tutorial from a desk clerk on how to become members of the studio audience.

For every American who dreams that a singing voice, dance skills or back-stabbing boardroom tactics will earn him a piece of prime-time fame, thousands more have dreamed smaller, longing only to guess the price of a sectional couch or a pint of heavy cream. They don't want a record contract; they want an all-expenses-paid trip to Asia, or maybe a banjo.

"I have been watching this show all my life," said Gregory Bourgard, 26, who comes several times a year from Odenton, Md., to line up for a spot in the audience, even though he can never be a contestant again because he was once a showcase winner.

"I'm not trying to relive the moment," he said on a recent Sunday night at the Farmer's Daughter, where he was gearing up for visit No. 30. "I just want to be in the audience again."

Game shows may come and go, but "The Price Is Right" is a cultural touchstone for generations of Americans.

Who under 50 — except for those raised by parents who banned television and put rice cakes rather than Ring Dings in their lunchboxes — did not spend dozens of childhood mornings zoned out on the couch, playing along with the Dice Game or screaming at the fool from San Diego about to overbid on a bag of corn chips?

"We're here for our parents, our grandparents and people in our lives who have since passed on who watched the show," said Cindy Kilkenny, 57.

It is the democracy of the audience, and the show's theme — how to gauge inflation, essentially — that has sustained its appeal, said Mr. Barker, the show's 82-year-old host (and its executive producer).

"Everyone in the United States can identify with our show," he said. "On most game shows today you will see contestants between 20 and 45 who are physically attractive. We have people on 'The Price Is Right' who are between 20 and 45 who are physically attractive too."

"But we have people who, when they became 18, the first thing they did was come to 'The Price Is Right,' " he continued, "and I had a big winner on a recent show who was 95. We deliberately select contestants that are black, white and brown. We deliberately pick contestants from all over the United States. We have fat people, thin, short, tall, you name it."

How much stuff costs, he added, is what people think about every day, anyway. "The premise is so overpowering," he said. "Everyone identifies with prices. Whether you're a television executive or a newspaper reporter or a policeman or unemployed."

And while television may worship 22-year-olds and body parts created in the operating theater, Mr. Barker is also part of the show's grand appeal, and he has the X-rays to prove it. One overzealous fan bear-hugged Mr. Barker and broke a rib; several have crushed his toes; and one raced onto the stage and head-butted him in the solar plexus.

"It is a dangerous job," said Mr. Barker, who holds special affection for a fan who raced to her contestant's seat with such enthusiasm that her tube top fell down. She failed to adjust it for several live minutes.

The audience is largely filled by groups on buses who are guaranteed seats. The rest are fans who line up, often beginning at midnight, for the extra spots, which are doled out on a first-come-first-served basis. Some days there are two, others 200.

For these fans Ted Ott, a clerk at the Farmer's Daughter, gives free workshops each night before tapings (two on Mondays and one Tuesday through Thursday).

Mr. Ott, who lines up on his day off, uses a broken section of a backgammon board to represent the "Price Is Right" studio, and lectures for roughly 40 minutes, in between checking in guests.

He gives the following advice: Do not wear costumes. ("The show's producers have a horror of waking up and finding out they are on 'Let's Make a Deal,' " he said.) Show up on time to get your four-digit line-spot number, and guard it with your life.

If you get a spot in the audience — and are thus granted a 20-second interview with the producer to see if you might be called down — be clever. Don't go to the restroom when people are being called down. If you are thinking of bringing in a cheat sheet on prices, think again, because that is a felony.

But to that quintessential American question: is it worth it? For Sean Steiner, 22, who came from Akron, Ohio, to be the first in line for the show, it was the fulfillment of a childhood dream. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," he said. "I was feet from Bob. He was cracking jokes, telling stories about the ducks who live in his swimming pool during the commercial break. The best part was, I got to come home and watch myself on TV."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/arts/television/13pric.html?8dpc=&_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

The TV Watch
On Reality TV Menu: Bathos (Lightly Basted With Malice)

By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times June 12, 2006

The problem with reality television is not that it traffics in humiliation. The problem is that it's not humiliating enough.

There is no excuse for a series about spoiled suburban housewives that focuses on their inner lives. Yet "The Tuesday Night Book Club," which begins tomorrow on CBS, showcases soul-searching and empowerment. Despite leering promos that promise bosomy, botoxed heroines drinking, dancing and plotting adultery (a Sisterhood of the Traveling Hot Pants), the series is a teary feel-bad/grow-stronger pageant along the lines of the daytime life-coaching series "Starting Over."

And "How to Get the Guy," which has its premiere tonight on ABC, appears to be just as empathetic. Four nice, attractive young women in San Francisco are taught the art of dating by two so-called love coaches, Teresa Strasser, formerly a host of the decorating show "While You Were Out," and JD Roberto, an actor described by ABC as a "relationship connoisseur."

The coaches are over-caffeinated, and their advice is creepy ("Did you break the touch barrier?"), but they do arrange many on-camera dates for their clients. San Francisco may seem like an overly challenging arena, but the coaches explain at the outset that, even accounting for the city's high percentage of gay men, there are still eligible bachelors to be found.

Some of the encounters look like what-not-to-do instruction videos. (Anne, told not to "over-share" and discuss ailments on a first date, forgets and brings up her allergy to calamari.) But on the whole the series tries to be helpful, not cruel.

These romance shows are among several reality series this summer that suggest a softening of the genre. Nothing is sillier than other people's love lives, yet even with so tempting a target, ridicule is no longer fashionable in reality TV. It is still possible to laugh at the participants — in fact it is commendable — but the conceits are inspirational, not satirical. Viewers today require a more textured approach, one that mixes malice with large infusions of feel-good bathos. It's the calculation that prompted ABC to move from the plastic surgery series "Extreme Makeover" to "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," a wishes-come-true tearjerker very much in line with the 1950's and 60's television game show "Queen for a Day."

Even Fox, which has always set the bar lowest for reality shows ("Temptation Island"), has moved on to "American Idol" knockoffs like the current "So You Think You Can Dance." These talent shows are as much about merit as about mockery, even if some are taunted along the way. CBS has scheduled a seventh season of "Big Brother," and NBC has not given up on "Fear Factor," but the networks' new series are about heart, not heckling.

It is tempting but naïve to interpret the shift as a sign that Americans are too nice for mean-spirited television. Actually it's really more of a midcourse correction. The novelty of reality TV as a lab experiment in human folly wore off long ago. Cruelty is a little like nudity: more enticing when slightly veiled.

Kris, a lawyer looking for love on "How to Get the Guy," is labeled the "party girl" of the foursome, and she receives a rebuke from Ms. Strasser after having too good a time at a party. "There is an intrinsic grace and dignity and class about you," Ms. Strasser gently tells her. "Three drinks ago." Self-improvement after a fall from grace is crucial to the genre: Kris promises to limit herself to two drinks an evening.

"Book Club" buries its satire behind a veneer of compassion, but there are some amusing asides, including the club's first meeting, at which it turns out that only a few members started the reading assignment, even though it was the chick-lit novel "Good in Bed," not "Ulysses." They end up discussing the assigned topic anyway.

A sardonic narrator enlivens the plots of ABC's "Desperate Housewives." There is also a female narrator on "Book Club," only she speaks in the warm, earnest tones of a New Age therapist. And so do all the participants, including the husbands. (Everybody feels a lot of stress.)

These seven real-life desperate housewives in Scottsdale, Ariz., dress like hookers, drink fruity cocktails and talk a lot about their sex lives, but are mostly seen in intimate confessional mode, hugging and weepily describing their marital woes and frustrations. (Kirin, the doctor's wife, cannot get her motorcycle-obsessed husband to pay attention; her friends advise her to buy a tight leather outfit and join him on a ride.)

The series' reality is as enhanced the women's appearance: the lighting softens and the camera zooms in for tight close-ups like a soap opera, and every scene is punctuated with an overly apt pop song.

It's soft-core porn disguised as self-help, and perfectly suited to the times.

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/arts/television/12watc.html

Is this guy crazy? He wants to insult Congress (which oversees things like, say, the FCC budget, and the regulations it enforces) at a time when broadcasters need every friend they can get on Capitol Hill?
So I ask again, is this guy crazy?

Washington Notebook
Rehr: FCC Should Make Must-Carry Call

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/12/2006 4:29:00 PM

Saying he was both "disturbed" and "confused" by House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton's letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin last week opposing digital multicast must-carry, National Association of Broadcasters President David Rehr wrote Martin and the other commissioners Monday to try and "correct the record."

Barton, along with House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton, had asked Martin not to reverse an earlier decision confining DTV must-carry to a single channel, saying he would be straying into Congress' territory and that the commission was right the first two times when it found that what Congress meant in its DTV must-carry mandate was one channel, not the several channels broadcasters can fit in their DTV spectrum.

Rehr argued that there is no statutory barrier to "full" digital must-carry, pointing out that the FCC itself has said that the analog must-carry regime does not directly translate to digital and that Congress "did not expressly compel a particular result...[Rehr quoting from an FCC report]." He also said that independent programmers will not suffer from full carriage because broadcasters will need new shows to fill their new channels.

Rehr asked Barton to let the FCC make the call, "as the expert agency...in the best position to resolve the issue in a manner that will serve the public interest."

Barton last week read the Martin move as "usurping" Congressional power, an interpretation not shared by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, though Stevens thought the DTV must-carry decision would be ultimately Congress' to make rather than leaving it to the changing tides (our word, not his) of administrative orders.


The text of Rehr's letter can be found here:

http://www.nab.org/images/xertimages/corpcomm/pressrel/060806_DKR_Barton_multicasting.pdf

TV News Notebook
What’s Happening At ABC News?

Charlie the Conqueror

While Diane Sawyer waffled about taking over as the ABC evening-news anchor and the pregnant Elizabeth Vargas tried to hold on to it, her formally avuncular Good Morning America co-host Charles Gibson swooped in and seized the throne for himself.

By Joe Hagan New York Magazine June 19, 2006

When Diane Sawyer did not get tapped to anchor ABC’s World News Tonight, it could have been reasonably assumed that she must not have wanted the job. Otherwise, what could explain the decision? She is the network’s most bankable news star, and she has made no secret of her desire to handle weightier fare than she can get away with on Good Morning America. In fact, her original decision to sign on as co-host of the ailing GMA was motivated in part by a desire to do what was best for the network, with the clear indication that she’d move on to other things when the salvage operation was done. For bringing GMA into hot contention with NBC’s previously dominant Today show, surely she had earned first dibs on the network’s most prestigious news job. But did she want it?

“Yes and no,” she told me as we sat in her office on West 66th Street. “No and yes.” There were, apparently, other considerations.

The 60-year-old Sawyer has a reputation for sharp career instincts. But in this instance, another side of her has come into view. Faced with a choice that would shape the rest of her broadcast career, she slipped into Hamlet mode, unsure of how to balance her loyalties and self-interest. Which, as much as anything, is what gave her GMA co-host, Charles Gibson, the chance to land the job himself—and to ensure that it was his and his alone. Gibson had none of Sawyer’s ambivalence. He saw his opportunity and he took it, pushing aside both Sawyer and Elizabeth Vargas, the pregnant incumbent who is going on maternity leave in August and fully expected to return. Now Vargas seems to be out of a job, and Sawyer is stuck on GMA, unhappily, with no obvious next move for her. Rather than solve the significant, perhaps terminal long-term problems of the evening news, Gibson’s ascension may well have exposed a whole raft of new ones for ABC.

Before Peter Jennings, the sturdy and magnanimous icon of ABC’s World News Tonight, announced he had lung cancer in the spring of 2005, ABC News executives were content to act as if his tenure would extend indefinitely into the future. “I think we all dreamed that Peter would be there forever,” says Sawyer. This wasn’t wishful thinking or pure delusion. It was the ABC plan. While Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather retired, Jennings would stay for two, three years, perhaps longer, and give ABC not only a competitive advantage in the meantime but the chance to groom his successors. Neither Sawyer nor Gibson figured in the equation. By the time Jennings was ready to go, the morning-show hosts would no longer be viable candidates to replace him, clearing the path for the next generation.

Confronted with Jennings’s sudden demise, ABC News president David Westin first tried a stopgap measure. He offered a two-year deal to Gibson to keep the seat warm until the 2008 election and then gracefully move aside. Westin says he considered offering the job at that time to Sawyer. “Given her stature and her history and her talents, anyone would have considered that,” he says. “That would be a bold and powerful move.” Rumors leaked out that, in fact, Sawyer wanted the job and had made a play for it.

But at the time, both ABC and Sawyer had a strong mutual interest in not upsetting the balance at GMA. The hugely profitable program, which contributes much more to ABC’s bottom line than the evening news, was gaining fast on the Today show. Losing Sawyer would sap that momentum, destroying years of progress. And so the interim spot was offered to Gibson, who promptly rejected it. Unlike Sawyer, Gibson, at that point in his career, was no longer willing to take one for the team. He made clear he would accept nothing less than the permanent position.

With nowhere else to go, Westin turned to the network’s younger stars, Vargas and Bob Woodruff, and anointed them co-anchors. This move was heavily influenced by one of Westin’s lieutenants, Paul Slavin, who saw the two new anchors as agents of a youthful resurgence at ABC News. They took over on January 3, and though their ratings lagged well behind Brian Williams’s at NBC, the situation seemed relatively sustainable.

All that came undone on January 29 of this year when Woodruff was nearly killed in a roadside attack in Iraq. That was a Sunday, and the next day, Vargas told Westin that she was pregnant. Westin, a lawyer who worked his way up ABC’s corporate ladder, had been dealt perhaps as difficult a hand as any TV-news executive ever had. He had to proceed cautiously and allow, first, for the possibility of Woodruff’s rapid recovery. Over the subsequent days and weeks, he conferred regularly with Woodruff’s family. In that time, it became clear that it would be a long while until Woodruff was ready to return to the air, if ever (in recent weeks, he has had a piece of prosthetic skull put in his head, and people who have spoken with him say his memory and speech are still shaky). Inside ABC, it is understood that Woodruff’s family applied pressure on Westin to keep him from giving away Woodruff’s job (the family declined to comment for this story), but Westin disputes that categorically. “I’ve had no resistance from them at all,” he says. “I’ve told him every time I’ve seen him, ‘There’s a chair here.’ I’m not sending a message that ‘you can’t come back and there won’t be room for you.’ ” But whatever hopes Woodruff and his family may be harboring, that chair was not going to be the anchor chair.

For most of the winter and then the spring, Westin was right back where he’d started, contemplating how much damage he could afford to do to GMA in the cause of saving World News Tonight from a ratings sinkhole. Two days after Woodruff’s injury, Westin asked both Gibson and Sawyer to substitute for Woodruff on World News Tonight, effectively setting up the horse race. He also asked them, as well as Vargas, to talk to him separately about their ideas for reformatting World News Tonight. This would be the beginning of a long and agonizing series of discussions.

From the outset, Charlie Gibson’s position was clear and unwavering. A 63-year-old TV veteran, Gibson is cut from the Father Knows Best mold. Although he’d spent much of his career in the morning trenches, hosting Good Morning America on and off since 1987, he was one of the big boys of TV news, with enough gravitas to moderate a presidential debate in 2004. But he still hadn’t grabbed the brass ring of network TV: the evening anchor, the face of ABC News. Gibson felt he was owed the chair, and much of the newsroom agreed, seeing him as an old-school anchor who would respectfully follow in Jennings’s footsteps. For that very reason, Westin angered many staffers when he only half-offered the job to Gibson last December. Gibson turned it down because it would have meant departing before coverage of the 2008 election, which he wanted to anchor. (There are some in the newsroom who think Gibson’s pride caused a lot of unnecessary anguish for ABC—they suggest that as a matter of strategy, Gibson should have taken the two-year deal then, because it would’ve been hard to dislodge him once he had the job.)

Having felt burned once, Gibson wasn’t going to let it happen again. People close to him say he was tired of GMA—and especially tired of pulling double duty in the evening, subbing for Woodruff. The genial on-air presence was getting less genial by the second: Not only was he asking for more money and a longer contract this time, but he told Westin he’d quit if he didn’t get the job—and he wanted it alone, without Vargas.

In threatening to walk, Gibson had serious leverage—because the threat was so genuine. His wife, Arlene, had just retired as head of the Spence School, making the prospect of his own retirement even more attractive. “I think he was genuinely happy to retire,” says one ABC News producer. “You can only play that card if you mean it.”

Westin was again in a tough spot. Not only did he have Gibson eyeing the door, but he had repeatedly told Vargas she would still be a co-anchor of World News Tonight after her maternity leave, and she was expecting that promise to be kept. But more important, he had yet to fully discern the desires of ABC News’ resident sphinx, Diane Sawyer—in large part because she herself couldn’t make up her mind.

In an interview, Gibson recalled that he and Sawyer had taken on Good Morning America seven years ago as an experiment, checking in with each other regularly to see if the other remained interested in the show. “Diane and I came in to this show, on a temporary basis,” he says. “We always said it was finite, and she’s had discussions with David. She’s had discussions for seven years. We said we’d hang in together. I went to Diane and said, ‘Are you okay with this?’ She said to me, ‘Sure.’ Indeed, she said, ‘You should go do it.’ That was enormously important to me.”

Did Gibson assume her assent was genuine and that she was happy at GMA? “I think she’s in it for a while,” he says. “It’s an interesting program to do.”

But privately, Sawyer is also tired of doing the show. Getting up at 4 A.M. every day to do cooking segments and soft-focus interviews has taken its toll. Like Gibson, Sawyer also wants something more substantial and befitting her age. But she wasn’t yet prepared to quit over it like Gibson was, and that put her at a significant disadvantage.

Sawyer’s refusal to play such a card put her career into a kind of paralysis. Gibson’s ascension would leave nothing of consequence for her at ABC News—or in network news, for that matter—when she eventually departed GMA. If she didn’t move up to World News Tonight, what else was there? ABC’s long-running newsmagazine PrimeTime, where Sawyer began her career at ABC in 1989, isn’t even on the regular fall schedule this year.

Most glaring, former morning-show queen Katie Couric had just moved from Today to the CBS Evening News, single-handedly shifting the TV-news heat to 6:30 P.M. Couric had hired Harvey Weinstein’s former PR man Matthew Hiltzik to help push the perception that the evening news was the place to be—consequently defining the morning host as a lower life-form stuck in the tar pits of reality-TV cheerleading, sucking up to celebrities, and pretending to enjoy eating freshly cooked pasta dishes at 7:30 A.M.

As the discussions grew more intense, Westin made sure to stay attuned to the desires of Sawyer, a kind of occult influence at ABC News and a woman with whom he has had a complex relationship. Sawyer was an acolyte of the late Roone Arledge, the legendary ABC News president who invented Nightline and 20/20, and who nurtured superstar anchors like Jennings and Ted Koppel. Because he had created them, and because he was such a larger-than-life figure, Arledge was always able to maintain strong control over his on-air talent. As famous as they became, Jennings and Koppel served at Arledge’s pleasure.

Westin, on the other hand, didn’t create stars, he inherited them—and the stars didn’t necessarily listen to him. Westin’s abilities tended more toward lawyerly mediation and political calculation than gut instincts about television. As a $12 million–a–year star, Sawyer has essentially shared power with Westin since he arrived in 1997, in part because she helped smooth the way for his hire. At the time, Westin was engaged in a widely publicized affair with Sherrie Rollins, the then-wife of GOP strategist Ed Rollins, upsetting Disney executives who were displeased with the indiscretion. Sawyer was friends with Sherrie, who is now Westin’s wife, and threw a wedding party for the two at her house in Martha’s Vineyard. Sawyer and her husband, film director Mike Nichols, introduced David Westin to their celebrity social spheres, deepening the relationship. When Sherrie Westin was pregnant with the couple’s first child, Sawyer attended an ultrasound.

When Sawyer agreed to take the job co-hosting GMA, she gave Westin his first taste of ratings success at ABC News. It also validated Sawyer’s superstar status and may well be the greatest achievement of her career. “I’m very attached to the show, and I have been able to do things with the show and on the show that have given me a real sense of freedom and surprise,” Sawyer says. “That doesn’t always happen when you’ve been around this long.”

Both Sawyer and Westin acknowledge that she would love to anchor World News Tonight, but Westin says Sawyer was clear—she didn’t want it if it meant taking it away from Gibson. “She wasn’t being coy,” says Westin. “She really did mean it.”

If Sawyer did get the job over Gibson—and Gibson made good on his promise to bolt—that would leave a smoking crater where Good Morning America once was, a major blow to ABC News. A GMA stripped of both stars was a risk that Westin could not take; Sawyer almost certainly would have known that and realized that if she had demanded the anchor job, he may not have been in the position to give it to her. Instead he had to set up a situation in which she decided not to pursue the job. Which is more or less how she tells it. “Everyone always says the morning drives the news these days, but you can’t come out of hard news and be in this business and not be interested in World News Tonight,” says Sawyer. “But for me, not if it costs this network Charlie Gibson. Period.”

Did she resent Gibson for his hard position?

“It’s his life, and he has to love his work, too,” she says.

Through the course of many conversations between Sawyer and Westin, Westin says that he gave Sawyer the chance to take the job, but she wouldn’t. This is his official position, and it squares with Sawyer’s official position, which is that she had these other concerns and wasn’t sure she wanted it. Except of course that she did want it. The situation thus started to move toward a predictable outcome—that she wasn’t going to get it, and that Gibson was.

Instead of being content with this state of affairs, Sawyer seemed very much at loose ends. Clearly, she had been outplayed. Should she have fought for the job? Was there still a chance? When she left for a sailing vacation in the Caribbean in April, some ABC News executives got the distinct impression from Westin that Sawyer was so unhappy that she might quit, say people familiar with the situation.

During the trip, which included Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter, screenwriter Nora Ephron, and media mogul David Geffen, Sawyer asked Geffen for career advice. He recommended she dial up Allen Grubman, a high-powered entertainment lawyer who also represents Barbara Walters, to explore her options. When she got back, Sawyer hired Grubman and began having conversations with Disney chief Robert Iger and Anne Sweeney, the co-chair of Disney Media Network and president of the Disney-ABC Television Group.

She acknowledges that she was concerned about her future at that point but says she hired Grubman only to examine her contract, not to play hardball with ABC News or Disney. Since a falling-out with her former agent, Richard Liebner, Sawyer says she simply hasn’t had a business adviser. “To proceed down the near- and medium-term without anybody who was going to help with any of this stuff just didn’t seem smart,” says Sawyer. “Everybody around me said, ‘You’re insane, what are you doing?’ It was to think about medium- and long-term—looking ahead.”

But given her age, Sawyer’s next job is likely her last, and she knows it. What exactly Grubman did—whether he negotiated an exit strategy from GMA or fought for the anchor position—isn’t entirely clear. Sawyer declined to discuss it, other than to say that one of her desires is to do more serious journalism in prime time. “If I can’t do that kind of thing, I’m vitamin-deficient,” says Sawyer. “I can’t do this work if I can’t also get some big, meaty stuff to do.”

Sawyer was also worried about the prospect of being left on a destabilized show. GMA is almost a million viewers behind the Today show after a neck-and-neck ratings run last year. And she now faced the prospect of losing to a newcomer, Meredith Vieira, former co-host of the ABC chat show The View, who was replacing Couric on Today. When it was first reported in April that Vieira was being courted by NBC, Sawyer became concerned. In a rare moment of mutual interest, Sawyer joined forces with Barbara Walters, the former ABC News grande dame and a View co-host, to talk to Westin about Vieira’s future at the network. Over the years, the relationship between the aging Arledge-era superstars had been cool at best, downright venomous at worst. For Sawyer, the motive was clear: She didn’t want Vieira as competition, especially since GMA would already be weakened by Gibson’s imminent departure. Getting beat by Couric was one thing, Vieira quite another. As it happens, hiring Vieira at ABC News would also offer another scenario: Vieira could replace Sawyer on Good Morning America, allowing Sawyer to take the evening program or move on.

But the pitch made for Vieira didn’t appear very competitive. “Barbara Walters at one point did raise the possibility of making an arrangement to do some pieces for 20/20 to encourage her to stay,” says Westin. “We did talk very seriously about having Meredith play some role on the newsmagazines. But Meredith on GMA didn’t get much past the starting gate.”

With newsroom staffers growing anxious for resolution, ABC News had hoped to end the four months of uncertainty by announcing a new anchor at the upfronts in May, the yearly event where networks unveil their fall shows for advertisers. The week before, Westin had come to his decision and formally offered Gibson the job—co-anchoring the evening news with Vargas.

Gibson steadfastly refused, telling Westin he would retire at the end of his contract next year. To drive his point home, he also refused to substitute for Vargas during her maternity leave, says a person familiar with the situation. “In talking to Charlie, it became clear the way Charlie perceived this program and his role on the program . . . It was really more of a one-anchor program,” says Westin.

On the day of ABC’s upfronts presentation, the previous week’s ratings showed World News Tonight had slipped to third place in the ratings behind CBS News for the first time in five years, ratcheting up the tension at ABC. Although the network insists the discrepancy of nearly 80,000 viewers was an anomaly, World News Tonight was undeniably sinking. And there was fear about what would happen when Couric took over in September for Bob Schieffer at CBS.

After haggling with Gibson, Westin finally made a decision. Days before the announcement, he told Vargas that Gibson would take over World News Tonight, alone.

Vargas, 43 years old, began her career at ABC as a news reader for GMA, where producers had hoped to groom her as an anchor. But Gibson didn’t cotton to her and was “far from warm and welcoming,” says a person familiar with the situation. She eventually sought a role at the newsmagazines. She wound up as a co-anchor of 20/20 and early on voiced a desire to one day anchor World News Tonight, saying she felt a woman other than Sawyer should be considered for such jobs. Asked at the time if she’d been contacted about the CBS Evening News position, which Couric was already rumored to be up for, she said, “I think they’re too busy calling Diane Sawyer.”

When Westin gave her the news, Vargas was taken by complete surprise, say people close to her. Having been assured by Westin that she would retain her job when she returned, they say, she felt betrayed.

Westin has a different memory of Vargas’s reaction. “Surprised?” he says. “No, I’m not sure it is right. She had raised with me her concerns about her health and family. We made a mutual decision. I don’t think so, but you need to ask her.”

Asked to comment, Vargas describes her reaction as “complicated,” but says her pregnancy had caused her to reevaluate her life and career. “I hope I get another chance to do this job, maybe at another time,” she adds. “It doesn’t mean it might not work out in a few years.”

The drawn-out process hurt morale at ABC News, with many staffers critical of Westin’s indecision. “It is regretful that the decisions didn’t come sooner,” says a news staffer who professes to like Westin. “We’re living it every day, and every day a decision wasn’t made, it affected everything, the way things are structured.”

Westin is sanguine about the criticism. “Nobody likes uncertainty,” he says. “But I’ve learned the hard way that you can get rushed to a decision and it can happen prematurely and it causes more damage than if you’d waited.”

In the end, it simply made little sense for Westin to give the job to Sawyer. She holds up the most lucrative program in the news division, and she has several more years on her contract. Gibson had only one year left—and a light, three-day-a-week schedule for the last year—and was fully prepared to leave. Westin knew Sawyer’s contract provided for at least six more months of work on GMA, keeping the program competitive against Vieira, and buying him time to dream up a replacement and then another show for Sawyer. In Gibson, Westin gets his own Bob Schieffer—a trusted figure whom the older demographic that still watches the evening news can relate to. The youth moment will just have to wait; and Vargas, well, sadly she is collateral damage that Westin can afford.

Not incidentally, denying Sawyer the job subtly changed Westin’s status inside the network—for the first time, it would appear, Westin said no, or something like no, to Sawyer. And that makes him look like his own man.

In the catty backrooms of broadcast news, the perception of having lost is as bad as actually losing. Case in point: Earlier this month, the Washington Post filed Sawyer in the “losers” slot in its TV column, asking, “What’s left for Di?” Even Sawyer’s allies concede she got nothing out of the deal. “She got Allen Grubman, that’s what she got,” says one friend.

But does Diane Sawyer think Diane Sawyer lost? “No,” she says. “They were complicated choices. But I know I made the right one for me. And I truly think this is all best for the network too.”

If she has given up on the idea of the anchor chair, she has taken this opportunity to explore her options. A few ideas have been floated by ABC News, including the chance to run PJ Productions, the documentary unit founded by Peter Jennings.

Meanwhile, there’s GMA, on the ropes again. The show’s executive producer, Ben Sherwood, resigned earlier this month, and there is neither a male anchor nor a weatherman. Sawyer has agreed to stay on GMA through 2007, prompting speculation that she may depart soon after. Asked if Sawyer will be at GMA this time next year, Westin hedges his bets: “Do I expect Diane to retire off of GMA at ABC News?” he asks. “No. At some point, we’ll decide it’s time for her to do something else after GMA.”

For now, Sawyer says she’s dedicated to first reviving GMA with her co-anchor, Robin Roberts. “I want to make sure GMA is great,” she says. “Robin and I together.”

Asked what her own future holds beyond that, Sawyer laughs. “I’m taking all suggestions,” she says.

http://nymag.com/news/media/17255/index.html

As usual, I think Marc Berman gets it right.

Cable TV Notebook
HBO's Midlife Crisis

Marc Berman MediaWeek Magazine JUNE 12, 2006 -

Since the worst of The Sopranos is still better TV than most scripted dramas on television, even a disjointed season like the one just concluded left this fan craving for more. But after waiting two long years for this latest batch of 12 episodes, another seven-month delay for the final eight shows is absolutely maddening. It's excruciating! And the decline in ratings for The Sopranos this year tells me that HBO had better find a solution to this haphazard scheduling, or more viewers are unlikely to find their way back to the premium channel (which won't be so premium for much longer now that Sex and the City, Six Feet Under and Oz are history and The Sopranos and Deadwood are heading for the land of the fishes). Can you imagine a broadcast network only airing 12 episodes of one series in two years?

The programming on HBO may be good (extraordinary, at times) but nothing—not even The Sopranos—is worth waiting that long for, particularly given the rise in alternative programming options. By delaying the start of The Sopranos, and putting other shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm on indefinite hiatus (When was the last time we saw an original episode of the Larry David sitcom?), the cable network is setting itself up for a fall. A viewer will only stay interested for so long, after all.

Even a stellar Sopranos would have been disappointing this season. The long delay inflated expectations. After waiting two years, we expected a miracle. When we didn't find one, we bitched, we moaned and now we are annoyed that the season is over already. And when you piss off a fan, the results in the long-run can negatively impact the entire network.

Although the rules on cable may be different, the priority is still the audience. HBO has to learn that you cannot play with the emotions of a loyal TV fan by holding back for 24 months, whetting his appetite, then pulling back again.

Six seasons into The Sopranos we have seen just 77 episodes. I have debated the value of quality versus quantity, and often side with quality. But the dozen we had this season were nothing extraordinary. Tony on the verge of death, Paulie Walnuts learning the truth about his mother and lazy A.J. wandering about were nothing more than soap-opera ploys that you can find in daytime. And in the two years since we bid adieu to Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha, nothing (including failed The Comeback and upcoming Lucky Louie) has come close to matching the flawless chemistry of Sex and the City. Let's face it: HBO is in a slump, and the demise of The Sopranos will only make matters worse.

Is HBO the NBC of cable? Could it eventually rebound?

I give HBO credit: It morphed from a destination movie channel to one that shaped the cable landscape with its made-for movies such as And the Band Played On and Barbarians at the Gate, then became the home of must-see regularly scheduled TV that all but guaranteed its participants Emmy accolades.

But right now HBO is at a low point. Even an "A" list show like Entourage is too inside-Hollywood to appeal to a large audience, and the amount of original programming on the channel is limited. HBO once had a knack for satisfying the appetites of many with fare we could all relate to. But, does something like the recently introduced Big Love, a tale of a polygamist and his family, play all that well outside of the big cities? So far it hasn't. A troubled man talking to his therapist about family and work problems, four single New York women, and a dysfunctional family who ran a funeral business all worked because we recognized these types of people. A spoiled, neurotic actress on The Comeback didn't because we could not identify with Lisa Kudrow's obnoxious character.

While there is more hope with comedian Louis C.K. as a perennially out-of-work middle-aged auto mechanic emasculated by his more successful, bread-winning wife on Lucky Louie, my gut tells me I would be happier with repeats of Everybody Loves Raymond, a show with similar appeal, on TBS. Lucky Louie doesn't sound very original to me, and originality is what has set HBO apart.

HBO certainly won't go away. It has come too far to not forge ahead. But in order to move forward it needs to find the next generation of hit programming. And to do so it must avoid perennial long-term absences by upping original-episode orders. Though I might choose quality over quantity, not everyone will. Waiting another seven months for just eight more episodes of The Sopranos will alienate more viewers.

TV Review
Looking for love - on the wrong show

By Verne Gay Newsday Staff Writer June 12, 2006

How very desperate must someone in the love department be that - as a last resort - he or she undergoes prime-time scrutiny in search of a mate? This is the pressing issue, the only one, of ABC's "How to Get the Guy," (10 PM ET/PT Tonight) about four women in San Francisco who do power dating, singles parties and various ice-breaking techniques under the watchful and maddeningly cheerful gaze of "love coaches" Teresa Strasser (TLC's "While You Were Out") and JD Roberto (host of ABC's critically reviled 2003 reality series "Are You Hot? The Search for America's Sexiest People").

Sneer, if you must, and "How to Get the Guy" is eminently sneerable at times and, in the final analysis, eminently dubious, too. Is the advice these four women receive of any value? Debate among yourselves, viewers, and certainly you will.

But meeting and establishing meaningful relations with other people is a difficult and time-honored art. "How to Get the Guy," at least, shows just how hard. We have Anne, typecast here as "the girl next door." We have Kris, "fun-loving party girl at night." We have "no-nonsense" trial lawyer Michelle. We have Elissa, who's "spiritual" - in a California kind of way - and romantic.

What we don't have are nice guys, and - about five minutes into this - viewers will start to wonder why. The women are attractive and intelligent. They're motivated, God knows. San Francisco may move quickly to the top of the evidence pile for some viewers. While standing with the women inside an empty stadium, Strasser and Roberto blithely estimate that "16 percent" of the city's male population is gay. How do they know this? Well, they don't - it's a wild guess, but our ladies buy it.

The women and coaches head out on location - 150 of 'em, we're told, throughout town - from bookstores, where they practice eye contact, to sporting goods stores (more of the same), serial dating (with the predictable losers) and something called a "signal party," in which people signal their availability with red or green buttons. (Green means available).

It's all painful, silly, embarrassing and - worse - probably even futile. But desperate measures for desperate times, and viewers will fervently hope the lovelorn featured here will find their life partner. Under these circumstances, they'll also wonder if it's possible.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ettvtwo4778470jun12,0,622211.story

TV Notebook
Why I Know Which Fall Shows Stink, and Why I'm Not Telling You

By James Poniewozik Time Magazine television critic Monday, Jun. 12, 2006

Over the past few weeks, I've been getting DVD mailers of the broadcast networks' new fall-series pilots. When ABC arrives, this week, I'll have the full set of fall previews. Movie critics have the film-festival circuit. (Cannes! Venice! Toronto!) TV critics have the delivery guy. (DHL! UPS! FedEx!)

You'd think that this would provide a good opportunity to get my reviewing done ahead of time: I could thumbs-up, thumbs-down the whole fall season for you by the end of next week and spend my fall leaf-peeping. Unfortunately, the pilots I get in May and June are specifically "not for review," in part because they may be retooled, recast and reshot before the fall. (Some lucky shows may even get yanked from the schedule altogether, as Fox usually does once a year.) The fact is, most fall pilots usually either air pretty much as originally sent out, or with cosmetic changes and edits that make no real difference to the quality of the show.

But no network wants bad buzz to kill a show in the cradle, so if I actually tell you that a new show sucks, they'll scream that I'm being horribly unfair: You have to wait! The show will be perfect after they recast the love interest's best friend with some girl who used to have a recurring role on One Tree Hill! (Of course, if I said I loved the show after seeing the not-for-review pilot, I'm sure they would also protest, integrity being so important to TV networks.)

Regardless, the networks send the screeners as a courtesy, so it wouldn't be fair to burn them. So TV critics in the summer are kind of like election reporters before the polls close. They know how the vote is likely to go, but they're forced to spend all afternoon teasing and hinting. So I could tell you, say, that NBC and Fox have two kidnapping dramas (Kidnapped and Vanished), that one has an intriguing story and bland acting and the other fine acting and a boring story—raising the question of which matters more--but I couldn't say which is which.

Or I could say that Twenty Good Years—with Jeffrey Tambor and John Lithgow playing an odd-couple pair of 60-something pals having wild adventures—is exactly as good as I thought it would be: I just can't tell you whether I thought it was going to be comic genius or a big steaming pile of, um, network product. But I'll bet you have a guess, don't you?

http://time.blogs.com/tuned_in/

TV Notebook
More TV, Less Sleep, a Children's Study Finds

By Nicholas Bakalar The New York Times June 13, 2006

Five- and 6-year-old children who watch television, especially police dramas, news broadcasts and movies directed at adults, have a markedly increased risk for sleep problems, a new study suggests.

The families of 297 children completed questionnaires on sleep routines and TV viewing habits that included details about the time spent watching, the types of shows they saw and whether the parents and the children watched together. The researchers estimated the time spent in "passive viewing" — when the television was on, but the child was not actively paying attention — from the data they gathered.

The study, which appears in the June issue of The Journal of Sleep Research, was conducted in three university cities in Finland. On average, the television was on 2.8 hours a day during the children's waking hours, and they watched it actively for 1.4 hours.

The total amount of time the television was on, the amount of active TV watching and exposure to passive TV were all correlated with decreased sleep duration. The more that children watched programs intended for adults and the more passive TV exposure they had, the more severe their sleep problems. Watching TV at bedtime or watching alone was also significantly correlated with the severity of sleep disturbances.

Children who spent the most time in passive viewing had almost triple the risk of sleep difficulties of those who spent the least. Dr. Juulia Paavonen, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki, said television watching should be limited to one or two hours a day. "Our results suggest," she said, "that parents should control the program contents that are actively watched by their children, and that children's exposure to background TV should be limited."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/health/13habi.html?pagewanted=print

Is this guy crazy? He wants to insult Congress (which oversees things like, say, the FCC budget, and the regulations it enforces) at a time when broadcasters need every friend they can get on Capitol Hill?
So I ask again, is this guy crazy?

I doubt it. He was a professional lobbyist before he got this job. This type stuff is what he does. That is why NAB hired him.

You have to admit, it is a different tact. If he has his facts straight, Congress will not be able to argue with him. It may work. Who knows?

Interesting take.

But the fact is Congress makes policy, not the FCC.

The FCC enforces laws Congress makes and makes rules on stuff Congress doesn't bother to deal with.

I know his background. I think this is a very, very heavyhanded and misguided act on Rehr's part which could well upset Barton, Upton, Stevens and Inouye.

And that would be extremely foolish, since they are the ones who have the power to get laws changed. But we shall see.

On Sports Media
Like U.S. squad, ESPN2's team still has a lot of work to do

By Marc Narducci Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer Tue, Jun. 13, 2006

The U.S. national team's 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic in its opening World Cup soccer game yesterday wasn't helped much by the telecast.

ESPN2, while enjoying a slightly better day than the beleaguered U.S. team, still has much of its own game to work on. (The team's next contest, against Italy at 3 PM ET Saturday, will be shown on ABC.)

Before the World Cup, there were complaints in soccer circles about the choice of Dave O'Brien, a baseball announcer at heart, to do the play-by-play for the U.S. team's first-round games.

Yet O'Brien had a solid performance. The same couldn't always be said of analyst Marcelo Balboa, a former star of the U.S. national team.

The job of the analyst is to provide insight, and too often Balboa was saying things like "The U.S. is showing no energy."

No kidding.

Why were players such as Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Philadelphia's Bobby Convey nonfactors?

All we were frequently told was that they weren't playing well.

Before the Czech Republic's first goal, star midfielder Pavel Nedved was taken down by defender Oguchi Onyewu, who was assessed a yellow card for the hard tackle.

O'Brien called it a "bad foul," which it was.

Balboa, on the replay, said Onyewu "was just a little late."

Just a little late?

He was soundly beaten and reverted to a desperate measure.

Also, on the Czech Republic's second goal, by Tomas Rosicky on a 25-yard blast that resulted from a poor clear by Onyewu, Balboa, while describing the replay, said, "Good clear, average clear." A minute later, he said it was a poor clear. At least he finally got it right.

Balboa obviously knows the game and made some good points, such as when he said Beasley is better on the left side than the right and is a more confident player there.

Yet we were never told why Beasley was on the right side instead.

Soccer, with its lack of sustained offense, can be difficult to cover and at times watch. In the first half especially, ESPN2 stayed with too many wide shots.

While the wide field is needed for perspective, there were many opportunities to go tight and then cut back to a wide shot. Instead, we saw too many wide shots, even when action was at a pause.

In addition, O'Brien or Balboa often talked about a player after a key play, but there would be no shot of that player to match.

In the second half, the coverage got a little better in that regard.

Where the telecast excelled was in replays. Many of the off-side calls were clearly shown to be correct.

In addition, the goals were accompanied by excellent replays, although the best might have been when U.S. midfielder Claudio Reyna hit the post in the first half.

The analysis?

"Great shot," Balboa said. "He keeps it low."

That was obvious, just as it was that both the team and the telecast would need a better effort Saturday.

NLL on OLN.

The indoor National Lacrosse League, which includes the Wings, has agreed to a television contract with OLN for the 2007 season.

OLN, which is available in nearly 70 million homes and will change its name to Versus in September, will show 16 games beginning in January. They will be telecast primarily at 10 p.m. ET on Saturdays.

The two sides haven't come to an agreement about any playoff games but said they were still in discussion.

OLN and the NLL wouldn't discuss the particulars of the contract. That usually means there was no rights fee paid.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/14803674.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Sports On TV
Lively kickup for the World Cup games

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 13, 2006, 01:20

Things got a lot dimmer for the U.S. men’s soccer team with yesterday’s ugly 3-0 opening-round loss to the Czech Republic in the World Cup. But they’re looking pretty bright for ABC and Univision.

Through the first weekend of the 2006 Cup in Germany, both networks saw big increases in ratings versus the same weekend in 2002.

Saturday’s game between new Cup sweethearts Trinidad & Tobago and Sweden at noon on Saturday averaged a 2.9 overnight household rating on ABC, an 81 percent improvement over the 1.6 for an equivalent game between Ireland and Cameroon four years ago.

On Sunday, ABC averaged a 2.7 for Iran-Mexico, a 42 percent jump over 2002’s 1.9 for Sweden-England.

ABC also earned a strong rating for its opening game on Saturday between England and Paraguay, which averaged a 2.6 rating. There was no equivalent game in the ’02 World Cup.

Meanwhile, Univision averaged 2.6 million viewers for its first eight games, or nearly three times the 900,000 viewers the first eight games of the 2002 tournament averaged. That includes the Mexico-Iran matchup, which averaged 5.4 million viewers, becoming the most-watched sporting even in Spanish-language television history.

The main reason for the increases is fairly simple. In 2002, all of the games ABC aired on weekends were taped, as were those that aired in Univision in primetime. Though ESPN aired live coverage of some games that year, when it was played in Japan and South Korea, daytime games were all on tape delay.

By that time, casual soccer fans had already found the results themselves online. Only true diehards watched the taped games while ratings for the live games, despite airing between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., spiked.

“I passed on a lot of Spanish-language packages during the last World Cup,” says Karen McCallum, media director at Esparza Advertising in Albuquerque, N.M. “They were airing from the Far East, and what with the time difference, I didn’t feel that people would do live viewing in the middle of the night.

“They proved me wrong. It was a missed opportunity, and so I definitely expected ratings from Germany to be higher than they were from the Far East. It’s a more favorable schedule and American viewers have a better opportunity not to disrupt their schedules with live viewing.”

The opening-weekend ratings all outdid ABC’s 2.5 rating for the 2002 World Cup final, which aired at 7 a.m. The three-game 2.7 average nearly doubled ABC’s 10-game 2002 World Cup average of 1.4, all but one, the final, of which were taped. And the Mexico game outdrew even past World Cup finals on Univision.

In addition to airing live, this year’s World Cup has gotten more publicity in the States than any World Cup since the U.S. hosted the event in 1994, according to numerous sports marketing experts. Awareness of the Cup is at its highest point in that time as well, especially with more expectations for a U.S. team ranked fifth in the world, according to FIFA, soccer’s governing body.

So the next question becomes will yesterday’s dismal U.S. opener dampen enthusiasm for the rest of the tournament?

McCallum doesn’t think so.

“I think that it has the potential to vary by region,” she says. “Here in the Southwest, people may be less interested in the U.S. than they would be in Mexico. With certain Latin American countries continuing on their quest [for the Cup], that has the potential to maintain heightened awareness and interest in the Cup.”

Another good story that Americans may latch onto is Trinidad & Tobago, the tiny nearby island country with fewer than 1.5 million residents that, in its first-ever World Cup, tied mighty Sweden. That has received lots of attention in the U.S. and worldwide press.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5320.asp

The TV Column
MSNBC, Promoting From the Bottom Up

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, June 13, 2006; C01

The anchor of one of MSNBC's lower-rated shows has been put in charge of day-to-day operation of the ratings-starved cable news network.

On the other hand, Dan Abrams gives great e-mail.

Abrams, son of high-profile First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, was named general manager of the NBC-owned cable network yesterday.

He will report to Phil Griffin, who was named executive in charge of MSNBC.

Griffin will continue to oversee NBC's "Today" show, as he has done for a little more than a year.

The new team replaces Rick Kaplan, who last week stepped down as president of MSNBC.

Kaplan had reported directly to NBC News President Steve Capus, who said yesterday they were very fortunate that Griffin, an MSNBC alum who most recently had been in charge of its prime time, would reassume a leadership position. Capus also acknowledged that putting Abrams in charge of day-to-day operations was a bit unorthodox.

But, Capus noted, so was naming NBC sports producer Jim Bell executive producer of "Today" in April '05. Except that Bell had at least some producing credits. Among other things, he was coordinating producer for NBC's Olympics coverage, responsible for all aspects of nearly 100 hours of afternoon and late-night Olympic programming during the 2004 Athens Summer Games, producer for NBC's broadcasts of the NFL, MLB and NBA, the French Open and Wimbledon. You know -- he'd run things.

Ah, but Abrams told The TV Column, he's run "The Abrams Report."

"I have been running my show for the last 4 1/2 years with a staff of 15 people and dealing with many of the same issues I'll be dealing with on a grander scale running the network," Abrams told The TV Column.

And how's that been going? Let's look at May, shall we? At 4 p.m. "The Abrams Report" clocked 211,000 viewers, while Wolf Blitzer's "The Situation Room" on CNN averaged nearly 500,000 viewers and Fox News Channel's "Your World With Neil Cavuto" averaged nearly 800,000.

At 6 p.m., "The Abrams Report" averaged 253,000 viewers, to Lou Dobbs's 813,000 on CNN and Brit Hume's 1.2 million viewers on FNC.

Asked what has been his biggest frustration running "The Abrams Report," Abrams said, "The 6 o'clock time period has always been a very tough time period for that program." The earlier show "has been picking up quite a bit as of late. . . . We're actually getting some traction at 4."

Still, Griffin insists Abrams is the perfect person for the job -- as opposed to, say, someone who has run one of MSNBC's more successful shows, such as "Hardball With Chris Matthews" or "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" (both averaged nearly 400,000 viewers between 7 and 9 p.m. in May) -- because Abrams, who has been with the network since '97 and anchor of "The Abrams Report" since '01, is the ultimate "insider."

"He's always been an insider," said Griffin.

"He's a lawyer and he understands things. He is a quick study; he's always at the front when there's a big legal story: How do we cover it? Who do we send? What are the main issues?"

Kaplan, who lasted little more than two years and left with six months on his contract, was an outsider, hailing mostly from CNN and ABC News.

Capus, Griffin and Abrams have known each other a long time in TV news years. Back in the late '90s and early '00s, Capus was executive producer of MSNBC's prime-time newscast, "The News With Brian Williams," and before that he was the senior broadcast producer for MSNBC's daytime news coverage, beginning with its launch in 1996.

When Capus was named president of NBC News about a year ago, Abrams started sending him e-mails about the state of MSNBC. One of them ran eight pages, according to the Associated Press.

"One particular note was a rather lengthy overview of all of cable news and what the competitors were doing that was smart and what we were doing that was good, bad and otherwise," Capus told The TV Column. "He's brought any number of insights. . . . He's a very competitive guy."

Abrams, who will step down from his show but continue to be NBC News's chief legal correspondent, said he wants to make MSNBC more "vibrant," more "exciting" and "maybe even a bit more irreverent."

"I think newscasts tend to be very predictable, and I hope we can lose some of that predictability," he told The TV Column.

They certainly lost a bit yesterday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/12/AR2006061201717_pf.html

The Digital Revolution
HDTV--the clincher in war between cable and phone?

By Marguerite Reardon CNet.com
High-definition television could tip the balance between phone companies and cable operators as they compete for TV dollars.

After years of hype, HDTV, with its enhanced picture quality and superior sound, is finally becoming a reality. Consumers are starting to buy new HDTV sets in droves. Providing those people with more than one channel of HDTV programming could become a key selling point for the phone and cable providers battling to sign up TV subscribers.

"There's been a lot of talk about integrating all kinds of interactive features into TV," said Rick Thompson, a senior analyst at Heavy Reading, an industry analyst group based in New York City. "But in the short term, the biggest differentiator will be who has the best content package, and part of that will be how much HDTV you have."

Phone and cable companies realize the importance of HDTV. But some providers may be in a better position than others to handle the increased demand for HDTV channels, which will eat up loads of bandwidth.

The cable industry leads the U.S. market in HDTV subscribers, with about 5.5 million of the 7 million households signed up at the end of 2005, according to Leichtman Research Group. Patrick Esser, president of Cox Communications, said the cable company has seen HDTV demand build in the last six months, with 20,000 to 30,000 new customers every month.

Experts say that making sure networks keep up with HDTV demand is important, because it may help sway some consumers' buying decisions in the future.

"People today aren't choosing their TV service provider because of their HDTV offering," said Bruce Leichtman, principal analyst at Leichtman Research Group. "But they probably wouldn't go with a new provider who doesn't at least match or offer more than what they are already getting."

HDTV in the American home

A big reason for the increased demand is that there are more HDTV-capable sets out there. About 16.2 million U.S. homes had at least one at the beginning of 2006, and that tally has likely grown to about 19 million since then, according to Leichtman Research Group.

That rise in popularity is being driven by more affordable models. At Christmastime last year, the average price of an HDTV was $1,600, but people were able to get them for as little as $500. As prices continue to drop and people replace old TVs with newer ones, the number of homes with at least one HDTV set is expected to jump to 65 million by 2010.

In addition, a significant percentage of HDTV households have more than one set. Leichtman said 11 percent of people surveyed at the end of 2005 said they had more than one, and 18 percent said they were planning to buy another within the year.

For phone companies and cable operators, these are signs that subscribers will want to view more than one HDTV channel at once, which could put a strain on some networks.

"People with HDTVs will buy more than one over time," Leichtman said. "So if you are offering an HDTV service at all, you've got to be able to serve multiple TVs."

Poised to provide

Right now, in terms of network architecture, Verizon Communications is best equipped to deliver multiple HDTV streams. The phone company is building a network that extends fiber directly into homes, giving people almost limitless bandwidth capacity. Adding more HDTV streams over this infrastructure shouldn't be an issue.

But Verizon's fiber network is expensive to build and will end up costing the company as much as $20 billion, some analysts have estimated. In addition, it won't be able to reach every home within its range anytime soon. It has said it plans to reach 60 percent, or 18 million customers, within the next five years. Last year, it installed fiber in 3 million homes and expects to reach another 3 million by the end of 2006.

AT&T, which plans to officially begin offering commercial TV service this summer, has taken a different approach to building its network. It has put fiber further into neighborhoods and is using a technology called Very High Speed Digital Subscriber Line, or VDSL, to deliver up to 25Mbps of bandwidth into homes over its existing copper lines.

But when doing the math, it's easy to see that AT&T's initial service plans will have it bumping up against its bandwidth ceiling. The carrier has said it will provide one HDTV channel, which eats up about 8Mbps each stream, using MPEG-4 compression technology. But on top of this, it is promising up to three standard-definition channels (roughly 2Mbps to 3Mbps of bandwidth per stream) plus at least 6Mbps of high-speed Internet access, for every home. If a household is consuming all these services at full capacity, it is using up 23Mbps.

AT&T executives say they are confident that the carrier will have enough bandwidth to serve plenty of HDTV content in the 15 to 20 U.S. markets it plans to reach with TV service this year. They also argue that most people won't use all kinds of services at the same time, and that when more bandwidth is needed, the company will upgrade its network to newer DSL technology. Still, the company is not offering HDTV in its controlled release of the service in San Antonio.

"I can deliver HDTV today, no problem," said Christopher Rice, executive vice president at AT&T. "Even if you assume that people will go to 3 HDTVs, we can double capacity to 45Mbps and 50Mbps by using VDSL2+ bonding technology."

AT&T won't be the only company that needs to upgrade its network to keep pace with HDTV demand. Cable operators will also have to do some building. These companies broadcast TV signals across their networks to all subscribers, and when people click on a channel, it tunes that particular stream of video. With higher-capacity HDTV streams traveling over this network alongside analog streams, cable networks are nearly tapped out.

But Cox's Esser said cable companies have several options for tapping deeper into their existing infrastructure to increase the volume.

Esser said that his company, which offers nine HDTV channels today, is upgrading and re-spacing electronics on its network to increase bandwidth. Cox and other cable operators are also trying to encourage customers to switch to digital cable from analog TV, which eats significantly more capacity, he said.

And finally, cable companies are also looking into a technology called "switched digital," which mimics Internet Protocol. Instead of broadcasting every TV signal throughout the entire network, "switched digital" allows only the channels currently being watched to be sent to customers' homes along the coaxial cable.

"We've known for a long time that we are going to need more capacity on the network," he said. "And we've already been planning for it for a long time."

http://news.com.com/2102-1033_3-6083040.html?tag=st.util.print

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

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
ABC's 'How to Get the Guy' pops out

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 13, 2006, 11:04

“How to Get the Guy” drew derision from critics for its clunky concept of helping four unlucky single gals finally get lucky at love. It got the same chilly reception from viewers.

ABC’s new reality show averaged a 1.8 overnight rating among adults 18-49 last night, the lowest yet for a new summer series on the Big Four networks.

In fact, “Guy” barely finished ahead of NBC’s low-rated Stanley Cup finals in its 10 p.m. timeslot. The NHL earned a 1.7 that hour.

It was the lowest-rated hour of the night for ABC, and well below recent debuts for NBC’s “Windfall” at a 3.3, NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” at a 3.7 and even CBS’s “Gameshow Marathon,” at a 2.3.

“Guy” focuses on four San Francisco women looking for love. They get coaching from two ABC hosts over the six-episode run.

In other season premieres last night, the two-hour second season debut of “Hell’s Kitchen” averaged a respectable 3.2, even with last summer’s premiere but down from a 3.7 for its first-season finale.

That boosted Fox to No. 1 for the night among 18-49s at 3.2/9, followed by CBS at 2.9/8, ABC at 2.2/6, Univision at 1.7/4, NBC at 1.5/4, UPN at 0.9/3, and the WB at 0.6/2.

Fox led at 8 p.m. with “Kitchen’s” 2.7, followed by ABC’s “Wife Swap” at 2.3 and CBS’s sitcom reruns at 2.1.

At 9 p.m., “Kitchen” jumped to a 3.6, followed by CBS’s 2.7 for more sitcom reruns at ABC’s 2.5 for a “Supernanny” rerun.

At 10 p.m., CBS’s “CSI: Miami” rerun led at 3.9, followed by “Guy’s” 1.8 and hockey’s 1.7.

Among households, CBS finished first with a 6.6/11, followed by Fox at 4.3/7, ABC at 4.1/7, NBC at 2.5/4, Univision at 2.1/3, and the WB and UPN tied at 1.4/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5345.asp

"People today aren't choosing their TV service provider because of their HDTV offering," said Bruce Leichtman, principal analyst at Leichtman Research Group."



I guess this guy hasn't visited the AVS HDTV Programming forum.

TV Review
'Get the Guy' a way to lose the audience

0 * (out of four)


http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/425762p-359179c.html

That's my score as well. A big fat 0.

I guess this guy hasn't visited the AVS HDTV Programming forum.

AVS folks aren't the people the analyst was referring to. AVS folks tend to be more intune to HDTV/Technology stuff so some of us, not all of AVS folks would chose a provider based on HD offerings. I happen to be one of those folks who wouldn't chose a provider based on hd offerings b/c 99.5859% of the hd I watch is free from the nets via and OTA.

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

Cable Ratings
THE 4400 Ratings Rise

(USA Network Press Release)

The season three premiere of THE 4400 on Sunday was the top scripted series telecast of the week in basic cable prime among households (3.3 rating), P18-49 (2.4 million), P25-54 (2.4 million) and total viewers (4.2 million).

THE 4400 delivered more P18-49 and P25-54 viewers than CBS (Tony Awards) in the 9p hour, and topped CBS again among P18-49 in the 10p hour.

As compared to the full season 2 average, the season 3 premiere of THE 4400 was up +9% among households, up +15% among P18-49, up +10% among P25-54 and up +7% among total viewers.

Versus its prior four week time period average, the return of THE 4400 delivered +74% higher among households, +115% higher among P18-49, +110% higher among P25-54 and +88% higher among total viewers.

(From Marc Berman’s Tuesday, June 13, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
TNT’s The Closer Breaks the Record Books

The second season premiere of TNT drama The Closer roared out of the gate last night with a series-high 6.4 overnight rating at 9 p.m. Comparatively, that was up by 21 percent from last year’s series debut (5.3).

New drama Saved, which debuted at 10 p.m., opened with a solid 4.2 in the overnights.

Cable Ratings
Deadwood Sinks, Entourage Rises on HBO

By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable 6/13/2006

HBO’s Sunday night third-season premieres of Deadwood and Entourage provided a mixed ratings bag for the network.

Deadwood drew 2.4 million total viewers at 9 p.m., down from the 2.8 million viewers its second-season premiere attracted. But the premiere was on target with its season-two Sunday-night average, 2.4 million viewers.

Entourage drew 2.7 million viewers, up from both the 1.6 million viewers who watched its second-season premiere and the 1.9 million viewers it averaged for season two.

HBO also premiered two new series on Sunday night – Lucky Louie drew 1.5 million total viewers at 10:30 p.m. and Dane Cook’s Tourgasm averaged 1.1 million at 11 p.m.

Sports On TV
NBC Signs Johnny Miller to Long Term Extension

USA Today: "He's the best color analyst in golf, if not all sports TV."
(NBC Press Release) Published: June 13, 2006

NEW YORK -- June 13, 2006 -- Johnny Miller, who USA Today called "the best color analyst in golf, if not all sports TV," has signed a long-term extension as NBC Sports' lead golf analyst. In a fan survey in Sports Illustrated, Miller was named Favorite Golf Analyst. Readers of Golf Digest perennially name Miller Best Analyst on Television. The announcement was made today by Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics.

"My goal in announcing is to speak just like I'm in the living room with you and we're having pizza and I'm just letting go," said Miller. "Whatever I think comes out. I'm going to do the best job with the most honesty inside me to say, 'here's what I just think just happened.' The announcing is a little bit like teaching. I address a player's mistakes and sort of give a lesson on TV. When I played, I didn't play down the middle and I don't announce down the middle. That would be boring."

Ebersol said: "Johnny understands better than almost anyone else in sports television that he is there to serve not the players he covers but the viewers, first and foremost. His comments are strong and honest. Johnny doesn't second guess, he first guesses, and more often than not, he's right on the money. As NBC more than doubles its golf coverage beginning next year, we are thrilled that Johnny will remain a part of the NBC family for the foreseeable future."

Miller, a 24-time winner on the PGA Tour, was named lead analyst on NBC Sports' golf coverage team in 1990 and quickly made his mark as golf's most forthright voice. As NBC's 18th-hole tower analyst, working alongside host Dan Hicks, Miller provides an appealing mix of spontaneity and humor to go along with his honesty and reverence for the game. According to Golf Digest, Miller "is right an annoyingly high percentage of the time."

His candor and insight have helped him earn both critical kudos and viewer appreciation. Golf World magazine says, "Miller claims the top spot (in a rundown of golf's top commentators) by virtue of his impact on a telecast. Controversial, profound, slightly witty, ultra-candid. He probably had the best playing career of the announcers and now he's the best at this profession."

"Johnny has an uncanny ability to predict what's going to happen," said NBC's longtime golf producer Tommy Roy. "He always goes out early in the morning and talks to players and caddies. He goes out on the course to examine the greens. He is so prepared when he goes on the air."

Miller burst upon the PGA Tour in 1973, when he carded a masterful final-round 63, "The miracle at Oakmont," to surge from six strokes back to beat Arnold Palmer, among others, and capture the U.S. Open Championship. That 63 stands as a final round record for a major championship. The U.S. Open victory gave Miller an enviable USGA double, as he had won the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1964.

Miller went on to dominate the mid-1970s with 14 tournament victories between 1974-76 and was the PGA Tour's leading money-winner and Player of the Year in 1974. That year, Miller won eight PGA Tour events, the most since Arnold Palmer notched eight wins in 1960 and an achievement that went unmatched until Tiger Woods recorded nine official PGA Tour wins in 2000.

Miller collected his second major championship title at the British Open in 1976. Miller was a member of the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup teams in 1975 and 1981 and the U.S. World Cup teams in 1973 and 1975.

In October 1996, Miller was selected to the PGA Tour Hall of Fame, part of the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla., and was inducted in May 1998. In 1997, the National Golf Foundation honored the Miller family with that year's Jack Nicklaus Golf Family of the Year Award.

Miller and his wife, Linda, have six grown children and 15 grandchildren.

In addition to being devoted to his family, Miller's other passions are fishing and golf instruction. He formed the Johnny Miller Junior Golf Association, which opens the door for hundreds of young people, who normally would not have the opportunity or the finances, to learn the game of golf.

Cable Ratings
USA Ends TNT Ratings Streak

Anthony Crupi MediaWeek.com JUNE 13, 2006 -

USA Network seized the cable ratings scepter from rival TNT, averaging 2.85 million total viewers and a 2.4 household rating in prime time for the week ending June 11, according to Nielsen Media Research data.

The network snapped TNT’s five-week winning streak, thanks to big numbers for its WWE franchise and the debut of season three of its sci-fi hit The 4400. TNT didn’t have a single program in the top 20 basic cable lineup last week, as the NBA playoff wrapped up and the league bounced off cable and onto broadcaster ABC. That said, the Turner net still finished in second place, with an average prime-time viewership of 2.16 million and a 1.9 HH rating.

After having taken second the previous week, the loss of roundball dropped ESPN out of the top 10 altogether, as the sports giant averaged just 908,000 total viewers in prime.

TBS took third on the week, with 1.89 million viewers in prime and a 1.6 HH rating, while Nick-at-Nite came in fourth (1.62 million/1.6) and Cartoon Network finished fifth (1.50 million/1.4).

Non-ad-supported Disney Channel was the nominal second-place finisher in prime, averaging 2.57 million total viewers and a 2.2 household rating.

USA boasted the top four highest-rated programs in basic cable, as its presentation of WWE Raw Monday filled the one and two spots with 5.36 million viewers at 10:00 p.m. and 4.53 million at 9:00 p.m. The two-hour season premiere of The 4400 drew 4.20 million viewers Sunday night, and Wednesday’s showdown between the WWE and the ECW lured 4.17 million viewers.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002652456

(From Marc Berman’s Tuesday, June 13, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
TNT’s The Closer Breaks the Record Books

The second season premiere of TNT drama The Closer roared out of the gate last night with a series-high 6.4 overnight rating at 9 p.m. Comparatively, that was up by 21 percent from last year’s series debut (5.3).

New drama Saved, which debuted at 10 p.m., opened with a solid 4.2 in the overnights.
Watching this last night reminded me how much I had missed it, great show, with some great writing and acting, G.W. Bailey is just too fun to watch, plus some hilarious dialog,

Capt. Leahy: Ma'am. I want to note you've used your investigation to smear Tim Martin's reputation, and in this department, that's just not the way we play ball.
Brenda: Well, captain, if you don't like the way I'm doing things, you're free to take your balls and go straight home.

Flynn: So, he's not in his room. (Provenza keeps playing) And I think we've pretty well determined he's not over here. And where'd you get that shirt anyway? The '80s?
Provenza: Your ex-wife loved it. Said it was easier to unbutton than anything you ever wore.

:D

Looks like 15 eps this season... :)

Cable Ratings
'Entourage' scores big in season debut

By Andrew Wallenstein The Hollywood Reporter June 14, 2006

Even against the NBA Finals, the boys of "Entourage" got game.

The HBO comedy series opened its third season with its biggest audience ever on Sunday at 10 p.m., reaching 2.7 million despite male-skewing competition on ABC from Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

That's a big improvement over "Entourage's" second season premiere last year, which opened to just 1.6 million. The second season average was 1.9 million.

Not as lucky at 10:30 p.m. was new comedy "Lucky Louie," which dropped nearly half of the "Entourage" lead-in, grabbing 1.5 million.

At 11 p.m., another new series, "Dane Cook's Tourgasm," held onto 1.1 million.

But HBO got better news from the third season premiere of "Deadwood" at 9 p.m., which returned with 2.4 million. That's down from last season's premiere haul of 2.8 million, but on par with the show's second-season average.

Elsewhere in cable, Discovery Channel netted 2.3 million at 9 p.m. with its two-horu special: "Krakatoa: Volcano of Destruction."

Animal Planet perked up at 8 p.m. with the "Meerkat Manor," which drew more households than any series premiere in its history.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002652525

Watching this last night reminded me how much I had missed it, great show, with some great writing and acting, G.W. Bailey is just too fun to watch, plus some hilarious dialog,

:D

Looks like 15 eps this season... :)

I agree, Jim, It is a delicious show and the dialogue is wonderful.

It won't happen, but G.W. Bailey certainly deserves an Emmy nomination at the very least -- but then so do many in the cast.

And I enjoy the fact that this year everyone in her department admires her and defends her (and her foibles) from"outsiders" in and out of the LAPD. For me it makes for a better feeling.

It s more fun to be rooting for Bailey and the others than to be awaiting what treachery they are planning for Brenda.

TV Review
Their lives are an open book

By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily NewsTue, Jun. 13, 2006

TUESDAY NIGHT BOOK CLUB 10 ET/PT Tuesday CBS Channel 3.

“First rule of book club: You don't talk about book club," jokes one husband tonight during the premiere of CBS' "Tuesday Night Book Club."

Judging from the first hour of the series - which purports to cover a week in the lives of seven women in Scottsdale, Ariz. - the first rule of book club is: You don't talk about books.

Philadelphia author Jennifer Weiner's "Good in Bed" receives a scant 15 seconds of onscreen consideration before book club host Tina uses the title to launch the discussion that the cameras, at least, were there for - what's up with the members' sex lives.

Given the success Oprah Winfrey's had introducing millions of TV viewers to books she loves, a summer series about a book club wouldn't seem to be a bad idea.

Maybe someone will make one someday.

For now, though, we have "Tuesday Night Book Club," which takes the voyeurism of CBS' "Big Brother" and adds a "Desperate Housewives" gloss.

Thanks to producers who've helpfully included labels for all their "characters" - some of whom were apparently recruited for an existing book group to fulfill certain casting requirements - "Book Club's" a lot easier to decipher than your average Russian novel.

By CBS' own description, we have: Cris ("The Loyal Wife"), Sara ("The Party Girl"), Jenn ("The Trophy Wife"), Jamie ("The Conflicted Wife"), Kirin ("The Doctor's Wife"), Lynn ("The Newlywed") and Tina ("The Divorced Mom").

It's left up to viewers to learn which one's the swinger, who's about to leave her husband, who's not getting any and who may be getting it elsewhere.

Lynn the Newlywed turns out to be Lynn Carahaly, 28, a native of Exton, Chester County, who cheerfully confessed last week during a conference call with reporters that she doesn't always get through all the assigned reading, though she listens to a lot of audiobooks and belongs to a second, "more cultural" book club.

"This particular one [the Tuesday night club], the books are more about relationships," she said.

Carahaly's own occasionally explosive relationship with her husband, Eddie, gets plenty of airtime in the first episode, which she expected to see for the first time tonight, possibly with the other members of the club, who'll be taking a night off from the book discussions.

"I think all of us are a little bit anxious to see the show, so I think our Tuesdays will get moved to a different day," she said.

Eddie, she said, has only seen CBS promos and some online clips, "but from what we have seen, he's a little bit nervous."

So, too, are her parents, Linda and Ernie Carahaly, who still live in Exton but who'll appear in upcoming episodes filmed during the three weeks they spent last spring visiting their daughter and son-in-law in Arizona.

At the time, "they thought it was kind of neat," Carahaly said, noting that she'd warned her parents about the cameras before they came.

"Now they're kind of nervous. They're worried they might have to wear a bag over their heads all summer," she said.

Carahaly, a speech-language pathologist, seemed upbeat about the prospect of having millions see what earlier generations might have considered her dirty linen aired in public.

"There's nothing that I ever regret saying. I may feel bad about it, but I don't regret it," she said.

"I thought it would be a good opportunity to share that crappy first year with those other newlyweds who think they're the only ones going through that," she said.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//14805234.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

TV Review
Book babes: But are they literate?

By Diane Werts Newsday Staff Writer June 13, 2006

If only all of life were as helpfully labeled as the characters of CBS' new real-life soap "Tuesday Night Book Club." On-screen graphics instantly explicate who's who - The Trophy Wife, The Doctor's Wife, The Divorced Mom, The Newlywed, The Loyal Wife, The Conflicted Wife, The Party Girl.

Oh, the book? Jennifer Weiner's "Good in Bed." Gets mentioned once. Doesn't seem like this Scottsdale, Ariz., "book club" has actually read it.

Why bother? They've got enough plot complications of their own. The newlyweds are sniping. The trophy wife goes swinging. The loyal one takes back her addicted husband, while the conflicted chick hits the bars with the party babe. They all trot gorgeously 'round their ritzy Arizona digs in leggy high heels, wearing too much makeup, driving fancy cars, sipping wine from long-stemmed crystal, bemoaning their lots in life.

Hard as it may be to sympathize with those in such a relative lap of luxury, it's also tough to turn off their lurid goings-on. Everything that's annoying about "Tuesday Night Book Club" (Tuesday night, 10 PM ET/PT, CBS) is also what's tempting about it, from the sleek people to the ultra-slick production with nary a hair out of place, either. There's luxuriant lighting. Cinematic angles. Artsy camera panning, fading past one couple's house to another to another in dovetail rhythm. Meanwhile, the music cues put "Desperate Housewives" to shame (gee, what made us think of that show?), with their playful comic-relief motifs and get-the-point song samples (Amy Rigby's "Are We Ever Gonna Have Sex Again"?).

A dog even swallows an engagement ring. I mean, please. Could this be any more entertaining?

Well, yeah. It could have some heart. And tonight's premiere of "Book Club" actually does. Producers Jay Blumenfield and Tony Marsh - whose credits include UPN's "Road to Stardom With Missy Elliott," Dane Cook's HBO "Tourgasm," OLN's Ted Nugent outdoor adventure "Wanted: Ted or Alive" and Showtime's porn-centric "Family Business" - sprinkle dollops of sensitivity into their breezily edited confection.

Yes, The Doctor's Wife costumes herself in cycle-mama leather to get her man's attention (hubba!). But we get to see the desperation that motivates it, too. We sit in on group therapy with The Loyal Wife, where she tearfully tells all to the more average faces of less-glam women. We're relieved to see them. And, we must confess, relieved to then revert to the eye candy feast the core cast provides. The better to dish with.

"Tuesday Night Book Club" begs to be watched with this kind of mixed mind - alternately trashing the show for its superficial sheen and souped-up situations, then conceding the producers may have a point about the "universal struggles" represented by their apparently sincere if glitzy cast. "The heart of any book club," Marsh said in a conference call last week, "is the cameraderie amongst the women. It's much like guys who have poker night or play hoops or whatever they do.They get together to bond. And we use that as a jumping off point for tracking a group of women going through universal struggles."

Lynn Carahaly, the newlywed, said, "My first year of marriage has been tough. You think, 'This is my honeymoon year, and no one else goes through this.' I wanted to share my story" with others feeling that way. As the series progresses, Blumenfield says, "you really get a full look at real people that are much like people across the country. You don't necessarily judge a book by its cover."

Or a show by its über-grooming. CBS did, however, provide only the first episode for review. And many a reality series exhibiting a brain in its premiere has descended to idiocy soon after. Tonight's hour introduces the series with one of those look-how-juicy montages of babes riding horses, wriggling in bikinis and gliding around poles. The episode-ending sneak peek teases towel-dropping, wife swapping and a food fight.

How tacky. How tantalizing.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ettel4778507jun13,0,5283425,print.story?coll=ny-television-headlines

TV Notebook
Bob Woodruff Returns to the WNT Newsroom

(abcnews.com) June 13, 2006

“World News Tonight” Executive Producer Jon Banner blogs about Bob Woodruff's first visit to the newsroom since he was injured in January.

President Bush's visit to Iraq wasn't the only surprise around here today. Bob stopped by the newsroom this afternoon, his first time back in nearly four and a half months. It's the first time many here had seen him, and he was greeted by a spontaneous round of applause. You could literally see the emotion in each hug. There was barely a dry eye.

This being a newsroom, word quickly spread that he was in the building and within a matter of minutes, a crowd of nearly 100 gathered to see him -– producers, correspondents, camera operators, editors, executives.

We all crowded around Bob and his wife Lee, who has been so strong for all of us since that day in January. It was Bob who did most the talking. He cracked a few jokes and there were a lot of laughs. He talked about his rehabilitation, his desire to get back to work, and how wonderful it is to be able spend more time with his four children.

Charlie will have more about Bob’s visit on this evening’s broadcast.

Suffice to say, there are a lot of happy faces around the newsroom today.

http://abcnews.blogs.com/theworldnewser/

TNT's Closer Nabs Big Numbers

By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable6/13/2006

With 8.28 million total viewers, TNT's season-two premiere of The Closer drew the biggest audience ever for an ad-supported cable scripted series telecast on Monday night, according to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research.

The previous record was held by the series' first-season premiere last year.

The Closer, which ran at 9 p.m., outdelivered all programs in its time slot on ABC, NBC, Fox, UPN and The WB and helped bring a big audience to TNT's second summer original drama, Saved.

The new paramedic series, which ran at 10 p.m., drew 5.1 million total viewers, making it ad-supported cable's top debut of a new scripted original series this year.

Both shows ran ad-free, with Audi sponsoring The Closer and Dodge and Quiznos sponsoring Saved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: Some Monday Network numbers for comparison: (in millions of viewers)
CSI: Miami CBS 13.41
Two And A Half Men 9.89
Old Christine 8.38
The Closer TNT 8.28
Hell’s Kitchen 6.68
Wife Swap 6.27
How To Get The Guy 4.28
Stanley Cup Finals 3.85

The Business of TV
As DVD Sales Slow, Hollywood Hunts for a New Cash Cow

By Ken Belson The New York Times June 13, 2006

LOS ANGELES — After more than half a decade as Hollywood's savior, the DVD is looking a little tired — and the movie studios, for once, are having trouble coming up with a sequel.

DVD sales represent more than half of the revenue studios generate from most of their movies. But those sales are expected to grow just 2 percent this year, a far cry from the double-digit growth the industry enjoyed just two years ago. High-definition DVD's were supposed to pick up the slack, but technical delays and a thorny format war between camps led by Sony and Toshiba have dampened expectations.

Studios are starting to beam digital movie files to consumers over the airwaves and send them through the Internet, but sales so far are minuscule. Rentals and video-on-demand, though growing, generate far smaller profits for the studios than store-bought DVD's.

This explains why executives who gathered here earlier this month for an industry conference expect, for better or worse, that the plain old DVD will remain their bread and butter for several more years. Meanwhile, they are trying everything they can in their quest for a new cash cow.

"The technology seems to change every Monday," said Bob Chapek, the president of Buena Vista Home Entertainment, a division of Disney, speaking on a panel of studio chiefs. "On the one hand, we're playing in the old-fashioned packaged goods business, and at the same time, we have to deal with new technologies."

For the studios, the clock is ticking: sales of standard discs are expected to fall by about 20 percent by 2010, according to Adams Media Research, an industry consultant based in Carmel, Calif.

With most movies and many television shows now on DVD, studios are running out of new material to throw at consumers, analysts say. Some studios have been repackaging older hits into anniversary box sets and other promotions, but consumers may be tiring of that tactic, as studio chiefs sheepishly acknowledge.

"We were shameless," said Steve Beeks, the president of Lions Gate Entertainment, which has issued several new versions of the Terminator movies. "We would release special editions as long as people would buy them."

Movie studios have also been issuing DVD's closer to movie release dates. This has led to larger spikes in sales right after DVD's come out, but steeper declines later and more turnover on store shelves. For movies that gross more than $100 million at the box office, 84 percent of DVD sales are in the first six weeks after their release, up from 81 percent in 2003, according to David Hoffman, an analyst for Nielsen VideoScan.

Some of the slowdown, though, is beyond the studios' control. A growing number of Americans with digital cable plans, for instance, are now watching movies on demand and buying or renting fewer DVD's.

Comcast, the country's largest cable company, lets its subscribers view 7,500 free movies and programs, and since 2004, they have watched them two billion times.

While this has made it easier for Americans to avoid driving to the mall to buy DVD's, they are still renting them. Netflix, a mail-order service that stocks about 60,000 DVD's of movies, TV shows and other fare, has about five million customers.

Reed Hastings, the chief executive of Netflix, expects to have 20 million customers by 2012. He says his business is helped by the exclusive licensing deals that restrict the selection of movies available via Internet downloading and video-on-demand.

"DVD's will dominate for another decade," Mr. Hastings said.

Studios make money when Netflix and other companies rent out their movies. (Depending on the studio and movie, Netflix either buys the DVD's or licenses the use of them.) But the amount that studios make on rentals pales compared to how much they make when consumers buy discs. Studios earn $17.26 for each DVD they sell, but only $2.37 for movies on demand and $2.25 per DVD rented, according to Tom Adams, the president of Adams Media Research.

"It's a business model that can't be matched," he said.

That differential in profits means that the standard DVD will be around for a while, whatever the promise of those new technologies. Though sales are no longer growing at double-digit rates, consumers in the United States still buy about $16 billion worth of DVD's a year.

Part of the DVD's success is that the discs are easy to buy, easy to use and relatively inexpensive, thanks to the well-oiled system of getting them into consumers' hands. Take Technicolor's sprawling facilities in Camarillo, Calif., about 50 miles north of Los Angeles. Technicolor, a unit of Thomson that is one of the world's leading disc makers, ships about 150 million DVD's a year from its operations — about 9 percent of its global production — to stores throughout the western United States.

In one wing, robotic machines spit out new discs about every three seconds. The discs are wheeled into adjoining buildings, where they are fed into plastic cases that are wrapped for shipping. At another warehouse, the DVD's are packed into ready-made cardboard displays, plunked onto pallets and shipped on behalf of the studios to Best Buy, Costco and other retailers, arriving within days of being ordered.

Retailers love DVD's because they spur other sales, too. Customers who buy DVD's at Wal-Mart, which sells $4.7 billion worth of discs a year, spend twice as much on each store visit on average because they also buy popcorn, beer and other items to go with their movies, according to Mr. Hoffman of Nielsen VideoScan.

The money that DVD's spin off is a big reason the studios are pushing new high-definition DVD's, which are sold and used just like standard-definition discs.

Unfortunately, there's a hitch. The studios, electronics makers and technology companies that developed them came up with two formats: Blu-ray, backed by Sony, Dell, Disney and others; and HD-DVD, which is supported by Toshiba, Microsoft and Universal, among others.

The split could keep consumers on the sidelines, because they risk getting saddled with obsolete players and discs if one side ultimately backs down. Cost is another factor. Toshiba has introduced a $500 player that, at least for now, can only play movies from three major studios. Later this month, Samsung will release the first Blu-ray machine, which will be able to play more movies, but it is expected to cost about $1,000.

Technical hurdles were behind Pioneer's decision last week to delay the release of its Blu-ray player — which will cost about $1,500 — until September. Studios have released only a handful of movies thus far because so few players have been sold. Another complication is that consumers with older high-definition television sets may not get the best possible picture if studios activate certain copy protection software embedded on their DVD's.

"Both formats coming to market are early," said Craig Kornblau, the president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. "This is all a 1.0 release," referring to an early version of a product.

Proponents in both camps hope that video game players will popularize their formats. The PlayStation 3, due out in November, will play Blu-ray DVD's, and Microsoft is creating an accessory for its Xbox 360 console that will play HD-DVD discs. The studios also expect the boom in sales of high-definition television sets to heighten interest in high-definition DVD's, including older movies re-released in the new format.

"As people invest in LCD and flat-panel TV's, they are naturally going to want to invest in high-definition movies," said Benjamin S. Feingold, the president of worldwide home entertainment, digital distribution and acquisitions at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Even so, the companies backing both high-definition formats are likely to see only modest sales initially. Consumers will buy just $175 million worth of HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs this year; by 2010, high-definition DVD sales will still be only half those of standard-definition disc sales, according to Adams Media Research.

"While the go-go days are gone, it's going to take a lot for another category to supplant" DVD sales, said Mr. Hoffman of Nielsen. "The end is not here yet."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/technology/13disc.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

The Business of TV
Upfront advance

Fox leads in upfront sales; ABC lagging
By Michael Learmonth Variety.com Tue., Jun. 13, 2006

Fox, NBC and CBS have completed close to half of their advance sales of airtime for the coming TV season, while ABC is still sitting on the sidelines.

News Corp. president and chief operating officer Peter Chernin told investors at the Deutsche Bank Media Conference in Santa Monica that Fox had sold 70% of its inventory offered for upfront ad commitments this year.

He predicted Fox would exceed the $1.6 billion in upfront dollars the network booked last year, with CPM, or cost per thousand, rate increases of 2%-3%.

He said he believes CBS and NBC are in "similar positions" in terms of the amount of inventory sold.

CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves did not dispute Chernin's assessment. "We are very pleased with the progress we're making," he said at the confab. "I would basically concur with what Peter said."

Moonves indicated that the Eye had not yet reached the 70% benchmark.

Other sources said NBC is closer to 40% sold.

Fox sells 15 hours of network programming a week, while CBS, NBC and ABC sell 22 hours.

In a presentation to analysts, Chernin offered a robust assessment of Fox's upfront, driven by hits including "House" and "American Idol."

Rather than push for larger increases, Chernin said Fox's strategy going into the upfront has been to "go for volume."

But he said booking quick sales won't take a toll on rate increases, which he expects to be higher than any net except the Alphabet net.

"There is no question in my mind that we will have greater CPM increases than anyone but ABC, despite what anyone tells you," Chernin said.

NBC still has the highest ad rates, a remnant of its one-time dominance in the 18-49 demographic. Chernin said NBC still garners ad rates of about $30 per thousand viewers, as does Fox.

CBS, he said, has rates 10% lower than Fox, with ABC's about 10% lower than CBS.

"My guess is you will see the largest CPM increases on ABC because they had a good year and are on a much lower CPM basis than everyone else," Chernin added.

ABC had initially held out to try to force the advertising community to add into the ratings viewers who watch recorded shows on DVRs.

Now it's holding out for higher ad rates for hits such as "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy."

Walt Disney Co. chief financial officer Tom Staggs said ABC's upfront sales had been "slow to develop" compared with last year, when the Alphabet sold most of its inventory in a 48-hour period.

The Business of TV
Chernin: Fox Has Sold 70% of Upfront Prime-Time Inventory

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com JUNE 13, 2006 -

News Corp. president and COO Peter Chernin told an audience of financial analysts at the annual Deutsche Bank Media and Telecommunications conference in Santa Monica, Calif., Tuesday (June 13) that the company's broadcast network, Fox, has sold 70 percent of its upfront prime time inventory at 2-3 percent cost-per-thousand price increases.

Chernin did not discuss specifics and Fox sales president Jon Nesvig would not comment. One network insider said, however, that the network was "a lot further along [with its upfront sales] than most people seem to think." If Fox has sold that percentage of its prime-time inventory, it would have just north of $1 billion on its books.

Some media buyers skoffed at the Fox numbers, saying they would only believe it once the network publicly announced which agencies it had completed business with.

The agencies and the broadcast networks have been locked in a battle over price, with most agencies united in stating that they will not do business with the networks unless prices are rolled back compared with last year's upfront.

CBS insiders have also said that the network is also further along than has been reported, although no one would officially comment on sellout levels.

Calls to media agencies could not confirm which had completed upfront business with Fox, while OMD and Group M were said to have completed business with CBS, although even those agencies would not comment. One network executive also said Magna Global USA may have completed some business with CBS, but that also could not be confirmed.

While Fox publicly proclaimed it had done business at price increases over last year's upfront, CBS was mum on pricing. Some agency executives said, however, that CBS was selling at flat to negative 2 percent. Others, who had not yet done business with CBS, thought it was unlikely that CBS chief Les Moonves would condone selling inventory this early in the process at negative CPMs considering CBS is considered the most stable network and won the season in total viewers by a wide margin.

NBC was also doing deals, but at price decreases over last year of between 5-7 percent, media buyers said. The new CW network was also in business at prices that were said to be slightly below what the soon to be defunct WB network did in the last upfront.

And as of late Tuesday, ABC still had not written any upfront prime time business, buyers said.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002652741

Washington Notebook
In Senate, Net Neutrality Could Stall Telecoms Bill

By Todd Shields MediaWeek.com JUNE 13, 2006 -

U.S. senators at the final scheduled hearing Tuesday on a broad telecommunications bill appeared to remain at odds over so-called Net neutrality, a rift that could imperil passage of the measure.

The broader bill aims to sweep aside local regulations that make it harder for the former Bell telephone companies to begin offering video programming over high-speed lines, in competition with cable.

The 151-page bill also contains a host of other measures, including those that would reinstate the broadcast flag that aims to thwart Internet retransmission of broadcast TV; end cable monopolies of regional sports programming; and allow cable operators to down-convert digital broadcast programs.

The House last week passed its own, less complex, version of the legislation.

House lawmakers rejected Net neutrality requirements, and the Senate bill contains the same neutrality language as the House measure. But in the Senate, where a determined minority can slow or halt a bill, some lawmakers are insisting on stronger language.

At issue is whether to forbid network operators from providing preferential treatment for some content -- for instance, for Web sites that pay a fee.

Such behavior could close off the Internet to small innovators, said some lawmakers at Tuesday’s Commerce Committee hearing. “I want to make sure the Internet .. from now on is an Internet with open architecture, open to all,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND).

Others said Net neutrality requirements would amount to an unwarranted governmental intrusion. “What this is, is the government telling retailers how to run their business,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).

Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) wondered aloud whether rifts over Net neutrality might stall the bill. “That’s a very real possibility,” Smith said.

Net neutrality proponents later said they will persist in trying to insert their language into the measure, which so far does little more than direct federal regulators to keep tabs on the issue.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002652572

Last week’s top 20 prime-time program ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS -- the first post in this thread.

The TV Column
The Week’s Winners and Losers

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer June 14, 2006

The NBA and the NHL couldn't hold a candle to Howie Mandel and his briefcase-bearing babes last week.

Here's a look at the week's power plays and penalties:

WINNERS

"The Closer." More than 8 million viewers caught this Monday's second-season debut of TNT's crime drama -- the biggest audience ever for an ad-supported, scripted-series cablecast. The Kyra Sedgwick starrer pounded every broadcast program in its hour, except CBS's "Two and a Half Men."

"Windfall." The debut of NBC's winning-the-lottery-is-hell drama series snagged the largest audience for a summer drama in nearly six years, with just over 9 million tuning in. Now how many of the summer drama launches that "Windfall" beat do you even remember: "The Inside," "Empire," "The Days," "North Shore," "The Jury," "The OC," "Keen Eddie" (sob), "Widows," "She Spies" and "The Beast."

"Deal or No Deal." NBC's network-saving babes-with-briefcases reality series bid adieu to its first season with a record 18.2 million viewers. It was the week's most-watched program.

NBA Finals . Last week's Games 1 and 2, in which the Dallas Mavericks pulled ahead of the Miami Heat, averaged 12 million viewers -- 13 percent better than last year's Spurs-Pistons skirmish.

Tony Awards . Sure, 7.7 million viewers doesn't sound like a lot, but it's the Broadway trophy show's biggest haul since 2003.

"Entourage ." Sunday's season-opener averaged 2.7 million viewers -- up nearly 70 percent over last year's series premiere. But its lead-in, "Deadwood," averaged 2.4 million viewers -- down about 14 percent from its previous season debut in March. Later that night, the unveiling of HBO's first old-fashioned-only-raunchier sitcom, "Lucky Louie," logged 1.5 million viewers, fumbling more than 40 percent of its "Entourage" lead-in. And after that, "Dane Cook's Tourgasm" fell even further, to 1 million viewers.

Alma Awards . With an average of 4.2 million viewers, ABC's broadcast of this show honoring Latino artistic achievement scored twice as many viewers as the last time it aired, in 2002, also on ABC, on a Saturday night.

"Meerkat Manor." The debut of Animal Planet's 13-part series, in which cameras record a meerkat family as it struggles to survive in Africa's Kalahari Desert (" 'Hamlet' only hairier," according to network promos), averaged more than 1 million viewers from 8 to 9 p.m. Friday -- the network's biggest series debut in three years.

LOSERS

"Lovespring International." Lifetime's new improv comedy show averaged 996,000 viewers Monday at 11 p.m. The previous four-week average in the time slot with "Will & Grace" reruns: 1.2 million.

MTV Movie Awards. Yawn! -- collective opinion of more than 30 percent of last year's audience for the trying-way-too-hard trophy show, who gave it a pass this year. Among younger viewers it copped its smallest audience since 1997. Overall its haul was 3.2 million; as recently as 2002 the show was must-see TV, with an average of more than 7 million.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/13/AR2006061301620_pf.html

The TV Column
At PBS, a Change in the Lineup

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, June 14, 2006; C07

Arlington-based PBS shook up its programming operations yesterday, naming a public broadcasting veteran to a new job -- chief content officer -- while cashiering a veteran programming executive and closing its Los Angeles office.

The new guy, John Boland, comes to PBS from KQED, the public TV station in San Francisco, where he was executive vice president and chief content officer. Shown the door is Jacoba "Coby" Atlas, the much-liked co-chief of programming who ran PBS's West Coast programming operation for the past six years.

Boland will oversee TV programming, online operations, education and promotion -- pretty much everything the public sees from the Public Broadcasting Service. He is the first major hire of PBS's new president and chief executive, Paula Kerger, who signed on in March.

PBS will close its two-person L.A. office, which Atlas headed, and move all its functions to Arlington, a PBS spokeswoman told The Post's Paul Farhi.

Atlas joined PBS in 2000 under Kerger's predecessor, Pat Mitchell. A TV industry veteran, Atlas was previously a supervising producer at CNN, with Emmy- and Peabody-winning documentaries to her credit. She also spent a decade at NBC, serving as West Coast producer, supervising producer and senior producer of the "Today" show.

But Atlas, who couldn't be reached yesterday, clearly didn't fit in Kerger's administration. One sign: PBS's other chief of programming, John Wilson, is staying in his current position, reporting to Boland. Wilson joined PBS in 1994 as director of program scheduling. (Yes, he's the guy who moved "Masterpiece Theatre" from Sunday.)

Boland helped usher KQED into the digital era, initiating the station's Internet video operations, podcasts, blogs, original Internet content and content partnerships with other public broadcasters. He also helped launch seven local and regional TV series for the station, as well as such fare as "Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures" and "China From the Inside" for PBS and the BBC, and several programs for "Great Performances."

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Bob Woodruff, who briefly co-anchored the ABC evening news, yesterday made his first visit to the New York newsroom since suffering serious head injuries and broken bones in a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq in late January.

"World News Tonight" Executive Producer Jon Banner said in a blog on ABC's Web site that the visit was a surprise, much like President Bush's trip to Baghdad yesterday.

And, as on that trip, cameras were there to record Woodruff's surprise visit to the office; the footage aired at the end of "World News Tonight."

Charlie Gibson, who now anchors the show solo, called the segment "hugs and handshakes and a little bit of humor."

"Many of you who watch this broadcast, and even many who don't, have been kind enough in recent weeks to inquire about the welfare of Bob Woodruff," Gibson told viewers.

"For the first time since his injuries, he came back to the newsroom today," Gibson said while viewers saw Woodruff in the office, surrounded by a mob of staffers:

On the tape, ABC News President David Westin hugged Woodruff: " So, the plan was not to mob you, right? This was beautifully executed."

Woodruff said he was unconscious for 36 days, Gibson explained to viewers:

Woodruff to staffers: "I woke up in this hospital and I looked up and I just thought about you guys and I thought about everything that I wanted badly to come back to."

Wearing a blue shirt and jeans, he looked thin, his dark hair cut extremely short, with a jagged scar running along his scalp and what appeared to be scarring on the left side of his face. He was accompanied by his wife, Lee.

Lee Woodruff to staffers: " Bob is the luckiest guy in the world, as his surgeons have said, but I also think a large part of healing is being surrounded by people who care about you and love you and he has had that from everyone here."

" He has had it for the past five months . . . And he's got it for the future," Gibson said, as viewers saw a shot of Woodruff walking down a hall, with Gibson right behind him.

Woodruff: "Ma n, it's good to be here."

Last week, Charlie Gibson's second as anchor of "World News Tonight," marked that show's lowest delivery of viewers -- 7.05 million -- since at least the start of People Meters in 1987. Gibson anchored Monday through Thursday; Terry Moran anchored on Friday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/13/AR2006061301620_pf.html

TV Notebook
Deal May Give American Military Cup Games up

By Richard Sandomir The New York Times June 14, 2006

United States military personnel, who were resigned to missing the World Cup on bases and ships around the world, will apparently be able to watch the games after all through the intervention of the media magnate Rupert Murdoch.

Murdoch, the chairman of News Corporation, which owns the Fox Network, read an article in yesterday's New York Times detailing how Infront Sports and Media, which acquired the World Cup TV rights from FIFA, the sport's world governing body, was seeking a cash rights fee for selected games from the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.

But the service, a Defense Department division, refused, saying it does not pay for its sports programming, which is seen in 177 countries.

"Rupert said, 'Get this done,' " said Gary Ginsberg, a News Corporation executive who was involved in the negotiations.

Cmdr. Greg Hicks, a Pentagon spokesman, said, "I would say this is a kind and generous offer for every serviceman and woman, and dependent, who's a soccer fan." The radio and television service lacks the money to buy sports rights and relies on leagues to provide — free — baseball, football, basketball, golf, Nascar, hockey, college championships and the Olympics.

Jörg Pölzer, a spokesman for Infront, which is based in Zug, Switzerland, said yesterday in an e-mail message written before the apparent deal with Murdoch that other nations' military networks paid "reasonable" sums for the World Cup.

Ginsberg said the agreement was contingent upon completing talks with Infront and the approvals of the areas around the world where the signals of commercial networks carrying the World Cup will overlap with the radio and television service's.

It is expected that Murdoch will include payment for the military World Cup deal into a deal he already has with Sky Italia, a News Corporation satellite service.

The soldiers most likely to have missed World Cup games were those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/14/sports/soccer/14tv.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

TV Notebook
Who'll be new top dog at 'Good Morning America'?

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist Wed, Jun. 14, 2006

The plot thickens at Good Morning America.

Exiled MSNBC president Rick Kaplan met with ABC News suits yesterday at the network's New York headquarters to discuss the vacant executive-producer slot at GMA, according to sources.

GMA chief Ben Sherwood resigned as of Oct. 1 to move back to L.A. and care for his ill mother. Ratings-wise, NBC's Today is cleaning GMA's clock.

Kaplan, 59, whose MSNBC contract runs until February, got the hook last week after 21/2 years at the No. 3 cable news network. The veteran producer is itching to get his hands on a show again after breathing bureaucratic fumes in the front office.

Moreover, Kaplan has a long and impressive history at ABC, despite a sometimes volcanic temper. (When it erupts from a 6-foot-8 guy, that's a scary volcano.)

Before joining CNN as president in '97, Kaplan rose through the ranks over 17 years at ABC. He held a variety of positions, including e.p. of its two flagships: World News Tonight with Peter Jennings and Ted Koppel's Nightline.

Biggest point in Kaplan's favor: He's tight with GMA coanchor Diane Sawyer, who may or may not be looking since Charlie Gibson got the WNT plum.

Kaplan and Lady Di go back to '89, when he created and launched the newsmagazine Primetime Live (now Primetime). Sawyer was an original anchor. As recently as a few weeks ago, she and Kaplan were spotted having lunch.

Kaplan's stormy CNN tenure ended in '00. He returned to ABC in '03 to oversee hard-news programming and the network's political unit.

Kaplan could not be reached for comment. No comment from ABC.

Tammy Haddad, e.p. of Chris Matthews' Hardball on MSNBC, is considered a front-runner for GMA. If Sawyer backs Kaplan, however, he's the one to watch in this race.

Meanwhile, back at MSNBC... NBC News president Steve Capus delivered the verdict to Kaplan, but industry insiders say Capus' boss, NBC Universal TV honcho Jeff Zucker, made the call.

Sources say the two Alpha males clashed on their visions for the network - Zucker wanted more emphasis on crime and lots of repeats; Kaplan wanted more fresh news. Big Rick is about a foot taller than Zucker, but Zucker outranks him.

"I fully didn't expect Rick to go as quickly as he did," says Capus. Still, "I thought it was inevitable, at some point."

Interestingly, it took two execs to replace Kaplan - NBC News senior v.p. Phil Griffin, a longtime MSNBC alum, and Dan Abrams, former (as of Monday) host of MSNBC's The Abrams Report and NBC's chief legal eagle. Both were named Monday.

Griffin's executive in charge; Abrams, managing editor. Kaplan was president. "I didn't see the need to have another presidential-level position," says President Capus. "It all folds up under the news division."

Abrams, just turned 40, earned a law degree from Columbia but never practiced. It was always TV or law, he says, and Court TV launched just months before graduation. (Later, law.)

On or off air, Abrams isn't shy about expressing opinions on legal issues. One example: the rape scandal surrounding members of Duke's lacrosse team.

Abrams, a Duke alum, says that he doesn't buy the victim's story, and that the district attorney is prosecuting to score political points.

"My position is, the D.A. has a lot of explaining to do." Abrams didn't recuse himself "because it's not a story about Duke. It's about an alleged rape." Also, Abrams says he always informs viewers of his Duke connection.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//14811563.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

TV Notebook
Hail to the chief, and so-long, Geena

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 14, 2006

ABC’s “Commander in Chief” will be remembered, if at all, as a show that had it all as the year’s most-watched new show, only to lose it all under roughshod mismanagement, sinking to viewer levels lower than even “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.”

The program went through three show-runners, each taking the program in totally opposite directions, and endured two lengthy hiatuses and three timeslot changes.

Tonight at 10 p.m., the show finally ends with the much-delayed series finale, in which Geena Davis’ Mackenzie Allen, the first female president, takes on a rather ambitious challenge. She decides to try to push the Equal Rights Amendment through Congress after a longtime foe of the act dies.

At least the once-intelligent show is going out the way it came in, with its focus clearly on what it might mean to have a woman in the White House. You never saw “The West Wing’s” Jed Bartlet try to boot the ERA through, and it wouldn’t have seemed believable.

There have been rumors floating ever since ABC axed “Commander” that creator and original show-runner Rod Lurie will return to write a couple stand-alone movies, presumably working from any loose ends left dangling in tonight's episode.

But after the ratings for the final slate of episodes, it seems less and less likely. Last week, “Commander” averaged just a 1.4 among 18-49s, tying the notoriously old-skewing Tony Awards.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5346.asp

TV Notebook
Prepare to slurp down serials this fall

By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor in his blog “Tuned In” Wednesday, June 14, 2006

It's no secret that this fall the networks are all turning to serialized shows after years of mostly poo-pooing continuing stories in favor of close-ended procedurals.

As a viewer who generally favors serials over procedurals, that should be cause of celebration, but it's not.

Adding a few more of these type shows to the mix would be great, but tilting wildly in favor of serials will only lead to more failures because though viewers love their "24" and "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy," they don't have time to add 15 new serials to their weekly viewing schedule. It's just not going to happen.

I got to thinking about the serial conundrum Monday night while watching "Kidnapped," a new NBC fall drama -- airing at 10 p.m. Wednesdays -- about a wealthy Manhattan family whose son is taken and held for ransom. The pilot had many virtues, including a top-notch cast (Dana Delany, Delroy Lindo, the guy who played crazy Billy on "Six Feet Under" whose name I can't remember just now; there it is: Jeremy Sisto).

It was well-paced, nicely shot and only made me go, "Yeah, right," once.

But I have to wonder if it will survive, and furthermore does it deserve to? Is there really a need to tell this story over 22 episodes?

Six episodes, sure. I could even live with 12, but "Prison Break" proved that there wasn't enough story to tell that tale over a 22-episode season, so until American television takes a cue from England's short-orders (as few as six episodes per season), we'll be stuck with great ideas that get stretched to fit a greedy system.

And it's greed, again, that will doom an over-reliance on serials to failure this fall.

http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/tunedin/

Cable TV Notebook
'The Closer,' woman behaving smartly



By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 14, 2006

For viewers looking for TV shows with strong and interesting female leads, the choices have been mighty slim this summer. The women on ABC’s newest reality show, “How to Get the Guy,” are one-dimensional guy-chasers pining for Mr. Right. The women on CBS’s “Tuesday Night Book Club” are equally shallow but with bigger houses and more makeup.

As usual in these summer months, then, viewers turned to cable for something they couldn’t find on broadcast: that strong and interesting woman. Her name is Brenda Johnson, and she’s the sharp LAPD deputy police chief on TNT’s “The Closer.”

Already a hit last summer, “Closer” opened its second season even bigger on Monday night. The show became the most-watched basic cable scripted series of all time, drawing 8.2 million total viewers and bettering last year’s then-record by 1.2 million. By comparison, the recent season finale of “The Sopranos” on HBO drew 8.9 million.

“Closer” averaged 2.63 million adults 18-49, 36 percent better than its 1.93 million average for season one. It averaged 3.57 million 25-54s, 50 percent better than its first-season average of 2.38 million.

Why the big bump?

Certainly the show received a lot of publicity for the new season with star Kyra Sedgwick on the cover of TV Guide and featured in a lengthy profile in Entertainment Weekly. TNT promoted the premiere for weeks during the highly rated NBA playoffs, emphasizing that the opener would be commercial free.

And broadcast competition on the night was negligible, with no show averaging more than 10 million viewers in the 9 p.m. timeslot.

But probably most important is that “Closer” provides something that’s not readily available on broadcast, and that’s a smart lead female character. As demonstrated by ABC’s “Commander in Chief” when it debuted to big numbers last fall, there’s a big appetite for such programming. “Chief’s” numbers when on to dip when the Geena Davis character lost some of her independence and tenacity.

Sedgwick’s Brenda excels in her job in a male-dominated environment, but she’s also layered enough to have some character flaws. She’s a junk food junkie and can become so obsessed with a case that she shuts everything else out, including her poor starving cat.

It’s those flaws that give her dimension, however, and set her apart from the women on reality TV.

“Closer” also pumped ratings for the premiere of “Saved” at 10 p.m. Monday on TNT, which became basic cable’s top-rated scripted debut of the year with 5.1 million total viewers, 2.08 million 18-49s and 2.61 million 25-54s.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_5348.asp

Nielsen Notes
Summer fling: NBC sails back to No. 1

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 14, 2006

NBC, so long in the cellar, has gotten off to a strong start this summer. The regular-season’s fourth-place finisher won its second straight week among adults 18-49 for the week ended June 11 and had four of the week’s 10 top-rated shows, more than any other network.

But NBC should enjoy the moment while it lasts. While it’s certainly a promising beginning, the wins don’t mean much. ABC and CBS have introduced very little of their new summer fare, and second-place Fox was just 0.1 behind NBC’s average 2.5 rating last week.

Perhaps most important, this summer surge says absolutely nothing about the network’s prospects come fall, when none of the summer shows will carry over. More than anything, NBC’s success has been a case of good timing, the result of three things coming together.

First, NBC began introducing its new schedule well before ABC and CBS, which between them still have nearly half a dozen shows yet to premiere.

ABC is waiting until after the NBA finals, using basketball as a platform to promote its new programs. CBS tends to roll out its summer shows at a leisurely pace, stretching limited-run programs across the entire summer while also relying more on its reruns, the highest-rated among any network, to sustain it from June to August.

Second, NBC held back the season finales of “The Apprentice” and “Deal or No Deal” until June 5, ensuring an artificial summer bump. The “Deal” finale ranked No. 1 for the week in 18-49s with a 5.6 rating, tying a series high.

“Apprentice,” though at a 4.4 well below what past editions have averaged, did win its timeslot against weak competition, something that’s not always a given for Donald Trump these days. Had “Apprentice’s” finale aired during May sweeps, it would have rated much lower.

And finally, NBC became the first of the Big Four networks in years to launch a successful new summer drama. Thursday’s “Windfall,” while certainly not a blockbuster, did draw the best 18-49 rating for a summer drama debut since “Mysterious Ways” six years ago on NBC.

It remains to be seen whether “Windfall” can keep it up. But perhaps NBC, which held the drama off the schedule despite a planned midseason debut, stumbled upon a good strategy for a summer launch.

Much of the pre-debut press centered on former “Beverly Hills, 90210” star Luke Perry despite the fact that he was part of an ensemble. That likely drew in former “90210” fans as well as those curious about the show’s concept, in which a group of friends win a huge lottery jackpot.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5347.asp

Washington Notebook
In-Fighting on Telecom Bill

(theBridge.com) June 14, 2006

Cable Criticizes Program Access Proposal

The cable business isn't happy with a provision contained in telecom reform legislation that eyes MSO control of sports programming, including a proposal that could force the wired incumbent to provide some of its exclusive content to competitors.

At issue is a bill from the Senate Commerce Committee that may force cable operators such as Comcast to provide exclusive sports programming to competitors. The provision surfaced after ongoing complaints about Comcast's use of the so-called terrestrial loophole, in which programming not distributed via satellite can be kept from competitors.

Kyle McSlarrow of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association criticized the measure during a hearing on telecom legislation held Tuesday by the committee. While DirecTV can keep an exclusive lock on its NFL Sunday Ticket package, cable would be forced to offer its exclusive programming to competitors, he told lawmakers.

In prepared testimony, McSlarrow said the legislation would narrow program access provisions to permit exclusive arrangements between satellite TV companies and non-vertically integrated national sports programming services. He urged the committee to drop the provision, saying the provision solves no existing problem in the marketplace.

"It's a solution in search of a problem," McSlarrow told the committee.

Programmers Fight Multicast

Cable/satellite TV programmers wrote the Federal Communications Commission on the resurfacing of multicast must-carry, telling those at the Portals they should oppose any multicast obligation that may be imposed on cable operators.

The programmer letter to the FCC comes as broadcasters push for a multicast must-carry regime, which would require cable operators to deliver the extra video streams a TV station may carry in its digital TV spectrum.

"We compete vigorously for distribution on cable and satellite systems on the basis of the quality of programming and its value to consumers," the networks wrote the FCC.

Programmers complained that broadcasters already have a government-granted competitive advantage over all programmers given that it has guaranteed must-carry of a TV station's primary signal. "A vast expansion of broadcasters' must-carry rights would undermine our ability to compete in the marketplace, causing irreparable harm to programming diversity and to consumers, and violating fundamental First Amendment protections," they said.

Those signing the letter include channels associated with Discovery Networks and Turner as well as MTV Networks, Starz and HBO, among others.

MPAA: Consider Broadcast Flag Provision

During Tuesday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing on telecom reform, Dan Glickman of the Motion Picture Association of America encouraged lawmakers to include a broadcast flag provision in any telecom legislation, an effort aimed at protecting Hollywood content from piracy.

"Protecting intellectual property will become a recurring and increasingly important theme for our economy in the decades to come," Glickman told the Senate committee. "This nation will prosper or it will fail in large part based on how we protect our nation's greatest assets -- the skill, ingenuity and creativity of our people."

Broadcast flag would protect the quality of free over-the-air broadcasts in the digital age, he said. Cable and satellite TV have systems in place to protect content, and the Federal Communications Commission has some provisions related to broadcast flag technology.

"If broadcast television is not similarly protected, content providers will choose to send their high value content to where it can best be protected," Glickman said. "By including the broadcast flag, this committee takes a stand to protect free over-the air television for consumers."

http://www.mbc-thebridge.com

Nielsen Notes
'Apprentice' needs work

By Gary Levin USA Today

• Great Deal. The season finale of NBC's Deal or No Deal hit a series-high 18.2 million viewers Monday. But the fifth-season ender of The Apprentice didn't hold up: The Donald's 11.2 million made this the lowest-rated finale yet.

• HBOK. The boys of Entourage, like their fictional counterparts, are finding fame: The third-season premiere roped in 2.7 million viewers, up from last season's 1.6 million opener and 1.9 million average. Elsewhere in HBO's summer Sunday lineup, Deadwood drew 2.4 million, down from last year's opener (2.8 million); new sitcom Lucky Louie, 1.5 million; and Dane Cook's Tourgasm, 1.1 million.

• Play's the thing. CBS' Tony Awards climbed out of record lows of the past two years, averaging 7.7 million viewers Sunday opposite the NBA Finals.

• Alba seeing you. Host Jessica Alba didn't help: The MTV Movie Awards sorely disappointed with 3.2 million viewers, down 31% from last year with the smallest audience since 1996.

• Everwood goodbye. Monday's two-hour series finale of WB's Everwood won 4.1 million viewers, the series' second-best showing this season.

• Latin spice. ABC's Latino Alma Awards, back on TV for the first time since 2002, averaged 4.2 million viewers Monday, best showing since 1999 for the show.

• Hoop dreams. Thursday's Game 1 of the Miami-Dallas NBA Finals on ABC (11.5 million) improved on last year's Detroit-San Antonio opener but fell behind 2004's first Detroit-L.A. matchup. Game 2 drew 12.4 million Sunday.

• No ratings windfall. The premiere of NBC lottery-winner drama Windfall averaged a decent 9 million viewers Thursday, an improvement over the low-rated ER reruns it's replacing this summer.

• Counting down. USA's sci-fi series The 4400 grabbed 4.2 million viewers for its third-season premiere Sunday, down 17% from last June's second-season premiere. Elsewhere on cable, the premiere of Comedy Central's Dog Bites Man barked 1.1 million viewers Wednesday, down from 1.7 million for its South Park repeat lead-in.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-06-13-nielsen-analysis_x.htm

(From Marc Berman’s Wednesday, June 14, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Weekly Nielsen Notes

Led by the 90-minute season-finale of the No. 1 show of the week, Deal or No Deal, NBC moved into the No. 1 spot among adults 18-49 and adults 25-54, building year-to-year by margins of 19 and 15 percent, respectively, in the two demos. CBS finished the week of June 5 first in households and total viewers, while the home of So You Think You Can Dance, Fox, dominated among adults 18-34. NBC and Fox increased in the five surveyed categories over the year-ago week, while CBS posted minor gains in households and total viewers, but lost steam elsewhere.

Without the benefit of original episodes of Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy and Lost (yes, it could be a long summer!), ABC ranked no higher than No. 3, with year-to-year losses ranging from 15 to 19 percent. And that came as a result of airing games one and two of top-10 rated The NBA Finals (on Thursday and Sunday – see rankings below). Mirroring all season, UPN and the WB shared the No. 5 and 6 spots, and both networks were down year-to-year. Will two fading networks translate into a hit called the CW? Stay tuned.

In series-premiere news, long-awaited scripted NBC drama Windfall (in place of repeats of ER on Thursday) got some mileage with 9.04 million viewers (No. 13 overall), and a 3.4/10 among adults 18-49 (tied for No. 9). In other season-finale news, NBC’s The Apprentice 5 signed off out of inflated lead-in Deal or No Deal with 11.25 million viewers (No. 7), and a 4.4 12 among adults 18-49 (tied for No. 4). Look for next edition of The Apprentice, set in Los Angeles, in midseason.

Pre-summer to-date, the non-scripted winners include Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance and NBC’s The Last Comic Sanding 4 (see rankings below). Less impressive this week were The 60th Annual Tony Awards on CBS Sunday (Viewers: #25, 7.72 million; A18-49: #71t, 1.4/ 4), and The ALMA Awards on ABC Monday (Viewers: #69, 4.20 million; A18-49: #61t, 1.6/ 4). Smack in the middle, meanwhile, were the two weekly telecasts of CBS’ Game Show Marathon as follows:

Game Show Marathon (CBS)
Thursday 8 p.m. (Press Your Luck)
Viewers: 6.72 million (#30), A18-49: 1.9/ 6 (#39t)

Wednesday 8 p.m. (Beat the Clock)
Viewers: 6.67 million (#32), A18-49: 1.9/ 6 (#39t)

Here are the final national ratings for the week of June 5, 2006 (with percent change versus the comparable year-ago period in parentheses).

Households:
CBS: 5.6 rating/10 share (+ 2)
NBC: 4.9/ 9 (+ 7)
ABC: 3.9/ 7 (-15)
Fox: 3.8/ 7 (+ 9)
WB: 1.5/ 3 (- 6)
UPN: 1.4/ 3 (-22)

Total Viewers:
CBS: 8.18 million (+ 3)
NBC: 7.33 (+12)
Fox: 5.99 (+12)
ABC: 5.81 (-15)
WB: 2.14 (- 6)
UPN: 2.06 (-25)

Adults 18-49:
NBC: 2.5/ 8 (+19)
Fox: 2.4/ 8 (+ 4)
ABC: 2.1/ 7 (-16)
CBS: 2.0/ 6 (- 9)
WB: 0.8/ 3 (--11)
UPN: 0.8/ 3 (-27)

Adults 25-54:
NBC: 3.0/ 8 (+15)
CBS: 2.7/ 7 (- 4)
Fox: 2.5/ 7 (+ 9)
ABC: 2.4/ 7 (-17)
WB: 0.8/ 2 (-11)
UPN: 0.8/ 2 (-20)

Adults 18-34:
Fox: 2.5/ 9 (+ 9)
NBC: 2.0/ 7 (+18)
ABC: 1.7/ 6 (-19)
CBS: 1.3/ 5 (-13)
UPN: 0.9/ 3 (-18)
WB: 0.8/ 3 (-20)

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

TV Notebook
It's 'Putdown With Keith Olbermann'

By Lloyd Grove The New York Daily News Staff Writer Wednesday, June 14th, 2006

Now that Dan Abrams has given up his MSNBC show to run the third-place cable news outlet, he might want to focus on the rising tensions between two of his prime-time personalities: Keith Olbermann and Rita Cosby.

Olbermann, whose "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" airs weeknights at 8, apparently has precious little respect for Cosby, whose "Rita Cosby: Live & Direct" airs at 10 p.m.

"Rita's nice," Olbermann wrote to a fan from his MSNBC E-mail account, "but dumber than a suitcase of rocks." Yesterday Cosby retorted: "Keith got it wrong. I'm not that nice."

But a Cosby intimate gasped when informed of Olbermann's E-mail. "That's incredibly disappointing," he said.

An MSNBC spokesman didn't dispute the authenticity of the months-old E-mail, which came to light this week after the recipient shared it with this column on condition of anonymity.

In his E-mail, Olbermann was also dismissive of then-MSNBC President Rick Kaplan, who left the network last week with six months to go on his three-year contract.

"And Kaplan?" Olbermann wrote to his fan. "He was the producer of that special last night — now known as the Kanye West Show." It was a reference to an embarrassing incident during NBC's Hurricane Katrina telethon on which the popular rapper departed from his script to claim President Bush "doesn't care about black people."

Olbermann, who didn't comment yesterday, was said to be on vacation — though he managed to turn up Monday night at a book party for Al Gore at the American Museum of Natural History.

There, the media blog Jossip.com asked Olbermann — who was accompanied by "his self-described 'friend' Katie" — if he'll now be answering to Abrams.

"I don't answer to anybody," Olbermann insisted.

We'll see.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/v-pfriendly/story/426477p-359629c.html

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

Washington Notebook
In-Fighting on Telecom Bill

(theBridge.com) June 14, 2006

MPAA: Consider Broadcast Flag Provision

During Tuesday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing on telecom reform, Dan Glickman of the Motion Picture Association of America encouraged lawmakers to include a broadcast flag provision in any telecom legislation, an effort aimed at protecting Hollywood content from piracy.

"Protecting intellectual property will become a recurring and increasingly important theme for our economy in the decades to come," Glickman told the Senate committee. "This nation will prosper or it will fail in large part based on how we protect our nation's greatest assets -- the skill, ingenuity and creativity of our people."

Broadcast flag would protect the quality of free over-the-air broadcasts in the digital age, he said. Cable and satellite TV have systems in place to protect content, and the Federal Communications Commission has some provisions related to broadcast flag technology.

"If broadcast television is not similarly protected, content providers will choose to send their high value content to where it can best be protected," Glickman said. "By including the broadcast flag, this committee takes a stand to protect free over-the air television for consumers."

http://www.mbc-thebridge.comTo paraphrase Lost:

Light 'em up!

http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=About.Members

Xesdeeni

Cable TV Notebook
ESPN2 World Cup Rating Up 200%

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com JUNE 14, 2006 -

The World Cup telecasts continue to draw big numbers, with ESPN2 reporting ratings for its first 8 televised matches averaging a 1.5 rating (1.3 million homes), up 200 percent compared to a 0.5 rating for comparable coverage of the 2002 World Cup.

The June 12 telecast of U.S. vs. the Czech Republic produced a 2.4 rating and 2.1 million homes, the most watched and highest rated soccer telecast ever on ESPN2. It was also the most watched and viewed telecast on ESPN2 this year to date. Four of the eight World Cup telecasts so far rank among the top-six most viewed soccer matches in the network's history.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002688050

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
CBS's 'Tuesday Night Book' clubbed

Dishing dames reality show pulls a 1.7 rating
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 14, 2006

Reality shows about women mooning over men are not off to a good start this summer. CBS’s “Tuesday Night Book Club,” in which the focus is more on love than literature, got off to a rough start last night, one day after ABC’s “How to Get the Guy” similarly stumbled.

“Club” averaged a 1.7 overnight rating among adults 18-49 in the 10 p.m. timeslot. It dipped 11 percent, from a 1.8 to a 1.6, from its first half hour to its second, never a good sign.

The 1.7 was down 41 percent from the 10 p.m. timeslot average for CBS last summer, a 2.9.

The reality show about a group of seven Scottsdale, Ariz., women who gather for weekly chats about books their husbands, the neighborhoods and their lives became the lowest-rated debut of the summer thus far.

It averaged 0.1 lower than ABC’s “Guy,” about a group of women chasing Mr. Right, which debuted on Monday. Granted, “Club” did have slightly tougher competition, airing opposite the NBA finals on ABC.

But basketball fans certainly weren’t the demographic that CBS was courting with this soapy “Desperate Housewives”-like show. Though “Club” is scheduled to air for several more weeks, the network may be better off yanking it for higher-rated crime drama repeats.

Meanwhile, the NBA finals continued to show ratings increases over last year, though not by all that much. According to metered market ratings, Game 3 between the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat averaged a 9.0 household rating, up slightly over 2005’s 8.7 for Game 3 of the San Antonio Spurs-Detroit Pistons series.

The NBA boosted ABC to No. 1 overall for the night with a 3.7 average and 11 share among adults 18-49. Following were NBC at 3.3/9, Fox at 2.7/8, CBS at 1.9/5, Univision at 1.5/4, and WB and UPN each at 0.7/2.

At 8 p.m., NBC was No. 1 with a 2.7 for "Fear Factor," followed by ABC's 2.5 for an "According to Jim" repeat and “NBA Nation,” Fox's 2.4 for a "House" rerun, CBS's “NCIS” repeat at 2.1, Univision's 1.8 for "La Fea Mas Bella" and a 0.8 each for WB's "Gilmore Girls" repeat and UPN's "America's Next Top Model" rerun.

At 9 p.m., ABC's first hour of the NBA Finals Game 3 was No. 1 at 4.2, followed by NBC's "Last Comic Standing" at 4.0. Another "House" repeat on Fox earned a 2.9, trailed by CBS's 1.9 for a rerun of "The Unit," Univision's 1.7 for "Barrera de Amor," WB's 0.7 for a "Pepper Dennis" repeat and UPN's 0.5 for a "Veronica Mars" rerun.

At 10 p.m., ABC led with a 4.5 for the final hour of the NBA finals. NBC followed with a 3.1 for a “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” rerun.” CBS was third with its 1.7 for “Club,” and “Ver para Creer” averaged a 1.1 on Univision.

Among households, ABC finished first with a 6.2/10, followed by NBC at 5.5/9, CBS at 5.0/8, Fox at 4.8/8, Univision at 1.8/3, UPN at 1.3/2, and the WB at 1.2/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_5374.asp

Cable TV Notebook
ESPN2 World Cup Rating Up 200%


It's all the HD fans :p , these games look fantastic in HD. :)

Fred, did you get my PM from the other day?

Great to see these games doing so well (they are actually fantastic matches as well).

And the Univision ratings are even higher, Russ

The Business of TV
Nielsen to Begin Measuring TV Viewing on Internet, iPods, Cell Phones

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com JUNE 14, 2006 -

Nielsen Media Research said today it will begin measuring new ways that consumers are watching television, such as on the Internet and via cell phones, iPods and other personal, mobile devices under an initiative it is calling Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement (A2/M2).

Developed in conjunction with its clients, Nielsen said the new initiative will test this summer new meters to measure video viewed on portable devices, and will add measurement of online streaming video viewing in its People Meter samples by next year, creating a single all-electronic measurement of TV viewing across platforms. Nielsen is owned by Mediaweek parent VNU.

This summer, Nielsen will install and test software meters, including Nielsen/Net Ratings' metering technology on the personal computers of current People Meter homes and will come up with metrics that will enable it to add that rating information to the overall viewing sample for the 2007-08 broadcast season. Nielsen will report the fused viewing data of television and Internet viewing for each of the broadcast and cable networks.

Nielsen said it plans to create a 400-person panel of iPod users by the end of this year, to begin test-measuring viewing on those portable devices.

Nielsen also said it is expanding its Local People Meter service beyond the 10 largest local TV markets to the next 15 largest markets. Those rollouts will begin in October 2007 in Houston, Seattle and Tampa.

In markets ranging in size from the 26th to 60th largest, where Set-Meters are now used, Nielsen will introduce the A/P 3.0, a variation of the Active/Passive meter, that will not need to be wired directly into the TV sets. The meter can be placed next to the TV, where it will accurately collect the TV viewing data. Information on who is watching the program will be collected through the same People Meter technology used in the National and Local People Meters, which will be integrated into the A/P design. Pending the results of testing of these meters, Nielsen plans to begin introducing them into the remaining Set Meter markets in 2008.

In current diary-only markets, which are basically those ranging in size from 61 to 125, Nielsen is planning to offer battery-powered meters that would be placed near TVs to capture all programming, requiring household members to record only what they individually watched. During a test period, the meters would be supplemented by diaries. The electronic metered results would then be evaluated by mid-2007 and Nielsen will decide whether to implement them on a permanent basis.

For smaller markets currently served only by paper diaries, Nielsen said it is planning to "aggressively pursue a full electronic-measurement plan and to investigate a number of possible electronic solutions that could replace paper only diaries."

Nielsen is pledging to have electronic measurement of TV viewing in every market by 2011.
Nielsen will also conduct tests to determine ways to come up with measurement of viewer engagement, and is doing so in conjunction with a 20-member client committee. Under the testing, National and Local People Meter households leaving the sample will be asked to maintain their meters for an additional six weeks, during which time they will participate in telephone surveys designed to measure commercial recall and qualitative engagement factors for the programs they watch.

"As digital distribution of television transforms the way our clients do business, Nielsen is keeping pace with new ways of measuring TV wherever it is viewed," said Susan Whiting, Nielsen president and CEO. "A2/M2 is the result of extensive consultation with clients, who told us clearly that we should follow the video and deliver integrated measurement of all television-like content regardless of the platform."

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002688136

If you are new here, you might not realize that I think Rich Heldenfels of the Akron Beacon-Journal is one of the best TV writers around. Especially of those without the big national reputations. His blog is usually quick to respond to (or report) major TV news.
And, like the following item, he often takes a look behind the stories. In this case he is asking for input – so if you feel inclined, add a comment to his blog.

Critic’s Notebook
The Post 9/11 Drama Five Years On

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

Yesterday kind of got away from me. Morning telephone interviews with Tavis Smiley and the Son of Ghoul, mailbag questions, writing the Smiley story for Thursday's paper, some family business, an afternoon meeting, a little more Anderson Cooper ... Days fill up, and they don't always feel as if we control them.

I was thinking about that lack of control later when plowing through a couple of more pilots -- NBC's ''Kidnapped,'' Fox's ''Standoff,'' and adding them to a vibe I had already gotten from ''Vanished'' and ''Jericho'' and ''Justice'' and currently-on one-word shows like ''Lost'' and ''24.'' Even two-worders like ''Prison Break.'' And that this all had to do with 9/11.

I'm not talking about specific links to terrorism in shows (although there is some of that) as much as about the sense that, since 9/11, people feel vulnerable to arbitrary and unpredictable forces -- exemplified by a sudden, ruthless kidnapping or a hostage taking or, in the case of ''Jericho,'' a nuclear attack.

Hand in hand with that idea is the one that our system is still ill-equipped to handle those things -- assuming our system wants to handle them at all. Think of the high-reaching political forces at work in ''24'' and ''Prison Break.'' ''Vanished'' involves the disappearance of a U.S. senator's wife, a disappearance that soon pivots on how little the people in the show know about each other. in ''Kidnapped,'' the taking of a wealthy man's son leads not only to questions about how well law enforcement works but a hint about that something much bigger than a kidnapping is going on.

And, even though TV is dominated by shows about law enforcement and prosecution, this fall brings ''Justice,'' about defense attorneys -- which quickly makes the argument that the innocent need good defenders against relentless prosecutors (while simultaneously admitting that the public doesn't like smart defense attorneys in theory).

That's not all that's on TV, of course. There are shows that contend the system is working, at least when it's in the hands of capable and dedicated people. (Choose your own ''CSI.'') But I still think we're seeing a prolonged reaction to 9/11 and, perhaps, to the Iraq war. You could even argue that ''West Wing'' finally ran down and ''Commander in Chief'' didn't catch on because most viewers no longer believe that politicians can solve problems -- especially when ''24'' is pointing to them as a source of trouble.

There's something for further discussion here. For one thing, ABC's fall pilots landed on my desk just today. But this is what's spinning in my head right now. Any comments?

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

And for all you “Office” fans, Rich has word of a potential treat (or not)….

Critic’s Notebook
''Nighty'' No? (Or Has ''The Office'' Changed the Rules?)


By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

Over the weekend I was talking to my cousin, who lives in London, and the issue of TV came up. (I know, I know, wherever I am, the issue of TV comes up.) We were talking about what he watched and he mentioned ''Nighty Night.''

''I LOVE 'Nighty Night,' '' I said, probably scaring people with my enthusiasm. But I do love the British comedy, which Oxygen has aired here, and delight in following its relentlessly nasty main character, played by Julia Davis, who also writes the show.

So much do I love the show that, when making my regular stroll through TV Tattle, I was distressed to see a link to a Variety story that Darren Star is planning an American version of ''Nighty Night.'' Heresy, I thought. There's no way that a good American version can be made of the show.

And then I thought of ''The Office.'' Yes, there had been adaptations of British shows for American TV before that (''All in the Family,'' ''Sanford and Son'') but there was a much longer list of shows that either failed or could not capture the flavor of the overseas originals, or both. But ''The Office'' -- passionately loved in its British form -- found a way to be American, uniquely itself (notably in the development of the supporting cast) and still faithful to its predecessor. So if ''The Office'' can do it, why not ''Nighty Night''?

Because it's really difficult, that's why. You have to find writers who not only understand the original but know how to match the tone. You have to get just the right actors -- Steve Carell for Ricky Gervais was inspired. And you have to hope that no one at a studio or a network messes you up along the way.

At this point, I'm not convinced that Darren Star can match what Davis did. But I'll be interested to see him try, and more willing to give an American ''Nighty Night'' a look because ''The Office'' turned out so well.

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

Another of my “must read” TV writers, Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star, weighs in with some thoughts about the ratings for Monday’s season premiere of “The Closer”:

Critic’s Notebook
She's getting "closer" ...

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn”Wednesday, June 14, 2006

The ratings went through the roof for Monday's return of cable's No. 1 show, "The Closer." These are some serious numbers, folks: a 6.4 household rating and an estimate 8.2 million total viewers.

That would put a cable show squarely into Nielsen's Top 20 of all TV shows in the first week of June (No. 20, CBS's "Numbers," was seen by 8.17 million viewers).

I realize these are summer Nielsens, but this is still a pretty impressive showing for a cable show not produced by the National Football League.

http://www.tvbarn.com/

Washington Notebook
FCC To Vote On Multicasting

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable, 6/14/2006

Granting broadcasters digital multicast must-carry and restarting the ownership regulation rewrite process are both on the agenda for the FCC's June 21 meeting.

FCc Chairman Kevin Martin wants to reverse two previous FCC decisions and require cable to carry all of a broadcasters free digital multicast channels, not just a single duplication of its analog channel.

It will also vote on beginning a fresh look at deregulatory ownership rules remanded by a federal appeals court for better justification.

The chairmen of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and House Telecommunications subcommittee both wrote Martin asking him not to reconsider multicast must-carry, saying the FCC was right the first time about congressional intent and that to reverse course would be usurping Congress' authority.

More details on next week's FCC meeting.

Washington Notebook
FCC to Impose Multicast Must-Carry

By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com 6/14/2006

The Federal Communications Commission scheduled a June 21 vote to impose multicast must-carry on cable operators, setting up cable for its worst policy defeat at the agency since the second round of programming-rate cuts in February 1994.

The agency has twice rejected multicast must-carry, but FCC chairman Kevin Martin has been determined to change policy. It appears that the 39-year-old Republican leader -- appointed by President Bush in March 2005 -- has the votes necessary to confer additional must-carry largess on the country’s 1,752 commercial and educational digital-TV stations.

Late Wednesday, the FCC released the June 21 meeting agenda with the multicast-must-carry item included. Martin would not have scheduled the vote if he expected to lose.

Under current law, TV stations that elect mandatory cable carriage are entitled to carriage of just one programming service. Multicast must-carry would expand the requirement to include every free programming service a TV station can pack into its digital bandwidth -- which could mean 6-12 programming services using current compression technology.

Cable operators and programmers are expected to take the FCC to court immediately, claiming that multicast must-carry violates their First Amendment free-speech rights far beyond the original purpose of the original 1992 must-carry law -- preserving free TV and promoting the widespread dissemination of information from a multiplicity of sources.

Cable is also expected to advance the Fifth Amendment argument that multicast must-carry takes private property without just compensation.

The FCC majority is expected to include Martin and at least Republicans Deborah Taylor Tate and Robert McDowell. Martin might be able to lure Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein to his side with commitments to impose new public-interest-programming obligations on commercial broadcasters.

Cable’s nadir at the FCC came in February 1994, when the commission slashed cable rates 7% on the heels of a 10% rate cut the prior year. But after cable promised to pave Vice President Al Gore’s information superhighway, the agency gradually eased up on cable -- a process encouraged by Capitol Hill Republicans who seized control of the House and Senate in the November 1994 elections.

For more than one decade, cable has enjoyed a benign policy environment at the FCC. For example, the agency declined to modify leased-access rules to allow Internet-service providers to rent bandwidth; refused to impose ISP open access on cable; established cable-modem service as an unregulated information service; lifted at congressional direction rate controls on expanded basic in March 1999; and ruled that cable voice-over-Internet-protocol service could not be regulated by the states.

But since Martin's arrival, the climate has changed. He pressured cable operators to roll out family tiers while continuing to urge the industry to create more a la carte options. The FCC also has under a review a Martin-backed plan to ease phone-company entry into cable markets.

In the multicast-must-carry order, the FCC has many issues to resolve, including:

• Timing: The agency could time the effective date of the rules to coincide with the congressionally mandated cutoff of analog TV Feb. 17, 2009. The next must-carry/retransmission-consent election begins Oct. 1, 2008.

But that may not make sense because the FCC is expected to justify multicast must-carry on the need for a successful digital-TV transition.

Martin has said the availability of digital-TV multicast services would offer an incentive to consumers without pay TV connections to buy digital-TV sets with over-the-air digital tuners before the analog cutoff. Yet broadcasters have said they won't launch multicast services without guaranteed cable carriage.

It shouldn't be a surprise, then, to see the FCC allow digital-TV stations to exercise multicast-must-carry rights sooner rather than later.

• Rate regulation: Cable has argued that multicast must-carry -- by adding many more channels to the basic tier, which every consumer must purchase -- would result in higher cable rates. To prevent a political backlash to higher cable rates as a result of an FCC policy change, the commission might decide to impose a rate structure that assumes one signal per digital-TV station.

• Downconversion: The FCC is expected to launch a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the ability of cable consumers with only analog equipment to view digital broadcast signals. From the FCC’s perspective, what good would multicast must-carry do if 54% of cable subscribers that are analog-only couldn’t view them? This suggests that the agency might require cable to deliver multicast services in analog from the headend.

On the other hand, requiring the delivery of digital-TV multicast services in analog would take up a lot of cable bandwidth. As a concession to cable, the FCC could let cable deliver digital-TV multicast services only in digital, but require MSOs to inform consumers that additional local digital-TV services are available with the lease of a digital set-top box.

Nielsen Notebook
Nielsen Paper Diaries Headed for Circular File

New System Will Measure Internet, Mobile, Out-of-Home Viewing
By Jon Lafayette TVWeek.com June 14, 2006

Nielsen Media Research said it is developing a system to measure when TV shows are watched on the Internet, outside the home and on mobile devices, in addition to traditional at-home viewing.

The ratings service plans to go to an all-electronic measurement system, eliminating its familiar paper ratings diaries in even the smallest television markets by 2011.

Nielsen calls its initiative Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement, or A2/M2.

"A2/M2 is the result of extensive consultation with clients, who told us clearly that we should 'follow the video' and deliver integrated measurement of all television-like content regardless of platform," said Susan Whiting, president and CEO of Nielsen.

Nielsen's plan includes having Nielsen//NetRatings track digital audio and video delivered via the Internet. Online television measurement will be added in People Meter homes next year and "fused" data, combining viewing results from TV and Internet panels, will be provided.

The company is also testing personal meters, called Go Meters, to capture out-of-home viewing by collecting audio signatures, as well as Solo Meters to track portable media devices. It also plans to create a 400-person iPod panel by the end of the year.

Nielsen intends to expand its Local People Meter service to the next 15 largest markets, including Houston, Seattle and Tampa, Fla., in 2007. It plans to roll out a new Active/Passive Meter in markets 26 through 60. The new A/P Meter does not have to be wired directly to TV sets as the old set meters did.

In markets 61 through 125, Nielsen plans to mail battery-powered meters to sample homes, supplementing them with viewing logs. This system is being tested and a rollout decision is scheduled for mid-2007.

In smaller markets, Nielsen said it will pursue solutions including using set-top box data and Internet diaries.

http://www.tvweek.com/printwindow.cms?newsId=10187&pageType=news

More details on next week's FCC meeting.

Washington Notebook
FCC to Impose Multicast Must-Carry



With the implications this poses I wouldn't expect the courts to be on the side of the FCC on this one.


Martin has said the availability of digital-TV multicast services would offer an incentive to consumers without pay TV connections to buy digital-TV sets with over-the-air digital tuners before the analog cutoff. Yet broadcasters have said they won't launch multicast services without guaranteed cable carriage.

So he thinks he is going to help the people that don't have pay tv service get more channels by forcing the MVPDs to subsidize them? Brilliant :rolleyes:

I think you are right.

The cable operators will have a very valuable card to play called "free speech".

And in the past the courts only reluctantly forced them to carry even the one primary signal.

(Of course all this presupposes that Cong. Barton and others don't get anti must-carry legislation approved as part of the omnibus telcom bill.)

Obituary
Robert Donner, 75

Character Actor Played Oddballs on TV, in Films
By Valerie J. Nelson Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 14, 2006

Robert Donner, a character actor who specialized in playing eccentrics, including the crazed prophet Exidor on the popular sitcom "Mork & Mindy," has died. He was 75.

Donner, who appeared in more than 100 films and television shows, died Thursday of a heart attack at his Sherman Oaks home, said Michael Belson, his former agent.

On "Mork & Mindy," which aired from 1978 to 1982, Donner led an invisible cult called the Friends of Venus. Whenever the friends whom only Exidor could see got in the way, he uttered his signature phrase — "Mork! Is that you?" — to series star Robin Williams.

"Bobby was very, very skilled at comedy. He worked all the time in an era when they were phasing out character actors," said Michael Lembeck, whose father, Harvey, a comedic actor best known for his role on "The Phil Silvers Show," taught Donner at comedy-improv workshops. "And he had a very droll, very dry sense of humor."

That was evident in Donner's official biography, which mentions that he joined the Navy after high school, "serving three years, 11 months, 29 days, and six and one-half hours."

Born April 27, 1931, in New York City, Donner grew up in New Jersey, Michigan and Texas. After discovering the West Coast while in the service, he decided to stay and attended what is now Cal State Northridge.

While living in a Studio City apartment, he became friends with a neighbor who was also an actor. Clint Eastwood thought Donner was funny and urged him to study acting, according to Donner's biography.

With uncredited roles in two John Wayne westerns — "Rio Bravo" (1959) and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962) — Donner started building a career.

He seemed to revel in "spooky, oddball roles of the street evangelist/undertaker/obsessive lawman variety," according to the online database All Movie Guide.

Among Donner's film credits are "Cool Hand Luke" (1967), "Vanishing Point" (1971), "High Plains Drifter" (1973) and "The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing" (1973). His final film, the family comedy "Hoot," was released last month.

"I guess I'm like the rest of my fellow character actors," Donner told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 1988. "I keep my guns loaded and go where the action is."

On television, he also had a long-running role as Yancy Tucker on "The Waltons" in the 1970s. He appeared in dozens of television series, including "Columbo," "The Incredible Hulk," "MacGyver," "The Fall Guy," "Matlock" and "Falcon Crest."

He was a founding member of Harvey Lembeck's comedy-improv group, the Crazy Quilt Comedy Company, which counted John Ritter, Penny Marshall and Williams among its alums.

An avid golfer, Donner frequently played in celebrity tournaments and performed stand-up comedy at various fundraisers.

He is survived by his wife, Jill, and two brothers.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-me-donner14jun14,0,4381669,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

TV Notebook
Highlights of the TV blogs, summer version

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog June 14, 2006

We have arrived at the dog days of summer early.

The surest sign of that is a press release from Animal Planet stating that the network plans to air, on June 24, a special that combines “Dancing With the Stars” and “Pet Stars” called, no surprise, “Dancing Pet Stars.” (At least they had a sense of humor about it: The title of the release was “Nobody puts Fido in the corner!”)

As last week’s summer TV preview proved, there’s still plenty of good tube fare to be found in the hottest months of the year. But if you still find yourself, thanks to the more manageable summer TV roster, with time on your hands, don’t worry, the Watcher has an action plan: Grab your laptop, get a cool beverage, find a nice shady spot in the back yard and troll these TV-related Web sites.

• “Battlestar Galactica” doesn’t return for another four months (All together now: “Arrrrghhh!”), but there’s not only footage of the show’s top brass accepting a Peabody Award at scifi.com, there’s also good stuff on the site from executive producer Ron Moore at blog.scifi.com/battlestar. He answers loads of fans questions, reveals that there’s “meaty stuff” in store for Saul Tigh, talks about his experiences in the Naval ROTC (“I don’t think I’ve ever really made peace with the experience and I probably never will”) and muses on the show’s commitment to showing the messiness of democracy (“Who is [military leader William] Adama to take god-like control of the human race?”).

• “Deadwood” is an embarrassment of riches, not just when it comes to its cast, its distinctive language and the stories it spins, but also in terms of the show’s sets and costumes, which are, in this viewer’s opinion, the best on television (and miles better than what we often see on the big screen). HBO has been promoting an interactive card game that you can play on the show’s site at www.hbo.com/deadwood, but for my money, the best “Deadwood” online features are the highly detailed, informative “tours” from production designer Maria Caso, who shares her thoughts on the show’s sets, and costume designer Katherine Jane Bryant, who offers sketches, costume photos and even cyber versions of fabric swatches here. Hats off to these ladies, who typify the “Deadwood” crew’s meticulous attention to detail.

• If you’re looking for details on what’s coming on “The Dead Zone,” which returns at 9 p.m. Sunday on USA Network, there’s a blog entry on the “Zone’s” future from executive producer Lloyd Segan as well as an overview of upcoming episodes at www.usanetwork.com/series/thedeadzone. If you’re too lazy to swing by the site, here are some mild spoilers about Season 5 of the Anthony Michael Hall show: “You will see Johnny learn more about his gift and his family’s history, Bruce defying a near-death experience, [there’s] a profound change in store for the Bannermans, and congressman Greg Stillson’s exponential growth in power and influence [continues] under the watchful eye of the enigmatic Malcolm Janus.” If you want to know more, the online season overview has “teaser scripts” with yet more details about Johnny’s upcoming adventures.

• Y’all might think that Brenda Johnson’s accent on “The Closer” is a little O.T.T., to use a Britishism (“over the top”). Still, the “Southern slang dictionary” at "Brenda's Corner" here is fairly entertaining, as is the bunch of audio clips of Johnson’s greatest lines, including this gem: “I stopped believing in boys who say `Trust me’ when I was 16.”

• Surely the most entertaining writer’s blog out there this summer (now that the “Grey’s Anatomy” writers’ site is on a break) is the surreal site from John Scurti, who writes for “Rescue Me” and plays Lt. Shea on the show. One of Scurti’s recent updates reported (with typically deranged black humor) some tension between the “Rescue Me” set and that of another hit cable show: “The cast of `The Sopranos’ films their show right next to us here in Queens and have taken to randomly shooting at us. We thought they were blanks until they killed one of our grips. That’s the last time I ever get their Frisbee off our roof.”

• I get it, I get it, some people think even a smidge of Kathy Griffin is too much. We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one. For those of us who find her hilarious, check out her online takedown of her unappreciative houseguest, charity auction winner Michael, on her Bravo blog. “Michael was just so … what’s the word I’m looking for here … oh, yeah -- rude. Really, really, really rude,” Griffin writes. There’s nothing up yet on her blog about her trip to Iraq, by the way, but I’ve seen that episode, which airs Tuesday, and darned if I didn’t get a lump in my throat when Griffin was visiting injured soldiers in the hospital (she got misty, too, if I’m not mistaken).

• Gateworld.net, the best site for “Stargate”-related news (even Entertainment Weekly thinks so; the mag recently profiled the site), informs readers that Peoria native David Ogden Stiers (Gene Purdy on “The Dead Zone” and of course Charles Winchester III on “M*A*S*H”), has been cast in a key role on “Stargate Atlantis.”

• The most enjoyable new feature at bbcamerica.com is the new “Footballers Wives Quiz,” a 10-question test that purports to tell you which glam, tacky sports spouse you most resemble. Good thing I have no shame, or I might have a problem revealing that the quiz informed me I most resemble Shannon, and added this assessment of the dippy would-be model and her ilk: “In your head, a legendary career as a supermodel is just a couple of sashays away. Forget that your belly wobbles beneath your chemise … You’re the kind of girl who overdoes it in the hair, makeup, and clothes department. Just add the silicon implants, and before you know it, you look like a third-string tranny ho.(Trust us, not a good thing.)” Third string? Now that hurts.

• Other TV sites that I check fairly obsessively (and these are just a few of them): invaluable news roundup TVTattle.com; Reality Blurred (a must in this reality-heavy summer); the staff blogs at tvguide.com, especially those by Michael Ausiello and Matt Roush; Give Me My Remote; the LA Times’ Channel Island TV industry site; and the message boards and the new “Farscape” recaps (there are three up now, and more coming soon) at TelevisionWithoutPity.com.

Note: Go directly to Maureen’s blog to get quick access to all the sites she mentions:

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

TV Notebook
Highlights of the TV blogs, summer version

By Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune TV blog June 14, 2006



• “Battlestar Galactica” doesn’t return for another four months (All together now: “Arrrrghhh!”),
More appropriately it should be, :( :)

“Arrrrghhh!”

Critic’s Notebook
Networks don't waste best now

By Rick Kushman Sacramento Bee TV Columnist Wednesday, June 14, 2006

We're hitting one of those slow patches in the TV world, which is a good time to remind folks who are whining -- I mean, asking politely -- why summer TV is in such a slow patch.

First rhetorical question: Wouldn't you rather be outside on a warm summer evening?

That's the core of it. TV viewership drops like a brick during summer. School is out, people are on vacation, the barbecues are smokin'. TV doesn't seem as much fun as an outside party.

Years ago, networks stopped trying to fight nature. They didn't air many shows worth watching from June to August, which made not watching TV even a better choice. Over the decades, TV networks developed their budgets to count on repeats during the summer to get a little more return for their investment in fall shows by rerunning them twice (or more).

In a simple world, that would be a generally OK arrangement, but when was the last time the world was simple? In the past decade or so, summer TV has changed.

It started with some smart cable networks, which began launching their best shows in the summer to take advantage of the network weakness. They figured that even if the pool of people willing to stay inside for TV was smaller, it was still a smart bet when their competition was repeats of sitcoms.

Now, for instance, TNT has just started "The Closer," HBO just kicked off "Deadwood" and "Entourage," and USA Network just opened the season of "The 4400," plus it restarts "The Dead Zone" on Sunday and "Monk" on July 7. Still, it's not as if they program every night of the week.

In recent years, the big broadcast networks have talked about presenting new dramas and comedies year-round, but the truth is, they can't afford it, particularly these days when they have to fight harder for profits in an increasingly competitive media world.

Despite the talk, it won't happen because 1) the cost of producing a wholly new, high-end drama for summer would be over the top, and 2) if a network did come up with a truly good series, they'd save it for a time when more people watch TV. Only the scripted shows getting burned off see summer air. (Which explains NBC's summer drama "Windfall." It was once scheduled for midseason, then NBC realized how lame it is.)

However, and you probably know where this is going, enter reality TV. Most reality is much cheaper to make, and it more or less fits our summer psyche, which is to say, a lot of us prefer to avoid too much hard thinking.

Three of TV's biggest recent reality monsters, "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" in 1999, CBS' "Survivor" in 2000 and Fox's "American Idol" in 2002, all started in the summer.

Now, we've got some contradictions going here. Let's clear them up. Despite our culture's general lack of interest in the summer tube, viewers still respond when something catches their attention. And those three monster shows were not expensive their first times out because none of the networks thought they'd do well. Hence, their summer launches.

So here's where that leaves us. The good reality shows, such as "Idol" or "Survivor," air during the main TV season. Shows like CBS' "Big Brother" run in the summer. Or shows like NBC's "Last Comic Standing," which is actually pretty decent but did not draw well in the fall.

There are, by one count, 40 reality-style series of some kind running this summer. If you want, you can watch people dance, juggle, learn to date or live in a big house together and be really, really boring. In the gaps, there are a few series on cable worth catching. Particularly on Sunday nights. I don't really know why.

But the critic's choice from here is, take a bike ride, sit on the porch, go for a walk or maybe just wander over to say hi to the neighbors, especially if you can smell a barbecue going in their backyard.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/columns/kushman/v-print/story/14267469p-15079182c.html

Stephen King gave a nice BSG plug in the last episode of Entertainment Weekly in his column "The Summer Book Awards". For Best Science Fiction Writer he says:
Robert Charles Wilson. I'm not a big science-fiction fan, but I'll read anything with a story and a low geek factor. Wilson is a hell of a storyteller, and the geek factor in his books is zero. Like Battlestar Gallactica on TV, this is SF that doesn't know it's SF..........

A few people have written me asking to name some of my favorite TV writers.

So I am putting together a list I'll share with all some time soon (I can just feel the excitement building!) :D

But before I post my favorites, which writers about TV do you find interesting, knowledgeable or just fun to read?

Gary? from Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

CP95:

If I were Mr. Wilson, I think I'd get that page from EW and mail it to Stephen King to get it autographed.

Then I'd frame it and hang it on the wall.

Pretty wonderful compliment.

Maybe it will translate to some more viewers.

Gary? from Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
You mean Rob Owen?

Stephen King gave a nice BSG plug in the last episode of Entertainment Weekly in his column "The Summer Book Awards". For Best Science Fiction Writer he says:
Good quote, right on the money.



(Fred-Second request-did you get my PM??) :p

You mean Rob Owen?

That's him. I knew it was something like Gary. ;)

No, Jim, I did not.

CP95:
I disagree with Gary -- er Rob -- quite a lot, but he is a solid reporter (and answers his emails pretty faithfully).

A few people have written me asking to name some of my favorite TV writers.

So I am putting together a list I'll share with all some time soon (I can just feel the excitement building!) :D

But before I post my favorites, which writers about TV do you find interesting, knowledgeable or just fun to read?
Tim Goodman-SF Chronicle, he pretty much cuts through the crap and makes no bones about why he says what he says, he can be brutal but honest. I trust his opinions, most of the time...

Anybody who has followed this thread much would probably be able to guess my picks pretty easily -- I post from them continually.

Obviously Tim easily made the list!

No, Jim, I did not.
My box was full, it didn't get sent..just sent it again. :)

Tim Goodman-SF Chronicle, he pretty much cuts through the crap and makes no bones about why he says what he says, he can be brutal but honest. I trust his opinions, most of the time...
Read his blog for the 12th of June. He just bought an HDTV and has some comments on how great it is and how little programing is available for it. Now he understands...... :p

Laters,
Mikef5

I thought I posted that here -- but now that I think more about it, I was afraid a few of the newbie HDTV mistakes he made (which we all did when WE were new!) would get him savaged by the many "purists" here.

So I didn't post it.

But you are right, Mike, it IS a great read.

It's here:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=24

Read his blog for the 12th of June. He just bought an HDTV and has some comments on how great it is and how little programing is available for it. Now he understands...... :p

Laters,
Mikef5
Mike, we need to make Goodman very clear on what Comcast does to some of us in the bay area, hopefully he lives in one of the ghetto areas!!

Mike, we need to make Goodman very clear on what Comcast does to some of us in the bay area, hopefully he lives in one of the ghetto areas!!
You know he did say he wanted to do a piece on what the differences are between the different providers, Comcast, Dish and Directv. So maybe some ear bending would be appropriate.. :D

Laters,
Mikef5

More details on next week's FCC meeting.

Washington Notebook
FCC to Impose Multicast Must-Carry
OK, I think I've figured out my stance on must carry.

It looks to me like must carry for multi-cast will encourage the OTA channels to do more multi-casting. This means less HD.

So I'm against must carry.

Too simple?

Xesdeeni

Cable TV Notebook
ESPN2 World Cup Rating Up 200%


Good call by Comcast to add ESPN2 HD.

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

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Jitterbug: Fox's 'Dance' cuts more rug

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 15, 2006, 10:47

If new hits are judged by comparisons to old ones, Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” is nearing some pretty impressive levels. The second hour of last night’s 120-minute show nearly matched the rating of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” on the same night last summer, and “Stars” was last summer’s biggest hit.

“Dance” averaged a 4.6 adults 18-49 overnight rating last night at 9 p.m., just 0.2 behind “Stars” on the same Wednesday last year. For the second straight week, “Dance” built on the previous one, jumping 10 percent over last week’s 4.2 rating.

It was the highest rating yet for Fox’s second-year show, and the best showing for a summer show this season.

The first hour of “Dance” also did well, averaging a 3.4 and doubling third-place CBS’s 1.7 for an American Film Institute special at 8 p.m.

The first five episodes of “Dance,” which also airs on Thursdays, have bettered last summer’s average in 18-49s by roughly a third.

Elsewhere last night, the Stanley Cup finals on NBC continued to be a small draw, though they are building. Edmonton’s exciting win over Carolina averaged an anemic 1.7 from 8 to 11 p.m., but that was 54 percent better than Saturday’s Game 3 averaged on the network.

“Dance” helped Fox sashay to the nightly lead with a 4.0/13, followed by CBS at 2.1/7, NBC at 1.7/5, Univision at 1.6/5, ABC at 1.4/4, UPN at 1.0/3 and WB at 0.8/3.

At 8 p.m., Fox led at 3.4 for "So You Think You Can Dance," followed by Univision's 1.8 for "La Fea Mas Bella." Trailing that were a 1.7 for CBS's "AFI: 100 Years, 100 Cheers," ABC's 1.5 for reruns of "George Lopez" and Freddie," NBC's 1.3 for Game 5 the NHL Stanley Cup finals, WB's 1.0 for one original and one repeat "Blue Collar TV," and UPN at 0.9 for a repeat of the movie "The Black Knight."

At 9 p.m., Fox's "Dance" was No. 1 again at 4.6, while CBS's "100 Cheers" climbed to a 2.2. NBC's Stanley Cup and Univision's "Barrera de Amor" followed at 1.7 each, while ABC's "Lost" repeat and UPN's "Knight" each earned a 1.2. WB trailed at a 0.6 for a "One Tree Hill" repeat.

At 10 p.m., CBS led with a 2.5 for "100 Cheers," followed by NBC's 2.0 for the end of the Stanley Cup game. The series finale of ABC’s “Commander in Chief” drew just a 1.4, tying with Univision’s “Don Francisco Presenta.”

Among households, Fox led easily with a 6.5/11, followed by CBS at 5.6/10, ABC at 3.2/5, NBC at 2.7/5, Univision at 2.0/3, UPN at 1.7/3, and the WB at 1.4/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5404.asp

The Business of TV
Nielsen's big bold plan to measure TV

Vows: We'll track viewers wherever they are
By Samantha Melamed MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 15, 2006

After years of heaped abuse from media buyers and sellers over its antiquated technology for measuring America's TV viewing, Nielsen Media Research is promising an ambitious program to expand its data gathering beyond the home to every imaginable viewing venue, from saloons to internet cafes to office buildings and iPods and cell phones.

The massive upgrade, set to roll out over the coming five years, will provide media buyers with vastly expanded data about how and where people watch television, and it will also benefit the networks by tracking the rather substantial number of viewers who are tuning in away from their homes. That's an audience networks now give away to advertisers.

Nielsen's announcement of the upgrade, made yesterday, comes just weeks after the rating service backed off a proposed joint project with Arbitron to measure away-from-home TV viewing with the radio rating service's Portable People Meter, after extensive joint venture talks. It hinted at the time that it would move ahead with its own more advanced technology.

Under Nielsen's proposed timetable, it will begin this summer setting up the technology to track TV viewing on the internet. It will also be deploying a measuring system by the end of the year to begin tracking viewing on iPods and cell phones, and by the following year it expects to have in place systems to measure away-from-home viewing.

Within five years, Nielsen promises to entirely phase out the diary system for collecting local market data, supplanting it with the local people meter or other electronic measuring systems. The LPM is now in seven markets and will expand to 10 soon.

The ambitious Nielsen plan, which it dubs Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement, or A2/M2, also calls for developing new research tools to measure what it terms "viewer engagement” with television shows.

Media planners, though surprised by the initiative, generally reacted favorably. They welcome the additional data and coverage, especially away-from-home coverage, but they have their doubts.

They worry about the cost, they are not convinced Nielsen can deliver on its promises, and they worry whether sample audiences will be large enough to kick out reliable data for online and mobile viewing.

"It's a very bold initiative," says Brad Adgate, senior vice president and director of research at Horizon Media. "I've been working with Nielsen for over 20 years, and this is something that the industry really needs. The industry is moving at such a pace that they have no choice but to take on these initiatives. The keeping of diaries is so last century."

But Adgate has his doubts. "It remains to be seen whether they can accomplish all that in five years."

He wonders whether Nielsen can accomplish all of its plans by 2011. But he says if it can measure internet and mobile viewing, it would help marketers and content providers to better establish prices for advertising on alternative video platforms.

The A2/M2 internet measures would use a combination of Nielsen//NetRatings SiteCensus intelligence, which measures content delivered online, and people meter data, which Nielsen says will include internet viewing by next year. Though there are many other services that monitor internet use, a universal measure produced by Nielsen could have an advantage. Says Adgate: "If marketers want a single day in the life of how consumers interact with video media, Nielsen will have a leg up."

But Adgate and others, including Jordan Breslow, manager of national broadcast research for MediaCom, worry that Nielsen will scrimp on building a sample of sufficient size. Adgate contends that a sample for online viewing would have to be at least 10,000, because internet use is highly varied and fragmented and online television options are many and growing fast.

"It's going to be a very small sample size, so it's going to be tough to get any usable data for it," worries Breslow.

Breslow says he welcomes the idea of away-from-home viewing data, which he says will be valuable for tracking elusive 18-34s, but there too he thinks this technology is a long way off. He cautions: "I don't think they're ready for anything like that."

Buyers also worry about the added costs they will face for the expanded data. Says GSD&M broadcast research manager Susan Hajny: "We want to prove as much as we can with data, but there's a fine line about how much we're willing to pay."

But Hajny says she is excited about the promise of out-of-home viewing data. "It's something we've waited a long time for, and as media becomes more mobile, that's a viewing option more people are choosing."

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_5378.asp

TV Notebook
Stopwatch Ticking for Dan Rather

CBS to Drop Ex-Anchor From '60 Minutes'
By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, June 15, 2006; C01

NEW YORK -- CBS executives have decided there is no future role at the network for Dan Rather, making it certain that the man who sat in the anchor chair for 24 years will depart by this fall.

These executives recognize Rather's contributions over four decades and are not trying to boot him because of the controversy surrounding his botched story on President Bush and the National Guard, say network sources who declined to be named while discussing a sensitive personnel matter. But the executives concluded there was no room for Rather at "60 Minutes," particularly with incoming anchor Katie Couric planning to report a half-dozen stories a year and the hiring of CNN's Anderson Cooper as a part-time contributor.

Rather's contract expires in November, but the sources say he might leave before that, depending on negotiations with CBS.

Rather, 74, declined to discuss his future this week. "I'm contracted to be a full-time '60 Minutes' correspondent, and I'm working on that contract," he said. People familiar with Rather's situation say he has had no serious negotiations with any of the cable networks but has attracted interest from people developing projects for television.

Rather has said several times that "my best work is still ahead of me." He is described by friends as hurt and puzzled by the attitude of CBS management.

Rather joined "60 Minutes II" after leaving the anchor job in March 2005, and was shifted to the original Sunday night program when the weekday edition was canceled months later. But with the Sunday program's team of correspondents -- Ed Bradley, Morley Safer, Lesley Stahl and Steve Kroft -- having been joined by such former "60 II" reporters as Scott Pelley and Bob Simon and part-timers such as Lara Logan, executive producer Jeff Fager has a glut of contributors.

Rather has done eight pieces for the program this season, ranging from interviews with Bill Clinton and George Clooney to a segment on the Whole Foods grocery chain to a report on his visit to North Korea. But with "60 Minutes" largely in reruns for the summer, Rather has had little to do since then and is not in the program's plans for the fall season.

Some CBS staffers are sad about the turn of events, viewing it as a difficult moment for a man who once interviewed world leaders and went into war zones for the network. They question why the network can't find a suitable place for Rather in light of his long service to CBS.

The CBS executives hope a dignified exit can be arranged and that Rather can find a second career, perhaps in cable, the sources say. But they also believe that with Couric debuting as anchor in September, the news division needs to move on from the Rather era. And the fallout over his 2004 piece alleging that the Guard had given Bush favorable treatment -- based on documents that the network later acknowledged could not be authenticated -- has been a complicating factor.

Rather has accumulated his share of detractors at the network over the years. Mike Wallace, the "60 Minutes" veteran who recently relinquished his full-time duties, has said Rather should have resigned over the Guard story in a gesture of solidarity with his colleagues who worked on the segment. Three top CBS News executives quit under pressure, and Rather's producer Mary Mapes was fired, after an independent panel found that they had "failed miserably" to verify the disputed documents and that some had made misleading statements in defending the story.

Rather, who apologized on the air for the segment, relinquished the anchor chair earlier than he had planned. He made the announcement weeks before the panel, headed by former U.S. attorney general Dick Thornburgh and former Associated Press chief executive Lou Boccardi, released its findings.

CBS is also trying to attract a younger audience for "60 Minutes," which has been on the air since 1968, and Rather's age is hardly consistent with giving the broadcast a fresher look.

Pictures of Rather reporting from around the world still line the corridors at CBS, a reminder of the storied if controversial career of the man who covered John F. Kennedy's assassination and succeeded Walter Cronkite in 1981. Rather's broadcast was No. 1 among the evening newscasts for several years, and when "CBS Evening News" slipped into third place in the 1990s, Rather cast himself as a hard-news champion in an era when television was increasingly focusing on softer features, crime and celebrities.

Interim CBS anchor Bob Schieffer has made the program more competitive with ABC's second-place "World News Tonight," which last month handed the anchor reins to Charlie Gibson.

From his talking back to President Richard Nixon at a 1973 news conference about Watergate to his confrontational 1988 interview with then-Vice President George Bush over Iran-contra, Rather became a lightning rod for conservatives who argued that he leaned to the left. But he also had a knack for landing big interviews and big stories. Rather was the last Western journalist to interview Saddam Hussein before the 2003 war, and the following year disclosed the first photos of Iraqi prisoners being abused at Abu Ghraib.

At his peak, Rather anchored the evening news, contributed to "60 Minutes," hosted "48 Hours" and did regular radio commentaries, often sprinkling his delivery with the down-home Texas sayings that became known as "Dan-isms."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/14/AR2006061402394_pf.html

The TV Column
Dial M for Mushy

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, June 15, 2006; C07

"We live in a fame epidemic right now -- everyone wants to be famous," Simon Cowell told the Reporters Who Cover Television this week during a conference call to promote his NBC talent competition "America's Got Talent," which debuts Wednesday.

Lucky thing for him, too, because, what with Fox's ratings-game-changer "American Idol," ABC's spring series "American Inventor" and "America's Got Talent," Cowell has pretty much cashed in on the disease, even though "American Inventor" was something of a ratings bust, though it just was reordered for a second season.

In the U.K., where he also produces various competition series, the epidemic is even worse, says the British Cowell.

"Unfortunately it's a worldwide problem and it's getting worse by the day," he said disingenuously.

Simon's not allowed to appear on air on "America's Got Talent," per his very cushy "Idol" deal with Fox. Instead U.K. "media personality" Piers Morgan will play Simon Lite on the show, joining fellow judges David Hasselhoff and pop singer Brandy. Regis Philbin will host the weekly show in which singers, dancers, comics and some guy who balanced a 300-pound oven on his face while cooking three eggs on it compete to win a million-dollar prize.

For most of the rest of yesterday's call, Cowell and Philbin sucked up to each other. It was revolting; we like Nasty Simon much better than Lamby Simon.

Lamby Simon says things like:

• "I thought I was being celebrity-punked by someone," when told Rege was interesting in hosting the show.

• "I never in a million years dreamed I could get Regis; it was the quickest and easiest decision any of us had to make. . . . NBC said yes in a millionth of a second and was doing cartwheels."

• "You bring star power to a show, it makes everything so much easier. The impact he had on the judges, on everyone who auditioned -- everyone just went nuts. It's very rare when that happens on a new show."

• "I mean every word of that, Regis. It's brilliant having you on it."

Lamby Simon also says Regis is "better looking, less vain, better at ad-libbing" than "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest.

"And, he likes me," Simon added. Gak!

Rege returned the favor by saying that while he loves "American Idol" because it gives "all those young people a chance to get up there and show their stuff and maybe hit the pot of gold," quite frankly "it was Simon Cowell who single-handedly caught the attention of the whole country and brought them to this show. He wasn't afraid to call it the way he saw it. . . . People tuned in to see exactly what he was going to say."

"Regis, I love you -- I love you, Regis. I need this on a daily basis. I do appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks for that, Regis," Simon gushed.

See what I mean? Revolting.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/14/AR2006061402199_pf.html

TV Notebook
My Assignment: Watching Television

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle in his TV blog

Oh, the calls are entertaining. "Are you in Darfur?" asked a good friend. He cackled. Another said, "It looks like you're on assignment to Cole Coffee." That's my local coffee place in the 'hood, just FYI. Nice. It's always good to know your friends love you.

OK, so "on assignment" is a bit nebulous. But I love that it drives my friends insane. They actually work for a living. A couple of them actually work hard. The only thing that drives them more insane than "on assignment" is "on vacation." I get a decent chunk of vacation time. More jokes come then. "Sooooo, are you just going to chill out and watch some TV." Yeah, I've heard that a lot. Or this one: "On vacation from what? Watching TV for a living?" Another chestnut: "Glad to see you're off the couch and by the pool. Way to shake it up."

To which I say...well, nothing really. Kind of hard to defend a job that pays you to watch television. Anybody who knows me, however, knows that I'm the first person to tell the truth. I'm not breaking rocks for a living. I'm not doing half the work of a lot of other people. I definitely work long hours and there's a certain amount of stress to high productivity, but none of that matters in comparison to others. Nobody needs to tell me I've got a dream job.

And yet, at least with my friends, I take a certain amount of pleasure (read: a lot) in playing up this little gift. I used to golf pretty regularly - like 70+ rounds a year - and there was nothing better than saying, "I filed my story at midnight and I was on the course by 7 a.m. As you hear this message, I'll be having an Anchor Steam. Have fun in Cleveland."

But now that I've got two small kids and what I like to refer to as This Stupid Blog, well, time is much more limited. And yet, it's true that I'm "on assignment" right now. And normally I'd be plowing through the fall season - most of the shows for next season are at my house, sitting in little DVD stacks, divided by networks. But if that's my assignment, I'm failing at it. (Shhhhhh, don't say anything.) Ever since I got the HDTV on Saturday, life has changed. I just sit there and stare at it. Mmmmmmm...big TV...look at picture...picture good....

Plus, this is a crazy time for sports. NBA playoffs. Baseball. World Cup. Tennis. And...The U.S. Open. I have no idea if they're going to broadcast golf's toughest test in HD, but I can tell you that ESPN has been doing field reports from Winged Foot in HD and it's like a whole new world. Baseball is unbelievably better in HD. I never watch soccer, but I'm all over the World Cup in HD. But golf - now there's a sport that has essentially been wasted on my standard TV (not that it has stopped me from watching - think less of me if you will, but I love golf on TV). Anyway, normally you can't see a damned thing when the ball's in flight. Maybe a blurry white spec. Now? A whole new world.

How good is it? Well, I essentially gave up the game three years ago because if you can't practice then you suck, and I don't like sucking any more than I already do, and there was no time to practice. I've resisted returning for reasons too stupid and mundane to list here (though that hasn't stopped this ENTIRE post), and yet, watching golf in HD, I'm ready for the comeback.

Of course, if I start playing golf again, this blog is dead.

Until then, I just wanted you to know that three networks have called me asking my opinion of the new fall season (you know, before they get officially hammered, they want to know which way I'm leaning). Answer: Haven't watched any pilots. (Shhhhhhh.) Reason: Some pretty great sports on HD. So when you pick up the Chronicle on Friday and it says, "Tim Goodman is on assignment," there are basically three possibilities:

1) He's watching the U.S. Open in Hi-Def (or the World Cup, or the NBA Finals, or the Giants - where's the HD for THAT? - etc.).

2) He's out in the back yard, having a Steam, pretending to be watching the new CW pilots.

3) He's, uh, blogging.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=24

Washington Notebook
Bush signs law increasing fines for indecent broadcasts

The Hollywood Reporter June 16, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The long battle over hiking fines for indecency on broadcast airwaves came to an end Thursday when President Bush signed the bill that increases the fines for such violations tenfold.

The FCC can now fine broadcast companies up to $325,000 for each violation. It also gives the FCC the authority to levy a broadcast company with as much as a $3 million fine for one show in violation of commission indecency rules.

"In recent years, broadcast programming has too often pushed the bounds of decency," Bush said at the White House signing ceremony.

"The language is becoming coarser during the times when it's more likely children will be watching television."

Bush added that even with the new fines in place, "parents have the final responsibility over the television shows that their children watch, or the Web sites they visit, or the music they listen to."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002689075

Critic’s Notebook
Networks don't waste best now

By Rick Kushman Sacramento Bee TV Columnist Wednesday, June 14, 2006

But the critic's choice from here is, take a bike ride, sit on the porch, go for a walk or maybe just wander over to say hi to the neighbors, especially if you can smell a barbecue going in their backyard.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/columns/kushman/v-print/story/14267469p-15079182c.html

Or as I like to do whether it fall or summer, go to the gym and record everything on your dvr. 1) It gets you out of the house and interacting with numerous people and 2) It's actually good for you.

Bring on Big Brother .......................

OK, I think I've figured out my stance on must carry.

It looks to me like must carry for multi-cast will encourage the OTA channels to do more multi-casting. This means less HD.

So I'm against must carry.

Too simple?

Xesdeeni

Nope, that's how I see it too. But it won't necessarily mean less HD, just worse HD - fuzzier and full of artifacts. Well, at least we'll be able to say we were there for the brief "golden era" of broadcast HD, before greed, special interests, and a clueless Congress ruined it for everybody. :(

Sports On TV
Early word: World Cup viewing soars

By Heidi Dawley MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 15, 2006

If the opening soccer game is anything to go by, it looks like World Cup 2006 is set to capture a good number more eyeballs than World Cup 2002.

Preliminary numbers from 27 markets show that an average of 63 million individuals tuned in to see live coverage of Germany overwhelming Costa Rica in a 4-2 victory on June 9, according to Initiative. That’s up some 30 percent over the opening game between France and Senegal in World Cup 2002.

And when all 50 countries that are tracked have reported, Initiative expects the live global audience for the match to be in excess of 150 million viewers.

“Audience growth has more than doubled in many countries, and more than tripled in Germany and the Netherlands,” writes Kevin Alavy, senior analyst at Initiative Futures, in a report on the games. In Germany the average audience for the live match was 20.1 million.

Looking at the numbers so far for the opening game show it’s on target to become the most watched sporting event on TV so far this year, according to Initiative.

It also looks like the World Cup overall is on track to hit Alavy’s viewership forecast. He predicted prior to kickoff the World Cup will get a live cumulative audience of 5 billion people.

Yet these viewing figures tell only part of the story. While the opening game viewing numbers for 2006 were well up compared with World Cup 2002, they were actually down 17 percent compared with World Cup 1998.

This yo-yo effect is thanks in large part to time zones. Looking at World Cup 2006 versus 2002, one fundamental reason for the elevated numbers in 2006 is that the World Cup is being held in Germany. That means Europeans get primetime games and North and South Americans get afternoon games.

The last World Cup was held in Asia, so the games were not held during convenient viewing hours for Europeans or those in South America, hence the slumping figures.

But back in 1998 the games were also in Europe, with France the host nation. That meant good viewing times for European and South American audiences, and therefore good ratings.

“Holding the World Cup in Germany means that it is a heck of a lot more interesting for Europe and South America,” says Alavy, who also believes that the dynamic nature of this year’s opening game also helps explain its success in attracting viewers in comparison to 2002.

Yet, while differing time zones helps explain why 2002 slumped, just why 1998’s opening game nabbed more eyeballs than 2006 is another question.

Alavy doesn’t believe that football has lost any of its appeal in the intervening years. Instead he believes that back in 1998 a vast majority of the countries broadcast all the games on terrestrial TV. These days, however, the some countries are broadcasting some games on pay TV platforms, and he thinks this is denting viewership numbers.

“Terrestrial TV audiences for a match can in some cases be a factor of as much as 100 times larger than those on pay TV,” says Alavy.

Looking at some specific country figures for the opening game, folks switched on to watch in large numbers in such countries as Poland (6.4 million), France (6.0 million) and Italy (5.6 million).

In Argentina, which is rife with football fans, the Germany versus Costa Rica game got a 25 rating, meaning one in four were watching the game on average. That compares to a rating of 12 in 2002. However, in 1998, when the country’s nemesis Brazil played in the opening game, making it a must-see event for Argentineans, the game got a 43 rating.

In France figures so far have been buoyant, with a live audience of some 4.4 million individuals watching the first eight games over the opening weekend.

That’s up 8 percent compared to the first eight games in 2002. However, France played a game on the opening weekend in 2002, yet didn’t in 2006. That means on a like-for-like basis viewership actually jumped some 33 percent in 2006 compared to 2002, and was just a smidgen below the 1998 figure.

Figures clearly show the strong lure of watching your own team play. In Italy, some 5.6 million watched the opening game (Germany vs. Costa Rica), but when Italy played Ghana over 20.1 million watched the game live.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5377.asp

A few people have written me asking to name some of my favorite TV writers.

So I am putting together a list I'll share with all some time soon (I can just feel the excitement building!) :D

But before I post my favorites, which writers about TV do you find interesting, knowledgeable or just fun to read?


Glad you asked. Maureen Ryan-Chicago Tribune, Tom Shales-WashPost, but he's leaving, Tim Goodman - San Fran Chrono, that writer from the Orlando Sentinel and the writer from the Palm Beach Post, the writer for the Akron paper and the TV Guide writer. Also that Nikki lady from LA Weekly or whatever it's called. Any writer from Variety except for the guy whose last name is hard to pronounce. I've hard enough of his lazily written sentences and made out terms. ;) The writer for the Pitt paper isn't bad either.

Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer

O, forgot to add Lisa as probably my favorite writer. I lover her dry humor b/c it doesn't hit you over the head, but it can be funny as hell when it is coming at you and even after you have absorbed it. My humor style is more dry so that's probably why I like her stuff.

Glad you asked. Maureen Ryan-Chicago Tribune, Tom Shales-WashPost, but he's leaving, Tim Goodman - San Fran Chrono, that writer from the Orlando Sentinel and the writer from the Palm Beach Post, the writer for the Akron paper and the TV Guide writer. Also that Nikki lady from LA Weekly or whatever it's called. Any writer from Variety except for the guy whose last name is hard to pronounce. I've hard enough of his lazily written sentences and made out terms. ;) The writer for the Pitt paper isn't bad either.


Antonio:

It is true that Tom Shales accepted a buyout from the Washington Post.

But as I understand it he'll remain at the paper for at least the immediate future and write under contract.

The Business of TV
Katie Couric Brings Home the Bacon

By Claire Atkinson AdAge.com

NEW YORK -- Katie Couric has already made CBS $15 million and she hasn't even got behind the anchor desk yet. Speaking to analysts Tuesday, CBS Corp. Chairman-CEO Leslie Moonves said the company wouldn't be making any major acquisitions.

But one participant reminded him of one big buy he made in recent weeks, Ms. Couric, who agreed in May to quit NBC's "Today" after 15 years to join the CBS "Early Evening News" this fall.

"Katie probably paid for herself in the first week of our upfront," Mr. Moonves responded. "We brought in about $15 million more for the 'Early Evening News' in the first week."

That should cover her first year's salary, given that CBS is reportedly paying the news anchor $15 million a year. When it was announced that Couric was shifting to CBS, media-agency executives played down the significance of the move and offered that they didn't expect an uptick in sales as a result.

A few weeks ago, however, CBS said it had been contacted by marketers that aren't traditional evening-news advertisers, an indication of more interest than folks had been letting on.

Mr. Moonves predicted that Ms. Couric's move from the "Today" show, coupled with Charlie Gibson's departure from ABC's "Good Morning America," would yield some turmoil in morning viewership.

If that occurs, Mr. Moonves will be hoping for windfall in the morning hours, too. CBS plans to use Ms. Couric occasionally during the a.m.

When asked if he's planning any other "talent" acquisitions, Mr. Moonves quipped: "She will be one of the best bargains. I've already made my money back. There aren't too many Katies."

http://www.adage.com/print?article_id=109914

A few people have written me asking to name some of my favorite TV writers.

So I am putting together a list I'll share with all some time soon (I can just feel the excitement building!) :D

But before I post my favorites, which writers about TV do you find interesting, knowledgeable or just fun to read?

I like this guy named fredfa over at avsforum. His information is timely, and he does his best to present all perspectives. He is mostly a conduit for other peoples information (much like other tv writers). His HOTP thread is pretty much my sole source for tv related news. I suspect he is far too modest to make your list, but he still gets my vote.

ESPN brings it's cable/telco/DBS model (everybody pays whether they watch ESPN or not) to the internet.

The Business of TV
ESPN selling premium content to Net providers

Cable TV network's strategy sparks fears of higher online rates
By Hiawatha Bray Boston Globe Staff June 15, 2006

American office workers can watch every play of the midday World Cup soccer games on their desktop computers -- but only if they subscribe to the right Internet providers.

In a strategy inspired by cable television , the Walt Disney Company's ESPN sports network offers online broadcasts of the World Cup and other sporting events as premium Internet programming. Internet providers who want to offer the service, called ESPN360, must pay special fees for the right to carry it, in the same way that cable TV systems pay Disney to carry ESPN's TV shows.

So far, a handful of Internet providers, including Verizon Communications Inc., Adelphia Communications Corp., and Charter Communications Inc., have signed up for ESPN360, making it available to about 8 million US households.

It's a policy that could help Disney and other companies find new revenue streams for their entertainment offerings.

``We are really talking about high-quality premium content that a lot of consumers have a demand for," said Tanya Van Court, vice president and general manager of new media video products at ESPN.

Bill Heilig , Verizon's executive director for portal and content services, said his company has similar deals with online content providers such as Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc., and Viacom Inc. These give Verizon services and features that distinguish it from rivals like cable TV giant Comcast Corp.

``It is similar to the cable model," said Heilig. ``We go out and source the best combination of content and services."

But others worry that making the Internet more like cable TV will lead to higher prices, as consumers are forced to pay for premium services they don't want.

``It doesn't matter if you're not a sports fan. You're going to pay," said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a high-tech public interest group.

The rise of premium Internet programming comes when Congress is considering ``network neutrality" legislation that would ban Internet providers like Verizon from charging extra fees to companies that want to distribute their content over new premium-quality data networks. A coalition of non profit groups and Internet content companies, including Microsoft and Yahoo, say that allowing Internet companies to charge them for the data they broadcast could cripple creativity on the Internet.

Sohn is one of those lobbying for a ban on premium network fees. But she has no problem with companies charging premium prices for their Internet content, as long as only those who use the services pay for them. If the Internet companies use an ``a la carte" pricing system, customers would pay only for the Internet services that they use, and the cost of ESPN360 would be borne only by those who want it instead of being spread out across everyone who subscribes to a participating provider.

``The Internet's been great because it's been a la carte," Sohn said. ``It allows consumers to pay for what they want."

Cable TV companies are under pressure to embrace the a la carte system. A bill recently introduced in Congress by Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona would grant video providers a streamlined nationwide licensing process, bypassing the need to get licenses from thousands of local government bodies. In exchange, the companies would agree to let customers pick only the channels they want.

For now, Verizon has no plans to offer its premium Internet services on an a la carte basis. All subscribers to the company's broadband services get free access to ESPN360, as well as a choice of either Microsoft's MSN Premium service or Verizon Yahoo Internet service. Verizon has also signed a deal with Viacom to offer exclusive content related to Viacom's Nickelodeon and MTV cable TV channels.

Verizon's Heilig said that the addition of premium content isn't driving up the price of his company's broadband services. ``Our broadband rates are among the lowest, if not the lowest," he said.

Meanwhile, ESPN plans to use another cable TV gimmick to boost interest in its Internet service -- a free sample of ESPN360. From June 26 through July 19, broadband users can log onto espn360.com to watch World Cup games and other programming, even if their Internet provider hasn't signed a deal with ESPN.

http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/articles/2006/06/15/espn_selling_premium_content_to_net_providers?mode=PF

Yesterday an email from MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann came toklight in which he called fellow MSNBC host Rita Cosby “dumber than a suitcase of rocks”.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7830113&&#post7830113
But after reading emails Olbermann has sent to viewers it is not so easy to see that he isn’t the dumb one. Really dumb.

Cable TV Notebok
Principles Keith can swear by

By Lloyd Grove The New York Daily News Staff Writer

Keith Olbermann's vacation isn't going so well.

He was forced to apologize yesterday after more of his E-mails found their way to my inbox and exposed the host of MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" as insulting and frequently obscene in an acrimonious exchange with two viewers who taunted him.

Olbermann's antagonists, who asked not to be named, repeatedly claimed in their June 8 E-mails that dead Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was Olbermann's "hero," prompting the television star to advise: "Hey, save the oxygen for somebody whose brain can use it. Kill yourself."

After I forwarded that and other E-mails to an MSNBC exec, Olbermann wrote: "I apologize to anyone who might take offense at my part of this correspondence. It goes without saying that I should not have replied to these abusive and hateful E-mails, but I wonder how many of us could receive literally hundreds of them questioning our patriotism, religion and ethnic origin, without succumbing to the natural wish to confront such hate?"

Here are some examples of Olbermann "confronting hate":

• "Given how far you are from knowing your a- from your elbow about my industry, you couldn't be stupider, wronger, or dumber ..."

• "Go - your mother."

• "You 'Americans' still watching that evil f- O'Reilly?"

Apparently, they are. Fox News' Bill O'Reilly draws six times the viewership of his 8 p.m. weekday rival.

MSNBC declined to comment yesterday, but Olbermann is scheduled to return to work on Monday.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/426803p-360015c.html

TV Review
A scavenger hunt without a clue

By Verne Gay Newsday Staff Writer June 16, 2006

There's a big ol' treasure out there ... somewhere. It was left by our forefathers - you know, guys like Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln - and they sprinkled a bunch of clues to its whereabouts around places like Hawaii and Alaska. All this was done, apparently, so that one day several centuries hence, a network called "NBC" could launch a reality show called "Treasure Hunters."

And who said our forefathers weren't totally awesome dudes?

Really: It's just remarkable the stuff you can learn on TV these days. On "Treasure Hunters" (Sunday 8 PM ET/PT, NBC) - which, by the way, is a masterful replica of "Amazing Race" - this is what those who have 120 good minutes to slaughter on Sunday night will learn. There are 10 teams, with such names as "Wild Hanlons," "Geniuses," "Miss USA," "Ex-CIA," "Southie Boys," each of whom is given a cell phone (a Motorola), a laptop (Web access only to Ask.com) and a credit card (Visa). Go forth, young men and women! Find the clues left behind by an "ancient, secret society" that was apparently founded by our forefathers and still exists! And - by all means - mention the corporate brand name tie-ins as frequently as possible! Washington/Jefferson/Lincoln won't mind!

And off they go.

Five teams are deposited in Maui, and five in Alaska. The music is driving, pulsating (think "Amazing Race"). The drama is palpable (think well-established "Amazing Race" editing techniques that feature stock shots of people, say, jumping off boats or running around like headless chickens). The meaning of all this is, alas, somewhat elusive. (Ah, but who said our forefathers wanted to make things easy?)

Because so many viewers will have seen this kind of reality show before, their minds may start to wander by the second commercial break. Are the three guys on the Ex-CIA Team by any chance the same ones we might have sent to find the weapons of mass destruction? They do seem kind of hapless. Why did the producers place the members of Team "Miss USA" - comprised of ex-Miss USA contestants - in Alaska and not Hawaii? As a result, viewers missed a great opportunity to see them in bikinis.

There's a host. His name is Laird Macintosh, and he interacts with team members through their Motorolas. When they find a clue that tells them to go someplace else, he tells them (in effect) congratulations, now go someplace else.

There are mysteries along the way, but - truthfully - they have more to do with the show than with the hidden treasure. Here's one of them. Teams are rushing all over Alaska and Maui trying to beat the other teams, and some of them, in fact, are far ahead, while others are far behind. But for some reason, they all seem to end up at the final location of the first episode (in Lincoln, Neb.) at the same time. Isn't this supposed to be a "race"? Wasn't one team supposed to be eliminated? Why is Laird Macintosh lurking behind the State Capitol?

Clearly our forefathers knew what they were doing. One can only hope the producers of "Treasure Hunters" do too.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ettel4781600jun16,0,4829265,print.story?coll=ny-television-headlines

TV Notebook
Rather Expects to Leave CBS News Before Contract Ends

'Finishing Details' for Departure Being Set, Rather Says
By Michele Greppi TVWeek.com June 15, 2006

Former "CBS Evening News" anchor Dan Rather said he expects to leave the CBS News operation to consider other opportunities before his contract expires in November.

"Finishing details are being worked out for me to leave CBS News after 44 years," Mr. Rather said in a Thursday interview with TelevisionWeek. The situation will be resolved sooner rather than later, he said.

Mr. Rather said he has "opportunities I can't discuss today" to consider.

A CBS News spokeswoman declined to comment.

Mr. Rather's departure from CBS follows his decision in March 2005 to step down as anchor of "CBS Evening News" after 24 years leading the broadcast. He left the anchor desk earlier than planned after a story he did for "60 Minutes II" about President George W. Bush's Vietnam-era National Guard service was discredited.

An outside investigation found no evidence of political bias at CBS News but fallout from the story led to four producers and executives losing their jobs.

Mr. Rather was re-assigned to "60 Minutes" as a full-time contributor after stepping away from the anchor desk but had only seven original stories make it onto the broadcast last season.

Mr. Rather's departure from the "60 Minutes" roster comes as other contributors arrive, including "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and CBS chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan.

Texas-bred Mr. Rather, who cultivated a courtly and quirky TV persona, joined CBS News as chief of its Southwest bureau in 1962.

After Mr. Rather left "Evening News," "Face the Nation" moderator Bob Schieffer became the interim anchor. This fall he will turn over "Evening News" to Ms. Couric after improving ratings for the program.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10203

TV Notebook
Carat Predicts Short Life for Most New Broadcast Shows


'Grey's Anatomy' Favored to Beat 'CSI' in New Slot
By Jon Lafayette TVWeek.com June 15, 2006

Only three of the new shows being introduced by the broadcast networks have a chance of moving on to a sophomore season, a report by media buyer Carat predicts.

CBS's "The Class" and "Shark," along with "'Til Death" on Fox, are likely to be the successful shows, according to Shari Anne Brill, VP and director of programming for Carat.

In the report, Ms. Brill said she expects ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" to win in the 18 to 49 demographic in its new Thursday 9 p.m. time slot against CBS's "CSI," but that CBS will win the night-a key one for advertisers-overall.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10198

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Now, just for a bit of perspective, here are last season’s Brill predictions:

“…New shows Brill believes will survive through the season are ABC’s Commander in Chief and Invasion; CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother; NBC sitcom My Name Is Earl and reality shows Three Wishes and The Apprentice: Martha Stewart; Fox drama Bones; and UPN sitcom Everybody Hates Chris. But even a show like Earl, Brill said, isn’t a lock. Series star Jason Lee should generate fans, but she wonders whether other cast members can do the same….”

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054361

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So she missed on “CIC”, “Invasion”, “Three Wishes” and ”Apprentice: Martha Stewart”. In addition, she didn’t see hit potential in “Criminal Minds”, “Ghost Whisperer”, “Close To Home, “Prison Break”, or “The War At Home”, all of which were renewed. And her assessment of “My Name IsEarl” was not really on the mark, either.

Shari Anne Brill is a recognized TV expert and what she says carries lots of weight. But it always amazes me that the TV media give people all this respect without ever looking back at their past track record.

chris_h2:

Thanks so much!

TV Notebook
Rather era ending at CBS?

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist Thu, Jun. 15, 2006

After 44 years, bang the drum slowly for Dan Rather.

Barring a miracle, CBS will not renew the legendary newsman's contract when it expires in late November. All signs point to it.

Still, like Sisyphus, Rather keeps pushing the rock at Black Rock.

"I don't quit. It's not in me," Rather, 74, said yesterday in a rare interview about his future at CBS. "As long as there's any chance I can stay and do meaningful work, that's what I want to do. Not every day can be bliss."

Bliss? The McCarthy hearings would be bliss compared to Rather's last 18 months at CBS.

Following Memogate, he was forced to step down as CBS Evening News anchor in March '05 after a record 24 years. Mike Wallace, among several other marquee colleagues, said he should have been fired.

At 60 Minutes, where Rather is a full-time correspondent, some staffers still resent his presence. He did only eight pieces last season; normal workload is about 20. His last ran June 4, several weeks after the end of the '05-06 season.

Perhaps the most damning sign: Since being named in October as CBS News president, Sean McManus has not had a single conversation with Rather, according to Rather.

In fact, the two have exchanged as much as hello only twice in that time, by Rather's calculation: in April, at an Overseas Press Club tribute to Ted Koppel, and in February at a memorial service for 60 Minutes director Artie Bloom.

"I have no feelings about it," Rather insists. "He's busy."

Rather and CBS have been in contract talks for more than three months, he says. He's too politic to say it, of course, but don't look for him to return to 60 Minutes. (Executive producer Jeff Fager could not be reached for comment.)

"We've had no conversations about carrying on at 60 Minutes," Rather says evenly. "My position is, I want to work. Maybe it's my hubris, but I still think there are things I can contribute, and I want an opportunity to do that.

"As ridiculous as it might be, I'm still trying to do great journalism. I would like to stay... . The question is whether they have anything for me to do that I think is meaningful."

Says a CBS News rep: "Dan is a 60 Minutes correspondent, and we don't comment on contractual issues."

Rather says he goes to his 60 Minutes office five days a week. He does his weekly syndicated newspaper column, "Dan Rather Reporting." He writes in his journal every day and is working on his seventh book.

If he does stay on at CBS in some capacity, don't look for Rather to set up a faux office to hang out in, as have a few others before him. It's not in his DNA. If he can't do real work at CBS, he'll do it elsewhere, he says.

"I've talked to some people," he says. "I've listened to some proposals. Some of them are nice... . I'm of good spirit. I'm doing fine. Thanks be to God, I have my health. I've had 44 years at CBS. What a 44 years they've been.

"I have no sadness. Anybody who knows me, knows I get up every morning, my feet hit the floor, and I'm thinking, 'Where's that great story?' That's where my attention is every day."

Rather says he misses doing the Evening News less than he expected, but he misses the people he did it with more than he thought he would.

"It's the camaraderie of the newsroom, the energy. I always felt it when I walked to work. The closer I got to West 57th [CBS News headquarters], I could actually feel the energy, the throbbing. I underestimated how much I would miss it."

Rather was pressured into retiring from the Evening News anchor chair earlier than he planned after he presented a report on 60 Minutes II in September 2004 questioning President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam era.

Rather vigorously defended the story, even when the authenticity of supporting documents could not be verified.

Though Rathe"I'm not suggesting that's the right way for everybody. It was the right way for me."

Although Rather backed CBS White House correspondent John Roberts as his permanent successor, he says ex-Today star Katie Couric will do a fine job when she debuts in September - as long as she recognizes the leadership responsibilities of the job.

"Anchoring, to some degree, is misunderstood and overrated by people from the outside," says Rather. "When you're the anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News, you're the face of CBS News. It is a leadership role.

"The organization takes on the personality and character of the person in that anchor chair. To have credibility inside, you have to see yourself as a leader and exhibit leadership skills. One can argue how well, or how badly, I did that."

For Rather, that meant leading by example and "never asking other reporters to do what I wasn't willing to do myself. You've got to go to a war. You've got to walk the ground.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//14820263.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

TV Notebook
CBS Summer Changes

From Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

Here's an announcement from CBS today...

The houseguests of BIG BROTHER: ALL-STARS have a new home on Sundays, one of several summer scheduling changes announced today by CBS.

The Saturday edition of BIG BROTHER: ALL-STARS will move to Sunday (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT), followed by the relocation of COLD CASE (9:00-10:00 PM. ET/PT) and WITHOUT A TRACE (10:00-11:00 PM/PT) to their new fall time periods, effective July 16. The move of BIG BROTHER: ALL STARS to Sunday warms the time period for another reality series in the fall when THE AMAZING RACE moves to Sundays at 8 PM.

The Tuesday edition of BIG BROTHER: ALL-STARS (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) and Thursday edition (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) will not change.

WITHOUT A TRACE will continue to be broadcast in its current Thursday time period (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) through the remainder of the summer.

In other summer scheduling moves, the July 5 premiere of ROCK STAR: SUPERNOVA will be expanded to 90-minutes (8:00-9:30 PM, ET/PT), followed by a 90-minute CSI: MIAMI.

NCIS and THE UNIT will relocate to Fridays for the duration of the summer, effective July 7 with NCIS broadcast from 8:00-9:00 PM, followed by THE UNIT from 9:00-10:00 PM. (This is a temporary, summer-only move.)

Also, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER will get two Monday airings, first in its regular 8:30-9:00 PM time period and another following TWO AND A HALF MEN (9:30-10:00 PM, ET/PT) beginning July 10. THE NEW ADVENTURE OF OLD CHRISTINE returns Aug. 7.

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

So she missed on “CIC”, “Invasion”, “Three Wishes” and ”Apprentice: Martha Stewart”. In addition, she didn’t see hit potential in “Criminal Minds”, “Ghost Whisperer”, “Close To Home, “Prison Break”, or “The War At Home”, all of which were renewed. And her assessment of “My Name IsEarl” was not really on the mark, either.

Shari Anne Brill is a recognized TV expert and what she says carries lots of weight. But it always amazes me that the TV media give people all this respect without ever looking back at their past track record.
so based on that, I think we can predict that "The Class," "Shark" and "'Til Death" will be off the air after 5 weeks.

TV Notebook
The Sub Beats The Anchor

Do Viewers Prefer John Roberts To Anderson Cooper?
(Mediabistro.com) June 15, 2006

So far this month, John Roberts has delivered more 25-54 demo viewers than Anderson Cooper between 10pm and midnight.

Roberts has subbed for Cooper six times in June. On those nights, 360 has averaged 218,000 demo viewers at 10pm and 180,000 demo viewers at 11pm, according to my calculations. Anderson Cooper has anchored his show four times in June. On those nights, the ratings have been slightly lower: 210,000 demo viewers at 10pm and 178,000 demo viewers at 11pm.

According to a tipster, "if you take March through yesterday and remove the John Roberts days from the average, it's 196,000 in the 25-54 demo for Anderson from 10-11pm."

Granted, June is a small sample -- just ten days. And CNN's ratings rise and fall depending on the news cycle. But it's still notable to see a substitute beating the regular host.

Meanwhile, we're still waiting for Roberts to get his own show. On Tuesday, Dusty Saunders (of the Rocky Mountain Daily News in Denver) said "rumors persist" that Roberts and Heidi Collins will team up for "an hourlong program for CNN," possibly in Paula Zahn's timeslot...

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

The TV Watch
Leno vs. Letterman:

A Battle of Wits With No Clear Winner
By Alessandra Stanley The New York Times June 16, 2006

As his tut-tutting chat with the mean girl of the moment showed, Jay Leno is a terrible interviewer.

It doesn't matter. Mr. Leno flubbed his conversation with the right-wing polemicist Ann Coulter on Wednesday night, but somehow, the middlebrow, sometimes downright mealy-mouthed star of "The Tonight Show" on NBC is turning out to be the cool late-night host. That's mainly because CBS's David Letterman, who was the Jon Stewart of his day, now seems resigned to a staid second place.

Mr. Leno, who will be replaced by Conan O'Brien in 2009, can afford to slack off, but it is Mr. Letterman who seems to be taking too many of his shows pass/fail. And it's a shame, because the host of CBS's "Late Show" is the comedian intellectually and temperamentally most suited to taking on the conservative enfant terrible and giving her a much-deserved public swat.

Mr. Leno has higher ratings. He averages 5.8 million viewers a night, while Mr. Letterman draws about 4.3 million, and that explains why the more desirable guests — Al Gore, Jennifer Aniston or Simon Cowell — usually choose to appear first on "The Tonight Show." But Mr. Leno, the comedian who was chosen by NBC over Mr. Letterman in 1993 for his Rotarian likability and mainstream comic style, suddenly seems to be the sharper host. These days his monologues often have more range and political bite than Mr. Letterman's, or maybe it is just that on too many nights, Mr. Letterman seems unamused by his own jokes.

On Wednesday night, for example, Mr. Letterman made a crack about Ms. Coulter that was more hostile than witty. (Citing an item about a New Zealand sex show involving live bulls and a simulated cow, he added, "Good to see Ann Coulter getting some work.") Mr. Leno had a funnier conceit about his guest in Tuesday night's monologue, saying that the controversial Ms. Coulter required heightened airspace security because her supporters were "worried Dorothy's house could land on her."

Mr. Leno's inability to engage his ferocious guest in a less-scripted give-and-take made for an unmemorable television event. Mostly it was notable that at the height of the furor over Ms. Coulter's malevolent remarks about Sept. 11 widows ("I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much.") viewers had to turn to "The Tonight Show" to see a professional comic try to match wits with her.

Mr. Letterman is far more experienced and deft at tangling with ideological divas. He humorously, but acidly, put the Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly in his place in January, and he handled Howard Stern just as smoothly in March. But authors on book tours usually prefer the safer waters and higher ratings of "The Tonight Show." So did Ms. Coulter, whose noisy diatribes against the Sept. 11 widows helped put her latest book, "Godless: The Church of Liberalism," at the top of the New York Times best-sellers list for June 25.

Ms. Coulter strutted onto the stage in a slinky black cocktail dress and a bellicose mood: Rush Limbette. But Mr. Leno, who seemed embarrassed by the fuss, tried to reason with Ms. Coulter and appeal to her better nature, as if her success had anything to do with reason or conciliation. "It's so different than the way I work, maybe because I am a comic," he said. "See, my thing is it's sort of more flies with honey."

Stingers, not honey, are Ms. Coulter weapons of choice. She seems convinced that extremism in the defense of book sales is no vice. And she is a tough interview, a wily bruiser who wraps provocative hyperbole in injured self-righteousness. On Wednesday she defended her comments about the widows (Mr. Leno did ask her why she called them "broads" in her book) by saying that they, like Cindy Sheehan, the antiwar activist whose son died in Iraq, unfairly promote a liberal political agenda while hiding behind their inviolate status as victims. "Their husbands died; her son died; we can't respond," she said. (Somehow, all that tragedy hasn't stopped her or any of her like-minded commentators, from denouncing their statements.)

Ms. Coulter became a media star by portraying herself as a conservative gadfly tweaking the liberal hegemony, which is, of course, quite a revisionist feat. It may have been the case 30 years ago, but no conservative who came of age during the Reagan Revolution can credibly claim they are marginalized or unheard. When the J. K. Rowling of political invective decries what she describes as the "intolerance" of the mainstream liberal media, it's a little like the Soviet Union complaining about oppression from Finland.

The comedian George Carlin, famous for his iconoclastic irreverence and eagerness to speak up, sat alongside Ms. Coulter and didn't make a peep. Mr. Leno didn't score a point.

Over on CBS, Mr. Letterman chatted amiably but meanderingly with Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central, looking oddly sidelined from the week's media fracas. At his best, nobody is more subversively funny or more appealing than the host of "Late Show," but it's been a while since he put his best efforts on air.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/16/arts/television/16stan.html?pagewanted=print

(From Marc Berman’s Thursday, June 15, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Ratings Box:

What’s Hot/What’s Not

ECW Scores on Sci Fi Channel:
The Tuesday 10 p.m. premiere of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) on Sci Fi Channel was the most-watched show on cable with almost 3.4 million total viewers. ECW ranked No. 1 among key adults 18-49 (1.89 million) and adults 25-54 (1.68 million), with growth versus the prior four-week time period average of 457 percent and 347 percent, respectively, in the two demos. ECW on Sci Fi was the best performance for any program on the network this year in adults 18-49, and the best among adults 25-54 since the season premiere of Battlestar Galactica on Jan. 6, 2006. The median viewer age of ECW was 32.3, 16 years younger than the second quarter to-date time period average of 48.

TV Tidbits:

Notes of Interest

ABC Begins Writing Upfront Business:
One day after CBS and Fox reported substantial progress in the upfront advertising marketplace, ABC has joined in at CPM increases of a reported 3 to 4 percent above last year’s upfront rates CBS and Fox are estimated to be both between 50 and 70 percent sold, while NBC was about 40 to 50 percent of the way there at deals as much as 5 percent below last year’s prices. New network the CW is closing deals at prices estimated to be on par to what the WB sold one year earlier.

Coming Up on Lifetime – Off the Leash:
Lifetime Television has ordered six episodes of Off the Leash, a non-scripted series that goes inside the world of a real-life Hollywood pet talent agency to reveal just how far some of the owners will go to find stardom for their four-legged friends. Look for the debut of Off the Leash in fall 2006.

Sponsors Announced for New Season of Bravo’s Project Runway:
Macys, L’Oreal Paris, Saturn, Orbitz, TRESemme, and Delta Airlines have been named as the official sponsors of the third season of reality/competition Project Runway, which kicks-off on Bravo Wednesday, July 12 at 10 p.m. ET. Set in New York’s competitive fashion industry, 15 new contestants will compete for $100,000 in seed money from TRESemme, a 2007 Saturn Sky Roadster, a fashion spread in ELLE, and a mentorship with I.N.C. International Concepts courtesy of Macys.

USA Network and Virgin Records Enter Exclusive Marketing Agreement:
USA Network has entered into an exclusive agreement with Virgin Records, a division of EMI Music, to provide music from the label’s artists for use across all of USA’s marketing platforms including on-air promotion, cross-channel advertising, digital and mobile. A Virgin Records micro-site will also be available on USA’s website, www.usanetwork.com, to provide artist and promotional information on the Virgin label music being heard on the network.

More American Legacy Television:
Timeless International has announced the renewal of syndicated weekly American Legacy Television, which focuses on the tales behind some of the most unique African-Americans who helped shape our country, for January 2007 though 2008 in 79 markets to-date. Clearances for next season include WABC/New York, WLS/Chicago, WPVI/Philadelphia, KGO/San Francisco, WXIA/Atlanta, and all Sinclair Broadcasting stations. For more information, contact Sean Deneny at 631/726-1497 or via email at sean@timelesstv.net.

Coming Up on Logo:
Cable net Logo, which caters to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, has ordered four new original series for development -- drama The Service, comedies Sordid Lives: The Series and That Gay Ghost, and the reality oriented Reconnection. The Service follows a diverse group of gay and lesbian recruits and officers on an active military base on the Pacific Ocean. Sordid Lives: The Series, a prequel to the hit play and cult film, focuses on an eccentric Texan family, while The Gay Ghost revolves around the lives of a conservative family that moves to San Francisco and finds a gay ghost living in the closet of their new home. Reconnection, meanwhile, gives participants an opportunity to approach and confront friends and loved ones who disowned them because of their sexuality.

Dustin Hoffman is Guest No. 200 on Inside the Actor’s Studio:
Two-time Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman will be the landmark 200th guest in a two-hour edition of on Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio on Sunday, June 25 at 9 p.m. ET.

More HBO Podcasts:
HBO is expanding its podcast presence at HBO.com and Apple’s iTunes Music Stores, with new material from Entourage, Deadwood and Lucky Louie that will include season recaps, insider interviews, and excerpts of new episodes.

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

so based on that, I think we can predict that "The Class," "Shark" and "'Til Death" will be off the air after 5 weeks.

Perhaps one or even two might survive :)

The Business of TV
ABC Writes First Upfront Deals at 3 to 4% CPM Increases

John Consoli MediaWeek.com JUNE 15, 2006 -

ABC has begun writing business at price increases between 3 to 4 percent above last year's upfront rates, according to insiders at the network, which was confirmed by media buyers. Several agencies contacted by Mediaweek said they are in "serious" negotiations with ABC but none would say they confirmed deals, and ABC insiders would not say which agencies had finalized deals.

But speculation that there was talk among media agencies to "penalize" ABC sales president Mike Shaw for his hardline stand on the Live Plus 7 Day ratings issue, was said to be just that--unfounded rumors. "You can't buy around ABC which was the only network to show increases in the 18-49 demo this season and has some of the hottest shows on television," said a rival network sales exec. Shaw was not available for comment.

While some media agencies were trying to hold out with ABC, attempting to get as close to flat CPM rates with the network compared to last year's upfront, they conceded that some agencies had already done business with the network at prices in the 3 to 4 percent price increase range, making it difficult to push ABC down further.

The means at which this broadcast upfront is being bought and sold thus far has been unique in that there have been very few leaks from either the buyer or seller side as to which agencies have done business with which networks.

Some network sources said while they do not believe that Fox is as far along as New Corp. president and CEO Peter Chernin said on Tuesday, 70 percent sold, that Fox and CBS are both between 50 and 70 percent sold, and the new CW network is also close to those sellout levels. NBC is said by network sources and media buyers to be about 40 to 50 percent sold.

While ABC is reported to have completed only about 10 percent of its actual upfront sales, it is in serious negotiations with several other agencies and is expected to catch up to the other networks' sellout levels by week's end.

One network sales executive said ABC did not hurt itself by holding out and being the last to write business. "All of the networks have sold enough inventory to lay a broad enough base and have seen enough client budgets to be able to have a good handle on the market," a network sales executive said. "There is no reason to rush to write any more business at lower cost-per-thousand increases than we want to. From here on it can continue to be a slow, orderly process, with no panic on our part and no rush to do business. If we don't sell as much, we will take our chances in scatter."

Insiders at CW would only say that a "good amount of [upfront] business had been written, saying at prices that were flat to 2 percent above what the WB sold its upfront inventory last year. Bill Morningstar, CW sales president, would not comment on that.

One network executive estimated that as much as 60 percent of the upfront inventory, in the range of $5 billion plus had already been committed to by media agencies, in what has been one of the most secretive upfront negotiations in recent memory.

Still, network executives conceded that media buyers were holding back upfront dollars for play later on for TV digital opportunities in scatter, and said the broadcast upfront prime time total could very well be a few hundred million less than last year's $9.1 billion.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002688766

TV Notebook
Kicking Dan When He's Down

David Blum huffingtonpost.com 06.15.2006

The CBS executives who leaked the story of Dan Rather's imminent exit from the news division to Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post today clearly despise the former anchorman. They blame him for the 2004 National Guard documents scandal that tarnished the reputation of CBS News. They hate him for the ratings slide of the CBS Evening News that began in the final years of his tenure. They resent him for his oddball persona, his addiction to the red light of the camera, and his multi-million-dollar annual salary.

It all seems a bit harsh when you consider his enormous contributions to the history of television news -- his reporting from the front lines of hurricanes, assassinations and wars; his classic confrontations with Richard Nixon during Watergate; his memorable "60 Minutes" stories that helped the show achieve its first number-one Nielsen rating in 1975, and even his absurdist but groundbreaking "Gunga Dan" reporting from Afghanistan in 1979. In light of those legendary achievements, it seems coldhearted and callous for CBS to cast Rather out so mercilessly, and so publicly, in the twilight of his career.

But then you remember what happened to Walter Cronkite when Rather got hired as the anchor of the CBS Evening News in 1980. Perhaps to those executives, today's events seem like perfect payback for the man who himself once booted the most trusted man in America off the airwaves. When CBS agreed to pay Rather $2.2 million a year to replace Cronkite and keep the young star from bolting to ABC News, it also acquiesed to push the former anchor into an "emeritus" position.

With Rather's blessing, CBS prevented the 64-year-old Cronkite from any active role in the network's news coverage. Despite Cronkite's expertise and popularity, Rather boxed out the once-beloved anchorman forever. Cronkite was never again allowed to cover a space launch or report an election or conduct an interview on CBS News. Rather wanted the spotlight to himself, and CBS News allowed its new anchor whatever he wanted.

With the arrival of Katie Couric at CBS News this September, CBS wants to create a similar sense of freedom for its latest star. Pushing Rather aside, the way Cronkite got shoved, seems a necessary step in making sure there's no shadow cast on her debut. And perhaps there's a perfect symmetry to the situation: after 44 years at CBS News, Rather has long outlasted most of his colleagues, including Cronkite, and it's high time for younger talent (like Couric and Anderson Cooper) to get space on the network's most prestigious shows, like "60 Minutes."

But for anyone who knows Rather -- and that includes just about everyone in America, thanks to his highly personal style and his longevity -- it's going to be sad to imagine him wandering around the streets of New York, searching for the red light of a camera. Maybe there ought to be a kinder way for business executives to treat legends of the news business -- at least by doing something nicer than leaking stories of their dismissal to media reporters hungry to cover the latest casualty of progress.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-blum/kicking-dan-when-hes-dow_b_23086.html

The Business of TV
Comcast's Shell: Mid-Level Nets To Merge

By Jim Benson Broadcasting & Cable 6/15/2006

A top executive at Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, predicts that mid-level cable networks will ultimately be consolidated due to bandwidth issues, just as two mini-broadcast networks, UPN and The WB, were earlier this year.

Jeff Shell, president of programming for Comcast, (and former CEO of Fox Cable Networks Group) appearing Thursday on an industry panel in Los Angeles, said he believes there will be consolidation among midlevel cable networks, “because I think the middle is where the problem is.”

Without highly rated marquee shows, Shell said networks like those are “are in the most trouble.”

Shell was responding to a question from outspoken television producer Gavin Polone, who was moderating a state of the industry panel for the Hollywood Radio & Television Society.

Polone drew laughs when he asked Shell if there was “really a need for WE, Oxygen, Lifetime and Logo?”

Focusing on the rapid changes facing broadcast and cable, Polone pressed Shell about whether Comcast was hurt by the NFL pulling out of a deal with it in order to put games on its own digital network.

Shell, emphasizing that 492 out of 500 NFL games would still remain on broadcast and cable networks, said the NFL is a “unique property” attracting huge ratings and that he doesn’t expect there will be a huge migration by other sports to digital anytime soon, since most of the country is not adapting to it that fast.

Other issues under discussion included heavy commercial loads. Bill Lawrence, creator/executive producer of NBC’s Scrubs, complained that he produced a couple of episodes that came in under 20 minutes in length (versus the standard 24 minutes). Polone noted that it would be tough to tell a coherent story in that amount of time.

Polone also grilled the panel on issues surrounding new digital windows, such as iPods.

Bob Broder, a partner in the Broder-Webb-Chervin-Silbermann Agency, expressed outrage that “studios are now trying to treat downloads as home video on a royalty basis” for his clients.

Turning to the developing relationship between independent producers and networks on issues related to distribution windows and iPods, Sony Pictures Television President Steve Mosko acknowledged that Sony would have to get CBS’ approval if it ever decided to put a show like King of Queens on iTunes.

But Mosko, remarking that only certain shows are suited for digital exhibition, said CBS should still have some say in the matter since it has a big stake in the show. Mosko also said he didn’t expect much resistance if such a move would benefit both CBS and Sony.

When Polone cited a study that found a majority of 16-year-olds couldn’t identify the names of four broadcast networks because they get their programming on the Web and digital devices, John Mandel, chairman of the media buying firm MediaCOM, said, “We somehow managed to lose our mojo as an industry.”

Critic’s Notebook
In Which ABC Threatens My Life

By James Poniewozik Time Magazine television critic

Because Time Inc. reader surveys indicate the most-read blog posts are those which detail what a TV critic got in the mail that day, allow me to share: I finally got ABC's fall-pilot mailing. Good? Bad? We shall see, but ABC runs away with the prize for Most Threatening Legal Warning of the 2006-07 season:

"The ABC legal team has asked that I remind you that the enclosed DVDs are provided for preparation purposes only, and are not to be copied, played publicly, loaned, sold, given away, or transferred in any other way without express prior written permission. Each disk has been digitally watermarked and copy protected, and any unauthorized use can be traced back to the original recipient."

After which, Ty Pennington shows up with a bulldozer and knocks your house down.

Now this warning should not in itself be surprising, given how nervous all entertainment and media companies are about digital piracy. Except that it doesn't square with what, for the past couple seasons, TV networks have been doing with their new shows before they air: namely, copying, playing publicly, loaning, giving away, and transferring them. Last season, shows like Everybody Hates Chris and My Name Is Earl got publicity blitzes that included the entire pilots being previewed on American Airlines flights and given away on DVDs in magazines. NBC is already running lengthy previews of all its fall shows at its website. Within a few years, you'll probably be deluged with more fall-pilot screeners than AOL software discs.

All these free giveaways happened long before critics like me were able to review the shows, and, more important, long before the networks and affiliates could sell commercials for them. You would think this move would have annoyed the affiliates, who risked having their audiences and ad sales cannibalized by the motherships' giveaway, but it didn't matter, so desperate are the networks to build buzz and publicity, in an age when it's hard to get the attention of a fragmented audience. They just don't want anyone else giving the free previews away. Not until they've had a couple months to decide which of their new shows suck.

In any event, there is at least one ABC show that is safe for now from piracy: the Calista Flockhart vehicle Brothers & Sisters, which, despite having had a lengthy trailer of scenes played at ABC's May upfront for advertisers, "is not available for viewing at this time." I bet because it's so good!

http://time.blogs.com/tuned_in/

The 2006-07 Season
Very scientific, just like exit polling

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn” Thursday, June 15, 2006

So a company has released results of a survey to predict which shows would do best in their time periods when the new fall schedule goes into effect this fall:

Link: http://phipower.com/networkTVreport.html

Just one problem ... the poll was conducted during upfronts week, when NBC still had "Studio 60" going up against "CSI" and "Grey's Anatomy." After the poll was closed, NBC set off one of the more frantic post-upfront schedule shuffles, moving "Studio 60" to Mondays, "Deal or No Deal" from Fridays to Thursdays, "Medium" off till midseason, "Crossing Jordan" back on from the bench, "L&O:CI" to Tuesdays, "Kidnapped" to Wednesdays and hello, original flavor "Law & Order" off of Wednesdays for the first time in nine years.

If you're counting, that's six hours out of twenty-two, more than a quarter, including some of the most crucial time periods for NBC, where the pollsters are now holding onto obsolete information. So I wasn't surprised that the one and only deliverable page you can look at on the pollster's website is for Sunday -- when NBC's got football, the one program it can't shuffle.

All that said, it's an interesting prediction that NBC will beat "Survivor" next fall ... for half an hour.

http://www.tvbarn.com/

The TV Column
A Wardrobe Malfunction and You'll Lose Your Shirt, So to Speak

By Lisa de Moraes The Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, June 16, 2006; C07

Next time an aging pop star feels the urge to unfetter one of her breasts on national television, it will cost TV station owners 10 times as much.

President Bush yesterday signed legislation that allows the Federal Communications Commission to slap a broadcaster with a fine of up to $325,000 per incident for airing programming the feds deem indecent.

That's 10 times the coin the FCC had been allowed to slap station suits around with before. Bush said yesterday that the earlier top fine of $32,500 was lunch money for broadcasters.

"For some broadcasters, this amount is meaningless" were his exact words, as well as, "It's relatively painless for them when they violate decency standards."

The total bill to CBS-owned stations for the national debut of Janet Jackson's right breast during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show came to $550,000.

It would have been more had the FCC also fined CBS stations not owned by the network but that also aired the breast-baring incident. But the FCC did not, determining that the CBS-owned stations had somehow been in on the act but the CBS affiliate stations were dopes that had been duped.

More recently, however, the FCC did fine some CBS affiliates a total of $3.3 million for airing an episode of the drama series "Without a Trace" that included a scene of a simulated teen orgy.

All of the CBS affiliates fined are in Middle America, where prime time starts an hour earlier than in the rest of the country, for the sake of viewers there who have to get up early to milk the cow, feed the chickens and plow the back 40.

But -- and here's where it gets tricky -- the feds determined ages ago that it was okay for broadcasters to air naughty bits after 10 p.m., when the kiddies have all gone to bed, though they have to knock it off by 6 a.m., when the young ones get up.

So the episode of "WAT" that's okay to air in the final hour of prime time in Washington or Los Angeles is indecent in the final hour of prime time in Denver. Which begs the question: Why should the East and West coasts get to have all the fun?

The movement to increase the fines started to gain steam in early '04 when Jackson bared her breast. That Super Bowl halftime show was produced for CBS by MTV, which is pretty darn ironic because had the show run on MTV it would not have been fined; the FCC's regs regarding indecency do not apply to cable or satellite television. Just the lucky broadcasters.

"In recent years broadcast programming has too often pushed the bounds of decency," Bush said at the White House signing ceremony. "Language is becoming coarser during the times when it's more likely children will be watching television. It's a bad trend, a bad sign."

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

TV-audience-tracking Nielsen Media Research woke up from its decades-long slumber this week, discovered a lot of people were watching TV outside their homes and decided it had better get cracking on measuring this highfalutin TV-watching going on in bars, in hotels, on iPods, on cellphones and on the Internet.

Nielsen has even given its newfound enthusiasm for measuring things a cute name: Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement -- A2/M2.

"A2/M2 is the result of extensive consultation with clients who told us clearly that we should 'follow the video,' " Nielsen Media Research chief exec Susan Whiting said in a statement.

The company is going to install software on computers owned by people in its sample audience to create a single group whose TV- and Web-viewing will be measured, in time for the 2007-08 TV season, Nielsen hopes.

It also plans by 2008 to begin counting viewing levels in bars, hotels, dorms, trains and other places outside the home where people watch TV.

And, Nielsen says, it's continuing to work on devices that would measure viewing on cellphones and iPods; expect a 400-person Nielsen panel of iPod users by the end of this year.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/15/AR2006061501941_pf.html

By MARTIN MILLER
Los Angeles Times
June 14, 2006, 6:14PM

Dr. Jennifer Melfi would probably understand the letdown feeling, but Lorraine Bracco is having a little trouble with it all.

Sopranos fans left as cold as Jim "Johnny Cakes" by the show's cliffhanger-free season finale should buck up, says the 51-year-old actress.

David Chase, creator of the highly acclaimed HBO series, "has been pretty consistent about following a different path of what we would expect. That's part of his brilliance," said the Brooklyn-born former fashion model. She was scheduled to be in Los Angeles this week to promote her newly released memoir, On the Couch.

Still, as her book makes clear, Bracco aspires to be more like the linchpin character she plays on what is widely regarded as one of the finest shows in television history.

In a nod to the grumbling over the sixth-season ender, which aired this month, Bracco says it was originally meant to be a middle episode in the show's final season. Instead, the package was split into two seasons, and Sopranos fans will now have to wait until January for the final eight installments.

When filming began on the pilot for The Sopranos in 1997, Bracco was a long way from the smart, sexy and confident psychiatrist she was to portray.

An intensely bitter breakup and child custody dispute with actor Harvey Keitel and a subsequent divorce from actor Edward James Olmos left her bankrupt, financially and emotionally. Few details are spared in this wrenching personal account.

So by the time she landed the role of Melfi, whose treatment of mob boss Tony Soprano forms the show's psychological and moral backbone, Bracco was grappling with deep depression. She sought professional counseling and was prescribed antidepressants.

Actually, it took portraying Melfi — after turning down offers to play Tony's wife, Carmela — for Bracco to fully realize her darkened mood.

"After decades of such hardships and working hard and praying to catch a break and then the break comes, I had to ask myself, 'Why am I not jumping for joy?' " said Bracco, who received an Oscar nomination for her role as a mobster's wife in 1990's Goodfellas. "I realized I was going on, living life, but without any joy."

Her bout with depression made Bracco determined to help others.

Bracco continues to be amazed at the cultural influence of the HBO series and her character in particular.

When she was invited to address the American Psychoanalytic Association in 2001, she joked that its members must be crazy. Therapists told her that twice as many men sought therapy after The Sopranos began airing.

"Isn't Tony the epitome of a man?" asked Bracco, partly in jest. "He does what he wants, eats what he wants ... and if he can get past the stigma of therapy, surely other men can, too."

With The Sopranos nearing its end, Bracco won't say — or doesn't know — how the show will end. Fans and critics predicting a blood bath may be wrong, at least when it comes to Tony. Yes, he's a psycho killer, Bracco said, but there's still hope — his panic attacks seem under control, the shock of his near-death experience hasn't left him yet, and he turned down a chance to sleep with a beautiful real estate agent played by Julianna Margulies.

"Every time I try to figure out where David could go with the story, I'm always wrong. I really have no idea," said Bracco.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/3970414.html

TV Notebook
Dan Rather will leave CBS after 44 years

By Peter Johnson USA Today June 16, 2006

Dan Rather, who stepped down as anchor of The CBS Evening News 15 months ago in the wake of the Memogate scandal, said Thursday that he'll soon leave the network after 44 years — at the request of network executives.

"They wanted this resolution, and I'm willing to accept that and move on," said Rather, 74, whose contract expires in November.

Rather had been a correspondent for 60 Minutes since leaving his anchor chair on the Evening News in March 2005. Eight of his stories aired last season — far fewer than many of his colleagues' stories.

Former Today star Katie Couric is set to anchor the Evening News in September and contribute to 60 Minutes along with CNN's Anderson Cooper. And with younger CBS correspondents such as Lara Logan and Scott Pelley also vying for time on 60 Minutes, executives have said that CBS wants to usher in a new look and feel for the top-rated newsmagazine.

In an interview Thursday, Rather said he had planned to stay at CBS for the rest of his career.

"But life takes its twists and turns, and I'm a pro," he said. "I've been a reporter since I was in my teens. I'm blessed with good health and high energy, and I want to be fully occupied, doing meaningful work. I had hoped that would be possible at 60 Minutes."

Rather's star at the network rose dramatically after his coverage of President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963 and lasted throughout the ensuing four decades. He succeeded Walter Cronkite as anchor in 1981.

But Rather's star virtually vanished at CBS after the 2004 discredited 60 Minutes story regarding President Bush's military record. That story, which cited documents that could later not be verified, resulted in the firing of three CBS News executives.

Asked whether Memogate had been his undoing, Rather said, "That's history. I'm not interested in going there. I'm focused on the future."

He said he is now talking about what to do next and hopes to make an announcement soon.

CBS confirmed that an exit deal for Rather was in the works, but executives declined to comment further.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-06-15-dan-rather_x.htm

Sports On TV
Stanley Cup even ranks behind `Lucy'

By Tom Reed Akron Beacon Journal Fri, Jun. 16, 2006

ESPN began airing a seven-part series this week on the sport of dominoes, which begs the obvious question:

How long before even that gets better television ratings than the Stanley Cup Finals?

The series between the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes -- which resumes Saturday night at 8 with Game 6 on NBC -- has produced some terrific hockey. Too bad nobody outside of Raleigh, N.C., and Canada is watching.

Two kids playing Jenga in Central Park might lure more Nielsen viewers than the quest for Lord Stanley's mug. A fringe ``major'' sport even in its halcyon days of the mid-1990s, hockey on TV has gone deeper undercover than Donnie Brasco.

• Game 1 of the Cup finals, broadcast on OLN (the Outdoor Life Network), was outdrawn by women's college softball.

• Game 2, also on OLN, was a ratings loser to a rained-out ESPN baseball game that never started.

• Game 3, shown on NBC, lost its time slot in the Los Angeles market -- a region that includes two NHL franchises -- to reruns of I Love Lucy.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, you got some 'splainin' to do.

Yes, the post-lockout NHL, with its rule changes and crack-down on restraining fouls, has created more offense and excite-ment for hard-core viewers. It has been all but forgotten, however, by the average sports fan.

No matter how Bettman and team owners spin the abysmal TV ratings, the league must face facts. It's paying for the sins of the past. And it's going to be quite some time before the NHL regains the momentum it built on the strength of a 10-year run culminating with a 5.2 rating for Game 7 of the 1994 Cup finals.

That might not sound like much, but it represented respectability for a sport with Canadian roots.

Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Mark Messier, the transcendent stars of that era, are gone. In their place, the NHL has substituted the grittiness of Cory Stillman, the expansion of the Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators and the open-ice sorcery of Eastern Europeans whose names Git-R-Done Nation can't pronounce.

Hey, I appreciate the talents of Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Ovechkin, but it's easy to see why NASCAR and (gulp) Texas Hold 'Em have blown past the NHL in terms of popularity. Pittsburgh Penguins young phenom Sidney Crosby can't mature soon enough.

The seven-game '04 Cup finals, featuring the Tampa Bay Lightning and Calgary Flames, was one of the most action-packed and engrossing series in recent memory. One of its games drew the second-lowest prime-time rating in U.S. television history.

That was before the lockout cost the NHL the entire 04-05 season. How has a league gone from network contracts with ESPN and FOX in 1995 to the cable netherworlds of OLN? Here are some simplified theories:

(1) The 1994-95 labor stoppage dealt a devastating blow to general fan interest.

(2) The NHL expanded too rapidly, ballooning from 21 teams in 1991 to its diluted current 30.

(3) Power brokers allowed middling talent, ushered in by expansion, to hijack the game's speed and creativity with defensive traps and unpenalized restraining fouls. It leveled the playing field, but made the product nearly unwatchable.

The NHL finally corrected the problem during the lockout, but it will take time to recover fans lost by a decade of bad hockey, which coincided with the bottoming out of big-market franchises such as the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins.

There's nothing the NHL can do about a small-market finals except tout the ample skills of the Oilers and Hurricanes. It can, though, do everything possible to get back on hockey-friendly ESPN. (Has anyone watched OLN since Lance Armstrong dismounted for the final time last summer in Paris?)

The NHL always will have its regional fan base, but there's no reason it should be smoked nationally by college softball. The game is just too good.

Bettman had better get his houses in order or prepare to watch them tumble like dominoes.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/14832432.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Sports On TV
Being Out of Spotlight Doesn't Bother Breen

By Larry Stewart Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 16, 2006

An impressive list of play-by-play announcers has worked the NBA Finals. On the list from recent years: Al Michaels, Marv Albert, Bob Costas, Dick Stockton and Brent Musburger.

Going back further, it also includes Keith Jackson and Chris Schenkel. And Lindsey Nelson worked alongside Curt Gowdy from 1955 to 1960.

So, who is the play-by-play announcer for ABC on these NBA Finals?

The answer, in case you didn't know, is Mike Breen, who works alongside Hubie Brown.

Breen is fairly well known in New York, where he has been a full-time announcer for the Knicks since 1997 and from 1989 to 2000 was a regular on Don Imus' morning show on radio station WFAN.

He has worked NBA games for NBC and ESPN in recent years, and became the lead NBA announcer for ABC in February, after Michaels signed to do Sunday night football for NBC.

But Breen still doesn't enjoy the name recognition that usually comes with sitting in the courtside seat he now occupies.

Maybe that's a good thing. If a referee does a good job — and Breen did some refereeing when he was in college — no one notices. A referee only gets noticed when he does a bad job.

That's sort of true with play-by-play announcers too.

Few basketball announcers have more name recognition than Dick Vitale, but that's not necessarily a good thing.

"I sort of enjoy being under the radar," Breen said from Miami before Thursday night's Game 4.

Breen said he was attracted to broadcasting because of his love for sports, not because he wanted to be famous.

Growing up in Yonkers, N.Y., Breen, 45, played basketball and baseball in high school, but he went to Fordham to become a broadcaster.

The school has produced a number of sports broadcasters, most notably Vin Scully. Lakers radio announcer Spero Dedes is another Fordham graduate. Breen, who is married and has three children, graduated in 1983.

For 2 1/2 years after that, he worked for a radio station in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., handling such duties as covering school board meetings.

Now, he has hit the big time — and is close to signing a new contract with ABC-ESPN.

But it still may be a while before he is readily recognized.

Breen was in Los Angeles earlier this year to announce a Lakers game and was having breakfast in Beverly Hills. A waiter approached and said, "You're Brit Hume," confusing Breen with the Fox News anchor.

Breen did not set the waiter straight. "He seemed excited, and I didn't want to disappoint him," Breen said.

The way things are going, people are soon going to not only recognize Breen, but also be excited about meeting him.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-tvcol16jun16,1,6900023.column?coll=la-headlines-pe-sports

Sports On TV
U.S. Open brings major time with Miller

By Jay Posner San Diego Union-Tribune June 16, 2006

(Note: All times are Pacific)

Johnny Miller is golf's John McEnroe. Or maybe McEnroe is tennis' Johnny Miller.

Semantics. The bottom line is that it's impossible to think of two better TV analysts – in any sport – than McEnroe and Miller (alphabetical order). There might be some as good, but not better.

It's difficult to separate the two, who are equally insightful, analytical, objective and not afraid to be critical when necessary. But there is one difference.

When it comes to the major championships in their respective sports, Miller only works the U.S. Open for NBC. McEnroe works three – the French Open and Wimbledon for NBC, and the U.S. Open for CBS and USA Network.

Don't think Miller hasn't noticed.

“I'd love to do a couple majors for different people,” Miller said this week. “But it's probably not realistic in golf.”

Viewers thus will have to be satisfied with Miller's work on this weekend's U.S. Open from Mamaroneck, N.Y., and with the knowledge that he signed a long-term contract extension just a few days ago. With NBC expanding its golf coverage beginning in 2007, Miller will work 14 tournaments a year rather than his current nine.

Miller said he never was approached by CBS – which could use an upgrade from Lanny Wadkins – but that he certainly thought about what switching to that network would mean.

“There isn't one announcer in the world that doesn't dream of doing Augusta,” Miller said. “It's the sweetest place on Earth, especially in April.”

In the end, though, he decided “NBC has been good to me,” and he decided to stay with the network that hired him in 1990 and stood by him even when some golfers would have preferred he be buried under the nearest divot.

“The new generation of golfers that's 25 and younger grew up with my NBC commentary, and they think it's sort of cool,” Miller said. “The older guys are not so sure. I don't try to run anybody over, but I feel like it's sort of my style. I was that way talking about my own game, and it's just real. There's nothing fake about it.

“I do my homework and if something happens and it comes into my head, I try to tell you guys the real deal as much as I can and be true to the listeners. There's nothing tricky about it. Sometimes it's just how my brain thinks. Sometimes I wish I didn't think so crazily, but that's the way I am.”

For that we should all be grateful.

Open season

• NBC has second-round coverage from noon-2 p.m., but most of the action today is on ESPN, which will be live from 7 until 11:55 a.m., and from 2-4 p.m. (During the two hours NBC is showing golf, ESPN will have the Mexico-Angola World Cup match.)

The weekend belongs to NBC, with coverage each day starting at 9:30 a.m. and continuing until the end of play, probably around 4 p.m. The best news: It's all in high definition, on both networks.

• The storyline NBC is rooting for this week doesn't seem too likely to happen based on yesterday's results: Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods in the final group – or at least near the top of the leaderboard – on Sunday afternoon. Mickelson would be going for his third straight major victory, while Woods would be trying to win a tournament on Father's Day less than two months after his father's death.

Which player is No. 1?

“Phil is the best player in the world right now,” Miller said. “Tiger is the best player and deserves the No. 1 ranking, but at this moment . . . Phil is the best player.”

Flipping channels

• The NBA and ABC are crowing about an 11 percent increase in ratings for the NBA Finals, but let's have some perspective. Last year's seven-game series produced the second-lowest average rating since the Finals went live in 1982, and this year likely will wind up third. The 7.9 average thus far is 23 percent lower than the 10.3 average for the first three games of Lakers-Pistons in 2004.

• ABC's production (by ESPN) of the Belmont Stakes was so poor it made me think the unthinkable. That's right, I was thinking it might be better if the telecast were on NBC. Analyst Jerry Bailey was excellent (he even had a telestrator, something NBC could use), but Brent Musburger? And the broadcast of the race itself was atrocious – the camera shot often was so wide it was hard to make out which horse was which, even in HDTV. ESPN actually did a better job on its pre-Belmont coverage, which included analyst Jay Privman, a Carlsbad resident, correctly picking the winner in 5-of-7 races.

• Through Tuesday, Univision's World Cup coverage had attracted 11 percent more viewers than ABC and ESPN2, although that hadn't been the case in San Diego, where the English broadcasts have rated, on average, about 18 percent higher. Of course, that wasn't the case for the Mexico-Iran match, which earned a combined 5.6 on Univision and Televisa and a 4.1 on ABC. The U.S.-Czech Republic match did a 3.0 on the Spanish networks and 3.8 on ESPN2.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060616/news_1s16media.html

Sports On TV
Miller Is Rewarded for His Candor

By Larry Stewart Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 16, 2006

Johnny Miller, who will be working on NBC's coverage of the U.S. Open through the weekend, is often called the best analyst in golf, if not all sports TV.

So what makes Miller so good? Did he get some special advice when he first got into broadcasting in 1990?

"I got zero advice," he said with a laugh on the phone.

"I just say what I would be saying if I were home having a pizza and watching on television. I used to talk back at the announcers at lot, saying something like, 'Come on, that was a terrible shot. Why don't he say it was a terrible shot?' "

Miller said he went on ESPN in 1989 when he was the host of a PGA tournament in Florida, and Larry Cirillo, then NBC's golf producer, took notice. He liked Miller's candor.

Lee Trevino retired as an NBC golf commentator to join the senior tour the next year, and Cirillo hired Miller to replace him.

And this week NBC announced that Miller has signed a new multiyear contract extension. Under the new deal, he will work 14 events next year, up from the current nine. Miller wouldn't say, but the New York Post reported that it is a six-year extension.

"The new generation of golfers grew up with our NBC commentary and my NBC commentary, and they think it's sort of cool," Miller said. "I don't try to run anybody over, but I feel like it's sort of my style. I was that way talking about my own game, and it's just real. There's nothing fake about it.

"I do my homework and if something happens and it comes into my head, I try to tell you guys the real deal as much as I can and be true to the listeners. There's nothing tricky about it. Sometimes it's just the way my brain thinks, sometimes I wish I didn't think so crazily. It's just the way I am."

Dick Ebersol, NBC Sports chairman, said, "Johnny understands better than almost anyone else in sports television that he is there to serve not the players he covers but the viewers, first and foremost."

Miller burst onto the golf scene in 1973, when he had a final-round 63 to surge from six strokes back and beat Arnold Palmer in that year's U.S. Open.

"The U.S. Open has the most collapses on the last day of any championship," he said.

Explaining the tension the players are under, he said, "It's the most nervous championship in the world, because they're going to new courses, the guys don't really know the courses too well, you don't know how long a rough's going to be, how hard the greens are going to be."

Miller, who lives in Pacific Grove, Calif., half of the year and in Utah the rest of the time, is now 59 and he and his wife Linda have six grown children and 15 grandchildren.

Short Waves

• Lisa Guerrero has found a job. According to Television Week, the former "Monday Night Football" sideline reporter who also worked for KCBS and FSN, is joining the news magazine show, "Inside Edition," as a West Coast correspondent. Her first story, on the premiere of the movie "Superman Returns," is scheduled to air next Thursday.

• A classy move by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was showing up for a guest appearance on David Letterman's show Wednesday night wearing a Roethlisberger Steelers jersey. He did it to honor the quarterback, although, like everyone else, did point out how stupid it was for Roethlisberger to not be wearing a helmet when riding his motorcycle.

• "Viva Baseball," Dan Klores' documentary about Latino baseball players in America, won the top prize in the sports category at the recent BANFF World Television Awards.

• NBA Commissioner David Stern, regarding the late start time for the NBA Finals — 9 p.m. in the East — told Fox Sports radio, "The ratings actually go up with the later start." Apparently, he's right. Through the first three games, the average national rating was a 7.9, up from a 7.1 at the same juncture last year.

• Because of Dirk Nowitzki, the NBA Finals are big in Germany, and the German network televising the games is using tennis legend Boris Becker on the pregame shows.

• Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals Wednesday night on NBC got a 2.5 national rating. The three games during the finals that have been on NBC are averaging a 2.0 rating. That's even with what ABC was averaging at the same juncture in 2004.

Recommended Viewing

HBO devotes two segments to a powerful piece on the next edition of "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel," which has a first airing on Tuesday at 10 p.m. The topic is air pollution affecting sports-playing children near coal-fired power plants. The story connects wealthy business executives — and their sizable political contributions — to the problem.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-spw-tvcol16jun16,1,7689940.column?coll=la-headlines-pe-sports

TV Notebook
Adjusting to the ins and outs of the anchor chair

With a straightforward style, Charles Gibson goes from backup to point man at ABC
By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 16, 2006

NEW YORK — Charles Gibson is still getting used to the idea of being in charge.

The veteran newsman has plenty of experience anchoring ABC's evening newscast — he's been filling in since at least 1998 — but when he officially took the helm of "World News Tonight" at the end of May, he found it required some adjusting.

As a substitute anchor, "it was a little bit like being a grandparent: You could play with the baby and enjoy it and have a terrific time, and if you screwed up, you were always going to be able to give the kid back," he said on a recent afternoon, leaning back in a chair on the set in the bustling newsroom. Now, "if I screw it up, I've got to fix it. And that's at this point more profound than I thought it was."

For one thing, the program's staff now looks to him for the final word on what should go in the broadcast. Gibson — a product of Quaker education who still occasionally attends worship meetings — said he's more accustomed to that faith's tradition of group decision-making.

"In meetings, we're sort of sitting around and I think we've reached consensus and everybody turns to me and says, 'OK, what are you going to do?' " he said. "And that's a little bit antithetical to me. I'm beginning to find out that one guy is more equal than others."

After nearly two decades of handling the lighter fare of "Good Morning America" and faithfully serving as a backup player for longtime anchor Peter Jennings, the 63-year-old has been thrust into a new role as the face of ABC News. The network is running a new ad campaign trumpeting Gibson as "your trusted source," and morning show producers are preparing a celebration of his years on "GMA" that will air June 28, his last day on the program.

"Life has changed in ways that I still don't understand," said Gibson, who is still co-hosting the morning show three times a week through this month. "There's a qualitative difference, and I'm still not sure I know what it is."

He didn't have much time to ponder the question on a recent afternoon. Hours earlier, terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi had been killed in a U.S. airstrike, and Gibson had to cut the conversation short to interview an Army general in Iraq.

As he strode to the set, the anchor — who just days earlier had been engaged in an extensive segment on potty training on "GMA" — paused and chuckled wryly. Reporters used to want to talk to his morning co-host, Diane Sawyer, not him, he noted. "And now I'm too busy because I've got to go talk to a general in Iraq. Talk about a qualitative difference."

One element colleagues don't expect to change: Gibson's straightforward, avuncular demeanor. Decidedly old-fashioned, the newsman dismisses the current angst in the industry about the need for a new anchor model for modern audiences, saying flatly that his job is simply to deliver the best summary of the day's news.

"One of his great talents is an ability to connect in an authentic way that's not a calculation or made-for-TV event," said Ben Sherwood, the outgoing executive producer of "GMA." "He's a great interviewer, and he cares a lot, and the audience sees that. The audience also knows when Charlie doesn't care for a particular guest or when he's not enthused about a particular segment or story. That's the way he is — it's right out there."

A smaller viewership

It remains to be seen whether Gibson can help boost the audience of second-place "World News Tonight," which has shrunk by around 900,000 this season. So far, he's anchoring only four nights a week while pulling double duty in the morning.

During his first two weeks in the post, the broadcast drew a little more than 7 million viewers on average, according to Nielsen Media Research, down from the 7.5 million who tuned in the last week Elizabeth Vargas served as anchor.

But for the staff of "World News Tonight" — whiplashed by Jennings' death and the wounding in Iraq of one of his successors, Bob Woodruff — Gibson's appointment has meant the much-needed arrival of a steady presence behind the desk.

"It's a big relief," said executive producer Jon Banner. "It is nice to be back in the game and to be really out there, not only to do what our job is every night and to provide people with what happened but to have somebody to compete with."

Gibson, who joined ABC in 1975, admits he had always quietly contemplated the evening news post from afar, with little hope of getting it.

"I had never expected to do this job," he said. "Peter was going to be anchor for life."

But the loss of Jennings and the sidelining of Woodruff changed everything.

Gibson, who had been passed over for the evening news post last fall in favor of a two-anchor team of Woodruff and Vargas, self-deprecatingly refers to himself as "a creature of circumstance."

But he had some leverage in securing the job this time: He was seriously contemplating retirement when his "GMA" contract ended next year, a prospect that appears to have kept Sawyer — who also had interest in moving to the evening — from lobbying for it herself.

"You can't be in journalism and not think how wonderful it would be to anchor the evening news," Sawyer said. "But I would and could never do that if it meant losing Charlie Gibson from the network."

Still, Gibson's move to "World News Tonight" has meant serious ramifications for "GMA," which is going to be left without a male co-anchor just as executives had hoped to take on NBC's "Today," which lost Katie Couric to CBS last month.

"It's bittersweet," said Robin Roberts, "GMA's" third co-anchor. "It's hard to lose somebody who you love so much. But I would be really petty if I said, 'That just messed up things for us.' "

The network — which was about to launch a promotional blitz for Woodruff and Vargas when the former was seriously hurt just weeks into their tenure — is now trying to capitalize on Gibson's reputation as a steady hand in a new marketing campaign. The message: that after more than three decades at ABC, Gibson is an elder statesman who offers more perspective than 49-year-old Couric or NBC's 47-year-old Brian Williams.

"He's been there. Seen it. Brought us the world," intones a new spot running on the network that features clips of Gibson on foreign assignments and interviewing Presidents Bush and Clinton. "In times like these, it's important to trust the source."

For his part, Gibson demurs when asked what he will bring to the post that is different from his competitors.

"It's not so much me; it's the fact that they've gone to someone who's part of the woodwork," he said. "I can bring something of a steadying presence to what has been a very disrupted news division."

Gibson said he has no plans to make substantial changes to the newscast. A former White House correspondent, he's a "political junkie," so Washington news will likely get substantial play, as will international news, he said.

While the Woodruff-Vargas pairing was premised on having an anchor constantly in the field, Gibson said he's not persuaded that a traveling anchor adds much to coverage, aside from bringing attention to a story.

"When you fly into a story and you're there for eight hours and then you're all of a sudden on the air, you're not necessarily a complete expert on that story," he said.

The longtime ABC newsman dismisses the recent debate about whether it's time to move beyond the "voice of God" anchor as "silly."

"I understand there's a natural inclination to want to personify the newscast," he said. "But this is a competition between three news departments. You'll learn a lot from tonight's newscast, and that's because we've got really good people doing this program, not necessarily because you've got me."

In fact, Gibson — who can be almost terse when asked about himself — practically beamed when discussing correspondents like Martha Raddatz, who had broken the news about Zarqawi's death early that morning.

"I'm so glad — I'm crazy about her," he said, wearing the unembarrassed grin of a proud father. "I'm fronting the broadcast that she does. That's really cool."

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-gibson16jun16,1,3377237,print.story?coll=la-entnews-tv

Ever wonder exactly how far the tentacles of the major media corporations extend?

Well, The Nation has put together a fascinating graphic detailing the extens that several big companies control much oif the mnedia access in this country.

You can see the chart here:

http://www.thenation.com/special/2006_entertainment.pdf

The Digital Revolution
Verizon Unveils DTV-Carriage Deal

By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com 6/16/2006

Washington – Verizon Communications Inc. announced Friday a “multiyear agreement” to carry digital multicast services of public TV stations.

“Every Verizon FiOS TV system will carry the full digital signal of up to three public television stations within the system’s service area, as well as any additional noncommercial station that does not duplicate programming of another station in the market. The agreement also includes PBS and local public television stations’ HDTV programming and local stations’ digital multicasts,” Verizon said in a statement.

The Verizon-APTS deal comes just days before Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin wants the agency to adopt rules that would force cable operators, including Verizon, to carry every digital multicast service of the nation’s 1,752 commercial and public TV stations.

What Verizon agreed to carry under the agreement appears to be roughly comparable to the carriage requirements that Martin is hoping to impose on cable.

Verizon’s FiOS TV, currently available in several states including New York and Texas, is an all-digital system with 400 channels of programming, including 24 HDTV services.

In early 2005 -- just days before the FCC rejected multicast must carry a second time – the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and APTS reached a 10-year multicast carriage agreement. NCTA and APTS would not discuss whether APTS stations can opt out of the deal if the FCC adopts multicast must carry mandates at its June 21 public meeting.

Under the NCTA-ATPS agreement, large-capacity cable operators committed to carry up to four digital-multicast services provided by a single public station in a market. The digital signals can include a mix of HD and standard definition programming. All public stations eligible for cable must carry would continue to have carriage of their analog signals.

After the transition, when analog spectrum has been returned, cable operators are to carry up to four digital-multicast services of each public station in a market, under terms of the NCTA-ATPS deal.

Cable operators covered by the agreement must have 750-megahertz of capacity and must already be providing HD programming.

The NCTA-ATPS agreement allows cable operators to drop multicast services if they duplicate services of another public station in the market. Public stations that surrender their analog signals before the formal end of the transition may exercise their multicast-carriage rights at that point.

At the time of the NCTA-APTS deal, the U.S. had 356 public TV stations, with cable carrying the digital signals of about 100 stations.

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

(From Marc Berman’s Friday, June 16, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
TV Tidbits: Notes of Interest

More Affiliates for MyNetworkTV:
MyNetworkTV, which launches on Sept. 5, has announced 10 additional affiliates, bringing its total clearance list to 149 markets, representing 85 percent of the country. New affiliates include KTFO/Tulsa, WNFM/Fort Myers, and KSCC/Wichita.

Gold Rush to Premiere on AOL.com on Sept. 13:
Gold Rush, the new online reality game from Mark Burnett Productions and AOL.com that engages participants to complete a series of pop culture challenges for a chance to search for real-life treasure, will debut on AOL.com on Wednesday, Sept. 13. The first televised clue will be broadcast Thursday, Sept. 14 on CBS.

So Long, Maury & Connie:
Weekends With Maury & Connie, the half-hour weekly talk show that debuted on MSNBC in January, will air its final telecast tomorrow at 10 p.m. ET.

CBS This Summer: Primetime Programming Changes

CBS has announced scheduling changes effecting three nights of the week – Monday, Friday and Sunday. The Saturday edition of Big Brother: All-Stars will move to Sunday at 8 p.m., followed by the relocation of Cold Case and Without A Trace to their new 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. time periods effective on July 16. A second repeat of Without A Trace will also air in its current Thursday 10 p.m. hour for the remainder of the summer.

Repeats of NCIS and The Unit, currently airing Tuesday from 8-10 p.m., will move to Fridays for the duration of the summer effective on July 7, with NCIS at 8 p.m., followed by The Unit at 9 p.m. Sitcom How I Met Your Mother, which moves into the Monday 8 p.m. anchor slot this fall, will be double-aired on Monday this summer, first in its current 8:30 p.m. slot, and another following repeats of Two and a Half Men at 9:30 p.m. Current 9:30 p.m. occupant The New Adventures of Old Christine will return on August 7.

In addition, the Wednesday, July 5, 8 p.m. premiere of Rock Star: Supernova has been expanded to 90-minutes, leading into a 90-minute second-run airing of CSI: Miami at 9:30 p.m.

What follows is CBS’ revised summer line-up (R = repeat):

Monday (Effective July 10)
8:00 p.m. The King of Queens (R)
8:30 p.m. How I Met Your Mother (R)
9:00 p.m. Two and a Half Men (R)
9:30 p.m. How I Met Your Mother (R) – new time
10:00 p.m. CSI: Miami (R)

Friday (Effective July 7)
8:00 p.m. NCIS (R) – new day
9:00 p.m. The Unit (R) – new day
10:00 p.m. Numb3rs (R)

Sunday (Effective July 16)
7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes
8:00 p.m. Big Brother: All-Stars – new day
9:00 p.m. Cold Case (R) – new time
10:00 p.m. Without A Trace (R) – new time

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

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Britney's tell-all chat bumps 'Dateline'

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 16, 2006

It’s been years since Britney Spears had a hit song, but her fans remain devoted to, or at least concerned about, the former pop princess nonetheless. Last night her primetime chat with Matt Lauer was the night’s highest-rated non-basketball show among adults 18-49, even outdrawing Fox hit “So You Think You Can Dance.”

The special Spears edition of “Dateline” averaged a 3.8 adults 18-49 overnight rating, placing first in its 9 p.m. timeslot. It outdrew ABC’s Game 4 of the NBA finals by some 10 percent and finished a full 0.7 ahead of Fox’s “Dance,” which has been this summer’s breakout hit.

The Spears chat boosted NBC to No. 2 for the night behind ABC on a very slow Thursday. But it did not do quite as well as past celebrity summer chats with Brad Pitt, which averaged a 4.1 on ABC last summer, or Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, who averaged a 5.1 on NBC three years ago.

Spears told “Today’s” Matt Lauer that things are totally awesome between her and husband Kevin Federline, despite tabloid rumors to the contrary. She denied a story in Us Weekly that Federline, with whom she’s currently expecting baby No. 2, is living in the basement.

She also took digs at the paparazzi, saying they’ve crossed the line and that she feels like a target.

Meanwhile, ABC was No. 1 for the night with a 3.4 rating and 11 share among adults 18-49. NBC was second at 3.0/9, followed by CBS at 2.5/8, Fox at 2.4/8, Univision at 1.7/3, and the WB and UPN each at 0.7/2.

At 8 p.m., NBC and ABC tied at No. 1 with a 2.1 rating for "My Name is Earl" and "The Office" reruns on NBC and "America’s Funniest Home Videos" and "NBA Nation" on ABC. Univision was No. 3 with a 2.0 for "La Fea Mas Bella," followed by CBS's "Gameshow Marathon" and Fox's "That 70s Show" reruns each at 1.8, UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Love, Inc." reruns at 0.9, and WB's "Smallville" repeat at 0.8.

At 9 p.m., NBC led with a 3.8 for “Dateline,” followed by the first hour of Game 4 of the NBA Finals at a 3.5 on ABC. Fox was third with "So You Think You Can Dance" at 3.1, followed by CBS's "CSI" repeat at 2.9 and Univision's 1.9 for "Barrera de Amor." Trailing were WB at 0.6 for a "Supernatural" repeat and UPN at 0.5 for repeats of "Eve" and "Cuts."

At 10 p.m., ABC was at No. 1 again at 4.5 for the rest of the NBA Finals game, trailed by NBC's "Windfall" at 3.1, CBS's "Without a Trace" repeat at 2.8 and Univision's "Casos de la Vida Real" at 1.3.

Among households, CBS led for the night with a 6.6 rating and 12 share, followed by ABC at 6.0/11, NBC at 4.9/9, Fox at 3.8/7, Univision at 1.9/3, WB at 1.3/2 and UPN at 1.1/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5438.asp

TV Notebook
Bob Schieffer Hits The Big Time:
He Gets A Bobblehead Doll
From TV Newser at mediabistro.com June 16, 2006

CBS News says in a press release: "CBS News Anchor Bob Schieffer takes a trip down memory lane when he returns to his Texas roots to be inducted into his favorite minor league team's hall of fame.

The Fort Worth Cats will honor Schieffer at their next home game on Friday, June 16 at LaGrave Field. Schieffer will become the first media figure to be named a Legend of LaGrave.

He will receive a plaque recognizing him as the team's number one fan and will be immortalized with a bobble-head doll in his likeness. Though Schieffer has received numerous awards and is critically acclaimed for his journalism career, he says, 'this is the greatest thrill of my life, the greatest honor I've ever received.'

The ceremony will take place on the very field Schieffer spent nearly every summer night as a child rooting for the team and his favorite player, Bobby Bragan -- Schieffer will receive a jersey adorned with his name and Bragan's number (10)..."

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

Dan Rather Considering Offer From Mark Cuban
New York Times
By JACQUES STEINBERG
Dan Rather, whose agreement to leave CBS News after 44 years could be final as soon as this evening, said in an interview today that he was seriously considering an offer from Mark Cuban, the unbridled owner of the Dallas Mavericks, to be the host and producer of a one-hour weekly news program for HDNet, a high-definition television channel that Mr. Cuban's company owns.

After being told by CBS News in recent weeks that it would not extend his contract on "60 Minutes" past its expiration date in late November, Mr. Rather and the network have been trying to negotiate a deal that would enable him to leave early.

Mr. Rather, 74, said today that he had already been sifting several offers for future work, including two from what he described as major networks — a group that he defined as including ABC and NBC, as well as CNN and Fox News.

But at least as of today, Mr. Rather said, "What I expect to do, what I hope to do, is bring this HDNet thing to fruition."

Mr. Rather, who stepped down as anchor of the " CBS Evening News" last year in the aftermath of a reporting scandal involving President Bush's service in the National Guard, said he was approached earlier this year by Mr. Cuban, who made hundreds of millions of dollars in the high-tech boom of the 1990's but who is probably better known to sports fans as the owner of the Mavericks. Mr. Cuban's team is now tied, 2 —2, with the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association finals.

Mr. Rather said that in addition to the one-hour interview program, which may eventually include "60 Minutes"-style investigative reports that he would prepare, he had committed to deliver at least two documentaries a year to the HDNet. The channelis available to subscribers with high-definition access on a handful of cable systems, including Time Warner, and satellite operators, including DIRECTV and Dish.

He said he had received a contract from Mr. Cuban's company, in which he would commit to work for HDNet for at least three years, but had not yet signed it. HDNet currently carries both original news and music programming as well as reruns of series like "Hogan's Heroes" and "Charlie's Angels."

Mr. Cuban did not immediately respond to messages left for him early this afternoon at the Mavericks' front office, as well as sent to him directly via e-mail.

Mr. Rather also said that in April, in anticipation of what seemed to be his imminent departure from CBS, he had formed a company — he named it News and Guts, in a nod to what he considers the pillars of his professional life — through which he plans to create several other journalism ventures, including, perhaps, a blog. (Though he has not yet settled on a title, he says he has ruled out one: "I'd Rather Say This.")

Mr. Rather, who has been employed by CBS since he was 30, said that he was sad to be leaving CBS, and that his first choice would have been to remain a correspondent on "60 Minutes." But the network, he said, was uninterested, offering him only a contract that would have entitled him to an office and assistant, but no affiliation with any CBS program.

"I want to work," he said. "I want to do meaningful work. I worry about sounding self-serving, but I have my health. I am vigorous. I am as hungry for important stories as I've ever been. In fact, I think my hunger might be, if anything, greater. I guess I'd like to think that's saying something."

But he said that once it was made clear to him that there was no longer a role for him at CBS, he began to warm to the idea of working for someone seeking to explore television's next frontier, in much the way William S. Paley had blazed the trail of the modern CBS, and as Ted Turner had done for CNN.

"I may not have found them," Mr. Rather said of Mr. Cuban and a partner, Todd Wagner. "But I found as close as I think anyone is likely to find. And I like the chances."

Mr. Rather, who was anchor of the CBS News for nearly a quarter century and who, at one point , also served as a correspondent on the news magazines "60 Minutes II" and "48 Hours," readily acknowledged that it would "take some adjustment" for him to get used to being seen by, perhaps, thousands of viewers in a week, as opposed to millions.

But he added that "the opportunity to build something from the ground up, I think, will have its own satisfactions."

He also said he had been given assurances by Mr. Cuban that, should he accept the offer, he would have complete, unfettered control of his program. "It's a situation," Mr. Rather said, "where there are not very large, let me put it this way, 'corporate and political complexities.' "

In those comments, and others, Mr. Rather was referring, however obliquely, to his displeasure with the leadership of CBS. He appeared, for example, to fault the network for eventually withdrawing its support for the "60 Minutes II" report that would, in turn, unravel his career. In the segment, he had sought to raise new questions about President Bush's Vietnam-era National Guard service, using memorandums that the network and, later, a panel of outside investigators, said it could not authenticate.

Mr. Rather said that the 15 months since he had left the Evening News, and joined "60 Minutes," had been among the most frustrating periods of his career. To an outsider, the eight segments he had reported for the program since November — including reports that had taken him to North Korea, China and Beirut — would appear to represent a good year's work.

But Mr. Rather said that other correspondents had more than twice as many reports appear on the program, and that two reports he had been particularly proud of (those originating in Beirut and North Korea) had been effectively buried, on the program's Christmas and New Year's Day telecasts.

"I've done virtually nothing for six weeks," he said. "Anybody who knows me knows that's not the way I like to work."

Asked if the network had sought to marginalize him over his role in the disputed Guard report — including his spirited defense of the segment, for more than a week after it was broadcast — Mr. Rather said: "There's a lot I have yet to figure out."

While reading all these articles about the marginalization and dismissal of Dan Rather following the disputed Bush/Guard documents, I'm amazed at one thing: I still have yet to hear of CBS, or anyone else for that matter, launching an investigation to figure out just where those falsified documents came from in the first place, and who might have authored them. Nobody seems to care about that. Everyone sure did get their pound of flesh from Rather and CBS for being duped, but nobody seems to much care who the duper was! Does anyone else find that odd? Perhaps Dan can launch such an investigation for World Report; I'm sure the results would be...ah...illuminating.

Dan will get to the bottom of it after he finds out what's the frequency.

I thought the funniest thing was that the secratary who said she didn't type the letter never said that the contents weren't accurate. She would only admit to not typing the letter itself. Why not just say the contents were off base and be done with it?

I thought the funniest thing was that the secratary who said she didn't type the letter never said that the contents weren't accurate. She would only admit to not typing the letter itself. Why not just say the contents were off base and be done with it?

Yeah. There are a whole lot of questions about that whole affair and very few answers. What I'm puzzled about is why Dan himself, or somebody else from CBS who got sacrificed on that alter, didn't and still aren't asking those questions - very, very loudly...? It's all so very, very peculiar... :confused:

The link for the NY Times Rather article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/16/business/media/16cnd-rather.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1150491601-3kmKqsNUlS/x9MYvZ5hXfw

Commentary
At PBS helm, Kerger must seek solvency

By Diane Mermigas The Hollywood Reporter Contributing Editor

CHICAGO -- Paula Kerger's mission as PBS' new CEO is to give the endearing and endangered institution financial autonomy in a digital media world that desperately needs what PBS has to offer.

A 13-year veteran of New York's flagship station WNET and the Educational Broadcasting Corp., Kerger has been driven her first three months on the job by high-energy intensity and an unspoken acceptance that PBS' rebirth or collapse could occur on her watch. She is driven by knowing first-hand the value of a national public television connection to grassroots artists, culture, politics and issues.

As if public TV station reticence, complex digital rights management and chronic funding uncertainty weren't enough obstacles for PBS' new leader to overcome, last week the U.S. House of Representatives voted to slash $189 million, or about one-third, of public broadcasting's 2007 funding request, with the intention of completely discontinuing support before decade's end.

Should those cuts be sustained by the Senate, the funding drop would keep at least 25 public TV stations from completing the government-mandated analog-to-digital conversion by the 2009 deadline, the overall cost of which to all public TV stations is $1.7 billion. The cuts also would result in the elimination of crucial digital equipment and operating support for all of PBS' 356 affiliated TV stations, and of the Ready to Learn and Ready to Teach programs associated with PBS' children's content.

The only House appropriation proposal left is $380 million for Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the flow-through funding source for PBS, down about one-fifth from this year's $495.5 million.

Kerger is determined to push public broadcasting beyond survival on a wish and a prayer. The key is to develop new content to generate funds on digital broadband interactive platforms and devices that will more than offset the decline of federal support and make PBS more economically viable.

It also is crucial for public broadcasting to establish an interactive loop with consumers to manage free and fee-based content offerings, memberships and sponsorships. The ability to access public broadcasting's unique branded content will be at the heart of retransmission negotiations between PBS affiliate stations and Comcast Corp. and other cable operators during the next several years.

"Public broadcasting has been chronically underfunded from the beginning," Kerger says. "It has struggled to do its best possible work with limited resources. It has effectively built public-private partnerships, leveraging federal funds out with philanthropy in our own communities, and looked for business partnerships.

"The dance we always do always brings us closer to the commercial line, which could become more of an issue. But we must increase the places where we can make our content accessible to consumers, and realize some of the new revenue from that which can help sustain us," she says.

With any luck, public outcry and organized pressure will prompt the Senate to restore the House's proposed cuts. One million protesting viewers last year pressured Congress to restore $200 million in funding.

In recent years, PBS has had to make cuts in its own budget, which totaled $532 million in fiscal 2005, 67% of which was supported by equal parts of program underwriting and station assessments. Educational product sales generate 10% of PBS' total revenue, royalties and license fees another 10%. CPB and federal grants contribute 13%. By comparison, one-quarter of all of public broadcasting's more than $2 billion budget is anchored by subscriber pledges, with another 30% supported by equal parts of business sponsorship and CPB appropriations.

"There should always be a role for federal funding in public broadcasting. We are a hell of a good bargain for this country," Kerger says. "I would love to be at a point with federal appropriations where legislators are not asking the question why we should be funded, but how much more should we have for the special work we do in areas like education and health -- where the government is trying to make a difference."

Although federal funding represents about 10% of PBS' annual budget, allocated through the CPB, it can represent as much as half of a station's revenue, which means some can be put out of business should the House cuts prevail.

Local membership funds can contribute up to half of a public TV station's revenue, a factor that has remained constant even in this time of widening viewing choices. Sponsorship money generally is used to underwrite and be associated with the production of content like the timely documentary "A Lion in the House," about children with cancer, which continue to shape and influence social policy.

"Even at a time of exploding media options, our stations are extraordinarily linked to their communities, and can tap into these powerful mission-driven programs to highlight local stories and needs in ways that are unique in this country," Kerger said.

PBS' fiscal 2007 strategic plan calls for the pursuit of seven "value chain initiatives" that include refining children's and other content priorities, developing multiplatform capabilities, building ownership of key content and rights, increasing use of new Internet formats, building partnerships to leverage the PBS brand, implementing free and fee-based multiplatform strategies and taking local and national educational programming and services to the next level.

The strategic planning that Kerger is overseeing begs the ultimate question: Can public broadcasting survive and thrive in the digital world? New-media's consumer-supported business model is not much different from public broadcasting's long-standing membership pledges and corporate sponsorships. Clearly, digital broadband interactivity is blurring the lines between the commercial and the noncommercial, and presenting legitimate new revenue streams for public broadcasting.

"My challenge is to get PBS to focus on the business opportunities, new revenue-generating opportunities, alongside the commercial broadcasters," Kerger says. "But we're taking our time and being thoughtful about what makes sense for our industry."

Those business partnerships include PBS' alliance with Comcast, Sesame Workshop and HIT Entertainment in the budding digital cable/satellite channel PBS Kids Sprout, which bowed last year and is leading to other business opportunities including a co-branded credit card, a U.S. postage stamp, gift cards and more extensive merchandising.

The four-hour "Frontline" documentary "The Age of AIDS," first broadcast last month, is providing PBS with a possible template for the new era. Some stations are rebroadcasting the documentary on their own multicast service. It also will be featured on PBS' national digital cable/satellite service this year. "Age of AIDS" also is a free video-on-demand offering on cable systems, and streaming for free on "Frontline's" Web site.

Public television's strategic plan calls for new-media initiatives far beyond its limited initial efforts, such as fee-based or sponsorship-based VOD and themed PBS archived program services. Only "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer" is podcast; only "Frontline" is streamed online; and only select PBS series such as "Antiques Roadshow" and "Washington Week" are free VOD offerings on cable.

PBS this year will begin offering select paid downloads of its extensive archived programs to iPods, MP3 players and other portable digital devices, as well as abbreviated content for cell phones. It will increasingly follow up on initial free program launches of programs on public television with paid on-demand access of the same programs on various digital devices and platforms as well as DVDs. It will seek sponsorship of streaming Web content from its library of evergreen programming that will follow existing broadcast models and standards, providing a source of new revenue. PBS.org, the second-most-visited organizational Web site, will be enhanced with new search powers, multimedia integration and cross-referencing of local and national content.

"Finally, the technology has caught up with our mission," Kerger says. "If we can stay focused on that, and capitalize on it, then things will really get interesting."

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

The Business of TV
After Slow Start, ABC Closes Deals

Buyers Expect Prime-time Inventory to Wrap up Next Week
By Claire Atkinson and Abbey Klaassen AdAge.com June 16, 2006

NEW YORK -- The broadcast network upfront should be wrapping up as media agencies report that business could conclude by mid- to late next week, allowing buyers to start talks with cable and syndication in earnest.

Now that the upfront is wrapping up, focus shifts to cable and syndication.

Though ABC got off to a slow start, the Walt Disney Co. network completed significant business by last night at cost-per-thousand increases of between 3% and 4%. The lower pricing was only available to those adding volume, according to one insider. Marketers that were keeping dollars even and trying instead to enrich their programming mix were being asked to pay higher CPM rates, in some cases upward of 4%.

"Yesterday was very active," one media buyer said this morning, "All prime time will be wrapped up by mid- to late next week, and then we'll get to early morning and late night [programming]."

The right strategy?

Other agency executives question if ABC's network sales president, Mike Shaw, has the right strategy, with some claiming that the network is leaving itself open to losing "flexible dollars," given this year's fight for volume.

"He's fared fairly well in scatter because he's been able to package some prime inventory into scatter prices -- he can throw a couple units of 'Grey's Anatomy,' 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Lost' and it looks attractive in a package," said a broadcast buyer from a major media agency.

But, the buyer cautioned, the scatter market is based on supply and demand -- and this year could see a surge in supply if the networks' sellout levels drop, thanks to fewer dollars in the marketplace. An increase in scatter supply without a steep increase in demand would depress pricing.

With the upfront take likely to be flat to down compared to previous years -- TV took in $9.1 billion last year -- agencies and broadcast networks have set the groundwork for a potentially buoyant scatter market. Agencies have said they'll hang back and hold money out because many new opportunities -- particularly in digital -- arise outside the upfront period.

Holding onto airtime

While agencies are holding back, networks are also likely to limit their available inventory. The gamble is whether the money will show up later -- the scatter market has been weak, as agencies reported little or no penalty to buying outside the upfront period last season. However, Disney Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs said on the company's results call in May that ABC's second- and third-quarter scatter market had been 10% above upfront levels.

News Corp.'s president-chief operating officer, Peter Chernin, said June 14 that Fox had sold 70% of its upfront inventory, at CPM increases of between 2%-3%. Mr. Chernin also said CBS and NBC weren't far behind. CBS pricing is reported to be anywhere between low single digits to negative, while NBC, which, along with Fox, traditionally has the highest CPM costs, at around $30 per 30 seconds, is reducing its rates by 5%-6% in a play for volume.

The new CW, created by the merger of WB and UPN, is said to be flat from compared to WB pricing and is having a tough time establishing bases with marketers that were previously with UPN, which was cheaper than the WB. The CW is believed to be around 60% done. Network reps had no comment.

Fox's new entrant, My Network TV, has so far been quiet, with media agencies preferring to deal with the network in tandem with the cable and syndication market.

Cable deals

In cable, MTV Networks and Turner Broadcasting have already kicked off business. Media agencies traditionally begin with the top-tier entertainment networks, which also include Discovery and A&E Networks. One media agency said, "It will be difficult for cable to get higher than the 3%-4%, which has been set by the networks."

Agencies now begin the process of registering their budgets with the cable groups. Discovery is 50% fully registered, while MTV is 80% registered, according to executives close to talks.

http://adage.com/print?article_id=109941

TV Notebook
Rather out at CBS, sources say

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist Fri, Jun. 16, 2006

It's over.

After 44 years, Dan Rather will leave CBS by the end of the month, at the latest, industry sources said Friday. His departure could come as early as next week.

Rather, 74, whose contract runs until late November, is working out the final details of his exit agreement, the sources say.

Money is not an issue, they say. Among the sticking points: Whether Rather will have access to his archival CBS material.

CBS issues its standard non-denial denial: "Dan is a 60 Minutes correspondent, and we don't comment on contractual matters." Rather declined to comment.

Anchor of CBS Evening News for a record 24 years until being forced out in March '05 by the Memogate scandal, Rather was fighting to stay at the network in some "meaningful" capacity. It was clear that the network wanted him gone.

Like virtually all CBS executives, network czar Les Moonves, once a Rather supporter, had distanced himself from the newsman. They had not had a real conversation for more than eight months, newsroom sources say.

Many inside CBS feel that Rather triggered his own demise by vigorously defending his flawed 60 Minutes II report in September '04 that questioned President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, even after the authenticity of the documents used in the piece could not be proved.

Rather later apologized to viewers, but his fate within CBS had been sealed. The only difference: It would take longer for him to leave. Unlike several of his coworkers in the scandal, Rather escaped the noose.

Rather's last 60 Minutes piece, on the Whole Foods empire, ran June 4.

By some miracle, if Rather were to stay on the roster, it's doubtful he would see much airtime, with new Evening News anchor Katie Couric and CNN's Anderson Cooper signing on as part-time contributors.

After having built his reputation by going anywhere in the world for a hot story - especially hurricanes - Rather was turned down last fall when he asked to cover Hurricane Katrina and for trips to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Instead, Rather paid for his own Middle East trek about two months ago, visiting Doha, Qatar, Dubai and the United Arab Emirates over 10 days "to keep up my sources and contacts," he said in an interview Wednesday.

At CBS, almost every correspondent or executive refused to go on the record about Rather for fear of reprisal. The few who did were restrained, to put it mildly.

"It's a sad story," says outgoing 60 Minutes ace Mike Wallace, 88, a vocal Rather critic in the past.

"He's a good man. He was a wonderful reporter. He remains a wonderful reporter."

Says 60 Minutes' Ed Bradley: "I feel sorry for Dan, because he's not happy.

This isn't what he wanted. I think anybody would like to go out on their own terms. I'm sure he's sorry that didn't happen. I commiserate with him because of that. It's a very, very complicated situation."

Speaking of complicated situations, Bradley just signed a three-year deal after some bumpy negotiations.

"The journey wasn't the easiest, but the destination was wonderful once you got there," says Bradley, a Philly guy and former WDAS jock who joined the newsmagazine in '81. He turns 65 on Thursday.

A former CBS executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, says the network's treatment of Rather is "disgraceful. He's a legend. He gave his life to that company. Even though he made a big mistake, he did 43 years and 11 months' great work."

An executive at another network says CBS should have had a smash send-off planned for Rather well in advance: "This slow twisting in the wind feels wrong."

A current CBS correspondent labels Rather "the most influential TV reporter since Edward R. Murrow," and says he deserves a graceful exit: "If he leaves through the back door, with no real goodbye, it won't sit well with a lot of people."

The tragedy in the piece, according to some at CBS, is that Rather, for whatever reason, refuses to accept a lesser role that would keep him at the network.

60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt and legendary former anchor Walter Cronkite, both nudged out of their positions, still are under contract and maintain offices at CBS News, though their duty is light.

Rather wants to work hard. If he can't do it at CBS, he'll do it somewhere else.

But no matter where he ends up, Rather will forever be known as a CBS newsman, the correspondent says.

"You can let him leave, but CBS News is burned onto his forehead."

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14836522.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

TV on DVD
''Weeds'' on DVD

From Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

Here's the official announcement:

Showtime’s award-winning TV series, “Weeds,” starring Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker, Elizabeth Perkins and Kevin Nealon, is now being made available for the first time on DVD.

Lionsgate will release Weeds: Season One on July 11, and the second season begins airing on Showtime in August.

The DVD set is loaded with special features including “Smoke & Mirrors” - an original marijuana mockumentary, Agrestic “herbal” recipes, audio commentaries from the cast and show creator plus much more.

One down note: Full-screen format. But 5.1 Dolby Digital (as well as 2.0). List price will be $39.98.

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

I am sorry for Dan, but man, that is a sure long post.

TV on DVD
''Weeds'' on DVD

From Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog
.
.
.
One down note: Full-screen format. But 5.1 Dolby Digital (as well as 2.0). List price will be $39.98.

http://blogs.ohio.com/beacon_tv/
Um...Why?

Um...Why?
'Cause they were smokin' pot... :)

Um...Why?

Because it's a really well done TV comedy? That'd be my guess.

Because it's a really well done TV comedy? That'd be my guess.
No, no, no. I LOVE this show. I was referring to the Full-screen DVD release. Sorry I wasn't clear.

'Cause they were smokin' pot... :)
Heh. Great response. lol

Yeah, you're right.... this is an HDTV show. Must be a misprint. Rich was probably stoned. :D

Here is yet another reason to look forward to the (hopefully) soon-to-come Fox HD channel.

TV Notebook
A show right up his alley

Since 'Taxi' drove off in 1983, Danny DeVito has mainly been a man of the movies.
But a quirky FX comedy set in a rundown pub has lured him back to series work.
By Maria Elena Fernandez Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 18, 2006

Danny DeVito is pacing up and down a downtown Los Angeles alley, waiting for his cue to break up a fight between two crackheads and two swindlers. DeVito, the pro, isn't nervous. He just has loads of creative energy, an unstoppable flow that provokes him to intermittently rag on his one-time costar the Governator, riff on a mystery liquid falling from above, and impersonate his favorite TV character — Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland on Fox's "24") — between takes for his new television gig on FX's rogue comedy "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

Since "Taxi" left the air in 1983, the actor who turned Louie DePalma into one of the most unredeemable and memorable characters on the small screen has guest-starred on many sitcoms but has never taken on a regular role. But DeVito, who has been busy producing and directing films and television shows, says he couldn't turn down the opportunity to join this cast of actors who write and produce their own show.

"It's not so much that I've purposely stayed away, it was more about doing other stuff," says DeVito, 61, sitting for the first time in the Irish pub that is the center of the show. The interior set for the pub is inside the old Los Angeles Herald-Examiner building, just a couple of blocks from the alley where DeVito's character, Frank, intervened in a family dispute of sorts.

"I've thought about coming back in the past," he says. "But I was waiting for something to come along that was unique and fun, because that's the thing about life — you never know what's going to turn around and make you feel good. This is the first time I've had where the writers and creators of the show are actually in the show with you. There's no middle man. And that makes it fun. The only experience I've ever had that was anywhere near it was 'Taxi' because 'Taxi' was insane for its time and this is off-the-charts insane for its time."

"Sunny" is the story of four friends and siblings from high school who own a dive bar in Philly and are "crawling their way down the ladder. You leave them alone, and they're going to find the bottom," DeVito says. Last season, the foursome's adventures led Mac (Rob McElhenney) and Dennis (Glenn Howerton) to try to pick up women at rallies on both sides of the abortion issue; Sweet Dee (Kaitlin Olson) to enlist a black friend to help promote the bar as diverse; and the entire gang to open the pub to underage drinkers to provide a "safe haven for these kids to be kids."

But the show also has heart and soul, and, most important in this era of comedic slim pickings, it has voice. Its characters, Mac, Dennis, Dee and Charlie (Charlie Day), fit the FX banner to a T: attractive and sometimes even well-intended adults who are clueless about how their character flaws get them into trouble.

"I would argue that there are a lot of likable qualities in the characters," says Olson, 30, a week before production of the second season concluded in May. "They're not trying to be mean. They're lovable."

"Likable doesn't mean nice," adds Howerton, also 30.

When the series returns June 29 for 10 episodes, the crew will have a fifth wheel: Frank, the wealthy and past-midlife-crisis-stricken father of Dennis and Dee, who moves from his cushy suburban home to the city to try to recapture his youth and reconnect with the children he ignored for most of their lives. Frank starts working at the bar, pushing his kids to leave it and follow their dreams: of becoming a vet (Dennis) and becoming an actress (Dee).

"He wants to get back to his roots; he's made a lot of money, but he misses that kind of action being on the front lines of life," DeVito says. "He's getting rid of everything, his money, his home, his car, his stuff and especially his wife (Anne Archer). He's missing being with his kids — which are these two crackheads — and the traditional stuff that life is made of in his mind. But they don't want him insinuating himself in their lives at this point. Imagine being 30 years old and a guy who didn't pay a hell of a lot of attention to you is saying he wants to come in and bond with you."

With their own crazy logic, the siblings' new grand plan involves collecting unemployment and, when that runs out, dipping into crack so they can somehow get welfare until they get back on their feet. Hence, the crack-induced fight in the alley over — what else? — Frank's money.

"They happen to get addicted to crack in that particular episode, but when we come back in the next one, it's all gone," McElhenney says. "Just like last year. The idea is that the characters are so self-involved that the next day, they're on to whatever is in front of their face."

Dee and Dennis may not want Frank around, but McElhenney, 29, the show's creator and show-runner, sure wanted DeVito. The struggling actor had been waiting tables a year earlier and was tired of waiting for his big break, so he fleshed out an idea he had for a short film with his buddies Howerton and Day, filmed it with a video camera, decided it might fare better as a series, and sold it to FX. Although it's widely reported that the pilot cost $200 to make, they say the figure is more like $85 — the only money they spent was on tapes. McElhenney, Howerton and Day write the scripts, star in the show and produce it. Olson was hired to be the fourth sidekick after FX bought the show.

At the end of the first season, which drew a modest average of 1.1 million viewers, FX President and General Manager John Landgraf and McElhenney decided they wanted to add a member to the cast, a role to be played by "a big-time comedian, and I thought of Danny," says Landgraf, who was the founding partner of Jersey Television, sister company to DeVito's Jersey Films. McElhenney was all for it and wrote DeVito a long letter and met with him in his home to "beg" him to join the show.

"I knew that Danny really liked the show, so we arranged a meeting with him and Rob, and Danny loved Rob and he loved the idea," Landgraf says. "But admittedly, bringing Danny into that, I was a little bit nervous. Not because Danny's not brilliant or hilarious, but because I thought it might feel grafted or inorganic and also because he's my friend and I wanted him to have a good experience."

'We got so lucky'

As elated as they were, McElhenney, Howerton and Day also felt the pressure.

"Bringing a star into this mom-and-pop style of shooting could have been a disaster," says Day, 29. "It could have ruined it. And we were nervous, you know. We had never worked with the guy. But he was fantastic, a real asset to the show. We got so lucky."

Whether it was shooting a promo that involved beating up one another and diving into the frame on his stomach or screaming his head off at his children, DeVito was up for anything.

"It was such a benefit to our show because it's that playful spirit that hopefully makes our show what it is," Howerton says. "As heavy and dark as the topics we deal with may be, one of the things that make it palatable and light and funny is that there is a sort of childish playfulness to these characters and a childish naivete."

To accommodate his busy schedule, DeVito's scenes for the 10 episodes were shot in a three-week period, meaning all 10 scripts had to be ready before he arrived and everything was shot out of order. The long hours and intense schedule bonded the five actors, with DeVito behaving paternally toward his younger colleagues, Olson said. On his last day, he gave the four of them video iPods and invited them to a barbecue at his house.

"These guys are inventive, they've got a great spirit, and their work ethic is off the charts," DeVito says. "And I'll tell you something, the way they've done this, it sends a great message out there to people who are talented and creative, to go out and take initiative.

"There are many brick walls for all artists, but when you see the courage and insight that it took to get this show on the air, I just can't say enough about it. What a ride."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-ca-devito18jun18,0,865398.story?coll=cl-tvent

TV Notebook
Feed The Machine: Duly Noted.

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle in his TV blog

Greetings from poolside! (No, I'm kidding. I'm actually stuck in my room, watching TV...well, no, that's not true either...)

Anyway, before heading into one very incredible weekend of heat, U.S. Open finishes and Father's Day - have I mentioned that I'm an incredibly great dad? - a number of things need to be noted before the blog gets buried under the Chron's Blogs du Jour and I wander aimlessly into summer, forgetting (yeah, that's a good word for it) to post anything:

1. As expected, everything looks brilliant in HD. Especially golf, and soccer, and baseball. And yes, I'm getting other stuff done. Stop nagging me.

2. I'm really not getting anything done. (But truth be told, I DID put in one of the new fall shows from a network I will not mention here and let me say this about the show at hand: It was god-awful. Which, in turn, sent me back to the U.S. Open and, not long after that, out into the back yard with an Anchor Steam. But that's just between me, you and a few friends. Not for my boss.)

3. Thank you to all the polite e-mailers who have gently prodded and coyly begged for some "Deadwood" and "Rescue Me" deconstructions. I'm glad anyone at all is even interested at this point, what with summer taking the urgency edge off the blog posts. But I can't. I am indeed watching both shows, plus "Entourage" and that's a terrific little trio to follow in the summer, I must say. But I can't deconstruct them for you because A) That would require me to work for free again B) It would require me to stop gazing at ESPN in HD, like the proverbial deer transfixed by the new moving headlights on that cool Lexus C)It would require me to stop watching all the fall shows I'm not watching. Oh, and D) Have you seen the weather outside? Do you know how hard it is to watch TV when it's like that? Come on.

4. July is right around the corner. July means a lot of work for me. Well, "work" in a different kind of sense than normal people use the word, but still, I'm getting that summer feeling, as Jonathan Richman so wonderfully stated, and I'm lost in thought and inaction.

5. I have been keeping my finger on the pulse of all kinds of TV industry news and most of it has either annoyed me, bored me to tears or made me question why I'm even in this business. But one thing did jump out at me recently and it needs to be commented upon: Darren Star, the producer, is going to remake the dark, dark, dark, blackly dark comedy, "Nighty Night" into an American series for Showtime. Here's a short story about that: No. (Now, I know that a miracle has already happened and "The Office" has been successfully transformed into an American hit, but that just proves my point - we're out of miracles now. They're all used up.) Anyway, no good can come from remaking that brilliant series. Rent it on Netflix or whatever. Because nobody in this country has the guts or the audacity to remake "Nighty Night" in exactly the same tone. And that's a crime.

6. OK, back to being on assignment.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=24

Critic’s Notebook
Sports on TV: Or, What I'm Not Watching.

By James Poniewozik Time Magazine television critic

Yesterday I ran into my time.com colleague Tony Karon, who hails from one of the regions of the world where they play football with their feet, and he asked what I was planning on blogging about the coverage of the World Cup. My answer--nothing. For a simple reason:

I don't watch it.

There. I said it. Before you decide this is one of those jingoistic, parochial, why-don't-they-score-more-often anti-soccer rants, let me clarify: I don't watch sports. Oh, I watch sports, in the sense of catching the occasional playoff game or the Olympics to keep up for professional reasons, the same grudging, clinical way I make myself choke down a Crossing Jordan or CSI: Miami once a season. But watch-them watch them, in the sense of tuning in regularly, staying from the pre- to the post-game, caring who wins —nope. Not a fan. The one exception is championship figure skating, and before you ask, yes, I fathered two children, the natural way, thank you very much.

I'll freely admit that this is a shortcoming of mine as a TV critic, if not a man and an American. Sports on TV are a major part of the way we, by which I mean you, absorb pop culture—not just the games, but the catchphrases, the attitude, the advertising. Without being a fan, which is something you can't fake, you simply can't experience it the same way. Every year at the network upfronts, when the networks announce their fall schedules, they turn over part of the show to their sports divisions. For me, they might as well say, "And now, the part of the upfronts where we speak in Serbo-Croatian!" The in-jokes, the references, even many of the personalities are lost on me. I can pick Terry Bradshaw out of a lineup, but only because he's bald and kind of loony.

I'm not proud of it, but it's a reflection of one of the weirdnesses of the job of TV critic. Unlike, say, movie critics, you can't reasonably watch everything: any given year, my digital cable box spits out more hours of television than I will have hours of life. So you prioritize and specialize, and some things, you drop. (I have a feeling I'm not alone: in many big newspapers, TV sports are covered by the sports, not the arts, section.) Maybe the biggest thing I miss out on, from a pop-culture standpoint, is the commercials. Between getting screener DVDs and using TiVo, the Super Bowl is pretty much the only time of year I find out what exactly Americans buy nowadays.

That said, I'm making some effort with the World Cup, which is a forgiving sports event for me since, let's face it, you don't have to pay attention to most of a soccer game. (OK, that was the jingoistic, parochial, why-don't-they-score-more-often part.) Since I'm on the clock, sadly, I can't really enjoy the games the way foreign-born acquaintances and our local satellite-TV-boasting bars tell me they are meant to be enjoyed: stinking drunk.

I have, however, so far been enjoying ESPN2's Scottish color commentator, who, I believe, is a pirate. ("He's got about a half yarrrrrrd of space therrrrre!") Yes, I know Univision also covers the Cup; I'm going to work on learning the sport before I start learning a new language, sorry. Anyway, the weekend's coming up, and I promise to work my best at sampling the World Cup experience.

The drinking part, anyway.

http://time.blogs.com/tuned_in/

TV Notebook
Alana De La Garza joins 'Law & Order'

Kansas City Star Fri, Jun. 16, 2006

NEW YORK The Associated Press - The "Law & Order" revolving door has brought in Alana De La Garza as the latest cast addition to the longrunning NBC drama, the network confirmed Friday.

De La Garza joins the series next fall replacing Annie Parisse, who played Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Borgia for a season and a half. Borgia was killed off last month on the finale for the show's 16th season.

De La Garza appeared on CBS' "CSI: Miami" last season as the wife of Miami cop Horatio Caine (series star David Caruso) who was gunned down by drug dealers.

She follows Parisse as the latest in a succession of actresses playing young female prosecutors paired with assistant D.A. Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), including Jill Hennessy, Carey Lowell, Angie Harmon and Elizabeth Rohm.

Another newcomer to the "Law & Order" fold, Milena Govich, was announced recently. She replaces Dennis Farina, who played dapper Detective Joe Fontana for two seasons. He in turn had succeeded the late Jerry Orbach.

Govich was most recently a regular on NBC's shortlived drama "Conviction" (like "Law & Order," produced by Dick Wolf) as Jessica Rossi, a New York assistant district attorney.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/television/14835661.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Personally, I am not fond of those who couch their personal attacks behind “anonymous” sources. It seems sleazy to me. Weare not talking matters of nationa security here – just the opportunity to attack someone with impunity ans hide behinmd a cloack of anonymity.

For shame, mediabistro! I hope Mark Cuban or Karl Meisenbach will respond to Brian Stelter's (to my mind at least) petty and cowardly attack at mediabistro.com:

TV Notebook
Hey Rather: Rethink HDNet's "Embrace"


From Brian Stelter at (Mediabistro.com)

A knowledgeable anonymous tipster writes:

"In late 2003, the Iraqi insurgency was in its infancy, and a journalistic foray to Baghdad was not yet a journey into the heart of darkness. Except for one television crew.

Network teams based in the Palestine and Sheraton hotels became aware of a U.S. cameraman and producer who were trolling around the Iraqi capital desperately seeking freelance work. The reason for their desperation? They had been sent to Iraq by HDNet, and left high-and-dry by the Mark Cuban-owned high definition television network that is now flirting with Dan Rather.

They alleged that HDNet had failed to pay them, failed to provide them with promised cash to settle up their hotel bills, and failed to do anything to help them leave the war zone they had risked their lives to cover. A couple of all-news cable outlets took pity on the troubled duo, offered them work as locally-hired freelancers, and paid them enough money to settle their bills and eventually leave the city.

As Dan Rather prepares to join the freelance ranks and considers a move into the tender embrace of HDNet, he might want to have his representatives call around and take a sounding of the network's reputation. He'll discover a long list of shooters, editors, producers and reporters who have been burned by HDNet in the past. They include other household names previously exploited by Mark Cuban and HDNet's mercurial General Manager Philip Garvin in their failed attempts to put the network on the map. Previous incarnations of HDNet's news plans have included the CNN-less Peter Arnett, and a now-abandoned series of co-productions with PBS.

Those who have been through the HDNet wringer know what Dan can expect: promised resources that will never be delivered, in-the-field support that will never be offered, and post-production experiences that may include high-pitched screaming fits by one of the network's senior executives.

The weekly 'news' program being dangled in front of Dan's nose could also include content from Al Jazeera International. The would-be English-language network has been quietly talking to HDNet for months now. Should it ever get on air, it also plans to broadcast in High Definition and HDNet offers an urgently-needed vehicle for US distribution of at least some of its content. Imagine the field day Dan's conservative critics will have with that.

So there are reasons why Mark Cuban's offer to Dan sounds too-good-to-be-true. Capturing Dan Rather will represent a major publicity coup for the network, but Dan will soon find that the opportunity doesn't match the promise. And he should always keep enough cash in his pocket to pay the network's hotel bills."

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cbs/hey_rather_rethink_hdnets_embrace_38655.asp#more

TV Notebook
Moving Ahead, Rather Throws Sad Look Back


By Jacques Steinberg The New York Times June 17, 2006

The 74-year-old man with the Mets cap pulled far down on his forehead slid into a booth at a diner on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and ordered a glass of milk without so much as turning a head — so quietly, in fact, that it was hard to believe it was Dan Rather.

In place of the swagger that had served him so well throughout his 44-year career at CBS News was an obvious sadness that his tenure at the network was ticking down to an inglorious end. Mr. Rather complained that since stepping down as anchor of the " CBS Evening News" last year, in the aftermath of a reporting scandal, he had been ill used as a correspondent on "60 Minutes" and had been given virtually nothing at all to do for the previous six weeks.

Among the places he had sought solace, he said on a recent afternoon, was in "Good Night, and Good Luck," George Clooney's homage to Edward R. Murrow and the CBS News of old, a film that Mr. Rather said he had seen five times in theaters, most recently alone.

Mr. Rather's contract with CBS, and "60 Minutes," is not scheduled to expire until late November. But he said yesterday that he and the network were close to an agreement that would end his tenure early, and that he was seriously mulling a new venture that, at least initially, relatively few viewers would be able to see: he would develop and be the host of a weekly interview program on a high-definition television channel known as HDNet.

The offer, he said, had come directly from Mark Cuban, the unbridled owner of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks, who was a co-founder of HDNet in 2001.

Mr. Rather said he had been weighing several other offers for work, including two from what he described as major broadcast or cable networks. But as of yesterday, Mr. Rather said, "what I expect to do, what I hope to do, is bring this HDNet thing to fruition."

Mr. Rather, who was anchor of the "CBS Evening News" for nearly a quarter-century and who, at one point also served as a correspondent on the news magazines "60 Minutes II" and "48 Hours," acknowledged that it would "take some adjustment" for him to get used to being seen by perhaps tens of thousands of viewers in a week, as opposed to millions.

But he added that "the opportunity to build something from the ground up, I think, will have its own satisfactions."

Mr. Rather also said that in April, in anticipation of what seemed to be his imminent departure from CBS, he had formed a company — he named it News and Guts, in a nod to what he considers the pillars of his professional life — through which he plans to create several other journalism ventures, including, perhaps, a blog. (Though he has not yet settled on a title, he says he has ruled out one: "I'd Rather Say This.")

Mr. Rather said he first met earlier this year with Mr. Cuban, who made hundreds of millions of dollars in the high-tech boom of the 1990's. Mr. Cuban's team is now tied, two games to two, with the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association finals.

When a reporter joked about whether Mr. Rather would also weigh in on the management of the Mavericks, Mr. Rather responded, seriously, that he had already provided Mr. Cuban some unsolicited advice during the team's recent playoff run, suggesting that one particular player be given more minutes on the court. "I'm not going to tell you who he is," Mr. Rather said. "But they're using him more."

Mr. Rather also recounted that Mr. Cuban, a producer of "Good Night, and Good Luck," had told him that as part of the deal he expected to ask Mr. Rather for informal advice on future film projects. There, too, Mr. Rather said he was game.

In addition to the one-hour interview program, which could eventually include "60 Minutes"-style investigative reports that he would prepare, Mr. Rather said he had been asked to commit to deliver at least two documentaries a year to HDNet. The channel is available to subscribers with high-definition access — it was available in about three million homes last year, according to Kagan Research, an independent firm — either on a handful of cable systems, including Time Warner, or through satellite operators, including DirecTV and Dish. The channel currently carries both original news and music programming, as well as reruns of series like "Hogan's Heroes" and "Charlie's Angels."

Asked in an e-mail message yesterday to confirm Mr. Rather's description of the offer, Mr. Cuban sent back the following response last night: "All I can tell you is that we have had some conversations to do some very exciting things. Unshackled from the talking head world where earnings per share mean more than finding the truth, the opportunities for HDNet and Dan are unlimited."

Mr. Rather said he had been given assurances by Mr. Cuban, should he accept the offer, that he would have complete, unfettered control of his program. "It's a situation," he said, "where there are not very large — let me put it this way — corporate and political complexities."

In those comments, and others, Mr. Rather was referring, however obliquely, to his displeasure with the leadership of CBS. He appeared, for example, to fault the network for eventually withdrawing its support for the "60 Minutes II" report that would, in turn, unravel his career. In the segment, he had sought to raise new questions about President Bush's Vietnam-era National Guard service, using memorandums that the network, and later a panel of outside investigators, said they could not authenticate.

Asked yesterday about Mr. Rather and his status at the network, a CBS News spokeswoman, Sandra Genelius, said she had no comment.

Mr. Rather expressed some disappointment with Leslie Moonves, the president and chief executive of CBS. In late 2004, Mr. Rather announced he would step down as anchor in March 2005. In the interim, Mr. Moonves told a gathering of television critics in California that he hoped to blow up the program's "voice of God, single anchor" format. (After exploring the notion of an ensemble, CBS announced this spring that it was hiring Katie Couric as the program's sole anchor.)

Asked in the interview about Mr. Moonves's remarks, Mr. Rather said, "My problem with the 'voice of God' thing was that it was meant disrespectfully."

"They talk about wanting a break with the past," he added. "Look at the Murrow film. I don't want to break with that past."

Mr. Rather said that the 15 months since he had left the evening news, and joined "60 Minutes," had been among the most frustrating periods of his career. To an outsider, the eight segments he had had broadcast on the program since November — including reports that had taken him to North Korea, China and Beirut — would appear to represent a good year's work.But Mr. Rather said that other correspondents had more than twice as many reports appear on the program, and that two reports he had been particularly proud of (those originating in Beirut and China) had been effectively buried, on the program's Christmas and New Year's Day telecasts.Of being kept idle these last two months, Mr. Rather said, "Anybody who knows me knows that's not the way I like to work."

Asked if the network had sought to marginalize him over his role in the disputed Guard report — including his spirited defense of the segment, for more than a week after it was broadcast — Mr. Rather said, "There's a lot I have yet to figure out."

Mr. Rather, who has been employed by CBS since he was 30, said that his first choice would have been to remain a correspondent on "60 Minutes." But the network, he said, was uninterested, offering him only a contract that would have entitled him to an office and assistant, but no affiliation with any CBS program.

"I am as hungry for important stories as I've ever been," he said. "In fact, I think my hunger might be, if anything, greater. I guess I'd like to think that's saying something."

Once it was made clear to him that there was no longer a role for him, he said, he began to warm to the idea of working for someone seeking to explore television's next frontier, in much the way William S. Paley had blazed the trail of the modern CBS, and as Ted Turner had done for CNN.

"I may not have found them," Mr. Rather said of Mr. Cuban and a partner, Todd Wagner. "But I found as close as I think anyone is likely to find. And I like the chances."

It was not possible yesterday to determine which other outlets may have had conversations with Mr. Rather about future work. Representatives from Fox News, CNN and NBC said their organizations had made no offers to him, and an ABC executive said he knew of no discussions with Mr. Rather.

When asked if there was any advice he would give to Katie Couric — who, in September, succeeds Bob Schieffer, the interim anchor of the "Evening News" since Mr. Rather stepped down — Mr. Rather said: "If she comes to CBS and demonstrates that she loves the news, and demonstrates leadership skills — and I do think both those things are true — then I think she will do well."

Asked if he might be tempted to change the channel and root for one of Ms. Couric's chief competitors, Charles Gibson on ABC and Brian Williams on NBC, Mr. Rather was unequivocal in his response.

"I'm always pulling for CBS News," he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/17/business/media/17rath.html?ei=5094&en=447326e1643df130&hp=&ex=1150516800&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

TV Q&A
Ask Matt

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

Question: First, an observation. I liked the trivia of the doctors on Lost and Grey's Anatomy with the same last name, but I wonder if anybody noticed the two Fox network characters with the same name. Both That 70s Show's Topher Grace and House's Omar Epps play(ed) Eric Foreman. But anyway, I do have a question. With the FCC upholding its fines of network TV for the Jackson-Timberlake incident and the Without a Trace episode placing the emphasis on stigmatizing sexual content, doesn't anybody find the sick-out factor on the season finale of House to be more in conflict with "standards of decency"? I love the show (although I usually only watch the second half, after my favorite medical show, Scrubs), but I find the sight of an eyeball-popping, testicle-exploding, gut-ripping bloody mess much more disturbing than a bare breast. What do you think? — Jodie

Matt Roush: First off, officially Fox's Erics spell their last names differently: Forman (70s Show) and Foreman (House). Secondly, you know you're preaching to the converted here on this "standards" issue. I find gore and violence much more objectionable than sexual content, given the context (and Trace at the very least had context — that particular fine is so punitive and arbitrary to be beyond nonsensical). But the puritanical streak of our pandering politicians and regulators is well known, especially in election years.

Personally, though I cringed several times during the graphic House finale, I have come to expect that sort of thing in this particular show (and unless I'm mistaken, we didn't exactly see the testicle explode, just the splatter, and am I ever splitting hairs here). I don't especially believe in pushing the envelope for its own sake, and maybe House went a bit too far in the gory details in this elaborate Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge-style dream-state episode. Yes, it was disturbing, but do I think Fox should be fined for it? Absolutely not. The episode came with a warning. Quite justified this time around. And much more important to me than the icky gross-out stuff was just how mind-blowing the episode was otherwise.

________________________________________

Question: OK, I have been trying to keep up with the law that Bush is supposed to sign fining networks for things like the Janet Jackson debacle. I am all for drawing a line in the sand and setting some boundaries, but who does the deciding, and how do they decide what is and is not acceptable? For instance, on TBS at 8 pm they can say the D-word and everything else but the F-word. So how is all of this supposed to work? Who does it regulate and what does it regulate? Have I made any sense? — Nancy

Matt Roush: About as much sense as the law itself. The problem is that it's simply too arbitrary. The issue also boils down to letting politicians or some board of so-called moral watchdogs decide what we can and cannot watch. After drawing the line at extreme language, sexuality and violence (all of which should be tempered, depending on time period and common sense), will they next condemn hot-button topics like homosexuality and abortion? It's a slippery slope.

But to answer one part of your question in the simplest terms possible, for now cable is largely unregulated. This is because, unlike regular broadcast-network TV, we pay specifically for that service, and consumers can choose whether to have access to these channels or not. There are movements afoot to go after cable, of course, and hand-wringing prudes would like nothing better than to chill provocative networks like FX (for a shining example). But hopefully, when the dust settles (the issue usually recedes between election cycles), we'll still have a few safe havens for unsafe programming.

________________________________________

Question: This is more a comment than a question. I watched the webcast of your Battlestar Galactica panel at the Museum of TV & Radio. (Ain't technology grand?) It was very interesting and informative, but it was your question that had me the most interested. You asked whether the name Battlestar Galactica was a big hindrance because not since Buffy the Vampire Slayer have you as a critic had to defend your love of a show simply due to its title. Well, my comment is: Try being female and liking Battlestar. I swear many of my female friends threatened to take away my shoe-shopping privileges when I told them I watched it. It wasn't until I proved to them that, yes indeed, I could still appreciate and gush about Grey's Anatomy and Gilmore Girls that I was able to get them to watch the first season. Fortunately, the show is so good that that is all it took. However, I am very tired of having to defend my femaleness when I state that Battlestar is one of my absolutely favorite shows. Lost is a sci-fi show, people! It is just a label. Geez, I don't even get this much flak about liking Entourage, which I think is far more testosterone driven than Battlestar. — Chris

Matt Roush: All I can say to this (besides how much I enjoyed reading it) is: Keep the faith.

________________________________________

Question: Why should anyone watch any of the new network sci-fi shows when their record of cancellation is so predictable? Why should I get myself involved in the plot and characters when there's a 90-percent certainty that the network(s) will dump any new show? And why do the networks continue to produce new shows of this sort if they don't intend to support them? I was a huge fan of Invasion and Surface. We Surface fans even dared to hope there would be more episodes when the last show stated it was the "season" finale, not the "series" finale. I and all of my friends are highly disgusted with network TV. The only reason Stargate SG-1 endured was because Showtime premiered it and stuck by it. Thanks for listening. — Dee T.

Matt Roush: I'm guessing this is a retroactive question, because there are almost no new network series that play into the sci-fi/fantasy arena (NBC's Heroes is the most notable exception). If you're wondering why anyone last season bothered watching any of the networks' genre efforts, despite the foreknowledge that most, if not all, of them were probably doomed from the start, the answer is simple: Watching certain types of TV requires a leap of faith, and if the shows themselves are good, as Invasion certainly was — I also enjoyed CBS' Threshold for as long as it lasted — I'd still rather watch great storytelling, for whatever duration, than the alternative. I have no regrets about watching any failed series, sci-fi or otherwise, if I truly enjoyed it as I watched. But then, I tend to watch TV in the moment, not worrying so much about the endgame and fretting about matters, such as renewal and cancellation, that are out of my control. Just because I knew Everwood and Invasion weren't coming back didn't mean I was going to miss the finale.

________________________________________

Question: I was just wondering if you'd had the opportunity to watch BBC America's Hex yet. After seeing the two-hour premiere, I must say that I was very impressed, especially with the lead actress (Christina Cole). The show manages to successfully combine the witchcraft angle of Charmed with the sly humor (at least with one character) of Buffy, and sports that Gothic British style that makes everything seem so much more important. How many episodes of this show have actually been produced (I know it premiered in Britain in 2004), and are there still new ones on the horizon? Also, are you going to be reviewing the show in the magazine anytime soon? — Todd S.

Matt Roush: Why am I not surprised to be getting questions about this one already? (Including a few expressing outrage over a spoiler commercial that BBC America aired during the premiere. I didn't see that, having watched the pilot on a screener DVD.) I was kind of intrigued by the premiere episode — thought it was well executed, well acted, quirky and mysterious — but given how busy this summer is already with a glut of new programming (and the need to break away for a bit of time off and to prepare for the impending three-week TCA press tour), I seriously doubt I'll be able to keep up with this one. Not because I wouldn't enjoy it, but because there are limits. And looking at my calendar over the next month or so, my weekly magazine column is already pretty full, so I'm not planning on addressing this one right now, unless I do a roundup of niche programming later in the summer. I'm not sure how many episodes BBC will air during this first batch, but from my cursory research, it appears 18 episodes of Hex were filmed in all. (I got one letter indicating that — shades of U.S. TV here — Hex left viewers hanging in its finale, but I have no way of knowing that for sure.)

If I am able to watch some of the upcoming episodes, and it impresses me one way or the other, I may blog about it in my Dispatches column. But my plate's rather full, and when it comes to supernatural programming, I'll probably gravitate toward the more mainstream basic channels and focus on The 4400, TNT's Stephen King anthology in July, and the return of fresh Sci Fi Channel programming including the two Stargate series and the new Eureka. That's more than enough to keep me busy. But if you're the sort who thinks you'd enjoy something like Hex, you probably should check it out.

________________________________________

Question: How can Lauren Graham get nominated for an Emmy in the comedy category when all of her best scenes this season are dramatic (i.e., the car scene in the final episode)? Do you think Desperate Housewives will sweep the nominations once again? I can probably live with two or three nominated wives, but taking four spots is kind of pushing it. In a sense I think Lauren has a great chance of being nominated because Emmy favorites Patricia Heaton and Sarah Jessica Parker are no longer contenders, and because the Housewives aren't as dominant as they used to be. However, she may not get nominated just because this has been the most dramatic (and least comedic) season of Gilmore Girls — although she did get nominated for a TCA this year. I don't get it. — Jennifer

Matt Roush: Lauren Graham falls between the cracks in so many ways: between comedy and drama, and being on a network, now defunct, that almost never could find its way onto the Emmy radar. The category is a little more wide-open this year, which is good news, but the Housewives could be spoilers. My wish, like yours, is that only two Housewives make the cut: Marcia Cross (who should win) and Felicity Huffman (who often rose above her material, and besides, with last year's win and an Oscar nomination, sometimes you just have to face facts).

I'm reasonably sure Mary-Louise Parker of Weeds will be nominated, and while I wasn't a fan of the show, The Comeback's Lisa Kudrow was brilliant, and she's a real contender as well. Our fair Lorelai's greatest hurdle, though, will be the Emmy tendency to blindly nominate what's popular and prominent, and that means the category could once again be so heavily weighted toward the ladies of Wisteria Lane that there's no room, as usual, for anyone from Stars Hollow.

________________________________________

Question: I know it is early, but what are the odds of you getting an advance copy of the seventh-season premiere of Gilmore Girls? Why do I ask? Because I usually agree with your reviews. Whether or not I see it depends on your opinion. (How long I continue to watch the season depends on me?) If you report that the premiere gets the show going in a believable and acceptable direction, I will give it a try. If not, I will not even bother taping it. (Of course, this only applies if you see it before it airs.) My stomach still ties itself into a knot every time I think about the Season 6 finale, and much of the second half of that season, and I doubt that will ever change. — DeAnn

Matt Roush: Well, thanks for that vote of confidence. But even if I don't like what I see, if in fact CW or the Warner Bros. studio decides to send out the season opener, something tells me you'll probably tune in yourself, if only out of curiosity. In past seasons, WB did tend to send out the Gilmore Girls opener, and given the controversy surrounding last season's finale and the fact that someone new will be running the show, I would be surprised if they didn't make it available for preview/review. If they don't send it out, it will probably create negative buzz (possibly unfair) that they're trying to avoid bad reviews. For now, I'm keeping an open mind. As with Desperate Housewives, nothing would please me more than seeing the show get back on track.

________________________________________

Question: Do you find it odd that the season finale of The Sopranos didn't feature gunplay while the season finales of the three biggest hospital dramas (ER, Grey's Anatomy, House) all did? — Pat

Matt Roush: Even more reason to give The Sopranos more respect than it tended to get during this last season. The May sweeps was a ridiculous and lamentable bloodbath of contrived cliff-hangers, some of which worked better than others. House in particular, though graphic, was especially creative in the psychic fallout of House getting shot. The fact that Sopranos restrained itself felt to many like a letdown or a cop-out. For me, it was just another expression of how this season was more about the pain of living than the specter of death (which nonetheless looms large over this family).

________________________________________

Question: Can the Lost writers and producers put an end to this Jack/Sawyer/Kate "relationship" once and for all? This is not a soap opera. It's not why I watch Lost. I will stop watching if Season 3 becomes "The Jack/Sawyer/Kate Show." To make Lost a better show, just kill off Kate. — K.K.

Matt Roush: Dream on. The chemistry and tension among these very charismatic characters, which may only escalate now that they're captives of the Others, is not going away anytime soon, I'd bet. But to think that this triangle makes the show a soap opera is way too simplistic a criticism. Not that I've ever understood the antipathy so many viewers seem to have for Kate. As I've often stated, I'm just not into Lost-bashing.

________________________________________

Question: I enjoyed both Extreme Makeover and The Swan. Why are they no longer on the air? — JoAnne O.

Matt Roush: The trend in reality moved away from these sorts of physical makeover shows, although ABC has ordered four special editions of Makeover to air in the future. (When Extreme Makeover: Home Edition exploded in the ratings, ABC went with the numbers.) As for The Swan — and I don't mean to be insulting — but even the bottom-feeders in Fox's reality division must have realized they couldn't milk this ghastly freak show more than twice. (Second time around, the curiosity factor had ebbed, thankfully.)

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

The Business of TV
Upfront market likely to be down this year

By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter June 17, 2006

NEW YORK -- The broadcast upfront negotiations moved along at a measured pace, though the slow progress and a boatload of other factors seems to be revealing a market that likely will be down another several hundred million dollars.

Indications from some networks and buyers congealed into an industry realization that the upfront market would take a few steps back from the once-lofty heights, with total volume down and CPM increases hard to come by.

One Madison Avenue estimate sees the market dropping another $700 million-$900 million off what last year was probably a $8.8 billion-$8.9 billion broadcast upfront total. Another estimate, this time from the network side, sees an overall decline of about $300 million.

At the end of the week, Fox remained ahead of the pack with more than 70% of its inventory sold and average CPM increases of 2%-3%. CBS, the CW and NBC remained somewhere around the halfway mark, with ABC bringing up the rear because of its initial insistence on using Live plus 7 ratings and taking a tougher line on CPM increases.

Negotiations between ABC and Madison Avenue remained the most contentious, with ABC wanting CPM increases in the range of 4%-5% and buyers generally willing to spend 2%-3% more. ABC has seemed quite willing to sell less and take a gamble in scatter, where pricing is sometimes higher than in the upfront but hasn't been generally in several quarters.

"Fox and the other networks are really smart because ABC could have gotten a lot more volume," said a buyer who asked not to be named.

CBS has been battling to get flat to up 2% CPM increases from Madison Avenue, which tried hard to get them to accept a rollback in prices. It apparently wasn't that hard to get NBC to roll back prices for another year: Sources said the Peacock has been writing business with 3%-5% average CPM declines. But because it's getting more volume, NBC will take in $1.8 billion-$1.9 billion in primetime upfront sales, about the same as last year.

The CW has seen mostly flat pricing compared with its predecessor, WB Network. But MyNetworkTV as well as most of cable and syndication have mostly taken a back seat to broadcast in the eyes of the buyers.

"It's not even a topic of discussion," one buyer said. Some business has been done at the top-tier networks.

Cable could start to heat up this week, depending on whether ad buyers want to wait for ABC or not.

Daytime, evening and morning news dayparts will see increases in the low- to mid-single digits, buyers said. Katie Couric's move from "Today" to "CBS Evening News" might bring some new dollars to CBS, but buyers questioned whether it would cause any CPM increases. And in the morning news shows, buyers are taking a wait-and-see approach before they decide whether "Today" is vulnerable.

The late-night daypart will be down this year, however.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002690016

Washington Watch
Stevens Telcom Bill Faces Changes

By Ted Hearn MultiChannel News 6/19/2006

Washington— A Senate telecommunications bill is expected to be modified this week to accommodate legislators’ concerns about potential discriminatory conduct by cable, phone and other broadband-access providers that could affect Internet services.

“I think it’s highly likely that it’s going to change,” said a Senate staff member.

Commerce Committee chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who sponsored the bill, is under pressure from Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, the Commerce panel’s top Democrat, to strengthen its “network neutrality” provisions. Stevens hopes to bring the bill to a vote in his committee on Thursday.

Stevens Bill Scorecard

The Senate’s communications legislation S. 2686, led by Commerce Committee chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has ups and downs for cable-industry interests.

Positives:

Franchising:
• Denies local franchising authorities the ability to review cable system sales or transfers

Interconnection:
• Limits the rights to interconnect with telephone company networks to providers of voice services that also have networks

Universal Service:
• Allows companies other than telephone incumbents to receive subsidies.
• Does not require cable operators to match the service territory of phone incumbents in order to receive funding.
• Does not require recipients to deploy broadband services in order to receive funding.

Digital TV:
• Permits cable downconversion at the headend of must-carry digital TV signals through Feb. 17, 2014.

Municipal Broadband:
• Requires cities to consider public-private partnerships first and allow commercial entities to bid to provide the service in lieu of local government.

Negatives:

Franchising:
• Delays cable’s access to streamlined approval of revised franchises until current agreements expire or a new provider enters the market.
• Excludes buildout requirement for new cable franchisees.
• Bars municipalities from enforcing anti-discriminatory provisions of the law on service rollouts; only state authorities may.
• Excludes franchise area definition, potentially undermining anti- discrimination prohibitions.
• Does not clearly define what constitutes a video service provider, potentially excluding IPTV service.
• Tentatively includes advertising and home shopping revenue in the calculation of gross revenue.

Program Access:
• Eliminates terrestrial exemption, forcing the sale of Comcast Sports Net Philadelphia to EchoStar and DirecTV.
• Subjects exclusive cable sports deals with unaffiliated programmers to an FCC complaint process.
• Exempts DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket.

TOUGH TO BE NEUTRAL

Inouye would like to prevent providers of high-speed Internet access from blocking services that might be considered competitive to their own video, audio or other businesses; and from demanding fees from Internet companies in exchange for priority delivery of their voice, video and software applications.

Yahoo Inc., Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and eBay Inc. are at the forefront of the coalition demanding a tough net-neutrality law. But cable and phone companies are resisting.

In his bill (S. 2686), Stevens would order the Federal Communications Commission to study the Internet market for five years and file annual reports with Congress on the activities of broadband-access providers.

Inouye, by contrast, issued a draft bill that would impose stringent restrictions on broadband providers, rather than have the FCC address problems as they arise through the adjudication of complaints.

Responding to the second draft of the Stevens bill released last Monday, Inouye said, “It fails to maintain network neutrality through enforceable provisions that will prevent unfair discrimination by broadband-network operators.”

The Senate staff member said it was “premature” to discuss areas where Stevens and Inouye might be able to close the gulf between them. But if Stevens yields, he’ll likely go along with net-neutrality rules that protect consumers, rather than rules designed to referee commercial disputes, the staff member added.

“A compromise takes two to tango, and we are not quite tangoing yet,” the staff member said.

The White House is opposed to any net neutrality legislation, saying the FCC has current authority to tackle the job. A House-passed bill (H.R. 5252) would beef up FCC authority, including the power to review complaints and mete out $500,000 fines.

VOTE IMMINENT

Stevens is planning a June 22 committee vote on his bill. At that time, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is planning to offer an amendment that would allow phone companies to bypass local franchising by merely promising to provide cable programming on an a la carte basis, according to a different Senate staff member.

In the current draft of the bill, Stevens would allow phone companies to enter cable markets within 90 days under streamlined franchising rules. Cable incumbents, however, can’t opt in to the new licensing regime until existing agreements expire or when phone companies arrive in the market.

The House would let phone companies enter new markets within 30 days under a national cable-franchising regime that would also let incumbent cable operators opt in at some point. In his committee’s first draft, Stevens would have allowed AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. to begin offering video service within 30 days.

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

TV Notebook
Bring on the talent

With ‘America’s Got Talent,’ Simon Cowell revisits a formula perfected decades ago by Arthur Godfrey
By Verne Gay Newsday Staff Writer June 18, 2006

Does the name Ted Mack ring a bell, or - more precisely - a gong? A genial chap who died almost exactly 30 years ago, Mack MC'd the very long-running (1948-70) "Original Amateur Hour" on four networks (including the short-lived DuMont) and would dislodge would-be "talent" by discreetly and politely banging a GOONNGGGG!!!

How about Arthur Godfrey? Not so genial himself, nevertheless one of his shows - "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" - would become the top-rated program of the 1951 season, and boost the careers of Tony Bennett, Patsy Cline and several other notables.

Chuck Barris? (Helpful hints: Gene-Gene the Dancing Machine or "The Unknown Comic.") The man who created "The Dating Game" and "The Newlywed Game" also brought us "The Gong Show," which ran on NBC and in syndication from 1976-80. It would serve as a launch pad - or rather crash pad - for the girl who could whistle through her nose or the guy who could blow a trumpet through his navel.

And so here is the point to our little weekend quiz: When, and if, you tune into "America's Got Talent" Wednesday (8-10 PM ET/PT NBC), just remember that it's all been done before. Many times, in fact.

Long before TV was invented, "Major Bowes Original Amateur Hour" on radio was the immediate precursor to Mack's show. (Its biggest find? Frank Sinatra, who appeared on the show with the Hoboken Four in 1937. And before radio was invented, there was vaudeville, which flourished for about 70 years before fitfully expiring in the 1930s.

A venerable genre

Nothing in the vast, colorful canvas that is American entertainment may be more venerable than the talent show, and nothing offers better, clearer, more decisive proof of the quip from comedian Fred Allen that "television is a device that permits people who haven't anything to do to watch people who can't do anything."

But until "American Idol" came along, perhaps nothing seemed more vulnerable. The talent show ruled American TV in its early days, before audiences turned their restless gaze elsewhere. The networks figured the classic talent show drew geriatric audiences and - GONNNGGGG! - into deep storage it went, at least on the networks.

The genre never fully disappeared, of course, and all that was needed was a savvy Brit with a keen sense of TV's past to apply the smelling salts. If "America's Got Talent" - produced by Simon Cowell and hosted by Regis Philbin - succeeds, then it's got a long line of predecessors to thank.

In a recent conference call, Philbin explained that the new entrant "opens the door to everybody who has talent." He says he had "thought about it for a long time didn't know how to do it [a talent program] because all of television has become niche-oriented, from VH1, to MTV and so on, and they kind of siphoned all the regular talent."

By the way, you won't be seeing Cowell - his "Idol" contract prevents on-air roles with the other shows he develops (such as ABC's "American Inventor"). Of course, he's enthusiastic about his latest baby, exclaiming in the same conference call: "I like the fact that we go into this show without knowing who or what could win."

Who or what, in fact, could be anyone - juggler, rapper, plate-spinner, ukulele player, and on and on. Most acts will be terrible. A tiny fraction will actually have talent. Plus ça change ...

There will be three judges - Cowell's old buddy David Hasselhoff, R&B singer Brandy and British TV personality Piers Morgan - and not a single gong. They'll check out the goods over the first four episodes and decide who goes on to the semifinals. Over the next four semifinal episodes, two performers from each will move on to the finale. Unlike "Idol," one will be chosen by viewers, the other by the judges. The final vote will be left to viewers, with the winner taking home $1 million. What's in it for NBC? A summer hit, perhaps.

Here is the larger point: "America's Got Talent" is a brazen rip-off from the deep TV past, and further proof of more Allen wisdom concerning imitation as the sincerest form of television. As far as TV is concerned, the family tree begins with Mack and his "Original Amateur Hour," which launched Jan. 18, 1948, when there were just about 500 TV sets - most of them in bars - scattered throughout New York City. Mack - a former talent scout on Bowes' radio show - had an instant hit on the struggling DuMont network. By the fall of 1949, NBC grabbed the show.

Albert Fisher, a Los Angeles-based producer, was one of Mack's "talent scouts" and is now archivist of the show who maintains a Web site (www

.originalamateurhour .com) and has compiled a DVD collection. He explains: "We'd travel the country holding auditions and I spent two years with 'The Amateur Hour' going all over the U.S. I looked at every bad act, and there were plenty of them, but along the way you'd find some gems, and as a result, we launched the careers of 50 major stars."

"The format," he adds, "was Ted Mack sitting at the desk with the gong, and being like a traffic cop, with one act after another. The emphasis was always on a wide variety of acts, unlike 'Idol' or 'Star Search.' 'The Amateur Hour' would lump in the same show the opera singer or magician or tap dancer or chorus line or one-man band. Crazy novelty acts were the mainstay."

[B]Luminaries got their start

Indeed, "Amateur Hour's" acts and innovations became the stuff of TV legend: There was the gong, which Bowes pioneered when he realized listeners at home couldn't see the hook that was commonly used in vaudeville. There was the catchphrase at the beginning of each edition: "Round and around she goes, and where she stops nobody knows," which inspired "Wheel of Fortune." There were 25,000 acts - most eminently forgettable - and a tiny fraction that were not: Gladys Knight (who won as a 7-year-old), Pat Boone and opera greats Maria Callas, Beverly Sills and Robert Merrill. A 16-year-old classical violinist, Louis Walcott, tried out as well - he later became Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. A Memphis truck driver named Elvis Presley auditioned, but was rejected.

But Mack didn't have the stage to himself for long: Godfrey launched "Talent Scouts" in December 1948 on CBS, though this hit mostly eschewed the "novelty" acts, helping to launch the careers of aspiring pros such as Connie Francis and Rosemary Clooney. Presley also failed to impress the show's talent scouts and he never made it to the air. Meanwhile, "The Ed Sullivan Show" took off the same year, and another branch in the talent show genealogy sprouted - the "variety program."

Says Fisher, "I've been to the networks over the years banging on doors, saying ... 'We know how to do this ' but everybody said no. There was no interest."

Until the Cowell juggernaut came along, anyway. Suffice it to say, Fisher is not pleased.

"Frankly," he says, "it breaks my heart.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-fftv4781487jun18,0,3243744,print.story?coll=ny-television-headlines

Sports On TV
High Drama Doesn't Bring Matching Ratings

By Mark Heisler Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 18, 2006

MIAMI — Midnight at the oasis …

I think this is what Finals were like in the good, old days, although it's hard to remember since there haven't been a lot of competitive series recently with much appeal.

With big stars, a memorable turning point and the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat tied going into Game 5 tonight, this is almost like the good, old days with only one thing missing …

The audience.

With Shaquille O'Neal, Pat Riley, Dwyane Wade, Mark Cuban and the Heat's Game 3 rally, TV ratings are up only about 10% over last season's seven-game mud-wrestling competition, when the San Antonio Spurs averaged 87 points, the Detroit Pistons 86 and their 8.2 rating was the second-lowest since the Finals got off tape delay.

In TV, it's axiomatic that the later you start, the better numbers you'll get. The time everyone has arrived at is 9 p.m. Eastern, which is 6 on the West Coast.

Of course, ABC's "coverage" that starts at 8:30, Eastern time, is what used to be called the pregame show. After rehashing and otherwise talking you silly for 30 minutes — remember, this has been going on for a day or two on all media outlets — they talk you sillier for 16 more minutes.

Then the game, which lasts two hours during the season, drags on for 2:45, and the next thing you know, it's the other side of midnight.

Nor is it safe to assume that people going to bed in the most populous time zone are offset by people in the West blowing off the family for dinner to tune in.

"Not if the Lakers aren't in it," says talk show host Dave Smith of 1540 the Ticket, who was on in drive time before his show went national on Sporting News Radio.

"Isn't that what TiVo's for?" Smith asked. "I never watch sports events live anymore. I haven't watched a commercial in a year and a half."

The Super Bowl, which now starts at 6:15 p.m. in the East, always had box office ratings and has not taken the standard 50% drop from its highs in the 1980s.

Meanwhile, "Monday Night Football," the World Series and the NCAA basketball title game have seen ratings plummet.

Between glimpses of a dazzling future with NBA Performing Arts Academy and the International Basketball Assn., David Stern, the visionary of the commissioners, is again patiently explaining to Earthlings that everyone's ratings are down because of cable TV, the Internet, etc.

Nevertheless, Stern told Fox Sports Radio, "When we started the deal with ABC, we moved the start time [to] 8:30 p.m. and our ratings were really poor."

Give me that again?

That agonizing 2003 Spurs-New Jersey Nets Finals laid an egg … in the first year on ABC … which did no regular-season games … and little cross-promotion since it had little other sports programming … and had no clue about how to put on a basketball game … and that's why they're playing past midnight?

Whatever happens, you can't blame the Heat or the Mavericks for not putting on a show. The Heat battled back from oblivion. The Mavericks have Cuban and the emerging, or erupting, Coach Avery Johnson.

Perhaps aware the media are reading his Blog Maverick, waiting for him to go off, Cuban hasn't posted since Wednesday and has kept a low profile. He hasn't ripped anyone in the media, presumably having realized that works better for the media members than it does for him.

Cuban didn't even surface to denounce the Jerry Stackhouse suspension, merely replying to queries by e-mail and leaving it to Johnson to decry it as "foolishness."

Actually, it was, although it wasn't "inconsistent," as the Mavericks claimed. The league now regularly banishes key players from its biggest games, even if they have already been punished with flagrant fouls, as Stackhouse has been, or ejections, as Miami's Udonis Haslem was in the first round.

Not that this should come as a surprise, but these teams have had enough of each other. The Mavericks complained bitterly about Stackhouse's suspension.

Riley was upset that the Mavericks were upset. Riley didn't even like their saying the series had become "physical," which he took as code for saying the Heat was getting away with rough play.

"That adjective is being used to motivate other people, you know, that's what it is," Riley said. "Either motivate his team or motivate the officials or motivate somebody other than us, OK?

"We took our two losses in Dallas and came home. We weren't down there after those losses talking about anything else other than trying to regroup in silence. So everybody handles it differently."

In one of the more animated sessions the Finals has ever seen, Johnson sputtered, "Really and truly, I never want to cry … and I don't like using other players' names, all right?

"You guys go back and look at the first play of the game, all right? Their player, Player A, came over and just pounded Dirk [Nowitzki]…. I wasn't crying about a flagrant foul, all right? It was an elbow to Dirk's head.

"But we make the same attempt [to be physical] and then my player gets suspended. So now because I'm supposed to be a religious man, I'm supposed to come in here today and have a prayer meeting."

Player A is O'Neal, who, the Mavericks contend, is allowed to flatten everything in his path. Lakers fans will remember this as every opponent's perspective, a ploy or both.

Win, lose or draw, Johnson has put an edge on the Mavericks they never had.

Actually, he's kind of like the young Riley who raged at his Lakers for two days after the Celtics wiped them out in the 1985 Finals opener, turning the series, the rivalry and Laker history around.

Complaining of a "vacation mentality," Johnson pulled his team out of its downtown hotel, just over the causeway from South Beach, and set it down in Fort Lauderdale, 30 miles north.

Even Riley never did that, although he did try to seal off his players on the top floor of their hotel in the Detroit suburbs in the 1988 Finals — bringing in food, a pool table and a big-screen TV — to avoid the lobby when he found that the "Monsters of Rock" tour was staying there too.

Now we have not one but two ticked-off teams. Dallas is down a man, but they had more men when it started.

Sounds even as even can be. Just be glad if you're in the Pacific time zone.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-sp-nbacol18jun18,0,6955648.story?coll=cl-tvent

The 2006-2007 Season
Nets leave a good first impression

A glimpse at how the skeds may affect the ratings race
By Rick Kissell Variety.com Jun. 18, 2006, 6:00am PT

Variety will begin its annual night-by-night look at the fall lineups -- and new shows -- in August, but here's an early impression of the skeds presented to advertisers in New York last month, and how they'll affect the ratings race:

N B C

The three big lineup surprises -- Fox's "House" staying put and ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Dancing With the Stars" moving to new nights -- forced the Peacock to make a slew of changes to its original sked.

And that's a good thing, because the first draft gave its new shows little chance to succeed.

But by shifting "Studio 60" and "Kidnapped" to easier 10 o'clock slots and countering hot 9 o'clock shows on the competish with the likes of "The Biggest Loser," "Deal or No Deal" and a "Law & Order" skein, NBC will keep the lights on in these tough slots.

Although its an eclectic mix of programs ("My Name Is Earl," "The Office," "Deal" and "ER"), NBC's Thursday lineup could actually improve.

C B S

The Eye didn't have to make a lot of changes, but its rookie shows and the shift of several vets to new timeslots give it a good shot at scoring time-period improvements.

Best move is the rejiggered Sunday, where "Cold Case" is a nice counter to "Desperate Housewives" at 9 and "The Amazing Race" should benefit from football promotion to excel at 8.

"Without a Trace" is no sure thing without "CSI" behind it, but it should do better at 10 than the meager movies of last year. The tradeoff of "Trace" on Sunday and "Shark" on Thursday figures to be a plus.

Comedy could be a concern for CBS, which will miss "The King of Queens" in the leadoff hour. At 8:30, "The Class" won't get much lead-in support, and it will be going up against the start of "Monday Night Football."

Also, where is "Out of Practice," the Eye laffer from last season that seemed best positioned for success?

A B C
The bold shift of "Grey's Anatomy" to Thursday at 9 is a smart one, but a little support would have been nice. ABC is asking its hot medical drama to compete with "CSI" while getting about one-fourth the lead-in it had on Sunday.

The "Dancing With the Stars" results show or even the buzzed-about "Betty the Ugly" would have been better lead-in choices for "Grey's" than two unproven comedies that figure to have no chance opposite NBC's own laffers.

Wednesday drama "The Nine" should become the first show to shine behind "Lost."

Fox

Biggest question mark is why Fox didn't attack Thursday (perhaps with "House" at 8), and why it's putting Jerry Bruckheimer crime drama "Justice" up against both ABC smash "Lost" and CBS success "Criminal Minds." Its Thursday comedies would have seemed better suited here.

Monday looks like a winner, with "Prison Break" and "Vanished" making for a high-octane drama pair.

The CW

Wednesday ("Top Model" and "One Tree Hill") and Sunday ("Everybody Hates Chris"-led comedy block) look solid, as do the returning skeds on Thursday (WB dramas) and Friday (UPN's wrestling).

Monday could be in trouble, though, with the new "Runaway" coming out of "7th Heaven," which inexplicably returns despite its "series finale" in May. And "Veronica Mars" doesn't figure to do much, regardless of its lead-in.

Net needs to aggressively develop shows for midseason because most of the hit shows on its inaugural lineup are long in the tooth.

TV Notebook
Grey's Anatomy Star Katherine Heigl Engaged

(People.com)—Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl and her boyfriend, musician Josh Kelley, are engaged, their reps confirm exclusively to PEOPLE.

No wedding date has been set.

The couple met last year when Heigl, 27, appeared in a video for Kelley's song "Only You."

"At the end of the shoot, I said, 'You're gonna go eat dinner with us, and you can't say no,' " Kelley, 25, said in October. "So we ate, drank and just started hanging out after that."

Music is still part of their relationship: Kelley wrote a tune, "Katie's Song," for Heigl. "There is really nothing more romantic than that," Heigl told PEOPLE in December. "It was one of the most thrilling and romantic things that I've ever experienced, and it makes me really like him bad."

Heigl, who also starred on the WB's Roswell, grew up in New Canaan, Conn., and worked as a model before she began acting. She is currently filming the comedy Knocked Up.

Kelley, an Augusta, Ga., native, released his debut album, For the Ride Home, in 2003. His second album, Almost Honest, came out last year, and his third, Just Say The Word, is scheduled to hit stores July 24.


(PICTURE CREDIT: LISA ROSE / JPI)

supernatural has been picked up on the CW

How I met your mother has been picked up on cbs.

For all of you Close to Home tv fans out there, cbs has decided to pick it up. Which is stellar news. Close to home is my favorite show on television. www.closetohome-tv.com (http://www.closetohome-tv.com/) . Also, Criminal minds has been picked up as well.

supernatural has been picked up on the CW....
How I met your mother has been picked up on cbs......
For all of you Close to Home tv fans out there, cbs has decided to pick it up. Which is stellar news. Close to home is my favorite show on television. www.closetohome-tv.com (http://www.closetohome-tv.com/) . Also, Criminal minds has been picked up as well.

Thanks for the posts, tvgirlly.

You should be aware that those announcements were all made more than a month ago at the TV Upfronts in NYC. And they were posted on this thread within minutes of their announcement.

And they have been noted in the 2006 fall prime time schedules (the second post of this thread), here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4265637&&#post4265637

Thanks for joining AVS, posting and your interest in TV programming.

We will try to keep you up to the minute with latest developments here.

If you go back to the beginning of the thread's coverage of the Upfronts, tvgirlly, you'll get just about every morsel of network TV news (and commentary about it).

Try starting here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7659430&&#post7659430

There are several hundred posts from dozens of TV writers regarding the fall TV schedules.

Happy reading!

Fred’s Notebook
TV Writers I read faithfully

A few days ago I asked for your help in identifying the writers who do the best job in covering television.
OK, here is the beginning of my own list of personal favorites. It starts with the well-established heavy-hitters whose phone calls do not go unanswered long by network PR departments:

Bill Carter, New York Times
Lisa deMoraes, Washington Post
Richard Sandomir, New York Times
Tom Shales, Washington Post
The Los Angeles Times Calendar section TV writers
Matt Roush, TV Guide

Fred’s Notebook
TV Writers I read faithfully II

These TV writers are perhaps not as famous as those on the previous list.
But they are probably familiar faces to thread regulars.
They tend to get posted a lot – and for good reason: they write well, cover the TV business in depth, and are fun to read.
They are listed in alphabetical order:

Aaron Barnhart, Kansas City Star
Ed Bark, The Dallas Morning News
Chuck Barney, Contra Costa Times
Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel
Roger Catlin, Hartford Courant
Scott Collins, Los Angeles Times
John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable at bcbeat.com
Nikki Finke LA Weekly
Ray Frager Baltimore Sun
Verne Gay/Diane Werts Newsday
Matthew Gilbert The Boston Globe
Tim Goodman, San Francisco Chronicler
Bill Goodykoontz Arizona Republic TV Critic
Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News
Rich Heldenfels, Akron Beacon-Journal
Diane Holloway Austin American-Statesman
Richard Huff/David Bianculli, New York Daily News
Jeanne Jakle San Antonio Express-News
Rick Kushman Sacramento Bee
Robert P. Laurence San Diego Union-Tribune
John Leonard, New York Magazine
Nick Madigan Baltimore Sun
John Maffei (San Diego) North County
Charlie McCollum, San Jose Mercury-News
Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Mark McGuire Albany Times Union
Joanne Ostrow, Denver Post
Jay Posner San Diego Union-Tribune
Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (President of the TV Critics Association)
Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News
Virginia Rohan Bergen (NJ) Record
Maureen Ryan, Chicago Tribune
Alan Sepinwell, Newark Star-Ledger
Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer
Kevin D. Thompson Palm Beach Post
USA Today[ staff, especially Robert Bianco and Michael Hiestand
David Zurawik, Baltimore Sun

Fred’s Notebook
My Own Top 10 TV Writers

(Since it is my list, I make the rules, so my top 10 can include 13 names.)

These are the TV writers I particularly look forward to reading:

• 1. Rich Heldenfels * Akron Beacon-Journal
• 2. Tim Goodman * San Francisco Chronicle
• 3. Aaron Barnhart * Kansas City Star
• 4. Matt Roush TV Guide
• 5. Lisa deMoraes Washington Post
• 5A. Tom Shales Washington Post
• 6. Hal Boedeker * Orlando Sentinel
• 7. Alan Sepinwell */ Matthew Zoller-Seitz * Newark Star-Ledger
• 8. Maureen Ryan * Chicago Tribune
• 9. Rick Kushman Sacramento Bee
• 9A. Charlie McCollum * San Jose Mercury-News
• 10. Rob Owen * Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (President of the TV Critics Association)

(I am certainly open to a discussion of those I may have omitted either on this list or the previous two.)

(* indicates the writer has a blog)

Critic’s Notebook
FALL TV: Smart, funny and amoral

Without a trace … of humanity
Our first look at the new fall TV shows reveals stylish thrillers with character deficits
By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star Sun, Jun. 18, 2006

Consider TV’s inordinate interest in insects, whether they are crawling out of a body being earnestly studied by a CSI or crawling into the mouth of a reality-show contestant.

The viewer is encouraged to think about the insect for its peculiar forensic or culinary qualities. The human being who also happens to be in the scene? Not so much.

For whatever reason, network TV has been slowly losing its grip on the humanity of its characters.

I have now seen the full first episodes (pilots) of most of the 27 new shows debuting this fall on the five major TV networks, and I can happily report that there will be no increase in the number of series featuring people eating or being eaten by bugs.

What’s more, this is the most stylishly filmed, snappily written crop of pilots I’ve seen in a decade of covering the fall season. They are proof that broadcast networks, though nowhere near as popular as they once were, are alive and well.

Even if network executives have too often left out a key ingredient: likable characters.

Take the hot new trend in network dramas, the serial thriller, À la “Lost” and “24.” On Fox’s new “Vanished,” the sudden disappearance of a senator’s wife reveals a huge tangle of intrigues that, in theory, will take at least one full season to unwind.

“Runaway,” from the CW, considers a father who is unjustly charged with murder and takes his family on the lam, “Fugitive”-style, while searching for the killer. NBC’s new “Kidnapped” follows members of one wealthy family as they negotiate the return of their abducted son.

“Jericho,” from CBS, takes place in the days and weeks after the citizens of a small Kansas town see a sickening sight: a mushroom cloud rising to the west, where Denver was.

Any one of these programs is poised to become a hit, but it’s entirely possible none will resonate with viewers. Why? Because they all put the emphasis on process over people.

Though some actors here stand out (notably Skeet Ulrich on “Jericho,” Leslie Hope on “Runaway” and Dana Delany on “Kidnapped”), without more strong characters at the center, the plot often becomes mechanical.

I loved “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” NBC’s attempt to make backstage at a live TV variety show as dynamic as “The West Wing.” Except there’s no Martin Sheen here — just a lot of smart, funny, ambitious show-biz people with a lot of personal problems. They need a moral center.

So do the two new legal thrillers, “Shark” on CBS and “Justice” on Fox, that take a forensic approach to criminal cases (think “Law & Order” with “CSI” special effects).

In “Shark,” James Woods is great fun to watch as a loudmouthed defender-turned-prosecutor. But like the shark consumed with eating, Woods’ character can think only of winning. It’s hard to avoid the impression that he cares about no one else, except perhaps his teenage daughter, who’s already seeing a shrink.

Further up the amorality scale is “Smith” on CBS, one of two new shows revolving around bandits. It might be the best-looking pilot I saw: an expensively made, well-paced drama about a half-dozen professional thieves planning a big heist.

To say these are deeply flawed people is an understatement. Borderline psychotic, or worse, is probably closer. In one scene, a thief played by former “Guardian” star Simon Baker coolly shoots two men dead — while whistling.

The most empathetic character on “Smith” is the wife of one of the robbers, played by Virginia Madsen, and her emotional hook is that she’s in a loveless marriage with a husband she suspects is cheating on her.

That’s not exactly the kind of appealing backstory we get from TV’s best-known personalities: the ensembles of “Lost” or the “CSIs,” the middle-class psychics on “Ghost Whisperer” and “Medium,” the gruff but strangely lovable Dr. House.

When I compare the pilots I’ve just watched to the pilots of shows that went on to become hits on cable, the contrast becomes even more obvious. Detective Monk, rogue cop Vic Mackey, “The Closer” — from practically the first frame these shows revolved around their leads because, warts and all, they were people we wanted to get to know.

Technically these pilots are merely test shows. I am obliged to note that nothing you read here should be mistaken for an actual review. ABC didn’t get its pilots to critics by press time, so my judgment is based on seeing just their previews in New York.

But this already I can say with confidence: If any hits emerge from this pack of new serials and procedurals, they will be the ones that remind us we’re watching people.

(Note: all times are Central)

JERICHO

When: 7 p.m. Wednesdays on CBS

In a nutshell: Skeet Ulrich returns to his small hometown in western Kansas on the day an ominous mushroom cloud appears to the west — and all communications and power to the outside world go dead. Why Ulrich’s character is even in Jericho, let alone what happened to Denver, and how the nervous citizens of Jericho will respond to an apparent worst-case scenario will be revealed during the season.

Why I like it: Great premise, reminiscent of “The Day After” and “The Twilight Zone” and more gripping than the mysteries on other new TV shows.

Hesitation factor: The pilot ended with a hokey speech delivered by Gerald “Major Dad” McRaney. That’s two strikes right there.

Unexpectedly humorous line: “There is no report of anything happening in Topeka.”

SHARK

When: 9 p.m. Thursdays on CBS “Without a Trace” moves to Sundays.

In a nutshell: Fast-paced legal procedural starring James Woods as a former all-star defense attorney who jumps to the other side in the pilot’s opening minutes. Jeri Ryan is his new boss at the DA’s office.

Why I like it: Sizzling, pedal-to-the-metal dialogue and lotsa Woods (maybe too much). Strong, mostly female supporting members, some of whom give Woods as good as they get.

Hesitation factor: It’s essentially amoral. Woods’ change of heart seems driven more by ego than a desire to help put bad guys in jail. Yes, Dr. House is that way, too, but unless Woods starts saving people’s lives, his smug act may wear thin.

Telling line: “Truth is relative — yada yada.”

RUNAWAY

When: Right after “7th Heaven” Monday nights on the CW

In a nutshell: Whole family goes on the lam after Dad is unjustly accused of killing someone.

Why I like it: Combining “The Fugitive” with “Running on Empty” is a cool idea. More impressive than Donnie Wahlberg as the father is Leslie Hope (the late Mrs. Bauer from “24”) as the mom who holds her fraying clan together.

Hesitation factor: It’s hard to believe a family of five can simply vanish in plain sight. Expect a lot of credulity-stretching moments.

Line that rings true: The teenage girl whines, “Can we please not have any more fast food because we’ve been eating it for three weeks straight?”

STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP

When: 9 p.m. Mondays on NBC

In a nutshell: Two producers are hauled in by a new network head to save a live, late-night sketch comedy show that hasn’t been funny in years. Any resemblance to “Saturday Night Live” is strictly intentional.

Why I like it: Great opening mirrors a famous scene in the movie “Network.” Great writing and observations about TV. Bradley Whitford (“The West Wing”) and Matthew Perry as the dynamic duo.

Hesitation factor: Few people older than 25 even watch “SNL.” And all the insider chatter may overwhelm audiences.

Shout-out line to Middle America: “I know the history (of the show), Jack. People in Kansas know the history!”

VANISHED

When: 8 p.m. Mondays on Fox

In a nutshell: A senator’s wife steps away from a charity event and, poof, she’s gone. In the massive manhunt that follows, more unexplained weirdness happens and dark secrets are revealed.

Why I like it: Stylishly executed. The opening scene hooks and reels you in. Interesting twists throughout the pilot.

Hesitation factor: The senator seems like a stiff, and his wife obviously has some unpleasantness in her past.

Line you’re supposed to remember six weeks later: In the opening scene the vanishee says into the phone, “Please never call here again!”

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/columnists/aaron_barnhart/14827853.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

TV Notebook
Cable scrambles for scripted series

By Gary Levin USA Today

Cable networks are gearing up for a big push into scripted series in the wake of last week's record-smashing ratings for TNT drama The Closer.

Once content with reality shows, reruns and movies, more channels are invading the last frontier of network TV.

Historically, "the only thing that's owned by broadcast is scripted series," says TBS and TNT's chief operating officer Steve Koonin. "Now, with The Closer, Nip/Tuck and Monk, that's not true anymore."

The Closer's second-season premiere last Monday averaged 8.3 million viewers, the most-watched scripted series ever on basic cable. The show, which stars Kyra Sedgwick as a wily police interrogator, had an audience that matched HBO's biggest series, The Sopranos, and helped launch Saved, a drama that followed with 5.1 million.

"An original series becomes a jewel in the crown that defines a brand and brings in fresh audiences and advertisers," ABC Family chief Paul Lee says.

Joining TNT, USA and FX in the scripted game:

• Spike starts its first scripted series — a remake of feature film Blade —on June 28 and is developing two more.

• ABC Family, positioning itself as cable's answer to WB, set channel records with Western-themed Wildfire and adds three new family dramas this summer to complement 7th Heaven, Smallville and Gilmore Girls. Kyle XY, which is due next week, will get a month-long second run on ABC.

• TBS plans its first scripted comedies this fall: My Boys, about a single woman surrounded by guy pals, to be paired with Sex and the City reruns; and Ten Items or Less, about a good-hearted goofball who inherits his family's supermarket in a show designed as a companion for Everybody Loves Raymond repeats

• E! also is looking for "one or two series that can add to the programming mix," channel chief Ted Harbert says. "We just want to find a show that distinguishes E! more" amid a steady diet of True Hollywood Stories.

For high-rated, well-promoted cable networks, the job is getting easier. Tom Weeks, entertainment director at ad buyer Starcom, says it matters far less on which "platform"— cable or broadcast — a series appears. "We're really at that tipping point of consumers completely blurring the lines of broadcast and cable," he says. "People are driven to where good content lives."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-06-18-scripted-series_x.htm

TV Notebook
'Closer' closes ratings gap

By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor in his blog “Tuned In”

TNT's "The Closer" returned for its second season last Monday (a new episode airs tonight at 9), and the ratings were excellent, setting a new "Closer" record of 8.3 million viewers.

Much as I can understand why some viewers are charmed by Kyra Sedgwick, the show only grabs me in its character moments.

Tonight's episode, in particular, is a standout as Brenda (Sedgwick) gets all flustered when her mother (the wonderful Frances Sternhagen) comes to Los Angeles.

As for Brenda's sugary sweet Southern accent, that purr that gets all the criminals to spill their guts, well, it sounds pretty unreal. It's a cute gimmick, but very TV. And the best TV dramas don't telegraph, "You're watching television."

Similarly, I'm not wild about USA Network's "The 4400." I loved the miniseries, but they lost me last season when the show got bogged down in labyrinthine plots.

The rapid aging of baby Isabelle to a beautiful twentysomething woman was an interesting touch, although one that was cribbed from "V."

Some fans may be wondering why Laura Allen, who played Lily, did not return for the new season. It appears that, like Bitty Schram on "Monk," she wanted more money than the studio was willing to pay.

http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/tunedin/

Washington Notebook
FCC drops digital must-carry plan

Chairman Martin couldn't gain majority for rules proposal
By BLOOMBERG in Variety.com

The Federal Communications Commission won't consider so-called multicast must-carry rules this week because chairman Kevin Martin couldn't garner a majority in support.

The proposal was dropped from the agenda for a Wednesday meeting, said a spokeswoman for Martin. Democrats on the commission oppose the plan that would force cable operators to carry additional digital channels from a broadcaster.

So far, the FCC only requires cable companies to carry a broadcaster's primary signal.

Commentary
Polone provides the monkey biz at panel

By Andrew Wallenstein The Hollywood Reporter June 19, 2006

Finally, the television industry has a poster boy representing all of its myriad problems: a monkey drinking its own urine.

That was the image broadcast in front of attendees at last week's annual State of the Industry Newsmaker Luncheon sponsored by the Hollywood Radio & Television Society at the Regent Beverly Wilshire. The monkey clip, drawn from viral-video Web site Stupidvideos.com, came courtesy of the afternoon's master of ceremonies, producer Gavin Polone.

Besides the perverse frisson one gets from exhibiting a monkey urinating in a hotel ballroom, Polone had a point to make. That multisecond had generated nearly 5 million, um, streams on the Internet to date. If this was what represented the changing face of mass media, can the TV networks adapt?

It's a worthwhile question, which is all the more surprising that it was asked. These schmoozefests usually function as a forum for nothing but mutual self-congratulation, where actual issues are rarely discussed in depth.

Which is why HRTS' decision to invite Polone back for the second consecutive year as moderator was delightfully masochistic. Watching one of the TV poobahs turn on his own kind is not unlike, well, watching a primate spraying urine in its own face (how long before NBC signs that monkey to a holding deal?).

Polone doesn't so much moderate a panel discussion as he does monopolize it to present his own dystopian views and challenge the views of the panelists who dared to show up. Anyone expecting to sip the usual industry Kool-Aid quickly finds Polone spiked it with sodium pentothol.

Last year, Polone opened the luncheon with the proclamation, "The television business is going to hell." It got worse from there. Watching Polone grill squirming execs was akin to watching an episode of "Punk'd" -- the panelists seemed to be ambushed by the aggressive questioning.

One year later, it was abundantly evident that producing "Emily's Reasons Why Not" has not instilled in Polone a newfound sense of humility.

As Polone sees it, the TV industry's rush to put programming on new platforms, including the Internet, iPods and mobile phones, is akin to arming the enemy. Yahoo! or Apple are going to be the networks of the future, building their base with licensed programming today in order to crush their competitors tomorrow with shows they'll produce themselves.

But the beauty of the Gavin Polone Show is that he produces his own vignettes to underscore his points. To back his thesis, he queued up a video clip of network logos being incinerated by lasers fired by an iPod.

HRTS tried to counter Polone, stacking the panel with people who wouldn't wither in his presence -- though, tellingly, no one represented the broadcasters this year. Sitting in was MediaCom CEO Jon Mandel, whose own chronic dyspepsia makes Polone seem like Larry King.

And then there was Sony Pictures Television president Steve Mosko, the one person Polone can't attack because he holds the purse for Polone's pod deal. Instead, Polone sarcastically gushed about Mosko's good looks -- but not before inquiring about renewal for said pod deal.

"Scrubs" executive producer Bill Lawrence wasn't as lucky. Surveying the assemblage of muckety-mucks onstage, he wondered aloud, "I'm trying to figure out why I'm here."

"Aaron Sorkin said no," Polone shot back.

And so goes the Gavin Polone Show, continuously veering between the good-natured ribbing of a roast and the painful probing of an intervention. The addiction in question would be an industry hooked on its own hype, and Polone is a welcome one-man antidote.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/columns/tv_reporter_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002689942

Washington Notebook
FCC delays multicasting vote

The Hollywood Reporter June 19, 2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters)-- FCC chairman Kevin Martin on Sunday withdrew plans for voting this week on a proposal that would have required U.S. cable operators to carry extra digital channels that television broadcasters plan to air.

"There did not appear to be a consensus for moving forward at this time," FCC spokeswoman Tamara Lipper said. She declined further comment.

As over-the-air television broadcasters switch to digital airwaves, they will be able to offer additional channels, known as multicasting. So far, the FCC has only allowed a broadcaster to force cable companies to carry its primary signal.

Martin had proposed cable operators like Comcast Corp. be required to carry the multicast channels, and he had scheduled for the five FCC commissioners to vote on it on Wednesday at the agency's monthly open meeting.

It appeared that he was unable to win the vote of the third Republican commissioner, Robert McDowell, to approve the proposal. McDowell was recently sworn in, giving Martin the first working Republican majority in more than a year.

A representative for McDowell could not be immediately reached.

The two Democrats on the FCC, Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, previously have demanded the agency first consider the public-interest obligations of broadcasters with these new channels before considering multicasting must-carry.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002690120

TV Notebook
The Return Of Reege

By Marc Berman in Media Week Magazine JUNE 19, 2006 -

Guess who is coming back to prime time this week? I'll give you a few hints: 1) He already hosts a daily morning talk show opposite a perennially perky woman who is young enough to be his granddaughter. 2) He's a frequent guest on CBS' The Late Show With David Letterman. 3) He's

the man responsible for "saving" ABC, then single-handedly almost killing the entire network as host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. That's right, it's gazillionaire Regis Philbin, who just can't seem to take a day off—New Year's Eve included—for fear viewers will forget him, heading over to NBC as host of its new summer reality show America's Got Talent. It premieres Wednesday, July 13 at 9 p.m., and the live results show will run on Thursdays.

Given the endless appetite for this type of competition, I bet that America's Got Talent finds a sizable audience. And that means, of course, that the already inflated ego of the beloved Regis will only get bigger.

"For years I've thought about hosting a variety show on television, but I could never put it together in my mind," said Philbin in a prepared statement. "Finally, here it is and I'm thrilled to be a part of it."

Come on, Reege, let's be realistic here. America's Got Talent sounds more like 1970s classic The Gong Show than 1960s classic The Ed Sullivan Show. So, if I was going to compare him to anyone, it would be Chuck Barris, not that "really big shew" headmaster or any legitimate variety show host. Created by Simon Cowell and the forces behind American Idol, America's Got Talent is a reality/game show featuring performers of all kinds (singers, dancers, comedians and God knows what else) competing to win a $1 million cash prize. The three celebrity judges are former Moesha star Brandy; David Hasselhoff (laugh all you want, he is richer than rich courtesy of Baywatch) and Piers Morgan, a U.K. personality and the former editor of the London Daily Mirror newspaper. Morgan steps in for Simon Cowell, who was unable to appear on the series due to a Fox exclusivity clause in his contract (and who is wise to stay off-camera for awhile and recharge his batteries).

Like American Idol—and the countless imitators out there—Brandy, Hasselhoff and Morgan will determine which acts advance to the final rounds where America will vote for the ultimate performer.

I know nothing about Piers Morgan, but I assume he will be the judge characterized as the "villain." Because no talent competition is complete without a sweet, understanding Paula Abdul-type, I'm guessing Brandy will do well in that role. The aging Hasselhoff will sit in the "dawg" chair.

With Granddad Regis really nothing more than an older version of the vanilla Ryan Seacrest, America's Got Talent has the perfect ingredients for summer success. And NBC can sure use a hit these days, especially as a promotional platform for its fall 2006 lineup. Still, let's keep our fingers crossed (what the hell, if you're the religious type, say a prayer) that Regis will not be all over the place crowing how he saved NBC. I give the guy credit for daring to even show his face in prime time after the Millionaire fiasco, but let's hope he has learned a lesson about humility. The bigger your mouth is, the harder the fall, Reege. So, keep it shut. Please!

My favorite summer addiction, Big Brother, is also coming back this week, with a Wednesday 8 p.m. special on the casting of the upcoming All-Stars edition (which officially kicks off on Thursday, July 6 at 8 p.m.). What concerns me about any All-Star edition (just ask Reege, he'll tell you) is that the minute the "best" contestants or the celebrity participants make an appearance, the "jump the shark" fins start circling, waiting to critically wound your once-quality, must-see series. When you do an All-Stars or a gimmicky themed edition, subsequent seasons with everyday people competing suddenly don't seem all that appealing. And CBS' Survivor and The Amazing Race, which is still on oxygen after last fall's dreadful family edition, are both proof of that.

Had CBS learned from its mistakes, Big Brother season seven would be happily populated with a bunch of unknowns looking for their brush with fame and a chance to win $500,000. But since it didn't, you had better get use to the likes of Marcellas Reynolds, Jun Song, Alison Irwin, Kaysar Ridha, Howie Gordon and the biggest liar in the history of reality television, Will Keller, from season two. But I'm willing to bet the second time around won't be that special for this group.

Commentary
Tales From The News Wars

By Tom Shales TVWeek.com June 19, 2006

I wish I had a nickel for every time a woman in the workplace made a pass at me. No, I am NOT kidding. After all, 10 cents is 10 cents! Come to think of it, it might even be 15.

At the end of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," the cast sings, "There is a Brotherhood of Man." If you revived the show today, you could not, definitely not, update it by changing the song to "There is a Sisterhood of Babes." Because there isn't one, no matter how many solidarity shows Oprah does in which she makes it sound like all human females, especially professional women, are pulling together in one great heave-ho.

Yeah, right-Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer are sisters united, wishing each other well at every opportunity, ready at the drop of a clause to withdraw their claws and, if it benefits the broadcast, defer to one another on, say, an interview that took days, weeks, months, to set up. Oh sure, we can all picture that happening.

(Not that it should happen, either. Competition is the K-Y of the profession. No, not THAT profession, THIS profession. By the way, they now sell a self-warming variant of K-Y, but that feature is available only with the real kind.

[And while we're in parentheses, here's this week's Kolumn Kwiz: Which Living Legend did I see kicking an elevator door, in my presence, while tossing a small tantrum over the fact that Another Living Legend, her chief rival, landed an interview that LL No. 1 had worked weeks at securing? It really happened. Buy a lifetime subscription and I may tell you who was who.]

While we're at it, not that we exactly are, let's get the matter of Oprah's fabulous humanitarianism out of the way right off. Oprah The Magnanimous! Magnanimous, my aspidistra. It's easy to be magnanimous when you have no competition. Oprah is a notch ABOVE Living Legend. What category is that, anyway? She's Zeus-level. It's a one-person category, a penthouse of prominence; it takes up the entire top floor of the building. She's as beloved as Eleanor Roosevelt, but she didn't even have to die to attain that status. And we don't know Eleanor's demographics 'cause they didn't have 'em then (imagine a demographic showdown between Eleanor and Hillary. Whoa, Nellie).

Meanwhile, you may have gotten wind of this tidbit: Katie Couric has left the "Today" show to become anchor of "The CBS Evening News." The party should be ending, and the hankies drying, just about now. Katie would seem to have a fabulous future spread out before her like delicacies on a banquet table. But now that there's a lull in the hoopla, it might be time to face a pesky harsh reality or two.

Indeed, it could be argued-and a good friend in the business convincingly does-that Katie's in an ironically no-win situation. If, after the initial inevitable curiosity uptick, Katie's numbers on the "Evening News" settle into solid and steady, the credit may go not to her but to cuddly codger Bob Schieffer, who proved that avuncular still sells when he stepped in to complete the unfulfilled term of Dan Rather.

Schieffer was as lovable in the anchor chair as Henry Travers, the elderly character actor, was when he played Clarence the Angel in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life." Now every time a bell rings Bob Schieffer gets a tenth of a rating point.

Then we have the Couric Corollary in the no-win theorem. Opposite two major male anchors-solid and unsoiled Charlie Gibson, a bowl of oatmeal who makes you feel young again (but only if you aren't actually young) and Brian Williams, who has inherited the Dan Rather mantle of most telegenic neckties on TV (and who slipped onto the air in a remarkably painless transition when Tom Brokaw quietly left town)-Katie will be lucky to keep the ratings from going down, much less be instrumental in boosting them up.

At that point someone in corporate CBS asks, "Why should we be paying the little lady $15 million to get the same numbers we got for less than a quarter of that from Schieffer? What happened to the ratings momentum that Schieffer built up?" At the news division, there'll be loud moans about all the producers and cameramen that could have been had for another $15 million added to the budget.

We are not trying to make Katie feel nervous. We don't have the clout, for one thing. Then again, she SHOULD be nervous, considering the dough and the expectations. There's something to be said for the way Jerry Lewis would "calm" talent waiting to appear on a long-ago ABC variety show he hosted. He'd open their dressing room door a few minutes before airtime and scream as loudly as he could, "Fifty million people are going to be watching you!"

Katie can take solace: it'll be far fewer viewers than that. But in the news business itself, everyone will be watching, absolutely positively everyone. Of course this is not the story of only one woman. There are others whose career trajectories weave in and out of the novel-like plot: Meredith Vieira, a reporter who has a gifted eye for detail and who is a gift to the eyes of viewers (Deborah Norville with brains? But she's more beautiful than Deborah Norville). Her addition to the "View" crew has created alleged friction with radically downsized Star Jones, probably something to be played more for healthy publicity than for unhealthy backstage tussles.

Finally, one of the greatest and most gifted female stars of network news has been left stranded by various star-shiftings and unfortunate acts of the Almighty (NOT Oprah; I mean God!) that have marked this turbulent age. Diane Sawyer is virtually stranded now as co-host without an adequate "co" on ABC's "Good Morning America," the first-rate show that can't seem to wriggle out of second place in the ratings.

The recent firing of "GMA's" executive producer had to have something to do with Sawyer's unhappiness over being abandoned when Charlie Gibson left to anchor ABC's "World News Tonight" (a position that insiders say, despite her fondness for Gibson, Sawyer wanted for herself). Whoever the new "GMA" executive producer will be has got to have Sawyer's complete trust and approval. (Tammy Haddad of MSNBC is reportedly high on the candidate list, though neither she nor anyone else would confirm that last week).

Sawyer's current co-star, Robin Roberts, is too butch-though producers and even cosmeticians are apparently trying to warm her up as much as possible-and Sawyer works better with a male co-anchor than another female anyway. She and Charlie were so deft and graceful about staying out of each other's way. Now Sawyer is going to have to be a more fastidious guardian of her own well-being, what with the world all topsy-turvy-and her being mistreated after all these months of being the good team player to get "GMA" back off its butt.

One tell-tale sign: Sawyer reportedly had one of Gibson's occasional return visits to the show stopped last week after a producer requested that Gibson handle the story of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's morale-boosting death. It seems a bomb fell on his big ugly head (the terrorist, the terrorist!). Sawyer allegedly objected to Gibson being brought in and the attendant implicit impression that she wasn't man enough to handle the story. She won this fight, but if there have to be more such fights in the future, then-win 'em or lose 'em-Sawyer may well decide it isn't worth the trouble, smash her alarm clock against the wall and wave "Good Morning" good-bye.

At which point it will sink into the sea and vanish for months, years, perhaps generations to come, eventually to be dug out of the muck by some astronaut of the future who, coming upon the "GMA" Times Square studios buried half-deep in sand, will fall to his knees and scream, "Damn you! Damn you all to hell!"

http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=30053

Washington Notebook
Martin Bails on Must-Carry Vote

By Ted Hearn Multichannel.com 6/18/2006

Washington -- Multicast must carry won't be voted by the Federal Communications Commission at the agency's public meeting Wednesday in a serious setback to chairman Kevin Martin, who had the agency poised to deal the cable industry one its worst regulatory defeats in more than a decade.

Martin moved the original meeting date from June 15 to June 21 to give new commissioner Robert McDowell, sworn in June 1, additional time to get acquainted with the multicast must carry issue. But it appears that McDowell was unwilling to line up behind his chairman.

"There did not appear to be consensus for moving forward at this time," FCC spokeswoman Tamara Lipper said in a statement issued Sunday.

McDowell's arrival gave Martin his first GOP majority at the FCC since March 2005 -- and it gave TV station members of National Association of Broadcasters hope that they could lick big cable at the FCC after losing multicast must carry battles in 2001 and 2005.

Had Martin kept his same-party commissioners united, he would have prevailed on the issue. Republican FCC member Deborah Taylor Tate was expected to vote with Martin in forcing cable to carry every digital programming service (6 or more services) that a TV station can pack into its bandwidth. Last week, McDowell told lobbyists he was undecided, but some cable and broadcast lobbyists assumed that McDowell would not abandon Martin after Martin gambled by scheduling a public vote.

By putting multicast must carry on the agenda, Martin signaled he had a majority. By pulling it, he showed that McDowell was willing to withhold his support on a crucial matter. Martin has tied multicast must carry to completion of a smooth transition to digital-only TV by the congressionally mandated analog cutoff on Feb. 17, 2009.

Martin's abrupt reversal -- announced Sunday evening, when the FCC was closed for business -- came just days after the NAB had to stomach witnessing President Bush sign a law increasing radio and TV indecency maximum fines ten-fold to $325,000 per offense under a $3 million cap.

In the last few weeks, the NAB had sent waves of TV station executives to see FCC officials; it also filed lengthy legal briefs extolling the virtues of multicast must carry in anticipation of a Martin-led victory.

In rejecting multicast must carry before, the FCC concluded that the carriage mandate would be inconsistent with Supreme Court doctrine in the 1997 case that upheld analog must carry, which assumed one programming service per station.

With gridlock at the FCC, the NAB likely has to turn to Congress to enact a multicast must carry law. But key lawmakers there are divided -- Senate Commerce Committee chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is for expansion of the must carry rules, but House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas), who voted against the 1992 Cable Act imposing analog must carry, has told Martin that forcing multicast must carry on cable would violate the Communications Act.

TV Notebook
Fichtner has 'Break'; Fox finds Miller

By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter June 19, 2006

The "Prison Break" gang will face a formidable nemesis next season to be played by "Invasion" star William Fichtner.

The second season of "Prison Break" chronicles the manhunt for Michael (Wentworth Miller), Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) and the other inmates who successfully broke out of prison at the end of Season 1.

Fichtner will star as a federal agent assigned to track down and comprehend the escaped convicts.

The search for an actor to play the role went down to the wire and production on the show, on location in Dallas, had to be postponed by a day until the deal with Fichtner was finalized.

Meanwhile, Penelope Ann Miller has joined another Fox/20th Century Fox TV drama series, the upcoming "Vanished."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002690110

TV Notebook
Rather Shabby Treatment

By Roger Catlin Hartford Courant TV Critic in his “TV Eye” blog

It took PBS newsman Jim Leher to put some perspective to the withering away of Dan Rather at CBS.

Since he left the 'CBS Evening News' in March 2005 after 24 years, he was supposed to move on to longer term projects on some of the network newsmagazines and has seen his role whittled to near nothing. Now he's considering an offer to host a news program for millionaire and failed reality TV host Mark Cuban's HDNet, which nobody watches.

Appearing on Howard Kurtz' weekly conflict of interest program on CNN, Leher said:

“I think it’s outrageous. I think the man deserves better than this. I think that whether it’s intentional or otherwise, I think they’ve treated him unfairly and in a way that says not good things about CBS, frankly. It says more about them than you really want to know.

Whatever Dan Rather did or did not do in the military records issue, he was there, he was CBS News for 40 years and now they’re saying, no, no, no, no, -- it’s just – as I say, it’s outrageous and it’s also very sad although he’s been quoted as saying, ‘I’m not sad about it.’”

http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2006/06/rather_shabby_t.html

TV Notebook
Connie Croaks Adieu

By Michael ShainThe New York Post June 19, 2006

The ratings-starved Maury Povich and Connie Chung weekend show on MSNBC ended its short, six-month run with a bizarre send-off - sure to live on as a tone-deaf stunt Chung will not soon be allowed to forget.

Perched on the edge of a white grand piano and decked out in a full-length evening gown, the former CBS and CNN anchorwoman warbled a farewell song that put down Dan Rather (with whom she co-anchored the CBS news in the early 1990s), her husband and cable TV - all at the same time.

"Thanks for the memories," she sang to the tune of the old standard:

We came to do a show for very little dough
By little, I mean I could make more working on skid row
That's cable TV.
Thanks for the memories
This half a year flew by
That Maury, what a guy
Instead of asking: Who's the daddy? He could talk Dubai
How stunned were we all
Thanks for the memories
The thing I love the most
About hubby as co-host
Is all those other anchors were as dull as melba toast
The sparks really flew
Thanks for the memories
Now that the show is through
I've got bigger things to do
But Maury is back weighing in:
Fat babies, how taboo!
He can't get enough.

At the end of the song, she collapsed on the floor of the studio as the camera faded out.

Video excerpts of Chung's off-key performance began popping up on the Internet almost as soon as it aired Saturday night.

http://www.youtube.com/p.swf?video_id=TcozKfpbmaA&eurl=http%3A//www.drudgereport.com/&iurl=http%3A//sjl-static6.sjl.youtube.com/vi/TcozKfpbmaA/2.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskLmG-fJKDpyCRSdjTWnH8MV

The couple's half-hour talk show, "Weekends with Maury & Connie," aired its final edition Saturday and Sunday.

The weekly program, which began last January, marked Chung's return to TV after her weeknight CNN series was canceled in 2003.

http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/connie_croaks_adieu_entertainment_michael_shain.htm

TV Notebook
One clever bet: 'America’s Got Talent'

By Ruth Marcus in MediaLifeMagazine.com Jun 19, 2006

With summer comes reality TV, and with it the unexpected, and sometimes the downright strange, as networks stab at finding the next big thing.

Stab they do. Who would have thought a dance competition, "Dancing With the Stars," would draw audiences, as it did last summer, or for that matter, going back a few years, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

On Wednesday, NBC might well have this summer's reality hit in "America’s Got Talent.” Or it's got one serious bomb.

If "American Idol" is about finding singing talent, "America’s Got Talent” is about finding the zaniest, most entertaining novelty acts.

Notorious meanie Simon Cowell is producing, but he won’t be around to toss barbs. Hosting is the kinder, gentler Regis Philbin, he of "Millionaire." The judges will be ex-"Baywatch-er" David Hasselhoff, Brandy, the pop singer, and Piers Morgan, a British newspaper editor, of all things. The winner gets a million dollars.

“Talent” has two things working against it. It lacks a strong lead-in, following "Dateline" at 9 p.m., and it's premiering opposite two hours of “So You Think You Can Dance,” already a hit for Fox.

If “Talent” bombs, it will be in the execution, and it will be yanked in an ignominious exit reminiscent of “America’s Most Talented Kid,” NBC’s abortive 2003 series. Though NBC offers snippets of “Talent” on its web site, it has not released preview tapes, so how the show comes together is a guess.

But if NBC lets "Talent” do its stuff, relying on the power of the contestants’ personalities and the novelty of their acts, it's hard to imagine it failing. The format has personality to spare.

It’s a search for novelty acts, after all, twin contortionists, tap-dancing tots, crooning senior citizens, and a gangsta-rapping grandma. There's the risk some contestants will drag out tired singing routines, but the show-stoppers will be the animal tricks, the magic shows, and the conga lines of hacks and loonies that follow reality TV cameras wherever they may go.

Reality TV works best when it reaches back into once-powerful but long forgotten genres. With ”Millionaire," it was the game show, so big in the 50s, and with "American Idol" it was the talent contest, which goes back to the earliest days of radio and before.

The theme of "Talent”--the novelty act--has roots no less strong, going back to carnivals and circuses centuries ago and more recently vaudeville, all the rage in the 1880s and persisting well into the 20th century, onto radio and later television. There was Milton Berle’s “Texaco Star Theater,” which in 1948 made the switch from radio to TV and NBC and was so beloved that restaurants closed and water usage plunged during its broadcasts. Then came “The Ed Sullivan Show,” perhaps now best remembered for introducing the Beatles to America. It was a weekly platform for the best novelty acts from around the world.

“Showtime at the Apollo,” the syndicated series, is perhaps the last novelty venue. The highlight of every episode is the amateur competition during which the audience’s cheers, or jeers, determine the fates of contestants. Winners are often selected because of their sheer novelty (Japanese people dancing hip hop! Old white guy singing reggae!) rather than adherence to any rules of talent.

Certainly a huge part of the success of “Idol” is the novelty element. The most popular episodes come early, with the auditions, which command ratings in the 15s among 18-49s, only to slide to the 10s as the competitions get underway.

But again, the challenge for NBC will be to allow “Talent” to be what it is, a thinly disguised, or if you prefer, a tastefully done freak show, and not dare to prettify it into something it isn’t, and should not be, picking winners fit for the cover of “Seventeen” magazine.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5443.asp

The Digital Revolution
The disorder of these times: neophilia

Japanese scientists have fingered an enzyme
(What happened to "early adapters"?)
By Heidi Dawley MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 18, 2006

It sounds like a terrible disease, and dirty too: neophilia. It is neither, actually, but an affliction nonetheless, and one especially common to the bright and overeducated. Moreover, the sufferers seem not to notice, which speaks to its kinship with addiction, to which it is quite similar.

You, reader, may have the dread disease, especially if you are reading this on a Blackberry or some such portable device.

Neophiliacs are people who love everything new or novel. While most people have some element of this trait in their personality, there are some folks who have an almost unstoppable draw to every whizzy new electronic gizmo. Or maybe they just have to have the latest combination of strappy sandals and hip-hugging jeans.

These neophiliacs are, in effect, every marketer’s dream.

And now a team of researchers have provided these consumers with just about the greatest excuse ever for justifying their expensive compulsion to buy the newest and coolest. They can't help themselves.

It turns out some people may, in fact, be more genetically predisposed than others to wanting the newest toys, gadgets and fashions.

In scientific mumbo jumbo, it seems that genetic differences mean that people produce different variations of a mitochondrial enzyme called monoamine oxidase A. That’s according to research from the Yamagata University School of Medicine in Japan, which was recently published in the scientific journal Psychiatric Genetics and mentioned in the New Scientist magazine.

The researchers found that one form of this enzyme was “significantly associated with higher scores of novelty seeking.” In other words, people who produce that form of the enzyme are more likely to have novelty-seeking traits in their personality than others.

But before neophiliacs everywhere put their new excuse into action, it is worth nothing that, of course, not everyone agrees that novelty seeking is likely to have a genetic link.

Colin Campbell, a professor of sociology at the University of York in the UK, has studied the nature of consumerism, and he believes that the existence of novelty seeking is a relatively new phenomenon. So it can't by definition be genetic.

“Pre-modern societies tend to be suspicious of the novel. It is a feature of modernity that we are addicted to novelty,” says Campbell. Campbell dates the emergence of novelty seeking to the beginnings of the industrial revolution in the mid 18th century. As he explains, “Modern fashion evolved then.”

During the medieval period fashion changed extremely slowly, he says. Then with the industrial revolution, there was a sudden shift toward rapid fashion changes. Acceleration has continued in recent years.

It is because of this historical change that Campbell is not entirely convinced by the idea of a genetic link, questioning why we would not have seen this trait throughout history if it is genetic.

But whether there is a genetic predisposition to be more--or less--of a neophiliac, there’s one thing that is certain. The general desire for the newfound to some degree in many people is a key component in our modern economy and popular culture.

Which is to say that while neophilia may be in some sense a disorder, it is an economically necessary one. Modern popular culture depends upon folks needing something new all the time.

“It is the engine for making popular culture continue to develop,” says Bob Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture at Syracuse University. Thompson believes that as humans we are predisposed to be curious. And that curiosity is behind the lure of novelty. Marketers are able to endlessly play upon this desire into order to turn people on to something new. And as such, the lure of the new also provides some of the underpinnings for our capitalist society.

“If we all as humans weren’t already predisposed for a desire to be stimulated by new stuff, a lot of the structure on which capitalism is founded would not exist,” says Thompson. So if this desire ever ceased, big problems would ensue.

“If all of a sudden we decided we would wear clothes until they wore out and use our car until it collapsed, it would be amazing how much would not be consumed. It would be a huge problem because our whole economy is based on the expectation that we will consume all this,” he says.

Campbell agrees. “If people were to lose interest in the novel, our economy would crash immediately,” he says. “We have developed a civilization that is dependent on it. That’s the situation we are in, for good or ill.”

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_5439.asp

The Digital Revolution
NBC's chief confident on 'Today,' Brian Williams vs. Couric

By Peter Johnson USA Today

Just two weeks after CBS Evening News-bound Katie Couric said a tearful goodbye to NBC's Today, her old boss now sings the praises of her successor, Meredith Vieira, and predicts that Brian Williams, anchor of top-rated NBC Nightly News, has no worries going toe-to-toe with Couric at night.

"I am confident that Brian will continue to do a first-rate show and maintain his position of leadership" in the evening-news race, Jeff Zucker, chairman of NBC-Universal TV, said Friday.

Zucker, whose star at NBC rose along with Couric's when he produced her on Today during her glory years in the 1990s, declined to handicap Couric's chances on the evening-news front. (She begins anchoring the third-place Evening News Sept. 5.)

But Zucker says Good Morning America anchor Charles Gibson, now anchor of ABC's World News Tonight, was a "very good choice and will do a very competitive broadcast. He's a first-rate broadcaster."

Meanwhile, Zucker says, advertiser reaction to Vieira, who left ABC's The View to join Matt Lauer on Today in September, has been very strong: NBC has sold about $350 million in advance, or "upfront," ads, up $25 million from last year, and Zucker predicts Today will have 60% of the morning show ad market.

"The reception of Meredith has been phenomenal, and we happen to have gone into the (upfront) marketplace at a time when the strength of the show has also been phenomenal," Zucker says.

For the week of June 5, with Ann Curry sitting in Couric's chair, more than 5.6 million viewers watched Today, 1 million viewers more than watched GMA. With the exception of the Torino Olympics and Couric's farewell week in May, Today's 25% advantage was the biggest gap between the two programs since Aug. 30, 2004.

Does Zucker miss Couric? "It was a great era — and we're very fortunate to have begun another incredibly strong era."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2006-06-18-media-mix_x.htm

Fichtner will star as a federal agent assigned to track down and comprehend the escaped convicts.

He'll probably get his job done quicker if he tries to apprehend them instead. :)

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

He'll probably get his job done quicker if he tries to apprehend them instead. :)


ya think? :p

fredfa-

Are there any ratings news for Saturday night? Looking for NBC/NHL ratings in particular.

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Big rebound for NBA finals game five

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 19, 2006

Through the first two games of the NBA finals, it looked as though the Miami Heat were in danger of being swept, falling behind 0-2 to the Dallas Mavericks. Now, thanks to three straight home wins, the Heat are suddenly one game from clinching the NBA title, having injected some much-needed excitement into ABC’s finals.

Last night’s game five of the NBA finals, which Miami won 101-100 in overtime, averaged a 10.2 metered market household rating on ABC, up 2 percent over last year’s 10.0 for game five between the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons.

It was up 32 percent over the 2003 game five average of 7.7 for the San Antonio Spurs and New Jersey Nets, which had the lowest ratings ever for a finals. It was behind 2004’s game five, though that was the title-clincher for the Detroit Pistons and so drew the highest rating of the series.

Yesterday’s game lasted well past 11 p.m., and fast national ratings average time period data, so final ratings may change when they are issued tomorrow. But it looks like the game also got a big bump over game four in adults 18-49.

The 9 to 11 p.m. portion last night averaged a 5.1 overnight rating in that demo, up 28 percent over Thursday’s 4.1 average for game four over those two hours.

The Heat became the second team to sweep the middle three home games of an NBA finals using the 2-3-2 format for home and away games, following the Pistons in 2004. Game six is tomorrow in Dallas.

Big ratings for the NBA meant a relatively slow evening for the other broadcast networks on the night. The series premiere of NBC’s “Treasure Hunters” at 9 p.m. averaged a so-so 2.9, placing second in the timeslot behind the NBA finals against very weak competition.

ABC was No. 1 for the night with a 3.7 rating and 11 share among adults 18-49, followed by CBS at 2.4/7, NBC at 2.3/7, Fox at 2.0/6, Univision at 1.1/3 and WB at 0.8/2.

At 7 p.m., NBC's "Dateline" was No. 1 at 2.2, followed by ABC's repeat of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" at 2.0, CBS's "60 Minutes" at 1.6, Fox's 1.3 for "Malcolm in the Middle" and "King of the Hill" repeats, Univision's "Peregrina" at 0.9 and WB's "Reba" reruns at 0.8.

At 8 p.m., ABC was at No. 1 with a 2.7/9 for "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "NBA Nation," followed by NBC at 2.7/8 for the first hour of the "Hunters" premiere. Following were Fox's "The Simpsons" reruns at 2.6, CBS's "Cold Case" rerun at 1.6, Univision's "La Fea Mas Bella" at 1.0 and WB's "Charmed" repeat at 0.7.

At 9 p.m., ABC led at 4.8 for the first hour of the NBA Finals Game 5, followed by “Treasure Hunters” at 2.9. CBS followed with the first hour of the Sunday movie "What Women Want" at 2.6. Fox was at No. 4 with a 2.3 for a "Family Guy" repeat and "Always Sunny in Philadelphia," ahead Univision's "Barrera de Amor" at 1.2 and WB's "Charmed" repeat at 0.7

At 10 p.m., ABC's NBA game led at 5.3, followed by CBS's movie at 3.7, NBC's "Windfall" repeat at 1.5 and Univision's "Cristina" at 1.1.

Among households, ABC and CBS tied for No. 1 for the night with 6.1 ratings and 11 shares, followed by NBC at 3.8/7, Fox at 2.8/5, Univision at 1.4/2 and WB at 1.1/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5467.asp