Critic’s Notebook
Fall TV Sneak Preview: ABC (Part 1)

By Kevin D. Thompson Palm Beach Post Television Writer in his blog
June 26, 2006
'Sup, fellow bloggers. It was a busy weekend for me. Which means I only found enough time to watch two of ABC's new shows. Although I'm on vacation this week, I'll get to the rest later today or tonight. I promise.

Betty the Ugly: More like Betty the Unfunny. You know a show's in trouble when the person who's watching it asks, "Is this supposed to be a comedy?" America Ferrera (The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants) stars as Betty, a slightly overweight, Plain Jane, braces-wearing woman with a hideous fashion sense. How hideous? I'm talking garish ponchos and black -- black! -- stockings! Now, none of that would be a problem for Betty, but since she's a lowly editorial assistant at a Glamour-like fashion mag where everyone's ridiculously gorgeous and a size minus three, well, our plucky heroine becomes a source of ridicule. While Ferrera is a winningly appealing lead -- you can't help but root for her -- her show rarely makes you laugh -- or chuckle. And that last time I checked, that's what a comedy is supposed to do.

Let's Rob...: The perfect title since ABC is blatantly robbing from NBC's wonderfully kooky My Name Is Earl. A long-time janitor (Grounded for Life's Donal Logue) is tired of his dead end job. So, he does what most frustrated employees do: he recruits a band of affable misfits to rob Mick Jagger so he can finance his dream of opening a bar. They even wear T-shirts and call themselves "The Knights of Prosperity." Let's Rob...isn't as funny or charming as Earl. No show could duplicate Earl's loopy craziness. But Let's Rob...gives it a good shot and is worth a look.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/thompson/entries/2006/06/fall_tv_sneak_p_1.html

TV Notebook
U.S. Olympic channel may be coming soon

By David Barron Houston Chronicle

LA JOLLA, CALIF. - In a world where even the NFL Network has to claw and scratch for carriage, is there room in your heart — and, more importantly, in your monthly cable bill — for a U.S. Olympic Committee channel?

USOC president Jim Scherr, at the USOC's Olympic Assembly this weekend, said the group is developing plans for a 24-hour service that he hopes will be on the air before the 2008 Olympics.

"It's essential to provide (the channel) as an opportunity for exposure for our sports and to build interest in our Olympic sports, but also as a potential revenue vehicle," Scherr said.

Scherr said the USOC cable channel would carry event programming, coaching, health and lifestyle shows, and, most attractively for Olympic junkies, have the domestic rights to the Olympic Television Archive Bureau, which means it could reshow NBC and ABC programming from past Olympic Games.

"We would love to have it in place well before 2008. It's realistic that we could launch before 2008," Scherr said. "How many homes we could aggregate through distribution is questionable, but we're pretty far down the road fleshing out our business plan and timeline to build the kind of homes and revenues we need to make it viable."

Cable start-ups don't come cheap. NFL Network, for example, required $100 million in start-up costs and benefited from tens of millions in free advertising on Sunday NFL games. Even with a boost from an expanded agreement with Dish Network that will be announced today, taking the number of potential viewers to 40 million households, the NFL doesn't expect to turn a profit on its channel until 2008.

Most cable carriers, if they agreed to carry the USOC signal at all, likely would relegate it to a sports-only tier (Time Warner's package is $3 per month for eight channels), and it's hard to imagine the USOC getting, say, 25 cents per subscriber per month from even that limited base.

Video on demand could be a potential profit center, and so could the Web site the USOC plans as a major element of its future as a content provider. But the USOC will need partners — ideally, Scherr said, NBC.

"We don't have the ability to operate (a channel) ourselves," he said. "We would seek an equity partner to assist us. Our role would be to gather and build content. We have had initial discussions (with NBC), and we would love to have them be a leader and a partner with us on this project."

The USOC also hopes to aggregate broadcast rights for all its national sports governing bodies under one umbrella "on an economic basis that works for them and us," Scherr said.

That model, clearly, would have to make room for gymnastics, figure skating, track and field and swimming to retain a presence on over-the-air and established cable outlets such as NBC, ABC and ESPN. So there are plenty of questions to be answered before you see a USOC Channel on your cable box.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/sports/4001293

Cable TV Notebook
Blade’, Spike and the pursuit of men

By Ruth Marcus in MediaLifeMagazine.com Jun 26, 2006, 03:28

Several years ago, all the TV talk was of the Lost Boys, the young men who were suddenly not watching television anymore. The challenge: how to draw them back to their TV sets from video games and wherever else they'd headed off to.

The former TNN, freshly renamed Spike, thought it had it all figured out: manly programming. It was an intriguing idea, ambitious too, and timely, at a time when other general-interest networks were rebranding around themes. Why not?

It's been a struggle for Spike, a huge one, and so far it hasn't really worked. A good part of the problem has been in finding that signature program that would define Spike as a men's network in all of its intended nuances, something it could build around, not just another tagline.

Three years later, Spike may have that series: "Blade: The Series," whose two-hour premiere airs on Wednesday night at 10.

The program draws on the trilogy of "Blade" films which, in turn, were inspired by the cult Marvel comic book character. The series, starring Wesley Snipes, did well at the box office, grossing more than $200 million, though the third installment, "Blade: Trinity," released in 2004, began to fade, grossing the least, $52 million.

The TV series picks up where "Blade: Trinity" left off. The show follows the exploits of Blade, a half-man, half-vampire warrior who has made it his life’s mission to destroy the vampires who threaten Detroit. He teams up with Krista, a woman hell-bent on avenging her twin brother's death at the hands of a vampire. Rapper-actor Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" plays the gravely voiced hero. Jill Wagner plays Krista.

"Blade" has several things working for it. It's already a franchise, bringing with it a built-in audience. In addition to films and comics, the character has spawned two video games, and a third is on the way. And as Spike likes to think, it's a series guys can identify with, having lots of action, a certain sex appeal, high-tech weaponry and the edginess that often defines original cable programming.
It also has continuity. The pilot was written by David Goyer and Geoff Johns, both respected comic book writers. Goyer wrote the three "Blade" movies and directed the third. He will also executive produce the series.

The challenge for Spike, and Goyer, will be to build on the franchise, and doing it in a way that brings in new male viewers. Reviews so far have been mixed. That will mean taking chances.

In any case, after three years, Spike has surely learned from its blunders. It relaunched as Spike with the cartoon series "Stripperella," clumsily voiced by Pamela Anderson. A stripper went public with claims that she created the series. "Stripperella" drew 2 million viewers to its premier, according to Spike, but didn’t last beyond a season.

The WWE, its other great male attraction, later moved to USA, leaving Spike as little more than a platform for network reruns like "CSI," which was notable for drawing lots of women to the network.

Indeed, Spike has never really made a serious dent among men, ranking eighth among basic cable networks for males 18-34, behind ESPN, USA, TNT, Comedy Central, FX and TBS, during first quarter, according to Nielsen data crunched by MTV Networks.
Primetime viewership among 18-34 males is down 13 percent this year, to 174,000 from 203,000 in 2005, though "WWE's" exit accounts for much of that. Women in that demo are down as well, by 17 percent, to 124,000 from 157,000.

That leaves a lot riding on "Blade."

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5609.asp

TV Notebook
For TV news, buzz becoming gold standard

By Phil Rosenthal Chicago Tribune Media Columnist June 25, 2006

As might be expected for all the exposure he got last week, the greatest TV interview moment of recent days did involve Anderson Cooper, CNN's celebrity correspondent.

But it wasn't in his sitdown with Angelina Jolie on aid to refugees. (Cooper: "You're not just talking the talk. You're walking the walk. I have read that you give a third of your income to refugees and other causes. Is that true?" Jolie: "Yes." Cooper: "That's incredible.")

It wasn't in his chat with Cher on helping better equip U.S. Marines in Iraq. (Cher: "My sister sent a clipping out of a newspaper and she just said, `Dear stupid, do something.'" Cooper: "She calls you stupid?" Cher: "Yes." Cooper: "OK.")

The moment that stood out was in Cooper's guest appearance on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." Stewart--the comedian who torched the late, unlamented "Crossfire" while visiting two years ago, telling the hosts they had "a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably. ... [and] it's hurting America"--again took aim across CNN's bow. "CNN is a nice place to work," Cooper said. "There's a real sense of mission and a sense of, you know, people being interested in the news."

"When's it going to show on air?" Stewart shot back, later adding, "Because, I watch CNN a lot."

Cooper, the one-time ABC reality-show host officially cast as anchor/reporter but seeming to be gunning of late to replace Larry King, is being promoted as a personality at a network founded on the quaint premise that news--not newscasters and not glitterati--should be the draw.

If you're CNN, perhaps you're apt to try anything, having trailed Fox News Channel for so long. But having just about every show last Tuesday--Lou Dobbs' program was a notable exception--talk up Cooper's Jolie interview that night or the World Refugee Day cause Jolie wanted to promote probably isn't the long-term way to do it.

The interlaced campaigns to sell Cooper and his best-selling memoir pay off only if he delivers the goods. You would think a man whose mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, is a brand name herself would caution him, if not his bosses, about what happens when branding goes bad.

Does CNN really want to be known as the Celebrity News Network?

It can be tricky, to be sure. Dan Rather, whose CBS News hitch of 44 years petered out last week, was surely a personality, embraced by some and reviled by others. Yet he always sold himself as a newsman first, as did his network.

His body of work--the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, the Nixon White House, Afghanistan--drove his career. The oddball antics and missteps, as in "What's the frequency, Kenneth," storming off the set in Miami, the singing on Letterman, spinning contrived election-night folkisms and ultimately his staunch defense of indefensible reporting lapses, were more like brakes.

Katie Couric has done some solid work at NBC's "Today," but in the mind's eye for many the next anchor of "The CBS Evening News" is either dressed up for Halloween or getting tested for colon cancer. It will be interesting to see how that changes as she assumes her new role. Bob Schieffer, the interim anchor she replaces, already is endorsing her in promos.

Couric is being dispatched on the road to a few cities this summer for town hall-type meetings where she can at least give the appearance of trying to find out what people want from her and from CBS News, although it also seems like a clever way to sell her newscast in key precincts such as San Diego, San Francisco and Denver.

Rather's erstwhile CBS co-anchor, Connie Chung, meanwhile, bid adieu to the canceled MSNBC weekend series she co-hosted with husband Maury Povich the other day, writhing about in a gown and an off-key parody of "Thanks for the Memories."

Dignified? No. Irresistible, like roadside wreckage? No question.

The clip has bounced around the Internet, where its audience appears to dwarf the one that watched her on MSNBC. In fact, it earned her a first booking on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" for this Tuesday.

Once upon a time--the sheer awfulness of her swan song performance, coupled with having been in and out the door at MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS--her career would be over.

But people are talking about her again and, judging from the celebration of all things Anderson at CNN these days, that matters at least as much as what's being said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0606250272jun25,1,1504731.column?coll=chi-business-hed

Cable TV Notebook
Two cable channels boldly go into original sci-fi

By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News Mon, Jun. 26, 2006

Putting aside the popularity of ABC's ``Lost,'' the major networks still haven't come up with a way to consistently sell the sci-fi/fantasy genre to a mass TV audience.

Last season, ABC tried with ``Invasion'' (very good), CBS heavily promoted ``Threshold'' (promising), and NBC took a spin with ``Surface'' (two out of three ain't bad). None made it to a second season.

But the bad batting average for the genre on broadcast television hasn't stopped the cable channels from making sci-fi a big part of their programming. Now, Spike TV, which has never produced an original scripted series before, and ABC Family, which has seen its viewership soar as it replaces repeats of old network shows with fresh series, are sticking their toes in the sci-fi waters.

Spike's ``Blade: The Series'' (10 p.m. Wednesday) tries to emulate the success of a Marvel comic and the three films based on it, but comes up more than a bit short. ABC Family's ``Kyle XY'' (8 tonight) initially seems derivative of both ``Starman,'' director John Carpenter's lovely 1984 film, and TV's ``John Doe,'' a 2002 series that lasted less than a season on Fox. Yet, toward the end, it finds something of its own rhythm and holds out the possibility it could be a keeper.

In the world of comics, Blade occupies a place even darker than the one inhabited by Batman. Half-man, half-vampire, Blade wages a bloody and never-ending battle against the creatures of the night. As played by Wesley Snipes on film, he was all edge and cool with a hard-boiled bit of wit for every occasion.

The idea of transferring the character to television certainly has its merits. The show was co-created by David Goyer, a writer with serious fantasy cred including the ``Blade'' films, ``Batman Begins'' and ``Threshold.'' But somewhere along the line, something got lost, and while parts of Wednesday's two-hour opener work well, it is also seriously flawed.

The biggest problem is that hip-hop-artist-turned-actor Kirk ``Sticky'' Jones -- who was very good in last summer's ``Over There'' series on FX -- is relentlessly grim as Blade. It appears someone told him to play the character in a dead monotone, which drains Blade of his human side. Of course, it would help if Jones were given some lines to work with, but the writing is horribly flat and uninvolving.

Next issue: The series is supposedly set in Detroit, with Vancouver standing in for the Midwestern industrial city. But the Detroit of ``Blade'' looks nothing like the real-life one (which may actually be scarier) and, even more noticeably, a city with a large African-American population seems to be inhabited almost entirely by white folks.

Where ``Blade'' does have some bite (I promise, no more vampire puns) is on the fringes of the story, where it gets some decent performances from Jill Wagner as an Army sergeant who becomes Blade's sidekick, Nelson Lee as his tech expert and Neil Jackson as Marcus Van Sciver, the suave head honcho of the bloodsuckers. But it's not enough for me to make a second visit to this underworld.

On the other hand, I might be back for Episode 2 of the much-less-heralded ``Kyle XY,'' even though its first few minutes are such a blatant rip-off of ``John Doe'' that the creators of the earlier show might want to consider their legal options. Then it starts to ooze the feel of Carpenter's film, in which a guileless alien learns to live and love like a human.

It was almost enough for me to reach for the remote. But I didn't, and the last 30 minutes of the opening episode started to develop a charm and appeal that wasn't a bland copy of better work.

It's still unclear at the end of the episode whether ``Kyle'' is an alien who has dropped out of the sky or the product of some shadowy government experiment gone wrong. (I'm voting for the latter since the ever-creepy Nicholas Lea from ``The X-Files'' is lurking on the edges of the story.)

But advancing that part of the story line isn't as important as the way the show begins to establish the relationship between the teenage rain man (initially, he can't talk but he sure is a whiz with computers) and a family that takes him in. There's a warmth to the way the family's teenage kids, who first view Kyle as a freak spoiling their fun, establish a bond with him -- which could bode well for the series in the long run.

By the way, if you don't get ABC Family, ABC itself will be repeating at least the first four episodes on Fridays starting this week (9 p.m., Ch. 7). Given the options -- repeats of ``Hope & Faith'' -- it might prove to be a smart move.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/14903781.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Critic’s Notebook
Just a coupla white guys talkin'


Good read, the dynamics of the Janet/Tommy relationship as they explained them are pretty much how I interpreted it as well.

The Saturday and Sunday 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.

Perhaps when the NAB continually tells us about the importance of localism, someone should ask about this:

The Business of TV
Taxes Drive Malone's Fox Stations Talks

By John M. Higgins Broadcasting & Cabl, 6/26/2006

Liberty Media’s discussions to take control of some of Fox’s TV stations have nothing to do with Chairman John Malone’s new love for broadcasting. It’s all about his long-held loathing of taxes.

Malone—the onetime "godfather" of cable—is moving closer to a deal to unwind Liberty’s $10 billion stake in News Corp. in a deal that may give it Fox’s TV stations in small markets.

As first disclosed by B&C last September, News Corp. is offering Malone stations generally outside the top 25 markets to dissipate the threat of having an outsider control so much stock.

Liberty has amassed 16% of News Corp. equity and 17% of its shareholder votes, making Chairman
Rupert Murdoch uncomfortable about Malone’s motives.

Malone’s primary goal is to have News Corp. buy him out. What catches his eye is the stations’ usefulness in limiting his tax bill. Federal tax codes ordinarily call for a seller to pay taxes on the profits of a stock sale. However, Malone wants News Corp. to structure a deal as a "cash-rich spinoff," which would require News Corp. to tuck some operating assets in with cash or News Corp. debt.

Liberty would have to hold the stations (which are worth around $800 million), along with any cash and securities, in a subsidiary for several years. But Malone could get immediate, tax-
deferred access to the cash by selling investors a derivative security created around the new subsidiary.

News Corp. and Liberty wouldn’t comment. But in a report to clients on June 20, UBS Securities’ Aryeh Bourkoff recounted a meeting with Roger Ailes, chairman of both Fox Stations and Fox News Channel. Ailes wouldn’t directly address the Liberty discussions but acknowledged that he considered only 25 of his 35 stations to be "core assets."

The stations under discussion include Kansas City, Mo. (the 31st-largest TV market), Milwaukee (No. 32) and Salt Lake City (36). One market is tiny: Gainesville, Fla., No. 162.

Selling these smaller stations would shrink the Fox stations group’s reach from 45 million homes to fewer than 40 million.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6346903

(From Marc Berman’s Monday, June 26, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Ratings Box: What’s Hot/What’s Not

MTV and Company in Second Quarter 2006:

MTV will close second quarter 2006 as the top-rated basic cable network among persons 12-34 for the 37th consecutive quarter, with six of the top 10 shows -- Real World XVII, The Hills, Real World/Road Rules Fresh Meat, Nick Cannon’s Wild N Out, 8th & Ocean and My Super Sweet Sixteen -- in the demo.

Broadband network MTV Overdrive generated over 1 million streams per day, building by a significant 35 percent year-to-year. MTV Mobile, meanwhile, rounded off the quarter with gains of seven percent from first quarter 2005. And part of that growth can be attributed to Sway’s Hip Hop Owners Manual, which was the most watched MTV wireless content in second quarter.

Remembering Aaron Spelling

Although I have accumulated many good memories over the years at Mediaweek, one of my favorite thoughts happened shortly after I joined the company, and it involved legendary producer Aaron Spelling, who died in his Holmby Hills, California home of complications from a stroke he suffered on June 18. He was 83.

Mr. Spelling, of course, who began his career as a bit Hollywood player, created more hit shows than anyone else in the history of television. And those series included The Mod Squad, The Rookies, Starsky and Hutch, Charlie’s Angels, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Family, Hart To Hart, Dynasty, Vegas, Matt Houston, T.J. Hooker, Hotel, Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Charmed and the still popular 7th Heaven. For five consecutive decades, in fact, Aaron Spelling was never without a hit series in primetime. And he produced more than 140 television movies, including Death Sentence, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, And the Band Played On, and Day One.

When I was asked to write a feature story that involved interviewing a TV producer in my early days at Mediaweek, I remembered that Candy Spelling, Aaron’s wife, was getting my column, The Programming Insider, so I decided to shoot for the moon and emailed Candy. “Mrs. Spelling,” I asked, “would it be possible if I speak to your husband for a few minutes?”

To my amazement, I received a call that night from…you guessed it…Aaron Spelling, and we spent over one hour reminiscing about Alexis and Krystle fighting in the mud on Dynasty, Charlie’s Angels fever, guest stars popping up on The Love Boat and Fantasy Island, little Buddy on Family, and the gang from 90210. And it was the beginning of a working relationship that lasted for several years.

“I never expected this kind of success,” Mr. Spelling told me. “What can I say – I am really the luckiest man in the world. And I just love working with actors. I understand their sensibilities because I was one. And I try to put the type of programs on the air that I myself would want to watch. That’s the most important ingredient when you create a TV series. It’s all about tapping into the tastes of the viewing public.”

When I asked him if he ever felt snubbed by the sometimes lack of critical acclaim, he said:

“I can’t say that I have not been somewhat disappointed over the years, but it is the fans that matter. A fan of 7th Heaven, in fact, recently stopped me and starting screeching how much she loved the show. So to me, that’s like winning the Emmy. There is no bigger honor than when a fan stops to acknowledge your work.”

With over a record of 3,000 hours of regularly series programming under his belt, Aaron Spelling will be fondly remembered as the most prolific TV producer in the history of television. And, as I can personally vouch for, he will be remembered as one of the most beloved as well. Funeral services will be private, and a memorial service is being planned for next month. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services, 3200 Motor Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90034.

TV Notebook
Summer's a good time for TV 101

By Rick Kushman Sacramento Bee TV Columnist Monday, June 26, 2006

These dog days of dull TV lineups seem like a good time for a little TV 101. So today, we have a reminder that technology is changing television like it's, um, new technology. Also, that TV is strange.

It starts with Nielsen Media Research -- the people who give us TV ratings -- and word that they're going to count how many people watch commercials.

OK, considering that it's advertisers who pay for just about everything in television by buying commercial time, you'd think that's the kind of info people might have wanted, oh, I dunno, 30 or 40 years ago.

But, nope, they just had one broad measurement for both a show and its ads. Soon, however, TV viewing will be broken down piece by piece. Will it matter?

For that, we first need two bits of background.

First bit: No one in TV, and I mean no one, believes Nielsen's measurements are dead on. Put simply, Nielsen Media has some holes.

For instance, its equipment can tell what channel a TV is on, but not how many people are in the room. (People in Nielsen homes are asked to push a button to sign in and out of the TV room, but, c'mon, like anyone does that every single time.)

Also, Nielsen has not measured viewing outside homes, in places such as bars or dorms, so you have to think the real viewership of sports or late-night TV, to name a few kinds of programming, is way higher than the Nielsen ratings show.

For what it's worth, Nielsen Media said recently it will soon start measuring some of those public places, but not how it plans to get accurate head counts from, say, a crowded sports bar. It also will measure TV viewing on devices such as computers, iPods and cell phones.

The point to all of that: There is still some TV viewing that doesn't get counted.

Second bit: DVRs.

Digital video recorders -- those seemingly magic units from TiVo or cable companies -- are changing TV viewing habits big time with their ease of recording and skipping merrily backward and forward. (Some DVR owners will tell you, at enormous length and in excruciating detail, how it's enriched their lives. That may be true, but if you see one of those people, run. Run away fast.)

The good news about DVRs: Getting ratings from them is a snap. The bad news? It's more complicated measuring exactly when people fast-forward through the ads.

Which brings us back to Nielsen. Since December, it has supplied the networks with three sets of ratings on a show. One is people who watch it live, another is people who record it and watch it within a day, the third -- and the most contentious -- is people who watch it within a week.

After the networks announced their fall lineups in May and then started to sell commercial time for the new season, the nets and the advertising industry got into a war over these ratings.

(Remember, networks want ratings to reflect a large pool of viewership, so they can charge more for ad time. Advertisers, naturally, want the base rating as small as possible.)

The war, in a nutshell: The networks said that with so many people using DVRs, ad rates should be based on all viewing through a week (they call it live-plus-seven). Advertisers only wanted to pay for real-time viewing.

The ad industry argued that many ads, like trailers for movie openings, are almost useless if they're watched a week later. Plus, DVR users skip through commercials. Networks said the rate of commercial avoidance -- their term -- has stayed about the same over the years despite new technology. Much of that, of course, was conjecture.

Advertisers basically won the war for the 2006-07 season, and most networks will charge a rate based only on live viewing. But enter Nielsen.

The networks asked the company to start measuring actual viewing numbers on commercials, and last week Nielsen said it will do that. It also has technology that can monitor the audio codes in shows -- and ads -- to see if the show or ad was skipped or actually watched.

Those commercial ratings won't be used for ad rates until the 2007-08 season, but they'll start to let everyone know how many -- and which -- ads get skipped.

And what does that mean for viewers? Possibly, better commercials. That's the glass-is-half-full view, but as advertisers struggle in this multimedia era to get their messages heard, this could be another push in the direction of commercials that are full-on entertainment. (Of course, lots of actual TV shows are supposed to be entertaining, too, and we've seen how well that works out sometimes.)

So one result might be lots more ads good enough to stop viewers in their fast-forwarding tracks (Examples: the Geico gecko or that little elephant that sings and dances in the rain).

Another possibility: The nets, the advertisers, and the cable and satellite companies could use their evolving technical tricks to embed commercials into shows in a way that viewers can't skip through them.

Or, the result might be something entirely surprising, because this seems like a situation very ripe for the law of unintended consequences. Just like almost everything going on around the TV industry at the moment.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/columns/kushman/v-print/story/14271729p-15082270c.html

Can someone help me to setup a link so I come back to the last post I read in the thread, please? TIA.

Can someone help me to setup a link so I come back to the last post I read in the thread, please? TIA.

Just click on the down arrow before the thread name and it will take you to the first new post since you last visited AVS.

Thanks Henry...I didn't know that! :)

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Fox roars on ahead on a slow Sunday

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer June 26, 2006

With the NBA finals over and months yet before the fall season begins, Sunday nights have become a dead zone on broadcast. Last night Fox revved up its ratings with NASCAR and easily finished No. 1, as almost all of the Big Five were in repeats.

Fox averaged a 2.7 adults 18-49 overnight rating and 8 share on the night, up 29 percent over last week’s 2.1, which came against ABC’s NBA finals.

Fox was well ahead of the night’s second-place finisher, CBS, at 2.0/6. No other network broke 2.0.

NASCAR runover from the Dodge/SaveMart 350 at 7 p.m. was the night’s highest-rated show on any network, averaging a 3.4 in 18-49s. Fox won or tied for first place in every half hour on the night, including 9:30 p.m., when the FX show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” aired.

“Philadelphia” improved last week’s 1.8 average by 11 percent, to a 2.0, though the fact that it tied for No. 1 in the hour probably says more about the lack of broadcast competition than anything.

Fox has been airing season one repeats of “Philadelphia” on Sundays hoping to build interest for the second-season premiere Thursday.

“Family Guy” was the night’s second-highest-rated show, averaging a 3.2 at 9 p.m.

Finishing behind Fox and CBS on the night were ABC at 1.8/5, NBC at 1.6/5, Univision at 1.2/4 and the WB at 0.7/2.

At 7 p.m., Fox led with NASCAR overrun at 3.4 and “King of the Hill” at 7:30 at 1.9. CBS’s “60 Minutes” was second at 1.7, followed by “Dateline” at 1.3, ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” at 1.2, Univision’s “Hora Pico” at 0.9, and WB’s “Reba” reruns at 0.8.

At 8 p.m., Fox’s “Simpsons” repeats averaged a 2.9, followed by “Home Edition” at 2.1, CBS’s “Cold Case” and NBC’s “Dateline” at 1.7, Univision “Cantando por un Sueno” at 1.1, and the WB’s “Charmed” at 0.7.

At 9 p.m., “Family Guy” and “Sunny” averaged a 2.6, followed by CBS’s movie “Enough” at 2.0, NBC’s “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” rerun at 1.9, ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” rerun at 1.6, “Cantando” on Univision at 1.3, and WB’s “Charmed” rerun at 0.7.

At 10 p.m., CBS’s “Enough” led at 2.6, followed by ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” rerun at 2.3, NBC’s “Crossing Jordan” rerun at 1.7, and “Cantando” at 1.4 on Univision.

Among households, CBS led the night at 5.5/10, followed by NBC at 4.5/8, Fox at 3.6/6, ABC at 3.5/6, Univision at 1.4/2, and the WB at 1.2/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5634.asp

Just click on the down arrow before the thread name and it will take you to the first new post since you last visited AVS.

Oops.

There doesn't seem to be a down arrow on stickies.

Use the thread tools to subscribe to the thread. Once logged in click User CP and it will be bold if there are new posts and you will have a down arrow to click.

Thanks Remy!

Oops.

There doesn't seem to be a down arrow on stickies.

or you can click on the "last post" option at the end of the page count.

Ex.: (1 2 3 4 ...Last Post)

That is the one I usually use.
But there often are a couple dozen items on a page and for those who check in once a day (or even less frequently), that can be a little unwieldy.

Critic’s Notebook
Was it a rape fantasy or a scene 'informed' by 'Rescue Me' characters

By Alan Sepinwall Newark Star-Ledger Monday, June 26, 2006

In two-plus seasons, the "Rescue Me" writers have had their characters abuse drugs, commit vigilante justice and hallucinate visits from Jesus Christ, among other controversial activities. But a scene at the end of last week's episode suggests that sometimes, when you push the outer edge of the envelope, all you wind up with is a ripped envelope.

Denis Leary's fireman anti-hero Tommy Gavin was discussing terms of his impending divorce with wife Janet (Andrea Roth), when an innocuous suggestion about division of property sent him into a rage. He hurled her onto the couch, pinned her down, tore her clothes off and -- even as she protested verbally, punched him in the face and tried to break free -- had sex with her. And, as he continued to do so, Janet clearly began to find pleasure in it, moaning "Oh, God" at one point. After Tommy's triumphant exit, a smiling Janet greeted her boyfriend Johnny -- a k a Tommy's brother, and the latest cause of strife in their relationship -- acted like nothing unusual had happened.

To some viewers -- including this one -- the scene played like a horrible rape fantasy, the one where the woman secretly wants to be violated, if only the guy could read the signals. To other viewers, and to Leary and producer Peter Tolan, who co-wrote the episode with him, it was something less criminal.

Tolan says the act was in line with what we know of Tommy and Janet's relationship, which has always been shown as dysfunctional and violent. (They smashed all the mirrors in their bathroom in a sex scene last year.)

"We definitely knew that this was a dangerous scene," Tolan said in a joint phone interview with Leary, "and in some ways we tried to be very careful about it, but at the same time, those are the characters, this is the show, it's informed by everything that's come before it and it will inform everything that comes after it."

"Andrea Roth was fantastic in that scene because she goes from fear and anger and punching him in the face and fighting him back, and back to the place where they began their relationship, where the spark occurred," said Leary, who, when asked if he thought Tommy had raped Janet, said, "No, not at all."

Minutes after the episode ended, Internet message boards filled up with debate between fans who were too offended to watch anymore ("'Rescue Me' not only jumped the shark but then went back and raped it," wrote one TelevisionWithoutPity.com poster) and fans who felt this was "hate (sex)" that perfectly fit the relationship as depicted.

"We knew that some people were going to react the wrong way, in our opinion," said Leary, "but either way that people reacted, (we knew) that they would get their answers as they continued to watch, because that relationship ... is so complicated, and complicated even further now by what occurred."

Now, I've watched the scene a half-dozen times since last Tuesday, and I keep reacting the wrong way, in Leary's opinion. As shot and edited, Janet is violently protesting until well after the act has begun, and whether or not she embraces the horrible old cliché about lying back and enjoying it, she doesn't give any consent until it's too late.

And what makes it harder to take Leary and Tolan's side on this is the show's poor track record with women overall. Where the male characters like Tommy and Lou and Franco are shown to be selfish, infantile, racist, misogynstic, etc., they're also allowed to display positive qualities. Tommy's good at his job and cares about his friends. Franco loves his daughter. Lou is a philosopher.

The show's attitude towards the female characters, on the other hand, can be summed up with a sequence from earlier in the episode, which Tommy refers to as "Crazy Chick Calling Day," where he simultaneously has to field phone calls from the women in his life: Janet the nag, who once kidnapped their kids and is now sleeping with his brother; Sheila, the doormat widow of Tommy's best friend, who still pines for Tommy; Mrs. Turbody, a sexual predator who sleeps with her high school students, and Maggie, Tommy's trampy, alcoholic sister.

Where we get to see the good and bad in all the men, the women are almost universally there to make life hell for the guys. Tommy Gavin no doubt believes that, but his show seems to believe it, too.

"In terms of what those women do," said Tolan, "we're obviously only showing parts of their lives, because our main story is the guys. We're not showing the full story. Yeah, some people say 'Sheila's crazy,' 'Sheila's a whiner' -- but is she also a good mother? Because we've only seen her in certain situations where she's done everything she can to protect her son ... We see Sheila and that as a positive."

The writers had an opportunity to incorporate a more well-rounded woman into the guys' world with Laura, the female firefighter played by Diane Farr for parts of the first two seasons. Initially, Farr seemed there to fill the same role she played on Leary and Tolan's short-lived ABC cop comedy "The Job," as the tough woman who calls the guys on all their macho idiocy. Instead, Laura was thrown into an affair with Franco (a decision Tolan later regretted) and was proven to be incompetent at the work.

That was the whole point of that character, according to Leary, who railed at length against the real FDNY's relaxed physical standards for female and minority applicants -- "She shouldn't have been there," he said of Laura. "She wasn't capable of doing it." -- before acknowledging that "I've met female firefighters from other parts of the country who are supremely physically able to do the job."

In fact, Leary and Tolan are considering adding a new female firefighter next season, who Tolan said might be "a lesbian or somebody who's extremely capable in the job and the guys have to deal with that. They'll do the same thing, they'll say she shouldn't be there, but she'll prove herself and they'll have to accept her. And then you'll be getting that woman's viewpoint from a woman they are forced to respect for her abilities."

But right now, these are the female characters we have, and this is the scene we got, including Tommy's "I came, I saw, I conquered" expression as he walked out of the apartment -- which, to those who viewed the incident as rape, played as the show's endorsement of it.

"There's a lot of conjecture as to what that look means and what the whole act is actually about," said Tolan. "And this is what I think it's about, and this shows you how deeply disturbed these characters are. Yeah, you could say he has forced himself on Janet to get back at Johnny or to get back at her for her being with him and all that, but I think the truth of it is, in spite of all this stuff that's gone on, he still loves her. ... A lot of people see that scene and say (it means), 'I got her back' (meaning revenge), but I see it as 'I got her back. My wife's back!'"

The incident is only briefly alluded to in tomorrow's episode, but Leary said it would be a more significant part of the rest of the season. But what do they say to the people who were too turned off by the storyline to wait and see where it's going?

"It's hard to tell somebody who's giving up on a show," said Leary. "Me, my favorite show on television over the course of the last five or six years has been 'The Sopranos,' and it's always interesting to me that people can see Tony Soprano kill somebody and chop up a body and get rid of it and not have an issue with it, but in this instance have a problem with Tommy Gavin and his wife in that scene. Maybe you're watching this show for the wrong reasons, and maybe you shouldn't be watching it."

(The difference, from my viewpoint, is that "The Sopranos" shows despicable acts without condoning them, a trick "Rescue Me" doesn't always pull off.)

"We would not write a scene to be provocative," insisted Tolan. "That was never our intention. This is a storyline that is thought out and is supported by the previous actions of the characters in this relationship and will be answered in karmic ways in later episodes. We're not there to be provocateurs, but I would say to them somewhat the same what Denis said: 'Don't watch the show.' But I have a feeling that a great many of the people who said, 'I'm not going to watch' won't be able not to. Because if they care that passionately to make that statement, there's something that attracts them to the show."

"That's true," Leary concurred. "If they didn't give a (bleep)..."

"... then," said Tolan, "we've failed all the way around."

http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/sepinwall/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1151327712165220.xml&coll=1

Oops.

There doesn't seem to be a down arrow on stickies.

There has always been one for me...including on this thread...

That is the one I usually use.
But there often are a couple dozen items on a page and for those who check in once a day (or even less frequently), that can be a little unwieldy.

Note that that is Last Post not Last Page.

I think theoretically, it is supposed to be last viewed post. But it doesn't always work that way.

Can someone help me to setup a link so I come back to the last post I read in the thread, please? TIA.

Chage the properties of your bookmark to make the URL:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=440744&perpage=60&goto=newpost

The "newpost" is the trick.

Obviously, if you don't like my perpage of 60, pick your own.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin Executive

By BILL CARTER

If NBC's selection of Dan Abrams, an on-air anchor, as the new day-to-day boss of MSNBC left employees of that all-news cable channel gasping in shock — and it did — the next steps in the reshaping of the long-struggling network are likely to generate at least a few low whistles of surprise.

Mr. Abrams, in an interview at the MSNBC headquarters in Secaucus, N.J., acknowledged that he was still in the learning stages of his new job. At the age of 40, he's taking his first management post in television, where he has worked as a legal analyst and news anchor. While steering away from suggestions that a widespread overhaul of MSNBC is imminent, he did suggest that he would push right away for more breaking news coverage during the channel's daytime hours.

But there are bigger changes coming to MSNBC, especially in prime time, where the network will apparently be dropping some of its talk-show lineup in favor of more taped reports. That change is likely to take place as soon as the next couple of months. "I think we're going to have some program changes this summer," Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, said in a telephone interview. "Prime time is the focus. That's where the money is."

Mr. Capus said he would like the channel to change its identity in ways that would distinguish it from its two chief competitors, the Fox News Channel and CNN.

"All three channels are doing a variation of headline news all day and talk shows at night," Mr. Capus said. "We need to get away from that."

Mr. Capus emphasized that NBC still strongly supported MSNBC, and was not looking for sharp reductions in budgets or staffing. "We think the channel has momentum now. We want to accelerate that."

Still, Mr. Capus made it clear that NBC was looking for ways to draw its network news division, NBC News, closer to the news operation at MSNBC. One indication of that is the leadership team he installed at the cable channel. NBC's new plan is for Mr. Abrams to run the channel on site from Secaucus, but the executive in overall charge will be Phil Griffin, 49, who has the same title at NBC's "Today" show — which is based in NBC's headquarters in New York.

The divided geographical structure of the new leadership has led to some rumors that NBC is considering shutting down the MSNBC site in Secaucus and housing MSNBC in Manhattan as well. "Closing Secaucus, if we get to that point, is a long way down the road," Mr. Capus said.

The shift in prime time will come far more quickly. For one aspect of the coming changes, Mr. Capus cited the staff of producers who work on the NBC newsmagazine program "Dateline." That program once provided three nights' worth of prime-time reports for NBC. In the fall it will be down to one night. Mr. Capus said of the "Dateline" staff members, who work just a floor above him in Manhattan, "You are going to see more of their work showing up in MSNBC."

The channel has already moved two hours of what is known in television as long-form reports onto its Friday night lineup, displacing its lineup of talk shows from 9 to 11 p.m. on that night. That model is doing well enough to be considered as a wider plan for MSNBC going forward.

One senior NBC executive said, "There will probably be one to two hours of long-form taped shows every night in prime time." The executive spoke on condition of anonymity because the decisions were not final and would affect some of the prime-time hosts, like Rita Cosby, Tucker Carlson and Joe Scarborough, now working on the channel.

Two of the channel's hosts, Chris Matthews of "Hardball" and Keith Olbermann of "Countdown," clearly will not be affected, because MSNBC's managers consistently cite those programs as long-sought breakthroughs.

"We've just got to build on those two shows," Mr. Griffin said, sitting beside Mr. Abrams in the conference room at MSNBC. "It's critical. We have to capitalize on their success."

That success has been relative, rather than sweeping. But MSNBC, which has lagged badly behind its rivals since its creation a decade ago, is clearly encouraged by some growth in ratings for the two programs. Mr. Matthews has been the channel's leading figure for years, but "Hardball" has ticked up in the ratings over the past year, especially among viewers between the ages of 25 and 54 — the group that is the chief sales basis for news programming.

Mr. Olbermann, meanwhile, has picked up both viewers and some strong word-of-mouth for his irreverent style. His show is up 36 percent since January in that 25-54 group. MSNBC points out that during the same period, CNN and Fox have been down that those hours.

Of course, a little bump goes a long way at MSNBC, where ratings have been mainly dwarfish over the years, especially next to Fox News. Even with Mr. Olbermann's surge, for example, he draws well less than half of what Bill O'Reilly of Fox does in that age group — and only a fifth of Mr. O'Reilly's total viewer number.

But Mr. Griffin noted that MSNBC's two big shows were going in the right direction now, gaining viewers, while most of those on Fox and CNN were showing declines. CNN especially is a target of opportunity for MSNBC, Mr. Griffin said, because Mr. Olbermann has beaten that network on many nights recently.

"CNN has watered down its brand," Mr. Griffin said. "We're chipping away at it."

CNN pronounces itself unworried about any charge from MSNBC, citing recent growth on many nights for its own shows headed by Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper. Christa Robinson, a spokeswoman for CNN, said, "MSNBC's closest competitor is Headline News, not CNN."

Indeed for the most part, MSNBC's ratings track closest to that smaller sister channel of CNN. And in recent weeks, Ms. Robinson noted, Mr. Matthews's success has tailed off, making it possible that the bounce MSNBC received may have been driven by carry-over from the better numbers it received during its coverage of the Winter Olympics in February.

Nevertheless, NBC's executives cited signs of momentum as the chief reason for the decision on June 12 to remove Rick Kaplan as president of MSNBC and replace him with the team of Mr. Griffin and Mr. Abrams.

The selection of Mr. Griffin surprised no one, because he had been a top executive at MSNBC before NBC News moved him over to become the executive in charge of the "Today" show last year. That program has since righted itself and has regained a dominant position in morning television.

"Phil Griffin would have been a natural to run MSNBC, but his responsibilities at 'Today' are not done," said Mr. Capus.

Instead, NBC turned to Mr. Abrams, who had anchored his own daily show on MSNBC, "The Abrams Report." Mr. Griffin described the reaction at MSNBC to Mr. Abrams's appointment as "shock and awe — when the announcement went out there — and an audible gasp. People were just stunned."

Mr. Abrams, who is the son of Floyd Abrams, the prominent lawyer, said he had never lobbied for the job, but had consistently expressed his opinions about the direction of MSNBC, and what it could do better, in memos to Mr. Capus and social dinners with Mr. Griffin. He acknowledged that he lacked any real management experience, but he said his familiarity with the channel, its producers and on-air performers, would ease the transition.

Other than trying to make the daytime reports more "live and urgent, less newscasty," as he put it, Mr. Abrams did not offer many specifics about what his plan might be for taking advantage of the momentum that he, too, attributed to Mr. Matthews and Mr. Olbermann.

"We're close to figuring out what we want to do and how we want to do it," Mr. Abrams said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/26/business/media/26msnbc.html?hp&ex=1151294400&en=bb5a7429eb4bd81b&ei=5094&partner=homepage (http://)

Thanks harley. But I posted that last night here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7897831&&#post7897831

Washington Notebook
FCC Might Impose Restrictions on Sale of Adelphia

Opening of Sports Programming to Be Mandated?
By Paul Davidson USA Today June 26, 2006

Regulators appear set to impose conditions on the proposed sale of Adelphia Communications to Comcast and Time Warner to ensure that the cable operators provide their sports programming to satellite TV rivals at reasonable prices, say two Federal Communications Commission officials.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's proposal to clear the $17.6 billion sale of the troubled cable operator with conditions was delivered to the agency's four commissioners late last week, say the officials, who requested anonymity because the FCC hasn't voted on the deal. A vote is expected in mid-July.

Martin's proposal could restrain Comcast's and Time Warner's power to dominate new markets after they carve up Adelphia, and it could force them to cut their charges to satellite companies for sports programming. The cable operators propose to split Adelphia's 5.2 million subscribers and swap some systems to consolidate markets.

Martin's proposal would force the two cable giants to enter binding arbitration if they could not agree with pay-TV operators on the prices for showing big-league sports to audiences in the teams' home regions. In Chicago, DirecTV has said it pays Comcast's sports network exorbitant fees to carry the games of the Chicago Bulls, Blackhawks, Cubs and White Sox.

Martin, a Republican, also is recommending the companies be barred from withholding their regional sports networks from other pay-TV distributors, officials say.

But nothing would change in the only place Comcast now does that — Philadelphia. Comcast owns the sports network that shows the Phillies, Flyers and 76ers games, but it has refused to license broadcast rights to DirecTV and EchoStar. It could continue doing so under Martin's proposal.

A loophole in the FCC's program-access rules allows Comcast to withhold the games because it receives them via fiber-optic cable rather than satellite.

But neither Comcast nor Time Warner could use that loophole in the future. DirecTV has said it fears the companies will seek to buy regional sports networks and deny access to rivals as the Adelphia deal boosts their subscribers in pivotal cities. FCC approval is the final regulatory hurdle for the sale of Adelphia. The Federal Trade Commission cleared the takeover in January without conditions. A judge must still approve Adelphia's bankruptcy reorganization plan. The companies have said they expect the deal to close by July 31.

The FCC's two Democrats could push for conditions beyond Martin's proposal. They might want to bar the companies from blocking broadband subscribers' access to rival websites, a condition placed on recent telecom mergers.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2006-06-26-adelphia-usat_x.htm

Obituary
Arthur Malvin, 83

Lyricist, Composer Won Two Emmys
By Valerie J. Nelson Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 26, 2006

Arthur Malvin, a composer and lyricist whose work with Carol Burnett and Frank Sinatra earned him two Emmy Awards, and who received a Tony nomination for helping create the musical "Sugar Babies," has died. He was 83.

Malvin died in his sleep at his Century City home June 16 after a long illness, said his daughter, Janet Malvin.

In 1978, Malvin shared an Emmy with Stan Freeman for the mini-musical "Hi-Hat," a Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers parody the pair wrote for "The Carol Burnett Show." He spent 11 years working on the CBS variety program.

He also received an Emmy in 1968 for writing musical material for a Frank Sinatra television special, "A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim," which featured Ella Fitzgerald and Brazilian bossa nova singer Antonio Carlos Jobim.

"Sinatra was historically known as being difficult to work with, but my father had a fabulous experience," said David Malvin, one of Malvin's two sons.

"It was a highlight of his career."

Another pinnacle was writing material for "Sugar Babies," a pastiche of old-time burlesque material that starred Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller. His nomination for original score was one of eight Tony nominations the musical received in 1980.

"Putting together a Broadway show is usually a long, protracted process," said David Malvin, a former stage manager.

"He came out of 'The Carol Burnett Show,' where they were doing a Broadway show every week. When he showed up for the first rehearsal with everything written, everyone asked, 'What do we do for the rest of the rehearsals?' "

Malvin was born July 7, 1922, in New York City, the youngest of five children of Bernard and Sophie Malvin, Jewish immigrants who had left czarist Russia. His father ran a small hand laundry.

After securing his first singing gig at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, a teenage Malvin got through his first performance by hiding in his hand a 5-cent song sheet with lyrics to the popular songs of the day.

In 1942, he joined the Claude Thornhill Orchestra, a big band known for its innovative arrangements. Later that year, Malvin organized a vocal group called the Crew Chiefs that sang with Maj. Glenn Miller's Army Air Forces Orchestra.

When Malvin was asked, " 'Daddy, what did you do in the war?' he was particularly fond of saying, 'I made doo-wah against the Germans,' " his son said.

After World War II, Malvin toured as a soloist with the Glenn Miller Orchestra that was led by Tex Beneke.

He also sang on children's records and recorded advertising jingles for Sominex, Blue Bonnet margarine, Tang drink mix and many others, Janet Malvin said.

"He wasn't a name, but he was a voice that everyone knew," his daughter said.

As rock music infiltrated advertising in the 1960s, pushing aside Malvin's baritone, he increasingly composed for television, his daughter said.

He worked with Pat Boone, Andy Williams, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, and others.

In addition to his son David of Las Vegas and daughter Janet of Oakland, Malvin is survived by Irene, his wife of 56 years; another son, Daniel, of Los Angeles; and four grandchildren.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-me-malvin26jun26,0,5776005.story?coll=cl-tvent

Note that that is Last Post not Last Page.

I think theoretically, it is supposed to be last viewed post. But it doesn't always work that way.I didn't know about the Down arrow, but I've tried all the rest. Some take you to the last viewed post, but I believe only if it's on the last page and that's why I gave up. It sure has been a pain to scrolling up or to a previous page to find the last read post though and I'd welcome help. I'm going to leave my posts/page setting alone until I see if the Down arrow will take me to the right page if that's where my last read post is. Thanks for the tips though.:)

(from Brian Stelter’s TVNewser at mediabistro.com)
Exclusive: Michael Rubin Becomes Longform VP At MSNBC

First on TVNewser:

Michael Rubin has returned to MSNBC as Vice President of Long-form Programming, the network confirmed this afternoon. Rubin, the former executive producer of MSNBC Investigates, "was just brought back last week," a tipster said.

Earlier today, another tipster called Rubin the "primetime tape czar." Today's NYT said viewers should expect one or two hours of longform in MSNBC's primetime, perhaps as early as this summer...

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

Critic’s Notebook
''He Raped Her''

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

There's been an ongoing debate about last week's episode of ''Rescue Me,'' because of the scene where Tommy and his ex-wife Janet had a confrontation that looked like a textbook rape. Even worse, it fell back on a pulp-fiction cliche, with Janet becoming aroused during the assault, suggesting as too many things have that conflict with a woman can be settled in a direct physical way.

You can see where I stand on the incident. It bothered me when I watched it, and it seemed even weirder when the episode airing tomorrow night -- which FX had made available for preview -- acted for the most part as if the incident was just another dispute in the long history of Gavin marital disputes.

But the reaction to the scene has been sufficiently strong that the makers of ''Rescue Me'' have been trying to address viewer concerns.

You can find a detailed Alan Sepinwell interview with Peter Tolan and Denis Leary here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7899780&&#post7899780

So I wanted another set of eyes to see the scene.

I turned, therefore, to the bride. She is a ''Rescue Me'' fan, as am I, although I had reservations about this season from the beginning. In fact, ''Rescue Me'' is a show we usually watch together.

We didn't do that with last week's, and I had seen the scene before she did. I waited until she had watched it, and kept quiet about the controversy. And when she was done, I asked her what had happened in the scene.

''He raped her,'' she said. No elaboration. No equivocation. No considering what the producers or the writers or the directors or the cast might have had in mind. She knew what she had seen.

So when I read the defenses of the scene, I feel as if someone is repeating the old line about ''what are you going to believe -- your eyes or me?'' I'll believe my eyes, and my bride's. And I have to think the people on ''Rescue Me'' just didn't see what they were doing -- didn't see that Gavin is the guy that we saw beat his own brother bloody not long ago, that Leary is quite capable of conveying a frightening aggresiveness, and that this show for the most part is not kind to the women on it.

Yes, the men are messed up, too, but they're allowed at least to be good at their jobs; the women are allowed to be good at sex but not much else.

The only women I can think of who have been portrayed sympathetically are Theresa, the probie's plus-sized girlfriend (played by Ashlie Atkinson), and Alicia, the new character played by Susan Sarandon. Then I'm not sure what we're to make of the probie's dealing with women given the latest turn in his sex life. And Alicia's taking of Franco's daughter can cause some arguments. I really liked the scene where she explained her motives to Gavin, since she turned the firefighters' views of women back against them. But when I was talking about that scene with Alan, he kept saying, ''Yeah, but she stole Franco's kid.''

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

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn”
One correction, and super-size it!

This item ran at the end of Tom Shales's column in TelevisionWeek this week:

"Apologies:

Last week's column included a reference to "Good Morning America" producer Ben Sherwood having allegedly been forced out of his job. Reliable sources at ABC insist that Sherwood resigned.

Also, a reference to Robin Roberts as seeming too "butch" on the air represented my own personal reaction to her style as a communicator and wasn't meant to imply anything whatsoever about her life outside 'GMA'."

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/

The Business of TV
Fox Crosses Upfront Finish Line

By Allison Romano BroadcastingCable.com 6/26/2006 4:10:00 PM

Fox is the first network to finish its deals in the 2006 upfront, selling out about 80% of its inventory and writing $1.8 billion in upfront business. The network, whose American Idol has been a spectacular success, also secured 2%-3% increases on CPMs (cost per thousand viewers), according to executives familiar with the deals.

Overall, the broadcast upfront market is expected to be off from the 2005-06 season, when advertisers committed $9.1 billion. Early forecasts called for this year's tally to reach $9 billion, although some industry executives now say the haul could dip as low as $8.8 billion to $8.5 billion.

Also Monday, the other broadcast networks are moving closer to wrapping up their advance sales. NBC is nearly finished with its deals, taking in about $1.9 million, flat with last year, and CPMs down 5%. NBC sold more inventory to make up for the drop in prices, insiders said.

The CW, selling its first upfront before its Sept. 18 debut, is nearly finished writing business. The network's overall take is said to be about $625 million to $650 million, and CPMs are up low single digits from The WB's rates, according to executives. The CW is said to have signed more advertisers than its predecessors, The WB and UPN.

CBS and ABC were said to be very close to finishing their deals Monday. Analysts are projecting CBS will take in about $2.2 billion and flat CPMs, while ABC will take in $2.2 billion, up $100 million from last year, with 1% CPM increases.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6347287

Late Night Replays
SNL Classics

(From NBC)

NBC has announced a schedule for some classic Saturday Night Live episodes.

(Sunday, 1:00 a.m. – 2:30 a.m.)

July 1: Ron Howard / The Clash (OAD - 10/9/82)
July 8: Judge Reinhold / 10,000 Maniacs (OAD - 2/27/88)
July 15: Jason Alexander / Peter Gabriel (OAD - 4/10/93)
July 22: Tom Arnold / Tupac (OAD - 2/17/96)

"OAD" - "Original Air Date."

It'll be interesting to see how the final episode leaves us.
Showtime didn't even have the decency to remove the little epilogue by Blythe Danner about "the long wait until next season", I actually felt embarrassed for her.

Fantastic episode BTW, what a shame it's gone.

TV Q&A
Ask Matt

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

Question: OK, I have a serious problem with one of the best shows of recent years. Rescue Me is brilliantly acted, perfectly observed and has a wonderfully dark sense of humor. I nevertheless find it an absolute chore to watch because of its central character. I'm not terribly fond of any of the boys at Ladder 62 (they suffer from a severe collective case of testosterone poisoning), but Tommy Gavin is detestable, and I often find it well nigh impossible to have an interest in his redemption. And the show comes way too close to sharing his point of view.

The most risible example of this came during last week's episode, where he forcibly raped his ex-wife, and she apparently enjoyed the experience. Are we actually supposed to identify with his cocky swagger, or is this just a particularly grim joke on the part of Denis Leary, et al? Should the creators maybe take a step back and look at Tommy for what he truly is? — Ryan

Matt Roush: Oh, I think it's pretty clear everyone involved knows all too well what a mess Tommy is. He is currently the most extreme example of antiheroism on TV since the early days of Andy Sipowicz on NYPD Blue, and from what we've seen lately, Tommy's redemption (if it ever actually occurs) will be a lot longer in coming. It isn't pretty to watch.

But then, as I've often said, the best FX shows are not for those with queasy dispositions. To me, in this particular episode the key metaphor was Lou flirting with the third rail in his drunken despair. All of these men are on the edge, flirting with disaster and self-destruction as they strut their machismo at their own peril. Tommy's sexual assault on Janet was especially disturbing, I agree, and I was also surprised to see the smirk on his face as he drove off. The entire incident was ugly, dark, complicated and nasty, leaving both participants dazed. I'm not sure it's fair to say that Janet "enjoyed" what happened, but it didn't destroy her, either. She and Tommy are yoked, for good and for bad, and this explosion of rage and animal violence is just the latest awful incident.

Does Rescue Me glorify Tommy's actions? Probably, given all the women he's juggling who can't get enough of him: Janet, Sheila, the sexy schoolteacher. Leary has so much charisma that he keeps you (or at least me) glued to his story, alternately amused and appalled. If he were any less horrible, he and the show would probably be a lot less interesting. It is what it is, and I don't see it changing.

________________________________________

Question: My question has to do with the new TNT show Saved. So far I like what I've seen. Wyatt Cole appears to be an interesting antihero. At first, the gambling and daddy issues seemed a bit obvious (not to mention the fact that they've been done to death), but when I thought about it further, I realized that they make perfect sense if you consider the privileged life he was able to lead because of his brilliant doctor father. It'll be fun to see where they take this character. I also liked the photomontage sequences that provided a small glimpse into each patient's life. I thought it was a fresh and interesting way to tell their stories. What do you think? — Amy

Matt Roush: I'm going to give this one a few more episodes before I make a final judgment, but I agree more with your initial impression. To me, it's a poor man's Rescue Me. Saved seems ponderous and pretentious, where Rescue Me is provocative and shockingly entertaining. I've always liked Tom Everett Scott, but I find the particulars of his callow character awfully familiar, and few of the people in his life are fascinating (or well-acted) enough to compel me to make this essential viewing. The patients' flashback-montage device is fresh at first, but also repetitive and gimmicky — again, not a strong enough hook to make the show truly stand out. In a summer so full of compelling options, I'm just not sure I can save room for Saved.

________________________________________

Question: Just watched the series premiere of Treasure Hunters, and I enjoyed it (especially the interactive portion, hokey as it was) in spite of myself. Someone should turn the producers on to a little show called The Amazing Race, if you ask me. But anyway, my Question: Is host Laird Macintosh a robot? Really seems like it. Or is this one for Ask Ausiello? Thanks! — Brad

Matt Roush: With Ausiello currently on a well-earned summer break, I guess I'll field this. Laird Macintosh may not be an actual robot, but he plays one on TV. Are those cell-phone instructions not the cheesiest use of a host since, maybe, the disembodied head on the repulsive Unan1mous? While Treasure Hunters isn't a bottom-feeder like that Fox atrocity, I found the setup needlessly, even comically, confusing, and the rip-off factor (not just of The Amazing Race, but of The Da Vinci Code and National Treasure) more than a little off-putting.

I'm not wild about the teams-of-three setup: too many characters, not enough character distinction. And the opening gimmick of separating the 10 teams into groups of five was beyond pointless. On the plus side, the puzzle aspect involving national (and, I'm hoping, international) monuments is promising, and the location photography is good so far. All in all, I'll give it a C grade, which is pretty good considering how lousy most of this summer reality crud is. (My summer litmus test: Will I record Treasure Hunters next time I go away? Absolutely not.)

________________________________________

Question: If Fox moves Bones to Friday, what will happen to Ghost Whisperer? I think the Friday-night lineup is perfect as is. If they move Bones to compete with Ghost Whisperer, Ghost Whisperer will win out at my house. Why not leave well enough alone? We stayed with Bones when it was moved once already. — Margaret

Matt Roush: As I've said before, worrying about this kind of mid-season move is premature. Fox is notorious for announcing mid-season schedules long before the actual season even begins, and not following through. Any number of circumstances could keep Bones snugly harbored on a weeknight where it belongs. (But being a self-contained procedural, it may do better than we imagine on Fridays, and even if it tanks there, I doubt the network will hold that against the show.) To address your specific question, Bones and Ghost Whisperer may sound like they reside in the same graveyard, but they're very different shows, and I imagine both could successfully coexist in the same time period. If you asked me to pick, it wouldn't even be close — Bones all the way.

________________________________________

Question: Are there any plans to rerun this past season's episodes of The Sopranos and Big Love? — Arlene

Matt Roush: Not immediately, as far as I can tell. But if you've ever been an HBO subscriber, you know these episodes will turn up eventually, probably as a prelude to the next season's premiere. The complete seasons of both series are currently on HBO On Demand (which I love), and my system shows them as being available through early July.

________________________________________

Question:I just watched the wonderful Live from Lincoln Center presentation of The Light in the Piazza. I was wondering if the program is eligible for Emmy nominations next year (especially Victoria Clark)? They definitely deserve them! — Jamie

Matt Roush: I would imagine the show and the Tony-winning Victoria Clark would be eligible. (Brian Dennehy was nominated for his performance in the Showtime presentation of his Tony-winning work in Death of a Salesman.) I've seen Piazza three times in person, and thought it translated quite well to TV. I'm glad to have a permanent recording of Clark's work in particular. One of the most romantic scores I've heard in ages. Glad you caught it.

________________________________________

Question: I've noticed Lifetime is promoting a new show called Angela's Eyes, but they have not said anything about the new season of Missing. Does this mean that it won't be back on the air? The last episode was labeled a "season finale." — Kaycee

Matt Roush: When that finale aired, Lifetime may not have canceled the show yet. But it has now. Missing is, I guess you could say, missing for good.

________________________________________

Question: The Oscar voters seem to go out of their way to nominate the "little guys." Felicity Huffman was nominated for Transamerica even if the movie made less than $3 million at the box office. Why can't it be the same for the Emmys? If the Oscar voters were anything like Emmy voters, then Crash or Brokeback Mountain wouldn't even be on the list of nominations.

I am especially nervous about the category for best actress in a comedy: I agree with you that Marcia Cross deserves to win. She makes the transition from a psychotic alcoholic to a caring mother look so freakin' easy! Unfortunately, I have a feeling that Teri Hatcher will also be nominated. She's a great actress, but there are actresses who are more deserving. Huffman is always great, but this season of Desperate Housewives belonged to Cross. Mary-Louise Parker will probably get nominated, too. Other nominees I'd like to see are Lisa Kudrow — sadly, I think the Emmy voters might pass on her, and though she was on HBO, her show was low-rated — and Lauren Graham. Graham's yearly absence from the list makes her the perfect poster child for everything that is wrong with the Emmy system. Do you think the new system for the Emmys will make a difference? By the way, are you an Emmy voter? — Jake

Matt Roush: Don't I wish I were an Emmy voter! It would be nice to think that someone who actually watches TV were involved in the process. (I'm not a member of the television academy, so I don't qualify.)

I hope this year's new system will allow for some underdogs to slip in, but I'm not counting on it. I imagine the nominations will continue to be dominated by longtime industry faves, a handful of newer breakthrough hits, a smattering of cult items (the showing of Arrested Development in the last few seasons gives me hope) and, maybe, an authentic surprise. Lauren Graham getting a nomination would certainly qualify. I'd guess that Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman and Mary-Louise Parker are shoo-ins. A third Housewife (Teri Hatcher, most likely) is also possible. And I imagine Julia Louis-Dreyfus will make the cut for Old Christine. If only two Housewives are nominated, which would be the right way to go, that would leave an opening for Lisa Kudrow, who was brilliant in the less-than-brilliant The Comeback. It really all depends on how slavishly devoted the Emmys will be toward Housewives, which was wrongly denied the best comedy Emmy last year and doesn't deserve it for this season.

But to your larger point about the differences between the Oscars and the Emmys: It seems to me that the Oscars can't help but nominate low-budget, breakthrough independent films like Brokeback Mountain and Crash, because so many of the blockbuster movies are creatively bankrupt. Seriously, could you imagine that last Star Wars movie getting serious nominations? By comparison, most of the top-rated TV shows are actually quite excellent these days. (Which isn't to say the lower-rated gems aren't equally worthy of Emmy attention.) The real problem in the Emmy process is the crushing volume of TV product, which ensures there will always be quality shows that fly under the radar.

________________________________________

Question: Perhaps your mailbag is full of naysayers' responses to CSI's finale because those of us who love the Grissom and Sara relationship have no need or reason to complain. Please don't use that as a radar to detect how the general public feels. I've found more closet Grissom-Sara fans among my closest friends after the finale than I thought was possible. You should know that people who are unhappy generally create the most noise. But I thought I'd just send in a little "Yay!" to help balance out your mailbag. — Ann

Matt Roush: Ah, the issue that refuses to die. I'm happy to note that I got a bunch of corrective responses like this from those who liked how the season ended. But I'm siding most closely with Brenda, who wrote in with this observation: "Do you think it occurs to any of these people bitching and moaning about the ending of CSI that maybe, just maybe, we won't see any romance between Grissom and Sara? Maybe it will be a little secret shared between the audience and those two characters." Indeed. Anyone who's confusing CSI for a soap opera is watching a different show than I am.

________________________________________

Question: Do you think they should start a brand-new series of Charmed called "The Charmed Sons," featuring Piper's two boys, Wyatt and Chris? I know I would like it. I dearly miss Charmed, and I've been watching it since I was 8 years old. — Shantel

Matt Roush: Now that you've grown up, what better time than to face this reality of TV life: No TV show lasts forever. Let it go. (The more serious answer would be to note that part of the Charmed appeal was in its empowered female characters. A show built around two male offspring wouldn't have the same allure, I'm guessing. But since I wouldn't be watching regardless, I may not be the appropriate person to ask.)

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

Cable TV Notebook
MSNBC's Familiar Longform Strategy

(from Brian Stelter’s TVNewser at mediabistro.com)

May 8, 2000, Washington Post: MSNBC president Erik Sorenson says he's trying to "broaden the mix" so that MSNBC, unlike its rivals, doesn't simply run "talk shows and headline interviews."

June 26, 2006, Nwe York Times: NBC News president Steve Capus says "all three channels are doing a variation of headline news all day and talk shows at night. We need to get away from that."

Michael Rubin's return and MSNBC's plans for taped programming in primetime could be considered a "back to the future" strategy for the cable news network. In slower news periods, the net has a tendency to place newsmagazines like MSNBC Investigates and Headliners & Legends in primetime slots. It's an instinct: "let's go to the tape." When the news picks up (election season, Sept. 11, the war in Iraq), the programs are shelved. But they usually re-appear before too long.

In 1999, Rubin left CBS (where he worked on Eye to Eye, Street Stories, and Public Eye) and joined MSNBC as the producer of Special Edition, a nightly 8pm newsmagazine hosted by Ann Curry. Around the same time, Headliners & Legends with Matt Lauer premiered at 10pm.

Then-president Erik Sorenson said he was stocking up on documentaries as an alternative to typical nightly talk shows.

In May 2000, (The Washington Post's)Howard Kurtz analyzed the 8pm content. In one week, Special Edition (and Monday's Crime Files) dealt with child sexual abuse, mountain lions and coyotes that attack, Mary Kay LeTourneau, and private eyes who catch cheating spouses.

A month later, in June 2000, Hardball was moved from 7 to 5pm, making way for a rotation of long-form programs. "I'm told that the cable station wants to move away from the unscripted, confrontational format that served it so well during the Monica Lewinsky scandal and for such stories as the deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy Jr. and the saga of Elian Gonzalez -- at least during prime time," the NY Daily News said at the time.

Some of the newsmags were temporarily dropped in favor of Decision 2000 coverage and a second hour of political talk with Chris Matthews, but the tape came back. In June 2001, MSNBC moved The News with Brian Williams to 8pm and introduced "MSNBC Investigates" at 9pm.

The channel was criticized for "pandering" to the 25-54 demo, but they worked: "They have helped give MSNBC the youngest of the news audiences, with a median age of about 51," the New York Times said on Aug. 5, 2001.

After Sept. 11, 2001, live shows by hosts like Ashleigh Banfield and Alan Keyes replaced some of the newsmag hours. But the programs faded quickly. When Banfield's On Location was cancelled in October 2002, episodes of MSNBC Investigates filled the timeslot. The network brought in Dateline EP Marc Rossensasser to oversee primetime. Before long, shows like "Countdown: Iraq" and "Scarborough Country" premiered, forming the basis of the primetime schedule you see now...

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/msnbc/msnbcs_familiar_longform_strategy_39147.asp#more

TV Notebook
Aaron Spelling Buried

The Associated Press reports that “…A private burial service was held for Aaron Spelling, who died last week at 83.

Sunday's family only graveside service at Hillside Memorial Park was attended by Spelling's widow, Candy, son Randy, daughter Tori and the producer's brother Danny Spelling, publicist Kevin Sasaki said Monday.

No other details were released. Sasaki said an entertainment industry memorial service was planned in about a month….”

The Business of TV
NBC Wraps Upfront

$1.9 Billion Haul Flat With Last Year
By John Consoli MediaWeek.com JUNE 26, 2006 -

NBC has completed its upfront selling, taking in $1.9 billion, the same total as last year, with most deals done at negative 5-6 percent cost-per-thousand and about 71 percent of its total inventory sold, sources familiar with the negotiations said. NBC sold about four percent more inventory in the upfront than last year, sources said, and the total upfront take includes sales for Sunday Night Football.

Sources said NBC sold an additional $50 million not included in the $1.9 billion total for straight digital sales, and about $200 million of the $1.9 billion total was dollars brought in because of digital tie-ins with TV programming.

The cable networks owned by NBC, news and entertainment combined, are between 30-40 percent sold in their upfront inventory, sources said, with some of those cable sales also being done with agencies while they were buying broadcast.

NBC-owned Telemundo is said to be about 60 percent done with its upfront selling, and the remainder of the inventory that network has to sell in the upfront could be sold by the end of this week.

Sources familiar with the negotiations said new sitcom 30 Rock and new dramas Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Kidnapped drew the most interest among media buyers, and returning sitcoms My Name is Earl and The Office also drew a lot of buyer spending.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002728323

TV Notebook
Patricia Arquette Marries

By Stephen M. Silverman and Pamela Warrick people.com Monday Jun 26, 2006

Emmy-winning Medium star Patricia Arquette tied the knot with her longtime boyfriend, actor Thomas Jane, this past weekend, the actress's rep tells PEOPLE.

"It was a small, intimate celebration with close family," says Arquette's spokesperson. They were wed at the Palazzo Contarini in Venice, Italy.

The couple first became engaged in 2002 and have a 3-year-old daughter, Harlow Olivia Calliope.

This is the second marriage for both. Jane, 37, was previously married to actress Aysha Hauer, the daughter of Rutger Hauer. The actor's credits include roles in The Punisher, Under Suspicion and Magnolia.

Arquette, 38, has a 17-year-old son, Enzo, born in 1989, from a relationship with musician Paul Rossi. She was also wed to Nicolas Cage, though nine months after their 1995 wedding they reportedly separated only to continue appearing in public together as a couple.

In 1996, two months after the split, lawyers drew up legal separation papers for the Cages, though the divorce was not finalized until 1998.
http://people.aol.com/people/articles/0,19736,1208107,00.html

PICTURE CREDIT: ALEX BERLINER / BERLINER STUDIO / BEIMAGES

TV Notebook
Frasier's Best Friend 'Eddie' Dies

By Pamela Warrick People.com Monday Jun 26, 2006

Moose, the feisty Jack Russell terrier who played Eddie for 10 years on TV's Frasier, has died, his trainer Mathilde Halberg tells PEOPLE.

"He was 16-and-a-half years old, and he just had an incredible charisma and was a such a free spirit," said Halberg. Moose, considered the Lassie of the '90s, died Thursday night of old age at Halberg's Los Angeles-area home.

Moose retired from showbiz when he was 10, and, although he also played a starring role in the 2000 Frankie Muniz-Kevin Bacon feature My Dog Skip (as the older Skip), he was best known for stealing scenes from Kelsey Grammer on the long-running Emmy-winning NBC sitcom.

"He was always trying to put Frasier in uncomfortable circumstances," said his trainer, who had rescued him in the early 1990s.

"I saved him from the pound. His owners called me as a last resort," Halberg recalled. "He was extremely mischievous, always escaping, chewing up things and running off. When he killed a neighbor's cat and chased some horses, that was it."

Not that anyone who owns a Jack Russell would find such behavior surprising. "But then," remembered his trainer, "he began his career, and he will never be forgotten."

http://people.aol.com/people/articles/0,19736,1208083,00.html


PICTURE CREDIT: EVERETT COLLECTION

Cable TV Notebook
TNT Could Overtake USA for Q2

Second-Quarter Ratings Show Squeaker Race
By James Hibberd TVWeek.com June 26, 2006

After two quarters in USA's submission hold, TNT is poised to reclaim the basic cable top spot among total prime-time viewers and adults 18 to 49 for the second quarter.

Final data won't be released until Tuesday, but according to Nielsen Media Research figures from March 27 through June 18, NBA playoffs and the original series "The Closer" have given TNT a hairline lead over wrestling-fueled USA. The tight race comes despite a 19 percent quarterly increase for the NBC Universal-owned USA.

As of June 19, TNT was ahead with 2.59 million total viewers to USA's 2.54 million. Among viewers 18 to 49, TNT led with 1.21 million viewers to USA's 1.15 million.

In the fourth quarter of 2005, USA's telecasts of World Wrestling Entertainment's "Raw" led to the channel's overtaking TNT for the first time in five years, a lead that continued through the first quarter of 2006. This season's NBA playoffs helped bump TNT to a narrow lead, and also boosted ESPN -- which enjoyed a 28 percent increase from the same quarter last year among adults 18 to 49. Pro sports also helped OLN, which increased about 141 percent from Q2 2005 among 18 to 49 due to its NHL coverage.

Other networks on the rise for the second quarter among adults 18 to 49 include Biography Channel, up 68 percent thanks to sister channel A&E Networks scheduling fewer "Biography" episodes; and Comedy Central, up about 12 percent due to increased viewership of "South Park."

Declining networks include Spike TV, which was down 18 percent among viewers 18 to 49, partly due to losing its wrestling programming. Lifetime was also down by 16 percent, blamed on waning viewership of original and theatrical movies. Sci Fi Channel was also down 16 percent due to underperforming theatrical titles.

Among original series, "The Closer" took the top spot among 18 to 49, followed by "South Park," USA's "The 4400," MTV's "Real World 17," FX's "Rescue Me" and Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch." Coming in at No. 7 was a new entry, TNT's "Saved," with MTV getting a debut entry at No. 10: "The Hills."

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10269

Chage the properties of your bookmark to make the URL:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=440744&perpage=60&goto=newpost

The "newpost" is the trick.

Obviously, if you don't like my perpage of 60, pick your own.

That's the one I was looking for, thanks!

I rarely post development news. But the names involved in this project are just too good to ignore.

Cable TV Notebook
Fincher, Gelbart Team for FX Series

Pair's Project Takes Crack At Comedy on Basic Cable
By James Hibberd TVWeek.com June 26, 2006

"Fight Club" director David Fincher and "M*A*S*H" writer Larry Gelbart have a new comedy series in development at FX, sources said.

The untitled project is about a psychologist who becomes the flavor of the month among Hollywood celebrities due to his penchant for ruthless honesty. Mr. Fincher and Mr. Gelbart will executive produce.

If greenlighted, the project would be the first television series for Mr. Fincher, who scored critical and box office success with "Seven," "Fight Club" and "Panic Room." Mr. Fincher also has a small role portraying himself in the premiere episode of FX's upcoming drama "Dirt."
In addition to developing the movie "M*A*S*H" for television, Mr. Gelbart's credits include his Academy Award-nominated screenplay for "Tootsie." The proposed FX series would be his first television project since the 2003 HBO film "And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself."

In a June 19 interview with TelevisionWeek, FX President and General Manager John Landgraf expressed doubt about the viability of scripted comedy on basic cable.

Still, he added, that doesn't mean a network won't formulate a fresh take on the genre and prove the conventional wisdom wrong. With the renewal of FX's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and the development of the Fincher/Gelbart project, Mr. Landgraf aims for FX to be the first cable network to break the scripted comedy jinx.

An FX spokesman declined on behalf of the network, Mr. Fincher and Mr. Gelbart to comment on the project.
http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=30106

...and for the laugh out loud crazy twist, he'll be a scientologist!

It might be hard to get a lot of Hollywood actors to sign on for the show in that case :)

Sports On TV
Univision's Mexico v. Argentina Breaks Viewing Record

By John Consoli MediaWeek.com JUNE 26, 2006 -

Univision's broadcast of the Mexico v. Argentina World Cup soccer match on Saturday (June 24) drew 6.7 million viewers, including 4.3 million in the 18-49 demo, making it the largest single sports telecast among Hispanic viewers ever, including the Super Bowl.

The game, which aired in the late morning in the U.S., was also the fifth most watched broadcast of any type on Spanish-language television.

Through June 24th, Univision Network's World Cup coverage is averaging 2.1 million viewers, up 133 percent over the 2002 World Cup telecasts; and 1.3 million viewers 18-49, up 147 percent over the 2002 World Cup.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002728492

Showtime didn't even have the decency to remove the little epilogue by Blythe Danner about "the long wait until next season", I actually felt embarrassed for her.

Fantastic episode BTW, what a shame it's gone.
Sorry, keenan, I only just now noticed this post. Sometimes it gets hard to keep track of a constantly updated thread.

I agree with your first part.

And I most certainly agree with your second point. What an amazing episode! Satisfying on so many levels. It will be a shame this show will no longer be around, but when it ends like this (they must have realized this was going to be the last year) you can't help but feel satisfied. There is not a better way I could have imagined the show to end.

Plus they crammed so much into this episode, and the performances from the cast were just amazing. I mean, one example would be Bird. I had a hard time understanding and believing in Bird's sudden change of character in the second season, but he just absolutely NAILED that performance and made me believe.

And how about the closing and the music that was chosen?

Simply amazing...

Showtime didn't even have the decency to remove the little epilogue by Blythe Danner about "the long wait until next season", I actually felt embarrassed for her.

Fantastic episode BTW, what a shame it's gone.The reason Showtime kept it was that it was a commercial about the new Showtime series the "Brotherhood." The actual quote was "Ah, another great season comes to an end. Now the long wait." Sometimes DVRs come in handy to replay scenes. Then she said that "Brotherhood" was going to be shown in this time period and Showtime showed scenes from "Brotherhood".

There were several major threads left hanging. Would Beth and Huff get back together? What would happen to Russell who was arrested on drug charges? Would Russell's baby be ok since Russell had to deliver it? What would happen to Teddy after he attacked his girlfriend? And on and on.

It would be great if Showtime would make a movie to conclude it like HBO is doing for Deadwood, but I doubt if that happens.

Critc’s Notebook
'Rescue Me' takes a dark and troubling twist

By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Sensitivity isn't exactly "Rescue Me's" calling card, and the final scenes of last week's episode left no doubts about that. It will go down as one of the year's darkest TV moments.

Instead of simply taking what happened at face value -- which, mind you, one can't be blamed for doing -- try looking at it another way. Creators Denis Leary and Peter Tolan may have been trying to change the way we look at New York firefighter Tommy Gavin: to stop us from liking this drunken, imploding selfish excuse for a man as much as we do.

Mission accomplished, guys. Not sure if we should thank you yet, though.

(Warning: If you haven't seen the episode, stop reading.)

What we're dancing around is a violation. Foremost, it violated the viewer's connection with Tommy, gloriously played by Leary.

We've embraced Tommy the hero, laughed with Tommy the comedian, giggled at Tommy the stud, pitied Tommy the drunk, the failed husband and father of a murdered kid.

We even understood when Tommy rearranged his brother Johnny's (Dean Winters) face upon finding out he was sleeping with his wife, Janet (Andrea Roth), before their dead marriage was even cold.

And we're at a loss for what to do with Tommy the rapist.

Now, Leary and Tolan insist that what happened last week was not rape. But what else would you call it when a man lashes out at his wife, throws her down on the couch, forces himself inside her and leaves with a smirk on his face? To read that description, the term seems pretty clear.

Except it wasn't. The definition changed with the expression on Leary and Roth's faces. Within that excruciating act, blind violence softened into emotional pain, passion and, then in the end, two estranged lovers in silent confusion. Roth's eyes weren't angry, they were saying, "How in the hell did we get here?"

I have to say, I resent that "Rescue Me" has put viewers into a position in which examining a pivotal point in this season requires the deconstruction of a sexual assault. The show already has a terrible reputation for its portrayal of women. Now this.

But I'm not quite ready to organize a Take Back the Night rally. Here's why: For two seasons, Leary and Tolan have gone to great lengths to depict how damaged Tommy is, probably beyond repair, and how unapologetic he is about his messy soul.

Damaged people happen to attract other damaged people, whether they be predators or prey. And if a band of screwed-up guys are hard to take, damaged women who put up with them -- Janet, Tommy's needy ex, Sheila (Callie Thorne), and his sister, Maggie (appallingly acted by Tatum O'Neal) are no less so.

This does not excuse the assault, or whatever you would call it. But we have to recognize all those shattered spirits. They're staring us in the face.

Not all the women are furies. Susan Sarandon has been allowed to maintain her poise four episodes in, a minor grace. That changes, but take solace in the way she is now.

Marisa Tomei looks like another welcome addition. She makes her debut in tonight's episode as Johnny's ex-wife.

Regardless of what they dish out, though, Tommy still will be the worst of them all. Our laughter tends to help us overlook Tommy the absentee father. When he treats the women in his life like Kleenex, objects to be sullied and tossed aside, he always justifies it to himself by hiding behind tragedies -- 9/11, his dangerous job, his son's death, his brother's betrayal.

But tonight's episode (10 p.m. on FX) gives that shock to the system a purpose, if you can call it that. It could serve the last in a long line of crimes that sets in motion his reckoning -- touched off, appropriately, by a woman's observation. Asking Tommy, who has two daughters, if he knew that the first man girls fall in love with are their dads, he sarcastically replies, "I'm aware of this theory, and it's a bunch of bull---t."

"So, you don't have anything in common with your wife's father?"

"No. Nothing. He was in real estate," Tommy responds. "... He got up every morning and thought about how to rip people off, OK? ... He was a selfish, self-centered, greedy ... lying ... cheating ... midget!"

With this, and a flock of other chickens coming home to roost, it looks like Tommy finally is going to take a hard look at his life.

We'll see if it sticks. From here on out, it's up to Tolan and Leary to persuade us to keep making those dangerous leaps with them.

A dull 'Blade'

Sticky the Vampire Slayer. Doesn't exactly crackle, does it?

But it suits the television adaptation of "Blade: The Series," Spike TV's first scripted series, which premieres at 10 p.m. tomorrow.

"Blade" is a spinoff of Wesley Snipes' three movie franchise, which went from OK to "Whoa, that's bad!" to an unintentional comedy.

So inspired, the television series is about as good as you would expect it to be. Which is to say, it's agonizing. Randy Quaid is in it. Need I say more?

The main star is Kirk "Sticky" Jones, who plays Marvel Comics' half-human, half-vampire hero. Blade has all the undead's strengths but can strut around in daylight, wearing a remarkably badass leather trench coat.

Alas, Blade is not invulnerable to creative impalement. Jones isn't exactly up to the challenge of martial-arts choreography or, for that matter, acting.

You'd be better served by the comic books.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/275400_tv27.html

Critc’s Notebook
Two NBC shows about another NBC series

By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor in his blog “Tuned In” Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Continuing my previews of new fall series, I popped in NBC's two seemingly similar series "30 Rock" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." While both do go behind-the-scenes of a "Saturday Night Live"-type series, they're dissimilar enough to warrant spots on NBC's fall schedule.

I enjoyed both pilots (to varying degrees), but American viewers have shown a remarkable disinterest in inside Hollywood stories, tuning out just about every one that's come down the pike in the last decade ("Larry Sanders Show" and "Entourage" are the notable exceptions, and they were both on HBO, which cares less about ratings than NBC does).

I expect the spin at press tour next month, particularly in regards to the Aaron Sorkin-scripted "Studio 60," will be, "People said you couldn't do politics on television and then along came 'The West Wing.'"

And perhaps that will be true.

"West Wing" fans, in particular, should appreciate the smart writing and quick pace of "Studio 60." But will they care enough about the characters, many of whom are a good bit less-easy-to-love than the "West Wing" crew?

We'll find out this fall.

http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/tunedin/

TV Notebook
NBC to run TV promos on YouTube

By Andrew Wallenstein The Hollywood Reporter June 27, 2006

NBC and YouTube are going from foes to friends.

The network is announcing a deal today that will see select clips of NBC series embedded on the popular viral-video site beginning this week, sources said.

NBC and YouTube declined comment.

The deal is quite a reversal from the well-publicized conflict that broke out between the companies in February, when peacock parent company NBC Universal ordered YouTube to remove hundreds of copyright-violating clips. A skit from "Saturday Night Live" titled "Lazy Sunday" triggered millions of streams for YouTube, becoming its most popular clip for a time.

As part of the deal, NBC will furnish YouTube with promotional clips for a number of its new and returning series, as well as late-night programs like "Tonight Show With Jay Leno." The deal also includes a contest centered on the NBC series "The Office," inviting YouTube users to create their own shortform videos touting the series.

NBC is expected to plug the YouTube alliance on the air and buy advertising on the site. NBC Uni has been active in putting its programming on new-media platforms including NBC.com, Apple's iTunes and peer-to-peer service Wurld Media.

Although the pact represents the first such deal between a broadcaster and a viral-video outlet, YouTube has been striking numerous alliances with other sectors of the entertainment industry, including cable channels E! and MTV2; film companies the Weinstein Co. and Sony Pictures Classics; and record labels like Matador Records.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002728494

The Business of TV
In Late Twist, Univision Accepts Bid

By Andrew Ross Sorkin The New York Times June 27, 2006

The board of Univision Communications, the nation's largest Spanish-language broadcaster, agreed to sell the company (Monday) night for $11 billion to a private equity consortium, people involved in the negotiations said.

Univision's directors approved the sale at a meeting in Los Angeles, and both sides were scrambling to sign the agreement so that it could be announced this morning.

At $11.1 billion or $36.25 a share, the sale is less than the $40 a share that Univision had originally hoped to receive when it put itself up for auction in February.

The sale of Univision, known for its telenovelas, or soap operas, and its coverage of the World Cup soccer tournament, is a surprise twist in a long-running auction that only last week appeared on the verge of collapse.

The deal would put Univision in the hands of a group that includes the billionaire investor Haim Saban. The group also includes four private equity firms — Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, the Texas Pacific Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners — with stakes in business like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Music.

With the agreement, the consortium seems to have topped a rival group led by Grupo Televisa, the Mexican broadcast giant, which had been expected to win the auction.

Univision is the ultimate media juggernaut in the rapidly growing Latino market in the United States, a segment worth some $480 billion in annual buying power. It is the fifth-largest television network in the country behind Fox, reaching some 98 percent of Spanish-speaking households through its 62 TV stations, more than 90 affiliate stations and more than 2,000 cable affiliates.

In addition to the network, which dwarfs Telemundo, a unit of General Electric's NBC, Univision also owns the nation's largest Spanish language radio broadcaster, music company and online operations.

The sale would mean that Univision would end its association with its biggest shareholder and chairman, A. Jerrold Perenchio, 75, a reclusive onetime Hollywood talent agent who saw the potential for Spanish-language broadcasting in 1992, when he bought the company for only $500 million.

An agreement to buy Univision would be a coup for the equity consortium. Less than a week ago, the group made an opening bid of $35.50 a share that was rejected out. Indeed, the group had been expected to drop out of the auction entirely.

But after the Televisa-led group made an offer of $35.75 a share, much lower than Univision or investors had been expected, the private equity consortium returned over the weekend with an offer of $36.25.

The Televisa-led group — which includes Bill Gates's private equity vehicle, Cascade Investments, and Bain Capital — had suffered several blows earlier in the week when four of its backers dropped out of the auction, worried about the price.

The near collapse of the Televisa-led group was one of the first times that consortium deals — when many investors come together — have so publicly displayed the friction that often emerges within these teams.

Though the price was less than anticipated, it remains one of the highest multiples paid for a media company in recent history.

The sale could face scrutiny in Washington because Hispanic lobbying organizations are expected to mount campaigns for Univision to have a Hispanic owner.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/27/business/media/27deal.html?pagewanted=print

I didn't know about the Down arrow, but I've tried all the rest. Some take you to the last viewed post, but I believe only if it's on the last page and that's why I gave up. It sure has been a pain to scrolling up or to a previous page to find the last read post though and I'd welcome help. I'm going to leave my posts/page setting alone until I see if the Down arrow will take me to the right page if that's where my last read post is. Thanks for the tips though.:)I have had problems with the Down Arrow taking me to the last post instead of the last post I viewed. I think it has even happened when the last post I viewed was on the last page.

In addition to the Control Panel "New Subscribed Threads", I use the "View All Subscribed Threads", with it sorted by last post. Make sure it is sorted by last post by clicking the column title "Last Post". It stays sorted that way until it is changed by selecting another column title. On this page, the names of the threads don't disappear after a timeout period like they do on the Control Panel "New Subscribed Threads" page. This page also has the Down arrow. If the Down Arrow disappears, I use the time of the last post to find new posts. I use the back button to get back to the "View All Subscribed Threads."

The reason Showtime kept it was that it was a commercial about the new Showtime series the "Brotherhood." The actual quote was "Ah, another great season comes to an end. Now the long wait." Sometimes DVRs come in handy to replay scenes. Then she said that "Brotherhood" was going to be shown in this time period and Showtime showed scenes from "Brotherhood".

There were several major threads left hanging. Would Beth and Huff get back together? What would happen to Russell who was arrested on drug charges? Would Russell's baby be ok since Russell had to deliver it? What would happen to Teddy after he attacked his girlfriend? And on and on.

It would be great if Showtime would make a movie to conclude it like HBO is doing for Deadwood, but I doubt if that happens.
I realized that her remarks also included the bit about "Brotherhood", maybe she wasn't available to redo the segment so that "the wait" about Huff could have been removed.

There were a lot of threads left hanging, there's no question the writers felt there would be another season when these episodes were produced.

Sorry, keenan, I only just now noticed this post. Sometimes it gets hard to keep track of a constantly updated thread.

I agree with your first part.

And I most certainly agree with your second point. What an amazing episode! Satisfying on so many levels. It will be a shame this show will no longer be around, but when it ends like this (they must have realized this was going to be the last year) you can't help but feel satisfied. There is not a better way I could have imagined the show to end.

Plus they crammed so much into this episode, and the performances from the cast were just amazing. I mean, one example would be Bird. I had a hard time understanding and believing in Bird's sudden change of character in the second season, but he just absolutely NAILED that performance and made me believe.

And how about the closing and the music that was chosen?

Simply amazing...
I thought there was way too much left hanging, as I noted in an earlier post, the cancellation came after this season was in the can, so all the situations we saw in the finale will be forever left in limbo. About, Bird, the thought crossed my mind that he may have started to develop symptoms of his uncle's disease, of course we'll never know now. Bummer. Great while it lasted though.

Fred, sorry for the Huff stuff, but this show had some of the finest acting performances ever on TV, when the second season comes out on DVD definitely give the whole series a viewing.

No problem about posting Huff thoughts, Jim.

Sorry it is gone, I defitintely will give it a look on DVD.

TV Notebook
A goodbye from 'Good Morning America'

By Marisa Guthrie The New York Daily News Staff Writer Tuesday, June 27th, 2006

Nineteen years is a lifetime in network news. But at a time when most would be preparing to enjoy the rewards of retirement, Charlie Gibson has begun a new chapter in his career, as the anchor of "World News Tonight."

Tomorrow's official farewell to Gibson at "Good Morning America" - where he has been holding down the fort since 1987, minus a nine-month hiatus in 1998-99 - will not resemble the four-hanky sayonara endured by "Today" anchor Katie Couric.

Rather, it will be a bittersweet see-ya-later to a consummate professional who, at the age of 64, is moving to the other side of the clock.

"The goal is to showcase the great newsman that he's been at 'Good Morning America,' " said "GMA" executive producer Ben Sherwood. "It will be a program that fits him like one of his pinstriped suits."

Gibson's former co-host Joan Lunden will be there.

So will David Hartman, who presided over the broadcast at its launch in 1975. There will be appearances by some of Gibson's "heroes," said Sherwood, as well as friends, family and "people out there in the real world whose paths he's crossed on the way.

"I think Diane [Sawyer] and Robin [Roberts] have some mischief planned," added Sherwood.

Gibson's ascent to the "World News Tonight" chair caps a rocky period for ABC News that began with Peter Jennings' illness and death last August.

An attempt at a dual-anchor format with Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas began to come apart when Woodruff was wounded while reporting in Iraq in January. Vargas' pregnancy then essentially put the kibosh on any lingering notion of an anchor team.

Separating Gibson and Sawyer, the team that brought "Good Morning America" within striking distance of NBC's "Today" last spring, was a difficult decision for David Westin, president of ABC News. But with Gibson's contract due to expire in a matter of months, Westin was faced with losing him to retirement, according to one ABC News source. There have been reports that Gibson used all his leverage to get the "World News Tonight" job.

The horse race that is morning television means there is little time for working out transitional wrinkles. Sawyer and Roberts have been anointed the new team, while a rotating troika of male news readers - likely Bill Weir, Chris Cuomo and Bill Ritter - will audition for Roberts' old job.

"With Diane and Robin you've got two dynamic, very talented and powerful anchors to bring the program forward," said Sherwood, who himself will exit at the end of September.

Despite all the changes, said Sherwood, "I think the program won't miss a stitch."

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/v-pfriendly/story/430167p-362662c.html

TV Notebook
The Old, Hard Truth About Washington-Based Series

By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, June 27, 2006; C01

Scripted TV series that attract older viewers mostly have one thing in common.

Washington.

On each of the major broadcast networks last season, the scripted series with the oldest median age were set in the capital.

Median age is the point at which half the audience is younger and half is older, explains Magna Global USA, the ad-buying company that conducted the annual study of median viewer ages for broadcast series.

Oldest median age is relevant in an industry that worships youth because it generally means the crew and cast should start looking for their next jobs.

And a Washington setting seems to be something of a buzz kill for younger viewers.

People here may look around at all the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed interns and think, "What a young people's town Washington is!" but in the real world, where people mostly get their impressions of Washington from television, D.C. = old.

"Because old people are politicians," explained an exec at one network, and shows about politicians, he assured us, "are the least appealing . . . to young people."

It's true enough -- many of these shows are about politics.

For instance, ABC's scripted series with the oldest median age last season was "Commander in Chief," starring Geena Davis as the running mate/publicity stunt turned POTUS. Median age: 55 years. Bye-bye.

NBC's OMA scripted series? "The West Wing" tied with "E-Ring." Set at: White House and Pentagon, respectively. Median age: 54. See ya.

But not all of these Washington-set series are about politics.

Fox's "Bones" is about a young, beautiful forensic anthropologist who uses dry old bones to solve really old murder cases at some place called the Jeffersonian Institution in Washington, aided by totally hot FBI agent and former vampire David Boreanaz.

And yet, median age: 44 -- which in Fox years is like 100.

But if you really want to wow your friends, spring it on them that the Fox series packing the oldest median age, scripted or non-, is not "Cops" or "America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back" or even "The Simpsons," which just wrapped its 17th season, making it the oldest scripted series on broadcast TV.

It's "24."

The median age of the "24" audience is 45 years.

"24" is about Washington. Yes, the president of the United States seems to spend a lot of time in Los Angeles in this whimsical drama series, campaigning or just hanging out at his L.A. ranch place.

But the government that Jack Bauer tries so hoarsely each gawdawful day to save is in Washington. And based on this series' median age, you can take the TV POTUS out of Washington, but you can't, in the minds of viewers, take the Washington out of a show about saving or assassinating POTUS.

Don't take my word for it. Just ask the show's more ardent fans who, as we learned during the Heritage Foundation's "24" forum in Washington just last week, include Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, radio talker Rush Limbaugh, Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, President Bush the Elder and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

For comparison's sake, the median age of the audience on Fox's animated "American Dad" is 27.

And the median age for "The Simpsons" is just 29 -- exactly the same as its median age during the 2001-02 TV season. The 16-season-old "Law & Order" on NBC has a median age of 52.

Which, brings us to an interesting point about median age and animation.

While audiences for scripted shows featuring actual people on the screen tend to age, at varying rates (over the past two seasons, the median age for NBC's "Las Vegas" shot up six years and for "Will & Grace" five years), series starring toons can remain forever young.

That's because Bugs Bunny never ages and Bart Simpson still looks like a juvenile delinquent 17 years later. Their stars frozen in time, these shows have an easier time recruiting new, younger viewers, while their original aging fans tend to grow out of the shows (or their wives won't let them watch anymore) -- a win-win for a network trying to keep down a show's median age.

CBS's OMA scripted show is "NCIS" -- 56 years -- set at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service at the Navy Yard in Washington. "NCIS" is also not canceled. But CBS is an older-skewing network -- median age overall in prime time is 52 -- so 56 doesn't look so bad there.

"NCIS" is actually tied with CBS's "Cold Case" in terms of median age; "Cold Case" is set in Philly, not Washington.

But, it can be argued, like we're doing here, that the "Cold Case" median age is more about the fact that it snags viewers from its lead-in, "60 Minutes," which has the oldest audience on broadcast TV. Its median age last season was 59.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/26/AR2006062601494_pf.html

While we are on the subject of aging….
TV Notebook
Make Way For the New Television

BY David Blum New York Sun June 27, 2006

Please consider, for a moment, some rather remarkable statistics that you will not find in any recent CBS News press releases.

In June 2004, the average age of the "60 Minutes" team of correspondents and its then-executive producer, Don Hewitt, was 73 years old.

In June 2006, the average age of the "60 Minutes" team and its new executive producer had dropped more than 20%, to 59 years old. If you take 86-year-old Andy Rooney out of the mix, that number drops to 56 years old. The average age of the "60 Minutes" correspondents and exec producers at the time of their removal from their positions by CBS News in the period from June 2004 to June 2006 is 83 years old.

One final statistic, also not reported by CBS News: The time elapsed between its announcement of Dan Rather's departure from the network last Monday, and the arrival of movers to empty the 44-year veteran's effects from his ninth-floor office above a BMW dealership on West 57th Street, was 45 minutes.

Please do not read into these statistics any desire to denigrate CBS News for its recent decisions.The network's effort to lower the age of its correspondents - not to mention the demographics of its audience - stems from a legitimate need to keep the last remaining serious network-news television show, "60 Minutes," alive and well. While the public outcry over CBS's seemingly cruel treatment of Mr. Rather was understandable, it's worth noting that Mr. Rather brought much of it on himself, by failing to recognize the need for progress and change. The former anchorman's lack of graciousness in making way for a new generation of stars on "60 Minutes"forced the network's harsh hand.Anyone who thinks Mr. Rather deserved to hold his place forever on the legendary newsmagazine doesn't understand the needs of the television news business, the audience, or even the public interest.

Before he was publicly humiliated by CBS, Mr. Rather refused to accept, even at the advanced age of 74, that it might be someone else's turn to take over the limelight at "60 Minutes." But the time has clearly come for new, younger stars to get the same exposure that once fueled the trajectory of Mr. Rather's stardom, and that of his recently deposed colleagues Mike Wallace and Mr. Hewitt. The news business belongs to those with the youth, energy, and ambition to deliver superior, hard-edged journalism on a daily basis. Whether they liked it or not, it was time for Messrs. Rather, Wallace, and Hewitt to go.

"Shouldn't these people be spending more time with their grandchildren?" Jeffrey Fager asked me a few years ago, before he was appointed executive producer of "60 Minutes" to replace Don Hewitt. It seemed a reasonable question from a then 49-year-old man who himself enjoyed spending time in Connecticut with his family at nights and on weekends. The generation of television journalists that preceded Mr. Fager had no qualms about spending weeks, if not months away from home and family, preferring to devote day and night to work they considered more important than raising children, let alone grandchildren. Even after they passed mandatory retirement age, they continued to grab the spotlight as often as they could, keeping young talent at bay. For two decades, good reporters who might otherwise have gotten a spot on "60 Minutes" had to sit idly by while Mike and Dan and Morley flew around the world in pursuit of more stories, more millions, and more hours in the spotlight.

But now, under the leadership of Mr. Fager - and facing competition from NBC's new Sunday Night Football this fall, the biggest threat ever to the venerable broadcast's dominance of its 7 p.m. timeslot - "60 Minutes" must change, or risk losing its audience forever. And while it might not seem so to reporters wringing their hands over Mr. Rather's fallen fortunes, the decision to replace him and Mr. Wallace with the likes of Anderson Cooper, Lara Logan, Katie Couric, and Scott Pelley represents an act of courage and risk. At long last, CBS News is daring to develop a new generation of stars to replace a team that defied the actuarial tables long enough. It remains to be seen whether any of them will measure up to Messrs. Wallace and Rather at the heights of their careers, but it's about time "60 Minutes" got a second wind of the vigor and stamina that once made it the gold standard of television news.

Lost in the dust-up over Mr. Rather's future was a recognition that the fate of a classic television show depends on his departure. In his farewell interview with the New York Times, Mr. Rather cloaked himself in the memory of the legendary reporter Edward R. Murrow by declaring that he'd seen "Good Night and Good Luck" five times. Did those multiple viewings not remind Mr. Rather how the television news business survived Murrow's own unhappy parting of ways with CBS News? Indeed, six years after Murrow's departure from CBS - an event that also prompted numerous attacks on the network for its callous pandering to youth, and the same "corporatization" of news that Mr. Rather bemoaned in his farewell statement last week - "60 Minutes" was born.

The lesson forgotten in last week's uproar over Mr. Rather's fate is that the news business can, and will, always survive the loss of one talented and well-paid individual, so long as it retains its commitment to the level of quality that earned his fame and fortune. In the end, Mr. Rather had to leave CBS News so that "60 Minutes" could survive - and if it does, that will have been a reasonable price to pay. Good night, Mr. Rather, and good luck, CBS.

http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=35083

A little more on aging….
TV Notebook
Shades of gray: The wrinkling of NBC

By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 27, 2006

Everyone knows that CBS is the gray network and UPN skews young.

But there’s always one or two surprises when Magna Global USA releases its annual median age study, which it did yesterday.

Here is this year’s notable development: NBC, the network that so long prided itself on its youth, continues to wrinkle. For the 2005-2006 season, its median age crept up another year over last, to 49. It has now become the second-oldest network behind CBS at 52, and its median age has risen three years since “Friends” went off the air in 2004.

UPN had the youngest median age among the Big Six at 31, followed by the WB at 37, Fox at 39, ABC at 46, NBC at 49 and CBS at 52. The median age of all six is 47.

Meanwhile, GSN daytime, Fox News daytime and primetime, and CNBC daytime share the oldest median age among basic cable networks, at 65-plus.

The youngest-skewing non-kids networks are music channels Fuse and MTV2 primetime at 18.

Magna Global executive vice president of audience analysis Steve Sternberg, who came up with the concept of calculating and analyzing median age 15 years ago, talks to Media Life about NBC’s aging schedule, which network is likely to get older next season, and what the new CW’s median age will be.

What's the significance of the median age of the broadcast networks to media buyers and planners?

Median ages are not a replacement for other measures, but rather a supplement. It allows us to get a broad picture of the media landscape and audience trends with a single number for each vehicle or network.

Which network has seen the biggest shift over the past five years and why?

WB has seen the biggest shift, with its average median age growing by six years over that time from 31 to 37. Its most successful series have been on for a number of years, and the audience tends to gradually age with the show. This was exacerbated by the network not having many successful shows in the past couple of years to refresh its schedule.

This is obviously the last time the WB and UPN will be measured. Where do you expect their median age to settle next year?

As WB and UPN merge into the CW network, it will be the only broadcast network with a median age under 37, and may be the only one left with an average median age under 40.

Which network's median age do you see getting higher next year? Any that will get lower?

ABC might get slightly older. It will have its oldest-skewing show, the hit “Dancing With the Stars,” on for the full season rather than half a season (and it airs twice a week), and college football [which will air Saturdays] usually has a median age approaching 50. On the other hand, ‘Lost’ and ‘Grey's Anatomy’ both got younger in their second seasons, and the network’s eight youngest series are returning.

We don't really see any of the broadcast networks lowering their median age next year. But interestingly, CBS may still get younger. Sometimes just looking at average median ages can be misleading. CBS has reduced its percentage of age 65+ viewers and increased the percentage of its 50-64 audience. As a result, its average median age remained at 52, but clearly CBS has gotten younger.

How important is the median age of a show when a network looks at what programs are on the bubble?

It depends. I'm not saying median age alone is the deciding factor, but ...

NBC may have canceled its fourth “Law & Order” last year because its median age was very high combined with low ratings, and NBC's overall median age was inching closer to 50. And “West Wing,” NBC's oldest-skewing scripted series, was canceled, while the low-rated “Scrubs,” NBC's youngest median age show, keeps getting renewed.

ABC canceled it oldest median age show (“Commander in Chief”) while renewing another ratings challenged show, “What About Brian,” its youngest.

The median age of “American Idol” viewers is around 39. How common is it for a top-rated show to have a median age that young?

That's actually not that young. It's a couple of years older than the median age of the general population. People usually think of Fox and WB as younger, more niche than the traditional Big Three, but both are closer to the population at large.

Several of the higher-rated shows in the past – “Friends,” “ER,” etc. – had median ages in the high-30s-to-low-40s.

Why is ABC's daytime audience graying? It went from 48 in 2001-2002 to 51 this year, while CBS stayed the same at 53 and NBC was up two years, to 45.

The audiences are aging along with the shows, as new viewers are harder to come by each season.

Did you see anything that surprised you about the median ages of cable or syndication?

Nothing really surprised me in syndication.

For ad-supported cable, it was somewhat surprising that not counting kids’ networks, there are more than three times as many cable networks in primetime with median ages of 45 or higher, than under 45.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5638.asp

Critic’s Notebook
'Rescue Me' and seeing rape 'the wrong way'

From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher” June 27, 2006

There's been more fallout from the "Rescue Me" rape scene last week.

Alan Sepinwall, the Newark Star-Ledger's TV critic, posted both an excellent piece about the Janet-Tommy Gavin scene from the June 20 episode of "Rescue Me," and a full transcript of an interview he did with the show's co-creators, Peter Tolan and Denis Leary.

According to Leary, the scene was "not at all" a rape, though Tolan, in an interview with Scott Collins of the LA Times, said it was rape.

A man holding down a physically resisting woman, immobilizing her so that she can't move her arms or legs, and forcing sex on her: That is rape. That is what Tommy Gavin did to Janet Gavin on "Rescue Me." Rich Heldenfels of the Akron Beacon-Journal, in an eloquent and succinct piece, agrees.

I agree with Sepinwall that the worst thing about it was that "...the scene played like a horrible rape fantasy, the one where the woman secretly wants to be violated." Gavin's gloating afterward only cemented that impression.

Leary couldn't see why viewers don't have this kind of reaction to violent acts on "The Sopranos." Sepinwall again: "The difference, from my viewpoint, is that 'The Sopranos' shows despicable acts without condoning them, a trick 'Rescue Me' doesn't always pull off."

And how. Showing a woman appearing to enjoy a rape, and the rapist exiting with a smile? That's not depicting a behavior, that's condoning it.

Whatever convoluted explanations the show's creators offer, I remain convinced that the scene was "stunningly mishandled," in the words of San Francisco Chronicle writer C.W. Nevius, who wrote an incisive column on the subject.

But according to Leary, anyone who saw the scene as rape reacted "the wrong way." If thinking it was rape is wrong, I don't want to be right.

By the way, Tolan has been posting on Television Without Pity's "Rescue Me" board this week, where I wasn't the only one who was taken aback by his comment that those who continued to discuss the rape scene were "beating a dead horse." As another commenter pointed out, "Rescue Me" posters were discussing a scene that aired that week -- on a show about a guy who's haunted by something that happened five years ago.

Well, in any case, Tolan apparently is done posting there. According to Collins' piece, he's signing off, in part, because fans were "combative."

Interesting. I thought the TWoP posters gave him a relatively easy ride. (though there were posts with thoughtful commentary and incisive questions about that scene, Tolan didn't respond to most of that. Many of his posts were responses to softball questions about Probie and Lt. Shea and things like that).

After what I wrote about the show last week, I've had a large number of thoughtful e-mails from readers on this topic. What struck me about my e-mail correspondence is the number of male readers who wrote in to say that, although they generally have liked the show until now, they were extraordinarily repulsed by that scene.

A reader named Mike Barzacchini hit on a key part of this whole imbroglio:

"Along with the most explicit offense -- Tommy's rape of his estranged wife -- it seems like this show's goal is to make each character as unlikeable as possible.

"Sure, people have problems -- and some problems dramatically portrayed make for great TV -- but how many weeks can you tune in to a train wreck before you either become totally numb or just throw your arms up and exclaim, 'Enough.'"

Exactly. Tolan and Leary can make whatever show they want. They can show Gavin, in ways that make total sense to them, disemboweling babies while smoking crack. Whatever. It's their right to make that show. I don't have to watch that, much less recommend it.

The thing is, anyone who's read even a few of my reviews knows that I don't need my characters to be likable, nice, well-rounded or even sane. What I want to watch are shows that depict the surprising, confounding complexity of human behavior -- not just reflexive violence and shallow storytelling.

Frankly, "Rescue Me," though it's often been worth watching over the past couple of years, isn't nearly as deep or complex as Tolan and Leary seem to think it is. The central problem of the show, which I've written about in the past, is that Tommy Gavin is often a just a selfish boor -- and a predictably immature boor at that.

Leary is clearly unable to see that "Rescue Me" often glorifies Gavin's immaturity and selfishness. And that increasingly predictable behavior was not only grating, it was getting boring -- before it turned criminal, that is.

But whether I or anyone else continues to watch "Rescue Me" is not the point. This is the point.

This anonymously penned sentence -- part of a longer post -- was written in the comment area of Sepinwall's blog, after the critic wrote his first "Rescue Me" blog entry last week:

"It's an uncomfortable fact, but nevertheless a fact, that women sometimes enjoy being raped."

If even one person out there in the world thinks that is true and feels even partly justified in that belief due to of what was depicted on a TV show ... God help us all.

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

The C.W., Neviius column Maureen Ryan refers to:

Critic’s Notebook
Men behaving badly. Got a problem with that?

By C.W. Nevius San Francisco Chronicle in his blog

When Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Brett Myers beat his wife on a Boston Street in the early hours of last Friday morning, you'd think it would be a big deal.

Philadelphia pitcher Brett Myers may have hit his wife, but he never missed a start.

And in one sense it was. More than one eyewitness saw the attack and called 911.

''It was disgusting,'' a woman named Courtney Knight told the Boston Globe. ''He was dragging her by the hair and slapping her across the face. She was yelling, 'I am not going to let you do this to me any more.' ''

Kim reportedly told police that her 6-4, 240 pound husband hit her twice in the face with a closed fist. In the Globe interview Knight says Myers' 5-4, 120 pound wife ''curled up and sat on the ground. He was pulling her, her shirt was up around her neck . . . he could have cared less that we were there.''

Where, you have to wonder, does this kind of disregard for common sense begin? Well, here's a thought — right in our own culture. It turned out to be a bad week for those who thought the Neanderthal male was as extinct at the dinosaur.

Just three nights before Myers went off the rails, a scene was enacted on the popular FX Network television show, ''Rescue Me,'' turned out to be a nasty shock to viewers.

Somehow incidents with a baseball pitcher on a Boston street and a fictional New York firefighter with a drinking problem combined to say something about the real progress that has been made in this country's culture. And here's a hint, the incidents didn't say anything good.

Denis Leary is the star and producer of ''Rescue Me'' so what's his excuse?

Myers was arraigned by Boston police on Friday morning on charges of assault and battery. (That's important because these are police charges and do not depend on his wife to file them.) He posted a $200 bail and was released.

Needless to say, Myers' baseball team had a tough decision to make. Should it suspend him until the charges were cleared? Should it send him immediately to anger management and marriage counseling? Should he be sent home to Philadelphia, pending an outcome?

Or should they just let him pitch on Saturday as if nothing had happened?

As you have probably guessed, the Phillies made the classic ''baseball'' choice. He took the mound as scheduled, less than 36 hours after the indident.

''Why wouldn't he be able to do his job?'' manager Charlie Manuel said in the Philadelphia Inquirer. ''Brett works for us. He pitches for us.''

Right. That makes perfect sense. There is a baseball game to be played here.

In the Phillies' view the only ones who didn't have their priorities straight were those spoil-sport Boston fans who thundered boos on Myers every time he took the mound at Fenway Park.

Myers, however, was unconcerned. He said he was accustomed to getting booed on the road. Not that he didn't have any regrets.

''I'm sorry it had to go public,'' he said. Right. If only the media hadn't made such a big deal of you beating your wife.

Meanwhile, ''Rescue Me,'' the usually superb TV series about the struggles of an alcoholic New York firefighter, staged a scene that was stunningly mishandled. The lead character, Tommy Gavin, played by Denis Leary (who is also the producer of the show) has a confrontation with his ex-wife, Janet.

The two argue, and then Tommy gives Janet a shove, forces her down on the couch, rips off her shirt and forces her to have sex with him. Incredibly, the scene was played as if Janet eventually began to enjoy the attack. And then Tommy left the house with a smirk, as if reminding us all that a guy like Tommy knows what women like. And he knows how to give it to them, whether they think they want it or not.

Since that show the roar of complaint has forced Leary and co-creator Peter Tolan into full duck-and-cover mode. They have attempted to paint the scene as an example of how ''complicated'' the relationship is, and that couples like Janet and Tommy have a connection — the episode was called ''sparks.'' — that is very strong.

But the artistic explanations haven't played. Confronted when he posted an explanation on an internet site called ''Television without Pity,'' Tolan finally admitted that he thought Janet had been raped.

''Yeah,'' Tolan wrote back. ''I guess I'd have to say that. That's the technical (term) But we never called it that because we were trying to look into the relationship.''

Right. The relationship. A truer picture comes from what Tommy said before he shoved Janet down on the couch. His ex-wife has just offered to let him have the dining room set from their marriage.

Tommy replies (and this is a paraphrase), ''Let me get this straight. You are going to give me the dining room set I bought with the money I get for running into burning buildings when other people are running out of them?''

Because that's the real crux of this show. Tommy is a jerk, a womanizer, a poor father, and a struggling alcoholic. But he is supposed to be redeemed by what he does. In that same episode he saved a little girl in a school bus, getting her out just before it blew up. He's a New York fireman, get it? Do you need another 9/11 reminder? He deserves to be cut some slack.

Just like a Big League pitcher, apparently. What men like them do is so apprently so important, difficult, and admirable, that if they mistreat and attack women, well, the rest of us will just have to make allowances.

What a load of crap. Regardless of who you are, or what you do, there is nothing weaker and more contemptible than a man who attacks a woman. It is cowardly, it is disgusting, and it cancels out everything else about that man.

Including pulling fictional school girls out of exploding buses and hitting the outside corner with a slider.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=18&entry_id=6502

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

Critic’s Notebook
'Rescue Me' and seeing rape 'the wrong way'

From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher” June 27, 2006

There's been more fallout from the "Rescue Me" rape scene last week.

I promised not to post again on this subject but since the posts keep coming ... :)

I suppose in the modern world where women are always "innocent victims" and incapable of doing anything horribly wrong, it is easy to reach these conclusions.

I'm not defending Tommy's behaviour, I'm just being realistic. And again where was the outcry when Sheila was beat up (graphically, at some length) by her abusive lesbian girlfriend with little or no provocation (last season)?

Frankly, in the real world, Janet and Bro's behavior very often leads to a severe case of lead poisoning for one or more of the parties involved. But, I suppose that kind of reaction would fly under the radar since it is already displayed ubiquitously on TV.

It's fascinating where people draw their lines in the sand, no?. ;)

I thought there was way too much left hanging, as I noted in an earlier post, the cancellation came after this season was in the can, so all the situations we saw in the finale will be forever left in limbo. About, Bird, the thought crossed my mind that he may have started to develop symptoms of his uncle's disease, of course we'll never know now. Bummer. Great while it lasted though.
Yeah well see, this is where we differ. I LIKE that lots of stuff was just left hanging. That actually adds to my enjoyment of it all.

Thanks harley. But I posted that last night here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7897831&&#post7897831


Sorry only saw the one from Drudge.

...I suppose in the modern world where women are always "innocent victims" and incapable of doing anything horribly wrong, it is easy to reach these conclusions...


It's fascinating where people draw their lines in the sand, no?.

No.

Sorry only saw the one from Drudge.

No problem at all.

Keep posting!

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.

I promised not to post again on this subject but since the posts keep coming ... :)

I suppose in the modern world where women are always "innocent victims" and incapable of doing anything horribly wrong, it is easy to reach these conclusions.

I'm not defending Tommy's behaviour, I'm just being realistic. And again where was the outcry when Sheila was beat up (graphically, at some length) by her abusive lesbian girlfriend with little or no provocation (last season)?

Frankly, in the real world, Janet and Bro's behavior very often leads to a severe case of lead poisoning for one or more of the parties involved. But, I suppose that kind of reaction would fly under the radar since it is already displayed ubiquitously on TV.

It's fascinating where people draw their lines in the sand, no?. ;)

My interest in the topic stems not so much from the actual program content (which, to be honest, I found indefensible and beneath contempt) but the reaction of the critics.

Remember that almost all have been fierce defenders and proponents of "Rescue Me".

To see them be repulsed almost universally has been fascinating.

And, frankly, to see both Leary and Tolan stonewall the objections while claiming some "artistic" merit amuses me as well.

But as always in this thread, I am willing to have any discussion you all want -- as long as we keep it on topic and refrain from name-calling (at least of each other!)

As you your point: I personally draw my line in the sand when a rape is portrayed as in some way a "good thing". My daughter, sister, wife or any woman deserve better than that.

They may not be innocent victims, they may not be perfect, but nothing they can do (in my mind at least) could ever justify a rape. And certainly they could not justify a rape with a sneering rapist who is ostensibly the "hero" of a TV show on a network geared mainly to men.

IMO if that is a lesson to be taught to young men, heaven help us all.

Nielsen Notebook
2Q Cable News Ratings

If you are interested, Brian Stelter of TV Newser at mediabistro.com has assembled the second quarter cable news ratings.

You can find them here:

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/original/q206ranker.pdf

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Sunken booty: 'Treasure Hunters' dips

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer June 27, 2006

NBC’s new globe-trotting reality competition “Treasure Hunters” debuted to a so-so 2.8 adults 18-49 rating on Sunday, June 18. It was supposed to air episode two the following night, hoping to seize on the premiere’s momentum by moving the show into its regular Monday 9 p.m. timeslot just 24 hours later.

But the Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers had other ideas. When their Stanley Cup finals series extended to seven games, taking over last Monday night, “Hunters’” second episode got pushed back a week.

It looks as though the postponement may have hurt “Hunters.” In its second outing, the show averaged a 2.5 18-49 overnight rating, down 11 percent from its two-hour debut. That debut peaked at a 2.9 in its final hour, and “Hunters” was down 16 percent from that average.

More distressing for NBC, it finished third in its time slot, more than a point behind Fox’s second-year summer hit “Hell’s Kitchen” and 0.1 behind comedy repeats on CBS.

Still, even if “Hunters” continues to fall, it will be a rare miss in a successful summer thus far for NBC. According to Nielsen numbers crunched by Fox, the network is up 10 percent over last summer’s average, to a 2.3, thanks to hits “America’s Got Talent” and “Last Comic Standing.”

Meanwhile, “Kitchen” boosted Fox to No. 1 for the night with a 2.8 rating and 8 share among adults 18-49, followed by CBS at 2.7/8, NBC at 2.0/6, ABC at 1.8/5, Univision at 1.6/5, UPN at 0.9/3 and WB at 0.7/2.

At 8 p.m., CBS was at No. 1 with a 2.4 for repeats of "King of Queens" and "How I Met Your Mother," followed by Fox at 2.1 for a "Kitchen" rerun, ABC at 2.0 for a repeat of "Wife Swap," Univision at 1.9 for "La Fea Mas Bella," NBC at 1.6 for a "Treasure Hunters" repeat, UPN at 0.8 for reruns of "One on One" and "All of Us," and WB at 0.7 for a repeat of "7th Heaven."

At 9 p.m., Fox's 3.6 for a "Kitchen" original dominated, ahead of CBS's repeats of "Two and a Half Men" and "New Adventures of Old Christine" at 2.6. “Hunters” was No. 3 at 2.5, followed by ABC's repeat of "Supernanny" at 2.0, Univision's "Barrera de Amor" at 1.7, UPN's reruns of "Girlfriends" and "Half and Half" at 0.9, and WB's "7th Heaven" rerun at 0.8.

At 10 p.m., CBS took No. 1 at 3.2 for a "CSI: Miami" repeat, followed by NBC's 2.8 for a "Medium" repeat, ABC's 1.5 for "How to Get the Guy" and Univision's 1.3 for "Cristina."

Among households, CBS led with a 5.8 rating and 10 share, followed by Fox at 3.7/6, NBC at 3.4/6, ABC at 3.1/5, Univision at 1.9/3, UPN at 1.5/3 and WB at 1.3/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5662.asp

Cable Nielsen Notebook
TNT Ranked Most-Watched Cable Net in 2Q; USA Takes 2nd

By Anthony Crupi MediaWeek.com June 27, 2006

TNT eked out a win over rival USA Network, reclaiming the crown as basic cable's most-watched network in the second quarter, luring an average 2.59 million total viewers in the period, versus USA's 2.55 million.

The Turner net won the top spot for the period between March 27 and June 25, thanks in large part to the season two premiere of The Closer, which earlier this month attracted the largest audience ever for a scripted series on ad-supported cable, with 8.28 million people tuning in.

TNT also got a boost from its coverage of the NBA playoffs, which helped lift the network’s core 18-49 demo to 1.2 million versus USA’s 1.15 million. The net’s slate of 45 post-season games were marked by a 4 percent gain in viewers 18-49 versus last year, as 1.98 million members of the demo tuned in. TNT also grew its 18-34 playoff audience by 6 percent to 1.03 million.

USA continued to be buoyed by its Monday night WWE Raw juggernaut, which regularly finished as one of the top-five weekly cable telecasts throughout the quarter. Of the top 20 telecasts of the second quarter, four were Raw events, which went a long way toward helping build USA’s 18-49 audience by 18 percent in the quarter. While it boasted more viewers in the demo, TNT was actually down among 18-49s by 9 percent, year-over-year.

ESPN, which enjoyed a significant bump from its own NBA playoff coverage––the sports net upped its total average viewership of the games by 28 percent over 2005, to 3.88 million––took third among all ad-supported cable channels, averaging 1.61 million total viewers in prime, and growing its prime time take of the 18-49 demo by 25 percent in the quarter. TBS took fourth (1.6 million), with total viewership and 18-49 audience coming in flat versus a year ago, while Cartoon Network finished fifth (1.57 million).

Rounding out the top 10 were: Nick-at-Nite (1.53 million), Lifetime (1.47 million), Fox News Channel (1.38 million), FX (1.3 million) and Spike TV (1.28 million). Non-ad-supported Disney Channel was the nominal third-place finisher in the quarter, averaging 2.37 million total viewers in prime.

Perhaps the biggest coup was notched by AMC, which broke an in-house ratings records on the final day of the quarter with the first installment of its original miniseries Broken Trail. The Western, starring Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church, attracted a whopping 9.9 million viewers on Sunday night, tripling AMC's former high-water mark of 3.3 million viewers, which had been rustled up in July 2005 by a screening of the restored John Wayne Western The High and Mighty.

The networks that enjoyed the greatest turn-arounds in total prime time viewership year-over-year include: Hallmark Channel, up 37 percent to 1.1 million; ESPN, up 27 percent to 1.61 million; Comedy Central, up 15 percent to 1.1 million and Discovery Channel, up 14 percent to 1.16 million. Bolstered by the success of its original movie, High School Musical, ad-free Disney shot up 19 percent in prime to 2.37 million.

Big gainers among the 18-49 demo in prime were: TLC, up 21 percent to 440,000; A&E, up 12 percent to 494,000; Comedy Central, up 10 percent to 621,000 and OLN, which grew 131 percent to 134,000 in the demo thanks to its first NHL playoff season.

Networks that saw significant drops in prime were: Spike TV, down 18 percent in total viewers and 15 percent among 18-49 and Sci Fi Channel, down 11 percent in total viewers and 15 percent in 18-49.

Nickelodeon was tops in total day with an average 2.13 million viewers, an increase of 8 percent year-over-year; the kids’ net also grew its 2-11 audience 3 percent to 1.25 million and its 6-11 demo 3 percent to 693,000.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002728915

Cable Nielsen Notebook
'Broken Trail' sets cable viewership mark

By Andrew Wallenstein The Hollywood Reporter June 28, 2006

"Broken Trail" has broken the record for most watched basic-cable telecast of the year on Sunday.

The first night of the four-hour AMC miniseries reached 9.8 million total viewers. Airing 8-10 p.m., "Trail" was not only the most-watched program ever on the cable channel, but achieved a 7.6 rating, the highest household number for an original cable movie in over a decade.

"Trail," a Western starring Robert Duvall, was AMC's first original movie ever. The second half of "Trail" aired Monday at 8 p.m.

Westerns have always been good to AMC, comprising 10 of its top 25 telecasts.

A digitally remastered version of "High and the Mighty" achieved AMC's previous household rating record, 2.7, in July 2005.

"Our established leadership in the western genre, combined with the first-rate talent on this project, made 'Broken Trail' the ideal vehicle to launch AMC's expansion into high-profile originals," said Ed Carroll, president of AMC.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002728913

TV Notebook
Star's Out

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

Star Jones Reynolds can now go somewhere else to show off her alarmingly thin frame; as was widely predicted, she is leaving ''The View.''

Here's her statement, from today's e-mail:

“I’ve spent an amazing nine years as a part of “The View” family, and they have been the most professionally and personally rewarding years of my life. Through it all, I have appreciated the support of my family, my friends and most importantly the viewers, and I am incredibly grateful for all of the love that has been shown to me.

“The View” is now moving in a new direction, and I will not be returning this fall – but, wherever I go, I will carry a lifetime of memories with me. Thank you all so much for your invaluable love and support.”

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

TV Notebook
Star Jones Gone: Freebies Did Her In

By Roger Friedman foxnews.com Tuesday, June 27, 2006


It's official, folks. Star Jones is leaving ABC's "The View." Her last day is still being determined, but sources say by next Friday, July 6 or July 13, the ladies will be kissing and hugging her and wheeling out a fat-free cake.

She does not — repeat — does not have any other gig lined up, contrary to other reports this morning. "Her contract is up and she's gone," says a source. "They are working out right now how they will explain it to the public."

I am told that producers for the show had planned to axe Star last fall after the hoopla around her endorsement-plagued wedding. But chief anchor and co-owner Barbara Walters relented. "She felt sorry for her," says an insider.

In the end, though, Walters knew that when Rosie O'Donnell agreed to join the show, Jones was finished.

As for replacements: even though Gayle King wants the job (and would be good, I think) several guest journalists will fill in the extra chair for the last two weeks of July.

The show goes "dark" until Labor Day with reruns, and there may be no permanent replacement named while O'Donnell settles in.

"They're looking for someone younger than Gayle or even Deborah Roberts," says a source. But the goal will be to find a hot, young African-American journalist whose background is clean as a whistle. Talent agents, start your engines!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201093,00.html

Critic’s Notebook
Why "Huff" had to die

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn” Tuesday, June 27, 2006

I am starting to hear from readers outraged at Showtime for snuffing "Huff," the shrink drama starring Hank Azaria.

"Once again, Showtime has enticed viewers into an entertaining venue, only to pull the plug after two seasons," writes Betty S. "I refer to another favorite that has gone by the wayside, 'Dead Like Me.' I'd like to tell the Showtime powers that be that I am not going to bother watching any future series they might introduce, as it will probably be cancelled shortly, so why get hooked on it in the first place!"

Well, the powers that be have spoken. According to a trade report published last month, Leslie Moonves -- CEO of CBS Corp., which owns Showtime -- expressed his distaste for a lot of the highfalutin' fare the No. 3 premium cable channel (behind HBO and Cinemax) has to offer. Speaking at a Morgan Stanley investor powwow, Moonves said (according to Broadcasting & Cable) that Showtime was too often guilty of "pandering to highbrow TV critics rather than mass TV viewers" and is "a bit too much of an off-off-Broadway play."

Fans of "Weeds" can rest easy: Moonves found that show to be "really commercial." But it probably says a lot about why the moodier "Huff" didn't last.

Since that meeting, Moonves has been yakking up the idea of starting a movie studio (something he told TV critics at a party in January he was thinking of doing) and using Showtime as a way to stretch value out of his box-office pics.

Moonves likes the small screen, but these days he's paid to think about the big picture. And apparently, Azaria & Co. aren't in it.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/

Critic’s Notebook
"View" Apocalypse, Sadly, Averted

By James Poniewozik Time Magazine television critic in Time’s Tuned In blog Tuesday, Jun. 27, 2006

No sooner had Rosie O'Donnell been named to replace Meredith Vieira on The View then we started licking our chops in anticipation of the showdown: Rosie vs. Star Jones Reynolds, whose almost-instantaneous weight loss these past few months Rosie had charged publicly was the result of secret gastric-bypass surgery.

We started counting the days until Rosie pressed her wit and weight advantages against Reynolds, and until the nigh-unrecognizable Reynolds marshaled her skills as a former prosecutor to marshal a defense. (Illness? Running a marathon a day? Secretly having been replaced by a skinny animatronic robot?)

Alas, it was not to be. Today Reynolds issued the following statement:

“I’ve spent an amazing nine years as a part of 'The View' family, and they have been the most professionally and personally rewarding years of my life. Through it all, I have appreciated the support of my family, my friends and most importantly the viewers, and I am incredibly grateful for all of the love that has been shown to me. 'The View' is now moving in a new direction, and I will not be returning this fall – but, wherever I go, I will carry a lifetime of memories with me. Thank you all so much for your invaluable love and support.”

Not sure who "you all" refers to, but if you're one of them, have yourself a big old sandwich today in Star's honor.

http://time.blogs.com/tuned_in/

Washington Notebook
Broadcast Flag Waves On Hill

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 6/27/2006

The digital audio and video broadcast flag got a double dose of Hill attention Tuesday.

In the Senate, the digital content-protection technology was part of a video franchising bill being marked up in the Commerce Committee (a House version of video franchise reform did not address the broadcast flag issue).

Two amendments related to the flag were withdrawn, but may be reintroduced during floor debate on the bill.

In the House, the Energy & Commerce Telecommunications Subcommittee held a hearing on the flags Tuesday under the heading: "Can Content Protection and Technological Innovation Coexist?"

Broadcasters and studios argue that the flag is needed to discourage digital piracy. Fair use fans and consumer electronics companies argue that the technology will discourage fair uses of the content, including copying and other manipulation by consumer electronics.

Both sides would say the twin goals in the title are achievable, but disagree on how to strike that balance. It is the first hearing held on the audio flag.

The FCC approved the flag once, but a court later ruled that it did not have the authority to do it, since it is a post-transmission technology and the FCC's jurisdiction, said the court.

The Senate bill, if passed as currently drafted, would grant the FCC that authority for both the audio and video flag.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6347610

Washington Notebook
Senate Panel Moves to Limit Ads on Kids Programming

Proposal Would Apply Equally to Web, TV
By Ira Teinowitz TVWeek.com June 27, 2006

The Senate Commerce Committee today moved to impose major new limits on advertising and interactive content in children's programming as it readied legislation for a vote that may allow phone companies to more easily enter the television business.

With no debate, the committee added an amendment to the legislation that would apply the current limits on the number of commercials in children's TV-which now apply to broadcast and cable-to any video provider. The amendment, proposed by Senators Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Mark Pryor, D-Ark., would mean the commercial limits apply to any Web-based video service aimed at kids. The Federal Communications Commission limits advertising on children's TV to 12 minutes per hour on weekdays and 10.5 minutes per hour on weekends,

In another change, the committee also adopted a ban on "interactivity with commercial matter" during children's programming. The amendment was sponsored by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., who also moved to require the FCC complete its two-year-old inquiry into the impact of violent TV on children.

In another potentially controversial amendment, the committee voted to bar the FCC from fining independent network affiliates for airing network programming they hadn't been given the opportunity to preview or been told about possible objectionable content.

The amendment from Sen. Ben Nelson, R-Neb., could potentially mean that independent CBS affiliates couldn't be fined for an episode such as the 2004 Super Bowl broadcast, when Janet Jackson's breast was bared in a half-time show.

The amendments are piling up on a bill that would let phone companies including Verizon Communications speed their introduction of TV services to compete with cable and satellite providers. That legislation would free the telephone companies from seeking franchises city-by-city as cable operators must. Instead, the telecommunications companies would get national franchises.

The legislation has become caught up in separate debates, including whether Internet service providers should be barred from giving some content providers faster service in exchange for higher rates. That fight hadn't been discussed early Tuesday, though last week some legislators signaled that debate on that issue could prevent the telephone-TV bill from passing.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10274

Critic’s Notebook
Why "Huff" had to die

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn” Tuesday, June 27, 2006

I am starting to hear from readers outraged at Showtime for snuffing "Huff," the shrink drama starring Hank Azaria.

"Once again, Showtime has enticed viewers into an entertaining venue, only to pull the plug after two seasons," writes Betty S. "I refer to another favorite that has gone by the wayside, 'Dead Like Me.' I'd like to tell the Showtime powers that be that I am not going to bother watching any future series they might introduce, as it will probably be cancelled shortly, so why get hooked on it in the first place!"

Well, the powers that be have spoken. According to a trade report published last month, Leslie Moonves -- CEO of CBS Corp., which owns Showtime -- expressed his distaste for a lot of the highfalutin' fare the No. 3 premium cable channel (behind HBO and Cinemax) has to offer. Speaking at a Morgan Stanley investor powwow, Moonves said (according to Broadcasting & Cable) that Showtime was too often guilty of "pandering to highbrow TV critics rather than mass TV viewers" and is "a bit too much of an off-off-Broadway play."

Fans of "Weeds" can rest easy: Moonves found that show to be "really commercial." But it probably says a lot about why the moodier "Huff" didn't last.

Since that meeting, Moonves has been yakking up the idea of starting a movie studio (something he told TV critics at a party in January he was thinking of doing) and using Showtime as a way to stretch value out of his box-office pics.

Moonves likes the small screen, but these days he's paid to think about the big picture. And apparently, Azaria & Co. aren't in it.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/
So it wasn't renewed because Mr. Moonves didn't like it? That's what I get from that. I know that's probably not the case (didn't it only average somewhere around 1/2M viewers?), but that article certainly implies it.

So it wasn't renewed because Mr. Moonves didn't like it? That's what I get from that. I know that's probably not the case (didn't it only average somewhere around 1/2M viewers?), but that article certainly implies it.
What I got from that article was that Moonves wants Showtime to be just like every other run-of-the-mill cable channel out there, loaded with commercial TV style garbage....so much for quality, intelligent programming...

I am not sure I would say he didn't like it, Russ.

But I do think from reading a number of stories about him and his reactions to various shows that he certainly thought of "Huff" as one of those shows that spoke more to critics than to viewers.

I think Aaron Barnhart has been a big fan of "Huff" and is a bit disappointed by its demise.

In the recent past, HBO has clobbered Showtime because it had a number of shows that viewers AND critics loved: Larry Sanders, Sex and The City, The Sopranos, etc.

HBO's biggest problem now, it seems to me, is that while the critics are still usually happy with the product, the viewers are not so impressed.

What I got from that article was that Moonves wants Showtime to be just like every other run-of-the-mill cable channel out there, loaded with commercial TV style garbage....so much for quality, intelligent programming...

well if he thinks that upcoming show "Dexter" is going to appeal to the public, he might be mistaken.

The public couldn't get on board with Andre Braugher being a bad guy in Thief, so I don't see a show where the hero is a serial-killing vigilante being something the public will flock to. Unless of course Moonves is going for the ultra violence and nudity angle to pull in the public.

The problem with Showtime is that outside of a few quality shows (99% of which are now cancelled) it really doesn't have much going for it. It's not even a great movie channel.

I often get asked why Saturday night is a wastelend for network TV. Marc Berman got asked the same thing:

(From Marc Berman’s Tuesday, June 27, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Reader Feedback: Saturday Night Television

“I have been meaning to ask this for awhile, and with the passing of Aaron Spelling it seems especially appropriate. I grew up watching The Love Boat and Fantasy Island on Saturday nights, and I wonder about their ratings compared to other programming years. Has Saturday night just become a place to fill with reruns, mediocre newsmagazines and leftover programming? Does any network dare to even program Saturday nights anymore?”-M.A., Minneapolis, MA

-The P.I.:
In its heyday, and that was the 1980-81 season, The Love Boat peaked at No. 5 overall for the season with a 24.3 household rating. Fantasy Island was a perennial top 25 favorite, meanwhile, peaking in the 1977-78 season (its first) at No. 17 with a 21.4 household rating. Comparatively, the No. 1 show this season, Fox’s Tuesday edition of American Idol, averaged a 17.7 household rating. So, times have indeed changed given the increased competitive programming and new technology options.

Although I do remember The Love Boat and Fantasy Island (for a bell-bottomed teenager it was synonymous with being dateless on Saturday), I also recall the days of CBS’ The Jackie Gleason Show in the 1960s; CBS’ All in the Family, MASH, The Jeffersons, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show and The Carol Burnett Show in the 1970s; and NBC classic The Golden Girls from 1985-92. At one time, and for many decades, Saturday was a primary evening for network television. But like the shrinking network audience, time has taken its toll, and that comes as a result of increased competition from cable, increased new technology, the wrong programming choices by the Big 3 networks, and decreased HUT levels. While Fox still performs marginally well with reality stalwarts Cops and America’s Most Wanted, ABC, CBS and NBC have indeed given up. That’s the reality of Saturday night television.

Until one of the networks steps up to the plate and tries to jump-start a once vital evening (sorry, ABC, but the upcoming Saturday Night College Football does not cut it), Saturday will remain a wasteland for exactly what you described. If I were TV Land, I would find a way to fill this evening with some of those classic shows of the past. If it did, I would certainly watch. Wouldn’t you?

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

After seeing all of the critics come out with their opinions about a tv show I have to chime in. I don't think I've read where the Tolan or Leary have condoned rape. They have come and said that the scene was scripted to convey the sick relationship that the two characters have. Yet, we have these opinated reviewers, couldn't be a reviewer if you weren't opinated, deciding that the what they saw was rape and that there is no way the director and writer scripted it as exactly the opposite. Now I must confess, I have never watch this show, but the outrage that has come about from this episode has confounded me.

Seeing as though it is a tv show, why believe that the director or actors or whom ever scripts, directs and acts on this show knows a little more than us about what the scene was supposed to convey? But people are going to see this however they want to. Maureen Ryan, Alan Seipwill and other have already made up in their mind that the scene conveyed rape. Fine! Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. But what gets me is that these folks will not even entertain what Leary and Tolan have stated about the scene b/c they wanted to go on a rant about a fictional scene on a tv show. We're talking about a tv show, a tv show. Some of the reviewers are getting close to saying that Tolan and Leary condone the type of behavior that the characters on this show represent. Maureen Ryan might as well have come out and said that in her last blog b/c she certainly did imply it.

C.W. Nevius writing for the San Francisco Chron seemingly implied that b/c of the Brett Myers incident, which is a true tragedy and the rape scene from 'Rescue Me' indicates that b/c of our "culture" we have allowed these incidents to take place. I guess it's just my frustration with some of these news people, and they know who they are, who think that b/c they can spout an opinion on something, it makes them the resident expert and therefore, any other opinion that doesn't jive with theirs is just plain wrong. Some of these people **cough-C.W. Nevius-cough** are so far out of touch with America that can't even see past their own musings.

Sorry for the rant Fred, I had to say something.

As you your point: I personally draw my line in the sand when a rape is portrayed as in some way a "good thing". My daughter, sister, wife or any woman deserve better than that. .

As for it being "a good thing," this is a point yet to be seen. And Sheila certainly didn't deserve to get the crap beat out of her either, yet that scene flew under the radar unnoticed.

All I'm saying is that the scene is within the realm of likely human behavior. We are primates after all. The show has always been about modern day "Neanderthals" - I'm not sure what program the critics thought they've been watching for the past two seasons. ;)

And, frankly, to see both Leary and Tolan stonewall the objections while claiming some "artistic" merit amuses me as well.

For now I'm willing to accept their explainations. Upon the first viewing, I saw/read from the scene exactly what Dennis explained. The "grin" was about getting one over on his Bro, *not* about the rape/not-rape itself.

PS: I've never viewed "Tommy" as any kind of hero, other than he occasionally manages to pull somebody out of a raging fire. He's certainly not much of a role model.

You might be right, HDTVC: perhaps my quarrel is more with the over-adoring critics than with Leary and Tolan. (Although I will be loathe to let those critics totally off the hook.)

Nonetheless, for me at least, that episode was way over the top.

By the way, it is refreshing to be able to have a discussion about a topic we disagree on so fundamentally and not have it degenerate into personal mudslinging.

So thanks for the civility!

And the same to you, Antonio. I obviously have posted a lot of material on the "Rescue Me" story the past week or so. And you all have good-naturedly waded through it (or skipped over it!)

So never be apologetic for any opinion here. As long as it is in good taste and in the best humor you can muster, it is more than welcome - - whether I agree with it or not.

I am, after all, just a guy interested in HDTV and TV in general and I post what I think might be of interest others with the same quirky likes. I don't hit the bullseye all the time. The intention is simply to inform and sometimes to encourage thought and debate about a wide range of topics related to TV.

The intention certainly isn't to get people to agree with what I like to watch or my brand of TV or my provider or anything else.

So post away if I come up with something you disagree with!

Not everyone, even some of the best-informed TV writers, is as up-to-date on HD as we are.
Example:

TV Notebook
Voom, Voom, Voom-a Voom

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn” Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Remember Voom, the all-high-definition service that was going to become the country's third satellite TV system, before the Cablevision board pulled the plug on it? I remember -- a demo Voom dish sat in my garage for months before I threw it out. There wasn't anyone I could give it back to!

But as it turns out, while the hardware was useless, the software of Voom was quite valuable. So valuable, that it survived as a HDTV offering to Echostar. And now it's won a nice prize at the Promax show. I must say I was really impressed with Voom's HD offerings, especially one-of-a-kind channels like Gallery HD (art) and Animania (hi-def toons). The service as a whole? Not so much. Cablevision's board probably made the right call.

(VOOM press release)

VOOM HD NETWORKS WINS
TV WEEK’S PRESTIGIOUS “CAMPAIGN OF DISTINCTION AWARD 2006” AT THE ANNUAL PROMAX/BDA CONFERENCE ALONG WITH 16 AWARDS FOR PROMOTION AND DESIGN

New York, NY – June 27, 2006, VOOM HD Networks, the largest collection of high-definition channels available anywhere, was presented with TV Week’s “Campaign of Distinction 2006” Award, in recognition of its successful effort to grow and maintain its audience. The honor was bestowed at last week’s Promax/BDA conference in New York City, where VOOM also collected 16 individual awards for promotion and design excellence at the prestigious event.

The Promax/BDA conference annually gathers the world’s top marketing and design executives in the electronic media. The “Campaign of Distinction 2006” awarded to VOOM recognizes the success of the Networks’ on-air “Bliss” campaign in attracting viewers. According to a Promax/BDA statement,

“VOOM has launched 15 channels of high-definition programming available 24-7 designed to appeal to those who have HD sets but complain about the dearth of programming. By becoming the largest producer of HD programming in the world, VOOM’s product obviously looks stellar in its hi-def format. So following the premiere of a new television experience, the service had to show HD set owners ‘that the fuss was worth it.’ VOOM has a growing audience of viewers so honed to HD product, the channels hold viewers longer than traditional TV signals.”

VOOM HD Networks was among nine “Campaign of Distinction” winners including: ABC, CBS, CNN, ABC, NBC, BET Mobile, Sci-Fi, Oxygen and Fox.

During the conference, VOOM was also presented with 16 awards for promotion and design, adding to the 52 previous Promax and BDA statuettes collected by the programmer over the last two years. The 2006 awards are the following:

Nine PROMAX Muse Awards for Promotion and Marketing:
• NON-PROMOTIONAL ANIMATION, Gold: VOOM’s Animania HD, "Little Big Blocks"
• EDITING, Gold: VOOM’s World Cinema HD, Image Spot
• MARKETING PRESENTATION EXTERNAL (MULTIPLE PRODUCTS) – VIDEO, Gold: VOOM HD Networks Sales Tape
• SPORTS PROGRAM PROMOTION, Gold: VOOM’s Rush HD, "Focused"
• TV PROMOTION – WEBSITE, Gold: VOOM’s RushHD.com
• BEST WORK NEVER SEEN, Gold: VOOM ‘s Mondo Monday
• INTERSTITIAL/PROMOTAINMENT – MOVIES, Silver: VOOM’s Kung Fu HD "Ass Kick of the Day"
• SPECIAL EVENT PROGRAM PROMOTION, Silver: VOOM’s Ultra HD, "Full Frontal Fashion: Fashion Week New York"
• USE OF LIBRARY MUSIC FOR A PROMO, Silver: VOOM, "Promax Hotel Spot"

Six BDA Isis Awards for Design:
• INFORMATIONAL GRAPHICS, Gold: VOOM’s Family Room HD, Spaced Out Countdown
• PROMO FOR WEBSITE, Gold: VOOM’s RushHD.com
• ART DIRECTION & DESIGN, Silver: IMAGE PROMO: VOOM’s Ultra HD, January Overview
• ART DIRECTION & DESIGN, Silver: TOPICAL PROMO CAMPAIGN: VOOM’s Rave HD Lab, “Groov All Night”
• ART DIRECTION & DESIGN / IMAGE CAMPAIGN, Silver: VOOM’s Ultra HD, “What is Beautiful, What is Style”
• TOPICAL ON-AIR, Silver: VOOM’s Animania HD, “Little Big Blocks”
• ART DIRECTION & DESIGN / IMAGE PROMO, Bronze: VOOM’s Spring 2005 Image Spot

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2006/06/voom_voom_vooma.html#more

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

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.

TV Notebook
Star Jones Reynolds's Departure From 'The View' Was in the Works for Months

By Jacques Steinberg The New York Times June 27, 2006

Star Jones Reynolds's departure from "The View," which she announced on the show today after weeks of rumors, was actually in the works for far longer than even savvy viewers realized. It came more than six months after ABC executives decided not to renew her contract when it expires later this summer, Barbara Walters, the show's co-executive producer, said in an interview after the broadcast.

"They had done a great deal of research, and her negatives were rising," said Ms. Walters, who, like Ms. Jones Reynolds, has been a co-host of the program since its inception nine years ago. "Not so much because of what she did on the air. It was things she did off the air. The audience was losing trust in her. They didn't believe some of the things she said."

Ms. Walters declined to specify what in particular had concerned the network, but Ms. Jones Reynolds drew criticism when she arranged for suppliers to donate items for her wedding in 2004, apparently in exchange for being mentioned on the show.

Yet Ms. Walters said that the timing of today's announcement had caught her off guard, even with all the recent speculation that Ms. Jones Reynolds would leave the show before Rosie O'Donnell, a sometimes critic of Ms. Jones Reynolds, joined it in September. Ms. Walters said she and Ms. Jones Reynolds had agreed to announce the departure on Thursday.

During the commercial break immediately before her announcement, Ms. Jones Reynolds, Ms. Walters and the two other hosts — Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck — had been talking about air-conditioning, which was to be the subject of their regular "Hot Topics" segment.

Instead, Ms. Jones Reynolds began the segment by interrupting Ms. Behar to say, "Excuse me one minute."

After clasping her colleagues' hands in hers, she continued, "Something has been on my heart for a little bit, and after much prayer and counsel, I feel like this is the right time to tell you that the show is moving in another direction for its 10th season, and I will not be returning as co-host next year."

Ms. Jones Reynolds did not mention Ms. O'Donnell by name, nor did she note that her contract was due to expire soon. But in an interview with People magazine completed before today's show and posted on the magazine's Web site shortly after it, Ms. Jones Reynolds said she had been told sometime before the announcement of Ms. O'Donnell's hiring (in late April) that her contract was not being renewed.

"I feel like I was fired," she is quoted as saying in People.

A spokesman for Ms. Jones Reynolds, Brad Zeifman, said today that she was giving no other interviews.

In addition to serving as a co-host, Ms. O'Donnell is to be the show's informal moderator, replacing Meredith Vieira, who left earlier this month en route to the "Today" show on NBC.

Periodic disagreements and undercurrents of tension have always been an element of "The View," which is essentially a kaffeeklatsch, albeit one in front of a studio audience. But Ms. O'Donnell's public criticisms of Ms. Jones Reynolds have been notably sharp. In an interview on "Good Morning America" before the announcement that she was joining the show, Ms. O'Donnell expressed skepticism about Ms. Jones Reynolds's genuineness.

Asked on April 28 about Ms. Jones Reynolds's future in the O'Donnell era, Ms. Walters told a New York Times reporter: "Rosie will be there. And if Star wants to continue to be there, she is welcome."

Ms. Walters said today that when she made those remarks, she was aware that the network did not plan to renew Ms. Jones Reynolds's contract. Asked to explain why she had suggested, erroneously, that Ms. Jones Reynolds would be the one making a decision about her future, Ms. Walters said, "I was trying to protect Star."

Ms. Walters refused to say whether she concurred with the network's decision. But she said she and the show's other co-executive producer, Bill Geddie, had lobbied ABC for months to put off making the final decision.

"They wanted us to tell Star in December," Ms. Walters said. "I said, 'I won't do it before Christmas.' Then in January her book was coming out. We didn't want to hurt her book. Then she told me in February she was having an operation" — a plastic surgery procedure — "I didn't want her to go under the knife with all this stress."

Abbie Schiller, a spokeswoman for ABC's daytime division, said, "The network exhibited utmost patience at every step of the way, but at the end of the day we all felt it was time to move on." On "The View" today, Ms. Walters struck a more conciliatory tone, telling Ms. Jones Reynolds, "From the day you came on this program, nine years ago, I cannot imagine 'The View' being the success it has been without you." A moment later, Ms. Walters added, "Whatever is best for you is what I want, what we all want most for you."

As for her next job, Ms. Jones Reynolds told the "View" audience, "I'm not sure what the future holds."

When Ms. Behar lamented, "Who am I going to fight with now?," Ms. Jones Reynolds tried to reassure her.

"Something tells me you'll have somebody to fight with," she said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/27/arts/television/27cnd-star.html?ei=5094&en=1f0c3023cb81f365&hp=&ex=1151467200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

Washington Notebook
Senate panel clears b'cast flag

By Brooks Boliek The Hollywood Reporter June 28, 2006

WASHINGTON -- A key Senate committee approved legislation that ultimately will give the FCC authority to promulgate regulations designed to protect content delivered by digital broadcasts.

Approval of the so-called broadcast and audio flags came Tuesday as the Senate Commerce Committee worked through a veritable mountain of amendments to its rewrite of many of the nation's telecommunications laws.

One of the broadcast flag provisions gives the FCC specific authority to write regulations that protect digital TV content delivered over the airwaves.

The federal court ruled that the commission doesn't have the authority to set up the copyright-protection regime without express direction from Congress.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002729092

Cable TV Notebook
Peter Gammons suffers brain aneurysm, in surgery

ESPN.com Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Longtime ESPN Baseball analyst Peter Gammons suffered an aneurysm in his brain Tuesday morning near his home on Cape Cod, Mass. He was airlifted to a Boston hospital, where he is currently undergoing surgery.

Gammons, 61, is probably the best-known baseball writer of his generation, first with the Boston Globe, beginning in 1969, then for Sports Illustrated, before joining ESPN in 1990.

He was honored with J.G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing during the 2005 Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y. He was selected in balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

He started his career as a reporter for the Boston Globe in 1969 and wrote a very popular weekly Sunday baseball column for many years. He has also worked for Sports Illustrated covering the National Hockey League, college basketball and Major League Baseball (1976-78, 1986-90).

In 1986, upon his return to Sports Illustrated as a senior writer following a second stay at the Globe, he wrote numerous stories covering some of baseball's most important news events, as well as authoring "Inside Baseball," Sports Illustrated's weekly baseball notebook.

Gammons primarily serves as a studio analyst for ESPN's Baseball Tonight, but he also does regular spots for SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and ESPN Radio and contributes to ESPN The Magazine. He is a columnist and writes a popular Weblog for ESPN.com.

Gammons is also the author of "Beyond the Sixth Game", a look at free agency.

Born April 9, 1945, Gammons is a native of Boston, raised in nearby Groton, Mass. He attended the University of North Carolina and is married to his wife, Gloria.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=2502295&type=story

Cable TV Notebook
Peter Gammons update

ESPN.com 9:55 PM ET July 27

Longtime ESPN Baseball analyst Peter Gammons is out of surgery and resting in intensive care after undergoing an operation to treat an aneurysm in his brain Tuesday.

Gammons suffered the aneurysm Tuesday morning near his home on Cape Cod, Mass. He was airlifted to a Boston hospital, where the surgery was performed.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2502295

Washington Notebook
Senators endorse broadcast flag plan

Anne Broache, for News.com June 27, 2006

WASHINGTON--A legislative proposal to revive a controversial anticopying system known as the broadcast flag cleared a U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday, despite misgivings from some senators.

During a day of debate on a wide-ranging communications bill, members of the Senate Commerce Committee endorsed the idea of requiring digital TV receivers to restrict redistribution--particularly over the Internet--of over-the-air broadcasts. The measure would also allow for similar rules, or an "audio flag," for digital radio receivers.

Also at the committee meeting, chairman Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, postponed discussion on what has proved to be one of the thorniest provisions of the bill: Net neutrality. Senators plan to begin debate on that topic on Wednesday at 7 a.m. PDT, with votes on a number of amendments expected.

The entire communications bill won't become law unless it receives final approval by the committee and, later, the full Senate. It must also be reconciled with a House of Representatives version that differs in many respects, including its lack of broadcast or audio flag components. House members scheduled a Tuesday afternoon hearing to explore the issue.

The flag provisions may have sailed through the Senate committee without changes for now, but New Hampshire Republican John Sununu said he was strongly considering offering an amendment when the bill moves to the floor. (No recorded vote took place in the committee.)

"I have concerns about the flag language because it is a technology mandate and because the technology mandate may actually discourage innovation and discourage different products from coming into the market," he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-1028_3-6088711.html?pagewanted=print

By the way, I should have credited Aaron Barnhart of Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn” with sending me to the Peter Gammons item.

Thanks Aaron!

Nielsen Notebook
NBC’s “Talent” Stands Out

By Gary Levin USA Today

• Talent shows. The premiere of NBC's America's Got Talent, one of several variety contests on tap this summer, opened with 12.4 million viewers Wednesday, ranking second for the week, and grabbed another 6.5 million for a Friday repeat of its two-hour premiere. ABC's Master of Champions was less of a champion, managing just 6.1 million for Thursday's debut.

• Happy trails. AMC's first miniseries, Broken Trail, a Western starring Robert Duvall, opened Sunday with a huge 9.9 million. Part 1 shattered channel records, was the year's biggest movie and the week's biggest program on cable, and beat all other networks for the night. Just 2.2 million of those viewers were adults 18 to 49.

• Hoops, etc. The deciding sixth game of the NBA Finals Tuesday won 15.7 million fans, the biggest game in the Miami-Dallas showdown. Overall, the Finals averaged 13 million, up 13% from last year. NBC's deciding Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup drew 5.3 million Monday, the most-watched of that low-rated series. And ESPN's World Cup coverage of the U.S. team's elimination by Ghana averaged 3.8 million Thursday morning.

• Closer comedown. TNT's The Closer dropped to 6.1 million viewers Monday, a still-impressive showing but down 27% from its record-topping season premiere a week earlier. Companion drama Saved dropped 31%, to 3.5 million. And Showtime's Huff ended its season — and its two-year run — Sunday with 212,000 viewers.

• Crashers. NBC drama Windfall collapsed in its third week with 5.6 million viewers, down from 9 million for its premiere; ABC reality series How to Get the Guy fell to 3.8 million; and CBS' Tuesday Night Book Club closed with 4.1 million for its second week, and was replaced this week by 48 Hours.

• Oh, brother. CBS' Big Brother casting special, revealing which "all-stars" viewers can vote back into the house, lured a modest 5.9 million viewers Wednesday, ahead of the season opener July 6.

• Girl talk. A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story drew 5.1 million viewers Monday, marking Lifetime's top movie this year.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-06-27-nielsen-analysis_x.htm

TV Notebook
“JAG” Star Comes “Home”

By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter June 28, 2006

David James Elliott is joining the cast of CBS' "Close to Home" as a regular.

On the legal drama from Jerry Bruckheimer TV and Warner Bros. TV, Elliott will play D.A. Conlon, a smart, ambitious and charming big-city prosecutor from Manhattan who joins suburban prosecutors Annabeth Chase (Jennifer Finnigan) and Maureen Scofield (Kimberly Elise). He will make his debut in the show's second season premiere in the fall.

John Carroll Lynch, who played D.A. Steve Sharpe in Season 1, is leaving the series along with Christian Kane whose character, Chase's husband Jack, was killed off in the Season 1 finale.

TV law is familiar territory for Elliott, who played pilot-turned-lawyer Lt. Harmon Rabb on the NBC/CBS series "JAG" for 10 years.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002729172

The TV Column
The Week’s Winners and Losers

By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, June 28, 2006; C07

Ratings-wise, last week's big news was AMC's first original flick, a Robert Duvall western that buried HBO's western series alive.

Here's a look at the week's cowboys and snakes:

WINNERS

"Broken Trail." AMC clocked the biggest audience in its history -- nearly 10 million viewers -- with its movie starring Duvall as a cowboy herding hundreds of horses from Oregon to Wyoming who encounters five female Chinese slaves. Nearly 10 million people watched Part 1 of the two-parter. It was the most-watched program on television Sunday night. Same night, HBO's "Deadwood" averaged about 2.2 million viewers at 9 p.m.-ish. Duvall dismissed his Sunday western competish: "I get the feeling it's a provincial New Yorker's concept of what the West was like," he told USA Today recently.

World Cup . Saturday's telecast of Mexico vs. Argentina match snagged 6.7 million viewers -- the single largest sports telecast among Hispanic viewers ever, including all Super Bowls.

NBA Finals . Tuesday's final game was the week's most-watched program, averaging nearly 16 million viewers. Overall this year's series scored about 1.5 million more viewers than last year's through its sixth game.

Anderson Cooper, Celebrity Journalist . Tuesday night, when Cooper bagged Angelina Jolie, he also copped an average of 1.3 million viewers for CNN. The next night, his "360?" show was back down to 709,000 viewers -- not quite as many as watched UPN's "My Date With Drew" that night.

"America's Got Talent." Regis Philbin, a professional finger-snapper, an old male stripper and a nose flutist are among the reasons the debut of NBC's reality series drew 12.4 million viewers.

"A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story." Lifetime flick about murdered transgender teen logged 5.1 million viewers Monday; it was the week's No. 1-ranked non-wrestling cablecast among 18-to-49-year-olds.

LOSERS

"Tuesday Night Book Club." Turns out, "reality series" was a bit of a misnomer for this Scottsdale-based CBS show, according to the Arizona Republic. At least one of the seven women portrayed as living in Scottsdale didn't, at least one home depicted as being a book club member's wasn't, and the longtime pals weren't. Grievously, CBS killed the show after last week's second broadcast, robbing the paper of six more weeks of reporting fun.

"Huff." Showtime wolves puffed and blew this show off its schedule when they discovered it was made of ratings straw. And they all lived happily ever after.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/27/AR2006062701691_pf.html

The TV Column
A 'View' Meltdown as Star Jones Is Ousted

By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, June 28, 2006; C07

Barbara Walters whined to the Associated Press that she was "betrayed" by Star Jones yesterday when "The View" co-host announced on the show that she is leaving next month.

The announcement had been orchestrated to happen tomorrow, said Walters, executive producer of the ABC daytime show.

But Jones took control of the story, also giving an interview to People magazine in which she said her contract had not been renewed and she felt like she'd been fired.

Let's take a moment to review:
• Star gets the old heave-ho.
• "View" suits want it out on Thursday.
• Barbara Walters exec-produces "View."
• Star announces it Tuesday.
• Barbara tells the AP she's been betrayed.

In case you missed it, Jones cut into Joy Behar's blah, blah, blah around 11:13 a.m.:

"I apologize for interrupting you. Something has been on my heart for a little bit and after much prayer and counsel I feel like this is the right time to tell you that the show is moving in another direction for its 10th season, and I will not be returning as co-host next year."

"That's shocking to me," Joy responds. Oh paleeze.

Star then snatches Joy's hand on one side and Barbara's hand on the other, turning their nightmare into her kumbaya moment.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck, sensing that she is, as always, being left behind like an annoying kid sister, grabs Joy's hand that Star has latched on to and hangs on for dear life.

Babara, trying to regain control of the situation, signals the studio audience to stand and give Star an ovation. They are sheep; they do so.

"We'd heard rumors, we'd read rumors," Barbara says, her nose growing inches by the second.

When the show wrapped, she got busy spinning the AP.

"I love Star and was trying to do everything I possibly could -- up until this morning when I was betrayed -- to protect her," she said.

Walters claims ABC decided to lose Star because research showed viewers turned on her when she went from overweight and single to skinny and married. Star got blasted in the media over a Web site that had promoted companies donating items to her wedding party's gift bags, the AP reminded readers.

"We tried to talk them out of it," Walters said. "And we tried to give Star time to redeem herself in the eyes of the audience."

ABC decided to go instead with a less controversial co-host: Rosie O'Donnell.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/27/AR2006062701691_pf.html

TV Notebook
Morning duo defies custom

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist Wed, Jun. 28, 2006

Who's your daddy, Good Morning America?

With Charlie Gibson saying his goodbyes today after almost 19 years, GMA will stick with coanchors Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts rather than add another male to the ruling class.

Before you start preparing for the apocalypse, rest assured that the gals will be joined by a male news reader and weatherguy. Both positions are open.

Even with two men on the set, some viewers will find it difficult to accept two women in power positions - particularly in morning TV, where the on-air ensemble historically resembles mom and pop and the kids.

"It's hard to escape that traditional model," says Suzanna Walters, head of the department of gender studies at Indiana University. "We're still a nation threatened by women in leadership positions. It stands to reason that TV would be the same."

NBC's Today, No. 1 for more than a decade, has Matt Lauer and Katie Couric/Meredith Vieira. In its heyday, ABC's GMA starred David Hartman and Joan Lunden; then Gibson and Lunden. CBS's Early Show, in third place since A.C. Nielsen was a lad, has four anchors, three of them female.

Roberts, 45, no stranger to the boys' club from her years at ESPN, acknowledges that more eyebrows will be raised over two female anchors than over two males.

"With as many inroads as women have made, it's still seen differently. Right, wrong or indifferent, a lot of people can't get past how they've been raised. It's how we are as a society. We still have a ways to go."

Still, Roberts says she was shocked by her own reaction when she was first approached to fill in for Gibson, 64, now the full-time solo anchor of World News Tonight.

"I said, 'No way. Two women don't do that.' I, too, bought into the whole man-woman model. Then I caught myself going, 'Huh? What am I doing? What's the big deal?' I love doing the show with Diane. We're good together. People like us."

Not that Roberts advocates an all-girl lineup, like Barbara Walters' ABC daytime chickfest, The View. GMA needs men to provide a male perspective, she says.

"The View is wonderful, and it has its own unique style and they knock it out of the park, but I don't think people necessarily want to see that from us. They want to see male points of view. They want to see the guy. I'm not offended by that. I love all perspectives."

Today executive producer Jim Bell says having a male and female provides a broader range of experience, but he sees nothing wrong with two women anchors "if they're the right two women. There are plenty of days when it's Robin and Diane, and I don't think the world came to an end."

Steve Friedman, head of CBS morning programs and former Today chief, says it's not about gender, it's about diversity.

When you do ensembles, Friedman says, you don't want everybody to be the same, whether in gender, ethnicity or point of view.

The Early Show anchors represent a veritable Rainbow Coalition: Julie Chen, Hannah Storm, Rene Syler and Harry Smith. (Note: To up the testosterone level, Friedman counts weatherman Dave Price as an anchor.)

"When morning shows began, the idea was to mimic the breakfast table, with mommy, daddy and some kids," says Friedman. "You can break the mold now. There are no bad ideas, only poor execution. And if you execute poorly, you get executed."

Says NBC's Bell: "I don't think there's a formula that has to be adhered to. If it works, it works."

All agree that morning TV ensembles are perceived more as family than in any other part of the day. They feel like it, too, says GMA's Roberts.

"With those early hours, your defenses are down. You absolutely need each other. Not all of us are going to be 'on' that day. There's some mornings when I'll say, 'You know what? You've got to do the heavy lifting today. I'm spent.' You're truly reliant on others."

In Bell's view, the on-screen family is a reflection of viewers' families at home at that hour. In some families, the mad morning rush represents the only time of the day the whole clan is together, he says.

In the mythical morning TV template, ABC's Roberts and Sawyer, 60, neither of whom has children, do not represent "two mommies," Roberts says.

"She's a girlfriend, a sister. As cultured and sophisticated and glamorous as she is, she's the girl next door in many ways. I'm the pesky kid sister, the mischievous one. I like to shake things up."

To that end, don't be surprised if Roberts pulls a prank or two at Gibson's goodbye sendoff today. In between sobs, that is.

"I'm going to cry like a baby," she says. "We're a tight family, and it will be like a member of the family is gone. Selfishly, I'll miss him. But I'm very happy for him and the network. He's brilliant. He should be right where he is."

Like her late father, Gibson "is a true gentleman, and there's not that many left in the world," she adds. "It's very apparent he has two daughters and a strong wife. He never talks down to women or makes snide remarks.

"They've done a terrific job with him."

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//14916421.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Critic’s Notebook
Showtime's betrayal

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn”

A longtime SHO subscriber sees a deeper problem at the No. 3 premium channel. Whether you ascribe this to system failure or, as the letter-writer does, bad faith, it is a chronic problem.

Russ Blum writes, "There is a much more serious and cynical strategy being perpetrated by SHO on its subscribers than canceling Huff and I wish you'd do a piece on it."

The letter continues:

I have read several articles in various trades over the last few years that quoted SHO execs, (in response to complaints of canceling new series after only two seasons) that in essence say that "we have gotten all the new eyeballs out of: take your pick---Stargate, Dead Like Me, Jeremiah, Odyssey 5, Street Time, and on and and on and on-that we can, so there was no reason for us to continue the financial outlay of their continuing production". (BTW, LOOK at that list alone-there are others I can't recall!)

I was utterly stunned when I heard that about the first dropped show, then ever more-so when the same general statement was made about other shows as they were also dropped one-by-one, almost all after their second seasons.

Aaron, this is the height of TV Net arrogance and demonstrates that SHO has exactly no sense of responsibility or obligation to fulfill the expectations of SHO subs who signed up on good faith after viewing a series they are willing to pay ten bucks a month to watch.

In fact, this is quite honestly the most demonstrable case of BAD faith that I've witnessed by and TV net ever.

On the other hand, perhaps we should give credit to SHO for being honest about their dishonesty.

Unlike the vastly superior, and vastly more popular and financially successful HBO, SHO has no respect at all for its audience.

No doubt HBO also looks to new series in hopes of bringing in "new eyeballs", but at least with HBO, after they GET them, they follow through on their implicit promise to continue to air the very shows that brought those eyeballs in.

Granted, HBO has cancelled some of its shows, but on the whole, just as their level of series quality reflects, they CARE about the product they air and those who buy it.

Every damn time I have gotten hooked on a SHO series, EVERY time, I can bet dollars to donuts that it's life-span will be two years and then don't let the door hit you on this ass on your way out, baby.

The only reason The L-Word is still on is because of its continued "buzz" and sexual controversy, SHO feels it still will bring in new eyeballs this season as well. Otherwise, it would be bye-bye- L-Word. again, this two season and punt routine of theirs is no reflection whatsoever on either the quality or the numbers these shows draw. Again, check it out yourself.

This is a serious, serious betrayal of SHO subs' trust and I hope that a TV writer with your rep and exposure takes this issue on and looks into SHO series' cancellations status quo and the many exec quotes out there admitting to its cynical money-grubbing approach to renewals and cancelations.

I must agree with several of your posters-it simply is not worth subbing to SHO knowing that with rare exceptions, if you love a SHO series, no matter what that ratings or quality, once the SHO suits think that they've brought in all the new subscribers it is likely to, then it is history.

This is simply outrageous.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2006/06/showtimes_betra.html#more

Cable Nielsen Notebook
AMC's 'Broken Trail' smashes records

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 28, 2006

If you’re going to get into original programming on cable, you may as well go all out. That was apparently the thought at AMC, which announced earlier this year that it would air its first-ever original movie in June.

First the network secured Robert Duvall, one of the biggest movie stars to do a basic cable movie in recent years, as its lead. Then it added recent Oscar nominee Thomas Haden Church, from “Sideways,” to the supporting cast. Finally, it mounted the largest advertising and public relations blitz in network history.

For its big effort, AMC got a big reward. Part one of the miniseries “Broken Trail” averaged an impressive 9.9 million total viewers and 6.7 million households in its Sunday premiere at 8 p.m.

That obliterated AMC’s old household record of 2.7 million for debut of “The High and Mighty” last July. It was the second-most-watched basic cable movie since 1995, behind only TNT’s 9.6 million households for “Crossfire Trail” in 2001. That was also a Western.

“Trail” was also the most-watched broadcast of any type on cable this year, outdistancing the NBA playoffs, TNT’s high-rated drama “The Closer” and ESPN’s popular NFL Draft.

By comparison, second quarter’s second-highest-rated film on ad-supported cable was Lifetime’s “A Girl Like Me,” which averaged 5.1 million viewers.

Part two of “Trail” aired Monday night at 8 p.m., ratings for which will be released later today.

“Trail” marked Duvall’s first TV movie since 1989’s mega-miniseries “Lonesome Dove” on CBS. While the generally well-received “Trail” got notably poor reviews from the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, it likely drew viewers with its impressive pedigree.

Walter Hill, who also worked on “Deadwood,” directed “Trail.” Duvall also executive produced the Western, which was set in 1897 and follows Duval and his nephew, played by Church, as they herd horses from Oregon to Wyoming. It shows some social conscience with a subplot about enslaved Chinese girls who come under the duo’s care.

AMC, which is available in 88 million households, promoted its first original film like crazy. CNN, CBS and other national news media carried stories on Duvall, and Church appeared in magazines like Entertainment Weekly.

The network launched an online “Trail” mini-site spinoff of its main site and advertised the film at several movie theaters.

Certainly 20-year-old AMC is coming late to the original programming genre. TNT, FX and other networks have been making miniseries and movies for years, including Dreamworks’ “Into the West” on TNT last year, Sci Fi’s Steven Speilberg mini “Taken” in 2002, and Lifetime’s weekly originals.

AMC’s continued original programming push will include its first scripted drama series, “Mad Men,” about advertising in the 1960s.

Meanwhile, in other cable ratings for the week ended June 25:

Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): USA, TNT, Spike, TBS, Lifetime

Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): USA, TNT, AMC, Lifetime, Nick at Nite

Top movie (18-49s): Lifetime’s “A Girl Like Me” (Monday, 9 p.m.) 2.42 million

Top sporting event (total viewers): USA’s “WWE Entertainment” (Monday, 10 p.m.) 5.80 million

Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: USA’s “WWE Entertainment” (Monday, 10 p.m.); USA’s “WWE Entertainment” (Monday, 9 p.m.); Lifetime’s “A Girl Like Me” (Monday, 9 p.m.); ESPN’s “World Cup: Portugal-Netherlands” (Saturday, 2:55 p.m.); ESPN’s “World Cup: Ghana-U.S.” (Thursday, 9:40 a.m.); Spike’s “The Ultimate Fighter” (Saturday, 9 p.m.)

Show on the rise: “Anderson Cooper 360,” CNN, Tuesday 10 p.m. Who says news anchors are above rating stunts? Cooper doubled his usual audience last Tuesday with his Angelina Jolie interview, which averaged 1.3 million total viewers.

Show on the decline: “ECW,” Sci Fi, Tuesday 10 p.m. Airing against Cooper-Jolie’s interview did not help the second week of Sci Fi’s new wrestling show, which lost some 500,000 viewers 18-49 in its second outing, averaging 1.35 million.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5664.asp

The Digital Revolution
California Cities May Lose Power Over Cable TV

A compromise on a bill to let phone giants offer pay-TV service would strip California localities of most of their power over the cable industry
By Marc Lifsher and James S. Granelli Los Angeles Times Staff Writers June 28, 2006

SACRAMENTO — California cities and counties would be stripped of most of their power to regulate local cable television operators as part of a compromise that emerged Tuesday in a high-stakes legislative battle over local television service.

The plan would allow cable TV operators to be regulated statewide by the California Public Utilities Commission.

Local officials were wary Tuesday of the proposal, saying they were worried about the effect on pay-TV consumers if local governments could no longer set basic rates, ensure equal access to services for all residents and handle customer complaints.

The PUC's proposed role in setting pay-TV rates and service standards was not spelled out Tuesday.

"We still think that the kinds of problems that come up are going to be best solved at the local level," said Megan Taylor of the League of California Cities. "If someone puts graffiti on switching boxes, are you going to call the PUC?"

Dan Wall, the top lobbyist for Los Angeles County, agreed. "We think local control is the best model, but that doesn't seem to be an option," he said.

The compromise was unveiled in the state Senate on Tuesday by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles). He has been shepherding a bill through the Legislature that would allow the state's telephone companies to begin offering local television service transmitted through phone lines. The legislation passed the Assembly on May 31.

As originally written, the Nuñez bill, AB 2987, called for statewide regulation of the phone companies, including AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., in providing TV service. But it did not address cable TV.

Cable companies called it unfair that they would have to deal with the demands of numerous local governments while the phone companies would have to contend with only one statewide regulator.

As a result, Nuñez said that a compromise was at hand while a Senate committee began considering his bill on Tuesday. He offered an amendment calling for statewide regulation of cable operators and phone companies.

"This is about providing customer choice, about lowering prices and about making everybody happy," Nuñez told the committee Tuesday.

Counties and cities, not wanting to buck the powerful speaker, spent much of Tuesday afternoon furiously negotiating with the speaker's staff to salvage what they could from the proposed regulatory scheme before a key vote in the Senate Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee on Thursday.

Advocates for consumers and small businesses split over the Nuñez bill.

Proponents of the legislation argued that allowing phone carriers to offer pay-TV service under a statewide franchise would boost competition, encourage the introduction of new products and lower prices.

"You cannot go city by city in our state and remain competitive," said Ronald Gastelum, president of the Greater Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, which represents small-business owners.

Opponents argued that eliminating much of the local control over television franchises would leave customers unprotected.

"It's a complete bailout for cable companies and AT&T to ramrod a bill that has no controls on either industry," said Jamie Court president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights based in Santa Monica.

The tentative agreement removes the cable industry's opposition to the bill and sets the stage for expected passage by the full Legislature before it adjourns Aug. 30.

"We had to do what was in the best interest of our clients," said Dennis Mangers, a lobbyist for the California Cable & Telecommunications Assn. He predicted that most of his industry, dominated by Comcast Corp., Adelphia Communications Corp., Cox Communications Inc., Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications Inc., would opt for a state franchise if Verizon or AT&T entered their service territories.

Cities and counties, the bill's primary remaining opponents, concede they have little chance of slowing down the measure.

Local governments are particularly worried that they would get less money from cable TV operators through franchise fees. The bill would require phone and cable companies to pay local governments the same 5% fee now paid by cable operators under local franchise agreements but could change the way those fees are calculated.

Cities and counties and some consumer advocates also said they wanted to make sure that Nuñez's bill would prevent telephone companies from favoring high-income neighborhoods in the delivery of Internet, phone and video service.

"We want to ensure service to all communities," said Los Angeles City Councilman Alex Padilla.

Until now, the battle over the bill had been shaping up as the year's biggest clash between competing business interests: cable TV versus the phone companies.

For months, the phone and cable industries had been preparing for warfare by running campaign-style advertisements in newspapers and on television to influence lawmakers, the governor and the public.

The state's major phone companies declined Tuesday to comment specifically on Nuñez's deal with the cable companies.

Kenneth P. McNeely, president of AT&T California, said he expected the governor to sign the bill because it "encourages competition and choice and significant investment in a broadband infrastructure."

But assuming statewide franchising goes into effect Jan. 1, it's difficult to say how soon the phone companies can start offering video service.

AT&T would not say where it plans to roll out pay-TV because it wants to help cable companies focus efforts to lock customers into long-term contracts.

Verizon spokesman Jonathan Davies said the company already has fiber-optic lines going to homes in 30 California cities. Once statewide franchising takes effect, he said, the company could offer pay-TV in those cities in one to three months, depending on how much additional equipment is needed.

"The hard part is putting in the fiber," Davies said. "The back-office stuff is not as time-consuming."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-fi-tvbyphone28jun28,0,358850,print.story?coll=cl-tv-features

Mark Cuban never stops…..
TV Notebook
Cuban, Marino to buy Pens?

By Andrew Conte (Pittsburgh) TRIBUNE-REVIEW Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Homegrown sports icons Mark Cuban and Dan Marino have joined a group that wants to buy the Penguins and keep them in the city to anchor a potential sports-themed development around a new arena, the group's lead backer said Tuesday.

Cuban, who grew up in Mt. Lebanon and owns the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks, confirmed he's joining New York financier Andrew Murstein's bid to buy the team. Cuban said by e-mail he wants "to help keep the team in Pittsburgh. That's a condition of my participation."

You can read the whole story here is you are interested:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_459794.html

Sports On TV
Gammons has an aneurysm

ESPN icon placed in intensive care
By Gordon Edes Boston Globe June 28, 2006

ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons, whose Sunday notes column in the Globe had a seminal impact on the way the sport is covered, came out of surgery and was in intensive care last night for a brain aneurysm. Gammons, who had planned to be at Fenway Park last night, was stricken near his home on Cape Cod and air-lifted to a Boston hospital, his wife, Gloria, told the Globe's Bob Ryan. Indications were he will remain in intensive care for 10-12 days, his wife said. Doctors are being cautiously optimistic on his recovery.

Gammons, a native of Groton, Mass., and a 1969 graduate of the University of North Carolina, primarily serves as a studio analyst for ESPN's ``Baseball Tonight," but he also does regular spots for ``SportsCenter," ESPNEWS, and ESPN Radio and contributes to ESPN The Magazine. He is a columnist and writes a popular blog for ESPN.com.

He was the recipient of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing during the 2005 Hall of Fame induction ceremony July 31 in Cooperstown, N.Y., and is popularly known around the game as the ``commissioner" because of his ubiquitous presence. Recently, Gammons worked an ESPN ``Sunday Night Baseball" game in Los Angeles, took a red-eye home, and was at Fenway at 9 the next morning for the Sox' Patriots Day game.

With a story in which he shared a byline with Ryan (on whether baseball should be played after Robert Kennedy was assassinated), Gammons began his career as a summer intern in 1968 for the Globe, where he developed his weekly notes column of information, anecdotes, trade rumors, and gossip into a must-read in the industry. Gammons, who also worked for Sports Illustrated covering the National Hockey League, college basketball, and Major League Baseball (1976-78, 1986-90), has been cited as the inspiration for a generation of sportswriters who followed.

Born April 9, 1945, Gammons had just finished recording a CD, scheduled for release July 4, in which members of the Red Sox, including GM Theo Epstein, contribute, along with many of his friends in the music industry. The CD is entitled, ``Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old," and is to be released by Rounder Records.

``Our thoughts are with Peter and his family," ESPN spokesman Nate Smeltz said last night.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/06/28/gammons_has_an_aneurysm?mode=PF

TV Review
Politically incorrect gem on FX

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday, June 28, 2006

There is a willful, even gleeful abandonment of political correctness in FX's spare, painfully funny comedy "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia." It's that very fearlessness, that desire to push the boundaries of what's considered offensive that made this series such a wonderful surprise last season.

Returning for Season 2 at 10 PM ET/PT Thursday, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" has lost none of its giddy sharp edges, even while taking a step up from obscurity by adding Danny DeVito to the cast (his first role as a series regular since "Taxi"). DeVito's presence continues a trend of FX using more star power to fuel its rising hits (can't fault it for that, since so far the practice has worked on "The Shield," "Nip/Tuck" and "Rescue Me"). But the best news here is that DeVito fits in nicely, retapping into his roots as Louie De Palma and bringing up the unsavory social aspects that play so well in this series.

"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is at least semifamous for beating the odds on two different fronts. First it was an idea shot for $200 by creators (and stars) Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton -- this was back in the days when shooting something on the cheap and praying to be recognized was the precursor to shooting something for cheap and sticking it on YouTube.

But FX liked what it saw, bought the pilot (and reshot it), then got back into the comedy game with "Sunny" and "Starved," a series about eating disorders (FX has never gone in for mass appeal). Since the network launched its first comedy ("Lucky") only to see it falter, there was some worry that the grit and rawness of the channel's dramas had all but conditioned people to think first about bald, menacing cops, devious plastic surgeons and rough-hewn firefighters instead of, say, something funny.

But the channel stuck with "Sunny" after giving up on "Starved," giving the comedy a full 10-episode order that significantly improves the state of the genre. That it has survived this long is great news for TV comedy. This is a series that's ridiculously funny, managing to be offensive on purpose and not seem like it's being offensive on purpose. It seems genuinely smart about sending up hot-button issues instead of appearing calculating, like when series give viewers a nod and wink as they slash away at all that's sacred.

Instead, "Sunny" has an infectious goofiness to it that leavens the subject matter. Last year, the series tackled racism, underage drinking, gun control and abortion -- pretty much any issue that might cause people to react one way. The show went the other with merry enthusiasm. The first two episodes this season -- airing back-to-back Thursday -- are called "Charlie Gets Crippled" and "The Gang Goes Jihad." A later episode is titled "Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom." You get the picture.

But not entirely. Credit goes to Day, McElhenney, Howerton and the wonderful Kaitlin Olson (who completes the main foursome) for taking the material and making it go further than expected. It's one thing to send up someone else's passionately held beliefs (political or otherwise), but it's a lot tougher to do that without an obvious and tiring snark and have it sealed with a zest that makes the characters appealing no matter what they do.

"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" has a fairly simple premise. Charlie (Day), Mac (McElhenney) and Dennis (Howerton) are lifelong friends. Sweet Dee (Olson) is Dennis' sister. The Gang, as the foursome are often called, own a bar in Philly called Paddy's Irish Pub. That is the extent of their ambition. They like to drink. They'd like the bar to make more money, but mostly it doesn't. They are all, cumulatively, not very good in social situations or with members of the opposite sex. They are slackers looking for pleasure of all kinds in any place, but mostly they fail, in squalor, sometimes in pain, then restart the process the next day. With beers.

The same low-tech $200 attitude that started this series remains at the core. Part of the allure of "Sunny," to be sure, rests with these four actors having a good time putting on a show. It's like they sat down, came up with a string of ridiculous situations and said, "OK, let's film it, but let's be ourselves as much as possible." The lack of gloss is welcome, the lack of pretentiousness even more so.

Each one of the actors and their respective characters brings something of value to the series. Mac is a me-first slacker. Dennis almost has a conscience. Charlie is clueless, manic and innocent to some extent. And Sweet Dee really isn't all that sweet, though she does seem to have double the brains of anyone else in the bar. The real danger to "Sunny" was the addition of DeVito, whose mainstream popularity and familiarness could have ruined what is essentially a cult show performed by friends. And yet, he blends right in as the wealthy, moral-less father, Frank, to Dennis and Dee. Frank shows up unannounced to break the news that he's divorcing their mother (right after he softens the blow by first saying she's dead.)

Anne Archer pops in for three episodes as Dennis and Dee's moral-less and greedy mother, and she seems to take particular interest in chewing the scenery with the mother's innate meanness.

For a glimpse of whether you can tolerate the anti-PC nature of "Sunny," look no further than the Season 2 opener, in which Dennis accidentally runs over Charlie and later, at a strip club, Charlie finds that being in two casts and covered in abrasions gets him some sympathy lap dances, which naturally leads everyone -- including Dee and especially Frank -- to feign polio (or worse) in the pursuit of sex. Another episode has them all in an elaborate ruse to one-up each other, which naturally involves sleeping with the other's mother (mostly, but not entirely, unsuccessfully).

Somewhere in between, there's a discussion of whether saying "Jews" is racist, and the gang makes a terrorist video, which might possibly top last season's stances on underage drinking (it's OK if it helps the bar) and abortion (what side you're on depends on how cute the girls are).

For comedy that's not pretty, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is damn funny.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/06/28/DDGE9JKNGD13.DTL&type=printable

The Business of TV
Coen Cuts '06 Ad Forecast Slightly

Says Cable is in "Trouble"
John Consoli mediaweek.com June 28, 2006 -

Bob Coen, senior vp, director of forecasting, Universal McCann has slightly downgraded his U.S. ad spending forecast for 2006, saying now that ad expenditures will grow by 5.6 percent to $286.4 billion, compared to his forecast in December, which predicted that U.S. ad spending would grow 5.8 percent.

Coen downgraded his forecast based on, among other factors, softer than anticipated spending in local advertising and on national cable.

"Cable is in trouble," Coen said in announcing his new projections today. He said he was revising his projections for cable ad revenues in 2006 down from a 7 percent increase to a 4.5 percent increase.

He said figures in the first quarter have shown that the cable networks are not selling more ad units than last year, and that that segment's small 1.5 percent increase in ad spending in the first quarter was the sole result of price increases. He said there is an indication that media buyers are becoming more resistant to paying price increases at the cable networks.

The small 1.5 percent increase in ad revenues for national cable in the first quarter of 2006 is in sharp contrast to last year's first quarter when ad revenues were up 18.5 percent over the previous year's first quarter.

On the local side, Coen said, "Despite a relatively early Easter in 2006, retailers failed to do much in the first quarter to promote their offerings in two of their most important traditional media--newspapers and spot radio--which were down 1 percent and 2 percent respectively [in ad spending]."

Coen is projecting that total local advertising dollars will be up 3.1 percent in 2006 to $101.3 billion, less than the 4 percent increase to 102.8 billlion that he had projected for the year last December.

For total national advertising, Coen is projecting dollars will reach $185.1 billion, up 7.1 percent, but $4 billion less than the $189.1 billion he projected last December.

In December, Coen projected the Big Four TV Networks would be up 6.5 percent in advertising in 2006, and he said that percentage remains his projection now. He did downgrade the total a bit, reducing it from a projected $17.9 billion in December to $17.1 billion now, but off the actual rather than a projected base.

The major product categories, led by automotive, food, and movies, were up overall in ad spending by 5 percent in first quarter, Coen said, and secondary categories showing strong ad spending gains were telecommunications and insurance.

Other categories showing strong ad spending increases in first quarter were resorts, computers, brokers/mutal funds, and banks. Coen added spending by Internet companies, which peaked in 2000 at $5.5 billion before going into a downswing, reached $3.7 billion last year, and he is projecting it to reach $4.6 billion in 2006.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002763477

TV Notebook
Star Dimmed

By Matt Druge at drudgereport.com

The wigs and faces have come off on morning television -- and the nails are out!

It isn't pretty.

Barbara Walters coldly ripped into outgoing VIEW talker Star Jones this morning on ABC-TV.

Walters announced that Star would no longer be permitted to appear on the show -- effective immediately -- after Star strayed from script during an exit that's turned ugly.

Transcipt:

WALTERS: "And then there were three. This is, truthfully, a very difficult day for us, and it is a sad day for us. If you were watching the program yesterday, you would have heard Star announce that she's leaving THE VIEW and will not be on the program next fall.

"We didn't expect her to make this statement yesterday. She gave us no warning. And we were taken by surprise. But the truth is that Star has known for months that ABC did not want to renew her contract and that she would not be asked back in the fall.

"The network made this decision based on a variety of reasons which I won't go into now. But we were never going to say this. We wanted to protect star. And so we told her that she could say whatever she wanted about why she was leaving and that we would back her up.

"We worked closely with her representatives and we gave her time to look for another job. We hope she would announce it on the program and leave with dignity.

"But Star made another choice.

"And since her announcement yesterday, she has made further announcements that have surprised us.

"So it is becoming uncomfortable for us to pretend that everything is the same at this table.

"And, therefore, regrettably Star will no longer be on this program, except for some shows that have been prerecorded.

"THE VIEW helped make Star a Star and Star helped make THE VIEW the success that it is.

"We will never forget that. We wish her well in this new chapter of her life as we begin a new chapter on THE VIEW."

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash6.htm

The Tuesday 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.

Cable News Notebook
The Cooper Enigma:

Anderson’s A Star, But Numbers Stink Notebook
CNN’s Silvery Cover Boy Only Watched by 630,000—But They’re Big Fans! Larry King Drop-Off

By: Rebecca Dana The New York Observer 7/3/2006 Page: 1

By most standards, Anderson Cooper looks like a winner. The CNN anchor, Yale graduate, Vanderbilt heir and brand-new 60 Minutes correspondent hosts two hours of live television a night. His face (that hair!) adorned the June Vanity Fair, which sold 375,000 newsstand copies. On June 20 and 21, Mr. Cooper conducted two “big get” interviews—first Angelina Jolie, then Cher. On June 26, he flew to New Orleans for a series of packed readings from his book, Dispatches from the Edge, for which he received a handsome advance and which topped the New York Times best-seller list until last week, when Ann Coulter finally knocked it off.

But there is one pesky measure of victory that Mr. Cooper doesn’t quite satisfy: He doesn’t actually win.

On average, only some 630,000 viewers a night tune in to Anderson Cooper 360, to watch Anderson Cooper do his professional duties.

It’s not just that Anderson Cooper 360 doesn’t get American Idol ratings. Or that it doesn’t get Grey’s Anatomy ratings or O’Reilly Factor ratings or On the Record with Greta van Susteren ratings.

Many nights, Mr. Cooper doesn’t even do as well as his predecessor Aaron Brown, the ice to his fire, the old-fashioned, bespectacled anchor who was booted in 2005 to make room for Mr. Cooper.

CNN president Jon Klein calls Mr. Cooper “the anti-anchor.” If an anchor is someone people regularly watch host a news program, Mr. Klein may be onto something.

In April, Mr. Cooper’s ratings were down more than 20 percent—and 36 percent in the 25-to-54 demographic—from Mr. Brown’s numbers the previous April.

In May—the month his memoir came out—Mr. Cooper’s total audience climbed from 562,000 to 636,000. It slipped to 632,000 in June. Those numbers were better than Mr. Brown’s numbers from a year ago—when he refused to cover Natalee Holloway and his audience plunged into the 400,000’s.

Still, in June, Mr. Cooper has occasionally been outperformed by his own substitute host, John Roberts, the salt-and-pepper CNN national correspondent who was dumped by CBS News this year. He loses 20 to 40 percent of his lead-in from Larry King Live.

And he is routinely trounced by his head-to-head Fox competitors, Greta van Susteren and a rebroadcast of Bill O’Reilly.

Even Mr. Cooper’s great June triumph, the Jolie postpartum interview, trailed The O’Reilly Factor in total viewers, though it won the night among young viewers. At 1.33 million viewers, the Jolie interview was markedly smaller than a big night on Larry King—when Mr. King landed Elizabeth Taylor earlier this year, 1.8 million tuned in.

Why don’t more people tune in? One theory is that the evening cable news audience is more interested in Fox fare than the emo-cocktail offered up on 360. Another is that 360 itself is an inconsistent show, varying widely in topic and tone.

Another—a surprisingly popular one—is that Mr. Cooper himself, for all his vaunted good looks, is aesthetically ill-suited to television. The silver hair and piercing blue eyes make him all light and no contrast, a human green screen. “He’s wispy,” said the head of one cable news network. “I don’t know how to describe it.”

“It probably has more to do with CNN and the reason people watch TV,” said yet another anonymous cable network executive. “People watch CNN to see if the world’s safe, not really to sit down and watch all night.”

Yet Mr. Cooper is a star. “It’s hard to explain why Anderson’s so big,” said Jeff Fager, the executive producer of 60 Minutes, where Mr. Cooper will begin as a part-time correspondent in the fall. “A big part of it is because he’s very talented. As for the ratings? I don’t know what to say about that.”

Mr. Cooper squats in a giant billboard opposite Fox News Channel headquarters on 47th Street, appears on Oprah, writes a column for Details, headlines his own blog, sustains many others and in May gave the graduation speech at his alma mater. 60 Minutes found room for him, even as it was crowding out Dan Rather. There’s buzz he might inherit the World News Tonight anchor chair some day. There’s buzz he might climb the ranks at CBS, and more buzz on top of that, so much that it seems to have drowned out the little voice of Nielsen.

“I just don’t get it,” said one cable news executive. “I watch the show, and there’s nothing there for me. All of a sudden, I’m looking at the upfront for CBS, and he’s one of the faces of 60 Minutes. One of the three faces of 60 Minutes! How did that happen? It keeps rolling along, this media-sensation thing.”

Rolling and rolling and rolling. The Jolie interview alone helped to bring more than 500 Nexis mentions in two weeks. “He benefits from this P.R. machine that supports him and just propels him out there,” said one broadcast-network executive. “Is there any interview they would turn down for him?” asked another.

Well, yes. “Anderson’s not doing any press right now,” his CNN publicist told NYTV—not even on the subject of the Jolie interview, which doubled his regular audience. “He’s said all he has to say about that,” his publicist said.

Still, the Jolie interview brought up a natural parallel. She gets two hours in prime time to talk about the plight of refugees because she is famous. He gets two hours in prime time to talk to Angelina Jolie for essentially the same reason.

Mr. Cooper blogged a more generous explanation: “I’m sure there were plenty of news programs requesting interviews with Angelina Jolie. The truth is, mine wasn’t one of them. They called us. I was told that they were aware of my interest in Africa and knew that as a broadcast we have devoted a lot of time to reporting stories from the continent.”

“Celebrity in and of itself is good enough sometimes,” said one observer. “So I guess you’d rather hear Angelina on Africa, or Cher on the woeful federal response in Iraq, than, say, Joe Biden. Now, who knows more? But that ain’t what it’s about. In some ways, Anderson’s a part of that. He lives in a world that’s hugely different.”

Mr. Cooper, the child of Gloria Vanderbilt and Wyatt Cooper, is a harder worker than Stavros Niarchos or the Hilton sisters—but Mike Wallace and Morley Safer didn’t model Ralph Lauren when they were kids, either. He came up smoothly through Dalton and Yale into the business, landing a job, at 28, as one of ABC’s youngest correspondents, and then as an overnight anchor on World News Now.

In 2000, Mr. Cooper hopped to the entertainment division, to host ABC’s Survivor-copycat reality show The Mole, for two seasons. Fourteen million people tuned in for the first-season premiere—not terrible, but a steep drop from the audience of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, whose slot The Mole filled. Critics found the concept impossibly dense and Mr. Cooper ill-suited to hosting. Right guy, they said, wrong vehicle.

Also the wrong vehicle was American Morning, the CNN dawn-time talk show that absorbed Mr. Cooper afterward. When that didn’t work out, Mr. Cooper began bouncing around the network, filing reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan and popping up on other shows, including as a guest host on Aaron Brown’s Newsnight.

In 2003, those many opportunities resolved into two: a permanent spot on the prime-time lineup with Anderson Cooper 360, an 11 p.m. news roundup with middling ratings but a loyal fan base; and a dalliance with 60 Minutes II, for which he would eventually do two stories, one that broke ground on the use of steroids in the N.F.L. Mr. Cooper scooted around the world for his show, filing moving reports after natural disasters in South Asia, Indonesia and, triumphantly, New Orleans. But except during breaking news or when he landed a major interview, the ratings dial barely budged.

“There’s something to Anderson the celebrity, the son of celebrity, and his story that I think appeals to a broad cross section of folks. But, you know, it just doesn’t—that just doesn’t seem to translate into increased numbers for his show,” said another cable executive. “I’m not saying I know why it is, but it is.”

CBS is hoping Mr. Cooper—defender of innocents, blaster of Mary Landrieu—will fit in better on 60 Minutes, home of mike-thrusting Mike Wallace. But it seems unlikely.

The old guard on 60 Minutes consisted of reporters who gradually grew into celebrities—Morley Safer making his name in Vietnam, through enterprise reporting on the war. Whatever Mr. Cooper may have done in New Orleans, it didn’t take much investigative work.

Mr. Fager said he feels 60 Minutes is a more natural platform for Mr. Cooper than any other. “It’s really about reporting and interviewing and telling a story,” he said, “and I know he does those three things extremely well.”

Still, there are skeptics.

“There was something really appealing about these guys, because they did it all,” said yet another broadcast network executive. “They went to shitholes all over the world and really earned their reputations. They weren’t built on, you know, on just being on television.”

http://www.observer.com/printpage.asp?iid=13030&ic=NYTV

(From Marc Berman’s Wednesday, June 28, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
National Ratings in Primetime: Week of June 19, 2006

Although game six of The NBA Finals on ABC and the two-hour premiere of America’s Got Talent on NBC held the top two spots in total viewers and adults 18-49, it was not enough to beat CBS or Fox overall. Based on ratings for the week of June 19, CBS led in households and total viewers, Fox dominated in adults 18-49 and adults 18-34, and three networks -- Fox, CBS and NBC -- were tied (in rating) for No. 1 among adults 25-54. Year-to-year, only NBC and Fox were on the plus side, with the biggest loser, UPN, posting losses of as much as 36 percent.

In series-premiere news, ABC’s non-scripted (what else is there in the summer?) Master of Champions was not master of the ratings, with 6.10 million viewers (#36 overall) and a 2.0/ 7 among adults 18-49 (tied for #37) in the Thursday 8 p.m. hour. Comparably, that trailed CBS’ competing Game Show Marathon (Viewers: #19, 7.46 million; A18-49: tied for #33, 2.1/ 7) by 1.36 million viewers and 5 percent among adults 18-49.

In week two news, ABC docudrama How To Get the Guy needs a lesson on how to get the audience, dipping to a paltry 3.84 million viewers (#72) and a 1.7/ 5 among adults 18-49 (tied for #54) in the Monday 10 p.m. hour. Summer favorites The Last Comic Standing on NBC and Hell’s Kitchen on Fox, meanwhile, remained just that, with results this week as follows:

Hell’s Kitchen (Fox) – Mon. 9 p.m.
Viewers: 7.50 million (#18), A18-49: 3.4/ 9 (tied for #6)

The Last Comic Standing 4 (NBC) – Tues. 9 p.m.
Viewers: 7.34 million (#21), A18-49: 3.5/10 (#5)

Elsewhere, game seven of The NHL Stanley Cup Finals on NBC (opposite the concluding NBA match-up on ABC) perked up to a still unimpressive 5.29 million viewers (#52) and a 2.3/ 7 among adults 18-49 (tied for #23) on Monday. After two initial weeks of promising sampling, NBC drama Windfall sunk to a series-low 5.58 million viewers (#48) with a 2.4/ 7 among adults 18-49 (tied for #19).

Here are the final national ratings for the week of June 19, 2006 (with percent change versus the comparable year-ago period in parentheses).

Households:
CBS: 5.1 rating/ 9 share (- 4)
NBC: 4.1/ 7 (- 5)
Fox: 4.0/ 7 (+25)
ABC: 3.8/ 7 (-19)
WB: 1.3/ 2 (-13)
UPN: 1.3/ 2 (-28)

Total Viewers:
CBS: 7.44 million (- 1)
NBC: 6.22 (+ 3)
Fox: 6.13 (+26)
ABC: 5.66 (-21)
UPN: 1.87 (-31)
WB: 1.81 (-17)

Adults 18-49:
Fox: 2.5/ 8 (+19)
NBC: 2.2/ 7 (+10)
CBS: 2.0/ 6 (- 5)
ABC: 2.0/ 6 (-20)
WB: 0.7/ 2 (-22)
UPN: 0.7/ 2 (-36)

Adults 25-54:
Fox: 2.6/ 8 (+30)
CBS: 2.6/ 7 (no change)
NBC: 2.6/ 7 (+13)
ABC: 2.3/ 7 (-21)
WB: 0.7/ 2 (-22)
UPN: 0.7/ 2 (-30)

Adults 18-34:
Fox: 2.5/ 9 (+14)
NBC: 1.9/ 7 (+27)
ABC: 1.7/ 6 (-19)
CBS: 1.4/ 5 (no change)
UPN: 0.7/ 3 (-36)
WB: 0.7/ 2 (-22)

TOP 20 RATED PROGRAMS OF THE WEEK

Adults 18-49:
NBA Finals, Game 6 (ABC, Miami vs. Dallas: 6.5 rating/19 share)
America’s Got Talent (NBC
premiere: 4.6/14)
So You Think You Can Dance – Thursday (Fox: 3.7/11)
So You Think You Can Dance – Wednesday (Fox: 3.6/11)
The Last Comic Standing 4 (NBC: 3.5/10)
Nextel Cup Winners (Fox: 3.4/12)
House R (Fox: 3.4/10)
Hell’s Kitchen (Fox: 3.4/ 9)
CSI R (CBS: 3.2/10)
CSI: Miami R (CBS)
Family Guy R (Fox, Sun. 9 p.m.
Law & Order: SVU R (NBC: 3.2/ 9 each)
Family Guy R (Fox, Sun. 8:30 p.m.) and The Simpsons R (Fox: 2.9/ 9 each)
Without A Trace R (CBS: 2.7/ 8)
CSI: NY R (CBS: 2.6/ 8)
Fear Factor (NBC) and House R (Fox, Tues. 8 p.m.: 2.5/ 8 each)
America’s Got Talent R (NBC, Sat. 9 p.m.) and Primetime Live (ABC: 2.4/ 8 each)

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/newsletters/proginsider/index.jsp

(From Marc Berman’s Wednesday, June 28, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Ratings Box: What’s Hot/What’s Not

ABC Family’s Kyle XY Debuts on a Record High Note:
The premiere of ABC Family drama Kyle XY on Monday, June 26 at 8 p.m. scored a hefty 2.1 household rating and 2.64 million viewers -- the highest for any original series telecast in the history of the cable network. Comparably, Kyle XY ranked second in the time period in basic cable in households, total viewers, adults 18-34 (0.9 rating) and adults 18-49 (1.1), outdelivering the year-ago time period average by as much as 83 percent among adults 18-49. Kyle XY also won the hour among all broadcast and cable competition in teens (471,000) and female teens (343,000).

HBO’s Lucky Louie Picks Up Steam:
HBO sitcom Lucky Louie has attracted more eyeballs in week two, with its cumulative weekly average building to 4.1 million viewers -- 300,000 more than its debut week. Comparably, that narrowed the gap opposite Entourage, which dipped from a total of 5.0 million to 4.5 million viewers in those same two weeks. Western Deadwood, also in originals, dipped as well, with 3.9 to 3.2 million viewers (and trailing Lucky Louie by 900,000 viewers in that second week).

Broken Trail Breaks the Record Books on AMC:
The first night of four-hour AMC miniseries Broken Trail exploded out of the gate on Sunday, with a record 9.8 million viewers from 8-10 p.m. In addition to breaking the record books on AMC and beating the broadcast competition, it was the most-watched movie on cable since 2001.

TV Tidbits: Notes of Interest

Remembering Eddie:
Four-legged scene stealer Eddie, the 16-year-old Jack Russell terrier on NBC’s Frasier, whose real name was Moose, died of old age last Thursday at the home of trainer Mathilde Halberg. Moose, who retired after the sitcom ended in 2004, also played the older dog Skip in 2000 theatrical My Dog Skip, which featured Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz. We will miss you, Moose

Catch the Superman Fever on In2TV:
On the heels of new theatrical Superman Returns, you can stream complete episodes of the classic Superman shows -- The Adventures of Superman with George Reeves, Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher in Lois & Clark and Max Fleischer’s classic Superman cartoons -- free and on-demand at AOL’s In2TV (http://television.aol.com/in2tv/superman-tv ). While you are at the must see site, you will also find complete episodes of classics like Alice, Eight Is Enough, F Troop, Kung Fu, Maverick, The Fugitive and V: The Series.

Fuel Exceeds 20 Million Subscribers:
On the heels of its third anniversary, Fox Cable Network’s Fuel TV will pass the 20 million subscriber mark. Recent commitments from DIRECTV and other distributors will push the total number of Fuel TV subscribers to beyond 22 million.

TV Land Honors Aaron Spelling:
TV Land will celebrate the life and work of the legendary Aaron Spelling with programming salutes on the cable network and website TVLand.com. This Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., the cable net’s original programming block will feature two installments from six-part special TV Land Moguls, both featuring Mr. Spelling. The website will showcase a variety of Spelling related items including a 2005 interview, a scene from his performance as an actor on the “Tennessee Bound” episode of I Love Lucy, clips from his acceptance of the Pioneer Awards, and select moments from TV Land Moguls.

While I hate to complain, couldn’t TV Land have come up with some episodes of Mr. Spelling’s 77 primetime series? Why not ditch some of the unnecessary westerns and make it an Aaron Spelling weekend?

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

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
With the book babes gone, CBS rises

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 28, 2006

CBS has struggled with the Tuesday 10 p.m. slot all season, with the body count now up to four new shows that have cycled through without success. Last night the network plugged in “48 Hours Mystery” to fill the most recent hole, and though it didn’t do great, it was a huge improvement on the now-canceled “Tuesday Night Book Club.”

“Mystery” averaged a 2.4 overnight rating among adults 18-49, tying for first in the timeslot with NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” rerun.

Sure, that was the lowest rating for a timeslot winner all night, but it was 71 percent better than the dismal 1.4 that “Book Club” averaged in its second outing last week.

CBS yanked the reality show, about a group of angsty Scottsdale, Ariz., women, after just two episodes. It debuted with a 1.7 rating two weeks ago, becoming the summer’s lowest-rated premiere.

During the regular season, first-year shows “Close to Home,” “Threshold” and “Love Monkey” all failed to find an audience Tuesday at 10, as did returning show “Amazing Race.” All were canceled or moved to a new slot.

Next week CBS has special July 4 programming planned, and “Mystery” will remain in the Tuesday slot the following week. The network has not decided how to fill it after that.

Fueled by “House” reruns, Fox won the night among 18-49s with a 3.0 average and 9 share, followed by NBC at 2.7/8, CBS at 1.9/6, ABC at 1.6/5, Univision at 1.4/3, the WB at 0.7/2, and UPN at 0.5/2.

At 8 p.m., Fox's "House" repeat was No. 1 at 2.6, followed by NBC's "Fear Factor" repeat at 2.4, Univision's "La Fea Mas Bella" at 1.8, CBS's "NCIS" rerun at 1.7, ABC's "According to Jim" repeats at 1.6, WB's "Gilmore Girls" repeat at 0.8 and UPN's "America's Next Top Model" repeat at 0.6.

At 9 p.m., Fox's second "House" repeat was No. 1 at 3.5, ahead of NBC's 3.3 for "Last Comic Standing," ABC's 1.9 for more "Jim" repeats, and CBS and Univision's 1.6 each for a rerun of "The Unit" and "Barrera de Amor." WB's "Pepper Dennis" series finale trailed at 0.6, followed by UPN's "Veronica Mars" rerun at 0.4.

At 10 p.m., CBS and NBC tied for No. 1 with a 2.4 each for "Mystery" and the “SVU” repeat. Following were ABC at 1.3 for a "Boston Legal" rerun and Univision at 0.9 for "Que Madre Tan Padre!"

Among households, Fox led at 5.4/9, followed by CBS at 5.1/9, NBC at 4.3/7, ABC at 3.3/6, Univision at 1.8/3, WB at 1.1/2, and UPN 0.8/1.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5690.asp

Nielsen Notebook
Death watch: UPN and the WB tumble

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 28, 2006, 01:25

In a matter of weeks the WB and UPN will merge into the CW, and it can’t come too soon. The long-fading networks are ending their decade-long runs quietly, with big ratings declines compared with last summer.

Reruns on the two networks have never performed well, with the WB especially suffering as serial programs tend to repeat poorly. Add to that the fact that neither network launched any new programming this summer, as they prepare for their fall merger, and the averages for both are in steep decline.

From May 29 to June 25, UPN’s average rating among its target adults 18-34 demographic is down 27 percent compared with last year, from a 1.1 to a 0.8, according to Nielsen data analyzed by Fox. The WB is down 22 percent in that demo, from a 0.9 to a 0.7.

The WB is down even more among teens 12-17, 30 percent, from a 1.0 to a 0.7. UPN is off 23 percent in teens, from a 1.3 to a 1.0.

The main explanation is that this summer, neither network has much original programming. At this time last year, the WB had summer hit “Beauty and the Geek” and the solid second-year summer show “Summerland,” both of which drew at least 2.4 million viewers for new episodes. Last week only one WB show topped 2.4 million, Sunday’s repeat of “Reba.”

Meanwhile, UPN had “Bad Girls Guide” and “Britney and Kevin: Chaotic,” which, while neither of them were hits, did better than much of the network’s schedule last week.

Certainly another problem is that reruns on the networks simply aren’t doing as well as last summer. For the week ended June 27, UPN’s “Veronica Mars,” for example, averaged 1.08 million total viewers, down more than 600,000 from the same week last year.

The WB’s “Blue Collar TV,” which still has a handful of originals left over from when it was yanked off the air last fall, is doing worse than last year, when it was in repeats. A new episode last week averaged 2.24 million viewers, 400,000 fewer than tuned in for a repeat last year on the same night. Fans may not even realize “Blue’s” new episodes are airing this summer, nine months after they were supposed to debut.

In fact, much of the networks’ programming flat-out has not connected with viewers. Last week UPN aired one of the lowest-rated programs in broadcast history, the movie “My Date With Drew,” which averaged just a 0.3 rating and 750,000 total viewers. It was the lowest-rated show of the summer thus far.

In other broadcast ratings for the week ended June 25:

Among adults 18-49, Fox rose to No. 1 with a 2.5 average rating and 8 share, followed by NBC at 2.2/7, CBS and ABC tied at 2.0/6, and the WB and UPN tied at 0.7/2.

Among adults 18-34, Fox led with a 2.5/9, followed by NBC at 1.9/7, ABC at 1.7/6, CBS at 1.4/5, UPN at 0.7/3, and the WB at 0.7/2.

Among adults 25-54, Fox was No. 1 in a squeaker, at 2.6/8, ahead of NBC and CBS’s 2.6/7 apiece. ABC was fourth at 2.3/7, and the WB and UPN tied at 0.7/2.

Top five (18-49s): 1. ABC’s “NBA Finals-Game 6” 6.5; 2. NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” 4.6; 3. Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance-Thu.” 3.7; 4. Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance-Wed.” 3.6; 5. NBC’s “Last Comic Standing 4” 3.5

Top five (total viewers): 1. ABC’s “NBA Finals-Game 6” 15.71 million; 2. NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” 12.41 million; 3. CBS’s “CSI” 11.95 million; 4. CBS’s “CSI: Miami” 11.34 million; 5. CBS’s “Without a Trace” 10.16 million

Bottom five (18-49s): Tie-108. WB’s “Pepper Dennis,” WB’s “Twins” 0.6; Tie-110. WB’s “One Tree Hill,” UPN’s “Veronica Mars” 0.4; 112. UPN’s “Wednesday Movie-My Date With Drew” 0.3

Bottom five (total viewers): Tie-107. WB’s “Twins,” UPN’s “Half and Half” 1.5 million; 109. WB’s “Pepper Dennis” 1.42 million; 110. WB’s “One Tree Hill” 1.13 million; 111. UPN’s “Veronica Mars” 1.08 million; 112. UPN’s “Wednesday Movie-My Date With Drew” 750,000

Show on the rise: “America’s Got Talent,” NBC, Wednesday 9 p.m. The series debut averaged a summer-best 4.6 and grew throughout the two-hour broadcast.

Show on the decline: “Windfall,” NBC, Thursday 10 p.m. The summer drama dipped to a series-low 2.4 in its third episode, though it didn’t get much help from its lead-in, a rerun of “The Office,” which averaged a 1.8.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5663.asp

The Digital Revolution
California Cities May Lose Power Over Cable TV

AT&T would not say where it plans to roll out pay-TV because it wants to help cable companies focus efforts to lock customers into long-term contracts.



I read that three times and I still don't get it. Maybe it is a typo, or maybe I am just a dud today. Maybe it was supposed to have been:


AT&T would not say where it plans to roll out pay-TV because it wants to _not_ help cable companies focus efforts to lock customers into long-term contracts.

Washington Notebook
McCain À La Carte Bill Voted Down

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 6/28/2006

he Senate Commerce Committee voted overwhelmingly not to effectively require cable operators to offer their service à la carte. That vote came as part of the day-long, continuing mark-up of the video franchise/telecommunications-reform bill that is getting larger by the day.

As long promised, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) offered an amendment, co-sponsored by Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell, that would have denied the new streamlined video franchising scheme to video service providers that did not offer their programming per-channel, and it would have denied broadcast-flag protection to TV stations that did not allow their channels to be offered stand-alone.

He praised the support of fCC Chairman Kevin Martin on the ammendment, saying it was courageious for him to stand up to the cable companies.

McCain billed his bill as an incentive to voluntary action, but Stevens pointed out that it was essentially denying the benefits of the bill to those who didn't cooperate.

The vote may have been 20 to 2 against, with the co-sponsors the only ones on the "aye" said, but cable programmers should not be sleeping too easy. The committee's message was clearly mixed.

Stevens said he "believed in some a la carte," and said that he thought it would eventually come.

"A la carte is going to come and I urge the industry go get on with it," said Mississippi Republican Trent Lott. But he had an even sharper point to put on it. Saying it would be on the record as an implied threat, Lott said he expected this would be "the last time he was going to vote against a la carte."

Committee Co-chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) said that he was concerned that channels like History or Discovery might be lost in an a la carte world.

The morning was not a total defeat for McCain. His long-pushed effort to add low power FM radio stations to the broadcast band passed overwhelmingly 14-7, though observers noted it has passed the committee before and been defeated further down the line.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6347942

I read that three times and I still don't get it. Maybe it is a typo, or maybe I am just a dud today. Maybe it was supposed to have been:


AT&T would not say where it plans to roll out pay-TV because it wants to _not_ help cable companies focus efforts to lock customers into long-term contracts.


It was horribly written, Chris. I think you interpreted it correctly.

Washington Notebook
Senate Committee Rejects Cable 'a la Carte' Pricing

But Senators Promise: “A La Carte Will Come”
By Ira Teinowitz TVWeek.com June 28, 2006

The Senate Commerce Committee rejected Arizona Sen. John McCain's latest attempt to require cable companies let customers pay only for the channels they choose.

Committee members Wednesday voted 20-2 to reject McCain's proposal on so-called a la carte cable pricing, keeping the provision out of legislation that will ease the way for phone companies to field television services. Senators today are discussing additions to the bill, which may bring the biggest changes in broadcast rules since the telecom reform act of 1996.

The National Cable and Telecommunications Association said it was "very pleased" with the defeat of the ala carte amendment.

"[We] will continue to oppose unnecessary government regulation of the pricing and packaging of video services, which most studies show will diminish diversity in programming and result in higher prices for fewer channels," group said in a statement.

The defeat of Mr. McCain's amendment doesn't spell the end for a la carte proposals. Two powerful senators promised the cable industry that a la carte pricing will become the norm.

"As a consumer this is something that is going to come," said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss. "I would urge the industry to get on with this, because it is going to come. This is the last time I am going to vote against it."

Commerce Committee chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, also promised, "a la carte will come."

Mr. McCain argued for a la carte saying cable companies have exploited a monopoly position in some markets to force unwanted channels on consumers.

"Why have cable companies and programmers refused to give consumers what they want?" Mr. McCain said. "Because they are the only game in town and they don't have to."

Senator Olympia Snowed, R-Maine was the only member of the committee to join Mr. McCain in supporting his a la carte amendment.

McCain said the current cable pricing system is unfair to consumers.

"Why should we, at an ever-increasing cost, force people to accept programming they don't want to see?" he said. "We are paying more for channels for consumers don't want and cable companies get away with it for a long time. People who are retirees who don't want to spend $3 for ESPN every month."

The committee this afternoon is slated to consider the most controversial part of the legislation, a proposal that would bar Internet service providers from giving faster access to Web-content providers who pay more.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10281

(Another find from Aaron Barnhart in his “TV Barn” blog)
Bloggers Notebook
Negatives

By Reese Schonfeld (who took Ted Turner's vision and turned CNN into an international power back in the day)

Front page New York Times Art Section: Star Jones is leaving The View. Big deal, we all knew that. Ever since Rosie was hired to replace Meredith Viera, even the least attentive television viewer has learned that Rosie doesn’t like Star and there was bound to be fireworks. To stifle the fireworks and attempt to avoid accusations of personal animus, Barbara Walters, the executive producer of this show, told the Times “They had done a great deal of research, and her negatives were rising.” According to Barbara Walters “they” was ABC and Star’s firing was a network decision. She refused to tell the Times whether she concurred.

It is ironic that Barbara Walters was let go by NBC because like Star, her negatives overwhelmed her positives. This is the story told to me years ago by Dick Fisher, then executive vice president of NBC News. After years of success on the Today show, Barbara was offered a contract by ABC. NBC had the right to match that contract so they tested her Q Scores. Q Scores is a research company that, among other things, measures audience perception of television personalities. Its product is “a single but revealing, ‘likeability’ measurement.” Guess what? More people didn’t like Barbara than did and they all had strong feelings. So NBC let Barbara go.

Obviously that was a great mistake and, according to Dick Fisher, NBC had learned from it. It recognized that strong “likeability” was a good thing but that strong “unlikeability” might be even better. What’s bad is when the audience doesn’t care much either way. Barbara Walters is a great success, Howard Cosell was a great success and The View should have kept Star Jones on the show. Who wouldn’t have tuned in if Star and Rosie had battled it out everyday?

http://meandted.com/bits.htm

TV Notebook
Star Dimmed

By Matt Druge at drudgereport.com

Walters announced that Star would no longer be permitted to appear on the show -- effective immediately -- after Star strayed from script during an exit that's turned ugly.

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash6.htm

Woww! It has gotten ugly! :eek:

Cable TV Notebook
'Broken Trail' leads AMC to top spot


The cable channel beats the networks on Sunday night with its new western movie. It plans more original content
By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer in the Channel Island TV Industry blog June 28, 2006

Sunday's "Broken Trail" on AMC rustled up something surprising out there on the range: ratings that beat every program that night on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

The first part of the western miniseries, starring and executive produced by Robert Duvall, gathered a whopping 9.8 million total viewers, according to data reported Tuesday from Nielsen Media Research. (Ratings for Monday's second and final part will be available on Wednesday). That made "Broken Trail," AMC's first original scripted movie, the No. 2 most-watched made-for-cable movie since 1995, behind another western, TNT's "Crossfire Trail" (12.5 million) in 2001.

Perhaps more significant, "Trail" was more watched than any of that night's programs on broadcast TV, including ABC's repeat of "Desperate Housewives" (4.5 million) and a repeat of the Jennifer Lopez thriller "Enough" on CBS (7.2 million). In recent years, basic cable has increasingly used original summer movies and series to steal viewers away from broadcasters. This month, the second-season premiere of TNT's cop drama "The Closer" broke records with 8.2 million total viewers.

"Broken Trail," which cost a reported $15 million, represents a vindication of sorts for AMC. For years, the network was known as a depot for classic Hollywood fare. More recently, viewers have complained about considerably less acclaimed titles added to the mix, such as "Smokey and the Bandit II" and "Staying Alive." But over the last year, the channel has moved aggressively to add original movies and series, although network President Ed Carroll says theatrical movies will remain 90% of the channel's offerings.

"This is the first step for AMC in expanding our movie heritage into originals," Carroll said Tuesday.

AMC has already announced that it will do an Americanized version of the BBC's popular caper series, "Hustle." And the network is doing its first drama pilot, "Mad Men," set in the 1960s advertising world.

But FX and HBO need not worry that AMC will horn in on their turf. The high numbers for "Broken Trail" prove traditional fare has a home on basic cable, Carroll said.

"Scripts don't need to be edgy or push the envelope to get an audience," he said.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-channel28jun28,0,6592380.story?coll=cl-tvent

TV Notebook
Peter Gammons Update

Gammons in ICU after surgery for brain aneurysm
ESPN.com news services

Longtime ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons is listed in good condition Wednesday, resting in intensive care after undergoing an operation to treat a brain aneurysm Tuesday. Gammons suffered the aneurysm Tuesday morning near his home on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. He was airlifted to a Boston hospital, where the surgery was performed.

"Peter is resting comfortably after surgical repair of a brain aneurysm," Gammons' wife, Gloria, said in a statement. "We appreciate all of your good wishes and ask that you keep Peter in your thoughts and prayers. Please understand that we are asking for our privacy at this time as we focus on Peter's recovery."

Several ballplayers called the press box Tuesday during Boston's game against the New York Mets for updates on Gammons' condition.

"Peter is one of the Hall of Famers we have on TV, and everybody has a lot of respect for him," Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez said after the game. "I wish him well."

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=2502295&type=story

Woww! It has gotten ugly! :eek:


Seems like fun to me!

Seems like fun to me!

It would have more fun if they would have kept Star on when Rosie comes aboard. I would have recorded the show just to see if those two were going to go at each others' throats. :D

That is what Reese Schonfeld said in his blog.

I think it would have been worth at least a ratings point a day for the first few months.

TV Review
Funny, Silly Sunny Philly

By James Poniewozik Time Magazine television critic in Time’s Tuned In blog Wednesday, Jun. 28, 2006

Every once in a while, even the omniscient, panopticon-like gaze of The Professional Television Watcher misses something. Last year, for instance, I didn't review FX's It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, which lacuna, being the standup guy that I am, I will blame on the fact that the early episodes were not that great.

But as the season went on, I realized I was wr--er, that is, the show raised its creative game to the point that it became one of my favorite comedies. The show didn't make it onto many viewers' radar either, but FX kept faith in the show and brings it back for a second season Thursday at 10 p.m., so that you may see the error of your ways. (Really. I mean, what is wrong with you?)

The sitcom, in the Seinfeld show-about-nothing mold, is nothing impressive on its face: four not-too-bright buddies in their twenties run a dive bar in Philly, while getting into politically incorrect scrapes. But it's one of the few shows that beg Seinfeld comparisons that actually deserve the comparison.

Almost every episode involves the guys (and one girl) hatching some offensively, hilariously selfish scheme: last season, encouraging underage drinkers to come to the bar; this season, faking handicaps to get dates and free lap dances. Dedicated to a sincere belief in the venality of man, refusing to let any sacred cow go ungored, it's like Curb Your Enthusiasm for a lower tax bracket.

What the show lacked last year, maybe, was a single big name or breakout talent to grab it attention. This year, the producers (Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton and Rob McElhenney, who are also the writers and stars) made up for that by casting the sexy, made-for-Us-magazine mug of... Danny DeVito. What DeVito lacks in polish, he makes up for in... well, lack of polish: his abrasive, merry-misanthrope character niche is perfect for Philadelphia's comedy of bad manners.

He plays Frank, the father of Dennis (Howerton) and Dee (Kaitlin Olson), going through a divorce and a midlife crisis, which he reacts to by giving away his money and moving in with Charlie (Day) in his sleazy apartment. It's as if Louie DePalma had never left TV. "I used to live like this!" Frank says, excited. "In squalor and filth, always trying to get over on people, scamming my way through situations! I want to live like you again, Charlie! I want to be pathetic and desperate and ugly and hopeless!"

Starting (Thursday) night, you can too. Don't make my—I mean your—mistake again this summer.

http://time.blogs.com/tuned_in/

TV Review
Clouds on 'Sunny's' horizon

Adding Danny DeVito and Anne Archer to the cast doesn't seem to brighten the FX sitcom's second season.
By Paul Brownfield Los Angeles Times TV critic June 28, 2006

Lightly watched when it debuted last summer on FX, the single-camera comedy "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" had wit and charm but few of the promotional tools with which to sell them.

This actually helped you experience the show's wit and charm, like a "Friends" without the glam cast and too-big apartment. You still need an audience, though, which is why Danny DeVito and Anne Archer have been added to "Philadelphia's" no-name cast, and Fox recently aired episodes in prime time.

It's all a coup for the show, whose back story is that cast members Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day and creator Rob McElhenney shot a pilot for $200 and ended up getting a series order on arguably the hottest basic cable network going. And "Philadelphia," when it arrived, did have the quietly clever writing, the sense of place and the genuine cast chemistry of something that had escaped development notice until it was too late to make less true.

The premise: Mac (McElhenney), Dennis (Howerton), his sister Sweet Dee (Kaitlin Olsen) and Charlie (Day) are old high school friends who own a dive bar and reside in shabby apartments in Philadelphia, living out what remains of their somewhat-committal, somewhat slovenly twenties.

Unlike "My Name Is Earl," about a slacker penitent, the slackers on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" aren't so reform-minded; they're more in keeping with "Seinfeld's" goofy but committed nihilism and self-interest. Mostly, this involves misadventures of the politically incorrect kind — cruising for chicks on both sides of the argument at a raging protest outside Planned Parenthood, say, in one of the funnier installments last year.

Like its previous droll, declarative episode titles — "Charlie Gets an Abortion," "The Gang Gets Racist" — the new season kicks off with, "Charlie Gets Crippled," "The Gang Goes Jihad" and "Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom."

The titles are somewhat self-explanatory and aim at airborne social taboos, whether they're renting wheelchairs to get girls or enacting a hipster-doofus occupied-territories conflict with an Israeli property owner who claims their bar is on his land.

As comedy it's hit-and-miss; what sells the show are the in-between things, the nonsense sibling spats between Dennis and Dee, the way Charlie's voice rises as his anxiety level does, the loose play of the banter.

But if giving DeVito a prominent role will up the attendance, it doesn't immediately up the comedy. He and Archer play nouveau riche slobs, the bitterly divorcing parents of Dennis and Dee, and the show feels more slapstick than I recall it.

DeVito is not totally hamming it up here, just a little voluble, but not long after entering the picture on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" he's having a sitcom midlife crisis, cavorting in Charlie's bed along with two strippers.

On "Seinfeld," the parents were out in Queens or Florida, brought onstage in short bursts of tumult played by old-pro character actors like Jerry Stiller.

But "Philadelphia" is looking for a bigger score from its old pros. DeVito the dad just wants to be part of the gang, and the foursome, kicking and screaming and poking fun at this whole sitcom gang concept, makes room.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-sunny28jun28,0,6125505.story?coll=cl-tvent

Washington Notebook
FCC Proposes Programming Conditions On Adelphia Sale

By Ellen Sheng, Dow Jones Newswires June 28, 2006 (Steven Sloan contributed to this story.)

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The Federal Communications Commission is considering putting conditions on Adelphia Communications Corp.'s (ADELQ) sale to Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) and Time Warner (TWX) requiring that the cable companies provide competitors with access to their local sports programming.

The conditions could be similar to those placed on News Corp.'s (NWS) acquisition of satellite TV provider DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV). In that deal, the FCC stipulated, as part of its approval, that News Corp. couldn't use DirecTV to withhold programming from competitors, charge higher prices or refuse to carry competing programs. Regulators also stipulated that News Corp. submit to a neutral third-party arbitrator in case of program disputes with cable and satellite operators.

DirecTV and other companies have raised concerns that Comcast and Time Warner, as they grow in size, could squelch competition. Already the largest cable companies in the country, the two will add on almost five million additional subscribers in key markets through its acquisition of Adelphia. In Philadelphia, Comcast currently prevents DirecTV from carrying a network that shows Flyers, 76ers and Phillies games thanks to a loophole. Though companies have complained about the loophole, the FCC's current proposal would not change that, according to a person familiar with the situation.

David Fiske, a spokesman for the FCC, said the commission doesn't comment on details on pending items.

News of the proposed changes was reported in USA Today earlier this week.

Adelphia's $16.9 billion sale was approved by a bankruptcy judge Tuesday. The next and last hurdle lies with the FCC. Chairman Kevin Martin indicated last week that the agency would finish its review of the deal by mid-July. Both Comcast and Time Warner have said they expect the deal to close by the end of July. If the deal fails to wrap up by Sept. 1, Adelphia could be required to pay Time Warner $382.85 million or lower its price by the same amount. The company would also have to pay Comcast $87.5 million.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: The USA Today Adelphia sale story was posted here on Monday:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7902074&&#post7902074

Cable TV News Notebook
FNC Tops CNN For 4 1/2 Years
(25-54 Dips For Both)
By Anthony Crupi MediaWeek.com June 28, 2006

Fox News Channel tallied its 18th consecutive quarterly ratings win over rival CNN, averaging 1.38 million viewers in prime time in the second quarter of 2006 versus CNN’s 700,000.

According to Nielsen Media Research, between March 27 and June 25 FNC was the eighth-most-watched ad-supported cable network in prime time, even as the network’s nightly audience shrank 11 percent year-over-year. CNN was down 5 percent versus the same time a year ago.

While FNC continued to dominate CNN with its nightly lineup of personality-driven news programming––the network boasted nine of the top 10 cable news programs in the quarter––both nets saw significant drop-offs in the core 25-54 demo. In prime, FNC averaged 289,000 viewers in the demo versus the second quarter of 2005, a decline of 24 percent. CNN also dropped precipitously, losing 18 percent of its target audience in prime with 178,000.

FNC’s The O’Reilly Factor retained its position as the No. 1 cable news show with 2.08 million viewers, 394,000 of which were in the 25-54 demo. CNN’s sole top-10 program, Larry King Live, placed sixth with a 1.04 million/211,000 split.

The demo declines at FNC and CNN may be chalked up to what many observers have characterized as a particularly slow news cycle. By way of comparison, the second quarter of 2005 was marked by the passing of Pope John Paul II and the appointment of his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, which helped boost news ratings across the board.

That same period was also given over to intensive coverage of the Natalee Holloway case; that story played ad infinitum until being washed out of the public consciousness in late August by Hurricane Katrina.

While the large news nets suffered a few setbacks, the smaller channels continued to show ratings growth. MSNBC upped its prime-time audience by 10 percent, reaching 342,000 people per night. Of those tuning in, 134,000 were in the 25-54 demo, an increase of 14 percent year-over-year. Fifth-place CNBC shot up 23 percent to 163,000 and built up its target demo by 22 percent in prime, although the network continues to trail well behind MSNBC and Headline News in total day and prime.

For its part, Headline News stayed in fourth place, averaging 309,000 total viewers in prime, a drop of 4 percent. In the core demo, HLN was off 6 percent in prime.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002763658

Washington Notebook
Senate Panel OKs Franchising Bill; Uncertain Prospects Ahead

By Todd Shields MediaWeek.com JUNE 28, 2006 -

The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday passed a bill aimed at easing telephone companies' emergence as competitors to cable operators, sending the measure on to the full Senate.

Prospects for final passage are uncertain, in part because of heated disagreement surrounding potential corporate management of Internet access-–the issue known as Net neutrality.

The bill also included language aimed at protecting affiliates from some potential indecency fines, and requiring federal regulators to publish ownership rules before changing them.

The legislation, which passed on a 15-to-7 Republican-led vote, took shape over three days of voting sessions. The House already has passed its counterpart measure. Each bill aims to speed Bell companies’ entry into local markets with TV programming sent over high-speed lines that also carry Internet and telephone services.

Senators on an 11-to-11 vote late Wednesday defeated an amendment to forbid network operators from charging content owners for access to Internet customers.

Proponents of the failed amendment said letting companies rather than consumers choose what content would flow freely over the Internet would fatally undermine the wide-open nature of the Web. They say they will take their fight to the Senate floor, where 40 of the chamber’s 100 votes can prevent final action.

“Broadband operators will be able to pick winners and losers,” said Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), a co-sponsor of the failed language. “That is the cable model. It hasn’t (been) and shouldn’t be the Internet model.”

Opponents of the so-called Net neutrality amendment said the measure amounted to unnecessary regulation of companies that would, in any event, be forced by a competitive marketplace to offer an unfettered Internet.

“Imposing a heavy-handed regulation before there’s evidence of a problem is wrong,” said Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the Commerce Committee chair. He said language in the bill “fully protected” consumers, with directives to federal regulators to alert Congress if problems arise.

Ten Democrats and Snowe voted for the Net neutrality amendment. The remainder of the committee’s Republicans voted against.

The Senate has 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats and one independent. Stevens acknowledged the bill cannot pass without support of 60 senators.

To promote video competition, the bill would let Bell companies invoke a federal procedure when introducing their new TV services, rather than seeking locality-by-locality permission as is traditional.

Democrats objected that the measure would undermine rate regulation, and eliminate traditional protections against service providers bypassing poor areas. Republicans said competition would prevent abuses.

In other action the committee:

• voted to authorize federal regulators to impose copy-protection controls for digital TV broadcasts that a court invalidated. It also would set in motion processes aimed at devising similar anti-theft measures for digital radio broadcasts.

• voted to exempt affiliates from indecency fines for network programming they have not had an opportunity to review. The measure would partially insulate many station owners from the recent tenfold increase of maximum indecency fines to $325,000.

• told the Federal Communications Commission to publish any revisions to media ownership rules before voting on the rules. The agency recently commenced a review aimed at possibly loosening the rules.

• rejected a bid by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to grant incentives for cable operators who offer individual channels for sale.

• voted to extend to cable and satellite operators time limits on advertising during children’s programming that now apply only to broadcasters, and voted to prohibit interactive advertising during children’s programming.

• told the FCC to study commercial broadcasts of radio and TV programming to students on school buses. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said a pilot program is set to begin in September in Massachusetts.

• told the FCC to move toward issuing licenses for low-power FM radio stations. A study conducted for the FCC found such stations could operate without harmful interference that commercial broadcasters say they fear.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002764159

Washington Notebook
Senate Panel OKs Franchising Bill; Uncertain Prospects Ahead



• told the FCC to study commercial broadcasts of radio and TV programming to students on school buses. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said a pilot program is set to begin in September in Massachusetts.


Say what...? Surely that doesn't mean what it implies does it..? Commercial TV and radio on school buses...? You've got to be kidding.

Maybe they can put soda vending machines on board, too!

No kidding, I don't understand that at all, it's not bad enough that commercialism has seeped into the classrooms and the cafeterias, now we're letting it on the buses..?

Gotta get that budget deficit down, jim!

Cable TV Notebook
Danny DeVito's 'Sunny' take on dark comedy

From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher” June 28, 2006

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” which debuts a new season at 10 PM ET/PT Thursday on FX, certainly makes the most of Danny DeVito’s return to television.

Though it might surprise some that the “Taxi” veteran, film star and producing mogul (left) would join the cast of a promising comedy that didn’t make much of a dent in the TV scene in its first season last summer, the move actually makes a lot of sense.

“Sunny” traffics in the kind of cheerful amorality that DeVito’s most memorable characters have reveled in. Here, DeVito plays Frank Reynolds, the newly repentant absentee father of Dennis and Sweet Dee, who, with their pals Charlie and Mac, own a bar in Philadelphia. Because the bar never seems overly packed with patrons, they have plenty of time to cook up relentlessly un-P.C. schemes, and Frank turns out to be even more delightfully venal than his kids.

At one point in Thursday’s one-hour season premiere, Mac and Dennis troll the mall in wheelchairs, convinced that the disabled look will help them pick up women. Later schemes have the young folk making an incredibly unconvincing jihadist tape and plotting to rob their parents blind -- before Frank can give away all his money to poor people.

“Why don’t you just die and leave your money to your kids like normal parents of America?” Dee sputters at one point.

The young actors in “Sunny,” who also produce and write the show, are uniformly talented, and it’s clearly not easy to master the nuances of an energetic, single-camera comedy. Lifetime’s new “Lovespring International,” for example, despite its skilled roster of actors, is far too manic for its own good, especially given the thinness of that show’s material.

“Sunny’s” lively energy can get a bit too manic at times (certainly Anne Archer chews up too much scenery as Barbara, Frank’s wife), and the characters are not quite differentiated enough to make much of a lasting impression. For that reason, “Sunny” doesn’t belong in the ranks of the very best recent TV comedies, such as “The Office” and “Arrested Development,” where each character feels incredibly specific and real.

Still, there are pleasures to be had in Philadelphia. Often the best moments are the throwaway lines or the most surreal, seemingly unplanned moments: Who raised the kids while he was out making a fortune? Barbara asks her estranged husband. “A series of Mexican women,” he replies. For some reason, the cast’s brief, a cappella version of the cheesy rock hit “More Than Words” is strangely hilarious.

And the details feel right. Charlie’s apartment is suitably grimy (not TV grimy, which always seems too clean); the boys’ grasp of world politics and current events is believably shaky (Dennis thinks the word “Jew” is a racial slur); and the crew’s post-college directionless lives and petulant insecurity all ring true.

It’s set in a bar, but “Cheers” this ain’t. “Sunny” is much more of a latter-day descendant of “Seinfeld,” with DeVito as the most gleefully selfish character in the bunch.

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

Cable TV News Notebook
FNC Tops CNN For 4 1/2 Years
(25-54 Dips For Both)
By Anthony Crupi MediaWeek.com June 28, 2006

Ratings are down because these "24 hour NEWS networks" are no longer news networks, they've become simply yet another entertainment station.

News should be informative, and these networks have lost sight of that in favor of partisan "reporting" and "debate".

Say what...? Surely that doesn't mean what it implies does it..? Commercial TV and radio on school buses...? You've got to be kidding.

I read something about this a couple months back and if I remember correctly, it is an encrypted OTA service that is specifically targeted to children on school buses, something like the Airport Channel in airports but the purpose would be to help reinforce certain concepts to help children when they get to school. To fund this program, knowing that most school systems can't afford this, they want to have it advertiser based and there is a concern that it is basically an ad service in disguise.

I personally don't think this is a good idea and I really don't think this is going to fly in its current form. Too many parents are not going to put up with their kids having access to television content they have no control over. That has been the big concern voiced to Congress, if I remember the article correctly.

Court Approves Adelphia Reorg Plan

By Mike Farrell 6/28/2006 5:50:00 PM

New York -- Adelphia Communications’ four-year sojourn through the bankruptcy courts came to an end Wednesday after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber approved a reorganization plan for assets in California, New York and Ohio that will be transferred to Comcast.

The reorganization plan dealt with two Adelphia joint ventures -- Century-TCI and Parnassos -- in which Adelphia will transfer its interests to Comcast. Comcast already owns 25% of the Century-TCI venture (which has 640,000 subscribers in Los Angeles) and 33% of the Parnassos JV, which has 408,000 subscribers in Western New York and Ohio. Coupled with Gerber’s approval Tuesday of a motion to allow the sale of the bulk of Adelphia assets to Time Warner and Comcast, and Adelphia’s long and winding road through bankruptcy is essentially completed.

“We’re extremely pleased with the court’s rulings of today and yesterday, which represent major milestones on the way toward the expected July 31 close of our sale to Time Warner Cable and Comcast,” Adelphia chairman and CEO William Schleyer said in a statement. “With two major court hurdles cleared in 48 hours, we believe we are on track to close the sale on July 31. We remain focused on obtaining expeditious FCC approval of our sale.”

While there are still some minor administrative things to be done concerning the bankruptcy, it is essentially over. And it wasn’t easy.

Adelphia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2002 in the wake of a massive accounting scandal that resulted in four of its top executives being charged in federal court with fraud and conspiracy. Two of those executives -- former chairman John Rigas and his son former chief financial officer Timothy Rigas were convicted and sentenced to 15 years and 20 years in prison respectively. The Rigases are appealing their convictions.

After announcing in April 2005 that it would sell its assets to Time Warner and Comcast for $17.6 billion in cash and stock, Adelphia spent the better part of a year battling with its bondholders, who threatened to derail the sale by not agreeing to a reorganization plan. In May, frustrated that it still couldn’t reach agreement with bondholders after months of negotiations, Adelphia proposed allowing the sale to go through without the approval of creditors, which Gerber permitted on Tuesday.

After the Judge’s Wednesday order, Adelphia attorney Marc Abrams thanked the court for its “absolutely tireless efforts into preventing these cases from entering a zone that could have been potentially disastrous.”

“The ship has been righted,” Abrams continued. “I think we are on a good and profitable path.”

Next on Adelphia’s plate is to muster approval of the deal from the FCC. Last week FCC chairman Kevin Martin said that the agency would act on the Adelphia acquisition in mid-July.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6348175.html?display=Breaking+News

I read something about this a couple months back and if I remember correctly, it is an encrypted OTA service that is specifically targeted to children on school buses, something like the Airport Channel in airports but the purpose would be to help reinforce certain concepts to help children when they get to school. To fund this program, knowing that most school systems can't afford this, they want to have it advertiser based and there is a concern that it is basically an ad service in disguise.

I personally don't think this is a good idea and I really don't think this is going to fly in its current form. Too many parents are not going to put up with their kids having access to television content they have no control over. That has been the big concern voiced to Congress, if I remember the article correctly.
Yes, if it is what you suspect it is, I agree, I don't have kids myself(nieces and nephews are more fun, and cheaper.. :D ) but I can see my brother going ballistic over something like this if his kids were riding a school bus with commercial advertising, there's too much of it in schools now and while it may subsidize some good things for children I don't think the tradeoff is worth it. The subject of school funding can be controversial and get heated at times but it's my position that if you are a part of American society, whether you have children or not, school funding is part of being an adult in the US, whether it's in the form of higher taxes, bond measures, or whatever.

Ratings are down because these "24 hour NEWS networks" are no longer news networks, they've become simply yet another entertainment station.

News should be informative, and these networks have lost sight of that in favor of partisan "reporting" and "debate".

Perhaps, but I think there are other reasons.

The main one is that the second quarter of an off-year election cycle is (without other compelling stories) often a very down time for news ratings. I suspect it will pick up in the third and fourth quarters (although comparing this year to post-Katrina coverage could be a bit difficult).

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

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
'America's Got Talent' settles to earth

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jun 29, 2006, 10:32

“America’s Got Talent” had the summer’s biggest debut last week. The question was whether it would grow into the summer’s biggest hit or shrink into simply a solid show in week two. The answer: It shrank.

A 60-minute “Talent” averaged a 3.8 adults 18-49 overnight rating last night, down 17 percent from last week’s 4.6 for its two-hour debut. It tied with Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” in the 9 p.m. hour, one week after besting it by 0.4 rating points.

“Dance” was also down slightly week to week, from a 4.0 to a 3.8.

In week one, “Talent” grew from start to finish, indicating that it could have an even stronger week two if all those who tuned in by the end came back. While “Talent” did jump 17 percent, from a 3.6 to a 4.1, from its first half to its second, that was well off the 4.8 it earned at its peak last week.

Perhaps viewers were bored by the show’s striking similarities to “American Idol,” the singing show on which Simon Cowell is a judge. He’s the producer of “Talent,” and the show’s format, right down to the one British judge, one female judge and one “why’s he here?” judge, mimics “Idol.”

Perhaps, too, some who sampled “Talent” last week returned to “Dance” or went off to cable, where the NBA Draft was on ESPN.

Meanwhile, Fox led for the night among adults 18-49 with a 3.4 rating and 11 share, followed by NBC at 2.8/9, CBS at 2.0/6 and Univision at 1.7/5. Trailing were ABC at 1.1/4, the WB at 0.8/2 and UPN at 0.4/1.

At 8 p.m., Fox was No. 1 with a 3.0 rating for "Dance," followed by NBC's 2.1 for a "Talent" rerun and Univision's 1.9 for "La Fea Mas Bella." CBS and ABC shared the No. 4 spot at 1.4 each for the special "Shark: Mind of a Demon" and reruns of "George" and "Freddie," ahead of WB's original and repeat "Blue Collar TV" at 0.9 and UPN's repeats of "One on One" and "All of Us" at 0.5.

At 9 p.m., Fox and NBC shared the lead at 3.8 each for "Dance" and "Talent." CBS was No. 3 at 2.0 for a "Criminal Minds" repeat, ahead of Univision's 1.6 for "Barrera de Amor," ABC's 1.0 for a "Lost" repeat, WB's 0.6 for a "One Tree Hill" rerun and UPN's 0.4 for repeats of "Eve" and "Cuts."

At 10 p.m., NBC was No. 1 with 2.6 for a "Law & Order" repeat, leading CBS's 2.5 for a "CSI: NY" rerun, Univision 1.6 for "Don Francisco Presenta" and ABC's 1.0 for another "Lost" rerun.

Among households, NBC was No. 1 with a 6.0 rating and 11 share, ahead of Fox at 5.7/10, CBS at 4.8/9, ABC at 2.4/4, Univision at 2.0/4, WB at 1.3/2 and UPN at 0.9/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5720.asp

The Business of TV
CBS, Affils Make Digital Deal

By Allison Romano Broadcasting & Cable 6/29/2006

CBS and its affiliates have agreed on the framework for a new revenue-sharing agreement that clears the way for the network to distribute its content on digital platforms and deals affiliates in on potential profit.

The pact, announced Thursday, gives CBS more flexibility to funnel shows to the Internet, video-on-demand (VOD) and other emerging platforms. In return, stations will receive a cut of proceeds, including incentives for driving traffic to CBS' Website and other network platforms where they sample ad-supported CBS fare.

Also as part of the deal, CBS stations will continue to chip into the network's NFL deal for the next three years. Several station groups, including LIN Television, Gannett and Meredith Broadcasting, have already approved the terms, and now the full affiliate body must also give their approval.

CBS and its affiliates have been working on the agreement for months. As the broadcast networks have rushed to put their content on the Internet, iTunes and VOD, affiliates have balked that they play a key role in making shows popular and should be included in profits.

Fox recently reached an agreement with its affiliates to distribute more content on emerging platforms in return for stations receiving about 12% of related revenue. NBC and ABC do not have such deals with their affiliates but have said they are working on ways to partner with stations. NBC is creating a new Web portal, the National Broadband Company, with its stations and ABC included in a handful of stations in its free streaming trial that ends June 30.

The exact terms of the CBS deal were not disclosed, but executives say both sides will benefit.

"In a rapidly changing multiplatform, multimedia universe, CBS and its affiliates must develop new business models and methods that best position us to maximize revenue and branding opportunities," Freedom Broadcasting President Doreen Wade, chairman of the CBS affiliates board, said in a statement. "This agreement moves us in the right direction, recognizing the unique programming and promotional value that both parties bring to network broadcasting."

"We recognize that, in today’s marketplace, it’s in our collective long-term best interest that the Network and the affiliates each leverage the full value of the assets they own," said Peter Schruth, president, affiliate relations, CBS Television Network.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6348372

The Business of TV
More Franchises, Launches for FiOS TV

By Karen Brown & David Cohen Multichannel.com 6/29/2006

Verizon Communications’ FiOS TV is tuning in three more communities north of Boston and landed yet another franchise in the Bay State, along with franchises in Pennsylvania and California.

The regional Bell operating company announced Thursday that it is marketing the TV service delivered via fiber-optic connections to Burlington, North Reading and Winchester, Mass., extending its reach to another 57,500 potential viewers. That brings the FiOS TV count in Massachusetts to six, including Lynnfield, Reading and Woburn.

As part of the service rollout, Verizon is offering a bundle of FiOS TV, FiOS high-speed Internet and the Verizon Freedom Value unlimited calling plan for $104.85 per month.

At the same time, Verizon landed yet another franchise approval from the town of Stoneham, Mass. The Board of Selectmen Tuesday approved the 10-year franchise to extend FiOS TV service to the community of 22,000.

On Wednesday night, the Borough Council of the Montgomery County borough of Hatfield, Pa., granted the telco a video franchise to offer FiOS TV.

Hatfield, which brings Verizon nearly 225,000 potential subscribers, joined 10 other Pennsylvania municipalities on the regional Bell operating company’s franchise list: four in Montgomery County -- the boroughs of Lansdale and Schwenksville and the townships of Worcester and Perkiomen -- and others in Bucks, Chester and Delaware counties

As for California, the cities of Perris and Temecula awarded Verizon video franchises in separate City Council votes Tuesday night.

Perris, with approximately 10,000 households, and Temecula, with nearly 20,000, became the seventh and eighth California communities to approve video-franchise applications from the RBOC.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6348406.html?display=Breaking+News

The TV Column
After the Star Flameout, the Negatives Are Rising


By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, June 29, 2006; C07

One day after "The View" executive producer Barbara Walters billed and cooed over departing co-host Star Jones Reynolds, she opened the show by sticking a shiv in Star's gullet.

While this is way better TV than that treacly send-off Babs gave her other departing co-host, Meredith Vieira, earlier this month, it's unclear how this advances Babs's carefully constructed image as the Mother Abbess of TV journalism.

"Then there were three," B-Wa said at the top of the show, in re the fact that the tacky kitchen table around which the gals cheep, cheep, cheep at the start of each show was noticeably Star-less, sporting merely the aforementioned B-Wa, Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

"This is truthfully a very difficult day for us and it is a sad day for us," B-Wa continued, her Sad Face now firmly screwed in place.

Difficult and sad because the day before, Star had upstaged what we're certain would have been a riveting Babs-led discussion on air conditioning to announce she was leaving the show on which she had vamped for nine years.

Upstaging B-Wa is a serious crime, and here's how she executed Star yesterday morning:

"The truth is that Star has known for months that ABC did not want to renew her contract and that she would not be asked back in the fall," she told her studio audience in marked contrast to what she'd said 24 hours earlier about how important Star had been to the launch of the ABC daytime series.

(That's because, B-Wa had told the New York Times the day before, ABC's research showed that Star's "negatives were rising" and "the audience was losing trust in her. They didn't believe some of the things she said.")

Speaking of rising negatives and not believing some of the things a woman has said, B-Wa had been telling her fellow journalists for months that there was no truth to the rumor Star was being dropped from the show. In early May, while in Washington for a "coming out" dinner for Saudi Arabia's new ambassador, The Post's Reliable Source column said she told them that Star Jones was not being dropped from "The View." A couple of weeks earlier the New York Times quoted her as saying, "If Star wants to continue to be [on 'The View'], she is welcome."

These days, B-Wa explains she told those little white misinformations to "protect Star."

Back to yesterday's execution, where B-Wa was explaining to her studio audience that they have grown to dislike and mistrust Star, according to ABC research.

"But we were never going to say this. We wanted to protect Star," B-Wa said.

"And so, we told her that she could say whatever she wanted about why she was leaving and that we would back her up. . . . We hoped she would announce it here on the program and leave with dignity."

But Star did say what she wanted about why she was leaving. And she did announce it on the program.

So why did they not back her up? Why did they instead sack her newly skinny heinie?

Yesterday, B-Wa would only say, coyly, that Star "made another choice" and that since her announcement Tuesday on the show, "she has made further announcements that have surprised us."

By "other announcements" we presume she means "interview with People magazine," in which Star said, "I feel like I was fired," and which popped up on the mag's Web site before Tuesday's edition of "The View" had ended.

Yes, Barbara Walters got scooped on her own big story by People magazine.

Chatting with Ryan Seacrest on his Los Angeles radio show yesterday, Star acknowledged she's known for months they did not want her back on the show in the fall. She said that the parties involved had agreed to orchestrate an on-air announcement this week and she had been asked to remain with the show through mid-July. Did you know that July is a sweeps month? You can just imagine the treacle fest they were planning for Star's bow-out.

But, with Star going off-script and, it appears, telling the truth about the reason for her departure, B-Wa told viewers yesterday Star had made it "uncomfortable for us to pretend that everything is the same" on the show.

Star told Seacrest yesterday she got word late Tuesday "they did not want me to return today."

"I was told yesterday was my last day," she told Seacrest.

Actually, she said, she did not get the call, her agent did. And, in response to a direct question from Seacrest, Star said she had not heard from B-Wa.

B-Wa preferred to convey her message to Star through the medium of television, which is rated, versus a phone call, which is not.

"We wish her well in this new chapter of her life as we begin a new chapter on 'The View.' When we come back, we will do what we do best, or worst -- hot topics."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/28/AR2006062802117_pf.html

No kidding, I don't understand that at all, it's not bad enough that commercialism has seeped into the classrooms and the cafeterias, now we're letting it on the buses..?

Maybe the buses can have advertsing on the sides just like your local city or county bus. How about a MySpace.com ad on the buses. Highschool kids are into MySpace. ;)

Critic’s Notebook
Feed The Machine: Weirdness Afoot

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle in his TV blog “The Bastard Machine” Thursday, June 29, 2006

Things:

• So I turn on the TV to set up YET MORE watching of the upcoming fall season and what's on ESPN? Paintball. Competitive paintball. With referees. So, naturally, I keep watching. It seems like such an American "sport." Get a rifle. A ref. And what looks like a moto-cross helmet. Go nuts.

What's not to like?

• Back in Fall Preview Hell, you should know that this year the networks are out of their minds with the fear of piracy. Normally, they take the sending out of their DVD review copies mildly serious. Now they're trying to instruct critics on how to discard them. Here's how I always do it: I watch them. I throw them in my garbage. End of story.

Now, HBO has justifiably been worried in the past that people of less character - not your normal newspaper critics, but perhaps a few strays who have ill-advisedly been given advance copies - may post them on the internet or sell them on eBay or something. So HBO began to burn our initials into the review copies long ago. Anytime someone sees my copy, it says "TG" up in the corner.

What the networks are so worried about baffles me. Most of their stuff is - what's the word here? - crap. Right.

And even if a review copy of, say, one or two of the new Fox sitcoms leaked out, who would want to own them? Who would want to purchase them? Trust me on this - I've seen them. If I could get that time back - 80 something minutes - I'd be at the pool using it more wisely. But no.

And now I find out that www.tv.com has a bunch of fall clips available online to show people. Other than working as a free commercial for the networks, how is this hurting anyone? Doesn't this really illustrate that the networks care about privacy/piracy only when they can't control it? I'm still considering setting up the 6th Annual TV Hootenanny, where the very best of the fall offerings are screened for a select bunch of social misfits willing to watch TV for free in a theater on a weekday, but I'm assuming I need to buff up my legal team beforehand, and that means it may not be worth it.

• Still loving the HDTV. No, that's actually an understatement meant to conceal my real glee, which in turn might cause some jealousy for those who don't have it.

In truth, I'm INSANE about Hi-Def. And to prove it, I'm going above and beyond watching pretty much whatever is offered in HD and will be - wait for it - watching the launch of Shuttle Discovery on Saturday on HDNet. It starts at 7 a.m. but the actual countdown and liftoff comes at 12:49 our time.

Now, THAT should be cool. HDNet really goes all out with muiltiple cameras, sound, etc., so switching between the launch of Discovery and whatever World Cup games may be on should prove an upgrade over paintball.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=24

Cable TV Notebook
4 more aboard for 'Sopranos' final episodes

By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter June 29, 2006

Four more key cast members of HBO's "The Sopranos" -- Lorraine Bracco, Aida Turturro, Robert Iler and Jamie-Lynn Sigler -- have deals in place or are close to deals to appear in the mob drama's final eight episodes.

Still holding out are Tony Sirico, Steven Van Zandt and Steven Schirripa, with Schirripa looking good to have a new deal before the show's first table read, now scheduled for July 6.

Bracco, Turturro, Iler and Sigler are all said to have received substantial salary bumps.

Bracco, who plays Tony Soprano's (James Gandolfini) psychiatrist, Jennifer Melfi, is looking at $220,000-$230,000 per episode for the last batch of episodes, and Turturro, who plays Soprano's sister Janice, is getting $130,000-$140,000 per episode, sources said.

The new salary range for Iler and Sigler, who play Soprano's children, AJ and Meadow, is understood to be $110,000-$120,000 per episode.

While stars Gandolfini and Edie Falco inked new deals this year, it has been down-to-the-wire renegotiations for all "Sopranos" supporting actors, with all of them -- including Michael Imperioli, Vincent Curatola and John Ventimiglia -- reaching agreements to continue on the show within the past month.

The cast renegotiations stem from HBO's decision last summer to extend the sixth season of the Emmy-winning series from 13 to 20 episodes -- 12 to air this year and eight in 2007.

Sirico and Van Zandt, who have been mainstays of the show since its launch in 1999, took a firm stance early in the renegotiation process, sticking together and asking for $200,000 an episode, more than double their most recent fee.

With the two on the verge of leaving the show, "Sopranos" star Gandolfini got on the phone with them during the weekend.

After another round of back-and-forth between HBO and the actors' reps in the past few days, the two sides are closer on the money but still far from a deal, sources said.

A possible departure of Van Zandt and especially Sirico would have a serious effect on the creative direction of the show in its final stretch in light of two major revelations about Sirico's character, Paulie Walnuts, in recent episodes -- that his aunt is actually his mother and his father is unknown and that he has prostate cancer.

Reps for Bracco, Turturro, Iler and Sigler declined or couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

Bob McGowan of McGowan Management, who manages Sirico and Van Zandt, declined comment.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002764336

Critic’s Notebook
Peter Tolan on the future of "Rescue Me"

(and yes, that scene)
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher” June 29, 2006

Expect another female firefighter to join the crew on “Rescue Me,” probably next season.

Peter Tolan, co-creator and executive producer of “Rescue Me,” says he has no plans to change anything in the remainder of Season 3 of the FX drama, which he and fellow show creator and star Denis Leary mapped out some time ago. But in the wake the criticism and controversy that erupted in recent weeks, due to a rape scene between Leary’s character and his estranged wife in the June 20 episode of the show, he is considering changes for future seasons.

Tolan, in a Wednesday phone interview, said he wants to add “a female character of some strength that the guys can interact with and respect. And I’d like [it if she didn’t develop] a sexual relationship with anybody, so that it doesn’t get muddied like that.”

But was what happened between Janet and Tommy Gavin in that controversial episode rape (which remains my view)? Tolan addressed that in the interview.

NOTE: Please be aware that this interview contains some graphic language.

I actually did have someone leave a comment on my Web site, something along the lines of “Sometimes no doesn’t mean no, right?” I would hate for someone not to know where the line is …

“I would hope that nobody watches ‘Rescue Me’ and says, ‘Here’s a man’s guide to how to live your life.’ I think most sane people would look at that and say, ‘Boy, are these people, all of them, male and female, screwed up. I’m going to enjoy watching this, because compared to them, my life’s a picnic.’ If somebody’s that disturbed that they think they can pick up that cue from a television show, then they’ve probably done far worse or are contemplating doing just that and God knows why they’d need the extra impulse of a TV show to complete the act.”

But I think there are some guys out there who don’t understand that no means no.

“I’m sure there are.”

I read everything you guys said about those two having a complicated and messed-up relationship. And I can see them fighting, even physically, but when I see a woman, a weaker, smaller person, being held down by a man, and the man forcing himself inside her, I have a really hard time with that. And I’d have a hard time not calling that rape.

“I can understand that, as a woman, that you would have that reaction. A lot of people … I’m sure some men probably had that reaction as well. I understand it has much more resonance for a woman. I’ve just got to say, you have to take into consideration who the people are and it’s a complicated scene. It’s very ambiguous in a lot of ways. I’m sure 10 different people will tell you [different interpretations of] when the line of consent is crossed in that scene.”

But should consent be clear before a man puts his penis inside a woman?

“In a perfect world - not on a dramatic television series -- yeah. But this is not a guide to proper public behavior. If it was, it would get pretty boring pretty fast. Not, again, that scene is not there to be provocative, it’s there because Denis and I thought it was a natural extension of the problems in that relationship. That relationship has very quickly moved beyond having verbal fights or physical fights to …. When you take the story into consideration…. I’m never going to say that I condone rape. Nobody would ever say that. But these are fictional characters… and there’s a parental warning on this show and hopefully there’s no one of an impressionable age watching this show and thinking, ‘Hey, a man and a woman, it’s okay to interact that way.’”

One thing that struck me, and it struck others as well, was that she has this physical encounter in which Tommy rips her shirt, forcibly initiates sex, and then Johnny walks in and she acts like nothing has happened. And I had a really big problem - and I’ve seen all the explanations for why Tommy walked out with a smile on his face - to me that crossed the line, it really rankled me. It seemed to indicate what happened was something he was fine with.

“It’s open to interpretation and if you say, well, here’s my interpretation, he’s punished his wife, sure, I’d have a problem with that too. My interpretation’s different. A lot of people say, ‘Oh, he’s just getting back at Johnny.’ That would be a rough interpretation too. I’m sure there’s part of that there. But you’re talking about a guy, for whatever reason, in this sick little world, loves that woman. Can’t express it, doesn’t have a clue how to express it, but she is his and he is in love with her, and he is reclaiming her by that act.

“And in doing so sees, not repulsion from her, but a certain form of acceptance. It’s almost as though he walks out of the house going, ‘I’ve got her back! I can start over again with her. We are still together.’ That’s what I think is in his mind, in his sick little mind. It’s, ‘She still loves me.’ God knows the last time those two characters exchanged those words. His interpretation of those events are, ‘I’ve got a shot with her. She hasn’t turned her back on me completely.’ That’s how I interpret that. And I’m one of the executive producers of the show [laughs], so I think I have a more intimate relationship with the material. Nevertheless, I don’t blame anyone for seeing that and going that, ‘That [expletive] pig!’”

If you could do it differently, if you could change how it went down on the screen for viewers, would you change anything?

“I don’t think so. It was very carefully written. People may not think so, but we took a great deal of time with it. I know that Andrea took a great deal of time with the scene, in terms of preparing the scene and what she did. I mean she is very happy with how she portrayed that character in that scene. So I can’t say that I would change anything.”

Well, the thing is, I can see them having a violent argument, I can see them physically scuffling, I can see that turning into sex. That I buy, with these characters. It’s the issue of him physically restraining her. I had a problem with that. And her smiling or getting into it at the end. A lot of women get raped in the world. For whatever you guys meant, that has other implications in the world.

“I know it does, and I certainly understand the concept of male rape fantasy, where a man rapes a woman and she enjoys it. And I would never want to do anything that kept that alive. But these are specific characters, it has to be looked at in context. Not just what’s happened before, but what’s happening in coming weeks. It’s all part of a story that involves characters who have many, many problems.

“At a certain point… it’s like when I was working at the networks, [and saying] ‘I think I want to write a character who’s a homophobe, he’s not hateful, but he’s fearful of homosexuals, and his ignorance is fueled by his fear.’ And they said, ‘You can’t put that on the air.’ I said to this network person, ‘Are you saying that no character on a television show can express unpopular or politically incorrect viewpoints?’ and they said, ‘Yes.’”

[B] Regarding the June 20 episode, did any of you see this reaction coming?

“I’ll tell you the honest truth, none of us [saw this coming]. Nobody, not in post-production, and my wife is one of the producers on the show, she oversees the editing, none of us. And who knows if we’re just insensitive louts. None of us saw it as causing any kind of uproar. We just saw it as our story. We just saw it as a natural progression of events given these characters, and given a man, and we are seeing this in other story lines, who feels impotent. And having been cuckolded. He’s going to express himself in a dominant sexual manner.”

Well, not to beat a dead horse, as it were, but rape is power - ‘I’m going to own you, I’m going to mark you.’

“And that’s got to be part of it, right?”

For me, what he did -- that made him a different guy.

“And I think for a lot of people it did. It is a very difficult [subject] … nobody condones rape, it’s a horrible crime. Some people are going to see that subject matter, and say, well, I don’t really care if it’s fictional. And it may even [harm the viewer’s] relationship with Tommy, who is an anti-hero, but one made very likable by Denis’ performance, one who is at least somewhat relatable. So they feel betrayed by this person, who they knew was [messed] up, but they didn’t think he was that [messed] up. Whereas other people will look at that and say, business as usual. Or not as usual, but a new low for a guy who has God knows how many lows in him.”

I think this is part of the problem with Tommy, for me - that his behavior gets repetitive over time. I don’t want to see Tommy Gavin become Mr. Touchy Feely Guy, which of course he never would, but at the same time, I’ve stayed with the show for now three seasons - I like the firehouse camaraderie, I love the humor, the performances, but I want to know that there’s somewhere to go with this guy, otherwise it’s Tommy Gavin screwing up for the umpteenth time, Tommy Gavin yet again messing up a relationship with a woman.

“It’s almost a full three seasons, as we write ahead, and that’s a very destructive merry-go-round that those two people [Janet and Tommy] are on. And there’s only so long before an audience will say, ‘Hey, come on. Either make it work, or more likely get away from each other, because if you can’t see how toxic this is, if you can’t see it, you’re out of your mind.’ So at a certain point we are going to have to make a choice there. Because we’re probably getting to that point, where it’s, how many times can we go around in this vicious cycle?”

And with Tommy, it’s not as though he should become super-sensitive, coffeehouse-singer guy, but can there be a little self-knowledge coming to the fore with him?

“Well, there better be a learning curve. We’re not using the model of ‘The Shield.’ We’re not killing a good cop in the first episode. We’re not taking that model. We’re saying here’s a guy, he’s struggling to keep things together, to keep his family together, and he failed in Season 1. And we definitely have [ideas] about what we think the overriding story is for each season.

“We’re in the season of failure at this point .. and, given what the show is, at that point where sees the light and he finds some peace and some happiness and some forward movement, in terms of his evolution as a man and a father and all those things, I think we’ll be right around done. But there are many, many other things to do with him, and certainly things that aren’t as hateful as some of the things he’s done recently.

“Obviously we have room to come back from [that, but] a lot of people, I’m sure, said, that’s crossed a line for me and I don’t care any more.”

What about the women on the show - I know that it’s not a show about women, but shows such as “The Sopranos,” there are other sides shown with the women on that show. There are layers to them, so that you don’t feel like they’re just having sex with the main character, or shrieking at him and wanting more sex, or nagging him. And I know that this is not the “men and women relate well” show, but …

“Well, you know, people say the women are all screaming and harpies and are only there for sexual relationships, and to some degree that may be true. We try to show some other sides to them, but it’s really about the guys. That’s where a lot of our energy goes, in terms of what we want to show on camera. The only functional relationship is between the crew, and even there, they rarely expose true feelings. It’s the functional disfunctional relationship.

“I want to add a female voice to the show and somebody in the firehouse that the guys can respect, who can maybe if not educate them - because I think some of them are a little far down the line [for that] - at least be there as the voice of a woman that they’re forced to deal with. They respect her [in part] based on her ability.”

I hope if you do bring on a woman who can be both competent and attractive - with Diane Farr’s character, did they ever trust her as a firefighter?

“No. They didn’t. There was a question as to whether she had the strength to do the job. And that will get you killed. But that was a good character.”

Regarding the show going forward, my guess is that Janet ends up pregnant, but they don’t know which Gavin is the father.

“Anything’s possible. I’m not going to confirm or deny anything. I don’t want to give away story points because fans will kill me.”

In the interview with Alan Sepinwall, Denis said something along the lines of “we knew some people would react to this the wrong way.” I’ve read and heard a million reactions to that scene, so I know opinions are all over the map, but that comment just struck me, frankly, the wrong way. The idea that if someone saw it is rape, that’s seeing it “the wrong way” -- is that a feeling you share?

“I don’t want to get into commenting on comments. I don’t remember Denis saying that, but maybe he did.”

Well, here’s the thing, I think we may end up agreeing to disagree on this, but I think this took Tommy’s character to a different place. I just think, for me, with a slightly different nuance or flavor to that scene, I would have bought it.

“I can certainly respect your reaction to it.”

When I watched that scene, there was just a button that got pushed in my head, and once that happened, it’s hard to sort of even be rational about explanations and so forth.

“And I know this, from the conversations I’ve had with people who had the same reaction as you, that it’s hard to really accept any sort of explanation or what our intent was.”

Well, as I said to someone at your network, when you work on a channel that has edgy fare - the edge is in different places for different people.

“And I’m just amazed at the different reactions that people had. A lot of people see it the way Denis and I see it, as a disturbing but natural progression in the relationship.”

The last episodes of the season, the ones you’re writing now, would you change anything?

“I think just in a reading the useful input from fans and different people, it’ll be more about future stories and that idea of a female character of some strength that the guys can interact with and respect. And I’d like that not to be a sexual relationship with anybody, so that it doesn’t get muddied like that. But we know where we’re going with this season and we’re sticking with it.”

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2006/06/peter_tolan_on_.html#more

TV Notebook
The Closer Gets Third-Season Renewal

By Anne Becker Broadcasting & Cable 6/29/2006

TNT’s The Closer has been renewed for a third 15-episode season.

With 8.28 million total viewers, TNT's season-two premiere of The Closer, starring Kyra Sedwick, drew the biggest audience ever for an ad-supported cable scripted series telecast on Monday night, according to Nielsen Media Research. The previous record was held by the series' first-season premiere last year.

In an interview conducted previously by B&C, Michael Wright, senior vice president of original programming for TNT and TBS, called the show one of his proudest accomplishments, saying, “There's something slightly subversive; it's a smart, engaging procedural, but the storytelling keeps you guessing.”

The third season will launch in summer 2007.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6348645.html?display=Breaking+News

Cable TV Notebook
Tucker Carlson is the new Dan Abrams

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn” Thursday, June 29, 2006

Changes announced at MSNBC today.
Good news for Rita Cosby and one-hour longform.
Bad news for Tucker.

(MSNBC news release)
Network To Complement Live News Programming With Two Hours Of Compelling Documentary Programming During Weekday Prime

Expanding Her Role With The Network, Rita Cosby To Become Primary Anchor Of "MSNBC Investigates"

Tucker Carlson moves to 4 & 6 p.m. (ET)

SECAUCUS, NJ - June 29, 2006 - MSNBC today announced that the network will air two hours of documentary programming during weekday prime, at 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. (ET), beginning July 10, 2006. On January 13th of this year, MSNBC began presenting documentary programming on Friday evenings, resulting in stunning ratings growth (MSNBC is up 67% in the adult demographic and 34% in total viewers)*. MSNBC is now expanding this popular programming throughout the week. The announcement was made by Dan Abrams, General Manager of MSNBC.

The documentaries will complement MSNBC's existing programming by building on our library of award winning documentaries. Michael Rubin and Scott Hooker will lead MSNBC's long form unit. Hooker, an award winning documentary producer who has been with the network since its inception, will be Senior Executive Producer of Documentary Production and Development. Hooker is joined by Michael Rubin, who recently returned to MSNBC in the role of Vice President, Long Form Programming. Rubin, a veteran broadcast and cable network programmer, had been with MSNBC from 1999 to 2001, as Senior Executive Producer of Long Form. Prior to that, he was an Executive Producer at CBS news for several years working in primetime, on the CBS news magazine "West 57th" and on special projects. Both Hooker and Rubin report to Abrams.

"MSNBC has made tremendous strides in key primetime hours," said Abrams, "and these adjustments to our primetime schedule will continue to propel our momentum, as we concentrate on our strengths and continue to serve our viewers with the right mix of programming."

Rita Cosby will now expand her role with the network and will become the primary anchor of the long running franchise "MSNBC Investigates," airing in the 10 and 11 p.m. Monday through Friday timeslots. She will also head up the newly created "Rita Cosby Specials" unit. Known for her tenacity and tireless energy, Cosby will continue to focus on the big stories and important interviews that MSNBC's audience has come to expect. She will have her own production team and will be featured prominently throughout MSNBC's primetime and on NBC News. "Rita is a top notch journalist who I look forward to seeing more on our network," said Abrams. "As Rita's visibility increases, she will become that much more important to the network as a whole." "I am absolutely thrilled to be taking on these additional duties with MSNBC," said Cosby. "I have always admired the work of the documentary unit and I can't wait to be a part of it. The combination of reporting live from the biggest stories and working on compelling documentary programming is the ultimate job for me."

Also as part of the schedule shift, Tucker Carlson's program will move to 4:00 p.m. (ET) and 6:00 p.m. (ET), occupying what was previously the timeslot for "The Abrams Report." Carlson will continue to hold newsmakers, as well as news shapers in the media, accountable for what they do and fail to do. "It's going to be a dramatic couple of years in the news," said Carlson. "We may be pulling out of Iraq. Hillary could be president. Whatever happens, we'll be there, fighting the power with a smile."

*According to Nielsen Media Research data, during the period from January 13 through June 25, 2006, on Friday nights, MSNBC is up 67% in the 25-54 demographic and 34% in total viewers, from 10 p.m. to midnight (ET) versus a year ago.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2006/06/tucker_carlson_.html#more

COMMENTARY
The truth? It's a point of view

Star Jones Reynolds' outspoken departure from "The View" reveals a whole world of lies.
By Robin Abcarian Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 30, 2006

Things got messy this week with the girlfriends on "The View."

What was supposed to be a carefully choreographed series of lies, told to save face, spare feelings and protect careers, devolved into a nasty catfight, leaving a veteran newswoman, Barbara Walters, in the position not only of having admitted lying, but of accusing her now-former co-host, Star Jones Reynolds, of lacking dignity for failing to lie about why she was leaving the show.

Jones Reynolds, for her part, had already been slammed for (allegedly) lying about how she lost more than 100 pounds. And of course, the woman who accused her of that, "The View's" new co-host, Rosie O'Donnell, lied for years about having a deep crush on Tom Cruise ... before she came out of the closet.

Everybody in TV lies, of course. To save face, to save feelings, to save careers.

But rarely do the lies come apart so publicly and — quite frankly — so deliciously.

And rarely is a journalist such as Walters, whose main asset is her credibility, after all, forced to admit to tangoing with the truth. "I have always told the truth on this program," Walters told the New York Daily News on Tuesday, "except in the case of Star."

Her big lie: Last May, when O'Donnell was hired to replace Meredith Vieira, Walters tried to dampen speculation that Jones Reynolds' contract would not be renewed for a 10th season. "If Star wants to continue to be there," Walters told the New York Times, "she is welcome."

As it turns out, not so much.

"This was not one of Barbara Walters' finest moments," said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. "The one person who can stabilize the equation is the one person who has done more harm than good."

Walters, of course, had known for months that ABC would not renew Jones Reynolds' contract. As Walters told reporters this week, Jones Reynolds' "negatives" were going up and the public was starting to doubt her veracity. (A lot of that going around, Barbara.) "They didn't believe some of the things she said," Walters told one reporter. "There are very strong reasons why they felt she had lost the audience," she told another.

Jones Reynolds was supposed to let Walters lie for her, but her feelings of betrayal must have gotten the best of her. So she did two things: Instead of waiting till Thursday, the day she was supposed to announce that she was leaving, she jumped the gun on Tuesday and announced during the show to her surprised co-hosts Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Walters that she was not coming back in the fall. "Oh," said a completely disingenuous Walters, "how long are you going to be with us?"

And then Jones Reynolds compounded the insult by telling People magazine, "I feel like I've been fired." Which, of course, is true, but that is not what the script had called for.

On Wednesday's "The View," a solemn Walters spun the debacle for viewers, and unwittingly — perhaps even historically — outlined the ritualized deceptions now regularly used when any high-profile employee is fired: "This is, truthfully, a very difficult day for us," said Walters. "If you were watching the program yesterday, you would have heard Star announce that she's leaving.... We didn't expect her to make this statement yesterday. She gave us no warning and we were taken by surprise. But the truth is that Star has known for months that ABC did not want to renew her contract.... But we were never going to say this. We wanted to protect Star. And so we told her that she could say whatever she wanted about why she was leaving and that we would back her up. We worked closely with her representatives and we gave her time to look for another job and we hoped then she would announce it here on the program and leave with dignity. But Star made another choice."

Yes, the difficult, almost unheard-of other choice: telling the truth. And by doing so, Jones Reynolds simply pulled back the curtain on that messy place where girlfriends and professional obligations collide. "The View," after all, was conceived as a place where women of several generations could bond and jawbone over the day's news, drool over celebrities together and disagree but always be friends. Or at least friendly.

"For Barbara to say she felt betrayed is the height of hypocrisy," Jones Reynolds caterwauled in Thursday's New York Daily News.

"The sad thing about this," said Thompson, "is that it kind of dreadfully brings back these old stereotypes. 'The View' was supposed to be five women talking intelligently and candidly about important and silly issues ... and what is there now but a great big catfight. There's something a little 'Dynasty' about it, and that's discouraging because the heart of the show was to dispel that idea."

You could argue, as children might, that Star started it by not being a good girlfriend in the first place. Good girlfriends don't promote themselves at the expense of their friendships. (Respondents to a recent poll by the social networking site Sisterwoman.com named Jones Reynolds as "worst celebrity girlfriend." "She's way too self absorbed and completely vain," said one.)

Jones Reynolds, a former Brooklyn assistant district attorney who came to prominence as a commentator for the O.J. Simpson murder trial, had become a parody of self-promotion. Her "View" girlfriends had to remind her to stop talking about herself, as Vieira did recently when Jones Reynolds called the show from her sick bed after complications from a breast lift. "OK, Star, that's enough about you! On to us! Bye!" (Some news outlets reported that Jones Reynolds called Behar the b-word at the end of the conversation. That's so not girlfriendish.)

Todd Boyd, a professor of critical studies in the USC School of Cinema and Television, said that Jones Reynolds was done in by her incessant self-regard. "I think Star began to confuse her visibility with likability." He recalled with a shudder the marriage proposal she received from Al Reynolds at the 2004 NBA All-Star game. "I thought it was ridiculous, and if it wasn't so pitiful, it might be funny."

It wasn't just the proposal that turned people off. There was the incredibly tacky way she flogged her wedding suppliers, who gave her freebies in exchange for on-air plugs until ABC asked her to cease and desist. And of course, there was her wedding website, starandal.com, with its lavish gift registry. When she wasn't promoting herself, she was on a book tour telling women how to reach their goals, but playing coy about how she reached hers.

This infuriated O'Donnell. (Never lie to a reformed liar, if you know what's good for you.) O'Donnell went after Jones Reynolds, on her website in free verse, no less: "Star Jones had weight loss surgery / She had part of her stomach bypassed / that is how she lost 1/2 herself / she refuses to say this / which is her right/but we do not have to pretend we do not know."

Nor do we have to pretend we don't know that Rosie O'Donnell never really loved Tom Cruise, that Star Jones Reynolds was fired and, perhaps saddest of all, that Barbara Walters is a liar. I don't know whether to meow or yawn.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-starjones30jun30,0,5540785,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

Sports On TV
Hall of Fame awards Visser

USA Today Staff and wire reports

NEW YORK — Sports reporter and broadcaster Lesley Visser can add another "first" to her list.

Visser, of CBS Sports, will become the first woman to receive the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award.

The annual award recognizes "longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football." She will be presented with the award Aug. 5 at a dinner on the eve of enshrinement ceremonies.

Visser enters her 34th season covering the NFL on television and in print journalism. She was the first female NFL beat writer, covering the New England Patriots in 1976.

She spent nearly seven years with ABC Sports and was the first female reporter for Monday Night Football and first woman assigned to a Super Bowl sideline.

"Recognition by the Pro Football Hall of Fame is beyond any dream I could have imagined for myself or any other woman when I saw my first game, the AFL Patriots against the Raiders in 1964," Visser said Thursday. "It is a tremendous honor to be connected with his great legacy and to the list of honorees that have gone before me."

Visser, who began her career with The Boston Globe in 1974, joined CBS Sports 10 years later. She has covered the Final Four, NBA Finals, World Series, Olympics, U.S. Open, World Figure Skating Championships and the Triple Crown.

"Lesley Visser's career has broken many barriers and defined previously unimagined roles for women in professional sports and sports broadcasting," said Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports.

Previous winners of the Rozelle Award include Don Criqui, John Madden, Roone Arledge, Dick Enberg, Charlie Jones, Jack Buck, Frank Gifford, Pat Summerall, Curt Gowdy and Chris Schenkel.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2006-06-29-notes_x.htm?POE=SPOISVA

Nielsen Notebook
'GMA' wins with Gibson's goodbye

By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter June 30, 2006

NEW YORK -- It wasn't the 8 million-plus viewers who said goodbye to Katie Couric on "Today," but Charles Gibson got his own Nielsen-winning sendoff with Wednesday's farewell on "Good Morning America."

Wednesday's "GMA" averaged 5.6 million viewers and a 2.1 rating/17 share in the adults 25-54 demographic, according to preliminary data released Thursday by Nielsen Media Research.

That was ahead of the usual No. 1 show, "Today," which averaged 5.1 million and a 2.0/15 in adults 18-49, and CBS' "The Early Show," which averaged 2.4 million viewers and a 0.8/8 in the demo.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002764673

TV Notebook
Mariska Hargitay a Mom

UsMagazine.com

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay, 42, gave birth to a baby boy Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.

It is her first child with her husband of almost two years, actor Peter Hermann. The baby boy weighed in at 10 pounds 9 ounces and was born a week after his expected due date via C-Section, a hospital source tells Us.

Hargitay’s father, actor Mickey Hargitay, and brother were at the hospital as well.

The couple met on the set of Law & Order: SVU. Hermann, 38, appeared most recently in the film United 93.

Hargitay won a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series in 2005 and as well as the 2004 and 2005 Emmy Nominee, and 2004 Screen Actors Guild Nominee for Lead Actress. She is also the daughter of the late screen siren Jayne Mansfield.

Hargitay’s rep could not be reached for comment.

http://www.usmagazine.com/blog/page/2/

Awards Notebook
Complete list of Emmy finalists?

Gold Derby
By Tom O'Neil: Los Angeles Times Staff Writer In “The Envelope” Awards blog

Looks like our message-board poster "Jimmie from the Block" and his secret source at About.com plus our forums moderator Chris Beachum ("Boomer") have filled in the missing pieces in the lists of top 10 finalists for comedy and drama series and top 15 voter-getters among lead series' actors and actresses.

If true, these are the candidates whose sample episodes were viewed at judging panels last weekend. The top five achieving the best scores in each category will be among the final nominees unveiled next Thursday, July 6. Special thanks to our other posters "EA," "Helmetz" and "No Underwear" for their contributions (especially "EA" — yeowsa!)

Of course, these lists should not be considered accurate since they were compiled via pooling internet gossip, but about 40 percent of their content has been verified by second sources, including high-ranking TV network execs who participated in the panels.

So far we haven't found any mistakes to make us doubt the validity of the other info. Assuming all of it is accurate, there's a lot of great news here for the TV academy, which is testing this new voting system in an effort to give programs on lower-rated networks an equal chance alongside the biggies.

Grouchy TV critics might even jump for joy to see that Lauren Graham ("Gilmore Girls"), Kristen Bell ("Veronica Mars"), Steve Carell ("The Office"), Denis Leary ("Rescue Me"), Jason Lee ("My Name Is Earl"), Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer"), Tichina Arnold ("Everybody Hates Chris"), Hank Azaria ("Huff"), Lisa Kudrow ("The Comeback"), Mary-Louise Parker ("Weeds"), Treat Williams ("Everwood") and Kevin Connelly and Adrian Grenier ("Entourage") got shots at lead-acting noms.

No doubt the same critics will kvetch over the omission of "Battlestar Gallactica" in the top races, but that may not be the TV academy's fault. The sci-fi genre gets little respect at Hollywood awards. "Star Wars" and "E.T." lost best picture at the Oscars.

TOP 10 BEST DRAMA SERIES FINALISTS?
(Episode entry in parenthesis)
"Big Love" ("Affair")
"Boston Legal" ("Stick It")
"Grey's Anatomy, "It's the End of the World"
"House" ("Autopsy")
"Lost" ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")
"Rescue Me" ("Justice")
"Six Feet Under"
"The Sopranos" ("Members Only")
"24"
"The West Wing" ("Election Day, Part II")
Not listed: "Alias," "Battlestar Gallactica," "C.S.I.," "C.S.I.: Miami," "The Closer," "E.R.," "Everwood," "Huff," "Law and Order," "Law & Order: SVU," "Medium," "N.C.I.S.," "Nip/Tuck," "Prison Break," "Rome," "The Shield," "Veronica Mars," "Without a Trace."

TOP 10 BEST COMEDY SERIES FINALISTS?
(Episode submission in parenthesis)
"Arrested Development" ("Development Arrested" - Finale)
"Curb Your Enthusiasm"
"Desperate Housewives"
"Entourage" ("Exodus")
"My Name Is Earl"
"The Office" ("Booze Cruise")
"Scrubs" ("My Way Home")
"Two and a Half Men" (“Santa’s Village of the Damned”)
"Will & Grace" ("The Finale")
"Weeds" ("You Can't Miss the Bear")
Not Listed: "The Comeback," "Everybody Hates Chris," "Extras," "Gilmore Girls," "How I Met Your Mother," "Malcolm in the Middle," "Monk," "New Adventures of Old Christine"

DRAMA ACTOR
Hank Azaria, "Huff"
Michael Chiklis, "The Shield"
Patrick Dempsey, "Grey's Anatomy"
Matthew Fox, "Lost"
James Gandolfini, "The Sopranos"
Michael C. Hall, "Six Feet Under"
Peter Krause, "Six Feet Under"
Anthony LaPaglia, "Without a Trace"
Hugh Laurie, "House"
Denis Leary, "Rescue Me"
Bill Paxton, "Big Love"
Martin Sheen, "The West Wing"
James Spader, "Boston Legal"
Kiefer Sutherland, "24"
Treat Williams, "Everwood"

DRAMA ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, "Medium"
Kristen Bell, "Veronica Mars"
Frances Conroy, "Six Feet Under"
Geena Davis, "Commander-in-Chief"
Edie Falco, "The Sopranos"
Jennifer Garner, "Alias"
Gennifer Goodwin, "Big Love"
Mariska Hargitay, "Law & Order: SVU"
Allison Janney, "The West Wing"
Evangeline Lilly, "Lost"
Ellen Pompeo, "Grey's Anatomy"
Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"
Chloe Sevigny, "Big Love"
Jeanne Tripplehorn, "Big Love"
Polly Walker, "Rome"

COMEDY ACTOR
Jason Bateman,"Arrested Development"
Zach Braff,"Scrubs"
Steve Carell,"The Office"
Kevin Connelly,"Entourage"
Larry David,"Curb Your Enthusiasm"
Ricky Gervais,"Extras"
Omar Gooding,"Barbershop"
Fred Goss,"Sons & Daughters"
Adrian Grenier,"Entourage"
Kevin James,"King of Queens"
Jason Lee,"My Name is Earl"
Bernie Mac,"Bernie Mac Show"
Eric McCormack,"Will & Grace"
Tony Shalhoub,"Monk"
Charlie Sheen,"Two and a Half Men"

COMEDY ACTRESS
Tichina Arnold,"Everybody Hates Chris"
Stockard Channing,"Out of Practice"
Marcia Cross,"Desperate Housewives"
Jenna Elfman,"Courting Alex"
Lauren Graham,"Gilmore Girls"
Teri Hatcher,"Desperate Housewives"
Felicity Huffman,"Desperare Housewives"
Jane Kaczmarek,"Malcolm in the Middle"
Lisa Kudrow,"The Comeback"
Eva Longoria,"Desperate Housewives"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus,"New Adventures of Old Christine"
Reba McEntire,"Reba"
Debra Messing,"Will & Grace"
Mary-Louise Parker,"Weeds"
Leah Remini,"King of Queens"

http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2006/06/emmy_emmys.html

Critic’s Notebook
Fall TV Sneak Preview: ABC (Part 2)

By Kevin D. Thompson Palm Beach Post Television Writer in his blog June 29, 2006

Is it just me, or does ABC have about 68 new fall shows?

It sure seems that way. It kinda feels like I've been watching ABC's new fall lineup since the Nixon Administration fell out of favor. But I'm all done now. So, here's a brief lowdown on what ABC has to offer.

Help Me Help You: Ted Danson is a therapist who helps people with all sorts of personal issues, but, of course, he's just as screwed up as his patients. While the set-up is straight-up Sitcom 101, Danson and a talented supporting cast -- including Malcolm in the Middle's Jane Kaczmarek -- make it work. The funniest show I've seen so far.

Notes from the Underbelly: An underwhelming comedy about a couple (Peter Cambor, Jennifer Westfeldt) coping with the awesome responsibility of rapidly approaching parenthood. He wanted kids. She didn't. She changed her mind, so now they are. Guess we know who wears the pants in that relationship.

The Nine: Nine strangers are in a bank. There's a bank robbery gone wrong and a 52-hour hostage standoff. People die and lives are changed forever. That's the set-up for this intriguing drama that promises to reveal what actually happened in those 52 hours with 10-minute, Lost-like flashbacks. The Nine starts off more like The Slow, but it does pique your interest.

Six Degrees: What's up with all of these multi-character dramas? You'll need a scorecard this fall to keep track of everyone. Six Degrees comes from J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias) and is about six strangers whose lives interconnect in a Crash sort of way. Again, another novel pacing-like show that doesn't actually grab you by the lapels and scream, "Watch me!" But it's from Abrams, whose done some great work on Lost and Alias and who just directed some little movie with Tom Cruise, so give it a shot. I know I will.

Men in Trees: Sex and the City meets Northern Exposure. Anne Heche is a renowned, big city relationship coach who makes a serious life change and decides to live in a small Alaskan town after her hubby-to-be is unfaithful. So, instead of writing books and walking down the aisle, Heche's Marin Frist is battling raccoons in her hotel room and marveling at how single men "are all over like a bad rash."

Big Day: Oh, shoot. I forgot to watch this one. Sorry. Well, it's a comedy and is being described as 24 meets Father of the Bride. The series, which stars The Practice's Marla Sokoloff and Four King's Josh Cooke, will follow the wedding plans for an entire season. Wonder if they'll be any terrorists involved.

Next up...The CW.

That's that new network that used to be UPN and The WB.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/thompson/entries/2006/06/fall_tv_sneak_p_2.html

TV Q&A
Ask Matt

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

Question: I'm worried about Big Brother: All-Stars. Half of the proposed candidates are unintelligent goofs just added to the list for their good looks or idiotic behavior. I'm hoping that people will choose to vote for some of the interesting, competitive and intelligent (albeit devious) players from the past (i.e., Will, James, Kaysar, Danielle, Janelle). Any chance you can post this, so that I can get your readers on my side and start a revolution for a reality show that doesn't have to rely on the village idiots for its success? Do you think this is even possible? — Greta

Matt Roush: Consider it done, for what it's worth. But really, how do you distinguish the idiots on this ridiculous show? (For the record, you're not exactly barking up the tree of a Big Brother fan. Kind of the contrary.) I can think of few phrases more oxymoronic than "Big Brother: All-Stars." What a pathetic collection of narcissistic never-were has-beens. But taking it at face value, my main puzzlement is why the show would allow past winners to get back in the game. Yes, Will was a cunning player, but he won already. Why let his smug face back in front of the camera? And Lisa? Nap time! For the sake of those who actually like BB, I hope the votes go to people with actual personality and an interesting hook (like, say, letting Marcellas atone for the mistake that got him booted) rather than the smarmy likes of Alison. Just the fact that I know some of these names and backstories is enough to give me hives.

________________________________________

Question: Regarding Blade: The Series, if Spike TV really wanted a vampire series that the fans would love, why didn't it just give us "Spike" the movie or series? No one does better justice to a black duster than James Marsters! — Kathy

Matt Roush: Surely you're not looking for an argument here. And wouldn't Spike the vamp have been a perfect poster bad boy for Spike the network? I'm just ashamed I didn't think of that when I wrote my review, in which I was more fixated on comparing how Buffy the Vampire Slayer improved from movie to TV show while Blade, to be generous, doesn't. At least not yet.

________________________________________

Question: I am a firefighter/paramedic, and I have to say that I and all of my coworkers have removed Saved from our TiVo season passes. What a bunch of poorly written, poorly plotted, hackneyed tripe! "I am 911!"? Please. And that's on top of laughable medical inaccuracies and embarrassing Hollywood portrayals of paramedics. Compared to Rescue Me, this has to be the most crap-laden show on TV. And we are not slaves to accuracy, either. Certainly we don't watch Rescue Me for its realistic depictions of firefighting. The difference is the writing, the heart and the emotion. Rescue Me is a thick porterhouse steak. Saved is cheap gas-station beef jerky. — Audrey

Matt Roush: Ha. Thanks for the entertaining, and presumably informed, opinion. Makes me feel wishy-washy for not having been more frank about my feelings in my comments in Monday's column. I thought Episode 2 was noticeably worse than the pilot, which also didn't blow me away. Something tells me TNT is going to have to keep shopping for a companion piece to The Closer, which is doing gangbusters but wasting its audience on this glum nonstarter.

________________________________________

Question: I am writing in response to a letter posted in your 6/26 column concerning Rescue Me. While I found Tommy's attack on Janet upsetting, I also feel you have to remember everything that Tommy has gone through recently: his son's death rite, his wife blaming him for it, his own brother sleeping with his wife, his father's declining health and his own attempts to stay off booze and cigarettes. While I am not saying this is an excuse, I am simply pointing out that the man has hit his breaking point and temporarily lost it. Rape is not about sex but about control. His life is absolutely out of control, and this was not something that he had planned out. It happened out of blind rage. As for the grin when he drove away, I think that was meant for his brother, which was tacky, but I think his feelings were very testosterone-driven and an in-your-face, "I did Janet while she was with you" sort of thing. Yes, Tommy is very hard to take at times, but there is a good person at the core, and watching him try to find that person again and redeem himself is worth every minute. Bravo to FX for keeping the show edgy and to Denis Leary and Peter Tolan for writing such hard-hitting and hilarious scripts! — Valerie M.

Matt Roush: No question this was a polarizing and troubling moment in this show's history. How often have we asked ourselves whether an FX show has gone too far: Sometimes it's Rescue Me, sometimes Nip/Tuck or The Shield, and let's not forget last summer's short-lived Starved. That's certainly the case with this particular scene, which has led to renewed charges of the show's rampant misogyny. If I thought the show's treatment of women (and gays, for that matter) was being celebrated, I might agree. While I'm not saying Tommy's crying jag (how this week's episode ended) excuses his behavior at all, there is dramatic context for his and Janet's behavior in this ugly, raw encounter. Consider the show's title: Rescue Me. It's about wretched, miserable people (who are often very funny and sympathetic) hitting bottom again and again, which is never going to be pretty to watch.

________________________________________

Question: Summer TV is always bad, but this year I find myself watching virtually nothing. OK, I have used the rerun schedule to catch a few eps of My Name Is Earl (but not if I already saw them), and I have rewatched some Grey's Anatomy episodes, but otherwise I watch nothing. I can't face Gilmore Girls reruns this year. Somehow Lost reruns don't cut it. I'd rather pull my fingernails out one by one than watch moronic reality shows. I don't have cable. Am I doomed until September? Is there anything out there on broadcast TV that is worth watching? — David

Matt Roush: Oh, David, this is so sad. I'm actually having a pretty good TV summer, but only because of the variety of cable choices, from Rescue Me on FX and The Closer on TNT to Hustle on AMC to HBO's Deadwood-Entourage combo on Sundays, with a chaser of The 4400 the same night. And in July there's the delightful new comedy-mystery Psych (paired with Monk on Fridays on USA Network), the compelling Brotherhood on Showtime, the return of Project Runway on Bravo, the quirky new Eureka! on Sci Fi, along with the return of the two Stargate series. But what does this have to do with network TV? Absolutely nothing. The menu the networks are serving up, rehashed and half-baked reality shows night after night, is simply numbing. (Honestly, I try not to be an antireality snob, but during the summer, this deluge depresses me to no end.) I almost wish they'd just stick to repeats. I've sampled most of the network reality shows, since it's my job, and the only one I can bear to go back to each week is Last Comic Standing, because the personalities and challenges are just interesting enough for now. And maybe So You Think You Can Dance, though I'm not willing to commit three hours a week to it. (I am so over Gordon Ramsay's bellowing on Hell's Kitchen, and this may be the most unappealing cast ever assembled on a reality show. I wouldn't buy a pretzel off the street from these people. I miss Top Chef!) And those amateur-night/freak-show talent contests on NBC and ABC? No thanks. Even the one new scripted network show, NBC's Windfall, is an unholy mess, and thankfully it's beginning to droop in the ratings. At this point, it feels like my duty to steer those without cable to the world of PBS, which at least won't insult you. And some nights (with new installments of Mystery! and American Masters) may even entertain you. Finally, the best summer news I can supply at this moment is the fact that Fox will launch several of its new and returning shows in late August. But until then, can I suggest maybe reading? Or, failing that, finding a friend with cable. Trust me. There's something good on almost every night, just not on the Big Four.

________________________________________

Question: My wife and I are old sci-fi geeks, and it was a true pleasure to discover the Doctor Who episodes running on Sci Fi. Not only does the series look great — embarrassingly so, compared to the original cult show — but it is also wonderfully casted. I know that the first season is over, and that the amazing humor of Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor is now but a fond memory, but will the show keep Billie Piper as Rose Tyler in the second season? And is this a Sci Fi original, as my wife thinks, or an import from the BBC in England? And finally, when does the new season start? For all the comments that have been made in your column about science-fiction shows on television, I have to say that this is the best there is right now, except for Battlestar Galactica. — Brian B

Matt Roush: I guess a spoiler alert is called for here, but the news from abroad is that Billie Piper, who continues in the second season alongside new Doctor David Tennant, will not return in the third season. As for Sci Fi picking up the second season (this is an acquisition, not an original), last time I checked, a deal had not yet been signed. Can't say why, and can't imagine it won't eventually happen. The show's pretty much a perfect fit on Sci Fi.

________________________________________

Question: David's question predicting the best drama series Emmy mentioned Six Feet Under being out of the running. I thought that since Season 5 aired in the summer of 2005, it would still be eligible for this year. I hear so much about Lisa Kudrow's The Comeback getting nods, even though it aired at roughly the same time. And although it's out of sight/out of mind, SFU should be shown some Emmy love, at least with nominations for "All Alone" (the aftermath of Nate's death) or "Everyone's Waiting" (the series finale). — Chris L.

Matt Roush: Yes, I suppose I should have clarified that. An oversight, or maybe I was in denial, hoping everyone would just forget about the show and let more deserving applicants make the cut (even the last season of West Wing). That wildly overpraised final episode, in which it looked like most of the Fishers would die of boredom in the future, could easily rack up some nominations for the series, if not the cast. I'm thinking The Sopranos and maybe even Big Love (being more recent) could crowd out Six Feet Under for the slots that the Emmy nominators will give to HBO dramas. Network dramas were so strong this year, it would be an absolute crime if HBO dominated the way it has in weaker seasons. As for The Comeback, if it gets noticed, it will be for Kudrow's performance, not the show itself. (Look for Showtime's Weeds to make a stronger showing. It could be the Huff sleeper of the year.)

________________________________________

Question: Who's replacing Dennis Farina and Annie Parisse on Law & Order? — Joan

Matt Roush: You'll be seeing lots more women on the set next season. Taking over from Dennis Farina as a lead detective will be Milena Govich, most recently from Dick Wolf's failed Conviction. Taking over the assistant-district-attorney slot will be Alana De La Garza, who last season had the bad luck of being betrothed to CSI: Miami's Horatio Caine for about 10 minutes before she was gunned down. Not that this role traditionally has much job security.

________________________________________

Question: Do you know when Nip/Tuck is coming back on TV? My neighbors and I are desperate for it. — Karen

Matt Roush: Since I get this question about twice a day lately, here goes again: The fourth season begins sometime in September or thereabouts. No exact date announced yet.

________________________________________

Question: Will Ghost Whisperer bring back Aisha Tyler to the show next season? The producer did not answer the question in a direct manner in the TV Guide interview. — Chris G.

Matt Roush: If they're being coy, maybe they don't want you to know for sure. Seems to me that you might see her as a ghost again, all things considered (this is a show about a ghost whisperer, after all). But as Michael Ausiello has reported, they are seeking a new confidante for Jennifer Love Hewitt, so it sounds like if Aisha Tyler is back at all, it probably won't be for long. Besides, isn't it better to let sleeping friends lie?

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

Sports Media and Business
ESPN Rises Above the Rim

By Richard Sandomir The New York Times June 30, 2006

If you must sit through a televised draft, make it the N.B.A.'s. Teams get 5 minutes to choose, cutting the production bloat endemic to ESPN when it covers the N.F.L. draft, where teams are permitted up to 15 minutes to make their selection.

ESPN's effort Wednesday night on the N.B.A. draft was lean and informative while abiding by a rigid formula: pick, video, analysis, interview (repeat 60 times). ESPN succeeded because its best anchor, Dan Patrick, was there to juggle the views and egos of a balanced, cohesive panel comprising Greg Anthony, Jay Bilas and Stephen A. Smith. Stuart Scott's worst, hip-dude impulses were under control as he interviewed the draft picks, and Andy Katz's and Ric Bucher's trade reporting, on a night of many trades, was top notch.

• One nagging element of the trade stories was ESPN's insistence that Houston's trade of Rudy Gay, the No. 8 pick, to Memphis for Shane Battier was a fait accompli. Commissioner David Stern eventually confirmed all of Katz's and Bucher's reports, except the one on Gay. ESPN advanced it from a proposal to a definite deal over several hours, and Patrick interviewed the Grizzlies' general manager, Jerry West, as if the trade had been confirmed.

Dan Steir, ESPN's producer, said it should have been made clear that while the exchange was done, it cannot be made final until after July 1.

Of special interest to Knicks fans was ESPN's handling of the first picks by Isiah Thomas under his win-or-else reign as the team's coach and president . The whole program could have been about the Knicks' misery, with a camera showing the restless crowd of energetic, inebriated fans for four and a half hours.

The reporter Mark Jones spoke to a few fans and heard the sentiment to fire Thomas, but ESPN's microphones should have caught the anti-Thomas catcalls when Chicago chose LaMarcus Aldridge with the No. 2 pick that the Knicks had sent to the Bulls last year for Eddy Curry.

Even Stern made note of the rowdiness.

The panel discussed the Knicks more than enough, in advance ("This pick has got to work!" Smith shouted) and after the team picked Renaldo Balkman. "Renaldo is not here," Stern said after calling his name.

"And that's probably a good thing," Patrick said, hearing the crowd's boos.

Bilas called Balkman a "second-round pick," while Anthony, a former Knick, said Balkman could have been signed as an undrafted free agent.

Smith doubted the wisdom of the choice but floated the hopeful thought — which he didn't appear to fully believe — that Thomas has drafted well in the past.

"He's a sleeper," the film director Spike Lee said, laughing, in the crowd.

Hopefully not while he's playing.

SECOND JOB FOR BUCK?

The departure of James Brown as the co-host of the "Fox NFL Sunday" pregame show has led the network to audition three in-house voices: Pam Oliver, Curt Menefee and Chris Myers; contact John Saunders, who is under contract to ESPN; and consider Joe Buck, its lead game announcer, as a possible host of the program, which may become a road show.

Buck "is one of many options" to replace Brown, Dan Bell, a Fox Sports spokesman, said yesterday. So is taking the Los Angeles-based program on a season-long sightseeing tour of N.F.L. stadiums, Bell added.

But if you link the two possibilities, it's evident that Buck could work a double shift each Sunday by starting his afternoons on the outdoor studio set with Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson, then moving upstairs to call the game with Troy Aikman.

If Fox makes the move, the nature of the pregame program may change, with the concept and workload of the co-host altered to accommodate Buck. He is one of Fox's prized possessions, whose sense of silliness would work well on the studio set.

That Fox is considering these options indicates a desire to leave its successful comfort zone. "Fox NFL Sunday" benefits from its longtime focus on entertainment, however up and down its boys-will-be-boys antics have proven.

Taking the studio to game sites is nothing new. ESPN's "College Gameday" thrives every Saturday from on-campus energy, and N.F.L. studio programs usually go on the road in the postseason. In the coming first season of "Monday Night Football" on ESPN, there will be a 90-minute, in-stadium pregame program.

Multiple duties for announcers are also not new. Buck's former Fox partner, Cris Collinsworth, will be a studio analyst for NBC and HBO, and call late-season games for the NFL Network. But those jobs are on different days.

The possibility of Buck's shifting each week from pregame host to play by play (while presumably taking time off to call the baseball postseason) may be one of the more fascinating television tales of the 2006 season, taking some focus off NBC's return to football and ESPN's shift to Mondays.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/30/sports/basketball/30sandomir.html?pagewanted=print

Sports on TV
The Goal Minds

Former Soccer Stars Add Glitter To Bristol As World Cup Analysts For ESPN
By Roger Catlin Hartford Courant TV Critic June 30 2006

The World Cup knockout matches have begun, and U.S. national star Eric Wynalda rushes in from the sidelines.

"Hey, Rece," he shouts. "Do you need me?"

"Well, the feed has been having problems," ESPN host Rece Davis says. "If it goes down again, we may be on."

Ever the team player, Wynalda rushes down the hall, calling, "I'll get dressed!"

Wynalda has been part of the World Cup excitement before, playing matches in the globe's biggest games in 1990, '94 and '98.

He has had experience in Germany, too, as the first U.S.-born member of a German league team there earlier in his career.

But his role in the current World Cup is as analyst for ESPN.

For that, he didn't have to travel to Europe but to Connecticut.

If the world's greatest assortment of soccer stars is in Germany for the games, which have been drawing record ratings in the U.S., the greatest assortment of former players may be in Bristol, where they've been enlisted on a team of analysts who comment on each of the 64 games before, during halftime and after each match.

Besides Wynalda, the desk includes Julie Foudy, recently retired captain of the U.S. national team, and former Major League Soccer star Alexi Lalas, current president of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

But it's Wynalda who's on duty for the season's first game with feed problems, Monday's Italy-Australia match. A longtime ESPN analyst, Wynalda not only scored the first goal in the inaugural MLS season for San Jose but also holds the record for goals (34) by a U.S. national team member in the 108 games he played for them.

Because Italy is playing, ESPN also has another star in the studio who looms large in soccer history, Giorgio Chinaglia. The former Italian national team star was the most prolific scorer in North American professional soccer history.

Sitting in a green room adjacent to the huge studio adapted for World Cup coverage, Chinaglia can hardly relax, frequently yelling at the wide-screen plasma monitor in language that freely moves from English to Italian. At times he gets up and paces as the action continues.

"Come on, come on, give it to him!" he yells.

Then: "Knock it down! Knock it down!," lapsing into Italian after another questionable call from a ref: "Unbelievable!"

Called to the studio desk with 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Chinaglia is a picture of calm when the "Hyundai FIFA Halftime Report" begins.

Looking like a combination of Chris Berman and Tony Soprano, he remains confident in his team, though the score is still 0-0 and the Aussies have been tough. "It's only a matter of time, guys," he assures them.

With a reputation for being feisty on the desk, Chinaglia wastes no time goading Wynalda.

"I can't believe last week you picked Australia over Italy!"

"I never did."

"You did! You have a short memory!"

Short, too, is the halftime report, largely keeping to a recap of first-half action, when it isn't going to a pile of commercials.

The refereeing remains an issue in these games. "There have been 291 red and yellow cards so far," says host Davis, surrounded by sheaves of paper and a laptop for updates.

"With today, it's 293," says a researcher during an ad break, running up with sheets of paper full of statistical updates.

The two soccer pros have a lot more to say to each other about the refereeing, the direction of the current cup and the merits of individual teams, but it has to happen largely when cameras are off, as they watch the game on a studio monitor in the researcher's room this time - just in case the feed from Kaiserslautern goes bad again.

"These guys are such good friends, they can go back and forth so easily," Davis says when the halftime report is over.

Neither seems to mind being in Bristol instead of Munich for the action, though.

"It's much easier to do it here," says Chinaglia, always keeping an eye on the game. "It would be hectic to be in Germany or in Japan."

"The thing you sacrifice is the emotion and pageantry, which is part of the atmosphere and part of the story," says Davis, who is used to doing halftime and post-game shows in Bristol for basketball and football. Being away from the games allows analysts to take an extra step back in considering the action, he says.

Wynalda, for his part, sounds a little miffed about not being sent to Germany, especially after playing soccer there.

"Originally, I was under the assumption that a guy who played all of those stadiums and spoke the language would be a benefit there," he says. "But no, I ended up in the studio."

But he says it has been easy for him to come up from his home in New York, though he has been staying in a hotel in Southington for most of the World Cup.

If that means he can't lift a German brew after a big match, he can at least occasionally go home some weekends.

On the screen, the game has passed its regulation time, the teams still playing in injury time at 0-0, when Italy is awarded a penalty kick - a pressure situation that makes Chinaglia jump out of his seat and wander the 9,000-square-foot studio, when Italy's Francesco Totti scores.

Immediately, he calms down for the post-game report, as if he had been confident of the victory all along.

"It was only a matter of time," Wynalda says to him.

"It was a long matter of time," Chinaglia replies. "Semifinals, here we come."

http://www.ctnow.com/tv/hce-espncup.artjun30,0,3336699,print.story?coll=hce-headlines-tv-top

TV Notebook
WB revisits glory days arries

Net plans to go out with a bang
By Michael Schneider, Josef Adalian Variety.com June 30, 2006

The Frog is planning one last hurrah before it croaks.

The WB will sign off the air forever on Sunday, Sept. 17, by rebroadcasting the pilot episodes of several of its signature skeins, including "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," "Felicity" and "Dawson's Creek."

Landing the rights to air the series required outgoing WB supremo Garth Ancier and the net's remaining execs to conduct a delicate licensing ballet with the outside studios that own those skeins, and cablers that now play home to the shows.

In addition to the pilots, Frog plans to fill its final night with a bevy of classic promos and image campaigns from the WB's 11-year history. There'll also be a final tribute reel featuring the hundreds of thesps who've appeared on WB skeins over the years.

Such a farewell is unprecedented: When one-time fourth network DuMont signed off the air for the last time in 1956, it did so with little fanfare -- and with very little coverage.

"How do you end a network?" Ancier asked rhetorically. "This will be an homage to our shows."

The planning process began with a group of remaining WB execs, who made a list of the net's most memorable series.

"We kept coming back to the same significant shows," Ancier said. "Certainly 'Dawson's' and 'Buffy' were no-brainers."

Because the Frog's final bow will take place on a Sunday -- a night on which the WB airs programming from 5-10 p.m. -- net's blowout bye-bye will be a full five hours.

Night will kick off at 5 p.m. with the J.J. Abrams- and Matt Reeves-created "Felicity," followed at 6 by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt's "Angel." The two-hour pilot to Whedon's "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" will run in primetime from 7-9 p.m.

Appropriately, "Dawson's Creek" -- the Kevin Williamson teen sudser that put the WB on the map -- will be the final show to air on the Frog, running from 9-10 p.m.

Some shows that would seem a natural for the last night -- such as "Smallville" and "7th Heaven" -- won't appear because they'll live on at the merged WB-UPN, which is called the CW.

Landing rights to air the series one last time was a sticky process. Most of the shows are airing in off-net syndication on cable, and navigating those license holders was a bit more complicated.

"Every cable network that runs these shows had to give the rights to us," Ancier said. "And they all wanted their own pound of flesh."

That meant breaking the taboo of promoting cablers on the network's air with date-and-time promos. (Usually broadcast networks allow only cable ads that tell viewers to "check local listings" to find the show).

But under this unusual circumstance -- and with the WB folding anyway -- the Frog and its departing affiliates were willing to let it slide.

The shows' creators, producers and studios were game for the idea. But because all of the shows come from outside the WB's Warner Bros. parent, Ancier and company had to find a way to make it attractive for those outside studios to license the shows for a night.

Solution: All the studios involved will get a free on-air promo of the DVD collections of their respective skeins.

Beyond that, Sony Pictures TV (which produced "Dawson's Creek"), Touchstone/Imagine ("Felicity") and 20th Century Fox TV ("Buffy" and "Angel") waived the usual license fee; the WB was required only to pay the necessary residuals.

"Everyone was great about it," Ancier said. "No one was making money off of this."

Three of the five hours to air on the WB's last night ("Buffy," "Angel") will be from 20th Century Fox TV -- ironic, as the WB and 20th had more than a few financial run-ins.

In particular, the night reps a homecoming for "Buffy," which moved to UPN after the studio and Frog couldn't come to terms on a license renewal. It's the first time the show has returned to the WB since leaving for the rival netlet in 2001.

There had been speculation the WB would sign off at the end of August. But the new CW net -- which is replacing the WB in many markets --isn't set to begin broadcasting until Monday, Sept. 18.

Across town, UPN has not yet announced how, or if, it will mark its own demise, which takes place the previous Friday, Sept. 15. One possibility: The netlet may simply shut off the lights after its usual weekly airing of "Friday Night Smackdown."

Washington Notebook
Portals Busy with Adelphia Lobbying Work
Sky Report

Given there's about a month left to work through before a deadline that could nix Adelphia's takeover by Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the companies involved - and some of the opposition - are keeping up the fight at the Portals.

The Federal Communications Commission is the last big hurdle for the billion-dollar cable transaction. This week, representatives from the three cable companies met with FCC staff about the deal, telling officials the takeover would end Adelphia's bankruptcy and allow for the deployment of advanced services such as VoIP and video-on-demand. Those offerings are not currently available to customers of the troubled MSO.

The meetings took place with staff representing FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Deborah Taylor Tate.

Meanwhile, DirecTV officials continued to make their case for conditions on the deal, specifically addressing competitor access to regional sports programming.

In the past, DirecTV has suggested Comcast and Time Warner Cable should be prohibited from entering or continuing to maintain an exclusive agreement with a regional sports network (RSN). Also, the satellite TV company proposed that any dispute concerning an RSN be submitted to commercial arbitration.

The DirecTV meetings took place with Tate and Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.

The companies have until July 31 to complete the deal, a deadline established by Comcast and Time Warner Cable for acquiring the Adelphia assets.

Sports On TV
Post-Armstrong Tour Braces for Ratings Hit


By Jerry Crowe Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 30, 2006

The Tour de France might be the most demanding, unforgiving and physically exhausting grind in all of sports.

And it's tough on the riders too.

For cable network OLN, which starting Saturday will televise cycling's most famous race for the sixth consecutive year, bringing the Tour de France into U.S. homes requires a virtual army of tireless men and women.

"One of our executive producers said it's like setting up and tearing down a Super Bowl every day for 23 days," OLN President Gavin Harvey said Thursday in a telephone interview. "It's pretty much an all-consuming event for us."

This year's race, which runs through July 23, will be different than the most recent, of course. Lance Armstrong surrendered the yellow jersey and retired from racing last summer after winning the Tour de France for the seventh consecutive year.

The question this year is not, Will Lance win again?

It's, Will Americans still watch?

"We could see significant viewer drop-off," Harvey said. "The real question is how many Lance fans did we convert to Tour fans? We know that a tremendous amount of people came in because of Lance's story, people who really didn't know anything about cycling but sort of got hooked.

"Some people will stay and some people won't. The ultimate question is, how many Lance fans will stay? We'll find that out."

Three U.S. riders — George Hincapie, Floyd Landis and Levi Leipheimer — are expected to be strong challengers this year, but the favorites are Ivan Basso of Italy, runner-up to Armstrong last July, and Jan Ullrich of Germany, who won as a 23-year-old in 1997 and three times was runner-up to Armstrong.

"I think we're going to see a superb race," OLN announcer Phil Liggett, who will be working his 34th Tour de France, said in a conference call this week.

Armstrong's voice will be heard during OLN's 300 hours of race coverage, of which about 75 will be live and about 70 in primetime. Through a series of pretaped "Lance On" sound bites, the Texan will offer his thoughts relevant to that stage or situation in the race.

Another former cyclist, Paul Sherwen, will provide commentary, joining his fellow Brit Liggett in the announcers' booth for their 21st Tour together.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

An ESPN spokesman said that the network would not replace baseball analyst Peter Gammons, who underwent surgery Wednesday for a brain aneurysm.

"Peter is obviously a one-of-a-kind personality and has a longstanding connection with our fans," Josh Krulewitz, ESPN vice president of public relations, said of the 61-year-old broadcaster and longtime Boston Globe reporter. "You can't replace Peter Gammons, so we're not efforting to.

"Obviously, we have a number of other baseball commentators that provide different things, but nobody can provide what Peter does. ...

"We anxiously await his return."

Gammons was "resting comfortably" after surgery, his wife Gloria said Wednesday in a statement, asking fans to respect the family's privacy.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-sp-tvcol30jun30,0,1210280.story?coll=cl-tvent

Commentary
A fitting end to a bad idea

By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle in his TV blog “The Bastard Machine” Friday, June 30, 2006

By a 20-to-2 vote (ouch), a Senate committee rejected a proposal by John McCain to impose a la carte pricing on the cable industry.

Which means C-SPAN won't be put on an ice floe and your cable bill won't be reduced 10 percent while your cable lineup is reduced 40 percent.

"People who are retirees … don't want to spend $3 for ESPN every month," griped McCain. No, and I don't want to spend 50 cents a month for Discovery Times, a channel Discovery right now currently gives away. But who in the government was willing to assure me that wouldn't have been the going rate?

Sen. Ted Stevens ominously predicted that he would be back. Oops, sorry -- Sen. Ted Stevens ominously predicted that a la carte legislation would be back. Why? Video-on-demand is growing by leaps and bounds, and I wouldn't be surprised if entire major cable networks weren't delivered by VOD in the medium future. Voluntarily.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/

Washington Notebook
Blocking Telecom Could Become Campaign Issue

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 6/30/2006

South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint says he does not think government should mandate a la carte. He also says the Rebublicans may be able to make the telecom bill an election issue if Democrats block the Senate Commerce-passed version from a floor vote.

In an interview for C-SPAN's Communicators series. DeMint, a member of the Commerce Committee that resoundingly voted down 20-2 an amendment to the bill essentially mandating cable a la carte, said that he would like a la carte personally.

"I would like my cable company to allow me to buy the channels I want because I don't watch many of them and I would like to go in and buy the ones I want,” he said. “But to go in and mandate that is taking away one of the most important services they have and that is to package the servcie in a way that they think appeals to customers but also helps them to be profitable."

DeMint says that the bill as it stands, by encouraging new video service providers to enter the market, is the quickest way to get the industry to provide per channel pricing if it is feasible. "We're going to create more cable competition. And if consumers want a la carte, new cable is going to come in and offer it to them," he says.

DeMint said he thought there was a good chance of getting enough Democrat votes--6 or 7--to bring the bill to the floor in September. With threats of a filibuster from at least one senator--which is all it takes--the Republicans will need that many to convince the leadership to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.

DeMint pointed to the three Democrats who had voted with the Republicans to pass the bill out of committee 15-7, then suggested there might be some leverage in threatening to make blocking the bill a campaign issue since, for his consumers, the bill is all about lowering cable rates. "If our Democrat colleages block brining it on the floor for debate, it's just one more thing we can talk about in the area of obstruction.... The ability to move information around is so key to competing in a global economy, I think we can make it a campaign issue because it fits with a lot of other things that have been blocked that are really important to our future."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6348755

Washington Notebook
Media Distribution Rights:

Here Come The Judges (And Congress)
Consumer watchdog groups are sounding the alert about pending restrictions on media content usage.
By Alice LaPlante, InformationWeek.com June 29, 2006

Not since Universal City Studios and Walt Disney Productions sued Sony to prevent it from selling its Betamax video recorder back in 1976, has the industry been more on fire about the rights of consumers to legally copy media in the home for their own use.

At issue: whether the courts will focus on consumer behavior rather than the technological capabilities of the devices they use. Although the industry has been pointing to the Betamax case (decided more than 20 years ago by the Supreme Court in favor of Sony) as a legal landmark decision that clearly said manufacturers were not liable if their devices were used in illegal copying, the Grokster ruling in 2005 sent a chill through the market.

The Betamax ruling made it possible for consumers to record media as long as it was strictly for personal use. As long as there was "substantial" use of the recording devices in fair-use copying, companies producing devices couldn't be sued.

If Betamax had been decided in favor of the movie studios, there would have been a virtual stop to the devices that have been developed since that time, such as VCRs, rental movies, home DVDs, digital video recorders (DVRs), MP3 players, and even PCs, says Fred von Lohman, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

"Instead of manufacturers being able to design and build the products that they thought the American marketplace wanted, they would basically be told by the content producers what features would and wouldn't be permitted," says Lohman.

It all comes down to an issue called "inducement." As decided in Betamax, device manufacturers couldn't be sued just because a device could be used to cheat the system. In other words, the onus of illegality rested on the people who engaged in illegal activity, not on the device itself.

But last year, with the Grokster ruling, the Supreme Court appeared to reverse this precedent by agreeing with content providers that peer-to-peer companies such as Grokster could be held responsible for copyright piracy on their networks.

This could potentially establish a number of significant hurdles that manufacturers would have to jump over in order to bring a legal device to market. "It's truly a jungle of complications that all these devices that have to navigate to be successful, says Phillip Swann, president of TVPredictions.com.

Moreover, multiple bills are now in progress in Congress that would further erode the rights of consumers to copy, move, or share media for their own personal use. "There's more legislation pending now than anytime that I can remember," says Robert Schwartz, general counsel of the Home Recording Rights Coalition, an industry watchdog group. "For many years media companies were focused primarily on distribution outside the home; now they've turned their attention to inside the home. Their attitude is: This is our content, why should consumers be able to do whatever they want with it?"

Three of the bills that have received the most attention include the Audio Broadcast Flag Licensing Act of 2006; The Platform Equity and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music (PERFORM) act of 2006; and The Digital Transition Content Security Act. Here's a brief rundown of what each of them would mean for consumers and manufacturers:

The Audio Broadcast Flag Licensing Act of 2006. , sponsored by Representative Michael Ferguson (R-NJ), would require that every device capable of receiving digital television broadcasts build restrictions against redistribution of those programs into the product design. Content would contain "flags" that would in essence say that the content was protected and unable to be copied, moved, or redistributed; devices would have to be redesigned to include the capability to recognize those flags.

The Platform Equity and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music (PERFORM) Act of 2006, introduced by Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) would prevent consumers from breaking up music tracks downloaded or captured from a broadcast. This would eliminate their ability to do what they currently do with standard MP3 players, unless they pay for individual songs: this would include storing individual song tracks, searching by title or artist, or creating playlists. The music recording industry is also asking that the regulations require that recordings be tied to the recording device, thus not allowing transfer between, say, MP3 players and PCs.

The Digital Transition Content Security Act, introduced in December 2005 by Representatives F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and John Conyers (D-MI), and better known as the "Analog Hole Bill," would force makers of any analog video input device that converts content into digital form to impose severe restrictions on the functionality offered.

This would impact a broad range of devices, including DVRs, video capture cards, and other devices that convert analog signals into digital data. As with the Audio Broadcast Flag Licensing Act, this bill would require redesign of a whole range of currently legal consumer devices, including DVD recorders, personal video recorders, and camcorders with video inputs.

URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189700173

The Audio Broadcast Flag Licensing Act of 2006. , sponsored by Representative Michael Ferguson (R-NJ), would require that every device capable of receiving digital television broadcasts build restrictions against redistribution of those programs into the product design. Content would contain "flags" that would in essence say that the content was protected and unable to be copied, moved, or redistributed; devices would have to be redesigned to include the capability to recognize those flags.

The Platform Equity and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music (PERFORM) Act of 2006, introduced by Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) would prevent consumers from breaking up music tracks downloaded or captured from a broadcast. This would eliminate their ability to do what they currently do with standard MP3 players, unless they pay for individual songs: this would include storing individual song tracks, searching by title or artist, or creating playlists. The music recording industry is also asking that the regulations require that recordings be tied to the recording device, thus not allowing transfer between, say, MP3 players and PCs.

The Digital Transition Content Security Act, introduced in December 2005 by Representatives F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and John Conyers (D-MI), and better known as the "Analog Hole Bill," would force makers of any analog video input device that converts content into digital form to impose severe restrictions on the functionality offered.

This would impact a broad range of devices, including DVRs, video capture cards, and other devices that convert analog signals into digital data. As with the Audio Broadcast Flag Licensing Act, this bill would require redesign of a whole range of currently legal consumer devices, including DVD recorders, personal video recorders, and camcorders with video inputs.

URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189700173

If these things are passed they will only drive people to even more piracy. It amazes me how dumb the media companies are. I'm all for protecting intellectual property rights, but if the companies do not offer their products in ways that people want, people are going to get the product in the format that they want, legal or not.

I agree Rico.

(And thanks for joining us. Post as often as you'd like!)

TVNotebook
Rather Snubs Cronkite Movie

By Richard Johnson with Paula Froehlich and Chris Wilson The New York Post June 30, 2006

Dan Rather, who forced Walter Cronkite into early retirement, refused to be interviewed for a documentary on his predecessor, who turns 90 on Nov. 4.

Rather is believed to be sulking over the way he was dumped by CBS News after 44 years and replaced by Katie Couric, who graciously agreed to narrate the 90-minute "American Masters" profile of Cronkite.

Couric, who'll become the new anchor of "The CBS Evening News" in September, recorded the narration last week, said Catherine Tatge, who wrote, directed and produced "Walter Cronkite: Witness to History," which is to premiere July 26 at 9 p.m. on WNET/Ch. 13.

Couric, who left NBC's "Today" show May 31, agreed instantly to narrate the film when the idea was proposed to her several weeks ago. "She was very cooperative," Tatge told The Post's Adam Buckman.

Rather, however, was not. He was asked to participate in interviews for the show, but said no for reasons he didn't make clear.

"I'm very sorry to say he declined twice," Tatge said. "It's really a shame. I really tried, and I really am sorry because everyone else [said yes] and I've got an amazing group of people. They're all there, and everyone was very happy to do this."

In fact, the Cronkite documentary contains dozens of interviews with TV news stars of past and present, including Tom Brokaw, Robert MacNeil, Don Hewitt, Mike Wallace, Andy Rooney, Morley Safer and Bill Moyers.

Cronkite revealed in his memoir, "A Reporter's Life," that Rather threatened to leave CBS unless Cronkite gave up his anchor chair several months before his 65th birthday. "And once Rather had the job, he never let Cronkite on the air again," said one media insider. "Walter has never forgiven Rather for his brutal tactics."

Cronkite, often called "America's Most Trusted Man," anchored "The CBS Evening News" from 1962 to 1981. He was interviewed extensively for Tatge's documentary, which traces his life and journalism career from the first stories he wrote as a teenage cub reporter for the Houston Post.

"Witness to History" includes segments of Cronkite's coverage of the U.S. space program, the Vietnam War and, perhaps most famously, his broadcast bulletins on Nov. 22, 1963, the day President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix/pagesix.htm

We reap what we sow. Does the 18th Amendment ring any bells?

Cable TV Notebook
Cable shows overflowing to big networks

By Gary Levin, USA Today 6/30/2006

As cable channels steal more viewers from the big networks, some of their shows are going the other way as network siblings provide broader exposure.

The latest to make the reverse migration is Kyle XY, an ABC Family drama that premiered Monday with 2.6 million viewers, a network record. Starting Friday (9 ET/PT), ABC will repeat each episode on Fridays in a trial four-week run that could last the entire 10-episode season.

USA's Psych, which premieres next week, may get an NBC run later this summer. NBC already has given prime-time exposure to Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, USA's The 4400 and Sci Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica —it owns all three channels — and purchased rights to Forensic Files from Court TV.

CBS gave UPN's Veronica Mars a three-week tryout last summer. And Fox just finished a three-week run of first-season repeats of FX comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which Thursday returned for a second season on the cable network.

What's behind these moves? Corporate synergy, for the most part: Several cable channels have big-network siblings that can help boost newer shows, and the rerun-filled summer is a perfect time to do it. Many also use iTunes as a promotional tool: Kyle was offered as a free download last week.

The prospect of "getting new eyeballs that get exposed to it and then come to USA or Sci Fi because they've tasted it on NBC is invaluable," says Bonnie Hammer, who heads both the NBC-owned cable networks.

But it's difficult to prove that the network runs help smaller networks. Though researchers say they often attract different viewers, they rarely become regular viewers: Veronica's ratings actually fell last season despite a stronger lead-in and CBS' summer push.

And Hammer says specialized sci-fi shows such as Battlestar and 4400 by nature "limit those who are going to test it on NBC to begin with." A 4400 clip show that aired June 3 on NBC had just 3 million viewers, fewer than it gets on USA.

ABC sees only upside from airing Kyle, which replaces low-rated reruns of canceled sitcom Hope & Faith. The show centers on a mysterious teenage boy — lacking an identity and a bellybutton — and the family that takes him in.

"We wouldn't do it unless we think there's a chance it could work for us," says scheduling chief Jeff Bader. The network — in the ratings toilet at the time — had success in 2002-03 with reruns of USA's Monk, which its Touchstone studio developed. And Disney Channel series now air on ABC's Saturday morning lineup.

Several shows require editing to meet more rigorous broadcast standards. ABC cut three brief scenes in tonight's Kyle, including one in which Kyle wets his pants after a fight. Sunny bleeped salty language.

But the prevailing attitude, Fox scheduling chief Preston Beckman says, is that providing a home for cable shows simply "can't hurt." Sunny "felt like a Fox comedy," he says, and the exposure was a "way to help out our sister cable network" as a thanks for airing Prison Break and 24 marathons. Last weekend's final network episode of Sunny averaged 4.1 million viewers, more than doubling its previous FX audience, and won its time slot among young adults.

"They have such a larger reach than we do, it's a great way of exposing new viewers to our shows," FX president John Landgraf says. "We're turning over every stone we possibly can."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-06-29-cable-network-overflow_x.htm

We reap what we sow. Does the 18th Amendment ring any bells?

Didn't that one work pretty well? :rolleyes:

U.S. Constitution: Eighteenth Amendment - Prohibition of Intoxicating Liquors

Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

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

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Finale fizzle for 'Gameshow Marathon'

By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer June 30, 2006

It’s a good thing CBS has “Big Brother,” a proven summer performer, coming back next week, because thus far its new shows have been flailing. Last night the series finale of “Gameshow Marathon” left the air on a down note, a week after the network pulled “Tuesday Night Book Club” after just two outings.

“Gameshow” averaged a 1.8 adults 18-49 overnight rating last night, 14 percent off last week’s 2.1 average for the penultimate episode. The 8 p.m. show peaked at a 1.9 in its second half hour, improving 12 percent over a 1.7 for the first half hour.

The show declined throughout its seven-episode run. Its debut on May 31, a Wednesday, averaged a 2.3, 28 percent better than last night’s finale. It ran on Wednesdays and Thursdays for two weeks before settling into the Thursday slot permanently.

Summer-to-date, CBS is down 5 percent, from a 2.2 average last summer at this time to a 2.1, according to Nielsen data crunched by Fox.

Next week marks the return of “Big Brother,” which has drawn solid numbers in its previous five seasons. But with “Club” yanked and “Rock Star,” the low-rated reality show back for a second season yet to premiere, the summer doesn’t look too bright for CBS.

For that matter, none of the networks looked strong last night. ABC’s “Master of Champions” fell off 20 percent from the previous week’s debut, and Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” and NBC’s “Windfall” both saw declines from the previous week.

Most telling: Univision’s “La Fea Mas Bella” actually won the 8 p.m. timeslot among 18-49s for the first time since it began being measured alongside the English-language networks earlier this year, according to Media Life records.

Kathy Najimy won a $100,000 prize for charity last night when she won the final “Gameshow” competition, a revival of “Family Feud.”

Meanwhile, on the strength of its repeats, CBS was No. 1 for the night with a 2.5 rating and 8 share among 18-49s, followed by Fox at 2.3/8, NBC at 1.8/6, Univision at 1.7/6, ABC at 1.6/5, UPN at 0.7/3 and WB at 0.6/2.

At 8 p.m., Univision led with a 2.0 for "La Fea Mas Bella." CBS was No. 2 with a 1.8 for "Gameshow," while ABC and NBC shared the No. 3 slot with 1.6 each for "Master" and repeats of "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office," followed by Fox at 1.5 for reruns of "That '70s Show," UPN at 0.9 for repeats of "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Love, Inc." and WB at 0.7 for a "Smallville" repeat.

At 9 p.m., Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" led at 3.2, followed by CBS's "CSI" rerun 2.8, NBC's "Office" and "Earl" repeats at 1.9, Univision's "Barrera de Amor" at 1.7, ABC's "Primetime" at 1.4, UPN's "Eve" and "Cuts" repeats at 0.6, and WB's "Supernatural" rerun at 0.5.

At 10 p.m., CBS's rerun of "Without a Trace" took No. 1 at 2.8, ahead of NBC's "Windfall" at 2.0, ABC's "Primetime" at 1.9 and Univision's "Noticias Univision Presenta" news at 1.2.

Among households, CBS was out in front with a 6.5 rating and a 12 share, followed by ABC and Fox each at 3.8/7. Behind were NBC at 3.0/5, Univision at 1.9/3, UPN at 1.3/2 and WB at 1.1/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/printer_5750.asp

Sports On TV
NBC Sheds Arena Football

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

This was in the e-mail:

NEW YORK - June 30, 2006 - The Arena Football League and NBC Sports have failed to reach an agreement to extend their broadcasting contract, both organizations jointly announced today. The AFL will immediately begin broadcast discussions with numerous organizations.

"NBC has been a great partner," said AFL Commissioner David Baker. "We are forever grateful to them for exhibiting our game with the utmost respect and integrity. We wish them well, but are also excited to begin a new chapter that will continue our unprecedented growth."

Ken Schanzer, President, NBC Sports said: "Unfortunately we were unable to reach an agreement. We've enjoyed our partnership with the Arena Football League. It's a great game with great people. We wish them all the best."

• Arena football was supposed to be NBC's more economical way of having punts and passes than paying the NFL freight. Then it recognized what the NFL could do for its prime time fortunes, making the deal for Sunday night games this fall -- and a deal with arena football was no longer a priority.

One sign of the length of my sports-watching life: "AFL" makes me think of the American Football League...

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

Sports On TV
NBC Drops Ball

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 6/30/2006

Now that it is suiting up once again for the NFL starting lineup starting in the fall, NBC will no longer be carrying arena football.

"The Arena Football League and NBC Sports have failed to reach an agreement to extend their broadcasting contract," said the AFL and NBC. "The AFL will immediately begin broadcast discussions with numerous organizations."

AFL is said to be in talks with a number of outlets, though apparently not CBS, for national or regional carriage of its 16 games and four playoff rounds including the Arena Bowl.

The games, played indoors in the NFL off season, had never taken off for NBC, with the season averaging a 1.1 rating its first season and a .9 its last season, including a .7 for its version of the Super Bowl June 11. The Peacock struck the deal before it got back in the NFL game with the Sunday night package.

The league had had a two-year deal with NBC that started in the '03 season and was extended for two more years until 2006.

The AFL is looking to announce a new partner or partners within the next 60-90 days, according to a source.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6348926

Sports On TV
NBC Sheds Arena Football

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

This was in the e-mail:

NEW YORK - June 30, 2006 - The Arena Football League and NBC Sports have failed to reach an agreement to extend their broadcasting contract, both organizations jointly announced today. The AFL will immediately begin broadcast discussions with numerous organizations.

"NBC has been a great partner," said AFL Commissioner David Baker. "We are forever grateful to them for exhibiting our game with the utmost respect and integrity. We wish them well, but are also excited to begin a new chapter that will continue our unprecedented growth."

Ken Schanzer, President, NBC Sports said: "Unfortunately we were unable to reach an agreement. We've enjoyed our partnership with the Arena Football League. It's a great game with great people. We wish them all the best."

• Arena football was supposed to be NBC's more economical way of having punts and passes than paying the NFL freight. Then it recognized what the NFL could do for its prime time fortunes, making the deal for Sunday night games this fall -- and a deal with arena football was no longer a priority.

One sign of the length of my sports-watching life: "AFL" makes me think of the American Football League...

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

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that NBC paid nothing for the rights to show the AFL this past year and that they both shared the advertising profits. Kind of like the NHL deal with NBC this year.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that NBC paid nothing for the rights to show the AFL this past year and that they both shared the advertising profits. Kind of like the NHL deal with NBC this year.

I don't think there is anything to correct, Rico.

I believe you are right on the money.

I don't think there is anything to correct, Rico.

I believe you are right on the money.

I wonder if the AFL was asking for money up front for the new contract. Otherwise I would think it would be hard to turn something down that does not really cost NBC a whole of money to show. I know that I personally enjoyed watching the AFL games on occasion and will miss them if they are no longer on TV. However, I would assume that they will be shown somewhere on TV, maybe not on a network though.

I think NBC might have thought it would dilute the NFL contract.

Or, perhaps, the NFL let it be known that it would prefer that its partners stay away from the Arena League.

The fact is that with the miniscule ratings, I doubt the AFL was making much money for NBC. They probably think expanding extreme sports would do better.

Cable TV Notebook
Blade Off and Running

By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 6/30/2006

Spike TV drew record ratings for the debut of its first scripted action drama, Blade, the vanguard of its rebranding and focus on action shows--its new slogan: "Get More Action."

Under President Doug Herzog, the cable net promised advertisers last March that it was putting its money where its mouth was, making its biggest-ever commitment to scripted originals.

Blade's June 28 two-hour debut at 10-midnight averaged a 2 household rating (2.4 million viewers) and was the top entertainment show on basic cable in its target demos of men 18-34 and 18-49 as well as the top original series debut for the network.

The network was claiming 400%-500% time-period gains over the year before in those key male demos but did not say what programming it was beating so phenomenally

The two-hour Blade debut can also be downloaded for free through July 11 on iTunes, with succeeding hour episodes available for purchase on the online service the day after their airing.

Blade is based on the Marvel comic about a half-man, half-vampire who battles demonic forces to save mankind.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6348667

Critic’s Notebook
Holiday Weekend TV:

"Prairie Home Companion,'' "Lonesome Dove,'' "The Twilight Zone''
By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News in his blog

If you're a fan of public radio's "A Prairie Home Companion'' -- or liked the current film about a heavily-fantasized version of the show -- you'll want to tune into Sunday's installment of PBS's "Great Performances'' (check local listings for time).

To celebrate July 4, the series is offering "Garrison Keillor's Independence Day Special: A Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood'' almost, but not quite, live. (The show will be taped Saturday at Tanglewood, the venerable concert facility in western Massachusetts.)

Actress Meryl Streep, who starred in the film and can more than hold her own on the musical numbers, will be Keillor's special guest and there'll be appearances by such "Prairie Home'' regulars as the Hopeful Gospel Quartet, singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty, Guy's All-Star Shoe Band and private eye Guy Noir.

This is perfect TV programming for the July 4th weekend.

If the recent "Broken Trail'' got you in the mood for top-shelf westerns -- and you have the time to invest -- the Hallmark Channel is showing all eight hours of "Lonesome Dove,'' the brilliant miniseries from 1989 written by Larry McMurtry and starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, starting at 4 p.m. Sunday ET/PT. As good as "Broken Trail'' was, "Lonesome Dove'' is even better.

Another July 4 weekend marathon: Sci Fi is showing 18 hours of episodes from Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone,'' beginning at 8 a.m. Monday ET/PT. As you might expect, the really good stuff is on in prime time ("To Serve Man'' at 8 p.m.; "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet'' with a pre-"Star Trek'' William Shatner at 9 p.m.). But even the weakest half hours of this series were still pretty good.

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/charlie_mccollum/index.html

Critic’s Notebook
Remain calm

By Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News Friday, June 30, 2006

I got an e-mail recently from a concerned "Medium" fan who was aghast to learn that the show had been removed from NBC's fall schedule and won't return until midseason:

"I could not believe when I read in your article that 'Medium' was going to be suspended until January. I thought it was doing well. Is the show really doing that badly? It is a far better show than 'Ghost Whisperer,' and that stupid show was renewed. ( I know . . . different networks).

"I literally feel sick."

I understand the feeling. And I think network programmers sometimes forget that they're not dealing with just another commodity — their consumers form very personal attachments to favorite shows and the characters who populate them.

In this case, however, there's not as much to be concerned about as this fan fears. Once upon a time, not so long ago, a show losing its spot on the fall schedule and being slated for midseason was the equivalent of having one foot in the grave. But that's no longer the case.

Just look at "24." Since Fox started delaying the season premiere of that series until January a couple of years ago, the ratings have gone up.

There's certainly something to be said for being able to air episodes consecutively without weeks of repeats or pre-emptions.

"Scrubs" was held until January this past season, and its ratings appear to have benefited. (It won't be back until midseason this coming season, either.) "Crossing Jordan" did better than expected this year after a midseason start. "Alias" did better two seasons ago when it got the same treatment.

In 1999, uber-producer Steven Bochco pitched a public fit when ABC decided to delay "NYPD Blue" until midseason. He later publicly apologized (a rare thing in Hollywood) when the move ended up boosting the show's ratings that season.

While we have no way of knowing for certain what'll happen when "Medium" returns in January — presumably on Sunday nights after the end of the NFL season — there's some cause for optimism. And NBC didn't cut back on its 22-episode order for the show.

Obviously, "Medium" was not NBC's top priority. "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" — the new show from producer Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing") — was the first domino that knocked shows all over NBC's fall schedule and knocked "Medium" to midseason.

To rewind a bit, NBC scheduled "Studio 60" on Thursdays at 8 p.m., a rather courageous move right up against "CSI." But then ABC scheduled "Grey's Anatomy" on Thursdays at 8 p.m., too, and NBC didn't have that much courage.

So NBC revamped. To make a long story short, "Studio 60" ended up on Mondays at 9 p.m., the slot formerly held by "Medium." What with all the other moves, "Medium" could only have ended up on Fridays at 7 p.m. — directly opposite the other show about a psychic who communicates with the dead, "Ghost Whisperer."

Not a good idea.

"Crossing Jordan," which was slated for midseason again, jumped off the bench into the Friday lineup, leaving "Medium" as the top sub.

Again, there's no guarantee of success. But we've seen in recent years that warming the bench for a few months can actually help a show.

TV IRONY:

Both "Medium" (which came first) and "Ghost Whisperer" are about women with psychic powers who communicate with the dead.

"Medium" is on NBC, but it originated at Paramount Television — the TV production unit of CBS.

And "Ghost Whisperer" is on CBS, but it originated at Touchstone Television — the TV production unit of ABC and Disney.

http://www.desnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,640190986,00.html

Critic’s Notebook
If you have to make an exit, make sure you do it with style

The WB finale: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer,'' "Angel,'' "Dawson's Creek''
By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News in his blog Friday, June 30, 2006

When the WB signs off for good on Sunday, Sept. 17 -- it becomes part of the new CW on Monday, Sept. 18 -- the weblet will mark the occasion by showing the original pilots of some of the most important series in its 11-year history. The lineup: the first episodes of "Felicity'' (5 p.m.), "Angel'' (6 p.m.), "Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (a two-hour installment starting at 7 p.m.) and "Dawson's Creek'' (9 p.m.)

Sprinkled throughout the evening will be classic promos -- including, one hopes, some involving the late, lamented Michigan J. Frog (above), the net's one-time symbol -- and clips of other notable WB shows. (Some, like "Gilmore Girls,'' will live on at the CW.)

According to Variety, the farewell took weeks of negotiation because multiple studios own the shows involved. (The WB was owned by Warner Bros., while 20th Century Fox produced "Buffy'' and "Angel,'' Touchstone Studios did "Felicity'' and Sony owns "Dawson's Creek.'') Plus the WB also had to work out details with cable channels that own the rights to repeats of the series.

UPN, the WB's long-time rival and the other half of the new CW, wanted to do the same thing but couldn't find enough memorable shows to fill an evening. (Just kidding -- kind of.)

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/charlie_mccollum/index.html

TV On DVD
`First Series' of `Dr. Who' lands Tuesday

By R.D. Heldenfels Akron Beacon Journal television writer Fri, Jun. 30, 2006

DVD pick of the week: It's a slim week for TV shows on DVD, but I still have a pretty good pick.

It's Doctor Who: The Complete First Series (BBC Video, 13 episodes, five discs, $99.98), the most recent revival of the long-running British adventure series.

For those of you tuning in late, the Doctor (the series title is basically a question) is a time-traveling problem solver. He is also immortal, though his immortality involves his occasionally regenerating into a different form -- a tidy way of explaining casting changes.

Seven different actors played the Doctor on the original 1963-89 series, and an eighth tackled the role for a TV movie. Fans of the show -- and I have been one -- have fiercely debated the merits of the different Doctors, not to mention the quality of villains and storytelling. The special effects were often terrible, but the show could be great fun.

The new revival, which has aired on Sci Fi, is pretty good, too. Christopher Eccleston, the latest Doctor, brings charm and considerable humor to his performance, recalling Tom Baker, one of the best-loved previous Doctors. (Unfortunately, Eccleston departed the series after this single-season run, and David Tennant has taken over the role.)

The effects are much better, and Billie Piper plays an amiable associate of the Doctor. And the DVD is loaded with extras, among them video diaries by the participants, behind-the-scenes segments on the effects and a revealing interview with Eccleston.

Producer-mogul Aaron Spelling died a week ago, but his work goes on in prime time -- where 7th Heaven keeps on -- and on DVD.

Family, the ABC drama that was one of his proudest achievements, will have its first two seasons on DVD in September. And a more representative example of Spelling's commercial touch arrives Tuesday, with Charlie's Angels: The Complete Third Season (Sony, 24 episodes, six discs, $49.95).

The first episode of the season had the Angels -- Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd -- go to Las Vegas to help a casino owner played by Dean Martin. You can't find a better example of Spelling's love of glossy settings, beautiful people and old-school celebrity.

Then again, the plot is wafer thin, and Martin is terrible. But on such shows, the surface is everything. The third season also includes a few appearances by Farrah Fawcett, settling her contract dispute with Spelling. The DVD boasts no extras.

As I said, it's a thin week for TV on DVD, since the day for new releases -- Tuesday -- is also the Fourth of July. So let's talk about a few titles that have already come out, but didn't get a lot of space here.

Coach: The First Season (Universal, 13 episodes, two discs, $34.98) finally brings to DVD the sturdy sitcom starring Craig T. Nelson as a college (and later pro) football coach.

These 1989 episodes have plenty of laughs. Nelson knows how to bend a line just so, and Jerry Van Dyke can be funny simply by walking into a room. The DVD extras are slim -- a featurette on great TV shows of the '80s and a ``bonus'' episode from Coach's second season. But the package, with elements of a football and a playbook, is all right.

When I saw that Reba McEntire was playing nurse Nellie Forbush in a concert version of South Pacific, I thought it might work. Having seen the DVD (Rhino, one disc, $19.99), I'm not so convinced.

I like McEntire's acting well enough, but her voice doesn't quite work with these operatic songs. Brian Stokes Mitchell is much more effective as Emile de Becque. But the most unexpectedly entertaining moment in the concert comes when Alec Baldwin -- playing sailor Luther Billis -- loses his place in the script, turning pages while McEntire needles him.

Commander in Chief had its fans -- I wasn't one -- but they shouldn't be happy with the way it's being released on DVD. The single season has been split into two separately sold sets.

Commander in Chief: 2-Disc Inaugural Edition: Part 1 (Buena Vista, $29.99) includes the first 10 episodes and is now in stores. A second DVD with the remaining eight will be out in September, also for $29.99.

It's only one season, for crying out loud, so why not put out one comprehensive set? That way, the viewers who loved the show can see it all in sequence. And those who followed the backstage shakeups can see how the show changed as producers came and went.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/movies/video_dvd/14937125.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Critic’s Notebook
What the real Hearsts see in 'Deadwood

By Mark McGuire Albany Times Union staff writer Friday, June 30, 2006

You'd think a family with its name on a multimedia conglomerate would be able to get more love on the screen. But that's never been the case with the Hearsts.

You can go back to "Citizen Kane" (1941), in which Orson Welles' megalomaniacal magnate was modeled on William Randolph Hearst. Today, the HBO Western "Deadwood" features Gerald McRaney as W.R.'s father, George Hearst -- arguably the most murderous thug in a frontier camp filled with cutthroats.

That's usually how it works: The Hearsts are shown as either tragically flawed or outright villainous.

First, the disclosures. This is a Hearst Corp. paper. George Hearst III -- the great-great-grandson of the patriarch portrayed by McRaney -- is the Times Union's vice president, associate publisher and general manager.

Nice enough guy, this Hearst 5.0, but after seeing his fictionalized forebear hack off the finger of saloonkeeper Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) with a miner's pick, I'm not sure I'd mess with him. I mean, Al was the biggest bad, um, guy around before George came to town.

For all of the Hearst Corp.'s media clout -- in addition to newspapers, holdings include cable networks, broadcast stations, magazines and a library of films -- the family is consistently portrayed as rapacious, even to the point of homicide. It goes with the name.

"When you're in this business," George Hearst III said, "you get pretty thick skin." Other family members are equally dismissive toward these depictions: "Junk food TV" is how George's brother Steve Hearst and other family members refer to these fictionalized assaults.

Hearst's Times Union office features two portraits of his great-grandfather, William Randolph Hearst, who built the family's publishing empire stretching from California back to New York. In one of the photos, circa 1940s, Hearst is speaking into an NBC radio microphone. He always could get a message out any way he wanted.

But W.R. has historically come in for the worst on-screen abuse. In addition to "Kane," there's the 1999 HBO film "RKO 281," based on the making of Welles' film. It got worse in "The Cat's Meow" (2001), in which it's suggested that W.R. (Edward Herrmann) covers up a murder aboard his yacht.

(The 1974 kidnapping and subsequent travails of Patty Hearst -- George III's second cousin -- were dramatized in Paul Schrader's 1988 "Patty Hearst," plus a 1979 TV movie and two "Saturday Night Live" parodies. Now an actress, Patty has appeared in five of trashmeister John Waters' films.)

The son of a Missouri farmer, George Hearst (1820-1891) made the family's first fortune in mining -- as well as real estate, cattle and thoroughbreds. His horses ran, among other places, at Saratoga Race Course.

"We knew this guy was a very shrewd businessman," said his great-great-grandson. "He matured from a '49er miner to someone who was well-connected." Later in life, Hearst represented California in the U.S. Senate.

In "Deadwood," George Hearst is a 20th-century man navigating the 19th-century frontier -- an operator whose vision for greater riches puts him far beyond the rest of the town's entrepreneurs and henchmen looking for their next buck.

But he may also be the most vile; Hearst tends to view those around him as mere tools in his greater task: extracting "the color" -- gold.

"My proper traffic is with the Earth," he says in the show's trademark Shakespearean cadence.

He thinks nothing of threatening his rivals, or ordering the murder of union organizers.

"God, I hate these camps," Hearst tells one of his servants. "All this deferring and adjusting to others' wrongheaded stupidities. I'd rather be off by myself."

McRaney's multilayered performance is as complex as his old "Major Dad" character was simplistic. Hearst struggles internally with his humble beginnings and his oversized expectations of greatness. (By the way, I won't spoil the outcome of the series, which is now it is third and final full season, but any decent history book would.)

Hearst Corp. Chairman George Hearst Jr., the III's dad, isn't a fan of the show: "There is no factual integrity in that type of programming." He's also not fond of the blast-furnace profanity that laces almost every lyrical utterance. "After nine years, five months and 29 days in the service (Army), I've heard all those words," he said.

George Hearst III is watching -- "in the interest of staying informed." That, and because he's grown to like the show: "There are very colorful actors, and very good acting. I enjoy watching this show in spite of the crass language. It is entertaining." (He -- and his lawyers -- were much less amused by the 2003 VH1 reality show "Hopelessly Rich," which featured an imposter who snookered producers into thinking he was George Hearst III. The con man, who conducted himself as an out-of-control playboy on screen, awaits sentencing on charges related to his other fake-Hearst activities.)

That said, he's not mistaking drama for history: "There are some real unsavory characters roaming throughout 'Deadwood.' The notion that ... (Hearst) is a darker type of soul than the rest of them in town is a stretch of the imagination."

In fact, he's one of the few cheering on his dear old great-great granddad.

"The guy's got my vote," Hearst said. "I'm really rooting for him."

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=496090

Cable Nielsen Notebook
Larry & Star Gets Almost 3 Million Viewers

(from Brian Stelter’s TVNewser at mediabistro.com)

Larry King's post-View interview with Star Jones averaged almost 3 million viewers last night, giving CNN a rare win over Fox News in both total viewers and the 25-54 demo.

From 9 to 10pm, King averaged 935,000 demo viewers and 2,984,000 total viewers, tripling his usual nightly numbers. CNN averaged 530,000 demo and 1,600,000 viewers in primetime last night.

CNN has already scheduled an "encore presentation" of Larry and Star for Monday night.

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

Cable Nielsen Notebook
Larry & Star Gets Almost 3 Million Viewers

(from Brian Stelter’s TVNewser at mediabistro.com)

Larry King's post-View interview with Star Jones averaged almost 3 million viewers last night, giving CNN a rare win over Fox News in both total viewers and the 25-54 demo.

From 9 to 10pm, King averaged 935,000 demo viewers and 2,984,000 total viewers, tripling his usual nightly numbers. CNN averaged 530,000 demo and 1,600,000 viewers in primetime last night.

CNN has already scheduled an "encore presentation" of Larry and Star for Monday night.

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/
Oh brother...

Oh and Blade was very, very, very boring. Bad too.

That is all.

Oh brother...

Oh and Blade was very, very, very boring. Bad too.

That is all.


We agree completely, Russ! :)

TV FEATURE

Supporters say documentary important; others say healing process has been delayed

By MICHAEL CASEY
Associated Press
June 30, 2006, 7:27PM

KHAO LAK, THAILAND - Initially, Boonlue Mongkhol objected to his village being used for a TV miniseries about the 2004 tsunami. He lost his loved ones in the disaster and didn't want to relive the tragedy.

But when the British Broadcasting Corp. advertised for extras, the 38-year-old businessman put aside his personal feelings and spent five days portraying a corpse and a body collector — earning $13 a day.

"My father, niece and nephew died there," said Boonlue, who also lost his house, seafood restaurant and mini market when the massive waves hit Khao Lak on Dec. 26, 2004. "I didn't want to do it but there is no other way to earn money."

The filming of Aftermath — a two-part miniseries produced by the BBC and HBO, shot along Thailand's tsunami-battered coast — has set off a debate over the merits of bringing the tragedy to the screen so soon after the disaster.

Supporters say it's an important story, touching on universal themes of hope and loss, while many survivors say reviving the tsunami has hit them with more heartache.

Similar debates among survivors have played out in the United States with United 93, the first big-screen treatment of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and in Australia when there was talk of making a movie about the 2002 Bali bombings, the victims of which were mainly Australians.

"You are exacerbating the healing process," said Anie Kalayjian, whose non-governmental Association for Trauma Outreach and Prevention has provided counseling to survivors of the tsunami and last year's Pakistan earthquake.

"On some level, they need to distance themselves from the devastating impact of the event to heal," she said. "Post-trauma means the trauma has to end and you need a certain distance before you can process your feelings and make meaning and sense out of the unimaginable."

Billed as a compelling story of survival and courage, the series is to be shown on HBO and BBC later this year. It follows eight characters in the aftermath of the tsunami including a young couple searching for their child, an Englishwoman whose husband and son are missing, and a Thai man who lost his family and village.

The drama is being directed by Bharat Nalluri and the cast includes Tim Roth, Sophie Okonedo and Toni Collette.

Khao Lak, with its white-sand beaches and stunning views of the Andaman Sea, was chosen as the location because a majority of the 5,400 people killed in Thailand came from surrounding villages on the country's southwestern coast, as did the thousands more left homeless.

Though many of the hotels and hundreds of homes have been rebuilt, jobs remain scarce and many families are still grieving for dead relatives.

"I don't want a movie shot here," said Wandee Sae-hong, a 32-year-old survivor from the nearby village of Baan Nam Kem, which lost about half its 5,000 residents in the tsunami. "I don't want to see the disaster again. It will bring too much sadness."

Other Thais welcomed the production, saying it could bring jobs to the area and serve as an educational tool.

"It's good because the next generation can see what happened," said Renu Suiraksa, a Khao Lak woman who lost her brother and 10 cousins in the disaster. "Before, I didn't know anything about a tsunami. But if we have this movie, people will be able to see what happens and maybe have time to run away the next time."

Thai survivors and relief workers say they were most angered that the crew chose to re-enact the disaster —complete with dead bodies and overturned cars— on the main road through Khao Lak that was devastated by the giant waves.

Others were upset the crew chose to put up fliers throughout the tsunami-hit region, saying victims were needed as extras.

"It was pretty tasteless. People are not happy," said Robert Reynolds, an American charity director whose Srithong Thukaoluan Foundation is supporting more than 100 children affected by the tsunami.

Finola Dwyer, the drama's producer, said she regretted the wording in the flier. But she defended the decision to shoot in areas hit by the tsunami.

"Why not? It did happen. It's not a piece of fiction," Dwyer said.

Dwyer said she faced similar challenges shooting the acclaimed drama The Hamburg Cell which came out in 2004 and delves into lives of the Sept. 11 hijackers as it recounts the meticulous preparations for the attacks.

For that production, her team chose to shoot in Hamburg, Germany, where hijackers hatched their plans — despite the fact that residents were "feeling bruised and raw from harboring these guys."

"The Hamburg Cell was a real challenge," Dwyer said. "It was balancing and working and navigating through all those different sensitivities and not wanting to cause offense but still wanting to make something truthful and real and reflective of the situation."

In Thailand, Dwyer said they sought and received government approval before shooting started because of the nature of the project. But even as they shot around the resort town of Phuket and Khao Lak, she said they were embraced by locals, and even some survivors came to watch.

"When we were in Khao Lak, we had people come by and tell us their stories of how they were caught up in the tsunami," Dwyer said.

"Everybody acts differently. Of course, some people will get upset," she said. "But many of the survivors we met said 'We are really glad you are doing this because people have already forgotten.'"

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/4016585.html

] Media Notebook
Who should own the media?

FCC hearing in N.C. looks at allowing more consolidation
By Mark Washburn Charlotte Observer Sat, Jul. 01, 2006

ASHEVILLE - Strange thing happened this week.

More than 200 people turned out to engage in the popular American activity of snarling about The Media. It was a hearing held in Asheville before two FCC commissioners, and the topic was consolidation of power in broadcast ownership.

People are crankier than usual on the issue because the Federal Communications Commission has opened the door once again to the possibility of big companies getting to own more TV and radio stations.

They're even thinking about letting people who own newspapers own local stations.

"I don't think I exaggerate at all in saying that the issue is whether a few large conglomerates will be ceded content control over our music, entertainment and information, gatekeeper control over the civil dialogue of our country and veto power over the majority of what we and our families watch, hear and read," said FCC Commissioner Michael Copps.

Virgil Smith, publisher of the Asheville newspaper, said news coverage by the Citizen-Times would be improved by owning a local TV station. The company could put video on its Web site, he pointed out. And he said the newspaper's corporate parent, Gannett, doesn't tell him what to print. And it donates to good causes.

Gannett owns 90 daily newspapers and 22 TV stations.

Ken Sayer, market manager of Clear Channel's Asheville radio stations, said his stations do a lot of good, too. One deejay, leveled by the flu, still struggled to a stunt in which he was suspended in the station's van by a crane to raise money for Toys for Tots.

Clear Channel owns about 1,200 radio stations, including five in Charlotte.

Then came Jim Goodman, and here's where it got strange. Goodman is CEO of Capitol Broadcasting Co., which owns TV stations in Raleigh and Charlotte.

He is the third generation in his family to operate the company, one of the leaders in the industry in technology and news gathering. Capitol doesn't work for Wall Street. It does a lot of public service. Its Charlotte station, WJZY-TV (Channel 46), is the only commercial station here that finds air time each week for a local public affairs program.

Big media, he said, isn't about public service.

"Clear Channel didn't buy these stations to do `Tools for Schools.' They did it to make lots of money. It's not about serving the community or local autonomy. They want these stations because they want more money."

You don't hear broadcast executives talk that way very often, at least not in public.

Broadcasters don't own the airwaves. They belong to the public.

Broadcasters pay an incredible sum to use them: zero. They only have to promise they'll use them to serve the public interest.

So how are they doing?

Commissioner Copps: "Ninety two percent of local newscasts during the last election season contained no coverage at all of local candidates ... How can it be good for our country when less than one-half of one percent of programming is devoted to local public affairs?"

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/television/14945441.htm

Cable Nielsen Notebook
Ratings Down, NBC Drops Arena Football

By The New York Times July 1, 2006

NBC Universal Sports declined yesterday to continue carrying Arena Football League games after steadily declining ratings over four seasons. The relationship with the A.F.L. began during NBC's eight-year period without the rights to National Football League games, which it is carrying again.

Although NBC's revenue-sharing agreement with the A.F.L. produced modest profits, Mike McCarley, a network spokesman, said, "We gave it our best effort, with top production and significant promotion, but the ratings never grew." NBC also had a profit participation in the sale of one team.

The rating for A.F.L. games fell by 0.1 each season, starting with a 1.1 in 2003 and falling to a 0.8 this past season. The season-ending Arena Bowl last month, won by Chicago, 69-61, over Orlando, generated a 0.7, barely half the 1.3 rating for the 2003 championship game.

The 18-team league's national cable deal with OLN also expired, as did its teams' local coverage with Fox Sports Net affiliates. It is seeking new deals with broadcast and cable networks and with new media entities.

David Baker, the A.F.L. commissioner, said in a statement: "NBC has been a great partner. We are forever grateful to them for exhibiting our game with the utmost respect and integrity."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/01/sports/football/01arena.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

Cable Nielsen Notebook
FX Brings Viewers to Philadelphia

By Mike Reynolds Multichannel.com 7/1/2006

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia started its sophomore season with a flourish, improving on a host of ratings metrics.

The FX comedy series, which added Danny DeVito to its cast, notched 1.6 million viewers, 980,000 adult 18-49 viewers and 512,000 18-34 watchers during its second-season debut June 29 at 10 p.m. (EST/PST), according to Nielsen Media Research data.

Those levels marked gains of 16%, 6% and 31%, respectively, over the show's premiere installment, according to network officials, and advances of 45%, 31% and 22%, respectively, over the show's season averages in those metrics.

FX also aired the season's second installment in the following half-hour, grabbing 1.5 million total viewers, 945,000 adults 18-49 and 517,000 adults 18-34. Network officials said those numbers represented increases of 81%, 73% and 72%, respectively, among those groups versus the show's second episode in its rookie season.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia stars Charlie Day, Rob McElhenny, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson and Danny DeVito as owners of Paddy's Pub in the “City of Brotherly Love,” where their get-ahead schemes habitually backfire.

FX will air all new back-to-back episodes of Sunny July 6 at 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. before the show assumes its regular 10 p.m. timeslot through Aug. 17.

http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleid=CA6349096

Friday’s network prime-time ratings are (once again!) at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the first post in this thread).

TV Notebook
Last Minute “Sopranos” Save

By Don Kaplan The New York Post

'The Sopranos" ought to change the name of their club from Bada-Bing to Ka-Ching - after the deals signed yesterday by Tony Sirico and Steven Van Zandt to stay on the show.

HBO caved in yesterday, signing the actors who play Paulie Walnuts and Silvio Dante to deals worth more than $1.5 million each to appear in the final eight episodes of the series. That's about $190,000 per episode - just short of the $200,000 that the pair, who were negotiating as a team, were threatening to quit the show over if they didn't get paid.

The negotiations came down to the wire, industry sources said. Just minutes before the settlement, Van Zandt was believed to be on his way out.

With the final two hold-outs on the books now, the entire cast is expected to show up next Wednesday for work on the mob opera's swan song - when wardrobe fittings and the first script reading for the new season are scheduled. Filming is set to begin the week after.

Bob McGowen, who manages both actors, declined to comment.

Other cast members who had been holding out for bigger paychecks also signed on this week. Aida Turturro, who plays Tony's unnerving sister Janice, agreed to a new deal worth about $150,000 per episode, sources say.

Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler, the actors who play Tony's kids, also have new deals that will pay them around $120,000 - up from $85,000 per episode.

Lorraine Bracco, who plays Tony's shrink, Dr. Melfi, is also on board with a new deal.

HBO ran into trouble with the cast this year when it tried to keep costs on "The Sopranos" down by labeling the most recent 12 episodes and the upcoming eight as all part of the same season

http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/last_minute_sopranos_save_entertainment_don_kaplan.htm

Glad to hear "Sunny" is doing better. I was one of the few who watched it last year and was sure it was a gonner, but it looks like the recent airings on Fox, and additional cast did the trick.

TV Notebook
Roger Ebert recovering after emergency surgery

By Jim Ritter Chicago Sun-Times Staff Reporter July 2, 2006

Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert was in serious condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital Sunday following an emergency operation to repair complications from an earlier cancer surgery.

Ebert's vital signs appeared to be good after the hours-long operation, said Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper, co-host of the "Ebert & Roeper" movie review show.

On June 16, Ebert underwent surgery to remove a cancerous growth on his salivary gland. Around 8 p.m. Saturday, a blood vessel burst near the site of the operation.

Ebert, 64, has had four cancer surgeries, including two on his salivary gland in 2003.

Prior to the June 16 operation, Ebert told Sun-Times columnist Robert Feder the salivary gland growth was a "slow growing and persistent cancer. You live with it."

Ebert, winner of the Pulitzer prize, and Roeper taped six shows in advance so the syndicated show would continue while Ebert recuperated.

http://suntimes.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi?getReferrer=http://suntimes.com/output/news/ebert02.html

(I neglected to post this a few days ago. It is still a good read, though.)
Washington Notebook
As FCC Digs Into Ownership, Big Media No Longer Cares

By Frank Ahrens Washington Post Staff Writer

When the government's attempt to relax media ownership rules was defeated in court two years ago, some hailed it as a victory against putting too much power in the hands of too few media lords.

Now, the government is taking up the issue again, but the media landscape is radically different.

Since 2003, the media giants have greatly expanded their presence on the Internet, buying successful Web sites or redoubling their own efforts. The continued rollout of high-speed Internet, the improvement in online content and an explosion of handheld devices have combined to give Big Media much greater reach and potentially greater influence than it would have had, were companies allowed to buy a few more television stations each.

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission voted to re-tackle the sticky issue of media ownership. This time, the agency plans to loosen some rules, allowing big media companies to expand. For instance, a newspaper will -- for the first time since 1975 -- probably be allowed to buy the most popular television station in the same city.

But the times, technology and media marketplace have changed so much since the FCC began its ownership review last time, in 2002, that some of the same media giants that lobbied for changes before -- such as Tribune Co. -- may take little advantage of changes this time.

In 2002, the media giants had already been burned by the Internet. The newly merged AOL Time Warner Inc. took a $10 billion write-down, thanks to bad deals and falling revenue at America Online. Walt Disney Co. lost millions on its Go.com Internet portal.

IPods were still on the drawing board at Apple Computer Inc. Almost all Internet users had dial-up connections, which made online video about as watchable as the Zapruder film. Yahoo Inc. was not the multimedia powerhouse it is today. YouTube and its vault of 70 million videos did not exist. Neither did MySpace and its global community of users. And Google was merely the Internet's most popular search engine, not yet the revenue-generating monster whose advertising model is being emulated by everyone in traditional media.

In May 2003, Mel Karmazin told a Senate panel that his Viacom Inc. -- then the parent of CBS -- absolutely, positively had to be allowed to buy more television stations. It was essential to the company's future, he said.

Karmazin's pleas came to nothing. While the FCC relaxed ownership rules that year, the court struck those down in 2004, and Congress passed a law preventing CBS from buying any more stations.

As it turned out, CBS not only survived but became the top-rated network. The company sees its future not in owning more television stations but in expanding a revenue stream that was an afterthought in 2003: the Internet and its various iterations of digital downloading and streaming, channels that give CBS a far bigger footprint than local television stations.

"CBS's challenge is how to monetize its content, and since we are precluded from doing that through buying more stations, we're doing it in other ways," said Martin D. Franks, CBS Corp.'s executive vice president of government relations. "We have had to adapt to what the regulatory regime has dealt us."

To help spread out the enormous cost of the network's contract with the NCAA to carry the men's college basketball tournament each March ($6 billion over 11 years), CBS this year bought CSTV Networks Inc., which broadcasts live sports on the Internet and on cable television. The Web site averages more than 8 million monthly users, and the cable network is in more than 15 million households -- far more than any metropolitan television station reaches.

This month, CBS began selling episodes of its top-rated "CSI," "Survivor" and other shows via Apple's iTunes, following ABC's lead, for $1.99 each. Also, the network launched the ad-supported Web site ShowBuzz, with celebrity and entertainment news.

Circumstances have also changed for Tribune Co. In 2003, Tribune was a 13-newspaper, 26-television-station chain that wanted to buy more television stations in cities where it owned newspapers, in hopes of reaping big advertising rewards.

Now, the company is selling off television stations, is facing a shareholder revolt over its direction and is unable to figure out how to combine local television and newspaper advertising to its advantage.

Tribune owns a stake in CareerBuilder, the Internet job site, and is working to expand the online impact of its newspapers. If the FCC lifts the newspaper-television cross-ownership ban, Tribune probably will not purchase additional television stations, according to a source knowledgeable about the company who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the ongoing shareholder struggle.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. was one of the first media giants to change tack after the last rules were tossed out in 2004.

News Corp. had strived to create "duopolies" -- two-station television groups -- in as many cities as it could. In Washington, for instance, News Corp. owns WTTG (Channel 5) and WDCA (Channel 20). Such duopolies combine resources to save costs and make station ownership an even better moneymaker than it already is: Typically, a television station returns annual profit margins of 25 to 50 percent.

But duopolies were permitted in only the largest cities. The 2003 FCC rules would have allowed them in smaller cities and created the possibility of three-station groups, or "triopolies," in the largest cities, which interested News Corp.

But when the hope of triopolies died in 2004, News Corp. looked to the Internet.

In July, News Corp. formed Fox Interactive Media, an umbrella for the company's many Web sites, such as FoxSports.com. Days later, it announced the $580 million purchase of MySpace, the Web's most popular social-networking site. Users post profiles, find dates, listen to music, watch video and click on ads that send revenue to News Corp. At the time of the purchase, MySpace had about 16 million monthly users.

That number is up to 85 million around the globe and growing. It takes Fox 35 television stations to reach 134 million viewers in the United States.

Further, News Corp. is looking to unload some of its stations. The company and Liberty Media Corp. Chairman John C. Malone are close to a deal in which News Corp. would buy back Malone's voting stake in News Corp. in exchange for some of the company's mid-market television stations.

Likewise, radio giant Clear Channel Communications Inc. changed direction after the 2004 defeat of the media rules and "expanded its horizons," said Andy Levin, executive vice president for the company's government affairs.

Clear Channel grew by massive acquisitions in the late 1990s to become the nation's largest radio chain. In 2003, the company sought to raise limits on how many stations it could own in many cities. Thwarted, the company turned to the Internet.

Clear Channel hired Evan Harrison, head of America Online's music and radio unit, in 2004 to spearhead the radio giant's online forays. Under his leadership, the digital music division has become Clear Channel's fastest-growing segment. Clear-Channel-produced podcasts outsell all others on iTunes.

"This is radio today, as we see it," Harrison wrote, via BlackBerry. "We have to work every day to create better programming than MTV, VH-1 to build our audience. The notion that a radio company would be competing with a cable network just didn't exist six years ago."

And though Clear Channel would like radio ownership limits raised in the largest cities, the company's acquisition ambitions are not what they were three years ago, mirroring the media industry in general.

"I'm not sure there is pent-up demand for more consolidation," said Mark Fratrik, vice president of BIA Financial Network Inc. media researchers. "I think in 2006 . . . the media environment is much more crowded, much more competitive. Radio groups are looking for opportunities where they can bring added value, not just get big for bigness sake."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/28/AR2006062802194_pf.html

The Digital Revolution
AT&T Is Calling to Ask About TV Service:

Will Anyone Answer?

By Ken Belson The New York Times July 3, 2006

SAN ANTONIO, June 27 — Jesse Vallado looks like your average cable guy: tool belt around hips, golf shirt with company insignia and a van stuffed with gear.

But Mr. Vallado, who has been installing television services for two decades, now works for the phone company — AT&T — not the local cable provider. Hunched over a cable box outside a customer's suburban two-story home in a gated community here, he plugs in adapters and a bunch of wires that will turn on AT&T's new television service, U-verse.

While traditional cable and phone services run on separate lines, U-verse crams video, data and, in time, phone calls down one high-speed broadband line. Introduced here on Monday, the service allows users to view multiple channels at once, get information about programs instantly and eventually access some Internet content via their television.

"We're on the ground floor of something that's going to revolutionize the industry," Mr. Vallado said. "We have the whole world looking at us."

Investors, too, are watching to see whether the service will work well enough to attract the millions of new subscribers that AT&T needs to stave off rivals stealing millions of its phone customers. With U-verse, AT&T can assemble a package of television, broadband and phone services to match the bundle sold by cable companies.

But cable providers like Time Warner Cable, which serves about half the homes in San Antonio, are fighting back. To keep customers from leaving, they are discounting their television and phone plans, throwing in premium movie channels and faster Internet connections.

The face-off has turned San Antonio — the home of the Alamo — into a proving ground for the intensifying showdown between the phone and cable industries. What transpires here is expected to be repeated in the 15 or so other cities and towns (including Houston) where AT&T plans to introduce U-verse this year, and the 55 where Verizon now sells television.

"The cable guys are not going to sit around and wait," Jeffrey Halpern, a telecommunications analyst at Sanford Bernstein, said. "They offer television, broadband and phone now, so if the Bells don't have television, they can't fight back."

But building a television service and getting people to drop their cable or satellite plan are two different things. Like Verizon, which now sells programming in New York, Florida and five other states, AT&T is discounting heavily to attract new customers.

For example, AT&T's middle-tier plan comes with 170 television channels, 31 premium movie channels and 17 music channels, a 3-megabit broadband connection, three set-top boxes, a digital video recorder and a Wi-Fi router for $94 a month, roughly equivalent to the already cut-rate cost of comparable service from Time Warner.

Mr. Halpern and other analysts say that AT&T will have a relatively easy time capturing 10 percent of the pay-television market because some customers are eager to cut their bills. Enticing the next 10 percent will be much harder, though, because most cable and satellite subscribers are either happy with their service or unwilling to go to the trouble of switching providers.

Yet AT&T and Verizon need to grab a substantial piece of the television markets they enter if they expect to recoup the substantial costs of overhauling their networks. This is particularly true for Verizon, which is spending $18 billion to string fiber optic lines all the way to consumers' homes.

With that kind of network, Verizon will be able to sell far faster Internet connections and have a more durable network that will require far less money to maintain.

AT&T has taken a different route. It is spending just $4.6 billion to install fiber optic lines only to consumers' neighborhoods and then to use existing copper cable the rest of the way. This will allow it to enter new markets more quickly, but its network may have to be upgraded later. The company also expects to spend $1 billion to hook customers up to the service, though analysts said that cost could rise if the service proves as popular as AT&T expects.

Unlike cable companies and Verizon, which send every channel to every set-top box, AT&T only sends selected channels to the home. This uses far less bandwidth, so AT&T can use more of its older cables. And since phone calls, Internet connections and television signals will travel down the same pipe, they can be blended so that, say, incoming calls are announced on a television and digital photos from computers can be copied to digital video recorders for display on a TV.

While other phone companies are using this so-called IPTV technology, AT&T is by far the biggest. By the end of 2008, the company expects to make the service available to about half, or 19 million, of the homes it serves in the 13 states where it sells local phone service. If all goes well, AT&T said 30 percent of those homes, or 5.7 million customers, will sign up for U-verse.

AT&T also plans to introduce U-verse in the nine states where BellSouth operates, assuming regulators sign off on their planned merger.

Not surprisingly, the gargantuan project has faced obstacles. AT&T and Verizon have had to go town by town to win cable franchises from municipalities. To shorten that long and expensive process, the companies have been prodding lawmakers in Washington to pass a bill that would streamline the process. Five states in AT&T's territory, most notably Texas, have already passed similar legislation.

Technologically, AT&T needed to get the kinks out of crucial software from Microsoft, as well as develop new billing, sales and administrative teams, and open an office in Los Angeles to buy programming from Hollywood studios. Now, about six months later than originally anticipated, all the pieces are in place.

"The technical risk we bought into two years ago, we feel like we jumped that hurdle," said Jeff Weber, the vice president in charge of U-verse products. "There is a lot of pressure to get the product out there. But I don't want to go faster than we should. We want to make sure the service is what we said it would be."

Despite the importance of the project, AT&T is not trying to oversell U-verse. Just 5,000 customers will initially be able to get it in San Antonio. Instead of trumpeting the service on television, AT&T is going door-to-door with fliers, driving a specially outfitted ice cream truck on neighborhood streets and hosting parties where customers open their homes to their neighbors to show off U-verse.

Todd Trcka (pronounced tri-KHA) and his wife, Lisanne, would be two good candidates. They were selected to test U-verse a few months ago and are now hooked on the service. Mr. Trcka gleefully channel surfs at high speed, noting that there are not the delays found on some digital cable and satellite services. With a click of the remote, he calls up screens with details of the show he is watching. With another few clicks, he can record it on his DVR.

"They should prescribe Ambien because this guy doesn't sleep since he got this TV," Mrs. Trcka joked. She added that the parental locks were an easy way to keep her three kids from watching some programs.

The Trckas have encountered some problems. U-verse does not have any high-definition channels, something AT&T hopes to introduce by the end of the year. Mr. Trcka said he also wished he could watch the Bevo-D channel, which is devoted to University of Texas sports that he had with his old Time Warner service.

Still, the Trckas plan to sign up for the U-verse service when their trial ends because of the extra features. They also like the idea that they are among the first customers to get the new product.

"The good news is we don't have friends with the service," Mr. Trcka said.

AT&T, of course, is out to fix that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/03/technology/03iptv.html?pagewanted=print

TV Notebook
Thanks to YouTube Fans, 'Nobody's Watching' May Return From the Dead

By Bill Carter The New York Times July 3, 2006

For television writers and producers it has always been about getting your show on the air.

These days? Not so much.

At the moment the most talked-about situation comedy in the United States isn't on television at all. It's on your computer, though, and you can find it on www.youtube.com, where thousands of videos of all levels of quality are posted every day.

A comedy called — with intended irony, but not in the way that it has worked out — "Nobody's Watching" has been available on YouTube for about two weeks. As of yesterday it had been downloaded more than 300,000 times by a growing legion of fans.

Most remarkable of all, the talk that the show has generated has already caught the ears of executives at several networks, some of whom are wondering if maybe this is a virus they might enjoy getting infected with.

"Nobody's Watching" seems to be another example of a story that the Internet world loves: the power of the amateur over the professionals. It is also the story of "viral video," which is what YouTube is all about. People post a snippet of self-made video, and word spreads about how funny, shocking, stupid or embarrassing it is.

But the big story behind "Nobody's Watching" is that a sitcom left for dead 18 months ago may actually spring back to life — on actual television — because its creators were too passionate about it to let it die, and because it really might be funnier than most everything else that is passing for comedy on television these days.

The man at the center of the story is Bill Lawrence, creator of "Spin City" and "Scrubs." Mr. Lawrence knows how insane the television business can be. For example, for a few years after "Scrubs" made its debut on NBC in 2001, all Mr. Lawrence heard from network executives was that the show would never be a hit because it was a single-camera filmed comedy. Only multi-camera taped comedies worked, he was told.

In the last two years Mr. Lawrence said, he has gotten into arguments with network program chiefs who have told him, "The multi-camera comedy genre is dead."

Both stances struck Mr. Lawrence as ridiculous. "The challenge," he said in a telephone interview, "was to reinvent the genre."

That was the goal of "Nobody's Watching," which Mr. Lawrence conceived with two writing partners, Garrett Donovan and Neil Goldman, who had both worked on the Fox animated comedy "Family Guy."

Their thought was that most traditional sitcoms had begun failing not because of form but because of quality: they were all bad. And so they created a couple of characters, Derek and Will, from Ohio, who believed the same thing, and they decided to let them try to make a show of their own.

The gimmick is that the two characters come to California to make their own sitcom, but at the same time they are doing it in the form of a fake reality show conceived by some fictional network executives. The studio behind the (real) project was NBC Universal Television, so NBC had first crack at the show. But Mr. Lawrence said that it was clear from the start that NBC's programming boss, Kevin Reilly, though he liked the freshness of the idea, did not think it was appropriate for NBC.

So it wound up on the development slate of the WB network. That seemed a hospitable place because WB was youth oriented, and "Nobody's Watching" was a show definitely aimed at young viewers. Mr. Lawrence said all the younger executives at that network loved the show.

The show was cast with an eye toward keeping it fresh and innovative. The two leads, Taran Killam and Paul Campbell, had extensive improvisational backgrounds. Mr. Lawrence said he insisted they become inseparable for weeks leading up to shooting the pilot, and the actors indeed became fast friends.

The other important characters included a network boss named Jeff Tucker. (Mr. Lawrence credited Jeff Zucker, the chief executive of the NBC Universal Television Group, with being such a sport that he told them he didn't mind if they used his actual name.)

The pilot, which appears intact on YouTube, pulls no punches in disparaging sitcoms the creators clearly believe have damaged the genre. By name, "According to Jim," "Coach" and "Yes, Dear," among others, are mocked by the characters.

Mr. Lawrence acknowledged that that had caused a bit of a rift between him and Greg Garcia, creator of "Yes, Dear," though he said he loved and respected Mr. Garcia's newer comedy, "My Name Is Earl," which is shown on NBC.

All went well with "Nobody's Watching" until the testing phase. Then, Mr. Lawrence said, he and his partners journeyed to a "sweaty test-screening room" in the San Fernando Valley where issues were raised by the screeners about whether the premise was confusing. That seemed to Mr. Lawrence to be the unspoken concern of WB executives, although once it was spoken, the test audiences seemed to glom onto it.

Still, those young executives at WB encouraged him the show was a sure thing. Mr. Lawrence left for New York in May 2005, ready to hear "Nobody's Watching" announced on the WB schedule. "I was not in the business to fly to New York to feel like an idiot," he said. But that's what happened. WB passed on the show.

Now his precious baby was labeled a loser. "Who was going to pick up a show that the lowly WB had rejected?" Mr. Lawrence said. He and his partners pestered their agents to try to find it a home, only to have the agents begin to beg them not to make them mortify themselves that way.

In the eyes of everyone who counted, as Angela Bromstad, the head of the NBC Universal studio, put it, "It was essentially a dead project."

Mr. Lawrence resisted that fate, but he knew he could not hold onto his cast members very long. If they got other offers, they would be gone. Paul Adelstein, who played Jeff Tucker, was hired as a semi-regular on the Fox series "Prison Break."

The earth began to move just a few weeks ago. That's when Mr. Lawrence heard that the pilot had somehow made its way onto YouTube. He said he knows who posted the video but will not reveal the name because it looks as if it turned out to be a major favor.

In the first week that "Nobody's Watching" appeared on YouTube, it was not a featured video and attracted only about 4,000 viewings. But the reaction was powerfully positive from those who saw it, prompting the site to begin featuring it. Then the viewings exploded.

Even television executives have been downloading it. Ms. Bromstad said that the Comedy Central channel called last week and asked for a DVD of the pilot, and that ABC had also expressed interest.

But NBC retains a first shot at the show. Mr. Lawrence said that Mr. Reilly had called from his vacation in Mexico last week and said he wanted to take another look. The show's offbeat characters and rapid-fire dialogue might make it an ideal partner for another comedy on NBC, Ms. Bromstad said, a show the network has struggled to find a match for: Mr. Lawrence's "Scrubs."

Could it happen? Could a dead network show be revived because of the power of individuals supporting it on the Internet?

Ms. Bromstad was cautious in her prediction. "I think it will be interesting to find out," she said.

Mr. Lawrence said he believed this was exactly the kind of development that television needed to break all kinds of hidebound traditions, including presumptions about what people will and won't watch as comedy, and decisions that are made based on small organized focus groups.

"This is so much a better way to see if people are going to respond to a show," he said.

Of course even if a network does want to take a chance on "Nobody's Watching," there is still that issue of keeping the cast together. And Mr. Adelstein is already gone, right?

"We're hoping he gets killed off this season on 'Prison Break,' " Mr. Lawrence said. Mr. Adelstein plays a special agent on that series.

What Mr. Lawrence really wants right now is for so many people to start talking about his comedy pilot now featured on YouTube that some network executive will decide, "Now I can pick this up and I won't look dumb."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/03/arts/television/03pilo.html?pagewanted=print

Cable TV Notebook
Cable Procedurals Losing Audience

Series Represent Major Network Investments
By James Hibberd July 3, 2006

Here's a twist that basic cable networks didn't see coming: audiences leaving police procedurals.

Off-network reruns of crime dramas on TNT, Spike TV, A&E and USA Network are losing viewers, particularly in younger demographics.

Procedurals, or police dramas with self-contained episodes that track the solving of a crime from beginning to end, have served as ratings drivers for several top-ranked general entertainment basic cable networks. For years, channels like USA and TNT have anted up multimillion-dollar license fees for the off-network syndication runs of series such as "Law & Order," "CSI" and their spinoffs. The acquisitions provide not only large sources of advertising revenue but also promotional platforms for networks to launch their own original shows.

But in household viewership year to date, "Law & Order" on TNT is down 15 percent versus last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. On Spike TV, "CSI" is down 15 percent. On USA, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" is down 8 percent and "Law & Order: SVU" is down 2 percent. A&E's, "Cold Case Files" is down 13 percent, "Crossing Jordan" is down 17 percent and "CSI: Miami" is down 22 percent.

"With 'Law & Order,' a gradual decline has been going on for two years now," said Tim Brooks, Lifetime's head of research. "But in the past six to eight months, it's started happening with the 'CSI's' too. The 18 to 49s are the first to leave. Then when the older viewers start to leave, you're in trouble."

Waning audience interest in the format could be disastrous for several networks.

For the second quarter, TNT just reclaimed the basic cable top spot from second-place USA Network, with Spike TV ranked sixth and A&E 11th among adults 18 to 49. All owe a sizable degree of their prime-time viewership to procedural acquisitions.

And saturation of the genre will only increase. Industry faith in the format has left several networks on the hook for new shows. A&E Networks will add "CSI: Miami" later this year for a reported $1 million per episode. "Cold Case" joins TNT next year at $1.4 million per episode. In 2008, Spike gets "CSI: NY" ($1.9 million) and USA gains "NCIS" ($750,000).

A spokesman for Spike TV said the decline of "CSI" is "expected and normal."

"We're not sure it has anything to do with it being a procedural," he said. "When we first launched 'Star Trek,' it did extremely well and declined some in its second year, so we think that's fairly typical for off-net shows."

At USA, a spokesperson pointed out the year-to-date 8 percent decline for "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" is offset by the fact the network has aired 28 percent more episodes of the show in 2006. Plus, the program's 18 to 49 demographic rating has increased 2 percent.

TNT and A&E declined to comment.

Not all basic cable networks have jumped on the procedural bandwagon. FX managed to climb into the top five among 18 to 49 prime-time viewers with a policy against expensive crime drama acquisitions.

"We placed our bets on not buying these because we believe there's going to be too many of them," said John Landgraf, president and general manager of FX. "It's been a fantastic strategy for those who got in early. For those who got in late, or for those who went back to the well for second or third helpings, we don't see it as something that's going to pan out."

Despite their off-net syndication erosion, procedurals remain the most popular genre on television. The highest-rated scripted series on basic cable is TNT's crime drama "The Closer," while CBS's "CSI" regular tops the broadcast charts.

http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=30143

Great news about 'Nobody's Watching'!

Interesting bits of info about Procedurals losing steam. It's amazing how much cable nets are willing to pay for rights to these shows. I mean, wouldn't it make sense for them to invest in a new property? Eventually these high-rated shows will hit the point that everyone who wants to watch, will have watched.

Then what happens?

If they had other original programming in their schedule, they wouldn't have to repeat these shows so often and you could extend the life of the show a little bit longer.

TV Notebook
Roger Ebert Update

By Jim Ritter Chicago Sun-Times Staff Reporter July 2, 2006

Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert was in serious condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Sunday following an emergency operation to repair complications from an earlier cancer surgery.

Ebert's vital signs appeared to be good after the hourslong operation, said Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper, co-host of the "Ebert & Roeper" movie review show.

On June 16, Ebert underwent surgery to remove a cancerous growth on his salivary gland. Around 8 p.m. Saturday, a blood vessel burst near the site of the operation.

Ebert, 64, has had four cancer surgeries, including two on his salivary gland in 2003.

Before the June 16 operation, Ebert told Sun-Times columnist Robert Feder the salivary gland growth was a "slow-growing and persistent cancer. You live with it."

Ebert, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and Roeper taped six shows in advance so their syndicated program would continue while Ebert recuperates.

"Roger is a fighter, and I have every confidence and hope that he has thousands of movie reviews ahead of him," Roeper said. "Led of course by his wife, Chaz, he has an amazing circle of family and friends surrounding him with love and support. I also want to express gratitude to the many fans across the country who have already sent their best wishes."

Ebert was hired at the Sun-Times in 1966 and the next year was named the paper's film critic.

"Roger has bravely and successfully fought health problems in the past," said Sun-Times Editor in Chief John Barron. "He's always accomplished it with an incredibly positive attitude. We're confident he'll do the same now. We're anxious to have him back."

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/ebert02.html

Critic’s Notebook
It's about feelings (and football)

By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer in the Channel Island TV Industry blog July 3, 2006

NBC has called a Hail Mary pass with one of its new fall shows.

It's a weekly drama set against the backdrop of prep sports, a relatively unglamorous world that hasn't yielded a TV hit in nearly 30 years. The series' roster lacks any big-name stars, and come winter it'll have to dodge the ratings blitz that is "American Idol."

Oh, and even though it's scheduled for Tuesdays, the program will be called "Friday Night Lights."

The odds may sound hopeless, but fourth-ranked NBC has little to lose by hurling a bomb toward the end zone. Adapted from the 2004 movie starring Billy Bob Thornton (itself based on a bestselling book by H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger), "Friday Night Lights" is a slice-of-life tale about a small-town football coach, his troubled young players and the football-obsessed local burghers.

It may be tough to persuade non-fans — hello, NFL widows — to care about a gridiron story. With the exception of "The White Shadow," a 1978-81 cult drama about a high-school basketball coach, sports-themed series have a dismal record on network TV, including Steven Bochco's "Bay City Blues," the '70s sitcom "Ball Four" and CBS' "Clubhouse," which ran for just five episodes in 2004.

So, NBC brass have hatched a game plan to let any reluctant viewers know that "Lights" is really a show about relationships. The backfield action is just an added bonus.

"It's 'The O.C.' with guts and authenticity," NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly told reporters when plugging NBC's lineup in May.

As David Nevins, president of Imagine Television, which is producing the show with NBC Universal's in-house studio, put it in an interview Friday: "We're very aware that what makes dramatic TV click is women.

"This is not simply about the dynamics of a team," he added. "You're going to really explore the lives of the kids who are in the limelight."

Women indeed make up the majority of prime-time TV viewers, so it's only common sense to target them. NBC watched from the sidelines the last couple seasons as ABC scored with two female-skewing shows that cleverly reinvented the soap format, "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives." Reilly and his executives got burned betting on noisy, high-concept action flops like "Surface," "Heist" and "E-Ring." The only new NBC show from last fall to survive is a comedy, "My Name Is Earl."

Audiences, meanwhile, are beginning to tire of crime procedurals like the "CSI" and "Law & Order" franchises, which have seen recent ratings declines. So, there's an opportunity for networks to try something different, if not necessarily bold, in the dramatic category. And it doesn't hurt that NBC this fall will telecast NFL games for the first time since 1997, giving "Friday Night Lights" a ready-made promotional platform (the network revealed late last week that it had failed to reach a renewal agreement with the indoor-only Arena Football League, which is now seeking another broadcast partner; NBC has telecast those games since 2003).

The rights to Bissinger's book were bought by Imagine producer Brian Grazer, who spent years trying to get it on-screen, according to Nevins. After the film saw modest box-office success, its director and co-writer, Peter Berg, started developing the material as a TV series. Its movie roots show through; the pilot is nearly as self-contained as a short film. But several changes were made from the feature version. The action was moved from the 1980s to the present and the setting shifted from Odessa, Texas, to the fictional town of Dillon, Texas.

More important for NBC's marketing purposes, the female roles were beefed up. In addition to the all-American quarterback, Jason (Scott Porter), and hotshot running back, Brian (Gaius Charles), there is the requisite flirty teen blond, Tyra (Adrianne Palicki), and her brunet cheerleader nemesis, Lyla (Minka Kelly). In a nod toward "Grey's Anatomy," the producers cast Kyle Chandler, a memorable guest star on ABC's hospital drama, as square-jawed, hunky Coach Taylor, who in the pilot is beset by high-pressure townsfolk who doubt his abilities as a team leader — and then is dealt an unexpected setback during the week's climactic game.

"It's about the pressures we put on our kids at a very young age," Nevins said.

As "showrunner," the executive producer in charge of the writers' room and day-to-day production, NBC picked Jason Katims, a former writer for "My So-Called Life" and "Roswell," two cult dramas with strong appeal among young women. The network's promos feature recent pop ballads along with visuals that accentuate character relationships rather than football.

In fact, some sports fans may well wonder whether any football will be left by the time the network and the producers are done. But the fate of past sports-related series makes some dramatic compromise necessary.

"You would think sports would be such a natural for TV drama … because sports is such a great metaphor for American life," said Robert J. Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. "But maybe that's the problem: There's so much sports on TV already, it's crowded out the need to fictionalize it."

Even a gain of a few yards in the ratings would probably produce cheers at NBC.

"There's no question that the history of sports dramas isn't an illustrious one," Nevins said. He points out that no one thought that a show about Washington politics would work until "The West Wing" came along, either. "But there's always that one show that breaks through."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-channel3jul03,0,2752176.story?coll=cl-tvent

Cable TV Notebook
Broad Experience For a Tall Job: A Hipper CNBC

By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, July 3, 2006; C01

When Jonathan Wald was fired as executive producer of the "Today" show, he says, "I wanted to stay in the game and get back into the daily battle."

When Josh Howard was forced to resign as executive producer of "60 Minutes II" after the botched story on President Bush and the National Guard, "I frankly wasn't sure, after my last experience, whether I wanted to work in television again."

Both men landed at CNBC, where they are helping to retool programming on a business channel that has struggled in the ratings since the dot-com bust six years ago.

Wald helped launch the 7 p.m. weeknight show "On the Money," which takes a freewheeling approach to the financial side of pop culture. Howard is preparing the fall launch of a monthly magazine show that sounds suspiciously like "60 Minutes" and producing four documentaries, some of which may run as long as two hours.

The two executives are helping to move CNBC, which fixates on stocks and bonds during the day, toward a broader definition of business coverage. And they're finding it liberating to be freed from having to deliver mass audiences for the broadcast networks.

"We don't have to do a piece on Britney Spears because we need to drag in the 18-to-49-year-olds," Howard says. "It's a huge advantage."

Since its core mission is to cover Wall Street and corporate America, CNBC's fate is tied to public interest in the markets. So executives are trying to dream up new programming that will get more people into the cable tent. "We'd like everybody who has even a passing interest in business and markets and investment," says Mark Hoffman, who took over as CNBC president last year and would face stiff competition if Fox News follows through on plans for a business channel.

Hoffman wanted the evening lineup to reflect the network's core identity. CNBC's prime time has had more than its share of failures, including shows hosted by Dennis Miller and John McEnroe, leaving the channel turning to reruns of Conan O'Brien and "The Apprentice" and looking very much out of gas.

The O'Brien repeats gave way to "On the Money," which boosted viewership by 32 percent but still reached only 141,000 viewers over the past three months. The show, hosted by Dylan Ratigan, has been covering issues involving Hollywood (why is America obsessed with weekend box office grosses?), cyberspace (NBC's alliance with the post-it-yourself video site YouTube), and global business (a piece from Russia on the seizing of a factory that makes tubes for the kind of amplifiers once used by Jimi Hendrix).

"Business news and what people are talking about need not be mutually exclusive," says Wald, now a senior vice president. With segments such as "Ka-Ching" (on who's making big bucks) and running jokes (such as calling Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke "The Bearded One"), "On the Money" brings a fast-paced sensibility to potentially dull subjects.

Unlike "Today," where he was dropped in 2002 after 16 months on the job, "it's great to start something new and not just be the latest one to be handed the keys," Wald says. But even with cable's smaller audiences, he says, "the pressure and the stakes are just as high" as at NBC.

Howard, whose first documentary involves a behind-the-scenes look at a major airline, says the model is CNBC reporter David Faber's examination of Wal-Mart, which won Peabody and DuPont awards and has aired 35 times. "One of the nice things about cable is you get to run the stuff over and over again," Howard says.

The magazine show, a blend of features, profiles and investigative work, will use some NBC reporters and "Dateline" staffers. "The pieces could look very much like '60 Minutes' pieces," says Howard, who is also developing two pilots with lighter themes. "The format works, so why reinvent it?"

Howard, a 14-year veteran of "60 Minutes," took a year off after the debacle over the National Guard story, which led to the departure of two other senior executives and the firing of Dan Rather's producer on the story, Mary Mapes. "It would have been depressing if I really felt my reputation had been ruined by this thing," Howard says.

CNBC's ratings are quite modest -- although understated, because many investors watch from their offices -- but the network remains a gold mine, generating an estimated $250 million a year in profit. That's because advertisers are willing to pony up for viewers whose median household net worth is more than $1.5 million.

After a long ratings slump, daytime business programming was up 41 percent in the last three months, to 217,000 viewers, over the same period last year. But Hoffman sounds nonchalant about the numbers, saying he's less concerned than most television executives.

"We're not a populist network," Hoffman says. "This is a niche network that is focused on a fairly narrow content area that appeals to a high-end audience."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/02/AR2006070200804_pf.html

The New York Times Obituary
Jan Murray, 89

Stand-Up Comic Who Became TV Host
By Elizabeth Jennifer S. Lee The New York Times July 3, 2006

Jan Murray, a stand-up comedian who became one of television's first stars, died yesterday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 89.

He had suffered from deteriorating health for the past few months, according to his son Howard Murray.

Mr. Murray belonged to a close-knit generation of New York stand-up comics who honed their craft in local clubs and successfully made the transition to the then-novel medium of television.

"The house was always filled with comedians," said his daughter Diane Murray, recalling her father's friends — Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Shecky Greene and Buddy Hackett — who gathered for dinner and poker games at their home.

"It was an unusual house, but when you are growing up, you don't realize that's not normal," she said.

Mr. Murray's gravelly voice and quick wit entertained a generation of Americans through a long string of television game shows, including "Songs For Sale," which had been a radio show and ran on television from 1950 to 1952, and "Dollar a Second," which ran from 1953 to 1957. He also was the creator and producer of his most popular show, "Treasure Hunt," which ran from 1956 to 1959.

"Treasure Hunt," though it was one of the most highly rated daytime shows, was canceled in the wake of the scandals that centered on "Twenty One" and "The $64,000 Question."

Mr. Murray then began a new show, "Charge Account," of which he was host from 1960 to 1962.

Mr. Murray also appeared in about 20 movies and worked as a substitute host for Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show." He retired at 82, citing asthma.

Jan Murray was born Murray Janofsky on Oct 4, 1916, in the Bronx, family members said yesterday.

His parents, Herman and Celia Janofsky, were immigrants from Eastern Europe. "We're not sure if they were from Poland or Russia," Howard Murray said. "The border changed weekly in those days."

The Janofskys lived on Longfellow Avenue, and Mr. Janofsky worked in the garment industry.

When Mr. Murray was a boy, his mother would take him to burlesque shows and to the 25-cent vaudeville performances at Loew's Boulevard Theater. After she became ill and could not leave the house, he would memorize the acts and perform them at her bedside.

At 18, Mr. Murray had graduated from his audience of one to packed houses at the Melody Club in Union City, N.J. He commuted two hours by bus and subway and earned about $50 a week.

He made his reputation in the Catskills working as a tummeler, a Yiddish term for an all-around entertainer.

Mr. Murray changed his name when he began performing. "One of his first agents told him that it would not be an easy name for the audiences to remember," his son said.

He married Pearl Cohen in 1939, but they divorced. He later met a showgirl, Kathleen Mann, whom he married in 1949. His second wife's nickname was Toni, and his production company, Jantone Productions, was named for the couple.

In addition to his wife and his son Howard and daughter Diane, both of Los Angeles, he is survived by a son by his first marriage, Walter Murray of Los Angeles; a daughter, Celia, of Apple Valley, Calif.; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

The family often shared a story about the blend of cultures in Mr. Murray's circle. Passover Seder at the Murrays was a Hollywood tradition, with a guest list of 40 on each of the two nights. Among the regular guests were Jackie Gleason, Jerry Lewis, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme.

Though it was a Jewish holiday feast, the chef was always Mr. Murray's Irish Catholic mother-in-law from Mississippi, Bertie Murphy. One year, she came to the Seder upset and pulled her daughter aside. "Kathleen, I've forgotten the rolls!" she said, not realizing that on Passover, Jews eat matzo and leavened bread is forbidden.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/03/nyregion/03murray.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

TV Notebook
Thanks to YouTube Fans, 'Nobody's Watching' May Return From the Dead

This is very exciting news. I have never seen this show, but just the fact that a show can maybe get picked up due to viewing on the internet excites me. Maybe this will be the beginning of a new trend where networks will test a show, that they normally would not even think of showing over the air, online first to see if there is an audience for it and then pick it up for broadcasting if it is successful.

TV Q&A
Ask Matt

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

Question: I am wondering what you think of the addition of the new character of Dom on Entourage? Personally, I couldn't stand the guy from the moment the boys arrived home and Drama shrieked as he smelled his food being cooked. I think it may have a lot to do with the actor they hired. He would be better suited for The Sopranos. If they want conflict, have Turtle and Drama fight over the same girl, or have the fantastic Malcolm McDowell return as Sloane's father. And where's Sloane? I would certainly rather look at her for 25 minutes than at Dom. I have this bad feeling we are stuck with Dom for the duration of Season 3, in what's already seemed a very uneven year. Right now, last season seems to far outweigh the first three episodes this year. — Alex R.

Matt Roush: Give it time, my knee-jerk-response friend. (You weren't the only one writing in to gripe prematurely about Dom.) And are we watching the same show? In terms of pure story, these opening episodes dealing with Vince's leap to the top of the Hollywood food chain have provided some of the most purely pleasurable viewing I've enjoyed this summer. Granted, we haven't seen anything close to last season's pinnacle of Ari's meltdown over being fired, but there's plenty of meat in this season. As for Dom, and here's a SPOILER ALERT for anyone planning to watch the July 2 episode later: He's already history. He lasted all of two episodes before being bought off (with a Hummer and a new bachelor pad). Don't you feel a little ashamed at having jumped to conclusions? But bottom line, I don't agree with the criticism anyway. One of the most rewarding themes of this series involves Vince's loyalty to his gang from back home, creating a tension that may only escalate now that he's a bona fide movie star. The fact that his coattail-riding buddies all felt threatened by Dom's arrival was not just good conflict, it was a wake-up call. As Vince chides his friends before he learned that Dom had actually stolen the Shrek original: "Have we gone so Hollywood we forget how to treat family?" This is a story I'm glad they told. I won't argue about Dom being a broadly conceived character, bordering on caricature, so I'm not sorry he had a short shelf life. But would I welcome more awkward reminders of the world Vince has (partially) left behind? Absolutely.

________________________________________

Question: I have started watching Hell's Kitchen, and I have to say I am hooked. What are your thoughts on the show? I find it fascinating to watch these chefs try to cook food and fail miserably. It's neat to see Gordon Ramsay actually in there observing the contestants as they do their tasks. And the swearing makes it even more fun to watch. I hope it stays. — Jeff

Matt Roush: You have just described all the reasons I hate the show this season. Ramsay's shrieking has grown tiresome to me, and this cast of unappealing incompetents is a turnoff. But as is the case with most reality-TV shows, this one's a guilty pleasure at best, so one man's addiction is another's poison. Given the current summer reality glut, I have to be choosy. And I choose not to watch this one. As I mentioned last week, the unappetizing ineptitude of Hell's Kitchen makes me miss Bravo's superior-in-every-way Top Chef, where the cooking actually looked good and most of the contestants possessed personality as well as talent.

________________________________________

Question: What's the word on ABC's The Evidence? I've seen the seven episodes so far, and it seems quite well written. You can't really go wrong with Orlando Jones, and Rob Estes plays the detective role with authenticity. I can't say I'm normally one to go for murder mysteries, and I don't watch other cop shows. It seems that ABC could use a well-filmed cop show like this in its lineup, and that it deserves more of a chance. I know ABC promoted it as kind of a "play detective" game, but I don't see it that seriously. By and large, I'd say it pushes the right buttons so far. — Dwight

Matt Roush: Sorry to tell you, but it has pushed its last button. The July 1 episode was the last one scheduled. It's true that ABC is noticeably lacking a procedural crime drama, but of the two the network trotted out at mid-season, Evidence and Injustice, neither made the cut for renewal.

________________________________________

Question: Does A&E have any plans to show new seasons of MI-5, or is the network just so darn happy with its family of dysfunctional reality shows? (At least they dumped Growing Up Gotti.) If A&E doesn't have plans, maybe BBC America can add it. It's their show after all. — Mike

Matt Roush: Last I heard, a new season of MI-5 is finally scheduled to return to A&E's schedule on September 15. It is so far outside the realm of what A&E is all about these days, I'm frankly surprised it ever resurfaced. You're right that it would be a better fit on BBC America. But millions more people have access to A&E, so I'm glad it will get the widest exposure possible. For now.

________________________________________

Question: When will the new season of ER start, and when will they start showing it again on Thursday nights? — Sheena

Matt Roush: Can't tell you how many questions I've been getting lately asking when such and such a show is premiering next season. Hello? Ever heard of fall previews? As if the new season hadn't started in September since the beginning of recorded TV time. (Some Fox shows will premiere in late August, but that's not typical.) Exact season-premiere dates aren't generally announced until the TCAs in July, but I imagine ER will return on September 21. As for summer repeats: ER traditionally doesn't repeat all that well, so whatever NBC can stunt in that time period, it will, as it is doing now with the painfully mediocre Windfall. I would think whenever Windfall finishes up its run of episodes, ER will return with selected repeats from last season. But that's a guess. I can't keep up with repeat schedules. Hard enough to keep up with all the first-run stuff these days.

________________________________________

Question: Is the strange relationship between Apollo and Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica ever going to take the turn most fans are hoping for, or is this one of those Scully-Mulder situations that take years to resolve? I can't say that I was thrilled when I saw them both married to different people at the finale's one-year jump, but so many people die on this show, that could be easily fixed! — Haeli

Matt Roush: Even if I knew exactly where this relationship was heading, I wouldn't say. But I don't. So I can only speculate, given your options, that it's going to take the latter road: as in, stretching out the Mulder-Scully-like sexual tension for as long as humanly possible. That's the way most TV shows, even exceptional ones like BSG, tend to operate.

________________________________________

Question: I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, and I am thrilled that NBC renewed Scrubs, but on the other hand, I am a tad bit disappointed. I would have loved it if ABC had picked up Scrubs and put it in its new Thursday-night lineup, leading in to Grey's Anatomy. Can you imagine the two quirkiest doctor TV shows on the same night? Back on its original night, Scrubs could regain some of its previous audience while also picking up some new Grey's fans. Just wondered what your thoughts might be on that scenario, which is obviously wishful thinking but still fun to think about! — Jennifer

Matt Roush: Nothing wrong with a little backseat-driver amateur programming during the off-season. If ABC had picked up Scrubs in the unlikely event of NBC dropping it, I'm thinking Tuesday or Thursday would have been the most likely night for it to land. That's where ABC is focusing most of its comedy attention this fall. Turning Thursday into an A-list night, with the move of Grey's, would have made Scrubs a thematically appropriate and qualitatively compatible lead-in to Grey's.

________________________________________

Question: Saw your response to someone's question about which stations will become CW affiliates. The company's website, CWTV.com, actually has a good section where you can find out if your area is carrying CW. I've never seen this on a network's site before, but it makes sense with such a confusing merger. — Josh

Matt Roush: Thanks for the tip. Should have thought of that.

________________________________________

Question: Is there any chance of Sci Fi Channel picking up Invasion and/or any of the other science-fiction series that were canceled by the major networks this season? I think the big three are too quick to cancel shows, instead of giving them a chance to catch on, like NBC did for Law & Order. — Sarah

Matt Roush: The way I see the networks' treatment of sci-fi and genre programming goes like this: If the show doesn't take off immediately, like Lost, it's probably doomed. These are not shows that can be watched casually, and if the numbers don't indicate a steady uptick, the networks seem to lose confidence that a sizable audience will ever catch on, catch up and find it. Let's just be glad that The X-Files came along when it did, and on Fox, which at the time couldn't help but exercise patience. That paid off famously. As for any of these shows being revived by Sci Fi or any other outlet: don't count on it. Ever. If a deal were to have been made, it would have been done by now. (Invasion's William Fichtner has already landed a new gig on Prison Break.) This kind of miraculous resurrection almost never happens (unless you're a Fox cartoon), and probably wouldn't on Sci Fi in particular, because they wouldn't be able to afford the budget of a network castoff. Besides, Sci Fi is busy developing plenty of its own shows, few of which may be as good as Invasion, but that's beside the point.

________________________________________

Question: I came across the annual Dream Emmy Ballot in TV Guide recently and saw that once again you picked Lauren Graham as an Emmy nominee for best leading comedy actress! Why do you always keep nominating her every year, when you probably know that the Emmy voters won't? In my opinion, I don't think that she deserves to be nominated this year because: 1) Both WB and UPN are shutting down this year to form CW, which will probably leave most of the deserving and incredible shows from the two soon-defunct networks completely out of the Emmy race; 2) The previously concluded season of Gilmore Girls was probably the worst season creatively for that show; and 3) Amy and Dan Palladino have left the show. Now, don't get me wrong: I love GG and Lauren Graham, as well as the rest of the talented cast, but I don't want you guys at TV Guide to get your hopes up too high every year! — Chris

Matt Roush: So what you're really saying here is that you don't want us to get our feelings hurt. That's actually kind of sweet. But we're used to it (as is everyone involved at Gilmore Girls, I'm sure). The reason we call it a "dream ballot" is because we're simply trying to put a few names out there that the Emmy membership is likely to overlook. Even in a lesser season, which this most definitely was, Lauren Graham is always deserving of notice, and even if a nomination now would be seen as compensation for having been ignored in better seasons, so be it. No harm in dreaming.

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

]Critic’s Notebook
TV Tonight

By David Bianculli New York Daily News TV Critic Jul 3, 2006

My favorite lineup on TV tonight?

An inspired, and rare, night of programming on Turner Classic Movies, built around "The Wizard of Oz."

(Note: All times are Eastern)

MOVIES

8:00 p.m. (TCM) "The Wizard of Oz." This 1939 classic musical is presented tonight in prime time, which would be reason enough to cheer, and to sing along.

Yet look at all the other stuff built around this sparkling Judy Garland vehicle: It's preceded, at 7 p.m., by a one-hour documentary, "Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic."

And it's followed by a triple-header of other "Oz" film versions.

At 10 p.m., there's the seldom-televised 1978 "The Wiz" - the one with Diana Ross as Dorothy, Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow and Richard Pryor as the Wiz.

At 12:30 a.m., there's a 1925 silent version of "The Wizard of Oz," with Oliver Hardy as the Tin Woodsman - and at 1:45 a.m. (set your VCRs and DVRs), there's an even earlier silent version, a 13-minute rendition from 1910.

That's only 10 years after the original publication of L. Frank Baum's novel. Tonight, TCM features all that, and Toto, too.

8:00 (HALL) "The Magnificent Seven." This most famous Americanized - actually, Westernized - version of Akira Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai" is presented tonight. This version, from 1960, is famous to a great extent because of its cast. Start with Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner, James Coburn and Eli Wallach, and just keep going.

SERIES

9:00 (TNT) [/B] "The Closer." In tonight's new episode, the scene of the crime is a fancy restaurant - and all that food is sure to give Brenda something else about which to obsess.

10:00 (ABC) [/B] "How to Get the Guy." I keep getting letters from women who like this reality series because it gives them valid hints and encouragement regarding the dating scene. When I watch it, all it encourages me to do is to vow to never, never ever date again.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/431957p-364015c.html

This is very exciting news. I have never seen this show, but just the fact that a show can maybe get picked up due to viewing on the internet excites me. Maybe this will be the beginning of a new trend where networks will test a show, that they normally would not even think of showing over the air, online first to see if there is an audience for it and then pick it up for broadcasting if it is successful.


Maybe the networks could just throw all the shows they have in development onto the net and pick the ones which score best.

Frankly I find that a bit frightening, since it would almost totally guarantee that nothing wth an edge would ever get on the networks.

But then that isn't such a change from what we have now, is it?

Maybe the networks could just throw all the shows they have in development onto the net and pick the ones which score best.

Frankly I find that a bit frightening, since it would almost totally guarantee that nothing wth an edge would ever get on the networks.

But then that isn't such a change from what we have now, is it?

I do not agree, I think stuff with an edge could succeed online just as well if not better than all of the formula shows that usually make it on the air. The online audience would probably be younger and would require something different than the usual network stuff to keep their attention. It could also let the networks try even edgier stuff online, or people could produce their own shows and build up an audience online first to get the networks to notice them. However, just because a show has fans online does not guarantee that those fans will follow it to network tv.

The Saturday 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.

I do not agree, I think stuff with an edge could succeed online just as well if not better than all of the formula shows that usually make it on the air. The online audience would probably be younger and would require something different than the usual network stuff to keep their attention. It could also let the networks try even edgier stuff online, or people could produce their own shows and build up an audience online first to get the networks to notice them. However, just because a show has fans online does not guarantee that those fans will follow it to network tv.

The internet audience is younger and hipper. And I think networks would quickly discover that success on the internet doesn't presage success with Nielsen.

And certainly programs with an edge can succeed online. And in the end it might really help the networks, whose bloated cost structure is about to implode. (Have you ever counted the number of producers, executive producers, coordinating producers, etc, listed in the credits of almost ever network show? They all get paid, even though some never set foot in the production area.)

If a lean organization could produce network-quality programming at a fraction of the current cost, that in itself would be cause for celebration -- and would allow far more innovation.

(From Marc Berman’s Monday, July 3, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Ratings Box: What’s Hot/What’s Not

Spike TV’s Blade: The Series Opens on a High Note:

The debut of Blade: The Series, Spike TV’s first original scripted action-adventure, opened on Wednesday, June 28 at 10 p.m. with a record 2.0 household rating and 2.5 million viewers. Blade: The Series was also the No. 1 ranked entertainment series for the network among men 18-34 and men 18-49. Comparatively, this was an increase over the year-ago time period average of 247 percent in household rating, 277 percent in total viewers, and as much as 517 percent among men 18-34. In addition, iTunes users can download a free copy of the two-hour premiere of Blade: The Series through July 11.

Jimmy Kimmel in 2nd Quarter 2006:

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live completed second quarter of 2006 with an increase of 18 percent in total viewers (1.40 to 1.65 million), its strongest second quarter performance in three years, and 17 percent among adults 18-49 (0.6/ 3 to 0.7/ 3). Comparatively, it was the only late night entertainment talk show to increase among key adults 18-49.

GMA Perks Up Courtesy of the Charles Gibson Exit:

Charles Gibson’s exit on ABC’s Good Morning America last Wednesday, June 28 for a full-time gig on the network’s World News Tonight lifted the perennial No. 2 ranked morning franchise past NBC’s The Today Show. GMA averaged 5.6 million viewers and a 2.1 rating/17 share among key adults 25-54, beating Today (Viewers: 5.1 million; A25-54: 2.0/15) by 500,000 viewers and 5 percent in the demo. Speaking of Today, does anyone even notice that Katie Couric is gone?

TV Tidbits: Notes of Interest

More The Closer:

TNT has picked up a third season of break-out hit The Closer, with an order for 15 additional episodes to air in summer 2007. When the primetime Emmy Award nominations are announced on Thursday, keep an eye on Kyra Sedgwick, who is a shoo-in for a nod as Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.

Short Season For Fox’s The O.C.:
Fox has ordered only 16 episodes of The O.C., which returns on Nov. 2, instead of the traditional 22.

NFL Cost Sharing Agreement Extended on CBS:
CBS and the Board of the CBS Television Network Affiliates Association have negotiated a new agreement that, upon approval by the affiliate body, will extend the NFL cost-sharing partnership by three years. Under the proposed agreement, CBS will have increased flexibility to make programs available on emerging platforms such as digital streaming on the Internet. CBS affiliates will, in turn, have the ability to promote the digital offerings on-air and receive a share in the proceeds, including Video on Demand and Subscription Video on Demand. Affiliates will also receive a bounty for any traffic/Internet users they deliver to CBS.com and other CBS-owned Internet properties that result in participation/viewing of ad-supported content.

The Dead Zone on iTunes:
USA Network, in partnership with Lionsgate, have made available episodes of sci-fi drama The Dead Zone for purchase on iTunes. The show’s season five episodes will be made available for purchase on iTunes the day after their broadcast premieres.

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

The internet audience is younger and hipper. And I think networks would quickly discover that success on the internet doesn't presage success with Nielsen.

And certainly programs with an edge can succeed online. And in the end it might really help the networks, whose bloated cost structure is about to implode. (Have you ever counted the number of producers, executive producers, coordinating producers, etc, listed in the credits of almost ever network show? They all get paid, even though some never set foot in the production area.)

If a lean organization could produce network-quality programming at a fraction of the current cost, that in itself would be cause for celebration -- and would allow far more innovation.

Great points. If shows could become leaner then I think everyone would benefit. Except for the people who collect paychecks for doing basically nothing. They would maybe have to start working for a living. :)

TV Notebook
Trying to make Emmy less predictable

By Marc Schwartz Bergen Record Monday, July 3, 2006

The Oscars are a big deal; the Emmys not as much.

And it's not just because movie stars are more glamorous or celebrated than TV stars.

Part of it is that Oscar nominees change. It's not the same faces year after year as it is with the Emmys. "Frasier" and most of its cast were nominated on an annual basis. The same is true for "The West Wing," "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "The Sopranos." That's not to say these shows and the individual performances weren't excellent -- it's just that they shut out all the other quality work being done.

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences -- the group that runs the Emmys -- tried something new this year in an attempt to widen the field. Success can be judged when nominations are announced Thursday morning.

What the academy did was create "blue-ribbon" panels to sample the episodes submitted by the top 15 vote-getters in the lead actor and actress categories and the top 10 finalists for best comedy and drama series. The panels will pick the five nominees in each category. In the past, the nominations went to the top five vote-getters without the episodes being sampled. In addition, directors and casting directors will help determine the acting nominations; previously only actors were part of the process.

It's known in the industry as the "Lauren Graham-'Gilmore Girls' " rule. The WB series has long been a critical darling -- it was named the best new program by the Television Critics of America in 2001 -- but has received only one Emmy nomination (it won for makeup in 2004).

With that in mind, here's who we'd like to see receive nominations for the first time:

Drama

Usual suspects: "The Sopranos" (five seasons, five nominations); "The West Wing" (six seasons, six nominations); "24" (four seasons, four nominations).

Expects a nomination: "Lost" (won last year).

Deserves consideration: "Rescue Me." One of TV's grittiest, soul-wrenching, yet funniest hours.

"Grey's Anatomy." There's a reason it surpassed time-slot lead-in "Desperate Housewives" in viewers.

"House." Last year Hugh Laurie was nominated for actor in a drama; this year, the entire show deserves a nod.

Comedy

Usual suspects: "Arrested Development" (two seasons, two nominations); "Will & Grace" (six straight nominations); "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (three nominations in four seasons).

Expects a nomination: "Desperate Housewives" and "Scrubs" (both nominated last year).

Deserves consideration: "My Name Is Earl." The season's funniest new comedy.

"The Office." Fans of the original cringed when NBC adapted the BBC classic, but the American version has its own cult following after a brilliant second season.

"Entourage." Last year Jeremy Piven got a well-deserved supporting actor nomination; this time the entire cast and crew should be recognized as well.

Actor, comedy

Usual suspects: Tony Shalhoub, "Monk" (three seasons, three nominations); Eric McCormack, "Will & Grace" (four nominations).

Expects a nomination: Larry David, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (two nominations); Jason Bateman, "Arrested Development," and Zach Braff, "Scrubs" (both nominated last year).

Deserves consideration: Charlie Sheen ("Two and Half Men"). It's not easy to play a cartoon version of yourself and do it well.

Jason Lee ("My Name Is Earl"). He won the lottery with this role as a guy living with Karma.

Tyler James Williams ("Everybody Hates Chris"). We were tempted to put the series up for best comedy, but we'll settle for the 13-year-old being honored for his great timing and facial expressions.

Actress, comedy

Usual suspects: Jane Kaczmarek, "Malcolm in the Middle" (six seasons, six nominations); Debra Messing, "Will & Grace" (four nominations).

Expects a nomination: Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross and Teri Hatcher, "Desperate Housewives" (all were nominated last year).

Deserves consideration: Lauren Graham ("The Gilmore Girls"). She's the reason the rules changed; she'd better get one.

Mary Louise Parker ("Weeds"). Brilliant as the pot-dealing mom.

Lisa Kudrow ("The Comeback"). Sure the show was canceled after one barely watched season, but the former "Friend" was excruciatingly good as the onetime sitcom star who doesn't realize the joke's on her.

Actor, drama

Usual suspects: James Gandolfini, "The Sopranos" (five seasons, five nominations); Kiefer Sutherland, "24" (four seasons, four nominations); James Spader, "Boston Legal" (two seasons, two nominations).

Expects a nomination: Michael Chiklis, "The Shield" (two nominations); Hugh Laurie, "House"; Hank Azaria, "Huff," and Ian McShane, "Deadwood" (all nominated last year).

Deserves consideration: Denis Leary ("Rescue Me"). What Gandolfini is to conflicted mobsters, Leary is to conflicted firemen.

Bill Paxton ("Big Love"). Who knew a polygamist could be so troubled ... and interesting.

Matthew Fox ("Lost"). It's true that the supporting cast -- particularly Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Mr. Eko and Terry O'Quinn as Locke -- steal every scene. But Fox's Jack is the heart and soul of the show.

Actress, drama:

Usual suspects: Edie Falco, "The Sopranos" (five seasons, five nominations); Frances Conroy, "Six Feet Under" (three nominations); Mariska Hargitay, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (nominated past two years); Allison Janney, "The West Wing" (five nominations).

Expects a nomination: Patricia Arquette, "Medium" (last year's winner).

Deserves consideration: Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer"). She's quirky, complex and sexy. What more can you want in a deputy police chief?

Kristen Bell ("Veronica Mars"). She's as good a sleuth as Sedgwick's Brenda Johnson, but her edgy, gutsy style is all her own.

Polly Walker ("Rome"). The term "manipulative witch" doesn't do justice to her performance as the cunning Atia.

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNjcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cW VlRUV5eTY5NTU0ODQmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3

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

TV Notebook
CBS News: 'Just Watch' Couric

By Staff Broadcasting & Cable 7/3/2006

CBS News is gearing up for the debut of Katie Couric as the anchor of the evening news with a new promotional slogan and a listening tour, according to published reports.

The network has begun airing ads during CBS News programs featuring current Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer asking viewers to "Just Watch," along with footage of Couric on the phone. A second batch of ads, later this month, will show Couric talking about how to cover the news, CBS News President Sean McManus told the AP.

They will eventually run on CBS' other programming, as well as on other networks, and be followed in August with ads for specific segments in the CBS Evening News, he said.

Couric, who joins the program Sept. 5, is conducting a "listening tour" in six cities, soliciting viewers' opinions on how the news should look. CBS has torn down its former newsroom studio and is building a new one.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6349253

Next week the annual summer Television Critic’s Association tour hits Los Angeles for almost three weeks of schmoozing, questioning, and learning what the 2006-2007 season may (or may not) produce.

(I’ve tried to get a schedule, but TCA President Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says he doesn’t distribute it to non TCA members.)

So, I’ll just remind you that lots of news will be broken between July 11 and July 27. And your best comprehensive source for what those 200 critics are writing is right here. The Hot Off The Press thread will have more TV info than you can stand. So keep logging in starting next Tuesday!

To gets some idea of how the TCA tour works and what it is all about here is a column by the San Francisco Chronicle TV writer Tim Goodman from three years ago:

TV Notebook
The Television Critics Summer Tour

Three weeks, 200 critics, countless series from network and cable channels.
It's like a death march with cocktails.
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle

Tuesday, July 8, 2003

(07-08-03) 04:00 PDT Hollywood -- If Lorna is your new stage name and you're heading west from Missouri on Highway 66 in a tightly packed U-Haul, floating unaware on your starlet dreams and Show Me State idealism, you may have missed the memo: Hollywood is a stinking pit. It's littered with hookers and drug dealers and cheap T-shirt shops and fat, pasty tourists. In front of Mann's Chinese Theatre, there's a guy who dresses up like Yoda, and you can get a picture with him for $1. His sweatshirt is dirty. Next to him is Superman, but he doesn't look too super in his blue cotton sweats.

This is a bleak town.

And yet, in a span of three weeks, every TV network or cable channel that matters will be launching dreams from here, little trial balloons sent through a thicket of 200 television critics from the United States and Canada, in hopes that critical buzz will turn a newbie TV show in September into a monster, ratings-dominant, advertising-laden hit by the end of May.

Never mind that history says the public -- that would be you -- has a hard time deciphering what to make of 39 new series presented almost simultaneously and that such confusion results in a failure rate of roughly 84 percent for new shows. And that's not even counting cable.

But television executives and the gigantic media corporations they work for haven't learned much from their own failure analysis, so they turn instead to the very people who, in effect, help ratchet up that 84 percent figure: television critics.

And so here were are, on the biennial Television Critics Association press tour, offering guidance. Having forsaken a chunk of sunny summer to stay indoors and watch Whoopi Goldberg and a horde of others mug for laughs or yet another cop race down an alley trying to clean up Philadelphia or whatever city it will be this season, we are in a position to offer help.

We have seen the shows poised at the September starting gate. Now it's time to talk to the executives, the stars, the producers, the writers, one another, maybe even Yoda, and make some sense of it. Along the way we will be spun in ways the Maytag repair people couldn't fathom. For 20 days we will sit in rooms with the air conditioner cranked up so we don't fall asleep (remember, we've seen Whoopi's show). There will be wining. And dining. And whining.

But this event, this Death March With Cocktails, as Tom Jicha, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel critic is credited with calling it, is not a "junket," that derisive soft-ball-centric sort of affair generally associated with the movie industry. The Television Critics Association is a professional group with bylaws and an ethics policy. The core members are by and large print journalists with a healthy dose of jadedness who feel no hesitancy to flay stars or executives. Many times things turn aggressive and ugly. Sadly, every now and then there are moments of embarrassment for the doings of the less professional or credible in the ranks.

And there will be, predictably, some dismissive flatulence from the likes of the Los Angeles Times, which doesn't like getting its entertainment head handed to it from out-of-towners. There will be one or two old-guard emperors who don't come out for the event but manage to disparage its usefulness, forgetting in the process that they have outlived their sell-by dates as effective TV critics and are now essentially pulling it out of their backsides and/or mailing it in.

Here's the bottom line: The press tour is what you make it. There are news and information to be had here like nowhere else. No other industry makes its leaders answer for their failures in a public setting two times each year. Maybe if Detroit had such a thing, we'd have better cars. But then again, after all of this, do you, as the viewer, have better television shows?

Well, it's easier to make a car than it is to make a hit comedy, let's leave it at that.

In the next three weeks, our goal is to give you some information, some insight, criticism and rambling analysis about the fall season -- even a sense of how television gets made: what goes on behind the scenes, from critical decisions to drunken revelations.

Television is the most powerful medium on the planet -- that can't be said enough. Even people who say they don't watch, watch. Television is the shared experience of our country, a free (or mostly free) technology that bonds us together, the blue light flickering in living rooms and bedrooms from coast to coast.

And so the 2003-04 television season is about to be presented in this city where staid New Englanders bump heads, literally, with crack hos looking to get a glimpse of Johnny Carson's star in the sidewalk. Against that backdrop, maybe anything is possible. Maybe you'll get 10 first-rate comedies and a dozen can't-miss dramas. Perhaps a symbolic flower of hope will rise from the for-effect fake cracks in the formulaic sidewalk. Step on the red carpet -- let's dream together.

Yeah, and maybe that dirty, unconvincing Yoda will get to work the next kids' party at George Lucas' place.

No, no and no. What the next three weeks amounts to is a professional assassin (hello) taking out the hope the networks raised in May when they presented their fall goods to the advertising community in New York. If that moment was all about optimism -- every premise looking great on paper, every scheduling decision reeking of brilliance -- the television critics press tour is about reality.

Lorna, turn around and get out of this town. It's not big enough for you and all the networks and cable channels and critics. Somebody's bound to get hurt, and things are likely to go sideways.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/07/08/DD273283.DTL&type=printable

TV Notebook
Abrams' first move at MSNBC affects Cosby, Carlson

By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist Mon, Jul. 03, 2006

For a rookie, MSNBC's Dan Abrams throws major-league spin.

In his first move as general manager, Abrams last week canceled Rita Cosby's 10 p.m. talk show and bumped Tucker Carlson from 11 p.m. to 4 p.m., with an updated repeat at 6. The changes begin next Monday.

Instead of five hours' live face time a week, Cosby will appear several times weekly as primary anchor of the taped documentary series MSNBC Investigates, at 10 and 11 weeknights. She'll also head a four-person unit to produce Rita Cosby Specials.

Here's the spin: Cosby isn't losing a show, she's gaining a more important gig.

"This would be the ultimate offer for most TV correspondents," says Abrams, 40, formerly anchor of the legal-oriented Abrams Report at 4 and 6 p.m.

"... To us, documentary programming is not just essential, it is critical. Documentaries are our most important programs. We're going to repeat them throughout the weekend."

Having successfully launched a Friday evening documentary block in January, Abrams had been lobbying to expand the franchise to the rest of the week as a way to differentiate No. 3 MSNBC from the other cable news networks' talking heads.

"It was an easy call. I think it adds to the diversity of the network." With NBC News programs such as Dateline providing material to their cable cousin, inventory shouldn't be a problem.

By scheduling taped documentaries in prime time, MSNBC breaks away from the "old-school cable news model" of live programming during the day and talk shows after dark, Abrams says.

There's another wrinkle in his new look that Abrams isn't eager to talk about. Minus Cosby: Live & Direct, MSNBC will feature an all-boy lineup - Carlson at 6; Chris Matthews at 7; Keith Olbermann at 8, and Joe Scarborough at 9.

Estrogen, anyone?

Cue more Abrams spin: "We're not missing a female in prime time if you define prime time only by being live... . To suggest we've removed our female anchor suggests that our documentary programming is not an absolutely crucial part of our schedule."

Moreover, this is not personal, Abrams insists.

"To me, this wasn't a decision about Rita. This was a decision about tape, and about wanting documentary programming at 10 and 11. The reality is that we're really happy with Rita."

So happy, in fact, that Abrams boasts: "Dollar for dollar, in terms of the resources she's had, Rita gets more exclusive interviews than anyone in the country."

For his part, Carlson says he's thrilled with his new daylight hours.

At 4 and 6 p.m., particularly in an election year, "we'll have a chance to get a lot more guests who are involved with politics," says Carlson, 37.

Geography will also improve things, he says. After just a year in the leafy suburbs of North Jersey, Carlson is moving back next week to Washington.

"You have a more tactile feel of the news in D.C.," he says. "In off-air moments, you're more likely to run into people making news. It's important to be around the center of things."

Until he moves into his new home in three weeks, Carlson's center will be the basement of his parents' nearby home. (His wife and four kids spend the summer at their place in western Maine.)

"My plan is to start a blog," says Carlson. "If you're 37 and living in your parents' basement, you ought to blog."

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/magazine/daily/14954908.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

(Being a TV critic is not all press tours and bon bons.)

Critic’s Notebook
No ''View'' Master Here

By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal TV blog

For the most part I have been sitting out the Star-Barbara brawl over ''The View'' because, well, I didn't care a whole lot. And I didn't care because I hardly ever watch ''The View.''

Make that almost never. Make that, I can't remember the last time before today. It's not just that I'm working when the show is on. Watching TV is part of my working. There are two sets flanking my desk, and a couple of DVRs that could be running at home.

Bottom line is this: I can't stand the show. I have no connection to the core characters, and no part of me cares what Elisabeth Hasselbeck has to say about men and their hamburgers.

(That's not a euphemism, by the way. She was talking about hamburgers.)

I mention the burgers because it was one of the topics on the show this morning when I tried to watch. It may even have been the only topic. In about three minutes, my mind was befogged and my ears were bleeding. I felt I had discharged my professional duty of looking at the post-Star ''View'' and could move on, conscience clear.

Now, there was a moment when I wondered if I was simply the wrong audience for the show -- that it is not targeted at middle-aged men, so I was just off the meter. But I watch plenty of things aimed at an audience that is not me. I even like some of them. Want to talk ''Gilmore Girls''? ''Veronica Mars''?

No, I think it's just that ''The View'' is bad. Pointless. The kind of show that is palatable only when you read or watch brief highlights, thereby avoiding brain-killing prolonged exposure.

I'll be back, of course, when Rosie starts. I may even last more than three minutes. Well, if Rosie is doing all the talking.

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

Critic’s Notebook
A return to ‘Lonesome Dove’

By Diane Holloway Austin American-Statesman in her TV blog Monday, July 3, 2006, 09:59 AM

Twiddling my thumbs on the remote, as I am wont to do on a summer’s eve, I stumbled upon my all-time favorite miniseries, “Lonesome Dove”.

Last night the Hallmark Channel ran the eight-hour, four-part drama, written by Austin’s own Bill Wittliff from Larry McMurtry’s best-selling novel. As magnificent as this 1989 cowboy saga still is, it was sad to see how the super-prudish Hallmark folks hacked it up.

Gone were such pivotal portions as Blue Duck’s scalping scene and the multiple rapes of Lorena. And Gus’ amusing term for having sex (“a poke”) was unceremoniously bleeped on multiple occasions.

Not only that, but all the bumpers (scenes leading into and out of commercial breaks) were gone — which meant the magnificent theme music was gone, except at the beginning of each episode.

Nevertheless, we watched the whole darn thing. It’s amazing how that enormous corps of fictional characters suddenly springs back to life: Gus McCrae, Woodrow Call, Josh Deets, Lorena, Clara Allen, Jake Spoon, Blue Duck, Dish, Newt, Pea Eye.

“Lonesome Dove” is simply magnificent, from start to finish. Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones give the performances of their careers.

Slogging through bad edits and choppy commercial breaks made me realize that I really must go buy the uncut, uninterrupted DVD. That’s going to be my Fourth of July present to myself. And I just might watch it all again.

Hot is relative

Loved Stacy Keach’s recent whining about the Dallas heat.

You may recall that Fox’s “Prison Break” is filming in the Dallas area this summer, instead of the considerably cooler climes of Joliet, Ill. The funny thing about the timing of this particular whine is that it was 93 on the day of the complaint.

It’s probably best that Keach not know that, really, 93 is a cool day in Dallas in the summer. What’s he going to do when it’s 105?

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

Critic’s Notebook
Duvall will ride again in AMC movie

(Note: all times are Pacific. Check your local listings)
By Rick Kushman Sacramento Bee TV Columnist July 3, 2006

Since we're headed for a holiday, let's start with some cheery news. AMC has announced three repeat dates for its recent -- and terrific -- original Western, "Broken Trail."

The four-hour film stars Robert Duvall as the resolute cowboy Print Ritter and Thomas Haden Church as his estranged but equally resolute nephew Tom. Together, they must drive 500 horses from Oregon to Wyoming.

The story, like all great Westerns, is both sprawling and personal. It gives a sense of the beauty and the brutality of the open plains and of the malice and the nobility of the people who rode them.

The original airing over two nights in late June averaged more than 9.7 million viewers and was the most-watched cable movie since 2001.

Write these repeat dates down -- you'll thank me: 8 p.m. to midnight Thursday, July 18 and Aug. 5. AMC is planning to run "Broken Trail" in one piece each night.

This is the kind of house-of-mirrors stuff that defines what Hollywood really is, which is a house with, you know, lots of mirrors.

Anyway, on HBO's now- terrific "Entourage," James Cameron made the movie "Aquaman" starring a rising young star named Vince Chase. The movie was, of course, not real. Vince, who's the hub of the show, is played by Adrian Grenier.

Viewers even saw a scene from the film in a mid-June episode, with Aquaman heading off a pier to face down a tidal wave, and it looked pretty good.

In that episode, "Entourage's" fake "Aquaman" set a fake opening weekend box-office record by bringing in $116 million. Then, HBO bought a real two-page ad in Daily Variety congratulating Cameron and crew, and there was no hint that the movie or the record was not legit.

Next, real friends and fans congratulated Cameron for his success. He had to tell them it was bogus. Then, lots of people started calling for him to really make a movie called "Aquaman." Maybe even starring Vince Chase/Adrian Grenier, and that picked up buzz in Hollywood.

HBO says despite the talk, there are no plans for a real "Aquaman" movie. But "Entourage" executive producer Mark Wahlberg told Variety that Cameron might, possibly, perhaps, be thinking about the idea.

"Jim was joking around, saying, 'We really should do this thing,' " Wahlberg said.

In case you missed this little melee last week, here's some advice: Don't mess with Barbara Walters. She will trash your poor little self.

On Tuesday, Star Jones Reynolds announced she would not return to ABC's -- and Walters' -- show "The View" in the fall after her contract ran out. Then on Wednesday, she got flat-out fired.

"We didn't expect her to make this statement yesterday," Walters said on the show Wednesday. "She gave us no warning, and we were taken by surprise. … She regrettably will no longer be on the show."

Walters told the Associated Press that ABC wasn't renewing Reynolds' contract but that it was going to let her stay another month, then give her a send-off when it expired. Walters said they had planned for Reynolds to announce her departure at the end of last week.

But last Tuesday, Reynolds surprised Walters and ABC by jumping the gun on the announcement and by telling People magazine, "I feel like I was fired."

Then she was. Reynolds was gone by Wednesday and out of the credits. Worse, Walters was angry. Do not make Barbara Walters angry.

Walters let it be known that ABC decided six months ago not to renew Reynolds' contract, and that Reynolds' big weight drop and her extravagant wedding had hurt her rep with viewers. She said the public didn't trust Reynolds anymore.

"We tried to talk (ABC execs) out of it," Walters told the AP, "and we tried to give Star time to redeem herself in the eyes of the audience, and the research just kept getting worse.

"We gave her time to look for another job and hoped that she would announce it on this program and leave with dignity," Walters said on the show. "But Star made another choice."

When Rosie O'Donnell joins the group in September to replace Meredith Vieira, she will know that Walters is still the sheriff in that town.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Finally, a reminder that on Tuesday morning, ESPN will broadcast the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest from Coney Island (at 9 a.m.). This is the 91st annual monument to gluttony and saturated fat, and this year, American Joey Chestnut figures to at least provide some competition for reigning champion Takeru Kobayashi.

Kobayashi, a 5-foot-7, 144-pound wonder eater, has been called the Michael Jordan of competitive eating, and, yeah, there is a competitive-eating circuit. (Chestnut's résumé, for instance, includes devouring 32 grilled cheese sandwiches in 10 minutes, 5 1/2 pounds of pork ribs in 12 minutes and 173 chicken wings in 30 minutes.)

Still, Kobayashi is the king until he gets out-eaten. He holds the Coney Island record of 53 hot dogs in 12 minutes, but this spring, Chestnut got down 50 dogs in 12 minutes.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifestyle/columns/kushman/v-print/story/14274292p-15084149c.html

Critic’s Notebook
Will rule changes reboot Emmys?

By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn”

When the Emmy nominations are announced Thursday morning, expect to hear some names that haven’t been within shouting distance of television’s highest honor. Names like Lauren Graham, who plays the feisty single mom on WB’s “Gilmore Girls,” Kristen Bell (pictured), the crime-solving teen namesake of UPN’s “Veronica Mars,” Denis Leary of FX’s “Rescue Me” and Treat Williams from the now-canceled WB drama “Everwood.” They’re all reportedly in the running for the first time.

All you need to know about the sameness of the Emmy Awards is this: From 2001 to 2005, there were 25 nominations for best female supporting actress in a comedy series. Half were claimed by three women, with Doris Roberts and Megan Mullaly making the ballot all five years.

Not even Meryl Streep made the Oscar short list five years in a row, probably because she had to keep finding new roles to play. But this is the Emmys, where one actor playing one part can park on the ballot for years at a time.

That’s because the 12,000 members of the industry group that hands out the awards has been shackled to an archaic nomination system. Devised during the three-network era, it has favored big broadcasters and a handful of cable channels, notably HBO, that are willing to shell out for large voter-influencing campaigns.

But all that appears ready to change.

When the Emmy nominations are announced Thursday morning, expect to hear some names that haven’t been within shouting distance of television’s highest honor. Names like Lauren Graham, who plays the feisty single mom on WB’s “Gilmore Girls,” Kristen Bell, the crime-solving teen namesake of UPN’s “Veronica Mars,” Denis Leary of FX’s “Rescue Me” and Treat Williams from the now-canceled WB drama “Everwood.” They’re all reportedly in the running for the first time.

What happened?

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is trying to transform the voting contest from one tilted toward old favorites and popular choices into one that has undergone what awards supervisor John Leverence calls a “quantitative and qualitative freshening of the pool.”

That’s a welcome change, because quantitatively and qualitatively, television has outgrown its grandest honor. You are just as likely to find outstanding original TV shows on cable as on broadcast, on a small network as on a large one.

And the people running the academy know it. Leverence told the New York Times that the Emmys have suffered from “a same-old same-old situation,” with disinterested members turning out “a 60 percent to 80 percent repetition of the prior year’s nominees.”

Look, for instance, at the nominees for actress in a comedy series. Just eight women, out of a possible 25, have been contenders over the last five years.

If you follow TV at all, you know that Debra Messing of “Will & Grace” (a nominee from 2000 to 2003) did not have a better year than “Gilmore Girls” star Graham four years in a row.

Nor, in the best drama actor category, was Martin Sheen automatic all those years on “The West Wing,” though the nominations were. And you know that “Battlestar Galactica” is overlooked, except in technical categories, not because it’s not worthy, but because it’s on the SciFi channel.

The two key adjustments the academy made this year:

• A new step whereby a peer group chooses a longer “finalists’ list” of 10 to 15 potential nominees.

• A new screening round wherein a specially chosen panel rates one episode from each of the finalists’ shows, with the top five finishers getting on the ballot.

The finalists were determined late last month, and a list posted to the Internet by Tom O’Neil, the country’s foremost authority on TV award shows, is loaded with new faces.

O’Neil, who runs the GoldDerby.com Web site, last week published a list of finalists based on partly confirmed reports he collected from Emmy voters. Depending on the category, 10 or 15 finalists are competing for five nominations.

In addition to Graham, Leary, Bell and Williams — who would be fine additions to an Emmy ballot any year — O’Neil believes that Matthew Fox is in the running for a best actor nomination for ABC’s “Lost,” as are Kyra Sedgwick for “The Closer” on TNT, Fred Goss for the short-lived ABC sitcom “Sons & Daughters,” Steve Carell for NBC’s “The Office” and the three women who play Bill Paxton’s wives on HBO’s “Big Love” (and Paxton, too).

The academy has been unusually secretive about how the revamped procedure is going. But don’t be surprised if in 2007 we start seeing lists not just of nominees, but the finalists in each category before the Emmy nominations. That, of course, would raise the anticipation for the Emmys even higher than this year.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2006/07/will_rule_chang.html#more

Obituary
Jan Murray, 89

Borscht Belt Comic, Early Game Show Host
By Elaine Woo Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 4, 2006

Jan Murray, one of a generation of comics who honed their skills on the Borscht Belt before conquering television — in Murray's case, as one of the medium's early game show hosts — died at his Beverly Hills home Sunday. He was 89 and had been in poor health for the last few months, according to his daughter, Celia.

Murray emceed nine game shows during television's golden era. One of the most popular was "Treasure Hunt," which aired on ABC and later NBC from 1957 to 1959, in which the contestant who gave the most correct answers chose one of 30 "treasure boxes" for a prize, which was not always delightful. It could have been anything "from a head of cabbage to a check for a large sum of money," according to the book "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows."

Murray also hosted "Blind Date," "Chain Letter," "Dollar a Second," "Go Lucky," "Charge Account," "Meet Your Match," "Sing It Again" and "Songs for Sale." He also starred in a short-lived variety show for NBC, "Jan Murray Time," with co-host Tina Louise.

Although highly successful in game shows, Murray shifted to movies in the late 1960s and appeared in a variety of roles, including a Nazi war criminal in "A Man Called Dagger" (1967) and Annette Funicello's father in "Thunder Alley" (1967).

Born Murray Jankowski in New York City, he grew up going to 25-cent vaudeville shows with his mother. When she got sick and could not attend, he found a way to keep her entertained.

"I used to come back, stand at the foot of her bed and describe the whole show — the tricks the opening juggler act did, the female performer and what she wore and what she sang," Murray told the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles last year. "But when it came to the comedian, I knew his whole … act."

By 18 he was performing at the Melody Club in Union City, N.J., a two-hour commute by subway and train.

Soon he was a regular at Catskills resorts, practicing his routines on "the fat ladies in the exercise room." He was a "tummler," Yiddish for an all-around entertainer.

It was invaluable experience.

"Let's say I polished my timing on the Borscht Belt," he told The Times in 1966.

"Being in a resort area, you would play to practically the same audience every night, only you'd do different things. One night I'd do stand-up comedy, the next night I'd be the emcee, and then we'd have game night and campfire night, when we'd just tell stories, and then an evening of drama. Every day you were something else."

Murray was a headliner in vaudeville and Las Vegas through the 1940s and '50s, until the advent of television offered a new direction. His first game show was "Songs for Sale," in which aspiring songwriters had their creations performed by professionals, including Rosemary Clooney and Tony Bennett, who were then relatively unknown. He hosted the NBC show for a year until Steve Allen took over in 1951.

After a decade as "one of television's most formidable hosts," in the words of one critic, Murray took some acting classes and found them so stimulating that he began turning down lucrative Vegas gigs to act in summer stock.

In 1965 he moved to Los Angeles and found work in films and on TV series such as "The Lucy Show" and "Car 54, Where Are You?"

His Jewish faith was central to his life. On high holidays he attended services at not one but three temples. He performed in Israel to raise funds for Hebrew University. And he was fabled for his Passover Seder, where his regular guests over two nights included Sid Caesar, George Burns, Buddy Hackett, Jerry Lewis and Jackie Gleason.

"I led a serious Seder. Then, after dinner," he told the Jewish Journal, "we'd tummel until 3, 4 in the morning."

Murray performed comedy into his 80s. "You get exhausted when you're 80," he told the Jewish Journal. "Until I was 80, I wasn't exhausted. There's no medicine like being onstage hearing people laugh."

He quit performing at 83, when his worsening asthma threw off his timing.

In addition to his daughter, who lives in Apple Valley, he is survived by his second wife, Toni; two sons, Howard and Warren of Los Angeles; another daughter, Diane, also of Los Angeles; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at noon Thursday at Hillside Memorial Park, 6001 Centinela Ave., Los Angeles.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-murray4jul04,0,616685,print.story?coll=la-home-obituaries

TV Notebook
'New' media have an old look

An Emmy category was created for emerging media, but newspaper websites dominate its nominations.
By Matea Gold Los Angeles Times Staff Write July 4, 2006

NEW YORK -- When the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences created a new Emmy award this year for news and documentary programs produced for websites, mobile phones and iPods, the group aimed to recognize the best of new media. But when the award is presented in September, the winner will likely be old media.

That's because five of the seven nominees for the so-called emerging media Emmy announced Monday were actually reports done by websites of the New York Times or the Washington Post. The traditional television news divisions were shut out of the category.

The fact that two newspapers dominate the nominations for an Emmy award speaks to the sea change currently underway in the media, noted Av Westin, co-chairman of the television academy's news and documentary awards committee. Rapidly changing technology is erasing the long-established boundaries between newspapers and television, creating new opportunities for print journalists, he said.

"The traditional networks, if they send somebody out to do a story, essentially their priority for the moment is to service their primary outlet of television," said Westin, a former ABC News executive. "Newspapers, I think have always wished they could be in television, but they didn't have a television network. Now they essentially have one: it's called the Web."

This is the first year that the television academy is giving out Emmy awards for content produced for new media platforms such as computers, mobile phones and iPods.

According to the academy's rules, the content had to be created specifically for viewing on new media and could not be a reconstituted version of a program that had already run on television.

The first two new media Emmys were handed out earlier this year to America Online for "Live 8 on AOL" (its coverage of the Live 8 concerts) and to ESPN.com for the webcast "Off Mikes."

The news and documentary "emerging media" award will be presented at a Sept. 25 ceremony in New York. Of the 48 entries, about 18 came from major television networks, Westin said. But none of them made the cut.

Instead, the website of the New York Times racked up three nominations, including one for a Web documentary about the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan created by columnist Nicholas Kristof. A Web-exclusive video piece on Bolivia and a broadband interview series with a victim of child pornography were also nominated.

Vivian Schiller, senior vice president and general manager of nytimes.com, said one advantage the website may have is that it has sought to produce reports that do not resemble television pieces, noting that Web viewing requires different pacing and editing.

"We're not a television network," Schiller said. "For us, it's not just video — it's podcasting and slide shows and multimedia and blogs. It's certainly our present, and it's going to be more and more of our future."

The website of the Washington Post was also nominated for a documentary about Azerbaijan and a video podcast about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The other two nominations went to MTV's overdrive.com for a series about last year's South Asian earthquake and to NationalGeographic.com for its webcasts about Hurricane Katrina.

Westin said that he believes one factor that may have given newspapers an edge in the competition was the quality of their writing.

"I think writing for television news and documentaries has declined in its style and in its content because the pictures so dominate what the reporters work with, whereas a print reporter has to do it all with words," said Westin, noting that almost all of the nearly two dozen judges who selected the nominees were from television.

"I imagine that this will have network folks on Wednesday morning calling in their broadband or Web people and saying, 'There is a serious award out there — we better get in the game.' "

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-emmy4jul04,0,4286936.story?coll=cl-tvent

TV Notebook
Apple iTunes expands core offerings with more TV

Greg Hernandez Los Angeles Daily News

LOS ANGELES -- Television offerings on Apple's iTunes just got a lot more diverse with the addition of selected programs from MTV Networks' Spike TV, Logo, Nick at Night, TV Land and The N cable channels as well as the flagship MTV channel.

Fans can pay $1.99 to download shows ranging from the new action series Blade: The Series to the comedy prank show Viva La Bam to the gay-themed drama Noah's Arc. ITunes is offering the two-hour premiere episode of Spike TV's Blade: The Series for free until July 11.

MTV Networks has already enjoyed success through the iTunes Music Store with episodes of its Comedy Central hit South Park, which has sold more than 1 million episodes.

"MTV Networks' programming has been a hit with customers since launching on iTunes earlier this year," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes.

Other new selections include: Fatherhood, an animated series based on Bill Cosby's best-selling book of the same name; Viva La Bam, which documents the life of skateboarding pro Bam Margera; Disorderly Conduct, which features outrageous video footage from police precincts across the country; and Beyond the Break, a drama series about the competitive world of female surfing.

"Our brands create some of the most vibrant, entertaining and pop culture-defining programming today," Nicholas Lehman, executive vice president of MTV Networks Digital Media said in a statement. "We're excited to add more of our diverse programming to iTunes and to connect a broad digital audience with our bold entertainment content."

Cue says iTunes now offers more than 150 network and cable television shows for viewing on a computer or iPod.

To date, the online video store has sold more than 35 million videos.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/orl-itunestv06jul03,0,3646214.story?coll=orl-caltvtop

TV Notebook
Operation Couric

By Dave Goldiner The New York Daily News Staff Writer

In the unlikely event anyone forgot, CBS has launched a summer-long campaign to lure viewers to watch Katie Couric when she takes over as "CBS Evening News" anchor on Sept. 5.

The first phase of the campaign includes current anchor Bob Schieffer telling viewers that Couric is going to be much more than they may expect.

"Just watch," Schieffer says in his folksy style.

The network knows people have already heard that the $15 million-a-year perky princess of morning TV is coming to CBS.

But it wants to build excitement around her arrival.

"There's not a great necessity to let people know that she is starting on Sept. 5," CBS News President Sean McManus told The Associated Press. "The entire world will know that. We're trying to give a sense of transition."

Phase two later this month will include ads featuring Couric herself talking about the news and how to cover it.

Those spots will run on other CBS shows and other networks, too.

Starting next month, CBS will start promoting segments that Couric will run on the network's flagship news show.

Couric will also travel to six cities, including Denver and San Diego, in a "listening tour" with viewers.

McManus said CBS will resist the temptation to give the "Evening News" a dramatic makeover when Couric debuts.

"If we can bring in a younger audience and a different audience, great," he said. "But we would be very shortsighted if we were to do something that would alienate the people who are used to watching."

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/v-pfriendly/story/432301p-364216c.html

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

Sports On TV
In 'Final Score, 'FSN delivers

New highlights show sets it apart from ESPN
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jul 5, 2006

Ever since OLN acquired the rights to the National Hockey League last summer, people have been speculating that the network would rise up to become the first true challenger to sports behemoth ESPN.

But 18 years after Fox began acquiring regional networks under the Fox Sports Net name, it may actually be FSN that first emerges as ESPN’s challenger. It will take some time, but FSN is putting the pieces in place to improve its national profile.

On Monday night the network launched its second attempt at a national sports highlights show, coming 10 years after the failed “Fox Sports National Sports Report” debuted. “The FSN Final Score” airs at 11:30 p.m. on weeknights.

FSN has promised to deliver the scores without the hype so heavily in evidence on “SportsCenter,” where the catchphrase-crazy anchors often take longer to introduce the clips than the clips take to air.

What’s smart about “Final Score” is that FSN is no longer trying to out-ESPN the leader. It’s offering something different, unlike past attempts to challenge ESPN at night, such as “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” whose delivery is just as over-the-top as “SportsCenter.”

What networks such as FSN and OLN, soon to become Versus, must do to stand out is to offer alternatives to ESPN, which is increasingly about entertainment. Its newest shows, such as reality programs about Barry Bonds and Bobby Knight, are designed for outrageous amusement. At the same time, serious programming such as the recently relocated “Outside the Lines,” an investigative journalism program, has been moved from late-night to 4:30 p.m.

“Final Score” thus far looks promising. It’s the creation of Rich Jaffe, the former Los Angeles Times executive sports editor, with a rotating group of anchors. It's a bit graphic-heavy but it does deliver on its pledge to play down the hype.

This is how Jaffe described the show last month: “Unlike the vast sea of sports highlights shows where the hosts have become the centerpiece rather than the highlights and where content has been infused with extraneous commentary, 'Final Score' offers fans precisely what they are looking for: very simply, nothing but highlights.”

There’s obviously some irony in Fox, whose Fox News Channel is home to Bill O’Reilly, calling out another network for its over-the-top anchors, but FSN has the right idea.

And it just may have an audience. FSN is made up of 16 regional networks, so no ratings comparisons to ESPN are really possible.

But FSN gets a good audience during the summer, as most of its networks carry regional Major League Baseball games. For example, per the Houston Chronicle, on nights when a Houston Astros game airs on FSN Southwest, the post-game local sportscast’s ratings more than quadruple compared with non-baseball nights. And in Houston, that average often outstrips “SportsCenter.”

Still, ESPN is coming off of a very successful second quarter thanks to the NBA playoffs, and mounting a serious challenge to the network will take years. During primetime, ESPN averaged 730,000 viewers 18-49 in second quarter, up 25 percent over last year’s 586,000.

Meanwhile, in other sporting event ratings for the week ended June 18, FSN Detroit drew big ratings for the return of Astros pitcher Roger Clemens. It averaged a 10.2 local rating among households, setting an all-time high.

Game 5 of the NBA Finals was the highest-rated sporting event, averaging a 9.1 household rating on ABC.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_5755.asp

The Tuesday 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 Wednesday, July 5, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
TV Tidbits: Notes of Interest

The Sopranos Sets to Roll in Season Seven:
After weeks of contract negotiations, the final two hold-outs for the 7th, and final, season of HBO’s The Sopranos, Tony Sirico and Steven Van Zandt, have reached an agreement. Under the new pact, both actors will more than double their recent $75,000 per episode fee at a reported $1.5 million in total for the final eight episodes. Do the math and that comes out to $187,500 per installment.

The WB Remembers the Past:
Exiting network the WB (which, of course, is merging with UPN to form the CW) will air repeats of classic series like Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Dawson’s Creek and Felicity on Sunday, Sept. 17 -- its final evening. Too bad the network can’t edit out the once appealing Katie Homes from Dawson’s Creek!

Morgan Fairchild Joins MNTV’s Fashion House:
Former Flamingo Road and Falcon Crest star Morgan Fairchild has joined the cast of MyNetworkTV drama Fashion House, which kicks off on Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 9 p.m. ET. Fairchild will play a villainess named Sophia Blakely who buts heads with a fashion mogul played by Bo Derek. Do I smell a catfight in the mud reminiscent of Alexis and Krystle on Dynasty?

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

(From Marc Berman’s Wednesday, July 5, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Ratings Box: What’s Hot/What’s Not

The 2006 BET Awards Ties the Record Books:
The 2006 BET Awards, which aired on Tuesday, June 27, averaged a record 4.1 million households and 6.6 million viewers. Comparatively, this now makes the BET Awards the top-rated awards show on cable this season, beating the MTV Movie Awards, the TV Land Awards, and the Screen Actors Guild Awards on TNT. It is also the most-watched program in BET’s 26-year history, tied with last year’s telecast. In addition, the 106 & Park Live From the Red Carpet pre-show was the most-watched telecast in five years, with 2.1 million households and 2.9 million viewers.

Jay’s Winning Streak Continues:
Based on ratings through second quarter 2006, NBC’s The Tonight Show With Jay Leno has now won 43 consecutive quarters among adults 18-49 (including ties), with a 1.9/ 8 in the demo in this recent quarter. Tonight has now won 200 of the last 203 weeks, 41 sweep months in a row, and 11 consecutive television seasons among adults 18-49.

The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson in Second Quarter 2006:
CBS’ The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson reached a new zenith in second quarter 2006, with 1.92 million viewers -- the best second quarter average for The Late Late Show with any host. Its performance in households, a 1.5 rating/ 5 share, was its best overall since second quarter 1997. Comparatively, that was up by 7 percent in households, 9 percent in total viewers, and even among adults 18-49 and adults 25-54 from one year earlier.

ABC Daytime in Second Quarter 2006:
ABC’s daytime drama line-up was No. 1 for the quarter among key women 18-49, with a 1.7 rating/11 share and 1.1 million viewers in the demo. Comparably, that was an advantage over CBS and NBC in total viewers of 19 and 20 percent, respectively.

FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Picks Up Some Steam:
Season two of FX’s It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, now featuring former Taxi star Danny DeVito, opened with an improved 1.6 million viewers on Thursday, June 29. The second episode at 10:30 p.m. averaged 1.5 million viewers. Comparatively, the sitcom debuted last season with 1.4 million viewers, ultimately settling into 1.1 million for its full season run.

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

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Bigger bang for NBC's Macy's Fourth

Averages a 2.2 in 18-49s, best since 2002
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jul 5, 2006

July 4 is generally one of the least-watched nights of the year for broadcast television, and last night was no exception. But on a sleepy Fourth, one program did show a noticeable uptick over recent years.

NBC’s “Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular” averaged a 2.2 rating in adults 18-49 last night, the highest-rated of the networks’ three July 4 specials and up 16 percent over last year’s 1.9 rating.

In fact, it was the highest-rated “Macy’s” special since 2002’s 2.6 rating, according to NBC. It also drew more total viewers, 8.8 million, than any special since 2000. It was up 22 percent over last year’s 7.0 million total viewers.

So what spurred that jump? Perhaps the rash of rainstorms or the threat of thunder on the East Coast kept folks inside. Or maybe after last week’s flooding and generally terrible weather, people wanted to stay close to home.

From its first half hour to its second, “Macy’s” jumped 32 percent, from a 1.9 to a 2.5. Perhaps, too, folks were tuning in to see a rare performance by Liza Minnelli singing “New York, New York” in the show’s second half.

NBC was No. 1 for the night among adults 18-49 with a a 2.0 rating and 8 share, followed by Fox at 1.9/7, CBS at 1.5/6, ABC at 1.3/5, Univision at 1.1/5, WB at 0.5/2 and UPN at 0.4/2.

At 8 p.m., Fox's "House" repeat was No. 1 at 1.8, followed by NBC's "Most Outrageous Moments" at 1.5, Univision's "La Fea Mas Bella" at 1.3, CBS's "A Hero's Welcome" at 1.2, ABC's pair of "According to Jim" reruns at 1.1, WB's "Gilmore Girls" repeat at 0.5 and UPN's "America's Next Top Model" rerun at 0.4.

At 9 p.m., NBC moved to No. 1 at 2.2 for “Macy's,” followed by Fox's 2.0 for another "House" repeat, CBS's 1.6 for an "NCIS" repeat, ABC's 1.4 for two more "Jim" repeats, Univision's 1.1 for "Barrera de Amor," WB's "Pepper Dennis" rerun at 0.5 and UPN's "Veronica Mars" repeat at 0.4.

At 10 p.m., NBC led with a 2.3 for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" repeat, followed by CBS's “Boston Pops July 4th” show at 1.7, and ABC's July 4th special "American Celebration at Ford's Theatre" at 1.3. Univision’s "Que Madre Tan Padre!" and "Vecinos" followed at 0.8.

Among households, NBC was No. 1 for the night at 4.6/10, followed by CBS at 4.2/9, Fox at 3.7/8, ABC at 2.8/6, Unvision at 1.3/3, WB at 0.9/2 and UPN at 0.6/1.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_5781.asp

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.

I for one am looking forward to the "final score" - I very rarely watch sportscenter any more.. mostly its espn news - just to see highlights.

jim

Sports On TV
In 'Final Score, 'FSN delivers

New highlights show sets it apart from ESPN
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Jul 5, 2006

Ever since OLN acquired the rights to the National Hockey League last summer, people have been speculating that the network would rise up to become the first true challenger to sports behemoth ESPN.

But 18 years after Fox began acquiring regional networks under the Fox Sports Net name, it may actually be FSN that first emerges as ESPN’s challenger. It will take some time, but FSN is putting the pieces in place to improve its national profile.

On Monday night the network launched its second attempt at a national sports highlights show, coming 10 years after the failed “Fox Sports National Sports Report” debuted. “The FSN Final Score” airs at 11:30 p.m. on weeknights.

FSN has promised to deliver the scores without the hype so heavily in evidence on “SportsCenter,” where the catchphrase-crazy anchors often take longer to introduce the clips than the clips take to air.

What’s smart about “Final Score” is that FSN is no longer trying to out-ESPN the leader. It’s offering something different, unlike past attempts to challenge ESPN at night, such as “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” whose delivery is just as over-the-top as “SportsCenter.”

I agree, jim.

I think FSN may have finally found a way to combat ESPN.

The Business of TV
ABC Finishes Upfront, Takes in $2.3 Billion for Primetime

Sales Climb Almost 10 Percent Over Last Year
By Jon Lafayette TVWeek.com July 5, 2006

ABC completed its upfront advertising sales, increasing sales of primetime slots almost 10 percent to $2.3 billion compared with last year.

The network said it got price increases of 3-4 percent on a cost-per-thousand viewers basis and sold 75 percent to 80 percent of its inventory. The primetime figure includes ABC's Saturday night college football games and NASCAR races in primetime, the network said Wednesday in a statement.

With hot shows like "Grey's Anatomy," "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," ABC was expected to be the leader in the upfront. Instead, it got bogged down in a dispute over whether or not delayed viewing of shows on digital video recorders should be included in ad sales negotiations. ABC backed down and only live viewing was included in sales for the upcoming season.

When ABC finally began selling ad time, ad buyers said the network was able to secure price increases of only 1 percent to 2 percent and that rival networks were snaring some business that might have gone to ABC. ABC's final numbers signal that its sales strategy, engineered by ad sales chief Mike Shaw, didn't hurt it much.

Including ad slots outside of primetime, ABC collected more than $3 billion in upfront sales, the network said. The company said it would benefit further in the scatter market, where advertising is purchased closer to air time.

"Based on ABC's scatter negotiations this past season, (which yielded double-digit increases in all dayparts) and our new entries and success in the digital arena and integrated programming, ABC is well positioned to take advantage of the scatter marketplace," the network said in a statement.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10305

The ESPN Sportscenter stuff strikes me as a sports video style of Variety with their cute little vocabulary and how they spend more time talking to themselves than they do to the audience.

It sure seemed fresh and new back in the day. Now the continual cross plugging of other ESPN properties (the magazine, desportes, ESPN Zone, etc.) is not in the least subtle or, in my mind entertaining, in the slightest.

In addition the teaming of Patrick and Olbermann has not been matched.

And Boomer has sadly become somewhat of a sad parody of himself.

So, for me at least, it would be good if Fox Sports Net or OLN or somebody sent a wake up call to Bristol.

TV Notebook
On the set with 'Monk'

By Jonathan Small The New York Daily News

It's not hard to find the set of the USA Network's hit detective-comedy series "Monk." The clues are evident: Just follow the large yellow signposts that read: "OCD."

On a sweltering, 100-degree day in California's San Fernando Valley, those signs lead to Birmingham High School, where the cast and crew have set up camp to shoot an episode.

Adrian Monk, played by Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub, stands outside the girl's locker room, having an obsessive-compulsive disorder moment. Although he's there to investigate a crime, he can't bring himself to go in.

"What are you afraid of? Cooties?" teases sidekick Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard) "Don't laugh," he replies. "The jury is still out on cooties."

The jury is not out, however, on "Monk." After four Emmy awards, a Golden Globe and great ratings, the verdict is clear: The show is a smash. A remarkable feat, considering its neurotic protagonist, along with the glut of "CSIs," "Law & Orders" and other detective dramas clogging the airwaves. But the little show that could is about to embark on its fifth season, premiering Friday in a new 9 p.m. slot.

"We fill a certain void," explains Shalhoub, as he sits in his trailer sipping a strong cup of Turkish coffee. "People were just ready for this character.

"He's de-stigmatized the disorders," says Shalhoub of his character. "People who suffer from this can laugh at themselves and don't have to feel like outcasts."

After the short break, Shalhoub returns to shooting, this time in a noisy school gymnasium. He stands anxiously on the sidelines in a tracksuit, coaching a girl's basketball team (while solving a murder mystery at the same time, naturally).

Meanwhile, Traynor - dressed as a mascot - is not a happy Cougar. Who can blame her: It's a zillion degrees in the gym, and she's wearing a fur suit. The cougar head has a built-in fan but the sound guys have told her it will be too noisy if she turns it on.

Not that she's complaining. Traynor came to "Monk" last year to replace the popular Bitty Schram (who was Monk's Girl Friday, Sharona Fleming), and she's having a blast.

"I didn't really know the show, so I was completely blind and oblivious, which turned out to be a good thing," Traynor says. "It wasn't until after I got on that I realized what a big deal it was."

Replacing a major character in the fourth season was a huge deal, but it's one way that Shalhoub and the series' creator, Andy Breckman, have kept the show fresh.

"It's a constant challenge," says Shalhoub: "How to keep the show familiar and recognizable, but not repeat yourself or make Monk so annoying that no one wants to watch him."

This season they also plan to introduce characters, including Jon Favreau as a maniacal dentist and Stanley Tucci as an actor portraying Monk in a made-for-TV movie about one of his cases (got that?).

But the biggest news for "Monk" is that the show will come a little closer to solving one of its biggest mysteries, the event that triggered his compulsive tendencies: Who killed Monk's wife, Trudi?

All in all, there's probably enough so that fans just won't be able to keep themselves from tuning in.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/v-pfriendly/story/432417p-364351c.html

TV Notebook
Emmy voting changes may leave the door open

'Office,' 'Grey's' likely to make cut
By Ray Richmond The Hollywood Reporter July 05, 2006

A mighty wind is shaking up the usual gust-free hype leading up to this year's 58th annual Primetime Emmy Awards. With Thursday's predawn nominations announcement at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences headquarters in North Hollywood, we all will learn if the academy's new voting strategy designed to distribute the wealth farther and wider has proved to be a stroke of genius -- or a hard-sell bust.

The rap against the Emmys has long been its stodginess, predictability and resistance to honoring new blood, with the drama and comedy series and acting categories in particular mired in a dreary sameness year after year.

So, hoping to closer match the greater embrace of the new and obscure, ATAS this year has tested a more inclusive system wherein a second round of blue-ribbon panel judging to establish a preliminary shortlist ballot was used in determining the top 15 vote-getters for comedy/drama series lead actor and actress and the top 10 apiece for outstanding comedy series and drama series. The expectation is that at least a few of the lesser known and long overdue -- at last appearing on the radar -- will crack the nominees circle.

With that possibility in mind, an awards exercise that is traditionally steeped in apathy and inevitability carries a measurable hint of anticipation and suspense this time around. It could produce wholesale change, modest change or perhaps no change at all. But there exists at least the perception of this potentially being the most wide-open Emmy competition in years.

"We might wind up with a lot of breakthroughs out of this formula -- or we may not," cautions Tom O'Neil, a longtime Emmy prognosticator and columnist for the Los Angeles Times awards Web site TheEnvelope.com. "Under the old system, you'd assume that at least three or four of last year's nominees were automatic for each category along with maybe one or two cool new shows. This year, it's a total free-for-all."

It's surely a far cry from a year ago, when all the talk was about ABC's "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" as the buzzworthy shows of the moment. The then-freshman pair landed 12 and 15 nominations, respectively, in 2005, with "Lost" ultimately winning the trophy for top drama but "Housewives" getting upset by the swan-songing "Everybody Loves Raymond" while entered as a comedy (though star Felicity Huffman did win as lead comedy actress, nosing out co-stars Teri Hatcher and Marcia Cross).

With "Housewives" having lost much of its quality cachet during an uneven second season, Emmy darling "Raymond" voluntarily retired, Fox's "Arrested Development" sent packing and NBC's "Will & Grace" and Fox's "Malcolm in the Middle" in their final years of eligibility, the comedy lineup is expected to have a radically different composition this time around. The favorites to crash the party are the NBC rookie "My Name Is Earl" and its peacock stablemate "The Office" -- building acclaim and momentum throughout its second season -- as well as HBO's third-year hit "Entourage."

Also giving chase will be the CBS midseason entry "The New Adventures of Old Christine," whose star Julia Louis-Dreyfus has to be considered a favorite for a lead actress nomination. Expected to join Louis-Dreyfus are Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker from Showtime's "Weeds," perpetual Emmy bridesmaid Jane Kaczmarek of "Malcolm," possibly Lisa Kudrow of HBO's "The Comeback," the criminally neglected (and never-nominated) Lauren Graham of WB Network's "Gilmore Girls" and at least one or two of the "Housewives" ladies (likely Huffman and Cross).

Among the comedy actors, two-time winner Tony Shalhoub of USA Network's "Monk" will no doubt be on the list again. But "The Office's" Steve Carell has to be seen as the favorite, given his show's breakout buzz and his status as comedy's man of the moment. Also looking to land nominations are Jason Lee for "Earl," Larry David for HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Eric McCormack for "Will & Grace" and Jason Bateman for "Arrested." Wildcards are Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer of CBS' "Two and a Half Men," which has been snubbed for the most part the past two years by Emmy voters.

Speaking of "Arrested," it will be interesting to see if the quirky-but-venerated comedy will generate sufficient Emmy heat for what turned out to be its farewell voyage. There actually is precedent for a comedy winning the top award during the same season it was canceled, though most probably don't recall it since it happened 36 years ago: the triumph of NBC's "My World and Welcome to It" in 1970.

This year's drama series race poses a host of intriguing questions. One is how much sentiment will be directed at NBC's four-time winner "The West Wing" for its seventh and final campaign. Another is whether "Lost" has a realistic chance of repeating as top dog in such a quality-laden category (prediction: possibly). A third would be whether the consistency questions that dogged HBO's "The Sopranos" during its penultimate season will quash its Emmy chances (prediction: unlikely). Also: Is this finally the year when FX manages to spawn top drama series attention for either of its critical breakouts, "The Shield" and "Rescue Me"?

So competitive is the drama genre that the ratings smash considered at least a co-favorite to take home the Emmy this time, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," isn't necessarily a shoo-in for nomination. Neither is Fox's "House," a rare example of a show that is equally popular with viewers and critics. Others with a realistic shot this year include Fox's still-dazzling "24," the HBO rookie "Big Love," Fox's first-year "Prison Break," ABC's "Boston Legal" and TNT's second-year basic cable smash "The Closer." (HBO's "Deadwood" had no episodes during the qualifying period.)

The lead drama actor and actress lists are invariably topped by "Sopranos" stars (and three-time Emmy winners) James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, respectively -- this, even though James Spader has won the acting honor two years running (first for "The Practice" and last year for its spinoff "Boston Legal"). However, the men's race is shaping up as one of the most talent-rich in years. The favorites? How about a three-way tie between Gandolfini, Spader and "House's" Hugh Laurie, who won the Golden Globe this year. A strong case also can be made for "Rescue Me's" Denis Leary, "24's" Kiefer Sutherland, "The Shield's" Michael Chiklis (a winner in 2002) and hot newcomer Wentworth Miller of Fox's "Prison Break."

As for the ladies, it's thought that an act of God is required to beat Falco, though the last time she was eligible -- in 2004 -- she notably was beaten by four-time victor Allison Janney of "The West Wing." Janney again figures to score a nom for the show's final season, as should Jennifer Garner for the departed "Alias." Among those poised to join them on the list are last year's surprise winner Patricia Arquette for NBC's "Medium," Kyra Sedgwick for "The Closer," Geena Davis for the canceled "Commander in Chief," Mariska Hargitay for "Law & Order: SVU" and "Grey's Anatomy's" Ellen Pompeo.

Elsewhere, there might be full-scale audience mutiny if Fox's "American Idol" doesn't finally win the reality competition series statuette after three years of defeat at the hands of CBS' "The Amazing Race." But first things first: It has to get nominated.

And while HBO is far less an Emmy force these days in the series races -- it failed to garner a top comedy nomination in 2005, the first time that had happened in 13 years -- it remains the network to beat in longform with such top telepic entries as "Elizabeth I," "Mrs. Harris," "Walkout" and "The Girl in the Cafe." But it's a different story in miniseries, where the prospective lineup is unusually formidable and distinctly non-HBO what with Lifetime's "Human Trafficking," Showtime's "Sleeper Cell," FX's "Thief" and TNT's "Into the West."

Emmys covering a majority of prominent categories will be handed out Aug. 27 in a ceremony held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and telecast on NBC. The Creative Arts Emmys for various craft, technical and other categories will be dispensed Aug. 19 and shown on E!

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002765623

Sports On TV
Eddie Olczyk Named Lead NHL Analyst for NBC

(NBC Press Release) Published: July 5, 2006

NEW YORK – July 5, 2006 – Former NHL player and coach Eddie Olczyk, who has been an NHL on NBC studio analyst since February, has been named lead game analyst for the NHL on NBC. The announcement was made today by Sam Flood, NBC Sports Coordinating Producer and producer for the NHL on NBC. Olczyk will work alongside Mike "Doc" Emrick (play-by-play) and with "Inside the Glass" reporter Pierre McGuire. He replaces John Davidson, who was named President of the St. Louis Blues.

"Eddie is a tremendous communicator and utilizes his playing and coaching experience as a broadcaster in a way that serves both the hardcore hockey fan, as well as the casual fan," said Flood. "We were thrilled with his work for us last season and are just as confident that Eddie will thrive in this new role.

"Eddie has big skates to fill. J.D. did an unbelievable job for us and we wish him all the best in St. Louis."

Olczyk said: "This is a great opportunity for me to work next to the best hockey play-by-play man in the business in 'Doc' Emrick. I enjoyed being part of the first NHL on NBC season and am looking forward to the challenge of moving into the booth on national network television next season."

The NHL returned to NBC last season for the first time since 1975 and received critical acclaim from both the U.S. and Canadian press. According to USA Today, "NBC's coverage played to strong reviews around the hockey world." The Hockey News called NBC's "Inside the Glass," "the biggest innovation to hit televised hockey in recent years." As an indication of its strong commitment to hockey, NBC recently announced that it will broadcast an additional four regular season and three postseason dates.

Olczyk played 16 seasons in the NHL, winning a Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994. Following his playing career, Olczyk began his career as a broadcaster, working on Penguins game broadcasts for Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh and calling games for ESPN, ESPN2 and NHL Radio. He was named head coach of the Penguins in June 2003, serving until December of 2005.

Olczyk scored 342 goals and recorded 794 points in 1,031 career games with the Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings. The third overall selection in the 1984 Entry Draft, he was a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic hockey team and represented the U.S. in numerous international competitions.

TV Notebook
What shows will be hits come the fall

Study finds that viewers have already decided
By Diego Vasquez MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer July 5, 2006

There’s still two months before the fall schedules premiere, and loads of promos yet to air, but it seems many people have already decided what they will and won’t be watching.

According to a study conducted last month by Phi Power, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based research firm, many returning shows moving into new timeslots will trump or tie returning ones.

NBC’s “My Name is Earl” will edge CBS’s “Survivor” on Thursday nights at 8 p.m., while ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” will tie “CSI” among women 18-49. And CBS’s “Without a Trace,” while trailing among younger viewers, will do very well among older viewers opposite ABC’s usually dominant Sunday schedule and could eventually pull even among men 18-49.

Meanwhile, the networks’ new dramas seem to hold more promise than their comedies, though no new show scored particularly well.

In the study, conducted May 19-23, respondents were asked to choose which show they would watch in a particular timeslot, choosing among shows on the five English-language broadcast networks.

Geoff Huntington, Phi Power’s executive vice president of research and program development and the former NBC vice president of program research, talks with Media Life about schedule moves, fall’s most promising shows, and which night will be most competitive.

What did you find most surprising about this survey?

I probably should not admit this, having tested network programs for over 25 years, but I continue to be surprised by how quickly and consistently people decide what shows they are going to watch.

The returning series displayed a range of appeal, with some appearing stronger than others, and that generally tracked with their performance in the Nielsen ratings. Some of the biggest attractions included “CSI” and “CSI: Miami,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Without a Trace” (in its new Sunday berth), “American Idol” (on Tuesdays), and “ER” (against two new series).

We had an unpleasant surprise when NBC announced its revised schedule. Fox and The CW, the last networks to present, announced their schedules May 18th, our survey went to field May 19th and completed May 23rd, and then NBC’s changes were released May 25th. That reduced some of the study’s utility.

Which night will be most competitive?

Even before NBC moved “Deal or No Deal,” Thursday looks very competitive.

“My Name is Earl” starts off the night edging ahead of “Survivor” due to a solid win among men. At 9 p.m., “CSI” is well ahead of “Grey’s Anatomy” with men 18-49, teens, and viewers 50+, but “Grey’s Anatomy” is essentially tied with “CSI” with women 18-49.

“Deal or No Deal” is a wild card at 9 p.m. “ER” looks likely to return to dominance at 10 p.m., but both of its new rivals, “Shark” and “Six Degrees,” attracted a respectable number of viewers.

Sunday is also very competitive depending upon the targeted demographic. The study indicated that CBS and ABC will be neck and neck with women 18-49. They will generally be watching “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” on ABC, and then “Without a Trace” on CBS.

NBC and Fox are apt to be tooth and nail for men 18-49. They are divided between NBC’s football games and the Fox comedies, “The Simpsons” and “King of the Hill.”

ABC looks to have a slight lead over Fox with teens, who are interested in watching “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (instead of Fox football in the fall), “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Desperate Housewives,” “The Simpsons,” “American Dad,” and “Family Guy.” They also are interested in CBS’s “Without a Trace.”

CBS should have a comfortable lead with viewers over 50, who are particularly attracted to “60 Minutes” and “Without a Trace.” The CW will probably edge a win over CBS with African Americans due to “Everybody Hates Chris,” “All of Us,” “Girlfriends” and “The Game.”

The other days Mondays, Tuesdays (in the fall), Wednesdays, and Saturdays also have close races. It is going to be an interesting year.

Which scheduling move has the most potential based on your study?

One that should have considerable impact is the move of NFL football from ABC on Mondays to NBC on Sundays.

Although it is not apt to win the night, and men do not seem very interested in watching NBC’s in-studio pre-game, especially if opposite an overrun game on Fox, the primetime game is clearly attractive to many men, and the span from 8-to-11 p.m. or later represents a substantial programming period.

Fox splits its schedule in two, for fall and spring. Did your research indicate that viewers are confused by the significant schedule changes, or have they come to expect it these days?

We did not specifically ask about confusion or awareness, but speculate that viewers have grown accustomed to the arrival of new shows after the new year, as well as in the summer. We did clearly see a spike in interest when “24” and “American Idol” return to the Fox lineup in the spring.

Are people planning to follow CBS's "Without a Trace" to Sundays?

People may not yet know the show will be on Sundays, but the study shows that when they do, “Without a Trace” could be a hit on that night. It has the potential to attract a broad audience, including women 18-49, teens, and viewers 50-plus, as well as a considerable number of men 18-49 who are more interested in it than football.

Which new show seems to have the most potential? How about the least?

New shows scored lower than returning shows, which is to be expected as returning shows have already proven themselves, and the new programs are still unfamiliar. Promotion had barely started when the study was conducted.

Still, the press photography and descriptions did convey the essence of the new shows, and some fared better than others.
A few of the leading newcomers include “Justice” (when it moves to Wednesday at 8 p.m.), “Shark” and “Six Degrees” (both opposite “ER”), “Vanished,” and “Heroes.”

Execution, competition and promotion will obviously influence which of the new shows survive, and the study suggests some may have an up-hill battle ahead of them.

The networks obviously spend a lot of money making people aware of their scheduling changes. Does it work, or are people confused come fall when "Grey's" isn't on Sunday night?

It is likely some people will not get the word that “Grey’s Anatomy” is moving, and probably will be frustrated to not be able to watch it after “Desperate Housewives,” but ABC will undoubtedly do substantial promotion announcing its move.

The study does suggest that fans will follow a hit program when it is moved to an appropriate slot (for example, the same time-period on a different night) and they know about it -- our study told them.

If there is interest in the industry we could repeat this study this year to cover NBC’s changes and are looking to repeat it on a yearly basis. We are currently in discussions to provide network support tracking reactions to shows as episodes hit the air.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_5754.asp

TV Notebook
Hospitalized Ebert getting better

(Chicago Sun-Times) July 5, 2006

Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert was showing signs of improvement Tuesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after an emergency operation over the weekend to repair complications from an earlier cancer surgery.

He remained in serious condition. His wife, Chaz Ebert, sent a note to an “Ebert & Roeper” show publicist that said: “I'm happy to report that Roger is in stable condition and is improving each day. He has an excellent medical team . . . and they're optimistic about his recovery. We have every confidence in their abilities.”

On June 16, doctors removed a cancerous growth from Ebert's salivary gland. Ebert underwent emergency surgery Saturday night to repair a blood vessel that burst near the site of the operation.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/entertainment/ebert05.html

House members want Comcast merger contingent on MASN arbitration
MARTY NILAND
Associated Press
Posted on Wed, Jul. 05, 2006

WASHINGTON - Three Washington-area House members asked the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday to make Comcast Corp.'s proposed merger with Adelphia Communications Corp. contingent on Comcast entering binding arbitration to settle the dispute with Mid-Atlantic Sports Network over the airing of Washington Nationals baseball games.

The proposal by Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., James Moran, D-Va., and Albert Wynn, D-Md., is the latest effort by federal and local officials to resolve a dispute that prevents 1.3 million Nationals fans from seeing most games on TV.

Comcast, the region's largest cable provider, has refused to carry MASN, which controls the rights to most Nationals games, because of a dispute with Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos over television rights to the Orioles and control of the region's sports programming market.

Major League Baseball helped Angelos create MASN as compensation for having a competing franchise 35 miles from its home market. Angelos plans to move Orioles telecasts to the network next season after their deal with Comcast SportsNet expires. Comcast believes its contract was improperly terminated.

"This dispute has denied millions of fans the opportunity to follow their team on a day-to-day basis," the lawmakers said in a statement.

The House passed a resolution last week asking the FCC to act on a year-old complaint against Comcast by MASN, and District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams signed a measure in May urging the two sides to work things out. The dispute was also the topic of a congressional hearing in April. However, this is the first attempt to use the proposed merger as a bargaining tool.

Time Warner Inc. and Comcast are seeking to acquire the assets of the bankrupt Adelphia in a deal estimated to be worth $17 billion.

Wynn said MASN and Comcast have an obligation to resolve the issue in part because public funds were used to move a team to Washington. Williams and other city officials believe a 41,000-seat, $611 million ballpark projected to open in 2008 will spur economic development in its Southeast Washington neighborhood.

"It is important that fans have the opportunity to benefit from the public money that was spent to bring the team here," he said.

"We're pulling out all the stops on this," Moran said. "The FCC is certainly within its rights to try to settle this."

Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen blamed the Orioles for the dispute.

"Unlike the Orioles, Comcast has always supported the return of major league baseball to Washington and we have proposed multiple solutions to resolve this issue. We continue to seek a resolution that protects our customers and Nationals fans to get the Nationals games on TV as quickly as possible," he said in a written statement.

FCC spokesman David Fiske said the commission does not comment on pending matters and a spokesman for Davis was not available for comment Wednesday. MASN spokesman Todd Webster said officials needed to study the proposal before commenting.

Associated Press Writer Stephen Manning in College Park, Md. contributed to this report.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/14971771.htm

House members want Comcast merger contingent on MASN arbitration
MARTY NILAND
Associated Press
Posted on Wed, Jul. 05, 2006


Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen blamed the Orioles for the dispute.

"Unlike the Orioles, Comcast has always supported the return of major league baseball to Washington and we have proposed multiple solutions to resolve this issue. We continue to seek a resolution that protects our customers and Nationals fans to get the Nationals games on TV as quickly as possible," he said in a written statement.


As long as they can make some money on it.

July 5, 2006
Verizon Works on Project Despite Mishap
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 5:29 p.m. ET

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- In Pat Wilcox's yard, Verizon workers laying the groundwork for a revolution in communications quickly turned their efforts to a more pressing project: putting out a fire they sparked by crossing two electric wires.

By the time firefighters arrived, the wind-whipped flames had engulfed overhead utility lines and melted a chain-link fence.

''There wasn't much anybody could do till the fire department got there,'' said Wilcox, whose son's canoe was ruined in the March blaze in suburban Richmond. ''It was burning so hot.''

The damage bills won't be the last paid by Verizon Communications Inc. as it continues with its largest-ever construction project, which involves replacing a copper-wire network with fiber-optic cables.

New York-based Verizon is spending billions on the upgrade so its network can deliver video on demand and hundreds of channels of high-definition television, as well as Internet connections hundreds of times faster than most broadband lines. So far, the path to the future has been marked by more than a few ruptured utility pipes, split cables and dug-up driveways.

Verizon officials acknowledge startup problems with their FiOS project, but they add they have seen a dramatic decline in the number of damage incidents since it began in 2004.

''It was definitely growing pains for us,'' said Chris Creager, Verizon senior vice president for operations in the mid-Atlantic region.

Some officials and utilities agree that Verizon's performance has improved, but they add this often came after stern warnings, halted jobs and stiff penalties. Others say complaints, even if fewer in number, are to be expected wherever the project moves and especially in communities with mostly underground pipes and cables.

''They want to do a lot of work quickly and that's where the problems start,'' said Thomas Rawls, a professional engineer in the public works department of Hillsborough County, Fla., which ordered Verizon to temporarily stop work after a series of waterline breaks in 2004.

Verizon's project has forced communities to hire people to monitor work and to protect their facilities -- such as electric, gas and water lines.

Rawls, for instance, hired 10 temporary inspectors for about $500,000 a year and a consulting firm for another $150,000. In Anne Arundel County, Md., where Verizon hit hundreds of underground lines in its first few months of construction last year, three additional inspectors were hired, said Alex Baquie, a local public works official.

At one point, Verizon was striking 10 or 11 lines per 10,000 feet -- a common industry measure. To slow the company down, the county twice reduced the number of permits issued to Verizon to dig along municipal rights of way. It also began holding monthly performance meetings. Those steps have helped, and Verizon's strike rate has declined to about 2 per 10,000 feet.

''It's a huge burden,'' Baquie said. ''In addition to my normal work, I've had to become a project manager for Verizon's fiber-optic expansion.''

In Virginia, damage to underground lines has declined dramatically from a peak of 247 incidents last August to 86 in May, according to figures Verizon gave the state.

Regulators learned that some of Verizon's contractors had started digging even when other utilities had not yet marked the locations of their underground lines. In Virginia Beach, a crew had been plucked from the street and provided little or no training. Their supervisor was found sleeping in a hotel room.

Massoud Tahamtani, director of the State Corporation Commission's utility-safety division, said the agency charged up to $2,500 per violation, though some fines were reduced after contractors agreed to train workers and use less intrusive excavation methods.

Not all the damage can be blamed on Verizon -- or its contractors. Forty percent of gas-line damage in Virginia, for example, was caused by the phone company's contractors, who do almost all the underground work. But about 28 percent resulted from failures by utilities to properly locate their own lines. In the remaining cases, no one was assessed blame.

Some remain unimpressed with Verizon's performance.

On Long Island, N.Y., local officials have criticized Verizon for leaving bumps and holes in roads, creating traffic problems and ignoring community aesthetics.

In Malverne, Mayor Anthony Panzarella ordered Verizon to stop work after it arrived in the Long Island village with no notice last year, its trucks blocking intersections. The state overruled him.

Next, Panzarella argued with the company over a big telecommunications box that appeared in front of a park.

''I told them that if they put anything in my village I didn't like, I'd have public works remove it,'' said Panzarella, who added that Verizon raised the box on a pole above eye level to help resolve the complaint.

Not surprisingly, cable companies have few nice things to say about Verizon.

Jim Gordon, a Comcast Corp. spokesman, says its cables in Maryland have been cut 4,700 times since May 2005, affecting service to 50,000 customers and causing $1.3 million in direct damage. The company has seen fewer problems in Virginia, partly because the state has stiffer regulations and enforcement, he said.

Verizon's Creager said Comcast has had trouble finding and marking its underground lines. He said Comcast's complaints should be taken in context of the larger picture: competition from Verizon's FiOS TV service, now available in parts of Virginia, Maryland, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Texas and California.

Overall, he said, Verizon's performance has improved thanks to better cooperation with utilities and municipalities. Verizon has also added more compliance inspectors and fired some contractors. The company said it could not provide total damage estimates.

Some local officials and residents are taking the damage in stride.

''On all major construction jobs like this, it's unrealistic to think you'll go through the project without damages,'' said Doug Hilkey, traffic operations director for Fort Wayne, Ind., where the project has run relatively smoothly.

The Wilcoxes and their next-door neighbors, whose property was also damaged in the Richmond fire, were understanding, too. It helped that Verizon promptly cleaned up the mess and reimbursed them.

Likewise, John Jackson of Carrollwood, Fla., said he didn't mind that the Verizon project resulted in a damaged sewer line in January, causing his toilets to overflow. ''I was just so happy to have it fixed,'' he said.

Jackson, a retiree, said Hillsborough County repaired the damage and re-sodded his lawn. Verizon got the bill.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Verizon-Construction-Woes.html