View Full Version : Hot Off The Press! The Latest Television News and Info
VisionOn
11-30-06, 02:24 PM
This was not rocket science, but I have to toot my own horn. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8615120&&#post8615120
yeah but you also said that Murder One was nothing to write home about and I still think the first season was excellent (Tucci included) and ahead of it's time!
I remember critics at the time saying that one story told over an entire season would never catch on ...
But as we are finding out again this season, serials better be really, really good or people just won't invest the time.
TeeJay1952
11-30-06, 02:34 PM
Favorite Network Shows:
1. Heroes
2. Jerico
3. The Office
4. Lost
5. Studio 60
Favorite cable shows:
1. 30 Minute Meals
2. Rescue Me
3. The Shield
Guilty Pleasures:
1. Desperate Housewives
2. Supernatural
Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
CW kicks up for strong sweeps finish
Wednesday lineup pulls a 3.0 in target 18-34s
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Nov. 30, 2006
The new CW network got off to a slow start, with many viewers still confused over where their favorite UPN and WB shows had gone, some veteran shows sagging, and the general adjustments you’d expect when two networks merge into one.
But it pulled together a strong finish for sweeps that will boost it above the WB’s November sweeps performance last year thanks in part to another big night from “America’s Next Top Model.”
“Model” and lead-out “One Tree Hill” combined for a first-place finish among adults 18-34 last night from 8 to 10 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights. They were 0.1 ahead of CBS with a 3.0 rating and 9 share.
“Model” won its timeslot handily at 8 p.m., averaging a 3.5 to No. 2 Fox’s 2.9 for “Bones.” “Hill” dipped to third with a 2.6 rating but was well ahead of Fox’s “Bones” repeat and ABC’s “Day Break.”
Through Sunday night, the CW had averaged a 1.5 in the demo for sweeps, which ended last night.
It was the third strong night in a row for the CW in the demographic. Monday’s sitcoms, while still down from last year, had their best night of the season with a 1.6 average, and on Tuesday “Veronica Mars” had its best-ever rating among 18-34s, a 2.0, as the show’s rape mystery wrapped up. That boosted the CW to its best Tuesday of the season in the demo, at a 2.3.
The network has projected that it will finish ahead of last season’s November sweeps average for the WB. As of Tuesday night, the network was 7 percent ahead of the WB's performance through the same night last year. That could rise with last night's strong numbers.
It could well be that more people are discovering their local CW, two months after UPN and the WB left the air. The network has estimated that in more than 70 percent of markets, UPN viewers had to switch channels to find the CW, including big ones like Los Angeles and New York.
CBS took the relatively slow final night of sweeps among 18-49s with a 4.4 average rating and a 12 share. NBC was second at 3.1/8, Fox third at 2.7/7, ABC and CW tied for fourth at 2.3/6, and Univision sixth at 1.6/4.
Fox started the night in the lead with a 3.2 at 8 p.m. for “Bones,” followed closely by a 3.1 for CBS for the first-half finale of “Jericho.” CW was third with a 2.8 for “America’s Next Top Model,” NBC fourth with a 2.6 for “Christmas in Rockefeller Center,” ABC fifth with a 2.2 for “Show Me the Money” and Univision sixth with a 2.0 for “La Fea Mas Bella.”
CBS took over for good during the 9 p.m. hour with a 5.0 for “Criminal Minds.” NBC finished second that hour with a 3.6 for “The Biggest Loser,” with Fox third with a 2.3 for a “Bones” repeat, and ABC and CW tied for fourth at 1.8, ABC for the disappointing “Day Break” and CW for “One Tree Hill.” Univision was sixth with a 1.4 for “Mundo de Fieras.”
At 9 p.m. CBS led again, this time with a 5.1 for “CSI: NY,” the night’s highest-rated show in the demo. NBC was second with a 3.0 for “Medium,” ABC third with a 2.8 for “20/20” and Univision fourth with a 1.3 for “Don Francisco Presenta.”
Among households, CBS finished first comfortably for the night, averaging a 9.5 rating and a 15 share. NBC was second at 5.9/9, Fox third at 4.8/7, ABC fourth at 4.6/7, CW fifth at 3.3/5 and Univision sixth at 2.1/3.
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_8845.asp
dad1153
11-30-06, 04:11 PM
Any word on how the MyNetwork's soaps 'Fashion House' and 'Desire' did in the ratings for November sweeps? On all the ratings reports I read these two either always get overlooked or get such low numbers (below even Telemundo's numbers, which are also not reported even though Univision's are) nobody bothers to post them online.
I am trying to remember why, but MNTV doesn't get rated yet.
puckfreak
11-30-06, 04:35 PM
Network Favorites:
1) Grey's Anatomy
2) Heroes
3) Veronica Mars
4) Survivor
5) Desperate Housewives
Cable: BSG
Amnesia
11-30-06, 04:47 PM
Network Favorites:
Veronica Mars
Lost
Friday Night Lights
CSI
NCIS
Guilty Pleasure:
Deal or No Deal
The Business of TV
Extension for Mediacom, Sinclair?
By Linda Moss Multi Channel News 11/30/2006
Sinclair Broadcast Group is considering giving Mediacom Communications a short-term extension, possibly a few weeks, of a retransmission-consent deal that’s set to expire at midnight Friday, an official from the TV-station group said Thursday morning.
Vice president and general counsel Barry Faber brought up the possible extension during a conference call on the status of negotiations with Mediacom for continued carriage of 22 TV stations. Those Sinclair outlets reach 700,000 of the cable operator’s subscribers.
“As a show of good faith, we are currently considering giving Mediacom a short-term extension to carry our stations past today,” Faber said.
Without an extension, as of 12:01 a.m. Friday, Mediacom will lose the legal right to continue carrying Sinclair’s stations and will have to take them off its program lineups.
Faber said Sinclair’s dispute with Mediacom was a business transaction, not one that should be characterized as a fight between “good and evil,” which, he charged, the cable company has done.
“Mediacom seems very intent on portraying this whole situation as a battle between good and evil, with Mediacom not surprisingly portrayed as the white knight and Sinclair representing some sort of villain,” he added.
“Sinclair does not even view this situation as involving right or wrong,” he said. “Rather, Sinclair believes this entire process is nothing more than a simple commercial negotiation … Unfortunately, the potential seller and the potential buyer have not been able to agree on price. This happens sometimes.”
In contrast to what Mediacom officials said during their own conference call Wednesday afternoon, Faber said, “We hope a deal gets done.”
Faber declined to comment on a report Thursday from Jefferies & Co. that said its “best guess” was that Sinclair is asking for license fees of 50-70 cents per month, per subscriber for its TV stations from Mediacom.
“If our numbers are close, it certainly appears that Sinclair is attempting to extract a pound of flesh from Mediacom,” Jefferies analyst David Brenner wrote. “Of course, we think they are actually trying to set the market for future negotiations with other cable operators.”
During its call this week, Mediacom said that in the past week, it increased its compensation offer to Sinclair by 30%, offered to enter binding arbitration and told the broadcaster it could offer its stations a la carte on Mediacom systems.
Faber confirmed that both sides had restarted talks recently, prompting Sinclair to consider an extension.
“We thought maybe we should give it one last chance,” he said, adding that Sinclair has “to talk to Mediacom and be sure the parameters under which we would offer the extension are acceptable.”
But as of 4 p.m. (EST) Thursday, Mediacom officials said Sinclair had not contacted them about the extension.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6396097.html?display=Breaking+News
harley1
11-30-06, 06:15 PM
The Evening BRIDGE - November 30, 2006
Today is significant on a number of fronts for multiplatform players. For starters, Mediacom is set to lose access to Sinclair broadcast stations at midnight. On a conference call today, Sinclair executives said they might offer the MSO a brief temporary extension of service in an effort to keep retransmission consent talks moving forward. As of press time, no formal deal was announced by the companies.
Meanwhile, EchoStar is set to lose its distant network signals service at the end of the day, a move impacting 800,000 to 900,000 customers.
As the shutdown looms, DISH got a lifeline from the National Programming Service which, under an agreement with DISH parent EchoStar, is offering to sell its distant signals as a separate service to DISH subscribers.
While broadcasters are wailing runaround at the courts, sources inside NPS say the deal is entirely legal ... and potentially a great business move as NPS would gain the distant signal revenue.
On another retrans negotiation, EchoStar struck a last-minute deal with Pappas to keep that broadcaster's local signals.
http://www.mbc-thebridge.com/eveningbridge.cfm
EchoStar to Provide Ku Bandwidth to National Programming Service
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 2006--EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) today announced that its subsidiary, EchoStar Satellite Operating Corporation (ESOC), has entered into a contract with National Programming Service, LLC (NPS) to provide domestic satellite capacity. The multi-year contract will provide full-time capacity to support the NPS consumer satellite programming business.
"We are extremely pleased to be in a position to support the satellite capacity needs of NPS," said Michael Kelly, executive vice president of Commercial and Business Services for EchoStar.
ESOC will provide transponder bandwidth on EchoStar VII, one of EchoStar's 14 owned and/or leased satellites, to support NPS bandwidth needs.
"NPS is a leading provider of satellite delivered consumer programming services and customer support," said Mike Mountford, CEO of NPS. "The recent contract with EchoStar further strengthens our commitment and capability to provide television programming services to our customers who receive their programming by satellite."
To learn more about NPS, please contact Angie Commorato at 317-558-3834.
For more information on booking EchoStar fixed satellite service capacity, please contact Michael Kelly at 303-723-1080.
About EchoStar Satellite Operating Corporation
EchoStar Satellite Operating Corporation (ESOC) provides commercial satellite capabilities, quality service and competitive pricing for broadcast services, business television and engineering operations. EchoStar owns or leases 14 in-orbit satellites operating in BSS, FSS Ku-band and FSS Ka-bands; has an extensive terrestrial fiber optic network with points of presence in 168 cities; and has seven regional gateways to provide customers with end-to-end connectivity and a reliable platform to distribute video and data throughout the U.S. and internationally.
About EchoStar Communications Corporation
EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) serves more than 12.755 million satellite TV customers through its DISH Network(TM), and is a leading U.S. provider of advanced digital television services. DISH Network's services include hundreds of video and audio channels, Interactive TV, HDTV, sports and international programming, together with professional installation and 24-hour customer service. EchoStar has been a leader for more than 25 years in satellite TV equipment sales and support worldwide. EchoStar is included in the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and is a Fortune 500 company. Visit EchoStar's Web site at www.echostar.com or call 1-800-333-DISH (3474).
About NPS
National Programming Service, LLC (NPS) has been providing quality C-Band satellite programming since 1985. The Indianapolis-based call center has a capacity of 175 agents and at one time serviced 460,000 C-Band subscribers through its proprietary SMS system. NPS has been uplinking channels since 2004 and currently uplinks 11 channels on satellites Galaxy 13 (also known as G-9) and Galaxy 11 (also known as GB). These channels are uplinked through a subcontractor, Crawford Communications, located in Atlanta, Ga. The transponder space for these services is leased from Intelsat, located in Washington, DC. NPS also operates AllAmericanDirect.com, an online Direct Marketing Retailer specializing in consumer electronics.
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=68854&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=937088&highlight=
Thanks for your votes, Amnesia and puckfreak.
And welcome to the thread!
Critic’s Notebook
`Scrubs' can't buy a break from neglectful NBC
By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News Thu, Nov. 30, 2006
Over its five seasons on the air, ``Scrubs'' has been abused and misused more often than any other series on network television.
In its first year, the offbeat, sometimes surreal but consistently funny hospital comedy was yanked by NBC from its cushy spot behind ``Friends,'' the No. 1 sitcom on TV, because it didn't quite retain enough of the audience. Just about every year after that, it was moved around the network's schedule so often that keeping track of it bordered on a game of ``Where's Waldo?''
Even after winning the Emmy for best comedy, it wasn't in the network's fall lineup (but ``20 Good Years'' was; go figure). And when NBC finally brings ``Scrubs'' in off the bench tonight with a delightful opening episode (at 9, Chs. 8, 11), it will be thrown up against two of TV's most-watched series: ``Grey's Anatomy'' and ``CSI.''
All of which has been greeted with a sigh of resignation from ``Scrubs'' creator Bill Lawrence and Zach Braff, who stars as Dr. John (J.D.) Dorian.
``I'm a little past caring about when and where they put us on,'' says Lawrence, known as one of the more honest guys in the TV business. ``We're just happy to have jobs. There's maybe 10 live-action comedies left on television.''
Braff -- a relative unknown when the series began but now an actor with a burgeoning film career (``Garden State'') -- thinks ``people shouldn't have high expectations of what we're going to do against `Grey's Anatomy' and `CSI.' That would be preposterous.''
Which, Lawrence suggests, might be a blessing in disguise.
``The best thing about it: In TV, when you have high expectations, like `Studio 60' '' -- the highly touted new NBC series that has struggled in the ratings -- ``or when we went on behind `Friends,' it's almost impossible to meet those expectations,'' Lawrence says. ``When you have low expectations, it's easier to be a pleasant surprise to everybody.''
In addition, those lowered expectations have allowed those involved with the series to stay true to their comic instincts, instead of making a more generic show that might appeal to a broader audience.
``Starting last year, Bill set the tone, and we decided to stop making the show for anyone other than us and the fans,'' says Braff. ``That is very freeing.''
The one thing both men expect is that the show's smallish (around 6.5 million viewers last season) but devoted audience will stick with it even against the tough competition.
``No matter where they move us -- to Saturday morning before cartoons, to Sundays before the preachers -- we always have the same amount of people who watch us,'' says Braff. ``My feeling is that no matter where they put us, that same, loyal core audience will follow.''
As a plus, the show now is anchoring a terrific two-hour comedy block that also includes ``My Name Is Earl'' (8 p.m.), ``The Office'' (8:30 p.m.) and the new ``30 Rock'' (9:30 p.m.) -- something of a revival of NBC's once-dominant Thursday night lineup when ``Friends'' and ``Seinfeld'' topped the Nielsen ratings charts.
``It is a bad time for comedy. Executives and the powers-that-be in Hollywood are turning on it,'' says Lawrence. ``But when I was first starting, Thursday nights were NBC comedies. I'm psyched that they're doing it again and I'm glad to be a part of it.''
Remote controls
• While the return of ``Scrubs'' is getting the attention tonight, fans of ``The Office'' (8:30 p.m., NBC) will want to know that this evening's episode was written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, creators of the British version of the series. It's an amusing half-hour in which Michael Scott (Steve Carell) discovers one of his new employees is an ex-con -- and tries to be supportive.
• ``Battlestar Galactica'' has a particularly strong episode Friday (9 p.m., Sci Fi) that revolves around something called the ``dance,'' in which anyone aboard ship can challenge anyone else to settle their differences with lively fisticuffs. After recent events, there are lots of differences to resolve, but the main event: Apollo (Jamie Bamber) against Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff).
• Look, let's be honest: ``The Librarian'' is a low-rent, tongue-in-cheek rip-off of the ``Indiana Jones'' movies. But the first one -- starring Noah Wyle (``ER'') as the smart but rather inept adventurer Flynn Carson -- was a big hit for TNT last year. So it was all but inevitable that a sequel would turn up -- which it does, Sunday at 8 p.m. ``The Librarian: The Return to King Solomon's Mines'' isn't great, but the cast (which includes Gabrielle Anwar and Bob Newhart in addition to Wyle) has a lot of fun with the cliches of the genre, and the production budget must have been boosted because the film was made entirely on location in Kenya and South Africa. If you're looking for some decent entertainment that won't put too much strain on your brain cells, this is it.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/16129727.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Critic’s Notebook
`Scrubs' can't buy a break from neglectful NBC
By Alan Sepinwall of the Newark Star-Ledger in his TV blog “What’s Alan Watching”
Well, turns out NBC didn't show the "Friday Night Lights" homecoming episode out of order, as Tuesday's show clearly took place after the previous one. This wasn't one of my favorite episodes, but even when the show isn't clicking, I can always count on the family dynamics at the Taylor household to keep me engaged. (Taylor had one line about how, contrary to opinion, he does understand women, that I really wish I had written down so I could cite it exactly. The phrasing was very nice.) I would care more about the poor, doomed Riggins brothers and the Street/Lyla/Riggins triangle if the actors playing Riggins and Lyla didn't feel better-suited to "One Tree Hill," and as fair as they've tried to play Street's recovery, him participating in a Murderball scrimmage four or five weeks after he was paralyzed? Huh? I get that it's TV, and that this was around the point where the producers saw the writing on the wall and started cramming as many ideas in as they could before cancellation, but would it have killed them to wait at least until the Panthers season ended?
(On the plus side, NBC is moving the show to Wednesdays at 8 in January, which gets it out of the way of "American Idol" and gives me a Wednesday night show I actually want to watch. Last night's schedule was so barren on every channel that I toggled between "Mythbusters" and the "Clerks II" DVD. But we already talked about Pillowpants and the Listerfiend back in July.)
I'm starting to think I'm not cut out to be a "Grey's Anatomy" viewer much longer. The turducken-sized Thanksgiving episode had the show firing on all cylinders in a way it hasn't since that time Coach Taylor blew up real good after the Super Bowl, and yet it still bugged the hell out of me. Again, we're in the Denny Duquette area where characters are doing indefensible things that both their friends and the audience are supposed to forgive them for in the name of friendship, characterization, whatever, and I just can't do it. When Meredith shut McDreamy down on the subject of whether she should have ratted out Burke and Cristina, it was close to brick-throwing time again. (Ditto Izzie expecting an apology from George when he had exactly zilch to apologize for, given the history and the current circumstances.) The show is still the show; I'm just at or near my limit for what I'll swallow to get to the good stuff.
Speaking of treasure being surrounded by trash, Paris and Doyle's hip-hop dancing was about the only thing keeping me conscious for most of the latest "Gilmore Girls." I like Michael DeLuise when he has a good script and/or director (notably as Sipowicz Jr.), but take either or both of those away and he's always a half-step away from offensive overacting; my head hurt so much listening to him that I barely even noticed the rest of the Luke subplot, and I've lost whatever interest I may have had in the drawn-out process of Lorelai realizing the mistake she made in marrying Christopher.
If I've been sparse in commenting on "Dexter," it's because the show is so consistent both in what it does and how well it does it, and there are only so many different ways I can compliment Michael C. Hall for acting like a man who's always acting or admire the artful framing of the murder scenes. Things have gotten veddy interesting, however, now that the Ice Truck Killer's identity is known to us, and Sunday's serial killer couples weekend to Dexter's ancestral home was a creepy change of pace. I haven't read the book, but knowing that there are sequels (and that the TV show is going to continue), I have a sense of where things are going. But I look forward to hearing at the end of the season how much the show borrowed from the novel and how much had to be invented for series TV purposes.
Back to watching Oded Fehr get kicked in the nuts a lot. To paraphrase a very wise man, "Sleeper Cell" season one had heart, but "Sleeper Cell" season two has knees to the groin.
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2006/11/what-alan-was-watching-while-ago.html
Heroes
House
Bones
The Unit
Jericho
CSI
...and the guilty pleasures...
Standoff
New Adventures Of Old Christine
1. Heroes (what a great new show!)
1-1.....24!!! When it gets back on the sched.
2. Lost
3. The Unit
4. House
5. Jericho
..........................
Missing the cut
6. CSI
7. NCIS
8. Studio 60 (but I keep asking why)
Guilty pleasure: ER, Men in Trees, Smallville
If it included cable: Battlestar Galactica (would be #1 or #2 overall)
I'll have a cable poll in the future, AAF. Thanks for your vote.
How about a "worst of network" tv shows? :) Or shows you hate yourself for watching?
DoubleDAZ
11-30-06, 07:56 PM
Somebody mentioned earlier that 'Medium' has its own fan base and doesn't need a lead-in while 'Studio 60' needs the strong 'Heroes' lead-in......That might have been me, but I was just rationalizing why NBC might be scheduling things that way. You bring up some very good points and I could go along with that kind of schedule. I DVR everything on 2 DVRs anyway, so the schedule doesn't matter much to me that way.
Critic’s Notebook
“Monk” Returns In January
USA NETWORK ANNOUNCES ALL-STAR GUEST SLATE FOR HIT SERIES "MONK" SEASON FIVE RETURN IN JANUARY
(USA Network News Release)
Guest stars include Steven Weber, Ricardo Chavira, Andy Richter, Sean Astin and more
New York, NY November 30, 2006 MONK, USA's critically-acclaimed original series starring Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG award winner Tony Shalhoub, returns in its fifth season with all-new episodes and a roster of top-tier guest stars on Friday, January 19, 2007 at 9pm/8 Central. The show remains one of the highest-rated original scripted series in basic cable history.
Guest stars for mid-fifth season return include Steven Weber ("Wings," "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"), Ricardo Chavira ("Desperate Housewives", "Six Feet Under"), Sean Astin ("Lord of the Rings," "24"), Charles Durning ("Rescue Me," "Everybody Loves Raymond"), Dan Butler ("Frasier," "American Dreams"), Holland Taylor ("Two and a Half Men," "The Practice"), Michael Cavanaugh ("24"), David Eigenberg ("Sex and the City," "Third Watch"), Andy Richter ("Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "Andy Richter Controls the Universe"), Heather Tom ("One Life to Live," "The Young and the Restless"), James Gammon ("Nash Bridges," "Cold Mountain"), Chris Williams ("Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," "Curb Your Enthusiasm"), Brooke Adams ("Lace," "Moonlighting") & Emmy Clarke ("My House in Umbria," "Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus") as Julie Teeger.
As season five continues, Monk suspects a radio shock jock (Weber) killed his wife but the DJ has an alibi he was on the air at the time of the murder; the mysterious "Six Way Killer" strikes in San Francisco, and Monk's detective skills are pitted against the flashy forensic technology of a federal agent (Williams) as they both pursue the murderer; a fun-loving everyman named Hal (Richter) befriends Monk and for the first time in his life, Monk appears to have a buddy... but is Hal up to something? (also guest starring Eigenberg); When wealthy neighbor's of Natalie's parents (Taylor and Cavanaugh) mysteriously die, Natalie suspects foul play, so Monk goes undercover as a butler for the deceased's son (Astin) in order to investigate; Monk goes to the emergency room for a bloody nose, but when a doctor in the hospital turns up dead, Monk joins the investigation and soon finds his own life is in danger (guest starring Durning and Butler); and when Lt. Disher inherits a farm from an uncle who committed suicide, he comes to suspect that it was murder, so Monk joins him on the farm to investigate (guest starring Chavira, Adams and Gammon).
Tony Shalhoub ("Big Night," "Wings," "Men in Black," "Cars") has earned three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and two SAG Awards for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Adrian Monk, a brilliant detective who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Monk's psychological disorder cost him his position as a legendary homicide detective on the San Francisco Police Force. Due to the tragic unsolved murder of his wife, Monk has developed an abnormal fear of germs, heights, crowds and virtually everything else, which provides an unusual challenge to solving crimes not to mention his day-to-day existence.
Traylor Howard ("Two Guys and a Girl," "Me, Myself and Irene"), Ted Levine ("Heat," "Moby Dick") and Jason Gray-Stanford ("Taken," "A Beautiful Mind") also star.
hansol89
11-30-06, 08:02 PM
Critic’s Notebook
`Scrubs' can't buy a break from neglectful NBC
By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News Thu, Nov. 30, 2006
Even after winning the Emmy for best comedy, it wasn't in the network's fall lineup (but ``20 Good Years'' was; go figure). And when NBC finally brings ``Scrubs'' in off the bench tonight with a delightful opening episode (at 9, Chs. 8, 11), it will be thrown up against two of TV's most-watched series: ``Grey's Anatomy'' and ``CSI.''
Correct me if i'm wrong but "The Office" won for best comedy, Scrubs was merely nominated
DoubleDAZ
11-30-06, 08:39 PM
So what's the concensus on Daybreak? Is everyone as tired of seeing 6:18 on the clock-radio as I am, but still can't quite quit tuning in to see it happen all over again next week? :)
Correct me if i'm wrong but "The Office" won for best comedy, Scrubs was merely nominated
Good catch, hansol89. Charlie isn't usually that careless.
And welcome to the thread.
The Business of TV
Mediacom, Sinclair Extend Deadline
By Jon Lafayette Television Week Nov. 30, 2006
Mediacom Communications and Sinclair Broadcast Group agreed to an extension of their retransmission consent agreements just hours before Sinclair's stations could have been removed from Mediacom cable systems.
The extension keeps the stations on cable until Jan. 5, 2007. This will allow negotiations to continue in order for both parties to reach a longer-term agreement, Mediacom said in a statement.
The retransmission consent fight has been ugly, with Sinclair urging Mediacom subscribers to switch to satellite and Mediacom taking Sinclair to court.
About 800,000 Mediacom subscribers live in markets where Sinclair owns stations.
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11155
FSugino
11-30-06, 10:06 PM
Saw this on TVWeek.com...
November 30, 2006
'South Park' Conducting HD Tests
Comedy Central Animated Hit Experimenting With Format
Comedy Central's animated hit "South Park" is producing some episodes in high definition, a network spokesman confirmed.
At the request of the channel, Los Angeles-based South Park Studios recently produced two episodes of the series in the HD format.
The big question is: Why?
Comedy Central doesn't have an HD channel, and it's tough to imagine a show that would benefit less from an HD makeover than a half-hour animated starring cardboard cutouts.
"We asked them to do it to see if it can happen, what would it look like in HD," Comedy Central spokesman Steve Albani said. "If successful, there's some ideas our business development guys have about how to use it, but it's not something we're willing to discuss at this point."
Let's run down the possibilities: Is Comedy Central launching an HD channel?
"Oh no-no-no, nothing like that," Mr. Albani said.
A "South Park" release on HD-DVD or Blu-ray? Downloaded HD episodes online? A Comcast HD VOD offering?
"I really can't say," Mr. Albani said.
This much is known: The "South Park" experiment did not go smoothly.
The HD effort crashed the South Park Studios hard drives and the studio called in a computer recovery service called DriveSavers to recover two months' worth of work. All the data was salvaged. Comedy Central said it has yet to see the finished product.
shawn12341234
11-30-06, 10:19 PM
Saw this on TVWeek.com...
'South Park' Conducting HD Tests
...
But, South Park is on Xbox Live and it could be distributed in HD that way.
Good point, shawn. (And good post FS)
TV Notebook
Everybody `wins' in TV's sweeps
Parse the data just so and all the `We're No.1!' signs come out -- even before the final stats are in
By Martin Miller Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 1, 2006
The sweeps numbers are in — let the spinning begin.
Days before the quarterly ratings battle officially even ended, both ABC and CBS issued news releases celebrating their triumphs. ABC touted its first-place finish in the highly desirable 18-to-49 age demographic, while CBS trumpeted its top-ranked 13.04 million overall viewers for the ratings period.
For ABC, the sweeps marked the first time in seven years it captured the coveted demographic during the November ratings period, which will help determine television advertising rates in medium and small markets across the country. Companies traditionally spend the bulk of their television advertising budgets courting the coveted block of potentially high-spending consumers.
ABC's winning numbers, however, still represented a roughly 7% drop in the same demographic compared with last year's November sweeps — not terribly surprising, say observers, because of the network's loss of "Monday Night Football."
Nevertheless, ABC could still boast two of the top-rated series within the demographic — its Thursday night medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" and its Sunday night comic soap "Desperate Housewives." Further, the network scored two of the highest-rated individual shows during sweeps with the final installments of "Dancing With the Stars." The penultimate episode drew 26.8 million total viewers, and the finale attracted 27.5 million.
"We're obviously very pleased," said Stephen McPherson, ABC entertainment president. "We took some big risks, especially by moving 'Grey's' from Sunday to Thursday, and they paid off."
But CBS also claimed victory — its sixth consecutive November sweeps in total viewers. The network could thank its ratings juggernaut "CSI," which stood as the month's top scripted series with an average of 22.19 million viewers, just nipping "Desperate Housewives" at 22.18 million, and "Grey's Anatomy" at 21.29 million. However, CBS ended up with a 3.8 rating in the 18-to-49 demographic, which meant from its perspective a disappointing tie with a surging NBC.
As is becoming more common among all the networks during sweeps, CBS achieved its total viewer numbers without airing outlandish stunts or over-hyped specials, which not long ago used to typify the ratings period. CBS aired about 97% of its regularly scheduled series during November — the most by any network in a sweep in more than a decade, said CBS officials.
"We're real happy," said Kelly Kahl, CBS scheduling chief. "It's a validation of our very strong, solid schedule. A lot of times stunts are born out of desperation to fill holes or trying to cover up a weak time period."
Though still important, sweeps aren't as crucial as they once were, especially in the 10 major television markets where recent technology enables networks to track daily viewership habits. However, outside those major cities, which include New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, viewers still keep diaries, and those results figure into ad rates in those smaller markets.
The diminished importance of sweeps has influenced how the networks schedule for the quarterly ratings periods. Now there tends to be a greater emphasis on original programming and midseason "finales," avoiding repeats, and eschewing stunt programming, according to Sam Armando, director of broadcast research for the media buying firm Starcom USA.
"November sweeps is really the time the networks put their best foot forward and try to deliver on the strategies they promised the advertisers," said Armando. "Years ago you'd get the old bait-and-switch — they'd promise the world's greatest scripted drama in May, then you'd get the world's wackiest dog tricks in November."
ABC and CBS weren't the only networks that found sweep results to champion. NBC, which has boosted its numbers with this year's addition of pro football on Sunday nights, highlighted its 15% increase in the 18-to-49 demographic compared with last year's November sweeps. Its last-minute tie with CBS in the category certainly was good news for NBC.
"It's part of our rebuilding story; all the problems aren't solved by any means," said Mitch Metcalf, NBC's head of programming. "But we're moving in the right direction."
Even the CW — the network formed from the old WB and UPN — banged the drum for its strongest November sweeps performers such as "Veronica Mars" and "Gilmore Girls," which both do well with the network's target audience of female viewers in the 18-to-34 demographic.
"In most markets, we had an awful lot of people to move to find our shows," said Kahl, who in addition to his CBS programming duties holds a similar position with the CW. "Still, week by week, we're getting more people to the CW."
Fox, stinging over its public humiliation caused by its canceled O.J. Simpson "If I Did It" interview, seemed relieved the month was over. Simpson notwithstanding, the network has — as it has for the last couple of years — had another rough quarter. It ranked well behind the big three networks in overall viewers and in the 18-to-49 demographic.
But a new year is coming for Fox, and so are its smash hits "American Idol" and "24."
"We're in the same competitive situation we've found ourselves in the past two years. We're not happy about it, we're trying not to be, but that seems to be our lot," said Preston Beckman, Fox's scheduling chief. "But in spite of all the doom-and-gloomers, we're now entering the time of year where our ratings go up and our competitors' go down. We expect to be very competitive."
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-sweeps1dec01,0,3323249,print.story?coll=la-home-entertainment
TV Notebook
If you are a regular reader of the thread, you know that I post Media Week Ratings maven Marc Berman’s overnight ratings notes at the top of this thread late each morning. And in recent weeks, Marc has -- thankfully -- taken to filing his numbers even on weekends.
But if that isn’t enough for you, if you are interested in far more raw numbers and trends, reader (and frequent contributor) RussTC3 files reams of ratings news later (often MUCH later) in the day.
You can find his invaluable and in depth ratings numbers crunching here:
http://wordpress.com/tag/broadcast-tv-ratings/
And if you care about how your favorite shows are doing you should make sure the check in daily to see what Russ comes up with.
TV Sports
NFL schedule flexibility a real stretch for Sunday nights
By Michael mcCarthy USA Today
Dress it up however you like, Mike, the NFL erred by bestowing its preferred prime-time package, with flexible scheduling, to NBC's Sunday Night Football rather than ESPN's Monday Night Football. Football fatigue is real.
The symptoms: viewer apathy during the third NFL game telecast of the day. If you don't believe me, maybe you should look at the anemic TV ratings for some of NBC's weaker games.
On any given Sunday, hard-core fans watch various pregame shows and two full games for 9-10 hours before Sunday's night's game even kicks off. The NFL audience actually peaks during the late afternoon game of national doubleheaders. Sunday's Bears-Patriots game on Fox notched a 15.4 rating, the highest this season.
The Colts-Cowboys late game on Nov. 19, which CBS protected, is No. 2 with a 14.7. Both telecasts out-rated NBC's respective prime-time contests by more than 50%.
Mike, I know Sunday is the most-watched night on TV, and that it's the easier day logistically to pull off flexible scheduling. But unless it's a good game, only the diehards hang in there (as well as fantasy players/gamblers). Monday enables everybody to take a breather and come back ready for some football. What about fans with tickets to Sunday games? Most would rather attend a day than a night game before their work week.
Over 36 seasons on ABC, the NFL owned a night of programming like no other sport. ABC begged for flexible scheduling for years. Imagine if Paul Tagliabue had dangled it as part of the MNF package last year. ESPN, NBC and Fox would have salivated. There's been some good games on ESPN this season, like Giants vs. Cowboys. But we might be spared the two stinkers involving the Raiders or this week's underwhelming Eagles vs. Panthers.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/mccarthy/2006-11-30-mccarthy-counterpoint_x.htm
And counterpoint:
TV Sports
Sunday night NFL changes accomplishing their goal
By Michael Hiestand USA Today
Mikey, is somebody pouty because NBC's Sunday games go way past their bedtime?
The point is the NFL's TV changes so far are doing what they're supposed to do — increase total consumption of the league's made-for-TV mauling.
ESPN's Monday games are up 39% from its Sunday games last year. Game ratings on CBS and Fox are both up 8%. NBC is running even with last year's ABC Monday Night Football even though only one game so far — Washington-Tampa Bay — was moved through flexible scheduling. And that replacement game drew NBC's second-lowest rating.
The big picture is the NFL kept Monday night as a big deal. ESPN, not broadcast networks, can prop up those games with six-hour lead-ins. And the NFL has let NBC have longer pregame shows and earlier kickoffs than MNF had, making the league a bigger deal on TV's most-watched night.
The problem, at least until it gets fixed, is that the prime-time national games aren't rigged. NBC had Philadelphia-Indianapolis on Sunday, which looked great when the schedule came out but was a blowout getting a listless rating. Who knew ESPN's Atlanta-New Orleans and Chicago-Arizona games, clunkers on paper, would be thrillers drawing two of ESPN's three best ratings?
Debating Monday vs. Sunday NFL is so 20th century. The bigger deal is how many NFL games will move from Sunday afternoons — which produce the biggest NFL ratings — to air other days on the NFL Network as the channel is built into a year-round high dive for hype.
And given that all college football games might someday air on TV, those susceptible to football fatigue might start feeling it way before Sunday night. And, Mike, we promise not to wake you.
Webcasting could be on tap for NFL
When the NFL's current TV deals end in a few years, the league just might decide to show some TV game broadcasts on the Internet — or even carry games only online.
The NFL's Brian McCarthy says "perhaps" that will happen, which is one reason the league will next week start letting U.S. viewers watch game webcasts for the first time — as a test of consumer appetite for online game action.
Only the NFL's Network's remaining six games this season — on Thursday and Saturday primetime — will be webcast. But they won't be widely available. They'll be accessible only to subscribers who get their cable TV and Internet system, or their DirecTV satellite TV, through Verizon — a consumer base of less than 500,000.
Online, users will get extras that go beyond the network's TV coverage, such as receiving game stats not carried on TV and getting to choose their own camera angles.
The league this season began offering game webcasts outside North America, where they won't conflict with any of the league's fat U.S. TV contracts. But if enough people seem willing to log on to NFL games, future TV deals — packaged with game online rights — might get even fatter.
Newcomers to man BCS show
Selection shows are made-for-TV events that usually feature networks' old hands.
But Sunday, Fox's first-ever Bowl Championship Series show — airing on Fox because the network picked up four of five BCS games from ABC — will feature newcomers to the network.
Billed as the first BCS show carried in prime time (8 p.m. ET), Fox will trot out its mix-and-match on-air BCS lineup, which had to be created from scratch since Fox doesn't carry college football.
That lineup Sunday will include TBS analyst Charles Davis, who'll call the BCS title game with ex-Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez.
Chris Rose will host the BCS game pregame shows after doing the voiceovers for Fox NFL highlights this season.
Fox will have reporters, including actor Ryan O'Neal's son Patrick, at four campuses — Ohio State, Southern California, Florida and Boise State — to interview coaches.
Now, all Fox needs is for UCLA to beat archrival USC on Saturday — the game will be shown on ABC — to create a little suspense about which team will play Ohio State for the BCS title.
NASCAR hands keys to Mohr at N.Y. banquet
Jay Mohr has an idea for NASCAR TV coverage: "There should be an announcer on the track — in the middle of the straightaways. He'd just get up and brush himself off."
Cue the laugh track. Mohr, a comedian and actor who played an annoying sports agent in Jerry Maguire, hosts Friday's season-ending NASCAR banquet in New York on Friday, which airs on TNT (9 p.m. ET) Friday as well as NBC (2 p.m. ET) Saturday.
Mohr says he's a big fan of NASCAR although he finds its points system "very strange." Asked if there's anything that really stands out to him when he's at a track — actor Will Ferrell said there are more tube tops at races than anyplace else in the USA — Mohr says he's struck by the loudness: "It's what it must be like at space shuttle launches — except it's 30 shuttles."
Mohr won't say what about NASCAR should be off-limits for humor, and won't preview his jokes. But it seems obvious "lug nuts" needs to go in punch lines.
He'd like to get back to sports comedy, which he tried in his short-lived ESPN show in 2002, with guests such as Alec Baldwin, Snoop Dogg and Kansas City Chief Tony Gonzalez. But this time, he says, he'd be different: "I wouldn't be defensive and argumentative with executives. I'd give them the illusion we were working together."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2006-11-30-hiestand-weekend_x.htm
TheRock
12-01-06, 04:45 AM
Damn. I wish Comedy Central would go HD. I watch that channel all the time. Sounds like they are just trying to cash in on HDDVD/BLU-RAY, Xbox360, and HD ondemand. They don't have much programing that would benefit greatly from HD but I would still like to see it happen. I would also love it if they had there "Secrete Stash" rules and standards active 24/7. It would also be cool to see "Not Another Teen Movie" in HD. They seem to have all the broadcast rights for that movie. I cant recall it ever airing on any of the premium movie channels.
harley1
12-01-06, 07:23 AM
NPS Aims To Fill DISH Net Breach
EchoStar's loss of 800,000-plus distant net customers could become the National Programming Service's (NPS) gain. As the court-ordered deadline loomed for the company's DISH Network to cut off all distant network signals, NPS's Mike Mountford struck a last-minute deal with the EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen to provide service for the subs left out to dry.
Under the agreement, which is similar to deals that EchoStar has with other programming vendors, NPS would lease a transponder for $150,000 per month. In exchange, the company would be able to sell its distant signal programming to disenfranchised DISH customers that fit the so-called "white area" criteria.
The deal could prove a windfall for NPS which currently has 57,000 C-Band subscribers (an enormously successful C-Band service by today's standards). In order to receive the distant net signals, customers would have to sign up with NPS either through the company's website (http://www.mydistantnetworks.com/) or by phone (800.786.9677). Costs for the signals will range from $2.50/month for one signal to $9/month for all four signals.
Potential customers would need to meet qualification criteria for the service and NPS will handle all customer service operations. Once qualified, a DISH customer would receive the distant networks seamlessly through their DISH equipment.
Late Thursday both the broadcasters and DIRECTV had publicly objected to the NPS scheme, claiming it would violate the injunction against DISH providing distant network services. At press time, an emergency request was pending before Judge William Dimitrouleas, who issued the original injunction.
NAB, EchoStar Trade 'Distant' Jabs
Shortly after EchoStar had signed a deal with National Programming Service to sell distant network signals to DISH Network subscribers affected by today's court-ordered shutdown, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) was calling foul on the deal it believes to be the company's attempt at circumventing the law.
Upon learning of the agreement, network affiliate groups involved in the litigation filed an immediate cease and desist order, asking for an emergency motion to halt EchoStar's "flagrant contempt of the permanent injunction entered by the court" over its distant signals.
According to court documents, NAB said "EchoStar is engaging in the transparent sham of arranging for a third party - National Programming Service and its CEO, Michael Mountford to do, with enormous technical and other assistance from EchoStar, precisely what the permanent injunction prohibits."
Said Dennis Wharton, NAB EVP of Media Relations, "We're hopeful the courts recognize this latest stunt for what it is: a serial copyright abuser's refusal to comply with numerous court verdicts and federal statutes that preserve the enduring value of local broadcasting."
In response to the NAB statement, EchoStar said is has "worked diligently to make sure consumers have a choice of distant network signals (and had) reached a $100 million settlement that was accepted and later rejected by the broadcasters, yet they continue to bully consumers and the courts."
The cease and desist order said under this deal, "EchoStar customers will to continue to be able to receive distant network signals, delivered by satellites owned by EchoStar, using satellite frequencies licensed by the FCC to EchoStar, and using satellite dishes provided by EchoStar."
Kathie Gonzalez, EchoStar's director of communications, told SkyREPORT that NPS is in no way a subsidiary of the company and is a completely separate entity. The spokeswoman also said that NPS will be handling all call-center functions, customer contacts, customer authorizations and billing services.
EchoStar said the company is "hopeful the courts will see through the Fox Network-led coalition of broadcasters, whose real intention is to deny consumers their freedom of choice and leave the Fox-owned DIRECTV as a monopoly for distant networks."
http://www.skyreport.com/
harley1
12-01-06, 07:32 AM
Motion seeks to block EchoStar
Broadcasters act in copyright case. They want to squelch a deal the satellite-TV firm has struck to provide distant-network signals.
By Kimberly S. Johnson
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com
Local broadcasters are trying to block EchoStar Communications' last-ditch efforts to offer relief for 900,000 customers who have lost or will lose distant-network signals on the Dish Network.
The broadcasters have filed a motion to block a deal EchoStar recently struck with National Programming Services LLC, an Indianapolis-based provider of C-band or big-dish satellite services, to deliver local TV signals to its out-of-market customers.
Today is the deadline for EchoStar, a Douglas County-based satellite provider, to shut off distant-network signals to its customers, after a U.S. district court in October ordered the shutoff.
The ruling was the culmination of a seven-year court battle with affiliate ABC, NBC and CBS stations and 25 stations owned by Fox.
"EchoStar demonstrates again its arrogant and flagrant contempt for the rule of law," said Dennis Wharton, a a National Association of Broadcasters spokesman. "We're hopeful the courts recognize this latest stunt for what it is: a serial copyright abuser's refusal to comply with numerous court verdicts and federal statutes that preserve the enduring value of local broadcasting."
EchoStar general counsel David Moskowitz said Thursday that National Programming Services will lease a transponder, or a portion of a satellite, from EchoStar to provide distant-network stations. Customers must order the service directly from NPS and are billed separately.
"We asked the court to confirm that the arrangement with NPS is entirely appropriate," he said. "We're confident it's permitted by law."
NPS approached the nation's second-largest satellite-TV provider a few months ago, but EchoStar wasn't interested because it was focused on a $100 million settlement with broadcasters and lobbying for legislation that would save distant-network signals, Moskowitz said.
The court didn't approve the settlement, however, and Congress isn't immediately expected to consider two bills regarding distant networks. EchoStar said it will meet today's deadline to turn off all distant-network signals.
"Our other legal avenues are pretty much exhausted," said Moskowitz. "At this point, we are getting out of the distant-networks business."
He said EchoStar faced an uphill battle because News Corp., the owner of Fox, and EchoStar's larger competitor, DirecTV, are working to scuttle any congressional action.
EchoStar's distant-network service brought in about $3 million a month in revenue. The company's stock dropped 7 cents Thursday to $36.01.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_4751641
archiguy
12-01-06, 07:49 AM
So what's the concensus on Daybreak? Is everyone as tired of seeing 6:18 on the clock-radio as I am, but still can't quite quit tuning in to see it happen all over again next week? :)
At the rate that midiseries seems to be shedding viewers, you may soon be the last one left. :p Looks like it's a goner; glad I didn't get invested in this one like I did 'The Nine' and 'Kidnapped'.
DoubleDAZ
12-01-06, 09:08 AM
Well, I'm not really invested in it, but I do record it and watch as time permits. I think the premise is different, but the endless repeats of most daily action gets comical. Still, it's one of those I wouldn't mind seeing the conclusion, but it could have concluded already. :)
trbarry
12-01-06, 10:13 AM
Well, I'm not really invested in it, but I do record it and watch as time permits. I think the premise is different, but the endless repeats of most daily action gets comical. Still, it's one of those I wouldn't mind seeing the conclusion, but it could have concluded already. :)
Daybreak's not my favorite series but I still watch all of them. And since they can completely wrap it up in just a few weeks anyway I hope they finish showing the rest of them.
- Tom
Thursday’s metered market over-night prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted just under the HD Football listings near the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.
Nielsen Notebook
November Sweeps Wrap With ABC, CBS on Top
By Marc Berman Media Week Dec. 1, 2006
ABC and CBS finished the November 2006 sweeps in winning fashion, while NBC was the only Big Three network on the year-to-year plus side. CBS was the most-watched network for the sixth consecutive November and No. 1 among adults 25-54 for the fourth straight November.
CBS’ victory was particularly impressive considering that 97 percent of its lineup was comprised of regularly scheduled programming -- the most by any network in a sweep period in at least 13 years. ABC finished first among adults 18-49 (without Monday Night Football in the mix), with its first outright November sweep victory in seven years. ABC was also No.1 among adults 18-34, with a 3.3 rating/10 share in the demo.
Despite winning November, both ABC and CBS posted losses from November 2005, with erosion for CBS more significant at 10 percent in total viewers and 14 percent among adults 18-49.
Led by Sunday Night Football and breakout hit Heroes, NBC was on the plus side, building from one year earlier by 10 percent in total viewers and 15 percent among adults 18-49. Comparatively, NBC also narrowed the gap, trailing ABC by only-three tenths of a rating point among adults 18-49 (versus a deficit of 1.1 rating points in November 2005). Excluding the Olympics, NBC’s rise in the demo was the network’s biggest increase in a major sweep month since May 1995.
American Idol-less Fox finished an uneventful fourth in November in total viewers and adults 18-49, with losses of 5 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Rounding off the list was the CW in its first sweeps period at levels close to the now defunct UPN and the WB in November 2005.
Here are the results:
Total Viewers:
CBS: 13.05 million (-10)
ABC: 11.60 (- 1)
NBC: 10.94 (+10)
Fox: 7.38 (- 5)
CW: 3.55 (- 1 from the WB, - 4 from UPN)
Adults 18-49:
ABC: 4.1 rating/11 share (- 7)
NBC: 3.8/10 (+15)
CBS: 3.8/10 (-14)
Fox: 3.0/ 8 (- 6)
CW: 1.5/ 4 (+ 7 from the WB, no change from UPN)
Source: Nielsen Media Research data
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003466912
Thursday’s updated fast national over night prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted just under the HD Football listings near the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.
Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
NBC gets a kick from its comedy block
Ratings are up for its new four-sitcom lineup
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer December 1, 2006
It’s far from Must See TV, but NBC’s Thursday lineup showed renewed life last night with the return to its old four-sitcom, one-drama format that helped the network dominate Thursdays during the 1980s and ‘90s.
For the night, NBC finished No. 2 to ABC with an average 4.7 rating in adults 18-49, according to Nielsen overnights, seven percent above its season average of 4.4 on the night. It didn’t hurt that CBS, the night’s usual No. 2, was in reruns for much of the night, helping the season debut of “Scrubs” and second Thursday outing of “30 Rock” to solid numbers.
That combined with season-best numbers from “My Name is Earl” and “The Office,” along with a dominant performance from “ER” at 10 p.m., helped NBC to its best Thursday night since Nov. 2.
“Scrubs” and “Rock” replaced the Thursday edition of “Deal or No Deal” as part of the network’s midseason overhaul.
“Scrubs” averaged a 3.9 rating at 9 p.m., 22 percent above last season’s 3.2 average. At 9:30, “Rock” averaged a 3.0. Though it lost a considerable 23 percent from its lead-in, the show hit a series high and was up 25 percent over its 2.4 season-to-date average.
The 9 p.m. comedies were helped by two things, their lead-ins and CBS airing a “CSI” repeat in the slot. At 8:30 p.m., “Office” hit a season high, averaging a 4.6, 10 percent above its 4.2 average. It built on “Earl’s” season-best 4.3.
Meanwhile, “CSI” averaged a 5.0 in the 9 p.m. slot, down a third from its season-to-date average of 7.5.
“CSI’s” repeat also helped boost ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” which posted its highest rating in several weeks at 9 p.m., a 9.6. But new lead-out “Men in Trees” lost more than half that audience, averaging a 4.0, equal to benched timeslot occupant “Six Degrees’” season average.
Still, ABC finished first for the night quite comfortably with a 5.9 average rating and a 15 share. NBC was second at 4.7/12, CBS third at 4.4/11, Fox fourth at 1.8/4, Univision fifth at 1.6/4, and CW sixth at 1.1/3.
CBS began the night in the lead among 18-49s with a 5.3 rating during the 8 p.m. hour for “Survivor.” NBC was second with a 4.5 average for “My Name is Earl” (4.3) and “The Office” (4.6), ABC third with a 4.1 for “Ugly Betty” and Fox and Univision tied for fourth at 2.0, Fox for an hour of “Til Death” and Univision for “La Fea Mas Bella.” That left the CW sixth with a 1.2 for a repeat of “Smallville.”
At 9 p.m., ABC jumped into the lead with a 9.6 for “Grey’s,” easily the night’s top-rated show among 18-49s. CBS was second with a 5.0 for a repeat of “CSI,” NBC third with a 3.5 average for “Scrubs” (3.9) and “Rock” (3.0), and Fox fourth with a 1.6 for “The O.C.” Univision came in fifth that hour with a 1.5 for “Mundo de Fieras” and CW sixth with a 1.0 for “Supernatural.”
The 10 p.m. hour was NBC’s turn to lead with a 6.0 for “ER.” ABC was second with a 4.0 for “Trees,” CBS third with a 2.8 for a repeat of “Shark” and Univision fourth with a 1.2 for “Aqui y Ahora.”
ABC also finished first for the night among households, with a 10.8 average rating and a 17 share. CBS was second at 8.6/13, NBC third at 6.5/10, Fox fourth at 2.7/4, Univision fifth at 2.0/3 and CW sixth at 1.8/3.
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_8876.asp
The Business of TV
EchoStar Battle Rages On
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 12/1/2006
With Dec. 1 the court-ordered deadline for EchoStar to cut off distant TV network signals to 850,000 subs, the battle between broadcasters and the satellite company raged.
The National Association of Broadcasters saw EchoStar's contract for satellite capacity with National Programming Service, which delivers local station signals to its customers, as a way to circumvent the court's Oct. 20 injunction, calling it "flagrant contempt" for the permanent injunction.
NAB also pointed out that the U.S.Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit had denied EchoStar's motion to stay the injunction. A Florida court had earlier also turned down an appeal of the injunction.
“We're hopeful the courts recognize this latest stunt for what it is: a serial copyright abuser's refusal to comply with numerous court verdicts and federal statutes that preserve the enduring value of local broadcasting," said NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton.
EchoStar shot back in a statement: " “EchoStar has worked diligently to make sure consumers have a choice of distant network signals. We reached a $100 million settlement that was accepted and later rejected by the broadcasters, yet they continue to bully consumers and the courts.
"We are hopeful the courts will see through the Fox Network-led coalition of broadcasters, whose real intention is to deny consumers their freedom of choice and leave the Fox-owned DirecTV as a monopoly for distant networks.”
Fox's DirecTV is looking to woo the EchoStar subscribers who will suddenly not be able to get their local stations.
The injunction stemmed from the court's conclusion that EchoStar could not effectively distinguish between subs eligible to receive a distant network affiliate and those who could receive an acceptable local signal of that same network. EchoStar settled with almost all the stations, but that did not dissuade the court. It also sought help from Congress, and a bill was crafted that would have effectively blocked the injunction, but no action was taken before the Thanksgiving break, which isn’t over until next week.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6396392
TV Notebook
CBS: We'll stay the course midseason
Plans few schedule changes come January
By Kevin Downey MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Dec 1, 2006
Despite a disappointing performance in the November sweeps, and a weak fall overall, CBS is not planning on changing its programming strategy heading into midseason.
CBS surprised some when it introduced only four new shows in the fall, choosing to rely on long-running series, even though some were clearly showing signs of fading.
Then in November sweeps, the network, in what may be a first, scheduled virtually no specials and stunt programs for the entire ratings period.
The two decisions have cost the network, leading to falling ratings as the new season began and to what became a freefall during sweeps.
CBS still tied NBC for No. 2 behind ABC among 18-49s for sweeps, but its rating was down 14 percent from last November, to a 3.8. CBS’s season-to-date rating in the demographic is down 5.4 percent, to a 3.9, based on live-plus-same-day ratings from Nielsen Media Research.
But consistent with CBS's conservative strategy, network executives say it will introduce few changes in January.
“What we’ve done is introduce more stability to the lineup by replacing the Sunday movie, for instance, with two series that are performing above the Sunday movie,” says Kelly Kahl, senior executive vice president of programming operations at CBS.
“We have some midseason shows we’ll be putting on after the New Year. But in terms of wholesale changes, we’re not going to mess with a pretty good formula.”
The strategy carries two potential downsides, and one is that some of its longstanding hits, like “CSI,” will find themselves up against hit shows on other networks in the midseason, leading to a sudden drop in ratings for that show and for the network overall.
But the other longer-term concern is that with only five new shows in the fall--two of which have already been canceled, including one introduced last month--CBS is at risk of finding itself with no rising hits to take the place of those older shows should they take an abrupt tumble.
CBS isn’t the only network with declining ratings. ABC and Fox were also down in the sweeps. But CBS slumped more than any other network.
“When you’re not putting on new, fresh programs that drive new interest, you just slowly start losing viewers,” says John Spiropoulos, vice president and group research director at MediaVest. “We expected that to happen in the fall and that’s proven to be true.”
Among CBS's new shows, only "Jericho" looks to be a keeper. “Smith” was canceled early on, and “Shark,” the James Woods vehicle, is relatively weak in “Without a Trace’s” old time slot. "The Class" is also struggling. And Wednesday the network dropped “3 Lbs.,” a show originally intended to premiere later in the season that was called into early duty to replace “Smith.”
“I was surprised they introduced so few shows,” says Shari Anne Brill, vice president and director of programming at Carat. “CBS had been talking about broadening out with more programming diversity, but they really didn’t do that.”
CBS has not been helped by some of its fall schedule switches, such as moving “Without Trace” from Thursday to Sunday night and a tougher timeslot.
“That may have affected viewers who aren’t finding shows in time periods where they always watched a show,” says Susan Hajny, broadcast research manager at GSD&M. “The little good appointment television that was out there got tossed around.”
CBS’s ratings woes came into clearer focus in November when it struggled against stunt programming on other networks.
Last November, CBS saw a boost in ratings from specials like the Country Music Awards, which aired on ABC this year, and miniseries like “Category 7: End of the World.”
CBS’s experiment with moving away from stunt programs will likely prove to be short-lived. In February, CBS will have big, sweeps-type shows with the Grammy Awards and the Super Bowl.
“There wasn’t really the need to do a lot of stunting this [November],” says CBS’s Kahl.
“In a lot of cases, we were trying to nurture new shows. Keeping ‘Jericho’ on for a week at a time when viewers are still looking for new shows to watch is more important to us than bumping up our sweeps performance a tenth of a point.”
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_8874.asp
The Business of TV
EchoStar Battle Rages On
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 12/1/2006
"We are hopeful the courts will see through the Fox Network-led coalition of broadcasters, whose real intention is to deny consumers their freedom of choice and leave the Fox-owned DirecTV as a monopoly for distant networks.”
Fox's DirecTV is looking to woo the EchoStar subscribers who will suddenly not be able to get their local stations.
In the first underlined case here I can see that it's just Echostar mixing coporate connections to fit their argument. But in the second case, that's just sloppy reporting, Eggerton knows better than that. He knows that Fox does not "own" DirecTV but by his sloppiness he's fueled the idea that it's Fox and DirecTV out to "get" Echostar.
In fairness to Eggerton, Fox doesn't "own" DirecTV, but it NewsCorp certainly controls it.
Sloppy yes, but understandable. Better if he had said "NewsCorp's DirectV is looking to woo....."
And everyone (egged on by EchStar, of course) is focusing on the poor subs who will "lose" DNS service -- even though it was (according to the court) EchStar's "egregious" actions over almost a decade (in which it was essentially stealing DNS signals, illegally reselling them and pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars) that caused this mess in the first place.
archiguy
12-01-06, 03:09 PM
And everyone (egged on by EchStar, of course) is focusing on the poor subs who will "lose" DNS service -- even though it was (according to the court) EchStar's "egregious" actions over almost a decade (in which it was essentially stealing DNS signals, illegally reselling them and pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars) that caused this mess in the first place.
But doesn't DirecTV do the same thing?
In fairness to Eggerton, Fox doesn't "own" DirecTV, but it NewsCorp certainly controls it.
Sloppy yes, but understandable. Better if he had said "NewsCorp's DirectV is looking to woo....."
Yes, but given that Fox Broadcasting is the main detractor from the settlement that E* reached with the other broadcasters, and seems to be leading the charge to make sure E* doesn't carry those signals, to link Fox directly to DirecTV, a provider of DNS signals....
Maybe I'm too picky, and this isn't a big deal, but there's just too much sloppy reporting which can put in doubt the veracity of anything, anyone, reports anywhere. I could expect that remark from a sat customer ran website or something like that, but not from a guy that knows the facts.
But doesn't DirecTV do the same thing?
No, by all accounts DirecTV has handled and provided DNS signals according to the "book". It's Echostar that has pretty much given them to whoever wanted them and violated agreements with the networks.
You are right to be concerned about total accuracy, Jim.
And archiguy, Dish has tried to pull DirecTV into this for more than eight years. But time after time safter time (since way before NewsCorp took control) it had been demonstrated that DirecTV obeyed the letter and spirit of the DNS regulations.
Dish, on the other hand, has always acted (at least according to the court) like a local convenience store which sells cigarettes or liquor to anyone of any age who is tall enough to hand the money over the counter.
There were hundreds of thousands of illegal DNS subs to Dish. And while the court's decision to force Dish to stop serving all DNS subs, legal or not, was obviously Draconian, it did show how seriously the court felt Dish had flaunted the law.
archiguy
12-01-06, 04:18 PM
No, by all accounts DirecTV has handled and provided DNS signals according to the "book". It's Echostar that has pretty much given them to whoever wanted them and violated agreements with the networks.
And archiguy, Dish has tried to pull DirecTV into this for more than eight years. But time after time safter time (since way before NewsCorp took control) it had been demonstrated that DirecTV obeyed the letter and spirit of the DNS regulations.
Okay, thanks guys, I didn't realize all that. When I had DISH a few years ago, I thought about trying to get a waiver for locals because I was having some stubborn multi-path issues with my antenna but didn't bother trying because I live fairly close to the towers. At least now I know I could have easily gotten it. :D
As an additional comment on the Fox Network led action to block Dish network providing distant services, whether currently legal or not, I am on the other side from "Fredfa." He's obviously a Murdoch-News Corp. - DirecTV sympathizer.
I'm not, probably because I'm one of those who lost service today as a result of Fox Network and the draconian judge's actions. I sincerely and devoutly hope Congress puts the draconion judge, and Fox network, in their proper places. If not, I hope all of DirecTV's birds fall out of the sky (but not landing on anyone, of course, except the judge in question).
As you can guess, this is a reflection of my opinion. If you don't like it, ignore it.
Best regards,
Fitzie
As an additional comment on the Fox Network led action to block Dish network providing distant services, whether currently legal or not, I am on the other side from "Fredfa." He's obviously a Murdoch-News Corp. - DirecTV sympathizer.
I'm not, probably because I'm one of those who lost service today as a result of Fox Network and the draconian judge's actions. I sincerely and devoutly hope Congress puts the draconion judge, and Fox network, in their proper places. If not, I hope all of DirecTV's birds fall out of the sky (but not landing on anyone, of course, except the judge in question).
As you can guess, this is a reflection of my opinion. If you don't like it, ignore it.
Best regards,
Fitzie
No, it's definitely not a good thing for those who are legally eligible to receive DNS signals, and I think the ruling should have allowed those subs to continue to get them. But you only have Echostar to thank for everyone losing them as they continually refused/ignored requests to handle DNS properly. This thing isn't over, and it may turn out that those who are legally eligible may in fact have then restored, but again, Echostar has only themselves to blame for this. If they didn't agree with the regulation they should have lobbied and got it changed, they probably did, but the law is still the law as it is, and Echostar ignored it.
Fitzie I understand your frustration.
While I am a DirecTV customer, I wouldn't say I am a sympathizer. (But that is not my call to make, and you may be right.)
My point simply was that Dish totally brought this on itself.
If you read any of the reports about the trial -- which Dish was able to delay year after year -- you would be shocked at how the company simply ignored the law to make profit.
To say somehow that Fox is now responsible for the mess Dish is in is quite a stretch -- although it is one the folks from Englewood CO have been strenuously pushing.
But again, I totally understand your frustration. I will be moving in a few months and even if I move just a block away, I will lose my grandfathered DNS (only SD from NYC, but useful nonetheless.)
By the way, if you have lost DNS, have you looked into Canadian satellites? That is certainly a grey area (at best) but apparently will solve your HD DNS problems. It is a remedy I probably will have to explore next spring.
tdtobat
12-01-06, 04:52 PM
Has Fox put any sort of information out about Vanished? A new episode was to be available for viewing today but wasn't. There are only two episodes left. What possible logic would be behind not showing the last shows?
TV Notebook
NBC: “30 Rock” On
FRESHMAN COMEDY RECEIVES FULL-SEASON PICKUP
(NBC News Release) Published: December 1, 2006
BURBANK, Calif. – December 1, 2006 - NBC's freshman comedy "30 Rock" (Thursdays, 9:30-10 p.m. ET) has been picked up for a full-season order for 2006-07, it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment.
"In '30 Rock,' Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels, along with stars Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan, have the goods with this excellent comedy," said Reilly. "We look forward to future episodes of this bright new show, which is right on-brand for our Thursday-night comedy block."
In its first regular telecast in the Thursday 9:30 p.m. (ET) half-hour on November 30, "30 Rock" averaged a 3.0 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49 and 6.6 million viewers overall, according to preliminary "fast affiliate-based" ratings from Nielsen Media Research. Pending updates, this is the highest-rated telecast of "30 Rock" to date in adults 18-49 -- with a 25 percent increase on the comedy's previous Thursday telecast (2.4/6 for a November 16 "super-sized" episode from 9:20-10:01 p.m. ET). With its four Wednesday telecasts earlier this Fall, "30 Rock" averaged a 2.4 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49, and 6.4 million viewers overall.
After airing its super-sized episode on November 16 (9:20-10 p.m. ET), the series moved to its regular time period on Thursdays (9:30-10 p.m. ET) beginning last night.
"30 Rock" is told through the comedic voice of the Emmy Award-winning Fey (NBC's "Saturday Night Live," "Mean Girls") and features Alec Baldwin ("The Departed," "The Cooler") as Jack Donaghy, the brash new network executive who has turned the show upside down with his meddling ways. Fey, as the single Lemon, is living every comedy writer's dream -- head writer on a demanding, live TV program in New York City.
Her life is jolted when Donaghy interferes with her show, and bullies Lemon into convincing Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan, "Saturday Night Live," "The Longest Yard"), a wild and unpredictable movie star, to join the cast. Now Lemon must manage the unmanageable so that the show -- and her dream -- can go on.
Also rounding out the cast in the half-hour comedy are: Jane Krakowski ("Ally McBeal") as Jenna Maroney, the star of "The Girlie Show"; Scott Adsit as Pete Hornberger, the variety show's producer; Jack McBrayer as Kenneth the Page, the over-eager NBC Page -- a highly sought-after, entry-level position with the network; and Judah Friedlander as Frank, the crass and wisecracking writer. Rachel Dratch, also from "Saturday Night Live," appears in multiple episodes, playing a variety of different characters on the series.
rebkell
12-01-06, 05:15 PM
Has Fox put any sort of information out about Vanished? A new episode was to be available for viewing today but wasn't. There are only two episodes left. What possible logic would be behind not showing the last shows?
Oh crap, I hadn't made it to the website, but I definitely planned on watching the final two episodes, I can't believe they're screwing this up, I don't know why they didn't just put up the rest of the shows anyway, why do we have to wait, it's been cancelled, so why not let us have 'em all at once.
A Reminder
Now that the November sweep is over how about telling us all what your favorite five shows (new or old) are. As an added bonus, how about also letting us know about your favorite “guilty pleasure” program – the one you are most hesitant to let anyone outside of your home know you enjoy.
(For the moment, let’s stick to network programming. I’ll rerun the quiz for cable programs in a while.)
Here is how the results stand at the moment:
Leading Programs:
1--Heroes
2--House
3--Grey's Anatomy
4--Friday Night Lights
5--Lost
6--NCIS
7--Studio 60
8--The Office
9--Veronica Mars
10 (tie)--Men In Trees
10 (tie)--The Unit
12--Law & Order: SVU
13--Bones
14 (tie)--Desperate Housewives
14 (tie)--Jericho
16 (tie)--Law & Order
16 (tie)--Ugly Betty
18--CSI
19 (tie)--Criminal Minds
19 (tie)--Law & Order: CI
Leading Guilty Pleasures:
1--Desperate Housewives
2--Deal Or No Deal
3--Men In Trees
4--Grey's Anatomy
So please get your ballots in -- either here or in a PM to me if you are shy -- by the end of the weekend.
The Business of TV
Dish Starts Cutting Signals
By Ted Hearn Multi Channel News 12/1/2006
EchoStar Communications said Friday that it would terminate the delivery of distant ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox signals to 900,000 customers by day's end.
But the broadcasters, angered by the direct-broadcast satellite service’s actions, have gone to court accusing EchoStar of crafting a business deal designed to circumvent the court-ordered shutoff.
"Everyone will be turned off today if they haven't been already. We are meeting the deadline," EchoStar director of corporate communications Kathie Gonzalez said Friday.
But two days earlier, EchoStar announced it would lease a satellite transponder to National Programming Service, an Indianapolis-based provider of satellite programming to eight- and 10-foot C-band dish owners for more than 20 years.
NPS said it would begin marketing a package that includes ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox signals to EchoStar customers.
NPS CEO Michael Mountford -- in separate letters to member of Congress and broadcast law offices -- announced his plan to use the satellite capacity to offer distant network signals to EchoStar customers who would be legally eligible to subscribe if they had not been covered by injunction.
"These subscribers will become our customers and be able to regain their network stations in a hassle-free manner," Mountford said in the undated letter to members of Congress.
NPS -- with call-center and back-office staff in place -- is ready to sign up customers immediately, said Chuck Hewitt, an NPS consultant and former president of the Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association.
One day after the NPS deal was disclosed, TV stations aligned with the Big Four broadcast networks returned to the U.S. judge in Florida who issued the permanent injunction with the Dec. 1 effective date. The stations claimed that the EchoStar-NPS deal was "a transparent sham" to evade the injunction and "an act of contempt."
In a reply, EchoStar explained that NPS was an independent company that agreed in an arms'-length transaction to pay $150,000 per month for the opportunity to provide distant network signals to EchoStar subscribers who got cut off.
NPS' distant signal package, called All American Direct, would not require subscribers to buy any programming from EchoStar, and EchoStar customers would not be automatically converted to the NPS service, EchoStar said.
"It is not a handoff," Hewitt said, adding that NPS would compete in the free market with DirecTV to acquire EchoStar's former distant network subscribers.
Satellite subscribers may buy distant network signals -- programming that originates on stations in other markets, usually New York and Los Angeles -- if they can't use an antenna to receive local stations. The courts slapped EchoStar with an injunction after finding that the company cheated by selling signals to hundreds of thousands of illegal customers.
The central question before U.S. Judge William Dimitrouleas is whether the EchoStar-NPS deal is consistent with the terms of his injunction issued Oct. 20, which applies to "those persons in active concert or participation" with EchoStar.
"EchoStar's scheme with NPS is flatly barred by the permanent injunction," the broadcasters told the court.
EchoStar, in response, argued that the terms of the transponder-lease agreement gave NPS total control over the programming delivered and that NPS wasn't required to provide distant signals.
"A court cannot enjoin the world at large," EchoStar said. "NPS ... is not, and cannot be, bound by the permanent injunction."
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6396540.html?display=Breaking+News
TV Notebook
NBC picks up '30 Rock' for full season
By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter
"30 Rock" has been picked up for a full season with a back-nine order, bringing the total for Tina Fey's critically praised single-camera comedy to 22 half-hours.
"In '30 Rock,' Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels, along with stars Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan, have the goods with this excellent comedy," said NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly. "We look forward to future episodes of this bright new show, which is right on-brand for our Thursday-night comedy block."
In its first regular telecast in the Thursday 9:30 p.m. time slot this week, "30 Rock" averaged 6.6 million viewers and a 3.0 rating/7 share among adults 18-49, hitting demo highs in the 18-49 demographic against a repeat of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and holding onto 77% of its "Scrubs" demo lead-in.
"30 Rock," which is set behind the scenes of a late-night sketch show, got off to a slow start in its original Wednesday 8 p.m. time period where it averaged 6.4 million viewers and a 2.4/7 in 18-49.
The series starring Fey, Baldwin, Morgan and Jane Krakowski made its Thursday debut with a "super-sized" 40-minute episode Nov. 16, drawing 2.4/6 in the demo.
The back-nine order came after two pickups of three scripts each over the past month.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ife5b7104c659520787da6cca40100460
almostinsane
12-01-06, 05:43 PM
Favorites:
1. 24
2. CSI LV
3. Heroes
4. House
5. CSI Miami
Guilty Pleasure:
Veronica Mars
By the way, if you have lost DNS, have you looked into Canadian satellites? That is certainly a grey area (at best) but apparently will solve your HD DNS problems. It is a remedy I probably will have to explore next spring.
You can get ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and PBS in HD from the Detroit area-east time zone and NBC, CBS and FOX from Seattle-west time zone-no ABC station being carried as of yet. With the rest of SC HD channels I think I pay around $50 a month. You'll need a broker to do it if you reside in the US.
How is the HD quality, Jim? And how about the HD DVR?
rebkell
12-01-06, 06:01 PM
You can get ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and PBS in HD from the Detroit area-east time zone and NBC, CBS and FOX from Seattle-west time zone-no ABC station being carried as of yet. With the rest of SC HD channels I think I pay around $50 a month. You'll need a broker to do it if you reside in the US.
Broker? I have no chance of HD here via satellite or OTA, can get limited from cable, but would dearly love to get HD networks via sat.
TV Q&A
Ask Matt
(from the Ask Matt column at TVGuide.com
By Matt Roush TVGuide.com TV Critic
Question: I just read the bad news that The Nine has been pulled from ABC's schedule. I was really into this show, so this is very disappointing! I felt like it was a bit much, pairing it with Lost on Wednesdays (especially the subpar, confusing episodes this fall), and I wish that ABC would have given it a chance after Grey's Anatomy on Thursday. I thought The Nine had an interesting premise plus great characters and actors, and every week made me want to come back. So what happened? Do you think there's a chance ABC could bring it back, especially if Men in Trees bombs after Grey's? At least I got to find out what happened between Jeremy and Lizzie before ABC broke my heart!— Lindsey
Matt Roush: I'm being serious when I say that I doubt anyone is more disappointed by the failure of The Nine than ABC itself. I moderated an industry panel recently in which an ABC exec expressed sincere frustration over the show's declining numbers, including the fact that the ratings often went down within an episode, which is never a good sign. I'm bummed, too. This was my pick as the best of the drama pilots. But as time went on, I began to realize that the show, much as I was intrigued by it, simply wasn't working. The last episode that aired, which involved Jeremy and Lizzie's backstory, illustrated the problems — especially in Jeremy's monologue about what happened in the bank that drove them apart. While it was well acted by Scott Wolf, I found it awfully anticlimactic not to show his moment of cowardly self-preservation. For the most part, the segments in the bank were so much more powerful than the present-day aftermath stories, which created an unsatisfying imbalance. Great cast, some very compelling material, but all in all, it just didn't work — something I hate to admit. It's kind of how I feel about Studio 60 struggling on, but at least NBC is keeping it on the air. (As if it has much of a choice.)
As for trying The Nine out after Grey's: there's much more at stake on Thursdays than on Wednesdays, and ABC isn't likely to put a dying show there. I'm sure Men in Trees will have trouble holding onto Grey's powerhouse lead-in, but at least its charm factor is more compatible to the Ugly Betty-Grey's hours that precede it. (I spent much of Thanksgiving week catching up with the Trees episodes that had been buried on Fridays, and was pleasantly entertained.) This is an interesting season in that some shows have noticeably improved from their pilots: Brothers & Sisters, Men in Trees, Heroes (which I still find awfully uneven), while other shows have stumbled after having pilots that knocked me out: The Nine, Studio 60 and The Class, to name a few.
Question: I watched Friday night's episode of Numbers and heard about Larry going into outer space for six months. Is he taking a leave of absence from the show? What's the scoop?— Shannon
Matt Roush: Simple. Peter MacNicol landed a role on 24 this season, and for as long as that lasts (or his character lives, knowing 24), he'll be absent from Numbers. But he'll be back.
Question: I just finished watching the "slap bet" (Nov. 20) episode of How I Met Your Mother, featuring "Robin Sparkles," and practically laughed from beginning to end. The episode, the MySpace profile of Robin Sparkles and the music video that streamed online were all hilarious. Given the quality of the show and its mediocre ratings, it could use exposure. Do you think there is any chance CBS would give HIMYM the post-Super Bowl spot? I think it would be the perfect show to capture the young viewers from the game. And anyway, what else does CBS have? 3 LBS and Shark are too old, Survivor is past its prime, Jericho is too bleak... perhaps the rumored Amazing Race: All-Stars?— John
Matt Roush: That was a great episode of Mother, wasn't it? (It generated a fair amount of mail from fans who still can't believe this show isn't a bigger hit. That got me thinking: Wouldn't NBC kill to have a smart comedy this mainstream on its schedule?) While I agree a comedy at the end of Super Bowl Sunday is a promising idea, especially for one like this that could use some extra exposure, it doesn't look like that's where CBS is leaning. Launching a new season of a reality show worked once for Survivor, but the editor here at TV Guide who's most plugged into this situation tells me it may end up being (sigh) one of CBS' signature procedural crime dramas. The network apparently is still mulling its options — though they probably don't include the premiere of The Amazing Race: All-Stars, which may not launch until later in sweeps. It's all still up in the air, last I heard.
Question: I can't be the only one in the U.S. who had no clue that ABC was going to pull the stupid stunt of extending the Thanksgiving-night episode of Grey's Anatomy. What do you think of them pulling this trick with so little notice? It is bad enough that they moved it to Thursday nights, so I have to record it and several other shows to watch later. I didn't set the recording long enough, thereby missing the last eight minutes of this stupid stunt. The official ABC website didn't even announce the change. I'm afraid that this stunt lost me as a viewer. I'll just wait for the DVDs to come out, in order to catch up without all those annoying ads and promos. There are enough other shows on Thursday to keep me busy.— Mike "Vidiot"
Matt Roush: While I'm sure there are others who suffered the same recording glitch on Thanksgiving night (I'm assuming on VCRs only, because my DVR was programmed for the long overrun, and believe me, I wasn't watching live TV on the holiday), in situations like this when I really think you have only yourself to blame. The extended length of the episode was not exactly a secret, and ABC can't be held responsible for "fans" who aren't keeping up. From a previous rant this writer sent me, I can already predict that pointing out that the episode is available online is no solution for him. But to check out of the rest of the season because you missed the last scenes of an episode that one can read recaps of here, there and everywhere? A bit of an overreaction, if you ask me — which you did.
Question: Sara Gilbert has appeared in prior seasons of ER as Jane, a cynical medical student who was soon to become an intern. In last week's episode (Nov. 24) she was a nurse who caught Crenshaw's eye. Why did her character suddenly change from doctor to nurse?— Anjanette
Matt Roush: She didn't change career paths, she merely changed clothes. If you remember, Jane had to change out of her scrubs (after being memorably thrown up on) into a girly pajama-style top that embarrassed her terribly. She looked like a nurse, and Crenshaw (now my least favorite ER character, next to the irredeemable Morris) mistook her for one. No one corrected him, I'm assuming because they all thought it was so funny that this jerk had found a soul mate whom he'll probably consider beneath him.
Question: I thought Patricia Wettig left Prison Break to star in Brothers & Sisters. Did someone forget to tell her that she wouldn't be the star at all, but at most a glorified guest star? I guess my question is, why can't she film a Prison episode (or two) during the many weeks she doesn't appear in Brothers? Or was there some other reason for her exit?— Marcus D.
Matt Roush: Um, have you seen Prison Break? The lady traded up, pure and simple. That's not to say she won't do another cameo on Prison Break, if she's able — although production of Prison Break has been on location, far away from where Brothers films in Los Angeles. But if she's a "glorified guest star" on Brothers, doesn't that pretty much describe her role on Prison Break as well? The real deciding factor here is that Wettig's husband, Ken Olin, is one of the key producers of Brothers & Sisters. This is a classy family affair, and I totally get why she'd pick that over the silly chase melodrama Prison Break has become.
Question: Already I am hearing that 3 LBS on CBS is doing even worse than Smith did in the Tuesday time period. I like Stanley Tucci, but I watched one episode and thought the show was awful. Something tells me that the network will pull the plug; what say you?— J.
Matt Roush: Wasn't this a timely question? Barely had I wrapped this column when CBS pulled the plug on the show after a mere three episodes. Personally, I didn't think 3 LBS was awful as much as it was awfully ordinary and awfully derivative. But once again, CBS has bombed out in that 10 pm-Tuesday time period, despite solid lead-ins NCIS and The Unit. It almost feels cursed. Guess we'll be seeing more replays of CBS' ubiquitous crime dramas while CBS goes back to the drawing board.I wouldn't say 3 LBS is awful as much as it is awfully ordinary and awfully derivative. But once again, CBS is struggling in that 10 pm Tuesday time period, despite solid lead-ins NCIS and The Unit. It almost feels cursed. And yes, I agree: I'd be surprised if 3 LBS lasts very long, if at all, into the new calendar year. Looks like CBS is going to have to go back to the drawing board, or end up filling the hour with more replays of its myriad crime dramas.
Question: With T.R. Knight coming out, wouldn't it be great if his Grey's Anatomy character, George, came out, too? That would explain his awkwardness around women. They can have him get a crush on Alex. Wouldn't that be funny? I think there are so many story-line possibilities there: George's family, other interns, patients. Do you think the producers, writers or T.R. Knight would do it? They could move this story line slowly, with first the viewers knowing, then one character, then another.— Sudesh K.
Matt Roush: There's a reason most of us watch TV and don't attempt to write it, and this is a good example. The dynamic of George being the platonic "friend," in a way "one of the girls," and often chafing at being patronized by the girls and guys alike, would be undercut by the cliché of having him be gay. If Grey's flipped his character that way, I'm sure T.R. Knight would play the hell out of it. But I think it's much more original for the show and for the actor to continue exploring George as a "nice guy" who's trying to find his way and his dignity amid all the sexual shenanigans of the McHotties. And on a somewhat related note...
Question: Whenever I see questions about whether the newly "out" Neil Patrick Harris will continue to be believed in his role as Barney in How I Met Your Mother, I have to laugh. Neil brilliantly plays Barney as an impeccably dressed, polished, sexual-conquest-obsessed, bar-cruising, relationship-adverse emotionally hollow man. In other words, he's playing a gay stereotype, who just happens to be interested in women rather than men. I can't see that it will take the audience much to cover that little alteration. And given that this best new sitcom of last year has actually gained creative steam with this season, I hope we'll see him in this role for a long time to come.— Nat G.
Matt Roush: Agreed on the last point. But I'm not sure that he's playing a gay stereotype as much as a twist on the yuppie metrosexual stereotype, the thing so brilliantly portrayed a while back on Sex and the City as the "straight gay guy" syndrome. Blurring the lines can be fun, and I thought this week's Mother episode demonstrated that brilliantly, when Wayne Brady appeared as Barney's gay black brother. Barney's take on gay marriage was a hoot: "Gay marriage is going to cause single life as we know it to die out. Think of how the American family will be strengthened." Take that, bigots.
Question: What is with the Criminal Minds hate? I adore crime dramas and so I feel confident in saying that Criminal Minds is one of the best on TV. It's not my favorite (that honor goes to Law & Order: SVU and Without a Trace), but I think the writing is interesting, the ideas and analysis are intriguing, and the story lines are, for the most part, captivating. However, every time you mention this show in your column, you follow it up with a comment about it being CBS' weakest show. I don't get it. It's different from every other crime drama out there because rather than just trying to solve murders, the behavioral-analysis team has to try to prevent them from happening again, often racing against the clock to save a victim. Personally, I think the worst crime dramas on TV are NCIS, which I can't even get through, CSI: NY, because the killer is always way too obvious, and this season of CSI, which has been stinking up the place with less-than-stellar episodes. (The man with the masks? Who didn't figure out it was all the same man within minutes?)— Nicole
Matt Roush: While respectfully disagreeing with you about the original CSI (the episode about the double murder of the identical twins alone was so much more compelling than anything I see on either of the other CSIs, and how about the killer using the miniature crime-scene models?), I will say that I am almost as sick of having to explain my antipathy toward Criminal Minds as I am whenever I have the bad fortune to tune in to the show (which I did, to catch Paget Brewster's premiere episode, which I should have expected would be a mere tease). I understand what people like about the show: its urgent stop-the-killer-before-he-strikes-again premise.
But I find the characters and especially the acting to be mannered and wooden and oh-so-familiar. The literary quotes add a level of pretension to what is often a gruesome story, and the cases are often wrapped so neatly, it offends me. I got another letter asking me about my "hate" for the show, likening Minds to the books of James Patterson. I found that telling, since he is easily my least favorite pop crime novelist. I was initially surprised by how much I disliked Criminal Minds, because I'm a fan of suspense. I just don't find the show very suspenseful. It's way too formulaic and smug, and even when the cases are disturbing, I never find myself disturbed by what happens.
I guess another word to describe it is phony. (Now give me a truly twisted and original show like Showtime's Dexter, based on a superior set of novels by Jeff Lindsay, and I'm a happy, if unsettled, camper.) Honestly, folks, I don't try to go out of my way to beat up on this show, but its wild success makes it kind of hard to ignore these days. (And please don't berate me with accusations that I can't criticize a show if I don't watch every episode. That doesn't fly.)
http://tvguide.com/News-Views/Columnists/Ask-Matt/default.aspx
biggiE48
12-01-06, 08:56 PM
Battlestar Galactic (I NO IT IS CABLE)
The Wire (THIS IS ALSO)
1 House
2 Heroes
3 Supernatural
4 Ugly Betty
5 Grey's Anatomy
6. Criminal Minds
Guilty Pleasure
Las Vegas
How is the HD quality, Jim? And how about the HD DVR?
The HD quality is probably the best out of all the sat services, maybe as good as Dish, but better than DirecTV, not quite as good as cable or OTA, but certainly acceptable. The SC DVR is a piece of junk, I went with having the STB modified and I'm using a PC to do the recording---sort of an expensive solution. BEV, I believe has the better HD DVR solution but their PQ is not quite as good and they do some weird stuff with the US network stations, somebody with BEV would have to explain it.
TV Notebook
NBC: “30 Rock” On
FRESHMAN COMEDY RECEIVES FULL-SEASON PICKUP
30 Rock is starting to grow on me. It would be nothing without Baldwin, and could easily lose Tracey Morgan.
Critic’s Notebook
The hypnotic power of "Heroes"
By Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel Television Critic his TV Guy blog Dec 1, 2006
"How do you stop an exploding man?"
Good question. And a good reason to tune in "Heroes" Monday.
This addictive show had fans chanting, "Save the cheerleader, save the world." That cheerleader, Claire (Hayden Panettiere), remains in great jeopardy.
Monday's gripping episode supplies plot twists and harrowing developments. Fans will want to savor each one because the series won't offer a new episode until mid-January. (The show airs at 9 ET/PT on NBC)
Why has "Heroes" become the biggest hit among new series this fall? The show knows how to dangle the good stuff and keep viewers intrigued. ("Lost" could learn a few things from this show.) Add to that good acting, strong characters and nifty special effects, and you have that hit that NBC has needed for years.
These heroes, everyday people with extraordinary powers, are slowly learning about one another. Claire finds a kinship with Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia), who saved her in the last episode. "You're totally my hero," she tells him.
But Peter and several other heroes are suffering. Stripper Niki Sanders (Ali Larter) is feeling especially conflicted. Cop Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) is combatting headaches, which crimp his ability to read minds.
Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) remains the exuberant hero. Isaac Mendez (Santiago Carbera) continues to paint his prophetic visions.
And Claire's dad (Jack Coleman) remains a major mystery: concerned one minute, dastardly the next.
You have to pay attention every moment in "Heroes." And your patience is rewarded. Great show!
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2006/12/the_hypnotic_po.html
Washington Notebook
FCC hopes to speed phone companies' entry into TV
By Leslie Cauley USA Today Dec. 1, 2006
NEW YORK — Trying to spur competition and beat back cable TV prices, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has proposed rules to make it easier for phone companies and others to jump into the video business.
The proposed order aims to streamline the video franchise approval process, FCC officials said. They declined to be named because the order has not been formally adopted. The other four FCC commissioners are reviewing it.
Martin is using the FCC's upcoming annual report on cable TV prices as ammunition. FCC officials say the