Thanks, dad. ROE date changed.

Technology Notebook
Digital Television Mission:
No Consumer Left Behind
The NAB's new VP talks about his upcoming campaign to make sure that the millions of homes that receive off-the-air TV today will still be able to receive off-the-air TV after the February 2009 switch to digital.
TV NewsDay February 1, 2007

One of the biggest advantages broadcasting has over cable and satellite in delivering TV is its ubiquity—it’s everywhere. By the NAB’s reckoning, 34.3 million or 31% of the 111.3 million TV households have one or more TV sets that still get their signals off air. And of those 34.3 million, 19.6 million—more than half—rely solely on broadcasting. They don’t have any sets hooked to satellite or cable.

This is not an advantage that broadcasters intend to lose when they make the government-mandated switch from analog to digital broadcasting on Feb. 18, 2009.

Consequently, the NAB is launching a public education campaign to make sure that every consumer knows about the transition so they can buy new digital TV sets or, with the help of a government subsidy, buy A-to-D converter boxes that will enable analog TV sets to go right on receiving signals off the air after the switch to digital.

Leading the campaign for NAB will be the newly hired Jonathan Collegio, who learned the business of getting people to understand and act in the do-or-die world of political campaigning. In this written Q&A with TVNEWSDAY, the new vice president for digital transition outlines his goals and how he intends to achieve them.

What are your marching orders? What do you hope to accomplish?

The goal of the DTV transition campaign is to make sure no consumers lose free TV reception on Feb. 18, 2009, due to a lack of information about the transition. Ultimately, we can't force consumers into buying a new digital set or getting a converter box, but we can make sure they receive plenty of information about the fact that their TV set is about to get disconnected, and urge them to take action preventing that from happening.

Is your goal simply to insure a smooth transition, or are you hoping to spark a renaissance in over-the-air television?

My goal is primarily the former—but there's certainly a lot to promote when it comes to over-the-air television. Last week, the folks at MSTV showed me 16 free, crystal clear, over-the-air channels they picked up with an indoor "smart" antenna from a basement in Washington, D.C. The picture quality was incredible. My guess is that most people who subscribe to pay TV have little idea there are so many OTA choices available. So even though my focus is primarily on ensuring a smooth transition, I think there are tremendous opportunities presented by DTV to reposition broadcasting in a positive light.

Is part of the job to sell HDTV and whatever else broadcasters are offering over their digital channels?

You can sell DTV with a carrot or a stick—by selling the benefits of digital, which include crystal clear over-the-air HDTV—or by telling folks that they need to act before their TV sets produce snow and nothing else. We will definitely sell the benefits of DTV, which include high definition, but we also have to limit the confusion between DTV and HDTV. We also have the potential to explain to America that digital television means more free program choices.

Does your team have a finite term? In other words, what happens after February 2009?

I guess that depends on the success of the campaign. In the immediate aftermath I'm sure I will decompress for a while, as any campaign operative would.

What in your experience qualifies you for this job?

NAB was looking for someone to run an aggressive campaign, with a heavy focus on earned media, which will work hard to give DTV a ubiquitous, positive face in the media. My previous position was press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, where I was the central GOP spokesman on over 40 House races during the midterm elections. I have worked on, consulted, and closely observed dozens of campaigns in the last 10 years, and I know how a well-planned, well-executed campaign operates. I've run the Washington, D.C., office for an aggressive member of the House, and have also worked in grassroots advocacy. I cannot think of a better transition to the private sector for an operative like myself than running this campaign.

Tell me about your team. Did you hire them? Who will be doing what?

No one could have put together a better campaign team than the one we have in place now. We're bipartisan, heavy in media relations experience, and have great contacts in Congress, the executive branch, at the grassroots and with organizations across D.C.

As media relations director, I hired Shermaze Ingram, a former editor at Consumer Reports, reporter for The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and who has great experience in private sector PR. She will be running the earned media component of the campaign and will be DTV's central spokesperson.

We hired Myra Dandridge, former communications director for the Congressional Black Caucus, as director of public affairs, where she'll reach out to grassroots and membership organizations with our message— especially those groups most affected by the transition. Myra will also handle our congressional relations, and will oversee our DTV Speaker's Bureau, which will aim to schedule thousands of local speaking engagements with local speakers to educate consumers about the DTV transition.

Lale Mamaux comes to us as a veteran Capitol Hill aide, having spent a number of years running press for Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.). She also was chief fundraiser for a number of Democratic members and candidates. Lale will handle all of our outreach to business groups, trade associations, state and local broadcasters, as well as the FCC, NTIA and state and local government.

We need to reach consumers through earned media and public service announcements, but also by making sure that we have a grassroots presence with the speaker's bureau, and that every organization interested in making sure the transition goes smoothly has the information they need and is reading from the same sheet, so to speak, so that there's a unified message coming from all parts. We have a great candidate in DTV, but we need to make sure that everyone talking about her is "on message."

The NTIA is in the process of crafting rules for its converter-box and voucher program. What would you like to see happen there?

We'll be working closely with the NTIA, with the FCC and with Congress over the next two years. In a perfect world, we would like to see that no consumer is disenfranchised from access to broadcast television at the conclusion of this transition.

Does that program need more money than the $1.1 billion currently earmarked for it? Will you ask Congress for more?

I'm going to leave the lobbying questions to NAB's government relations arm. The mission of the DTV team is education, and working with our coalition partners to make sure that we have a successful transition. My guess is that NAB will be working closely with Congress, the FCC and NTIA to resolve issues related to funding for converter boxes.

Will you be trying to mobilize the 20 million broadcast-only households to help make your case in Washington?

Twenty million households enjoy free, over-the-air broadcasting only in their homes, and they do represent the bulk of the folks we need to reach. But there are millions more that rely on untethered secondary television sets in their homes for news, programming and entertainment.

While these two groups broadly represent the bulk of the folks we must reach, this is, in the end, a change that will affect everyone who has a mother-in-law, cousin, or old friend whom they communicate with, who gets television over the air.

To what degree will you be coordinating your efforts with the CEA? With NCTA?

Our campaign is coordinating a large coalition of groups from A-Z that share the central interest of making sure that the transition goes smoothly and that no consumer is left behind. Cooperation with CEA and NCTA is central to our efforts.

How are those efforts going so far?

They are going extremely well. NAB is commissioning a lot of DTV survey research that we'll be sharing with the coalition. A number of organizations are active in the coalition, and we will be aggressive in the coming months to recruit more members into the fold.

Will you be tackling the related issue of multicast must carry?

Not with this campaign. I know that's important, but that's for the folks who work in other departments at NAB.

What is your operating budget?

We will spend what it takes to have a successful transition, and that will include donated air time for public service announcements run by both broadcast networks and their affiliates.

For your public education campaign, will you have additional money for media buys? Or, will you rely solely on contributed time by stations?

That remains to be seen. The natural currency of this campaign will be PSAs, but we will spend on other marketing programs—perhaps with microtargeted direct mail if we see the need.

What is your greatest challenge?

Learning all of the acronyms associated with DTV.

http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2007/02/01/daily.3/

Also, didn't Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity) direct last year's mid-season megabomb Heist? Oh well, he's also directed The O.C. episodes and, like Berg with 'FNL,' will direct the TV pilot version of his own Hollywood movie with Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

I'm not sure how well that's going to go, Liman directing or not. They cast Jordana Brewster as Mrs. Smith. No offense to Jordana, she's 'very pretty', but Angelina is SMOKING HOT and a much better actress to boot. :-)

The 2007-08 TV Season
ABC Drama Pilots
By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter

Larger-than-life characters and self-contained stories are on the drama docket for ABC this year.

The network -- which sparked the recent interest in serialized dramas with the Emmy-winning "Lost" but saw its ambitious continuous-story-line dramas "The Nine" and "Six Degrees" fizzle in the fall -- is staying away from the genre this development season.

"This year, we concentrated on close-ended shows," says senior vp drama development Suzanne Patmore-Gibbs. "We don't have any intensely serialized pieces."

It was a conscious decision made in the summer -- before most networks struggled to launch a slew of nail-biter serial dramas -- that was aimed at a better schedule balance, Patmore-Gibbs says. But at the end of the day, it all came down to "responding to the best material."

"A year ago, we had a lot of strong serialized shows," she says. "This year, there's a lot of strong character procedurals and soaps. They rose to the top because they were great stories."

Indeed, Patmore-Gibbs notes that it was a good year for soaps with heavy dollops of humor ("Cashmere Mafia") -- a genre with which ABC found success this year with "Ugly Betty" and "Brothers & Sisters" -- and character-driven procedurals ("Suspect," "Marlowe," "Judy's Got a Gun," "Women's Murder Club").

For a second consecutive year, ABC is leading the network pack with the most drama pilot orders. ABC's total of 13 greenlighted projects is down from 16 one-hours picked up last season.

Cashmere Mafia
Production Co.: Sony TV/Darren Star Prods.
Production Team: Darren Star, Gail Katz, Kevin Wade, Susie Fitzgerald
Four successful female executives, friends since college, rely on one another as they juggle the demands of career, family and high ambitions in New York

Dirty Sexy Money
Production Co.: Touchstone TV
Production Team: Craig Wright, Greg Berlanti
Idealistic young lawyer inherits the job of representing a rich, powerful and ethically flexible family after his father's unexpected death

Eli Stone
Production Co.: Touchstone TV
Production Team: Greg Berlanti, Marc Gugenheim
Thirtysomething attorney (Jonny Lee Miller) begins to have larger-than-life visions that compel him to do unusual things; Victor Garber co-stars

Untitled Jon Feldman
Production Co.: Warner Bros. TV
Production Team: Jon Feldman
Revolves around four high-powered CEOs or CEOs-to-be who socialize at the same exclusive golf club; Michael Vartan stars

Football Wives
Production Co.: Touchstone TV
Production Team: Marco Pennette, Chris Brancato, Bert Salke, Bryan Singer, Maureen Chadwicke, Eileen Gallagher, Ann McManus
U.S. version of the ITV series "Footballers Wives" that focuses on wives of professional football players; Gabrielle Union co-stars

Judy's Got a Gun
Production Co.: Touchstone TV
Production Team: Michelle King, Robert King, Stu Bloomberg
Suburban woman balances being a single mother with being a detective investigating bizarre suburban crimes

Life on Mars
Production Co.: 20th Century Fox TV
Production Team: David E. Kelley, Stephen Garrett, Jane Featherstone
Detective whose girlfriend has just been kidnapped finds himself transported back to the 1970s. Based on the BBC series

Marlowe
Production Co.: Touchstone TV
Production Team: Sean Bailey, Greg Pruss, Carol Wolper, Dan Platt, Phil Clymer
Procedural crime drama centered on the Philip Marlowe character set in present-day Los Angeles

Untitled Rina Mimoun
Production Co.: Warner Bros. TV
Production Team: Rina Mimoun
Revolves around a family of Southern lawyers

Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Production Co.: Regency TV/Dutch Oven
Production Team: Simon Kinberg, Doug Liman, Dave Bartis
Based on the hit feature about a married couple who are spies

Pushing Daisies
Production Co.: Warner Bros. TV, Jinks/Cohen Prods.
Production Team: Bryan Fuller, Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen
Detective show/romance/fairy tale about a guy who can touch the dead and bring them back to life

Suspect
Production Co.: Sony Pictures TV/25 C Prods.
Production Team: Ed Zuckerman, Guy Ritchie, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly
Stylish, fast-paced procedural drama uncovering the perpetrator by tracing the suspects

Women's Murder Club
Production Co.: 20th Century Fox TV
Production Team: Liz Craft, Sarah Fain, Brett Ratner, James Patterson, Joe Simpson, Shawn Ryan
Four girlfriends solve tough murder cases. Based on James Patterson's series of mystery books

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/features/e3ibc9653989093dd917e5d5ef43e29eab9

The 2007-08 TV Season
CBS Drama Pilots
By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter

When CBS brass said in the fall that they are throwing out the rule book this development season, they weren't kidding.

Described by vp drama development Robert Zotnowski as "eclectic," the network's drama pilot roster of nine projects, two fewer than last year, includes a murder mystery musical ("Viva Laughlin!") and projects about couple-swapping ("Swingtown"), exorcism ("Demons"), resurrection ("Babylon Fields") and a blood-sucking private eye ("Twilight").

"We feel with these unique shows we will appeal to our core viewers as well as bring in new eyeballs," says vp drama development Christina Davis, who oversees CBS' drama slate with Zotnowski.

Last development season, CBS took risks with the serialized postapocalyptic drama

"Jericho," which worked, and with the intense, dark caper "Smith," which didn't.

With the safety net of having the strongest overall drama lineup on television, CBS decided to go for an even riskier high-wire act this time around, going for "inventive," "unconventional," "out-of-the-box" projects, Davis and Zotnowski note.

"Each has an attention-grabbing element, but at its center, there is an emotionally complicated story (and) highly relatable storytelling," Zotnowski says.

Babylon Fields
Production Co.: 20th Century Fox TV
Production Team: Michael Atkinson, Gerald Cuesta, Michael Cuesta
Sardonic, apocalyptic comedic drama in which the dead are resurrected and try to resume their former lives. As a result, lives are regained, families restored and old wounds are reopened

Demons
Production Co.: CBS Paramount Network TV
Production Team: Barbara Hall, Joe Roth, Nina Lederman
Ex-Jesuit priest/psychlogist performs exorcisms, fighting the demons in his life and the lives of others

Los Duques
Production Co.: CBS Paramount Network TV
Production Team: Cynthia Cidre, Jonathan Prince, Polly Anthony, Jimmy Iovine
Follows the lives of three generations of a powerful Latin American family in South Florida who work in the rum business

Protect and Serve
Production Co.: NBC Universal TV Studio
Production Team: Gary Scott Thompson, Mark Gibson, Philip Halprin
Follows the lives of street cops in suburban Los Angeles as they deal with the trials and tribulations of police life on and off the job

Untitled Barry Schindel (presentation)
Production Co.: CBS Paramount Network TV/Scott Free Prods.
Production Team: Barry Schindel, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, David Zucker
Follows the private lives and cases of a team of dedicated public defenders; Janeane Garofalo, Rachel Carpani co-star

Skip Tracer
Production Co.: CBS Paramount Network TV
Production Team: Mitchell Burgess, Robin Green, Tucker Tooley, Stephen Dorff
Centers on a so-called skip tracer -- a guy who finds people who have tried to disappear -- who works in Los Angeles; Dorff stars

Swingtown
Production Co.: CBS Paramount Network TV
Production Team: Mike Kelley, Alan Poul
Revolves around married couples in 1970s suburbia who explore partner-swapping and open marriages

Twilight (presentation)
Production Co.: Warner Bros. TV
Production Team: Trevor Munson, Ron Koslow, Joel Silver, Gerard Bocaccio
Private investigator/vampire struggles with the repercussions of immortality, vampire adversaries and his love for a mortal

Viva Laughlin!
Production Co.: SPT/BBC Worldwide Prods./CBS Par TV/Seed Prods.
Production Team: Bob Lowry, Hugh Jackman, John Palermo, Paul Telegdy, Peter Bowker, Gabriele Muccino
Musical about a family man who dreams of opening a casino in Laughlin, Nev. Based on BBC's "Viva Blackpool!"

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/features/e3ibc9653989093dd91a6ae8d3b0a1fd676

The 2007-08 TV Season
Fox Drama Pilots
By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter

Leveraging Fox's biggest assets, "American Idol" and "House," with "bold, sometimes challenging, quality, take-notice offerings" is how senior vp drama development Ted Gold sums up the network's development strategy this season.

After a weak start to the season, in which Fox's new dramas "Vanished," "Justice" and "Standoff" failed to gain traction with viewers, the network is taking big swings with its 2007-08 development.

The network's 10 drama pilots -- the same number as last year -- include the big-budget "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," a follow-up to the "Terminator" movies. The thriller, directed and executive produced by David Nutter, is shaping up "to be one of the biggest action pieces out there," Gold says.

On the sci-fi front, Fox also is bringing a whole new dimension to the term "sleeper cell" with its adaptation of the graphic novel "Them." Executive produced and directed by "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" helmer Jonathan Mostow, it revolves around extraterrestrials infiltrating our world.

The high-concept "New Amsterdam," about a New York detective who is immortal, lured Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallstrom to television. Gold says he knows why.

"It's one of the best scripts I've ever read," Gold says. "It has a core procedural to it, and underneath, there is romanticism."

With most networks opting for lighter, more escapist fare this development season, Fox isn't shying away from darker, more challenging concepts like "K-Ville," a cop drama set in post-Katrina New Orleans.

"It's a hot-button place, and the show has relevant issues for viewers," Gold says.

The Apostles
Production Co.: 20th Century Fox TV
Production Team: Chuck Pratt
Cop drama with soapy elements that follows officers in Simi Valley, Calif., in their off-duty time with their families

Canterbury's Law
Production Co.: Sony Pictures TV/Apostle
Production Team: Dave Erickson, Denis Leary, Jim Serpico
Rebellious female defense attorney pushes the boundaries of the law to protect innocent clients

The Cure
Production Co.: Warner Bros. TV/Weed Road Pictures
Production Team: Patrick Massett, John Zinman, Akiva Goldsman, Stephanie Koff, Brittany Lovett, Danny Cannon
Group cuts through the red tape of medical bureaucracy -- often at their own peril -- to get care to those who need it most

K-Ville
Production Co.: 20th Century Fox TV
Production Team: Jonathan Lisco
Cops in post-Katrina New Orleans face the challenges of enforcing the law in a city whose infrastructure has been completely upended

New Amsterdam
Production Co.: Regency TV/Scarlet Fire/Sarabande/Laha
Production Team: Allan Loeb, Christian Taylor, Steven Pearl, David Manson, Lasse Hallstrom, Leslie Holleran
Man (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) cursed with immortality works as a New York homicide detective

NSA Innocent
Production Co.: 20th Century Fox TV/Realtime Prods.
Production Team: Bob Cochran, David Ehrman, Jon Cassar, Joel Surnow, Howard Gordon
Family man winds up recruited by the NSA as a spy within the defense contracting company he works for

Philadelphia General
Production Co.: 20th Century Fox TV
Production Team: Samantha Goodman, Andrew Stern, Barry Josephson, Eileen Gallagher, Ann McManus, P.J. Hogan
Comedic drama about the lives and loves of a team of nurses in a big-city hospital

Sarah Connor Chronicles
Production Co.: Warner Bros. TV/C-2 Pictures
Production Team: Josh Friedman, David Nutter, James Middleton, Mario Kassar, Andrew Vajna, Joel Michaels
Based on the characters from the "Terminator" franchise, it follows Connor (Lena Headey) and her son John (Thomas Dekker) in present-day Los Angeles as they fight attackers from the future in a battle for survival of the human race

Supreme Courtships
Production Co.: 20th Century Fox TV/Adelstein Prods.
Production Team: Gary Tieche, Marty Adelstein, Michael Thorn
Soapy comedic drama about the personal and professional lives of six Supreme Court clerks and the judges they work for

Them
Production Co.: CBS Par TV/Circle of Confusion Prods.
Production Team: Jonathan Mostow, David Eick, John McNamara, David Engel, David Alpert, Lawrence Mattis
Centers on an extraterrestrial sleeper cell that has infiltrated the human race. The cell's mission is compromised when its members begin to express human emotions. Based on the graphic novel

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/features/e3ibc9653989093dd91769226429b563e66

The 2007-08 TV Season
NBC Drama Pilots
By Nellie Andreeva The Hollywood Reporter

NBC's hourlong development is across the board this year, and that's just fine with Katie O'Connell, the network's senior vp drama development, who is overseeing her first development slate since taking the top drama post in May.

"We try to pick up the best scripts and the ones we feel we can execute," O'Connell says. "We pick up shows that we think would find a place on the schedule."

Speaking of NBC's schedule, O'Connell says she and her team aren't necessarily trying to find a companion piece for the network's breakout hit "Heroes," though the "re-imagination" of "The Bionic Woman" for contemporary times would seem like a good fit.

Also on NBC's menu this season are the "Sex and the City"-esque "Lipstick Jungle"; a hard-boiled City Hall piece ("M.O.N.Y.," directed by Spike Lee); a few offbeat dramas ("Chuck," the David Semel-directed "Life"); and "Ft. Pit," from Denis Leary and Peter Tolan, which sounds like it falls somewhere between "Rescue Me" and "The Job."

"One thing we set out to do is to have a little bit more of a female focus than (NBC has had) in the past and to go for lighter crime procedurals," O'Connell notes, pointing to the untitled show centering on a female cop from David Shore, creator and executive producer of Fox's "House."

Overall, NBC's eight pilots are on par with the eight one-hours the network greenlighted last season.

The Bionic Woman
Production Co.: NBC Universal TV Studio
Production Team: David Eick, Laeta Kalogridis, Bruno Heller, Michael Dinner
Re-imagination of the 1970s series with focus on women's place in the world today

Chuck
Production Co.: Warner Bros. TV
Production Team: Josh Schwartz, Chris Fedak, McG, Peter Johnson
Unlikely hero undertakes missions every week while still working at the "Geek Squad"; a comedic Jason Bourne

Ft. Pit
Production Co.: Sony Pictures TV/Apostle
Production Team: Peter Tolan, Michael Chernuchin, Denis Leary, Jim Serpico
Drama with comedic elements set at one of the worst police precincts in Brooklyn with rampant crime where bad cops are sent to live out their careers and rookie cops with no connections are stationed; James Badge Dale, Michael Rispoli co-star

Journeyman
Production Co.: 20th Century Fox TV
Production Team: Kevin Falls, Alex Graves
Epic fantasy about a man who travels back in time to alter and fix the lives of people in trouble, but by recalibrating the past, he sometimes alters the future

Life
Production Co.: NBC Universal TV Studio
Production Team: Rand Ravich, Farr Shariat, David Semel
Offbeat drama about an ex-cop (Damian Lewis) who rejoins the force after being wrongly imprisoned for years

Lipstick Jungle
Production Co.: NBC Universal TV Studio
Production Team: DeAnn Heline, Eileen Heisler, Candace Bushnell
Trio of power-hungry, rich professional women will do anything in their power to maintain their status in New York. Based on Bushnell's novel.

M.O.N.Y.
Production Co.: NBC Uni TV Studio/Fatima Prods./Airwaves Entertainment
Production Team: Tom Fontana, Barry Levinson
Surprising and unlikely everyman becomes mayor of New York. He shoots from the gut, makes mistakes and hopefully wins the hearts of the city's residents

Untitled Shore/Blake
Production Co.: NBC Universal TV Studio
Production Team: David Shore, Peter Blake
Light ensemble drama with procedural elements that centers on a female cop played by Famke Janssen, surrounded by an ensemble cast

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/features/e3ibc9653989093dd917d0d815354fc5967

The 2007-08 TV Season
The CW Drama Pilots
By Kimberly Nordyke The Hollywood Reporter

The young-adult demo always was top of mind for the CW drama development executives this year -- even if it meant passing on some appealing projects.

"We had to eliminate certain projects that were not right for us but would have been great for other broadcast networks that go after 18-49," says Thom Sherman, executive vp drama development at the CW, which targets adults 18-34. "We were always cognizant of the demo."

But what the network was able to secure in its first full development season, Sherman says, was a strong roster of talent, including "high-quality writers" and "young, fresh voices." Among the five projects on the slate -- one more than last year -- are "Gossip Girl," from "The O.C.'s" Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, about a secretive tell-all blogger, and untitled Tom Wheeler, described as being in the spirit of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Animal House."

This season, the CW struck out with its first new drama offering, the short-lived "Runaway." (Its second new drama, "Hidden Palms," premieres this year.) But Sherman, who joined the network in June, says the projects on the slate for 2007-08 were selected because they will draw the attention of the network's target viewership.

"All of these projects have something conceptual that we can really promote: They will be noisy," he says.

Gossip Girl
Production Co.: Warner Bros. TV/Alloy
Production Team: Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, Bob Levy, Leslie ******stein
Based on the best-selling book series about the lives of rich youngsters and their parents in New York City

Gravity (presentation)
Production Co.: CBS Paramount Network TV/DreamWorks TV
Production Team: Caleb Kane, Charles Segars, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey
Follows in cinema verite style a sexy ensemble of rookie cops and their training officers in Los Angeles beginning with the rookies' first day

Reaper
Production Co.: Touchstone TV/Mark Gordon Co.
Production Team: Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters, Mark Gordon, Deborah Spera
Comedic drama about a 21-year-old slacker who becomes the devil's bounty hunter, retrieving souls escaped from hell

Untitled South Africa
Production Co.: CBS Paramount Network TV/Company Pictures
Production Team: Michael Rauch, Charlie Pattinson, George Faber
New York veterinarian moves his second wife and their two sets of children to a South African game reserve run by his father-in-law. Based on the ITV series "Wild at Heart"

Untitled Tom Wheeler (presentation)
Production Co.: Warner Bros. TV/Class IV
Production Team: Tom Wheeler, Steve Pearlman, Andrew Plotkin
Comedic drama about two cheeky graduate students who use their skills to help solve crimes

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/features/e3ibc9653989093dd91b6f7cd9c6b61173d

(From Marc Berman’s Thurssday, Feb. 1, 2007, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Ratings Box:
What’s Hot/What’s Not

More January 2007 Cable Network Highlights:

FX:
FX reached a new zenith among key young adult demographics in Jan. 2007, with 822,000 adults 18-49 (27,000 more than the previous high of 795,000 in July 2004) and 452,000 adults 18-34 (22,000 above the previous high of 430,000 in Sept. 2006). FX also rose to its best January to-date in household rating (1.13) and total viewers (1.39 million).

Hallmark Channel:
Feel-good Hallmark Channel broke the January record books in prime time, with a 1.2 household rating and 926,000 households, ranking No. 8 among all ad-supported networks. Hallmark Channel also delivered its highest-rated January ever among target women 25-54 (184,000) and women 18-49 (133,000).

USA:
USA finished Jan. 2007 as the top-rated cable network in prime time in total viewers (2.7 million), adults 18-49 (1.2 million), adults 25-54 (1.2 million) and adults 18-34 (500,000). USA, in fact, was home to more than half of the top 20 adult 25-54 telecasts.

Buena Vista Syndicated Rating Highlights:
Based on ratings for the week of Jan. 15, Buena Vista’s Live With Regis and Kelly and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire rose to season high performances. Live With Regis and Kelly scored a 3.8 in households -- up six percent week-to-week. The underrated Millionaire notched a 3.7 -- the only game show to post growth over the comparable year-ago week, with an increase of three percent.

Speaking of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire:
The game show will kick-off the month of February with Play to Pay for Your Wedding Week, with engaged couples playing as a team in the Millionaire hot seat. Also in February, and airing from the 19th to the 23rd, is Million Dollar Movie Week, where the hot seat contestants will try to win $1 million by answering 15 movie-themed questions.

Theatrical Troy Scores on Hallmark Channel:
The basic cable premiere of Brad Pitt theatrical Troy on Saturday, Jan. 27 was the fifth highest-rated prime time movie of the evening, with 4.2 million total viewers. Troy also cracked the top five in the 9-11 p.m. block in total viewers, adults 25-54 and women 25-54.

Season-High Gilmore Girls on the CW:
Veteran CW drama The Gilmore Girls came back to life on Tuesday, with a season-high 4.1/10 among key women 18-34. Comparably, that was its best performance in the demo since Jan. 10, 2006. Gilmore Girls also scored its best among adults 18-34, with a 2.5/ 7.

Syndication Talk Show Scorecard:
Looking for an update on how your favorite – or not so favorite – syndicated daytime talk shows are performing this season? What follows is the season to-date (Sept. 18, 2006 – Jan. 21, 2007) ratings in households and key women 25-54 (with percent change from the comparable year-ago period in parentheses for all established series).

Households:
Oprah (CBS Television Distribution Group): 6.6 rating (-10)
Dr. Phil (CBS): 5.0 (- 4)
Live With Regis & Kelly (Buena Vista): 3.4 (- 3)
Maury (NBC Universal): 2.3 (-18)
Rachael Ray (CBS): 2.2
Ellen (Warner Bros.): 2.1 (-13)
Jerry Springer (NBCU): 1.7 (-15)
Montel (CBS): 1.7 (-19)
Tyra Banks (Warner Bros.): 1.5 (- 6)
Martha (NBCU): 1.4 (-18)
Dr. Keith (Warner Bros.): 1.0
Megan Mullally (NBCU) and Greg Behrendt (Sony Pictures Television): 1.8 each

Women 25-54:
Oprah: 4.8 (- 8)
Dr. Phil: 3.3 (no change)
Live With Regis & Kelly: 2.1 (no change)
Maury: 1.6 (-11)
Rachael Ray: 1.4
Ellen: 1.4 (-18)
Montel: 1.2 (- 8)
Tyra Banks: 1.0 (- 9)
Jerry Springer: 0.9 (-25)
Martha: 0.8 (-20)
Dr. Keith: 0.7
Greg Behrendt and Megan Mullally (0.5 each)

Since Tyra’s audience is more targeted to women 18-34, you may want to also note that a 1.1 rating season to-date in the demo is down by 21 percent year-to-year.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

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

Upcoming Premieres
(Updated February 1st, 2007) It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is coming back to FX, isn't it? Last I heard, the 3rd season premiere was slated for summer 2007 (http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-fxrenewsitsalwayssunny,0,6450620.story?coll=zap-news-headlines).

Wednesday’s fast national over night prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted near the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Returning 'Bones' gets an 'Idol' boost
Fox drama jumps 50 percent over season average
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Feb. 1, 2007

“Bones” got quite a welcome-back present from its recent hiatus: an “American Idol” lead-out that helped boost it to a season best, well above its previous average.

“Bones” averaged a 4.2 adults 18-49 rating last night, according to Nielsen overnights, up 50 percent over its season-to-date average of 2.8. Though it remained in its usual 8 p.m. timeslot, it had an “Idol” lead-out at 9 p.m. for the first time after two weeks of two-hour episodes of the hit reality show.

The Fox drama dominated a weak timeslot, finishing nearly 40 percent ahead of CBS’s “CSI: NY” rerun, which took second in the hour.

“Bones” built throughout the hour, likely from viewers tuning in early in anticipation of “Idol.” It jumped from a 3.9 to a 4.6 in its second half hour. In fact, it may have even gotten a boost from viewers who thought “Idol” was once again two hours long and tuned in at 8 p.m. for that show.

It seems Fox could well maintain a big lead in the timeslot going forward. CBS recently canceled its 8 p.m. show, “Armed & Famous,” and NBC’s “Friday Night Lights,” though scoring its best rating since October last night, has struggled all season. Meanwhile, ABC rejiggered its lineup this week, and the results weren’t encouraging.

Though it finished second at 8 p.m. with a 2.8 for “George Lopez,” the acclaimed sitcom “Knights of Prosperity” lost nearly half that lead-in in its new 8:30 slot, averaging a 2.0.

Only the CW, whose strength is in adults 18-34, did much against “Bones.” “Beauty and the Geek” matched its season premiere ratings in that demo, tying with Univision for second in the timeslot with a 2.5.

Not surprisingly, Fox was first for the night among 18-49s with an 8.8 average rating and a 22 share. NBC was second at 3.0/8, CBS third at 2.8/7, ABC fourth at 2.1/5, Univision fifth at 1.7/4 and CW sixth at 1.4/3.

At 8 p.m. Fox led with a 4.2 for “Bones,” followed by a 2.6 for CBS for a repeat of “CSI: NY.” NBC was third with a 2.5 for “Lights,” with Univision and ABC tied for fourth at 2.4/, Univision for “La Fea Mas Bella” and ABC for “Lopez” (2.8) and “Knights” (2.0). That left CW sixth with a 2.0 for “Geek.”

Fox led again at 9 p.m. this time with a 13.4 for “American Idol.” NBC was second with a 3.1 for “Deal or No Deal,” CBS third with a 2.7 for a repeat of “Criminal Minds” and ABC fourth with a 2.0 average for “According to Jim” (2.2) and “In Case of Emergency” (2.8). Univision was fifth with a 1.7 for “Mundo de Fieras” and CW sixth with a 0.7 for a “One Tree Hill” rerun.

NBC took the lead at 10 p.m. with a 3.4 for “Medium,” followed by a 3.2 for CBS for another “CSI: NY” repeat. ABC was third with a 2.0 for “Primetime” and Univision fourth with a 1.0 for “Don Francisco Presenta.”

Among households, Fox led the night rather easily with a 12.8 average rating and a 19 share. CBS was second at 6.4/10, NBC third at 6.1/9, ABC fourth at 3.9/6, Univision fifth at 2.2/3 and CW sixth at 1.9/3.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_9915.asp

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is coming back to FX, isn't it? Last I heard, the 3rd season premiere was slated for summer 2007 (http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-fxrenewsitsalwayssunny,0,6450620.story?coll=zap-news-headlines).


Thanks for the reminder about "Philadelphia" Jim.

Thanks for the reminder about "Philadelphia" Jim. No problem. I've been anxiously waiting for its return. :D

Good news about Bones. This week's episode may have been its best to date. I could see people getting hooked after this episode.

Critic’s Notebook
Sitcoms & viewers:
Plight of the living dead
By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News Thu, Feb. 01, 2007

TV comedy may not be dead, but it's possible that the people who like watching it are.

And if not dead, then over 50, which in network TV is pretty much the same thing.

How else to explain the presence of only a single half-hour comedy in Nielsen's Top 10?

The highest-rated sitcom - No. 7 for last week and No. 15 for the season to date - is CBS' "Two and a Half Men," with a weekly average of just under 15 million viewers, of whom only an estimated 6.2 million are 18- to 49-year-olds, the demographic most advertisers pay to reach.

CBS' "The New Adventures of Old Christine" is next, at No. 16 for the week, No. 31 for the season, averaging 11.8 million viewers, 5 million of them 18-to-49.

You'll have to scroll down Nielsen Media Research's season-to-date report to No. 45 to find one of the single-camera, laugh-track-free half-hours currently considered to be the future of television comedy.

That would be NBC's "My Name Is Earl," which is averaging 9.5 million viewers a week, about 5.3 million of them 18-to-49.

According to Nielsen, more than 112 million people watched prime-time television on an average Thursday in November. Where did the rest of them go?

What about NBC's "The Office"? Funniest show on television, right? Tell it to all the people who aren't among the 8.8 million Nielsen says are watching. (If you're keeping score at home, 5.56 million "Office"-watchers are 18-to-49, which translates, I guess, into fewer dead people than "Two and a Half Men," but still seems like an underwhelming number, given that more than 19 million in that age group found time, twice last week, for "American Idol.")

The news is even worse for some other comedies, including NBC's "30 Rock," ranked 101st with 5.85 million total viewers, 3.39 million of them 18-49.

Thanks to Alec Baldwin - who at 48 only has a bit more than a year left before NBC puts a mirror in front of his face to see if he's still breathing - "30 Rock" is getting funnier by the week. It has a particularly good episode tonight (9:30 p.m., Channel 10), with Isabella Rossellini (already dead at 54) guest-starring as his ex-wife.

Still, it remains only a blip on Nielsen's radar, and I can't help wondering whether television, in its YouTube-fueled obsession with What Makes Young People Laugh, might not have wandered into the tricky territory of What Makes Picky People Laugh.

I'd say smart people, but since the picky people include TV critics, that might be immodest. Not to mention stupid.

Still, as a professional picky person - and the mother of sons - I do have some ideas about What Makes Young People Laugh.

That would be farting, folks.

Beyond farting, many young people - none related to me, I hope - enjoy selfishness and making fun of the people they've been taught not to make fun of since kindergarten.

Comedian Sarah Silverman knows that, and her new show, "The Sarah Silverman Program" (10:30 p.m., Comedy Central) manages to hit all those youth-friendly notes in tonight's premiere, which features a cameo by "Heroes" star Masi Oka as a store clerk.

Young or not, some picky people will also find Silverman funny, if only for the contrast between that sitcom-perfect face and the 12-year-old boy who lives behind it. You have to admire any woman in Hollywood who'd rather pretend to poop in her pants on Comedy Central than play along with the network grown-ups and end up as some fat guy's improbably pretty wife.

Still, it would be a mistake to assume that the market for poopie pants is ever going to be big enough to save sitcoms.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/television//16594134.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

I'm not sure how well that's going to go, Liman directing or not. They cast Jordana Brewster as Mrs. Smith. No offense to Jordana, she's 'very pretty', but Angelina is SMOKING HOT and a much better actress to boot. :-)

After watching My Boys (which I've grown to like) I can't see her as an a gun toting assassin.

Has My Boys only been renewed for one more run? If both of those shows are on at the same time it's going to make Mr and Mrs Smith even less convincingly cast.

(Be warned: spoilers abound about the shows mentioned.)
Critic’s Notebook
Watching:
“Veronica Mars,” “Gilmore Girls,” “House,” “Friday Night Lights”
By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal blog Feb. 1, 2007

Thanks to the completion of a couple of projects and weather that makes me want to stay indoors, I’ve been keeping better pace with my TV faves of late. …

First of all, loved the use of Leonard Cohen’s “A Thousand Kisses Deep” on “Veronica Mars.” Good blending of a song I like with a show I like. Beyond that, thought this “VM” had a better handle on the self-contained story than last week’s. And the hooker-and-the-geek story was handled rather well; we knew they were doomed, but it kept defying our cynicism about the hooker.

On the other hand, Veronica’s antennae should have gone up when Madison appeared, and should have been vibrating like a theremin when Logan said he had been with someone who disgusted him. And the soapy nature of Logan-Veronica is beginning to wear me out.

Also felt a little tired about “Gilmore Girls,” even though I am a longtime member of the Lorelai Belongs With Luke Association. Christopher’s reaction felt excessive, and Lorelai failed to make the most obvious point — that Christopher is not the second choice, he was the first choice, long before she knew Luke. Jackson’s non-vasectomy was sort of funny but, even by “GG” standards, tough to buy: Sookie would have known that she was pregnant, for one thing, and Jackson would have had clear signs of a vasectomy if he had really had one. On the plus side, though, we’ll always have Paris — who can make even an inspiring speech about friendship sound hostile. …

Speaking of hostile, I can understand why “House” did this week’s episode, even if I found it slow and a little labored. Still, the show has to remind of periodically of a couple of things. First, that he’s a good doctor (underscored every time they figured out a mystery case) even if he is an awful human being. Second, that he’s an awful human being for a reason — because, if we don’t understand that, then he becomes just a nasty piece of work and not nearly so amusing to watch. Coming off an arc that ended with House having conned the court and his friends, continuing to see House as an unprincipled slave to his addictions, the point about rotten-for-a-reason had to be made in a forceful way. Hence the abuse excuse — wonderfully acted by Hugh Laurie, if not all that well written.

Finally, last night’s “Friday Night Lights” actually allowed some good cheer at the end of the episode — the drunken dad’s making amends, Slash back in the game, the coach realizing that he had pushed too hard — albeit with some sadness — Saracen’s stupid lie and damage to his relationship with the coach’s daughter. And I continue to like the way Kyle Chandler plays the coach as audibly unsentimental — the no-hug-coming finish to Slash’s reinstatement made the moment.

http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/heldenfiles/?p=943#more-943

...Has My Boys only been renewed for one more run? If both of those shows are on at the same time it's going to make Mr and Mrs Smith even less convincingly cast.


I believe it has -- but (in a quick look) can find no supporting evidence.

I omitted BL...do you know when it returns?

June 3rd??

(Last update: 9:09 AM PT Thursday, February 1st -- Wednesday's Metered Market ratings added)
Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
The Knights of Prosperity (ABC)
Friday Night Lights (NBC)
According to Jim (ABC)
In Case of Emergency (ABC)

Ratings Breakdown:

Second in the 8 p.m. hour was a repeat of CBS’ CSI: NY at 8.55 million viewers and a 2.6/ 7 among adults 18-49. Although ABC rearranged its Wednesday sitcom line-up in the hopes of fueling interest in The Knights of Prosperity, the recently introduced sitcom plummeted to 5.25 million viewers (#4) and a last-place 2.0/ 5 among adults 18-49 at 8:30 p.m. Retention for The Knights of Prosperity out of lead-in George Lopez (Viewers: #3, 7.82 million; A18-49: #2, 2.8/ 8) was just 67 percent in total viewers and 71 percent among adults 18-49.

Also at 8 p.m. was NBC’s recently relocated Friday Night Lights (Viewers: #4, 6.86 million; A18-49: #3, 2.5/ 7) and the CW’s consistent Beauty and the Geek (Viewers: #5, 4.07 million; A18-49: #5, 2.1/ 5).

Okay, so I see from that, George Lopez beat out FNL. I'm still confounded by that, but more importantly what does this mean for FNL? It barely scraped by Knights. if it's not going to get a ratings boost running up against, to be honest, an extremely average sitcom, how bad is it going to perform in any other timeslot facing off against other dramas?

Right now I'm just hoping it makes it to the end of the season. I've got my fingers crossed that it gets picked up by FX if it doesn't get renewed by NBC. I can see it fitting in with their lineup nicely, even if it doesn't generate a huge boost in ratings for them.

After watching My Boys (which I've grown to like) I can't see her as an a gun toting assassin.

Has My Boys only been renewed for one more run? If both of those shows are on at the same time it's going to make Mr and Mrs Smith even less convincingly cast.

My Boys (http://imdb.com/title/tt0496356/) on TBS stars Jordana Spiro, not Jordana Brewster.

My Boys (http://imdb.com/title/tt0496356/) on TBS stars Jordana Spiro, not Jordana Brewster.

Ah .... thanks for pointing that out. I feel like an idiot now. :rolleyes:

I still don't think Brewster looks like an assassin but it makes more sense at least!

Okay, so I see from that, George Lopez beat out FNL. I'm still confounded by that, but more importantly what does this mean for FNL? It barely scraped by Knights. if it's not going to get a ratings boost running up against, to be honest, an extremely average sitcom, how bad is it going to perform in any other timeslot facing off against other dramas?

Right now I'm just hoping it makes it to the end of the season. I've got my fingers crossed that it gets picked up by FX if it doesn't get renewed by NBC. I can see it fitting in with their lineup nicely, even if it doesn't generate a huge boost in ratings for them.


I would love to see some hope for FNL, which has become one of my favorite TV shows -- ever.

But I can't find any ray of sunshine, aside from Kevin Reilly's rather strong assertion that he'll do whatever he can for it.

As for FX, I suspect it is far too expensive. It might make some sense for HBO or Showtime, which could garner all the critical praise, do 12-episode yearly arcs (to relate to the high school football schedule) and perhaps make their money back with DVD sales.

I'm not sure how well that's going to go, Liman directing or not. They cast Jordana Brewster as Mrs. Smith. No offense to Jordana, she's 'very pretty', but Angelina is SMOKING HOT and a much better actress to boot. :-)

THIS (http://imdb.com/name/nm0108287/) is Jordana Brewster.

I just read her bio and there may be more to this gal than meets the eye.

Ah .... thanks for pointing that out. I feel like an idiot now. :rolleyes:

I still don't think Brewster looks like an assassin but it makes more sense at least!

Don't feel bad. I make mistakes by the bushel here -- and folks point them out all the time. :)

As for FX, I suspect it is far too expensive. It might make some sense for HBO or Showtime, which could garner all the critical praise, do 12-episode yearly arcs (to relate to the high school football schedule) and perhaps make their money back with DVD sales.

HBO would have been my preferred choice, but would the viewers follow to a pay station? What's the track record like for HBO? Have they picked up shows from other networks previously? I can't remember.

Not that I can recall offhand.

Another thread notes that "Survivor: Fiji" is now listed by the CBS website as being broadcast in HD.

It is also listed in HD at the KCBS TV (Los Angeles) website.


Maybe, just maybe....

http://cbs2.com/programming

Ah .... thanks for pointing that out. I feel like an idiot now. :rolleyes:

I still don't think Brewster looks like an assassin but it makes more sense at least!

No biggie... I agree with you that Brewster doesn't really fit the role. (And neither does Spiro.)

Critic’s Notebook
February sweeps a snore
By Bill Goodykoontz The Arizona Republic Feb. 1, 2007

The February sweeps are upon us!

Yawn.

February is still one of the months, along with November and May, used for setting television ad rates. But really, with all the technological advances in the past year or two - downloads to iPods and cellphones and such - who watches TV that way anymore?

OK, most of us.

But if I can catch a super-boffo, jazzed-up version of Lost online the next day, why worry about missing it? This isn't to say you shouldn't try to watch 24 or Friday Night Lights, or whatever your favorite network show is, during sweeps. You should. They don't rack up guest stars and Very Special Moments for nothing.

But there are other shows out there, thriving (at least critically) during sweeps, and other times, as well. Some you may know, some you probably don't. But if you tire of the hype surrounding sweeps, there are some alternatives out there in the multichannel universe. Here are seven:

The Dresden Files
10 p.m. Sundays on Sci Fi Channel.

It's not a show for the ages, like its network-mate Battlestar Galactica (which is not included on this list simply because one assumes that you know you should be watching that already). But this tale of Harry Dresden (former 24 villain Paul Blackthorne), a private eye who also happens to be, um, a wizard - come on, it's Sci Fi - is a lot of fun. Also pretty creepy, to boot. And that's a good thing. This will sound like a cheap shot, but it's not meant to be: You don't have to be a pathetic sci-fi geek to really like this show. Now, back to the lab, Poindexter.

Extras
11 p.m. Sundays on HBO.

Genius. Seriously, that's the best word to describe Ricky Gervais, who created this as a follow-up to the equally brilliant original version of The Office. It's the tale of Andy Millman (Gervais), a wannabe actor who can't quite catch on (thus the title - his and his friends' usual form of employment). This season he has tasted success with a TV show - with results that predictably turn sour. Hasn't been so much fun to watch someone squirm since George Costanza got engaged. Lots of big-name guests; check out David Bowie's hilarious musical filleting of Andy on YouTube.

The Naked Trucker & T-Bones
11:30 p.m. Wednesdays on Comedy Central (repeated often).

In truth, the TV show isn't nearly as funny as watching these guys - David Koechner and Dave "Gruber" Allen - perform live. But you at least get a glimpse of their weird act, with Koechner (T-Bones) and Allen (Trucker) as a couple of misfits riding around the country, telling bizarre tales, singing twisted country songs and introducing film clips, which, alas, aren't quite so funny. But these guys are vets; Koechner, in particular, often gets off a knee-weakening bit. And the sight of Allen wearing only his guitar is, well, unusual to say the least.

Countdown With Keith Olbermann
6 p.m. weeknights on MSNBC (repeated at 10p.m.).

If you're interested in politics, you've probably caught some of Olbermann's "special comments" on YouTube of late, in which he dismantles President Bush and his policies, so far the only literate public commentator to do so. He also takes on Fox News, which is good for his ratings. But don't let the newfound attention take away from the show's big draw, which is Olbermann's take on the day's top stories. You won't laugh like you do at The Daily Show (another show I'm just assuming is a must on your list), but you'll learn more.
Slings & Arrows
Premieres at 8 p.m. Feb. 18 on the Sundance Channel.

It's like Molson beer - a Canadian import, though in this case a lot more satisfying. The show is about a Shakespeare festival and the people behind it - the same way The Office is about a paper company. As co-creator Mark McKinney (formerly of Kids in the Hall) put it recently, "We do comedy with a K. That's important." They're also smart with a . . . well, an S, I guess. Sorry. They're the comics. This season: They tackle - or get tackled by - King Lear. Can't wait.

The State Within
Premieres at 9 p.m. Feb. 17 on BBC America.

A plane on its way to England from Washington explodes. A terrorist attack? Or something else? Jason Isaacs and Sharon Gless - yes, Cagney of Cagney & Lacey - star as the British ambassador and U.S. secretary of Defense, respectively. Plenty of twists and turns and cool British accents. American networks have pretty much given up on the sweeps miniseries. If they made more like this, maybe they wouldn't have.

Sit Down Comedy With David Steinberg
10 p.m. Feb. 21 on TV Land.

Not a lot of bigger names in comedy than the guest on this night - Jerry Seinfeld (though one of the few, Jon Stewart, visits in March). If you've never seen Sit Down Comedy, this is a perfect time to start. It's just Steinberg chatting with a comic in front of an audience, an age-old format, but it's especially effective here. Because Steinberg is a comic himself, he's relaxed and knowledgeable; for the same reasons, the comics are, as well. Imagine Inside the Actors Studio without all the bootlicking and pained expressions. And a lot more laughs.

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/tv/articles/0201goody0201.html

Fredfa,

Still watching Studio 60? I'm pretty sure I gave up on it this week.

All of those drama pilots sound just like a show that is already on, or was cancelled within the last 5 years.

A show about an ex-priest chasing demons = Miracles

A show about a time traveller going into the past to fix things = Heroes

etc...

All of those drama pilots sound just like a show that is already on, or was cancelled within the last 5 years.

A show about an ex-priest chasing demons = Miracles

A show about a time traveller going into the past to fix things = Heroes

etc...

Not to the mention the one with the vampire who is a PI and falls in love with a human woman = Angel

Fredfa,

Still watching Studio 60? I'm pretty sure I gave up on it this week.


Yes, still watching. But this week was about the poorest episode so far IMO..

It has moved from a show I can't wait to see (even watching it on the SD east coast feed) to one I see whenever I get to it -- in this week's case last night.

TV Notebook
MNTV Switches Tactics
Unveils Revamped Spring Schedule
By Jim Benson Broadcasting & Cable 2/1/2007

New MyNetworkTV President Greg Meidel Thursday unveiled a new spring schedule starting March 8, which includes sports, movies, two nights of telenovelas—down from six—and one special, to help the ratings-challenged netlet gain some traction.

The line-up will include the anticipated debut of International Fight League’s Total Impact, as well as two nights of back to back telenovela-inspired episodes from the third 13-week installment. The new dramas, American Heiress and Saints & Sinners, are already in production.

Meidel has scrapped telenovela recaps on Saturdays in favor of Total Impact reruns.
The changes will follow the additions of Thursday and Friday MyMovie nights, which will also debut on March 8 with The Rundown,” starring The Rock. Rocky IV is also on the schedule.

In making the announcement, Meidel said, “The face of MyNetworkTV is changing and this new lineup is filled with a variety of choices that allows us to expand our programming to a wider audience and generate momentum and excitement for the network.”

It was also announced that The World Music Awards will be presented on Saturday, March 10.
Here is the schedule (all times are Eastern).

Mondays
8-10 p.m. --- International Fight League’s Total Impact

Tuesdays
8-10 p.m. --- American Heiress

Wednesdays
8-10 p.m. --- Saints & Sinners

Thursdays
8-10 p.m. --- My Thursday Night Movie

Fridays
8-10 p.m. --- My Friday Night Movie

Saturdays
8-10 p.m. --- Encore presentation of International Fight League’s Total Impact

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6412643.html?display=Breaking+News

The Digital Revolution
Survey Finds Majority of Americans Remain Unaware of DTV Transition
(Association of Public Television Stations news release)

WASHINGTON—January 31, 2007—The majority of U.S. households that receive their television signals over the air are still unaware of the digital TV transition even though an estimated 22 million over-the-air homes need to make some kind of digital decision by February 17, 2009, according to a Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) survey.

The bulk of the survey participants—61 percent—had no idea that the DTV transition was taking place. Ten percent said they had limited awareness, while 25 percent said they were somewhat aware or very aware. While some respondents were aware of the digital transition, 53 percent had no idea when analog transmissions were scheduled to be turned off.

In order for the DTV transition to be successful, consumers must be well-informed and primed to adapt successfully to the new technology. This cannot occur unless there is a comprehensive, coordinated national consumer outreach effort. Therefore, APTS is urging Congress to designate targeted funding for consumer outreach on the switch from analog to digital. During APTS Capitol Hill Day 2007 February 13-14 more than 200 executives and volunteer board members of local Public Television stations are scheduled to ask Congress to recognize Public Television’s unique outreach ability in the community and provide funding for those efforts.

“There are more than 21 million U.S. households that get their TV exclusively free and over the air, and we know these homes are heavy viewers of Public Television,” APTS President and CEO John Lawson said. “That puts us, working with our partners, in a strong position to provide information about the digital transition to the people who need it most.”

APTS is spearheading a coalition of trade and interest groups to compete for the $5 million Congress set aside for consumer education in last year’s DTV transition bill. The diverse group includes the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Consumer Electronics Association, American Library Association and Women Involved in Farm Economics. In addition, APTS is now a part of the DTV Transition Coalition, a separate but related effort led by the National Association of Broadcasters.

What to Opt For

The need for vigorous outreach efforts is evident when looking at analog consumers’ attitudes and awareness toward their options for digital TV reception after the transition. Roughly 45 percent of respondents to APTS’ survey said they will either “do nothing” or “don’t know” what option they will take to obtain digital signals. Nineteen percent will purchase a converter box, 17 percent are likely to sign up for cable TV service, and 9 percent will sign up for satellite TV. Another 9 percent indicated they would buy a digital television set so that they can continue to receive over-the-air broadcasts.

The survey also found that at least 38 percent of analog households would “definitely not” or “probably not” select a particular video service provider if they didn’t offer Public Television channels after the DTV transition. This suggests that the lack of Public Television offerings by video providers will cause a serious barrier to these analog households in choosing cable or satellite to receive digital television.

The survey results are based on an overall sample of 2,000 U.S. households conducted in the third quarter of 2006. Approximately 19 percent of these households said they receive television programming solely over the air – not having a subscription to either cable TV or satellite TV services. The survey was conducted for APTS by research firm ICR, Media, Pa.

http://www.apts.org/news/DTVSURVEY.cfm

Mediacom's Commisso Fires Back

The dueling press releases continue.

Yesterday it was Sinclair's turn to tell members of Congress how they felt (see this AVS post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9643741&&#post9643741)). Today, Mediacom CEO Rocco Commisso issued his blunt response (http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=98270&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=956981&highlight=).

"I am not surprised by Sinclair's arrogance in lecturing the leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee, including Senator Inouye, who was the principal sponsor of the retransmission consent provision in the 1992 Cable Act, on the meaning of that provision," Commisso said in today's release. "Sinclair's letter was typical of the 'we're untouchable' attitude that David Smith, Sinclair's CEO, has exhibited in all his dealings with Mediacom and the FCC."

By contrast, Commisso said the FCC does, in fact, have "the authority to take action to ensure that broadcasters do not use television viewers as pawns in their retransmission consent negotiations."

"While Sinclair's stock has gone up 50% in the past 4 months, the period in which the dispute with Mediacom has been public, enriching [Sinclair CEO] David Smith and his family, two million viewers in smaller and rural markets, many of them low income, have been left without access to Sinclair's stations," Commisso said. "In contrast to Smith's 'let them eat cake' attitude, Mediacom has provided, at no cost, tens of thousands of rabbit ear antennas to help members of the viewing public regain access to Sinclair's stations. However, many viewers are unable, even with such an antenna, to receive a good quality signal from Sinclair's UHF stations and need the improved quality provided by Mediacom's fiber optic broadband network in order to enjoy their television viewing."

Commisso also called on the FCC to stop Sinclair from using what he calls "abusive and flagrantly discriminatory tactics" in the dispute, including what he calls a "bounty payment" arrangement with DirecTV. And he said that if Sinclair's interpretation of the retransmission consent law is correct, Congress should change the law.

He also called for action before this Sunday's Super Bowl, but according to Sinclair's list, it appears that viewers of only one station -- KGAN in Cedar Rapids -- will be affected. And even there, viewers in the southern and extreme eastern portions of the market have access to overlapping CBS stations through Mediacom.

Click here (http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=98270&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=956981&highlight=) to see Mediacom's press release.

What a scattershot press release.

Mediacom really is scraping the nottom of the barrel.

I am hoping they don't have any CBS or Fox O&Os in their markets. If so,those viuewers better get ready for alternate programming sources.

I am no fan of Sinclair, but its position has been clear for years, and it has stuck to it. (And for those of us with long HD memories, it fought -- starting in the 1980s! -- for the best HD possible. It's tech guru, Mark Aitken is acknowledged to be among the savviest HD pros around.)

Sinclair finally got a deal done with Time Warner, just extended the deadline with Comcast, and is in the vanguard of the future: stations will be paid for retransmission.

Mediacom on the other hand.....

TV Notebook
MyNetworkTV Shuffles Schedule
By John Consoli MediaWeek Feb. 1, 2007

MyNetworkTV will alter its prime time programming schedule beginning Thursday, March 8, by cutting back on its nightly soap operas, and adding mixed martial arts competition on one night, and movies on two nights.

International Fight League’s Total Impact will air on Mondays from 8-10 p.m. Soap opera American Heiress will air on Turesday from 8-10 p.m. And soap Saints & Sinners will air Wednesday from 8-10 p.m. Movies will run on Thursday and Friday nights from 8-10 p.m. And Saturday, currently a night for repeat/catch up airings of the nightly soap operas, will now see a repeat presentation of Total Impact.

Among the movies scheduled to air are The Rundown, starring The Rock, and Rocky IV, starring Sylvester Stallone.

“The face of MyNetworkTV is changing and this new lineup is filled with a variety of choices that allows us to expand our programming to a wider audience and generate momentum and excitement for the network,” said Greg Meidel, president of the network.

The current soap operas, Wicked Wicked Games and Watch Over Me, have been generated tiny household ratings in the 0.5-0.6 range, each airing five nights a week for one hour with original episodes.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003540867

Critic’s Notebook
PBS moves Burns epic back a week;
tells crix, "OK, OK, we get it!"
By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn”

We actually groaned, we critics did, earlier this month, when PBS president Paula Kerger broke the news that "The War," Ken Burns' latest doc-tacular, would be airing in the teeth of fall network premieres, starting Sept. 16.

But the network has relented, and in a letter to critics today, informed us that "The War" will begin instead one week later, on Sept. 23, when it won't have to compete with every network program in creation for cover space in the nation's newspapers and magazines.

Here was the actual exchange between Kerger and crix at the TCA tour. The transcriber does not record the loud, anguished reaction by many in the room when the date was announced.

QUESTION: To follow up on that, Paula, right here. Is it
possible you might run it before the commercial season
starts; for instance, in the first couple of weeks in
September, as opposed to right hard against premiere week of
the commercial network?

PAULA KERGER: I think we're looking at the 17th [sic], is when
we're going to run it.

QUESTION: Not a good idea. Not a good idea. Difficult to
write about.

PAULA KERGER: I understand.

QUESTION: Perhaps this discussion might encourage you to
change that.

PAULA KERGER: Thank you for sharing.

Later, the questions persisted, so PBS chief content officer — that's his title — John Boland stepped up to the mic and explained further:

It's actually Sunday the 16th for four nights -- Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday -- and then the following Sunday for three nights: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. That Wednesday it begins to air weekly for seven consecutive weeks on Wednesday night. The weekend after that it's stacked on Saturday and Sunday. ... We'll also be offering it video on demand on cable. There may be some streaming of the episodes online. And it's going to be available in home video immediately. ... Yes, we know there's a lot going on on television, but we frankly think in this particular case this is the most important thing that's going on.

The problem, as Boland must have surely realized, was that that was not his call to make, and that PBS depends mightily on the nation's newspapers — who superserve the older demographic who make up the lion’s share of the PBS donor base — to get the word out. What is public TV going to do, guerrilla marketing on heavily-trafficked bridges? (Actually, that might be kinda fun ... right up until Congress revokes its budget.)

So today, we got a letter from Boland which began, "It was great to see you at press tour," yeah right, and continued,

“In setting the official broadcast schedule for THE WAR, we took a number of factors into consideration, including your important concerns. I’m happy to report that we have set the premiere for Sunday, September 23, a week later than the preliminary date that we discussed in PBS’ executive session. ... Luckily all of the “stars” aligned. Ken reports that with the new date THE WAR will premiere on the 17th anniversary of THE CIVIL WAR debut – to the minute.”

The 14-hour epic about World War II is told from the point of view of four American towns that sent their boys to fight. The two-minute trailer we saw looked fantastic, and a colleague, who's seen two hours, says it's even fantasticker than that.

I'm not the world's biggest Ken Burns fan. And actually, I'm not all that proud that it took a roomful of hostile critics to convince PBS, for once, not to self-destructively schedule something during commercial TV's biggest week. But I think this film deserves better, and for once, it got it, however marginally.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2007/01/pbs_moves_burns.html#more

Yes, still watching [Studio 60]. But this week was about the poorest episode so far IMO...

I'm in 'till the bitter end. Even second-rate Sorkin is still entertaining, but 'Studio 60' and 'FNL' are like the left/right sides of the brain and NBC can't really afford to keep both of them going while with a straight face keep laying people off. Making NBC-U 2.0 cost-cutting measures seem fair demands of NBC executives that both these expensive, low-rated shows be axed after the end of the season. If one show has to go I'm hoping 'Studio 60' is spared and 'FNL' gets the axe but wouldn't be surprised if its the other way around; Fred and others share the same feeling but in reverse (spare 'FNL' and the hell with 'Studio 60'). Like the country we live in we'll be divided, angry and depressed when our side loses or viceversa. And this is only television, imagine if this were "The Real World."

i do not have a problem with what mlb and directv want to do.. directv is available to almost all households in the usa - so if its such a big deal to you - you can still get the product.. I could see people being pissed if it went to say time warner exclusively.. then a lot of the country is blocked from getting it.. last time I checked, a package like this was not gaurenteed to anyone - its by choice only.

jim

Washington Notebook
Kerry to Question Proposed DirecTV-MLB Deal
By R. Thomas Umstead MultiChannel News 1/31/2007

A former presidential candidate plans to take his swings against the proposed DirecTV-Major League Baseball out-of-market package agreement.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) intends to question Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin about the pending $700 million deal between the direct-broadcast satellite provider and the league that would provide DirecTV with exclusive rights to baseball’s Extra Innings live-game package. The deal would shut out cable subscribers from purchasing the $179 package, which provides hundreds of live out-of-market baseball games.

Martin will appear Thursday in front of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, of which Kerry is a member.

“I am opposed to anything that deprives people of reasonable choices. In this day and age, consumers should have more choices, not fewer,” Kerry said in a prepared statement. “I’d like to know how this serves the public -- a deal that will force fans to subscribe to DirecTV in order to tune in to their favorite players. A Red Sox fan ought to be able to watch their team without having to switch to DirecTV.”

Representatives from DirecTV and MLB could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, cable executives close to the negotiations said the industry has not been notified by baseball that it’s out of the running to secure rights to the package.

The industry, through In Demand, offered to carry the package for $70 million per year on a nonexclusive basis, according to executives close to In Demand. The sticking point has been cable’s unwillingness to provide mass distribution for baseball’s 24-hour linear channel, expected to launch in 2009, according to Sports Business Journal.

The proposed deal has been slammed by several sports-media writers and bloggers, who claimed that MLB is hurting fans by stealing the package from cable.

http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleid=CA6412251

I'm in 'till the bitter end. Even second-rate Sorkin is still entertaining, but 'Studio 60' and 'FNL' are like the left/right sides of the brain and NBC can't really afford to keep both of them going while with a straight face keep laying people off. Making NBC-U 2.0 cost-cutting measures seem fair demands of NBC executives that both these expensive, low-rated shows be axed after the end of the season. If one show has to go I'm hoping 'Studio 60' is spared and 'FNL' gets the axe but wouldn't be surprised if its the other way around; Fred and others share the same feeling but in reverse (spare 'FNL' and the hell with 'Studio 60'). Like the country we live in we'll be divided, angry and depressed when our side loses or viceversa. And this is only television, imagine if this were "The Real World."

Actually, I still enjoy Studio 60 -- by no means do I feel the hell with it. I'd prefer NBC save them both. But if only one stays, my preference would be FNL.

Maybe Sorkin needs to recharge his batteries and come up with something that seems different.

Sinclair finally got a deal done with Time Warner, just extended the deadline with Comcast, and is in the vanguard of the future: stations will be paid for retransmission.


Did I miss a post? what is the new deadline between Sinclair and Comcast?

March 1

The Business of TV
Comcast Gets Sinclair Retrans Extension
By Linda Moss MultiChannel News 1/31/2007

Comcast received a retransmission-consent extension to continue carrying Sinclair Broadcast Group TV stations until March 1, the end of the February sweep period.

The nation’s largest cable company, which is in the midst of negotiating a retransmission-consent deal with Sinclair, earlier this month sent out notices to subscribers in cities where it has out-of-market Sinclair stations that it might lose those signals as early as Feb. 5.

Under Federal Communications Commission rules, Comcast couldn’t drop Sinclair’s stations in February, one of the sweeps periods when viewership is used to set ad rates.

But Comcast subscribers who are considered out-of-market aren’t covered by the FCC prohibition, which is why the cable operator would have been able to drop Sinclair’s signals in those areas in February.

But now Sinclair granted Comcast an extension to continue carrying all of its stations -- in-market and out-of-market -- until March 1.

The cable operator has just begun sending notices out to its subscribers at systems with in-market Sinclair stations that they may lose those signals March 1.

The Sinclair-Comcast negotiations involve roughly 3 million subscribers in markets such as Pittsburgh; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.; Nashville, Tenn.; Richmond, Va.; and Tampa. Fla.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6412272.html?display=Breaking+News

Washington Notebook
FCC Commissioners Meet The Senate
Prepared statements

Today all five FCC Commssioners appeared before the full Senate Commerce Committee at a Hearing on Accessing the Communications Marketplace: A View From the FCC.

All have prepared statements which are available at:

http://www.fcc.gov/

Washington Notebook
FCC Commissioners Meet The Senate
Chairman Martin on a la carte

All five FCC Commssioners spoke today before thew Senate Commerce Committee.

In his prepared remarks, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin made it clear that in the face of soaring cable bills, a la carte is a price remedy he strongly favors.

“…While consumers have enormous choice among channels, they have little control over how many channels they are able to buy. For those who want to receive 100 channels or more, today’s most popular cable packages may be a good value. But according to Nielson, most viewers watch fewer then two dozen channels. For them, the deal isn’t as good.

The cost of basic cable services have gone up at a disproportionate rate – 38% between 2000 and 2005 – when compared against other communications sectors. The average price of the expanded basic cable package, the standard cable package, almost doubled between 1995 and 2005, increasing by 93%. The increase in cable prices appears even more dramatic when viewed relative to the prices for a number of other communications services: prices for long distance, international, and wireless telephone service have all decreased dramatically during this same timeframe…”

http://www.fcc.gov/

Washington Notebook
LULAC Criticizes Martin on À La Carte
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 2/1/2007

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) was quick to criticize FCC Chairman Kevin Martin for his continued advocacy of cable à la carte, in this case during a Senate Commerce Committee oversight hearing Thursday, saying his "dogmatic pursuit" of the issue could be disastrous.

"While consumers have enormous choice among channels, they have little control over how many channels they are able to buy," Martin told the legislators. "For those who want to receive 100 channels or more, today’s most popular cable packages may be a good value. But according to Nielson, most viewers watch fewer then two dozen channels. For them, the deal isn’t as good."

Martin also cited the 93% rise in cable prices between 1995 and 2005, a figure the cable industry continues to point out does not take into account the boom in channels and other services that go into that rising figure.

Martin has pushed The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) was quick to criticize FCC Chairman Kevin Martin for his continued advocacy of cable à la carte as a way to reduce cable prices and to give parents more control over content they don't want in their homes.

The cable industry argues that à la carte is not only an unworkable business model--like forcing newspapers to sell their sports sections individually--but would threaten the survival of niche services that would not get sufficiently sampled if not bundled with must-see cable nets like ESPN.

LULAC Executive Director Brent Wilkes agrees. “Mr. Martin’s dogmatic pursuit of per-channel charge regulations for cable TV would be disastrous for American consumers," he said in a statement after the hearing, "ringing in a new era of higher prices and less program diversity."

"Minority and niche programmers rely on the expanded basic cable bundle to attract viewers and advertising revenue," said Wilkes, "and almost every expert – the GAO, Booz Allen, CRS, and even the FCC – has shown that the policies Mr. Martin promotes would raise prices on consumers, including the middle-class and Hispanic consumers for which LULAC advocates.”

A study produced under FCC Chairman Michael Powell concluded that the à la carte model was unfeasible, but Martin commissioned his own study that refuted that assertion.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6412790

TV Notebook
Satellite Explosion won’t slow HD for DirecTV

According to James Hibberd’s HDTV Newsletter at Television Week:

"...DirecTV said the first of its planned satellite launches-a ground-based launch-will be sufficient to carry out its HD expansion plans for this year. The second satellite, which was supposed to be through Sea Launch, will likely be delayed....”

http://www.tvweek.com/page.cms?pageId=566

TV Notebook
TBS tries to quell Boston bomb hoax hubbub
By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter Feb 2, 2007

NEW YORK -- Turner Broadcasting System on Thursday tried to quell a firestorm of controversy in Boston, a day after a guerrilla marketing campaign for a cable network was mistaken for a terrorist plot to bomb the Hub.

Two local men appeared in court Thursday to answer charges that they placed "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" light-box ads in 40 locations. But city and state officials vowed that they would go even further, seeking to make Turner Broadcasting pay for the nearly 10 hours of chaos that disrupted traffic, closed bridges and roadways and put the city onto a terror alert. The bill could total in the tens of millions of dollars.

Turner Broadcasting System chairman and CEO Phil Kent was holed up in his Atlanta office, dealing with the fallout from the marketing campaign that was placed for weeks in 10 cities but only caused a commotion in Boston. Kent spoke to Boston Mayor Tom Menino on Wednesday night and again Thursday to apologize for the incident. Menino is quoted as saying that an apology isn't enough although a Turner spokeswoman declined to discuss what was said during the call.

"We're doing everything in our power as a responsible company to do what's right," said Turner spokeswoman Shirley Powell. No other executives from Turner or Time Warner would talk about the incident Thursday.

Powell said the Adult Swim marketing department approved the campaign to promote "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," a late-night animated series with a target demographic of young adult males. Adult Swim executives chose the cities and left it to its guerrilla marketer, Interference Inc. of New York, to carry it out in very specific neighborhoods. Promoting the show was the only objective, Turner said.

"The big misperception is that we intended to create some kind of hoax," Powell said. "That couldn't be further from the truth. This was never intended or designed as a marketing stunt to create fear." Powell said that Turner would never have done it if it felt it was dangerous or could foresee what happened in Boston.

But a lawyer whose firm represents a lot of marketing communications companies says that his firm advises clients to make sure that the guerrilla marketing campaigns don't run afoul of laws that involve criminal mischief, graffiti or unlawful posting on public property. Joseph Lewczak, a partner at Davis & Gilbert in New York City, thinks that Turner could have been smarter about the way they handled the campaign, particularly one that had a less-than-innocuous look to it to some people's way of thinking.

"You always have to be careful about any type of guerrilla marketing campaign. It's just knowing what that line is. It's a business judgment more than a legal judgment to find what's appropriate given ... the times we live in," Lewczak said.

He believes that Turner will end up being forced to pay authorities for their costs but said that individual or class-action lawsuits against probably won't fly. Neither will a clamoring in some corners to hold Turner executives liable.

"As far as the criminal charges against executives at Turner, I don't know how far they'll take that," Lewczak said.

Paul Sullivan, a print journalist who has a talk show on Boston's WBZ-AM, said that tempers don't seem to have cooled, particularly in the corridors of power at City Hall and the Statehouse.

"There is an outrage at the lack of understanding that a corporate group has about how irresponsible this was that crosses the political spectrum," Sullivan said Thursday. "Everybody around here seems to be unified about it. What kind of numbskull would have come out with this type of marketing campaign in a post-9/11 world?"

Sullivan said there's plenty of outrage about the perceived lack of seriousness on Turner's part in the initial stages where it took nearly 10 hours for word to filter to Boston that it was a marketing campaign gone awry. In that time, he said, "it was a real problem for those in Boston."

He doesn't think Turner gets how serious this was.

"I haven't heard any of the shame that should be the prerequisite response from Turner Broadcasting," Sullivan said.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ia6d216174eb859454f99605293eb8511

TV Notebook
Rich Heldenfels “American Idol” podcast

Akron Beacon Journal TV critic Rich Heldenfels has filed his latest American Idol podcast with Beacon Journal music critic Malcolm X Abram. It is a fun listen and it is now available here:

http://www.ohiomm.com/podcasts/american_idol/070201_idol.mp3

Upcoming Premieres
(Updated February 1st, 2007)

[
The Tudors To be announced, SHO


This chart, (continually updated) can always be found in page three of this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/printthread.php?t=440744&p=4278280
Showtime shows "The Tudors" coming April 1st, no actual time that I could find.

http://www.sho.com/site/tudors/home.do?source=shocom_nav
The Tudors On Showtime - The Tudors Official Site

Critic’s Notebook
'Criminal Minds' snags the post-Super Bowl spot
(but will it trounce 'Grey's' 2006 MVP performance? )
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher” February 1, 2007,

Last February, an explosion rocked the small screen.

At the conclusion of an enjoyably tense two-parter, “Grey’s Anatomy” blew up an emergency rescue worker played by Kyle Chandler.

It wasn’t just that Chandler’s character quite memorably exploded into pink mist (thanks to a bomb that had been lodged inside a patient’s body). The real fireworks surrounded the show itself. By airing the first half of that two-parter after last year’s Super Bowl, ABC launched “Grey’s” into the stratosphere.

On Feb. 5, 2006, thanks to the 38 million viewers who tuned in, a successful show became a monster hit.

In hopes of doing the same for one of its shows, CBS has given the choice post-Super Bowl slot to “Criminal Minds,” the Wednesday -night crime drama that has been a solid performer for the network since its debut in the fall of 2005.

How solid? Well, last November, “Minds” started beating media darling “Lost,” its fall time -slot competitor, in the ratings. In the course of doing so, the CBS drama boosted its always-respectable numbers by 26 percent, to 17 million viewers, a total that lodged the series comfortably in the Nielsen top 10.

Ed Bernero, the former Chicago cop who is the executive producer of “Minds,” says he hopes the post-Super Bowl exposure helps lift the profile of his show, which had been mostly ignored by the media - until it started beating “Lost.”

“I hope that there’s a segment of the country that thinks they know what the show is, and that they tune in and watch and find out they’re wrong, and find out that we’re more `X-Files’ than `CSI,’.” Bernero says.

Will viewers who don’t watch “Minds” want to give it a second chance? CBS’ decision to give the post-game spot to “Minds,” which stars another Chicago native, Mandy Patinkin, is a risky one. Sure, “Grey’s” was a smash last year, and “Friends” garnered a mind-boggling 53 million viewers when it aired after the big game in 1996.

But there are a number of notable fumbles in post-Super Bowl history as well. “Alias” got a weak 17.4 million viewers in 2003, and do you even remember what aired after the Super Bowl the year before that? (Note to trivia buffs: It was “Malcolm in the Middle.”)

Then there’s the question of what the TV audience wants to watch after kicking back with the big game. Last year, viewers went wild for the sexy doctors of “Grey’s Anatomy,” but will they want to spend their post-game time with the grimmer “Criminal Minds” crew, who rarely grin, let alone flirt and gossip?

TV Guide critic Matt Roush, for one, was left scratching his head. “I’m just disappointed that CBS didn’t give [`How I Met Your Mother’] the plum spot after the Super Bowl to be noticed by more people,” Roush wrote in a Dec. 8 online column.

One of CBS’ deserving Monday comedies, especially “How I Met Your Mother” or “The New Adventures of Old Christine” might have been a more logical (and lighthearted) choice for the post-game spotlight. But CBS appears to be enjoying the fact that, without much promotion or hype, “Criminal Minds” has been trouncing “Lost,” one of the jewels of a resurgent ABC lineup. The temptation to make “Minds” even more dominant against the island drama was apparently too much to resist.

And at a January presentation to the press, CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler brushed aside the idea that “Minds’.” post-game episode might be too dark. “Truth be told, they know their time period, and they’re sensitive to the content,” Tassler said. “But that hasn’t prevented them from telling a great story. It’s scary.”

The scary story, which features “Dawson’s Creek” alum James Van Der Beek as a guest star, concerns a couple that is found dead after a Super Bowl party; a video connected to the killing is soon posted online.

Bernero says the story idea grew from the online popularity of everything from YouTube star lonelygirl15 to footage of Saddam Hussein’s hanging.

“I think it’s a dangerous place we’re going to, where nobody knows what’s real anymore,” Bernero says. “Everything is entertainment.”

For the “Minds” agents, finding who posted the videos turns out to be dangerous work. “By the end of the first part, we know who the bad guy is, and several of our agents are in danger,” Bernero notes.

But danger’s part of the deal for the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) headed by Patinkin’s character, Jason Gideon. And given the show’s rise in the ratings, viewers apparently can’t get enough of the serial killers and other bad guys on “Criminal Minds,” which even Bernero says isn’t for the whole family.

“Quite frankly, this is not a show for children,” Bernero says, “even though we don’t show much violence.”

It’s true. “Minds” is not much concerned with the physical gore of crime but with the sicker corners of the human mind - and the methods used by BAU agents to shine a light on those dark places.

“We have almost no procedure,” Bernero says. “Even at its most procedural, it’s all about the [team] trying to discover things about the character of the person committing the crimes.”

As for Bernero, at this point he’s a victim of a rather frantic holiday season - one made less relaxed by the news that his show would follow the Super Bowl. According to Bernero, Leslie Moonves, CEO of CBS Corp., decided over a December weekend that of the various CBS shows in contention, “Minds” would be the one to air after the big game.

“They called me just after we had finished planning the rest of the season” in mid-December, Bernero says. The two-parter, the first part of which features cameos from CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, “was written over the next couple of days. It all happened incredibly quickly.”

After the mad rush of getting the post-Super Bowl episodes ready, Bernero is looking to chill out at the game with his father (“Minds” actor Shemar Moore will also attend the game).

“I don’t know many people going to Miami to relax,” Bernero says. “It’s madness, but it’ll be a madness I can just observe and enjoy.”

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/02/criminal_minds_.html#more

Showtime shows "The Tudors" coming April 1st, no actual time that I could find.

http://www.sho.com/site/tudors/home.do?source=shocom_nav
The Tudors On Showtime - The Tudors Official Site


Thanks, Jim. I'll make the correction.

Critic’s Notebook
Letterman at 25
A Quarter Century of Late Night
By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn” Feb 01, 2007

Tonight's the night David Letterman marks a quarter century as a late-night talk show host.

How's it been? And how long can it last?

In a wide-ranging conversation, Mark Evanier and I consider Dave and his long trek from stunt talk-show host to broadcasting icon.

Listen here:
http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/files/TVBP10.mp3

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

Critic’s Notebook
David Letterman celebrates 25 years tonight
All hail the king
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle in his TV blog “The Bastard Machine” Thursday, February 01, 2007

David Letterman, this country's best late night talk show host by a good, long, measure, will celebrate his 25th anniversary tonight, with special guest Bill Murray, who was Letterman's first guest on his NBC late night show in 1982, then his first guest again when Letterman switched to CBS in 1993. Typical of Letterman, this whole thing has been pretty low-key. He's not a spotlight guy. Never has been.

What he is, which bears repeating about every five years when people either forget or naturally take him for granted, is the best thing going in late night talk. It's always been this way. Now, I'm a huge fan of Tom Snyder. I think his show was some of the best talk on television - late or early - anyone has seen. What is currently available on DVD featuring Snyder and his show are essential for any collection. And in the current environment, I love both Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel.

No need to discuss. He's the king.

But it's always been about Letterman. He modernized late night talk. He's done it with more originality, less concern about his corporate owners (either NBC or CBS) and without the nauseating fawning others are prone to display with their guests. You shouldn't need to think hard about which host (or even hosts) that might include. I've written a lot about Letterman and I've always considered him one of those people you don't need to mention very often. It goes without saying that he's the best, that you should be watching and what he means to television as a whole. And yet, sometimes it needs to be said out loud anyway.

I will keep this relatively brief and mostly current. What I've enjoyed most about Letterman (outside of seeing him live in both San Francisco and New York) is how he's changed in front of our eyes. (The YouTube link below is a quick reminder of some of the early years and more can be found randomly on the site.) In this recent vintage of Letterman, we've seen him nurse New York (and by extension, the country) out of the shock of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11; come back from his heart woes, become a father, consider and reject retirement (in private, of course) and perform, behind the scenes, one of the coolest and most gracious acts of honoring an icon that I can remember - keeping in touch with Johnny Carson and using Carson's jokes in his monologue. Again, it's not said enough because we take him for granted, but it's a real blessing for television to have Letterman.

On a personal note, anyone who has read my stuff consistently through the years knows that I have no special affinity for celebrities. I am not starstruck, almost never interview stars and mostly don't care what they do in their private lives (which seems to be such an obsession for so many people). My job brings me in contact with celebrities and news people periodically and I've always considered it just part of the deal - a deal that stipulates I keep a distance. The person you dine with one night might be the person you slice up and serve for dinner in your next column. But hey, if you can meet a few people you honestly like and enjoy their company - great. Mostly it's just work. (OK, once I stumbled into Halle Berry at the Ritz in Pasadena and felt slightly happier than normal for 48 hours and there have been a few other memorable moments where I've thought, "Wow, that's Person X and he/she is right here chatting/eating/drinking with me. Things could be worse.") But I do hold onto two artifacts like they were gold - both brief letters from Letterman. The first is especially important because he sent it after I wrote a column about him in the Contra Costa Times, the suburban East Bay newspaper where I started the TV beat from scratch and often had to tell people in Hollywood - or New York - that no, we weren't the newspaper of the Contras. In those days, I felt like I was writing in a vacuum. So it was nice to get the Letterman note. I think it also came at a time when most critics were writing him off. Clearly, a mistake.

I'll be watching tonight. It's just a given. And it's always nice to know he's going to be around for another anniversary. At least that's what I hope and what television surely needs.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=24

Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
General Information

Fox, as expected, led the midweek troops by epic proportions on the strength of Bones and American Idol. Bones opened the evening with a healthy – and dominant – 12.56 million viewers and a 4.3 rating/11 share among adults 18-49, building in the second half-hour by a noticeable 1.62 million viewers (11.75 to 13.37 million) and 18 percent among adults 18-49 (3.9/10 to 4.6/12). That could be, no doubt, a reflection of what you would call the American Idol pre tune-in factor.

As the NFL prepares for Super Bowl XLI on February 4 in Miami, Nielsen has combined data on television ratings, advertising expenditures, Internet measurement, album sales, box-office receipts, consumer and lifestyle information of NFL fans in Indianapolis and Chicago, NFL merchandise and retail sales, consumer segmentation and marketing, and comprehensive market research for an in-depth analysis of one of the world's biggest sporting events. Among the findings:

• Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts sports merchandise have seen a dramatic rise in retail sales this year.

• More women are drawn to the Indianapolis Colts than the Chicago Bears. Data show that 59% of Indianapolis women are Colts fans, vs. 46% of Chicago women who are Bears fans.

• The 2006 Super Bowl was the highest rated TV show of the year, attracting more than 90 million U.S. viewers.

• The cost for a 30-second TV advertisement reached an all-time high in 2006, while traditional advertiser categories continued to dominate the broadcast.

• Super Bowl advertisers in 2006 saw a sharp increase in visits to their web sites following the big game.

• Album sales of the Super Bowl halftime performers soared in the week following their appearance in the halftime show.

• Box office figures continue to plunge on Super Bowl Sunday.

• Sales of soft drinks, beer and chips rise significantly before the Super Bowl.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

i do not have a problem with what mlb and directv want to do.. directv is available to almost all households in the USA - so if its such a big deal to you - you can still get the product.. I could see people being pissed if it went to say time Warner exclusively.. then a lot of the country is blocked from getting it.. last time I checked, a package like this was not guaranteed to anyone - its by choice only.

Jim

You premise is not quite true. I live in condo and cannot have a dish. Exclusive use is the key to having a dish in a condo. Many who live in apartments have the same problem. No exposure to the proper sky is another problem. Tall trees or hills/mountains is another dish problem. So many of us cannot have Directv.

MLB EI has been on cable for several years. I have bought it every year and watch a lot of baseball. OK I buy the hockey package and ESPN Game Plan also. I am a sports junkie. Now that I am retired and live 7 hours from the nearest MLB park MLB wants to take my link to the game away. There is more to the issue than just being able to have a dish. I hope Kerry made his points and MLB will stay with cable.

Am I wrong, or hasn't Letterman been in reruns all week? Airing a new show on a Thursday night, an anniversary show, in the midst of reruns doesn't seem that bright to me. If it hadn't been for your post on it I wouldn't even have thought about tunning in figuring it was just more of the same.

Washington Notebook
New Congress Seeks to Scrutinize FCC

By Ira Teinowitz Television Week February 1, 2007

Members of Federal Communications Commission making their first appearance before the new Congress got a strong warning that they aren't sufficiently assuring that broadcasters operate in the public interest. Now that Democrats are in charge, their actions will be drawing more scrutiny.

"Commercial television is the worse shape I've ever seen. I barely watch it. I hope my children don't," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., during a meeting of the Senate Commerce Committee. "I don't believe that the FCC is conducting appropriate oversight. In the renewal process the FCC has abandoned its core responsibility to the public interest."

His comments and those of other senators set a new tone for Congressional review of FCC actions as the agency considers new media ownership rules and potentially deals with implications of court rulings of several indecency cases. While the Senate was generally more skeptical of broadcasters than the House under Republicans, media ownership rather than broadcasters' "public interest" obligations were the biggest focus.

Sen. Rockefeller decried what he said was pro forma "postcard" license renewals.

"Broadcasters are given access to the public airwaves and in return they have to live up their obligations. That is going to change from this last election. There is going to be a lot more attention on the Federal Communication Commission and what they are or are not doing about the critical areas in broadcasting."

Committee Chairman Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, called the "public interest" protection an "important mandate" on the FCC.

"We look forward to participating in discussions with the commission on how we advance this goal," he said.

Other senators questioned whether the FCC sufficiently examined the impact of media consolidation on local news coverage, whether it was sufficiently watching out that rural customers don't get stuck with lesser services and become victims of a digital divide and whether the FCC was doing enough to see that U.S. broadband speeds kept up with other countries.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., called the FCC current public interest enforcement "pretty emasculated."

FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin in his testimony cited decreasing broadband pricing as an FCC success, but said he was still unhappy with cable pricing which he said had risen "at a disproportionate rate."

"While consumers have enormous choice among channels, they have little control over how many channels they are able to buy. For those who receive 100 channels or more, today's popular cable packages may be a good value. But according to Nielsen, most viewers watch fewer than two dozen channels. For them, the deal isn't as good," he said.

The National Cable and Telecommunications Association disputed that assessment.

"Chairman Martin's comments reflect an outdated, incomplete and wholly inaccurate analysis that doesn't reflect the realities of today's marketplace, where consumers enjoy more competition, greater choice and better services than ever before," said Brian Dietz, VP-communications.

Several FCC issues never surfaced at the hearing. Sen. Inouye, who asked Mr. Martin about the Sinclair Broadcasting Group/Mediacom Communications retransmission dispute in a letter earlier this week promising to raise that issue at the hearing, never did.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11487

Washington Notebook
New Congress Seeks to Scrutinize FCC

By Ira Teinowitz Television Week February 1, 2007

Members of Federal Communications Commission making their first appearance before the new Congress got a strong warning that they aren't sufficiently assuring that broadcasters operate in the public interest. Now that Democrats are in charge, their actions will be drawing more scrutiny.

"Commercial television is the worse shape I've ever seen. I barely watch it. I hope my children don't," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., during a meeting of the Senate Commerce Committee. "I don't believe that the FCC is conducting appropriate oversight. In the renewal process the FCC has abandoned its core responsibility to the public interest."

"Broadcasters are given access to the public airwaves and in return they have to live up their obligations. That is going to change from this last election. There is going to be a lot more attention on the Federal Communication Commission and what they are or are not doing about the critical areas in broadcasting."

Committee Chairman Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, called the "public interest" protection an "important mandate" on the FCC.

"We look forward to participating in discussions with the commission on how we advance this goal," he said.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., called the FCC current public interest enforcement "pretty emasculated." http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11487Well, I'm feeling kind of lost. What exactly are they objecting too?

I got the argument about conglomerates not offering enough viewpoints, but what kind of "public interest" content are they looking for? What kind of oversight are the expecting? I would hope there were more details at the hearing - but the article makes it look like they're just grandstanding for the point of grandstanding.

Scott

Ahhh, now you have opened up a can of worms, Scott.

The question, basically, is this: Do broadcasters, as a condition of gaining (and keeping) their licenses, have any obligation beyond the bottom line?

Since they come in to (virtually) every home, and are licensed by us through our representatives, is their obligation different from those of, say, a pay cable network?

Or a basic cable network?

Or is there any obligation at all beyond making as much money as possible?

There can be endless debate on the subject.

Ahhh, now you have opened up a can of worms, Scott.

The question, basically, is this: Do broadcasters, as a condition of gaining (and keeping) their licenses, have any obligation beyond the bottom line?

Since they come in to (virtually) every home, and are licensed by us through our representatives, is their obligation different from those of, say, a pay cable network?

Or a basic cable network?

Or is there any obligation at all beyond making as much money as possible?

There can be endless debate on the subject.I understood that part, but I thought there were already minimum guidelines for public service programming.

Is the argument that the required amounts are too small, or that they aren't being enforced? Or is it something else.

In general, the public service stuff I've seen is lame. Stations don't make anything on it, so most of the production values are at a bare-bones minimum. The content is usually overly earnest, superficial, and often patronizing.

To require that stations produce more of this "content" isn't any more beneficial to the public than it is to the broadcasters.

To come up with some kind of quality measure also strikes me as impractical and pointless.

To me, the bottom line is that even though the broadcasters hold public licences, they are paying for that ability, and the product they provide is completely free to the public (albeit through paid advertising).

With the advent of online distribution, and better-quality consumer-level production equipment, the need for public interest stuff is no longer needed. Why not let that niche fall into the hands of the people that really care about the subjects they are involved with? Their genuine interest in educating and promoting their views and activities would be far more effective than what's going to show up on any local television station.

Scott

You premise is not quite true. I live in condo and cannot have a dish. Exclusive use is the key to having a dish in a condo. Many who live in apartments have the same problem. No exposure to the proper sky is another problem. Tall trees or hills/mountains is another dish problem. So many of us cannot have Directv.

MLB EI has been on cable for several years. I have bought it every year and watch a lot of baseball. OK I buy the hockey package and ESPN Game Plan also. I am a sports junkie. Now that I am retired and live 7 hours from the nearest MLB park MLB wants to take my link to the game away. There is more to the issue than just being able to have a dish. I hope Kerry made his points and MLB will stay with cable.You're talking to the wrong crowd here. Here it's whatever the market will bear, not whatever it's been in the past. It doesn't matter that locals have been on cable for years without cash, but cash is now the latest demand, so cash it is going to be.

I don't care about sports, so you'd think it wouldn't bother me that DirecTV is trying to corner the sports market, but what if they were trying to corner other markets? Like How-To programs? Or Cartoons? Or Movies? Or Whatever the niche is today? I'm no fan of Kerry's, but this exclusivity stuff is getting out of hand IMHO. Maybe we should just go ahead and nationalize DirecTV, put dishes on all apartment buildings, develop a repeater technology to cope with trees and buildings, pull up all the cable and sell it for scrap. Then maybe the anti-cable crowd would be happy. :)

How come Comcast needs an extension? I thought the payola was a done deal and just a matter of every cableco signing whatever Sinclair put in front of them. :)

You're talking to the wrong crowd here. Here it's whatever the market will bear, not whatever it's been in the past. It doesn't matter that locals have been on cable for years without cash, but cash is now the latest demand, so cash it is going to be.

I don't care about sports, so you'd think it wouldn't bother me that DirecTV is trying to corner the sports market, but what if they were trying to corner other markets? Like How-To programs? Or Cartoons? Or Movies? Or Whatever the niche is today? I'm no fan of Kerry's, but this exclusivity stuff is getting out of hand IMHO. Maybe we should just go ahead and nationalize DirecTV, put dishes on all apartment buildings, develop a repeater technology to cope with trees and buildings, pull up all the cable and sell it for scrap. Then maybe the anti-cable crowd would be happy. :)


You miss the point, MBI EI does not deal with local teams. It allows me to pay a fee to see "out of market" games. As a matter of fact, we live about 7 hours from Atlanta and the Braves are blacked out on MLB EI because we can get them on other stations.

The games I am willing to pay for are not from this area.

The issue with all cable or dish becomes "tell me how much and I will pay that or not" but let me as the consumer make the choice.

I really only watch about 20 channels and what ever sports pack the season is. The other 300 or so channels I don't care about. The problem there is we would never agree on that list of 20 or so. For instance I have all the religious channels, all the shopping channels, almost every on demand channel and Fox News blocked on my set. For some people those are important to me I don't want any of that in my home.

I do want MLB EI, however. The hockey package will be going to dish next. And with the Big Ten starting their own channel ESPN Game Plan is now really a waste of money this fall with no Big Ten games, no PAC 10 games and no big 12 games on that package. This is just part of the changing screen of cable.

RANT OVER

I know what you were talking about. It doesn't change the fact that these packages being available from only a single provider denies access to a large part of the population through no fault of theirs. I just don't happen to agree with the postition that it's just business and tough luck, just move so you can get DirecTV. IMHO, there is kind of a moral responsibility here that supercedes the almighty dollar. I understand the NFL and others wanting to get top dollar for their product, but what about the folks who then can't receive that product? With all sports being subsidized with tax dollars in a lot of places, it seems to me there should be some requirement that the resulting product be available to the population at large, including distant teams. This goes contrary to my conservative leanings, but I'm a displaced Packer fan who can't watch the Packers very often and this is part of the reason why. The bottomline is you don't always have a choice if the package is only available from dish.

You know, there is an easy workaround.

Allow every cable company and satellite service to sell the sports package.

Shockingly simple no?

That is contrary to current practice and exclusive rights that are bought and paid for with big dollars. That easy workaround will never happen, at least not with some kind of goverment intevention, something I object to. I'd much rather see the NFL, MLB, etc., consider the nation as a whole instead of just sucking up to the highest bidder. :)

Well I hate exclusives, so I'm for anything that changes the current model. And wouldn't they (NFL, MLB, etc.) make more money in the long run if their packages were viewable by the entire population of the US (if they so desired)?

NFL has contracts with what, four different networks for regular season games, yet they only deal with one service provider for their out-of-market service?

TV Sports
NHL Ratings Disaster
It Takes a Village to Put These Ratings in Perspective
By Richard Sandomir The New York Times Feb. 2, 2007

It was only one of 82 games for the Devils this season, on the road last Saturday night against the Florida Panthers. Not much will be recalled. The Panthers won, 4-2, in front of 18,136 fans at the BankAtlantic Center.

But something quite extraordinary occurred in the New York market: A hockey game broke out on MSG, but almost no one watched.

Only 736 households — a minuscule .01 rating — tuned in.

That is 736 out of nearly 7.4 million, from 7:30 to 10 p.m.

The figure is embarrassing to mull. Saturday is a low-viewing night, sure. But 736? The game didn’t face unusual competition. The Sabres-Islanders game was on FSNY, but the Rangers had played that afternoon.

“Titanic” was on TNT, “Cops” on Channel 5, college basketball on ESPN and ESPN2, and a rerun of “Without a Trace” on Channel 2.

But 736?

There are wee places in New Jersey whose housing units total about as much, like Mullica Hill (737), the borough of Allentown (718) and the township of South Hackensack (830), according to the 2000 census.

To find 736 homes can’t be easy for Nielsen Media Research. It is like trying to find ice chips in a haystack, Pat Buchanan supporters in my mother’s Century Village development in Boca Raton, Fla., or hair on my dome.

But these are the Devils who lead the Atlantic Division, the Devils who have won three Stanley Cups, the Devils who were brought to New Jersey by John J. McMullen, who loved them so very much. Unfortunately, these are also the Devils who live in the Rangers’ shadow.

To be fair, the Devils don’t always draw 736 local households to their televised ice soirees. They average 13,206 (based on a .18 rating), better than the Islanders (7,336), but far worse than the Rangers (36,834).

Among all the Fox Sports Net regionals, the Red Wings lead all hockey teams, averaging a 5.0 rating and 96,915 households. But that’s Detroit. In the Miami market, about 2,000 homes watched the Devils-Panthers game on FSN Florida.

Mike Emrick, the TV voice of the Devils, was not speaking to the Group of 736 (Steve Cangialosi substituted), but he was in Detroit for the next afternoon’s NBC network game. He was surprised by Saturday’s rating, but he preferred not to dwell on how much work he, his partner, Chico Resch, and their crew put in to provide so much hockey to so few.

“I don’t know whether ignorance is bliss, but it doesn’t affect what we do,” he said yesterday by telephone. “And we don’t hear much about the numbers.”

He added: “I’m shocked that the Devils aren’t appreciated by more people. They’ve done their best to be successful, that’s for sure.”

On Saturday night, when Buffalo defeated the Islanders, 5-3, the game attracted a modest 8,103 local TV households on FSNY, a little more than usual for the team. But a minor surprise, beyond the Tale of the 736, was that 10,271 households clicked to SNY to watch the New York Titans play the Rochester Knighthawks in a National Lacrosse League game on SNY.

While a .14 rating is normally a rationale for a team to lock itself in the Zamboni garage (and a .01 is a reason never to come out), it is a sign of hope for the Titans, who are in their inaugural season in the N.L.L. and were quick to alert the news media of their ratings triumph.

Maybe the Titans benefited Saturday night from being a novelty, from letting the Islanders and the Devils split the hockey vote, from bearing the same name the Jets once did in their Harry Wismer-Al Dorow vintage, or from the notoriety brought to lacrosse by the Duke sexual-assault case.

“We have a young audience, a young demographic, and we drew 13,127 for our home opener,” George Daniel, the Titans’ president, said. “Lacrosse is the fastest-growing sport in the country, and the N.L.L. is TV friendly.”

He said lacrosse was similar to soccer and hockey in its physicality but had much more scoring. On Saturday, the Titans lost, 22-18. Daniel added that it was possible for his Titans to sustain Saturday’s rating in future games.

Emrick, who called lacrosse for NBC during the N.H.L. lockout, is an admirer of the players and the sport. “They’re schoolteachers one day, and the next they come out and play,” he said. “And boy, do they leave it all out there. You have to hate humanity not to like lacrosse players.”

• • • • • • • • • • •

The N.L.L. is not the first league to compare its ratings favorably with the N.H.L.’s. The Arena Football League has done so with its national ratings, but another league’s crowing certainly is not required to recognize the sapping of the N.H.L.’s television strength in the United States.

Last Wednesday’s N.H.L. All-Star Game found 691,000 viewers on Versus, a huge falloff from the 2.7 million on ABC when it was last played, in 2004, and a still steeper drop from the 6.5 million who watched in 1996 on Fox. The game should have been on NBC, where it could have received the wider exposure compared with Versus, which lacks full cable distribution.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/02/sports/hockey/02sandomir.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

TV Notebook
The CW Whacks “Reba”
By Ed Bark former Dallas Morning News TV critic at his website unclebarky.com Feb. 1, 2007

***It'll be no more Reba on The CW after a one-hour series finale on Sunday, Feb. 18.

The network announced Thursday that it's dropping the countrified sitcom, which stars Reba McEntire as divorced Texas soccer mom Reba Hart. Reba had a six-year lifespan, which made it the now defunct WB's longest-running comedy series. The show premiered on Oct. 5, 2001 and survived to see a partial sixth season when it made its way to CW last November.

http://www.unclebarky.com/board.html

TV Sports
Super Bowling for big ratings
By Robert Bianco USA Today 2/1/2007

As the Super Bowl has grown, so have the networks' efforts to pass the game's huge audience on to a postgame special. Here are some after-Bowl highs and lows.

The First
Lassie (CBS) and Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (NBC, 1967)

Hard as it may be to believe, the Super Bowl wasn't always so super. The first game was played in the afternoon. Shared rights put the game on both CBS and NBC — which just followed it with their regular Sunday programming. And who doesn't love Lassie?

The Highest-Rated
60 Minutes (CBS, 1980)

Not only does CBS' newsmagazine hold the record for most post-Bowl appearances with four, but it also holds the mark as the highest-rated — a 33 rating after Super Bowl XIV. Apparently, something about the Steelers beating the Rams put America into a thoughtful mood, probably something Terry Bradshaw said in his MVP speech.

The Game-Changer
The A-Team (NBC, 1983)

NBC was just sticking to its schedule when it aired the second episode of A-Team after Super Bowl XVII. But the show was the perfect, raucous match for the game, grabbing a huge audience that turned A-Team into a a pop-culture phenomenon. Other networks took notice.

The Best Launch
The Wonder Years (ABC, 1988)

Following NBC's macho example, the networks spent the next few years using the game to promote silly, male-oriented shows such as Airwolf. But ABC used the 1988 game to funnel an audience into a "special preview" of a series that both needed and deserved the push: the wonderful, offbeat Wonder Years.

The Worst Launch
Grand Slam (CBS, 1990)

Starring Paul Rodriguez and John Schneider, this instantly forgotten action/buddy comedy is the epitome of the wasted Super Bowl slot: A lot of people learned all at once that Slam was lousy. By March, it was slammed off the air.

The Most-Watched
Friends (NBC, 1996)

Because the population keeps growing, this special Super Friends, though slightly lower rated than 60 Minutes, was seen by far more people: close to 53 million. And what most of them remember is that "The One After the Super Bowl," a guest-packed two-parter with Julia Roberts, Brooke Shields, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Marcel the Monkey, was awful. It represented the show at its overhyped worst.

The Latest and Lowest-Rated
Alias (ABC, 2003)

Using the game to try to bring a bigger audience to this terrific series was a good idea. Unfortunately, the game and the postgame chatter ran notoriously long, and Alias didn't air until after 11 p.m. in the East, the only Super show to start after prime time. Even Jennifer Garner in a bustier wasn't enough to keep people up.

The Best Boost
Grey's Anatomy (ABC, 2006)

So much for assuming the Super slot is best used for male-appeal shows. ABC turned it over to the female-favored Grey's, which was just beginning to emerge as a critical and popular success. This two-part bomb-in-the-stomach episode turned Grey's into the season's breakout hit, and it helped change ABC's ratings fortunes.

The Worst Choice
Criminal Minds (CBS, Sunday, after the game)

Over the years, this slot has come to mean more than just numbers. It is, in a sense, a statement by the network that this is the show that means the most to us this season, the one on which we're stamping our imprimatur. The people at CBS want that show to be Minds? Are they out of theirs?

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2007-02-01-superbowl-shows_x.htm

TV Notebook
CBS still says yes to 'Big Brother'
Net approves eighth season of reality show

By Josef Adalian Variety Feb. 1, 2007

"Big Brother" will be back for another round of real-people melodrama.
I hope CBS spends a little more money and shows it in HD.

Anyone know if it will be in HD this year?

Thanks

TV Notebook
When “Lost” Returns Wednesday
Pretty Soon, All Will Be Revealed
By Bill Keveney, USA Today 2/2/2007

When ABC's Lost returnson Wednesday, fans will find answers and favorite characters over the course of 16 consecutive new episodes, executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof say. Specifically:

Expect these answers

• How Locke ended up in a wheelchair before arriving at Lost's island.

• How Jack got his tattoos.

• What The Others' Ethan was doing before he came to the island.

• What happened to Desmond, who may be having premonitions, when the hatch exploded in the second-season finale.

• The effects of the purple sky, which followed the hatch explosion, on the island.

• More details about the Dharma Initiative, the island psychosocial experiment.

Look for these story lines

• Resolution of much of the November cliffhanger (Wednesday), with Jack operating on Ben and urging Kate and Sawyer to escape. The episode will feature Juliet's first flashback.

• Relationships, including Kate-Sawyer, Claire-Charlie and Juliet-Jack. Interestingly, Kate still has some feelings for Jack.

• The surprise pregnancy of Sun, with some relevant questions: Who's the dad? How does being pregnant put her in danger?

• The return of favorite beach castaways, who were mostly left off-screen in the fall, in a Feb. 14 "beach-centric" episode, Lindelof says. Lost will get off The Others' island after the third episode, the first of four featuring flashbacks of original characters.

• Coming back to the second season's final moment, when Desmond's lost love, Penny Widmore, apparently tracked the location of the island.

Catch these guest stars

• Cheech Marin as Hurley's father in a Hurley flashback.

• Bai Ling appearing in a Jack flashback.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2007-02-01-lost-side_x.htm

I hope CBS spends a little more money and shows it in HD.

Anyone know if it will be in HD this year?

Thanks

Sorry. There has been absolutely no indication so far that it will be in HD.

But the head of CBS HD Department says his next goal is to get non-scripted CBS shows converted to HD, and I would assume "Big Brother" would be the easiest to do, so there is always hope.

Sorry. There has been absolutely no indication so far that it will be in HD.

But the head of CBS HD Department says his next goal is to get non-scripted CBS shows converted to HD, and I would assume "Big Brother" would be the easiest to do, so there is always hope.

Thats a heckuva lot of HD cameras for one show.

Critic’s Notebook
How do I love NBC's '30 Rock?'
Let me count the ways
By Rob Owen Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV Editor in his blog “Tuned In”

When NBC's "30 Rock" premiered in the fall, I liked it OK, but wasn't convinced it would grow into a signature series for the network. Ratings-wise, it still hasn't, but creatively, "30 Rock" has improved tremendously since its pilot episode by giving greater depths of shallowness to its supporting characters and through the sheer force of star Alec Baldwin's blustery performance as NBC executive Jack Donaghy.

Tonight's episode (9:30 p.m.) may not be the best to date, but it certainly has its moments as Liz (Tina Fey) and Jack attend a birthday party for a debilitated foreign prince (hilariously played by Paul Reubens, AKA Pee-wee Herman).

Jenna (Jane Krakowski) especially shines as she plots her way to fortune by romancing the prince.

"You know, I've always reminded myself of Grace Kelly," she tells Liz, who questions whether it's a logical pairing beyond Jenna's opportunism. "I'm an actress, Liz. It would be my greatest role of all time!"

In addition to the Reubens cameo, "SNL" player Will Forte has an amusing guest spot as an aid to the prince.

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

Thats a heckuva lot of HD cameras for one show.

True, but no bad weather conditions or hard travelling as CBS would face in "Survivor" or "The Amazing Race".

Critic’s Notebook
Is '24' Becoming A Boring Soap?
By Kevin D. Thompson Palm Beach Post Television Writer in his blog

Has 24 jumped the shark?

It's too soon to tell. But it's not too soon for me to say I'm not really digging the whole dysfunctional Bauer family storyline. 24 isn't supposed to be a soap opera. It's supposed to be a kick-butt, action-drama about a super agent man who kills bad guys and saves the world. That's what 24 has always been about.

But for the last two weeks, Jack has found himself reuniting with his extremely tall father (you almost don't even see Kiefer Sutherland when he's in the frame with James Cromwell) and locking horns with his weasel brother. There's even the potential for an All My Children-like love triangle involving Jack, his brother Graem (yeah, I spelled it wrong last week) and Graem's fetching spouse. It may even be revealed at some point that Graem's son is actually Jack's love child from back in the day.

Puh-leeze!

All of sudden 24 is starting to look like Dallas with way more killings, explosions and guys with foreign accents. Sutherland is the do-right Bobby Ewing while Paul McCrane gets his J.R. Ewing on. If I want to watch a juicy prime time soap, I'll tune in Desperate Housewives or Grey's Anatomy. Complicated family dynamics have no place in 24's universe.

The show got off to such a high-octane start the first four hours. But last night I found my mind wandering while it was on. I even paused the episode for a few minutes to rest my tired eyes. I mean, that never happens. Never.

Get back to what you do best, 24. Hurry. The clock is ticking...

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/thompson/entries/2007/01/the_apprentice_9.html

Washington Notebook
Senate Democrats urge tighter broadcast guidelines
By By Brooks Boliek The Hollywood Reporter

WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats on Thursday pressured the five FCC commissioners to set programming requirements for broadcasters as part of the industry's mandate to operate in the public interest.

In the Federal Communications Commission's first appearance before the Senate Commerce Committee since the Democrats took control of Congress, the lawmakers weren't shy about voicing their objections to what appears on TV.

Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., called television a menu filled with "junk, sex and scandals." Rockefeller and other Democrats -- most notably Sens. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey -- complained that the FCC was abdicating its obligation to police the airwaves.

"I think TV is in the worst state it's ever been in," Rockefeller said. "I'm convinced the FCC has abandoned its core responsibility."

The lawmakers pushed FCC chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican, to commence a rule that would precisely define programming that serves the "public interest."

"It seems to me (that) the public-interest standards have been completely emasculated, and I'm hoping you will start a notice of proposed rulemaking on public-interest standards," Dorgan said.

Although Martin hasn't been shy about bashing broadcasters for their programming -- he has been aggressively pursuing them for violating the nation's indecency laws -- he expressed hesitation over a commitment that requires broadcasters to air certain types of programming.

"I'm not convinced yet that we need to have the kind of requirement some people have urged us to announce, which is that broadcasters would have an obligation to put on certain kinds of programming," Martin said.

He told the lawmakers that he did not object to a requirement that broadcasters prove they are operating in the public interest.

"I do think it's important, and I have supported more extensive reporting requirements," he told the lawmakers.

In exchange for getting the use of the airwaves for free from the government, broadcasters are required to operate in the "public interest, convenience and necessity." While there have been different obligations placed on broadcasters under that legal rubric, exactly what that is has never been explicitly spelled out.

Dorgan and the other lawmakers appear to want some regulatory certainty about it.

"This commission is about regulation," Dorgan said. "I always worry a little when I hear regulators shy away from regulation. The market from time to time needs a referee. That's the job of the FCC, in my opinion."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/01/AR2007020102413_pf.html

Washington Notebook
Democrats Urge Tighter FCC Rules
By Charles Babington Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, February 2, 2007

Senate Democrats pressed the Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission yesterday to slap tighter controls on media ownership, public-interest broadcasting and television violence.

Several Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee warned the agency not to try to relax limits on the number of media outlets one company can own, as the FCC did in 2003 only to have a federal court stay the action. Recent FCC policies on media ownership, said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), have been "a spectacular failure."

He railed against rules that allow one entity to own eight radio stations in a large city and against proposals to allow one owner to have three TV stations in a city. "More concentration means less competition," Dorgan said. "The public-interest standards have been nearly completely emasculated."

But FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin, who has close ties to the Bush White House, defended the agency's policies.

"The commission has tried to make decisions based on a fundamental belief that a robust, competitive marketplace, not regulation, is ultimately the greatest protector of the public interest," Martin said. He told Dorgan, "I'm not convinced yet we need to have the kind of requirements" for local TV and radio programming that some advocates have championed.

Flexing their muscles at Congress's first oversight hearing of the FCC since taking control of the House and Senate last month, Democrats lectured and sometimes scolded FCC members, saying the agency needs more teeth in its regulation of broadcast outlets, telephones, the Internet and other services.

"The change of this last election," said Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), "is that there's going to be a lot more attention on the FCC. . . . It has abandoned its core responsibility to the public interest."

While the two-hour hearing didn't result in any mandates, it was more than a rhetorical venting, said Tamara Lipper, a spokeswoman for Martin.

"The commissioners are informed by the hearings," she said, and the lawmakers' comments "become part of the record."

As such, scores of lobbyists and interest group members filled long hallways and stairwells in the Russell Senate Office Building before crowding into an overflow room to watch the proceedings on TV monitors. The FCC's two Democratic commissioners often endorsed the senators' complaints, while their three GOP colleagues gently pushed back.

Democratic Commissioner Michael J. Copps told Dorgan that the FCC needs tougher requirements for broadcast outlets seeking license renewals and more detailed descriptions of locally produced content that would serve "the public interest."

Rockefeller called on the agency to put more pressure on cable and broadcast TV outlets to reduce the amount of televised violence. "Commercial television is in the worst state I've ever seen," he said.

Even sharper was Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who questioned whether Martin had aggressively looked into "the suppression" of two reports -- drafted by FCC staff members -- that reflected badly on the agency's media-ownership policies. "A culture of secrecy is still pervasive at the FCC," Boxer said.

Martin, whose voice never rose above a soft drawl, said he made all the documents public as soon as he learned of them last fall.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/01/AR2007020101997_pf.html

Thats a heckuva lot of HD cameras for one show.
True, but a company as big as CBS can afford it. :D

TV Notebook
Behind Closed Doors:
When Isaiah Washington Met GLAAD
by Ileane Rudolph TV Guide Thursday, February 1, 2007

Isaiah Washington might be more of a foot-in-the-mouth hothead than a homophobe, but gay groups aren't letting the Grey's Anatomy doc — currently in anger-management counseling — off the hot seat quite yet. TV Guide talked to Neil Guiliano, president of GLAAD (the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and Kevin Jennings, executive director of GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network), to find out what really went down at their Jan. 22, pre-rehab powwow with the actor, and what they still want to see from him.

"We had requested the meeting when we demanded that he apologize," says Guiliano, who says he felt "outrage" at Washington's homophobic slur uttered on the Grey's set in early October, and directed at cast mate T. R. Knight. The actor was "very calm, remorseful and very sincere" at the meeting, adds Guiliano. "He understood and apologized for the enormity of the hurt that he had caused."

The activists bombarded the father of three with stats about the prevalence of anti-gay slurs in schools. "He was horrified and shocked," Jennings recalls. The group also discussed possible means by which Washington might make amends. Among the projects suggested is a PSA to air on ABC, "about how damning this kind of language can be." (We're told that the ABC rep at the confab was open to the idea.) Washington also reportedly asked to do more than "just use the media" to spread the word, but also attend gay events because "people need to know Isaiah."

Washington also seemed interested in working with GLSEN to educate kids on the subject. "It was a very good dialogue, very honest and frank, which it needed to be," says Guiliano. However, no firm commitments were made. "It was understood to be a beginning conversation," says Jennings. "He has said he wanted to be judged by his actions, not his words. We told him those actions have to show a real commitment, not be a one-shot thing. He agreed.

"I'm optimistic," Jennings concludes. "I'm also waiting to see what happens next."

http://tvguide.com/News-Views/Interviews-Features/Article/default.aspx?posting={A8F7F650-69BE-41B4-B4E5-E4068B52289F}

True, but a company as big as CBS can afford it. :D


Especially if they use a lot of consumer-grade HD cameras as their voyeur cams throughout the house.

(If you are on the West Coast or haven’t seen David Letterman’s Thursday show yet, skip this itme.)
TV Notebook
Behind Closed Doors:
When Isaiah Washington Met GLAAD
By Roger Catlin Hartford Courant TV Critic in his “TV Eye” blog

Dave Letterman marked a quarter century of late night TV duty Thursday the same way he celebrates any day on the "Late Show" -- low key.

He only had a couple of jokes about the landmark in his monologue. He'd still be at NBC where he started his late night career Feb. 1, 1982 "if they hadn't caught me making personal calls." Back then, he said, "Michael Jackson still looked like Michael Jackson." And he still enjoyed working every night. "The truth is I still get a kick out of firing people."

There wasn't anything big happening between the monologue and the first guest, though. Just another garden-variety segment of "Know Your Current Events" (and cuts of meat and so on) and another "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches."

The Top 10 list was "Top 10 things I've learned working for Dave Letterman," as read by various workers (mostly women with little snipes written for him, like the one from the costumer: "Just like Britney - No underpants"). Letterman himself seemed a litle under the weather, with a bit of a hoarse voice and a tendency to break into coughs when he got started laughing.

At least Bill Murray, the special guest on the show, knew how to celebrate.

He was the first guest at NBC -- and the first one 1,810 shows later when Letterman moved to CBS. So he wore a tux, top hat and tails, carried a bottle of champagne and looked generally out of place before an audience where everyone mostly wore jeans.

"I thought we were having a big thing here," he said to his host.

Murray popped the cork as they chatted about the Super Bowl, a chat that was going nowhere comedically, pitting Letterman's Indianapolis against Murray's Chicago Bears. And they spent most of his segment prank calling CBS chief Les Moonves so Murray could hit him up for Super Bowl tickets. "I need six down low," Murray pleaded.

Looks like he left with them.

It was a bit of a sports night, with LeBron James balancing out the program in one of those kind of interviews where he wouldn't expand on any answer and Letterman had to keep leading him along. You started to feel how hard this job must be over the span of a quarter century.

http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/

Critic’s Notebook
Is '24' Becoming A Boring Soap?
By Kevin D. Thompson Palm Beach Post Television Writer in his blog

Has 24 jumped the shark?

It's too soon to tell. But it's not too soon for me to say I'm not really digging the whole dysfunctional Bauer family storyline. 24 isn't supposed to be a soap opera. It's supposed to be a kick-butt, action-drama about a super agent man who kills bad guys and saves the world. That's what 24 has always been about.

There's even the potential for an All My Children-like love triangle involving Jack, his brother Graem (yeah, I spelled it wrong last week) and Graem's fetching spouse.

Someone has a short memory ... I can remember at least three love triangles on the show. Jack, Audrey and her husband Paul formed a major subplot all the way through season 4. Then you have the Nina Myers, Jack and his wife in season one and Michelle Dessler, Tony Almeida and his temporary girlfriend had something similar, and of course Chloe who is also having her own little love triangle storyline this season ...


All of sudden 24 is starting to look like Dallas with way more killings, explosions and guys with foreign accents.


sounds like exciting TV to me! :D

The best thing about Kevin's blog is that I am sure it will get some reaction. :)

Critic’s Notebook
The sweeps files: CBS is on top

By Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel Television Critic his TV Guy blog February 1, 2007

Another February, another ratings period. This sweeps month is one race we can call before it starts. The network with the Super Bowl usually wins in total viewers. Congratulations, CBS.

Even with that big lead, the Eye Network won't shut its logo and take it easy. And the other networks are hardly folding. The ratings period runs through Feb. 28 and bolsters local stations with marquee programming. The highlights include notable returns, fond farewells, flashy guest stars and the ever-glitzy Academy Awards.

Events

Super Bowl XLI, Sunday, CBS: The Chicago Bears take on the Indianapolis Colts. The halftime show features Prince. CBS hopes there isn't another wardrobe malfunction.

Grey's Anatomy, Feb. 8, ABC: The network says the show "enters a three-episode story arc that will challenge the interns of Seattle Grace -- and Grey's fans as well -- like never before." ABC gets an A for that tease.

The Grammys, Feb. 11, CBS: The Police reunite to open the show. One segment features John Legend, John Mayer and Corinne Bailey Rae performing together. Expect music from Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, the Dixie Chicks, Gnarls Barkley, Ludacris, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Justin Timberlake and Carrie Underwood.

American Idol, Feb. 22, Fox: The season's first live-results show will air on a Thursday.

Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special, Feb. 22, ABC: Celebrity chats pair Julia Roberts with George Clooney, Nicole Kidman with Russell Crowe, Jamie Foxx with Sidney Poitier. All are Oscar winners.

To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports, Feb. 27, ABC: The anchor reports on his wounding in Iraq and his slow recovery.

The Academy Awards, Feb. 25, ABC: The women provide the most compelling stories. Ellen DeGeneres hosts. Best-actress nominee Helen Mirren of The Queen looms as the likeliest winner. American Idol fans will root for supporting actress Jennifer Hudson of Dreamgirls.

Debuts, returns and farewells

Reba, Feb. 18, The CW: Reba McEntire and her cast wrap up their sitcom.

Lost, Wednesday, ABC: Fans learn whether Jack (Matthew Fox) was successful in helping Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) escape.

Rules of Engagement, Monday, CBS: Patrick Warburton and David Spade are bickering pals in this sitcom.

Survivor: Fiji, Feb. 8, CBS: The 14th edition of this contest will offer another ethnically diverse cast.

CSI, Feb. 8: Grissom (William Petersen) returns from a teaching sabbatical. We've missed him.

Beauty and the Geek, Feb. 14, The CW: How romantic. The contest ends its latest edition on Valentine's Day.

The Amazing Race: All-Stars, Feb. 18, CBS: Rob and Amber made the cut. Oh, joy.

Jericho, Feb. 21, CBS: A recap special airs Feb. 14. A new episode the next week flashes back to the day before the bombs went off.

The O.C., Feb. 22, Fox: This former phenom leaves the air. In the last episodes, Kevin Sorbo plays the dad of Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie).

America's Next Top Model, Feb. 28, The CW: Tyra Banks returns with the eighth edition of her competition. Ugly Betty, tonight, ABC: American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee puts in an appearance as herself.

Guest stars

Criminal Minds, Sunday, CBS: James Van Der Beek is a troubled man in this episode that follows the Super Bowl.

How I Met Your Mother, Monday, CBS: To extend the Super Bowl fun, Emmitt Smith drops in for a visit.

The Class, Monday, CBS: Also as part of "Super Monday," Jerry Rice makes an appearance.

Two and a Half Men, Monday, CBS: Brooke Shields plays a neighbor who drives Charlie a bit batty. Allison Janney visits Feb. 12.

Heroes, Monday, NBC: George Takei of Star Trek portrays the father of Hiro (Masi Oka), and Jessalyn Gilsig of Nip/Tuck is the birth mother of Claire (Hayden Panettiere).

Bones, Wednesday, Fox: Stephen Fry and Eddie McClintock figure in the mystery, which continues the next week.

CSI: NY, Wednesday, CBS: Nelly Furtado portrays what the network describes as a "world-class personal shoplifter."

30 Rock, Feb. 8, NBC: Jack (Alec Baldwin) tries to celebrate the end of his marriage to Bianca (Isabella Rossellini).

Ghost Whisperer, Feb. 9, CBS: Would you buy Mary J. Blige as a cheerleading coach? Well, this show is a fantasy.

Brothers & Sisters, Feb. 11, ABC: Margot Kidder plays a wayward friend of Nora (Sally Field).

24, Feb. 12, Fox: Powers Boothe and Chad Lowe pop in when the thriller offers back-to-back episodes.

My Name Is Earl, Feb. 15, NBC: Beau Bridges reprises his role as Earl's father.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/orl-sweeps0107feb01,0,5462867,print.story?coll=orl-caltvtop

The best thing about Kevin's blog is that I am sure it will get some reaction. :)

well he's not wrong about this season's content, it's just that the 24 formula is that it always has basically the same content! A blessing and a curse depending on how you look at it.

He must not have noticed until now.

Or maybe he is just trolling for reaction :)

Or maybe he is just trolling for reaction :)

he should have gone with the Kim Bauer plot lines being the best seasons ... now that would get some passionate reaction!

TV Sports
Super Bowling for big ratings
By Robert Bianco USA Today 2/1/2007

The Worst Choice
Criminal Minds (CBS, Sunday, after the game)

Over the years, this slot has come to mean more than just numbers. It is, in a sense, a statement by the network that this is the show that means the most to us this season, the one on which we're stamping our imprimatur. The people at CBS want that show to be Minds? Are they out of theirs?

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2007-02-01-superbowl-shows_x.htm

Isn't it a bit premature for him to label it the worst choice?

I've never seen the series, but I'm going to try to catch the Super Bowl episode.

Isn't it a bit premature for him to label it the worst choice?

I've never seen the series, but I'm going to try to catch the Super Bowl episode.

I agree with you, and not Bianco.

I think, if the episode after the Super Bowl is a good one, that it could be a brilliant move by CBS and turn CM from a solid performer into a blockbuster -- just as the post Super Bowl appearance did for Grey's Anatomy last year.

Note: I didn't notice any spoilers in this article, but if you are a "lost" fanatic, read it at your own risk.)

TV Notebook
'LOST,' which way will it go?
By Bill Keveney USA TODAY

Now we know how the castaways feel.

After stranding viewers for three months, Lost returns Wednesday, looking to bring back its audience — and momentum — with 16 consecutive episodes in a new time slot (ABC, 10 p.m. ET/PT).

Producers promise some of the best episodes yet after a six-episode fall arc in which ratings slipped and grumbling was heard from some fans and TV critics who previously had offered little but praise.

Ironically, the unusual split season, created to eliminate reruns in response to fan complaints, probably led to new ones about the cramped fall schedule and an in-season hiatus so long that the show seemed more like "Dharma & Break."

Executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof say some individual episodes were top-shelf, but they agree that the split season created structural difficulties in telling the serialized story.

Now, however, they're looking at the bright side of the hiatus: a new episode every Wednesday through May, offering the chance to re-engage fans and make the fall episodes look better in retrospect. Lindelof offers a sports analogy: "I feel like we're a great football team that had a somewhat spotty preseason record, but now that we're playing for keeps, it's time to kick (butt) and take names."

The long hiatus has heightened anticipation about Lost's return. Viewers await the stories; ABC and producers await viewers' reaction. Some fans say Lost is at a crossroads, but Cuse and Lindelof don't believe the third-season drama is at any more of a pivotal point than it is each week.

"If we were to view it in those terms, it would be hard for us to do our jobs. I can't think of a single, mythologically based show that has been this successful for this long, so this is all gravy," Cuse says. "We're just trying to do what we've always done: tell stories that we think are cool and exciting."

Back at the beach

The fall arc created an unexpected clash of expectations with too little time to tell too many stories.

Cuse and Lindelof felt the need to pick up the story of Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway), who were kidnapped by The Others in last May's cliffhanger. They also wanted to shine some light on The Others, whose shadowy presence has raised questions since Season 1.

That left little time for longtime favorites such as Hurley, Charlie, Claire and Sayid. Some fans say they were thrilled to learn about The Others, while others missed the original castaways.

"Seeing The Others was great, especially with the surprise beginning, that they have this cozy village, and the Lostaways have interrupted their seemingly idyllic life," says Matthew Hoskins, 32, of Orlando. "But keeping the first six episodes so Others-centric was a detriment to the character development of the Lostaways still on the beach."

In retrospect, the producers realized the fall arc was being viewed not as the first part of a whole season, but as a mini-season in itself.

"What I don't think we anticipated was the amount of focus there would be on the six episodes themselves," Cuse says. There was an expectation that "they had to be an encapsulation of everything people liked about the show."

After Wednesday's episode, which picks up the thread of the Nov. 8 cliffhanger involving Kate's and Sawyer's potential escape from The Others' neighboring island, the story will become "beach-centric" with familiar faces on Feb. 14, Lindelof says. For viewers who want to escape The Others' "Alcatraz" altogether, he promises the story will get off that island after Feb. 21.

Some fans question the continuous addition of characters (including last year's Tailies, nearly all of whom have met their demise). But Lost's actors say new characters invigorate the island community.

"We need fresh blood. We need new people just to shake us up," says Yunjin Kim, who plays Sun. "I think The Others have been a great addition, and the Tailies were great to have. The story opens up a lot more with new characters coming in vs. us."

Lost averaged 17.8 million viewers in the fall, down 19% from the comparable weeks in 2005, when the show hit a ratings peak (22 million) after winning an Emmy and revealing the inside of the mysterious hatch. CBS' Criminal Minds, which hadn't beaten Lost before, has topped it twice this season.

Nevertheless, Lost remains a hit for ABC and a potent draw for younger viewers. Through Sunday, it ranked eighth for the season in viewers and fifth in the 18-49 demographic coveted by advertisers.

Pent-up interest should mean a large audience Wednesday, says Laura Caraccioli of media buyer Starcom. Ratings for the second week "will be very telling."

And ABC has taken measures to prevent a repeat of last spring's ratings decline by eliminating reruns and moving Lost an hour later to get it away from American Idol.

Brad Adgate of Horizon Media says those moves should help but wonders if the long hiatus will hurt viewership. "Will they like the story line? Has it picked up a little bit? That's the ultimate test."

He says Lost also brings an affluent audience and prestige to the network, much like The West Wing's early years on NBC. "It's probably lost some of the luster of the first year, but it's still one of the shows that define ABC."

The committed stay loyal

The most devoted fans remain intensely faithful and say the ratings drop consists primarily of casual viewers who lack the commitment to keep up with the show's complexities. Some of those core fans, who congregate at websites such as thefuselage.com, enjoyed the fall episodes and say the show remains at the top of its game.

"It was great to see the perspective of The Others at the time of the crash. The impression we fans had of who and what The Others were has drastically changed," says Tom Ryan, 34, of Bloomfield, N.J.

But Amy Bauer, who moderates a peer-reviewed online journal, The Society for the Study of Lost (loststudies.com), feels the series has lost some sizzle and is at a creative crossroads, though it can still regain its bearings. "I will eagerly watch the 16-episode conclusion of Season 3, but the show as it stands does not inspire the fervent fan interest I felt in the first two seasons, much less the kind of Internet discussion and theorizing I saw in Seasons 1 and 2," she says.

With the island mystery on the sidelines, NBC's Heroes, another serialized drama, has been grabbing the spotlight. The long break also afforded Lost fans, perhaps TV's most devout, extra time to deconstruct episodes and expand complaints.

"The three months to chew it over has exacerbated a lot of these issues," Cuse says. He and Lindelof say that many complaints likely will be resolved if Lost runs all 22 episodes consecutively next season, like Fox's 24. ABC entertainment president Steve McPherson says there's a good chance that will happen, though that would mean an even longer break — as many as eight months — between seasons.

For all the praise and criticism, fans, producers and the stars are pleased Lost is back. "I'm a fan of the show as well as a participant," says Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Jin. "I'm used to having my Wednesday nights anchored by watching Lost, because it's something we do as a family at home."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2007-02-01-lost-main_x.htm

The TV Column
PBS Retreats on Airdate Plans for Ken Burns's 'War'
By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, February 2, 2007

Two weeks after TV critics begged PBS execs not to follow through with plans to debut Ken Burns's 14-hour World War II documentary during the commercial broadcast networks' so-called Premiere Week, PBS sent a memo informing them it had moved the September start date.

The critics, who have grown used to being ignored by all networks and most viewers -- how else to explain the success of "Deal or No Deal"? -- were stunned.

Instead of debuting "The War" the same night as the Primetime Emmy Awards broadcast, Burns's project will start a week later, on Sunday, Sept. 23. Episodes 2, 3 and 4, instead of airing the first week of the official TV season, when ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the CW typically unveil many new series and returning series, will be broadcast Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 24-26. The following Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, Episodes 5, 6 and 7 will air. Each episode starts at 8 p.m. and is two hours long, except Episode 4, which runs 2 1/2 hours.

"In setting the official broadcast schedule for 'The War' we took a number of factors into consideration, including your important concerns," PBS Chief Content Officer John Boland said in the memo to critics this week. He was alluding to a revolt against the public television network's broadcast plans for the project that erupted during the PBS exec's Q&A session at Winter TV Press Tour 2007 in mid-January.

"It felt like that day was the Iraq committee [report] and the PBS execs were the White House and it didn't matter what the committee said -- they were not going to listen to our advice," New York Daily News critic David Bianculli told The TV Column yesterday of that heated exchange.

Bianculli was among those who led the charge against the network's original broadcast plans; he was the one who asked Boland, rhetorically, "If you have friends in the room who love your stuff and we can't give it the space we want to because you're determined to play chicken [with the commercial broadcasters] -- and you lose every single time -- what's the definition of insanity?"

Peppy stuff.

In his e-mail, Boland also said that "luckily all of the 'stars' have aligned. Ken Burns reports that with the new date 'The War' will premiere on the 17th anniversary of 'The Civil War' debut -- to the minute."

We assume he knows how much the TV landscape, and the scheduling of TV programs, has changed in those 17 years. Which got us wondering:

What advice would the scheduling brainiacs at the commercial broadcast networks give PBS about airing this very special project, and what did they think of PBS's game plan?

We made the calls:

"Monumentally stupid," said one, who asked that he not be named because he said the plan was "monumentally stupid."

"Why not do it two weeks before the season starts? Give yourself a real chance to get some viewers. If they want to prove their worth to the country, why don't they air it when more people can see it?

"Why make people choose between 'Desperate Housewives' and Ken Burns?"

FYI, this guy says he's a Ken Burns fan. He described PBS's airdates as "flying a little too close to the sun" in light of the "millions and millions and millions of dollars" the commercial broadcasters spend at that time of year promoting their new fall lineups.

Another network scheduler was more concerned about the whole Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday thing. He also did not want to be named because the other guy did not want to be named because he had said the plan was "monumentally stupid."

"Who would watch this? You've got to figure it will be more male and older, and starting on a Sunday and Monday you're going up against football, so a lot of your 25-plus or 35-plus male audience . . . is probably over at football.

"Maybe in their minds they want to avoid Thursday," he continued. "I kind of get that. They probably figure the two biggest shows on television are on Thursday. If I were doing it, the best way would be to pick a night and run it every week that night for two hours. When was the last time a broadcast network put on a miniseries which asked you to be there for [several] nights in a row? I think it's a lot to ask of anybody to watch eight hours of anything so close together."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/01/AR2007020101917_pf.html

Ahhh, now you have opened up a can of worms, Scott.

The question, basically, is this: Do broadcasters, as a condition of gaining (and keeping) their licenses, have any obligation beyond the bottom line?

Since they come in to (virtually) every home, and are licensed by us through our representatives, is their obligation different from those of, say, a pay cable network?

Or a basic cable network?

Or is there any obligation at all beyond making as much money as possible?

There can be endless debate on the subject.

How true. Questions that appear that will NOT be answered in THIS Congress if yesterday is any indicator.

After expecting all kinds of fireworks it would appear politicing is the rule of the day. "Walk loudly and carry a small stick, if at all." It is better to sound like you are doing something than actually take a chance and do something. I have no idea what that committee is trying to do, other than score political points.

Mr Dorgan, as a fellow Democrat, please, SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP. Does you mouth EVER take a rest? And Ms Boxer, please, "We the People" need no civic's lessons from California. It would appear that Mr. Iuoye re-read the law and realized that the FCC has no power to act in the Mediacom/Sinclair issue. Better to be a fool that open one's mouth and prove it. It is truly a private sector business issue. And Mr Rockefeller, your comment, "(The FCC) has abandoned its core responsibility to the public interest." Sir, the same could be said for Congress these days. Is that the pot calling the kettle black? Bloviation rules the day.

If the Dem's on that committee preen anymore, the molted feathers will fill up the committee room.

In all fairness, the Republican's don't have a great track record in this committee either. That is one of the MANY reasons they lost the election. I am really glad the Dem's are really shaking things up in Washington. NOT! :mad: In other words, same stuff, different people. Lots of show, little action.

Next.

True, but a company as big as CBS can afford it. :DIIRC, the first episode for the last Survivor appeared as HD in the IPG. I then did some checking on TitanTV, etc., and found that was not the case. I just checked my IPG and Fiji doesn't show as HD.

TV Notebook
The CW Whacks “Reba”
By Ed Bark former Dallas Morning News TV critic at his website unclebarky.com Feb. 1, 2007

***It'll be no more Reba on The CW after a one-hour series finale on Sunday, Feb. 18.

The network announced Thursday that it's dropping the countrified sitcom, which stars Reba McEntire as divorced Texas soccer mom Reba Hart. Reba had a six-year lifespan, which made it the now defunct WB's longest-running comedy series. The show premiered on Oct. 5, 2001 and survived to see a partial sixth season when it made its way to CW last November.

http://www.unclebarky.com/board.html

My fiance will be upset, she loves that show.

Isn't it a bit premature for him to label it the worst choice?

I've never seen the series, but I'm going to try to catch the Super Bowl episode.

It's a great show, but I don't know if America will be in the mood to watch them catch a serial killer right after the Superbowl. I'll be watching of course :-)

Since it is the first of a two-parter, I would suppose they don't catch anyone Sunday night. :)

Super Bowls XLI Notebook
First And None:
CBS Sells Out Big Game
by Wayne Friedman, Mediapost Friday, Feb 2, 2007

CBS has closed the selling of the Super Bowl to advertisers with a number of last-minute deals, according to industry executives.

"It was a race to the wire," says one veteran media-agency executive. "But this isn't uncommon. There are always a couple of spots that are sold the week leading up to the event."

The Weinstein Co., the new movie company from Harvey and Bob Weinstein, will buy a fourth-quarter spot for the upcoming "Hannibal Rising," according to industry executives. The movie is set to release Feb. 9, five days after the Super Bowl.

In addition, T-Mobile bought a fourth-quarter commercial for an undetermined piece of creative.

Phone calls and email messages were not returned by either The Weinstein Co. or T-Mobile by press time. A CBS spokesman would only say: "The finish line is right in front of us, but I think he needs to get there first."

Analysts estimate that the last-minute deals were in the low $2 million range for each 30-second commercial, according to executives. It has been reported that CBS had been making deals for around $2.6 million for a 30-second spot.

Late sales for the Super Bowl aren't uncommon. Neither are low prices, say media-agency executives, with slots sold for under $2 million. For instance, at last year's event, Outback Restaurants grabbed a late fourth-quarter spot from ABC for an astoundingly low $1.1 million, according to sources.

Media executives are quick to point out that these lower-priced numbers may be just a bookkeeper detail--depending on whether the client also had bought other prime-time network advertising or pre- and post-game commercials.

Some advertisers buying this year include Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, Flomax, PepsiCo, General Motors, CareerBuilder.com, Diamond Emerald Nuts, FedEx, GoDaddy, Honda Motor, HP, Lionsgate, Revlon, Toyota, Nationwide Insurance, Mars' Snickers, the NFL, King Pharmaceuticals, Taco Bell, Phillips Van Heusen, Frito-Lay, Sprint, Snapple and Walt Disney Co.

In the past, the Super Bowl has had a number of advertiser trends.

There was the dot.com year in 2000, when more than 20 commercials from Internet companies were purchased. In recent years, the male erectile dysfunction drugs made a splash--which raised the eyebrows of critics, especially during the Janet Jackson breast-revealing half-time incident in 2004.

Previously, virtually all the major five movie studios would buy Super Bowl spots for one or more movies, for a total of anywhere from five to eight commercials.

This year, the number of studios will be lower--even including the buy by The Weinstein Co. The list will now be at least four spots: two by Disney, one each for "Meet the Robinsons" and "Wild Hogs," and one from Lionsgate for the movie "Pride."

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=54931

CBS needs to get some of these cameras (http://www.ue.dk/nyhedsarkiv/10182.aspx) for its Big Brother show. :D

Critic’s Notebook
“Grey’s Anatomy,” A Little “Earl”
By Rich Heldenfels in his Akron Beacon Journal blog

An ultimately satisfying episode of “Grey’s.” Oh, I was a little put off by the sprints-to-save-the-patient scene; medically valid or not, it felt odd. And, while I still expect payback to McSteamy for refusing to join the tag team, I would have thought it might have come in tonight’s episode — and, with all the talk about this three-episode arc coming, have to suspect the question of the chief’s successor is going to be put on hold for a bit. Wouldn’t even be surprised if it was saved for the end of the season. Nor did the free-clinic stuff play all that well.

On the other hand, George and Callie worked out nicely, especially when he matter-of-factly stood by his woman at the end. The Cristina-Burke resolution made me smile.

And the stuff with Ellis Grey was terrific. Kate Burton, who plays Ellis, knew how when to go over the top and when to pull back — how to play the love, the rage, the wisdom and, in the end, the loss. Plus she had great playmates in Sandra Oh and in Cleveland’s own James Pickens Jr. When you replay the episode on your DVR, look at the Chief’s face as he allows Ellis her fantasy of what their life might have been — every detail of it painful for him to contemplate, every episode necessary for her to go peacefully back into her void. Top-shelf work all around.

Also caught up with “My Name Is Earl.” Pretty funny — and that Randy twist at the end was so in keeping with Randy, and still so very creepy. Favorite lines:

“Northern Lights. Maui Wowie. Mendocino Greeno. Carolina Sugarbud. Government medicinal — it’s not bad for legal weed.”

“We won that war 18 to 12? That was a close one.”

“Just once. It was before CDs. Don’t you judge me!”

http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/heldenfiles/?p=946#more-946

True, but no bad weather conditions or hard travelling as CBS would face in "Survivor" or "The Amazing Race".

Also true however, with the ratings that Survivor and or The Amazing Race generates compared to Big Brother, they could be more willing to sacrifice an HD camera or two :)

If CBS were to go with HD cameras for Big Brother....can HD be done with night vision cameras? Is there such a thing ?

TV Q&A
Ask Matt
Prime-time diversity, Awards shows, etc.
By Matt Roush TV Guide Television Critic Friday, February 2, 2007

Question: I just wanted your opinion on this matter: Although I'm a white, 26-year-old, straight female, I like my television anything but white-bread. I get overly excited when I see that a show's cast will be multiracial or have a gay character in it. That's life! With fantastic story lines and actors on shows like Grey's Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, Heroes and Lost, I find hope that our television screens will not continue to show all-white casts. What do you think? Is it just a fad right now to have people of all colors and sexualities on network TV, or will this turn into what television will hopefully become, a true representation of the world we live in? I like that both Lost and Heroes have non-English-speaking characters. I like that we have been welcomed into a loving and terrific Latino family's home, and that we can watch a strong African-American female in a leadership position on Ugly Betty. Are the major networks finally noticing that people of all ethnicities watch television, not just gorgeous white people? Granted, I love 90210, Friends and The O.C., but they only had "special episodes" in which a small story line would divert attention away from the primarily all-Caucasian cast. Let's hope this casting and storytelling trend continues until it's not news anymore.— Jen

Matt Roush: Well, Jen, I'm not sure what more I can add to this. Diversity is both hot these days and very, very cool. I could note that ER was ahead of the curve with this, but Grey's Anatomy has taken it a step further with its blended cast, which include figures of authority. And I can't say enough about my delight with Ugly Betty's multi-ethnic complexion and America Ferrera's recent award wins. (That's one Emmy shoo-in.) My favorite aspect of Heroes is Hiro and Ando's subtitled exchanges. This week's subtitled "Gulp!" was my favorite moment in an otherwise very tiresome episode. And we discussed Brothers & Sisters' positive portrayal of Kevin's sexuality at length in Monday's column, so we'll leave it at that. But the most positive aspect of all of this is that we're no longer making a fuss over each of these characters. It is now part of the fabric of TV, and we can only hope and presume that it will get even better. The ratings certainly indicate that people like what they see, and I can't help but think that one of the things depressing the numbers for NBC's pitiful Grease reality show is that it's such a vanilla version of American Idol. It's like that "Cadillac Car" number in Dreamgirls, when the Pat Boone crooner co-opts the Motown original.

Question: Pretty much everyone who won the Golden Globes in all of the acting categories (TV or movies) retained their win at the SAG Awards. Not much for drama, but I guess it goes to show that when there's a great enough performance, it will be recognized. That said, how can Chandra Wilson win at the SAG Awards and not even be nominated for at the Golden Globes? I know the Golden Globe supporting category is a mess, but the SAGs don't even have a supporting category, and she still managed a win. What gives?— Marcus D

Matt Roush: How about acknowledging that the SAGs got it right, and who gives a fig about the silly Globes? The SAGs lump supporting and lead actors together, which can be awkward, but in this case, as I noted in my Dispatch earlier this week, a win like this illustrates the importance of scene-stealing supporting players in the best TV shows. Chandra Wilson's reward for her brilliant performance has been way overdue. The fact that she triumphed over lead players on other shows is a hopeful sign that SAG members actually thought about their votes.

Question: I thought the Scrubs musical was absolutely brilliant. I liked the fact that they found a way to make the episode a musical, and thought all the songs (with the exception of the "We'll Be Together" steal) were amazing. My favorite song was probably "Man Love." It amazed me that everyone had a good singing voice. I'm wondering if this is because of current digital technology. Though the Buffy musical was far superior, there were a few off-key voices in that episode. I just realized I really didn't have a question here, except to get your opinion on the episode.— Lyle

Matt Roush: Perhaps you missed my rave in my recent magazine review column. I loved it, although I also didn't find it not quite on par with the landmark Buffy musical episode. I thought this one was very clever and sweet, and I loved the fact that the patient who heard everything in music was played by Stephanie D'Abruzzo, from the original Broadway (and off-Broadway before that) cast of Avenue Q, whose songwriters contributed some of the material. In the Buffy episode, it made sense that some of these characters, singing and dancing against their will, wouldn't be good at it. It may just be that the Scrubs cast is more musically accomplished. They certainly impressed me.

Question: I have been reading everyone's comments on the Isaiah Washington situation over at Grey's Anatomy. While I agree that it was both wrong and stupid to start the whole fracas again by using the word to deny the use of the word, I think there must be better ways to address the situation than firing Washington and either killing off the character or replacing him. I have found in the past that killing off a main character has had a "jumping the shark" effect on my enjoyment of the show. Perhaps instead the show can use this as a springboard to introduce a gay character and explore the issue in an intelligent manner (though hopefully less preachy than 7th Heaven). After reading your comments regarding the recasting of prime-time characters, I happily recalled the episode of Roseanne when Lecy Goranson returned after Sarah Chalke had taken over the part (and did an excellent job!), and they did the "Identical Beckys" musical number. I thought it was hysterical, and it is my fondest memory of that show. I even rate it up there with the last scene of the Newhart finale as one of my favorite all-time scenes.— Andrea D.

Matt Roush: Roseanne was always good about winking at itself, which is why it could get away with "replacement Becky." (It helped that Chalke was so good at it.) I still think it would be a bad idea for Grey's. Though the way things are going, it doesn't look like you'll have to worry about losing either the character or the actor. And as for the show including a story line to accentuate the need for gay tolerance or some such message, I think the subtle approach is best. (In the recurring cast, we already have the gay bartender, who brought his boyfriend on a fishing trip with the guys.) If there's any knock to take at Grey's, it's that the patient-as-metaphor device is often too on the nose. If they brought in a new gay character to make a point and to counteract the recent bad publicity, wouldn't that be just a little too obvious?

Question: Regarding your response to Ed's comment on the Isaiah Washington matter, I think it is important to note that time heals most wounds. I also found myself a bit uncomfortable with the interaction between Burke and George in that week's episode, even though I thought the actors both did a fantastic job. However, if they keep Isaiah Washington in the role, I doubt it will really be an issue for me after a few months or maybe by next season. I believe most people will be able to move on from this in time.— Jodie

Matt Roush: If the actors can get past it, and that remains to be seen, I guess I agree that we, too, can rise above... depending on what happens next in the wake of Washington's "rehab," of course. But I should note that most of the mail I've been getting has gone like this one from Aaron:

"Since it doesn't seem likely that Isaiah Washington will be fired for his hateful outbursts, I thought that the best way to punish him would be to have his character become romantically involved with another man, if only briefly. Obviously, that's stretching credibility on the show, but how many times have we endured the 'lesbian kiss' during sweeps week on other shows? At least that would really teach Isaiah a lesson."

I wasn't going to share this, but in one of my snarkier moments of intra-office e-mailing about this situation, I suggested that it would be funny if Cristina turned out to be a man! Wouldn't that show him? But for now, let's rise above, shall we?

Question: As an African-American TV viewer, I am happy to watch a TV show that has a diverse cast. My current favorites are Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy and Scrubs. But sometimes I miss the days of watching family shows like The Cosby Show and A Different World, where the central cast are African-American. I know that UPN at one time had a number of shows geared toward an African-American audience, but since the merger with the WB, that is no longer the case. Don't get me wrong, I still like to watch Girlfriends, but the other "urban" comedies on the CW I can do without. Do you think that, with the success of Ugly Betty (diverse cast, but built around a Hispanic heroine and a Hispanic family), good shows centered around a minority family are coming soon? Along those same lines, I also remember hearing about a new sitcom created by Tyler "Madea" Perry called House of Payne. Has the show been picked up by any networks, and if so, when will it be on? If not, why do you think that it hasn't been picked up yet? Even if it wasn't really good, wouldn't some network like Fox or the CW want to give it a chance? It's not like the networks haven't picked up subpar shows before. Can you say War at Home and 'Til Death?— Lynell H.

Matt Roush: If the Cosby-produced shows are your model, I'm assuming (although you didn't mention it) that you've embraced Everybody Hates Chris, which is the best of its kind I've seen in years. It is the exception, of course, and I think everyone wishes that the CW comedy block aimed a little higher (excepting Girlfriends, which has been generally well-received critically and has always done reasonably well). As discussed earlier in this column, I have to hope that the success of Ugly Betty in particular will encourage the other major networks to continue developing shows that reflect the experiences of interesting, entertaining characters of all colors. But I'm still concerned about Chris being left out of this discussion. I wish it were doing better, but I think that has a lot to do with the network it's on. In terms of its creativity, not to mention bringing Chris Rock's distinct point of view to prime time, it seems exactly the sort of show that TV needs more of. As for Tyler Perry's House of Payne, the last I heard is that it will premiere this summer on TBS, and after a 15-month exclusive window, it will be sold into syndication in the fall of 2008, on several Fox-owned stations and no doubt on many others.

Question: I agree with what you said about HBO breaking the rules regarding In Treatment, and I applaud its willingness to take chances. HBO recently acquired the rights to George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. So far there are four lengthy books in the series, and seven are planned. Each season of the show will cover one book in the series. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone trying something like this before. I hope it's successful and that all seven seasons are produced. If so, maybe it'll start a new trend.— Will

Matt Roush: I was really excited about that announcement, in part because when I'm on vacation later this month (escaping the cold in the middle of sweeps — not the best timing, but that's life), I plan to read the first volume of Martin's series, which has been recommended to me often (especially now that I've given up for good on Robert Jordan's stagnant Wheel of Time fantasy series). What a terrific premise, to devote an entire season to each book in the series. Fingers crossed that it works, whenever and however it may come to pass. If anyone can pull it off, I'm betting on HBO.

Question: I remember reading in early 2006 that HBO asked directors Marcelo Slavich and Alberto Lecchi to produce a second season of the heart-stopping, brooding suspense series Epitafios. I think I also read that they agreed to do it. Now that it's 2007, I searched the HBO and HBO Latino sites, as well as Epitafios' English-language site, and there's no news about any more seasons of Renzo Marquez's story. I know they'd have to come up with another equally compelling killer (or killers), but I found the title character unique and intriguing enough to see more. I hope that isn't just because I watched the entire series over two weeks on HBO On Demand in October. I know it originally aired in Argentina in 2004, so I'd think there'd be some news by now. I'd really appreciate it if you could find out anything for me. That series was one of the best and scariest experiences I've had with my TV set in quite some time.— Jeff

Matt Roush: Good news: According to a recent story in Variety about various HBO Latin America Group projects, an executive is quoted as saying that a second season of Epitafios will begin shooting in the spring. Let's hope that's true, because I can't wait. Epitafios may be one of the most terrifying limited-run series I've ever seen, on par with The Silence of the Lambs and at times even more gruesome and unrelenting. It's on DVD for those with nerve enough to check it out. It's something to do while we wait for Dexter to come out on DVD.

Question: Another bit of armchair Lost scheduling: What would be wrong with a straight-through 24-style run starting at the beginning of the season and running straight through to late February/early March? The advantages would be coming in on the excitement of the new season. No one would think, "Where's Lost?" You would hit both November and February sweeps. You would avoid the arrival of the American Idol and 24 juggernauts in January. Yes, there would still be the same time gap between seasons, but it seems that, psychologically, having it start in September (or October) would make that gap seem smaller. The biggest negative I would see is that you would be running original episodes through the holidays, when networks give up on original episodes.— Tom

Matt Roush: This type of scheduling very well may be an option, as ABC considers its plans for next season. (Even if it did go on in September, Lost probably wouldn't air episodes on the weeks of Christmas and New Year's. ABC could stunt with holiday and year-end specials for those weeks, at least. No one's seriously watching TV then. I know I'm not.) The biggest drawback I can imagine is that Lost would have to have a very tight production schedule to be able to air episodes each week from the start of the season to early spring. A later start to the season gives it more of a chance to bank episodes and to be flexible, as I can only imagine a production this complicated needs to be. But Tom's right in that the main reason Lost hasn't adopted the 24 schedule yet is that ABC is very reluctant for a big-ticket item like this to sit out the big fall launch. It's a dilemma, for sure.

Question: I wanted to respond to Laura's comment regarding Lost. As a big Lost fan, I find it hard to believe that everyone wants a consecutive 22-episode season. A seven-eight-seven schedule makes no sense. One problem ABC has is that its execs cannot find shows to come in when Lost goes on hiatus. What would they do when the show only goes on a small break? I'm in favor of what Prison Break does on Fox: 11 episodes, one month break, 11 episodes. But once again, the problem for ABC is finding a show that can replace Lost while on hiatus. Obviously, Day Break went terribly wrong this year. If they wanted to bring in a monthlong special, ABC hasn't been able to find anything good in a while. There really isn't anything for ABC to fall back on while Lost is gone. So, maybe a consecutive 22-episode season is the only thing that can work?— Kent D.

Matt Roush: There's no way to please every master, either the demanding Lost fan or the corporate demands of the network. The Prison Break plan may be the way to go, since it mainly involves taking December and part of January off, not exactly high-profile months. Or maybe the Jericho plan is even better, keeping the show off the air from late November until mid-February, to help extend the show's run until later in the spring, through to May sweeps. It still creates the problem of what to air when Lost is taking a breather. There are huge risks, as Day Break discovered, in scheduling a short-run, high-concept series in the interim. It would help if ABC had some procedural hits like CBS does that are infinitely recyclable. But it doesn't, so it's a problem. And given the degree of difficulty in producing the show, upping the episode order significantly isn't really an option. Which is why I find myself still coming back to a January-to-May run, like 24. It's just that kind of show.

http://www.tvguide.com/News-Views/Columnists/Ask-Matt/Default.aspx#01diversity

If CBS were to go with HD cameras for Big Brother....can HD be done with night vision cameras? Is there such a thing ?
Oh yeah, alot of stuff on Discovery HD Theater uses nightvision camera in HD. Like any nigthvision system SD or HD there is alot of video noise, but it does look good in HD.

Yesterday’s metered market over-night prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted just near the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.

Also true however, with the ratings that Survivor and or The Amazing Race generates compared to Big Brother, they could be more willing to sacrifice an HD camera or two :)
Does anyone still watch Survivor? I'm so burned out on it. They need something new, go to Alaska or Canada or somewhere else besides a tropical island! :rolleyes:

Lots of people do. It is in the list of top-10 rated programs for the season, although it has slipped considerably in recent incarnations.

And CBS has recently renewed it for two more cycles (after the upcoming Fiji version) so it will have two more Survivors in the 2007-08 season.

thats why I said .. most households.. I realize that not everyone can get it if its on dish only.. but that being said, that a decision for mlb to make and live with

You premise is not quite true. I live in condo and cannot have a dish. Exclusive use is the key to having a dish in a condo. Many who live in apartments have the same problem. No exposure to the proper sky is another problem. Tall trees or hills/mountains is another dish problem. So many of us cannot have Directv.

MLB EI has been on cable for several years. I have bought it every year and watch a lot of baseball. OK I buy the hockey package and ESPN Game Plan also. I am a sports junkie. Now that I am retired and live 7 hours from the nearest MLB park MLB wants to take my link to the game away. There is more to the issue than just being able to have a dish. I hope Kerry made his points and MLB will stay with cable.

Does anyone still watch Survivor? I'm so burned out on it. They need something new, go to Alaska or Canada or somewhere else besides a tropical island! :rolleyes:

I watched the first 2 seasons and then i had enough.

Thursday’s fast national over night prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted near the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
ABC wins big on first night of sweeps
Second-best night for 'Betty' and 'Grey's'
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Feb. 2, 2007

Three (potential) weddings and a sex change gave ABC a strong start to the February sweeps with its best Thursday night since September as all of its female-friendly dramas neared or hit series bests.

ABC averaged a 6.3 adults 18-49 rating and 16 share, according to Nielsen overnights, its best Thursday average in more than four months and 34 percent higher than No. 2 CBS. ABC tied the second week of the season, Sept. 29, for its second-best Thursday average this year.

That came courtesy of some major cliffhangers last week that brought viewers back to see what would happen. “Ugly Betty” began the night at 8 p.m. with the shocking sex change of Alex Meade. That development, teased at the end of its most recent original episode, boosted “Betty” to its second-best average of the season, a 4.7, 0.3 behind September’s premiere.

At 9 p.m., “Grey’s” delivered its second-best average of the season as well, a 10.2, as viewers tuned in to see if Callie and Cristina would accept George and Preston’s marriage proposals. That was the show’s best rating since an 11.0 for its premiere in September and continued its season-long win streak over CBS’s competing “CSI” in that demographic.

At 10 p.m., “Men in Trees,” which also featured a newly engaged couple, hit a series high with a 3.9. It also averaged a 3.9 in overnights last week, though that adjusted down to a 3.7 when final ratings were released.

ABC is now in first place for sweeps, though CBS is expected to take over after Sunday night, when it airs the Super Bowl. ABC won the November sweeps period last fall.

The network finished well ahead of the competition last night. CBS was second at 4.7/12, NBC third at 4.3/11, Fox and Univision tied for fourth at 1.8/4 and CW sixth at 1.7/4.

NBC and ABC tied for the lead during the 8 p.m. hour at 4.7, ABC for “Betty” and NBC for “My Name is Earl” (4.5) and “The Office” (5.0). CBS was third with a 3.4 for a “CSI” repeat, Univision fourth with a 2.3 for “La Fea Mas Bella,” and Fox and CW tied for fifth at 2.0, Fox for “Til Death” (2.3) and “The War at Home” (1.8) and CW for “Smallville.”

At 9 p.m. ABC took the lead in a big way with a 10.2 for “Grey’s,” well ahead of second-place CBS’s 6.8 for “CSI.” NBC was third with a 3.2 average for “Scrubs” (3.4) and “30 Rock” (2.9), Univision fourth with a 1.8 for “Mundo de Fieras,” Fox fifth with a 1.6 for “The O.C.” and CW sixth with a 1.4 for “Supernatural.”

NBC took the lead at 10 p.m. with a 5.1 for “ER.” ABC and CBS tied for second at 3.9, ABC for “Trees” and CBS for “Shark,” with Univision fourth with a 1.3 for “Aqui y Ahora.” “Shark” did win easily among total viewers.

Among households, ABC edged CBS for first place, averaging a 10.5 rating and 16 share to CBS’s 10.2/16. NBC was third at 5.9/9, Fox fourth at 2.8/4, CW fifth at 2.5/4 and Univision sixth at 2.3/4.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_9953.asp

TV Q&A
Ask Matt
Prime-time diversity, Awards shows, etc.
By Matt Roush TV Guide Television Critic Friday, February 2, 2007



Question: I remember reading in early 2006 that HBO asked directors Marcelo Slavich and Alberto Lecchi to produce a second season of the heart-stopping, brooding suspense series Epitafios. I think I also read that they agreed to do it. Now that it's 2007, I searched the HBO and HBO Latino sites, as well as Epitafios' English-language site, and there's no news about any more seasons of Renzo Marquez's story. I know they'd have to come up with another equally compelling killer (or killers), but I found the title character unique and intriguing enough to see more. I hope that isn't just because I watched the entire series over two weeks on HBO On Demand in October. I know it originally aired in Argentina in 2004, so I'd think there'd be some news by now. I'd really appreciate it if you could find out anything for me. That series was one of the best and scariest experiences I've had with my TV set in quite some time.— Jeff

Matt Roush: Good news: According to a recent story in Variety about various HBO Latin America Group projects, an executive is quoted as saying that a second season of Epitafios will begin shooting in the spring. Let's hope that's true, because I can't wait. Epitafios may be one of the most terrifying limited-run series I've ever seen, on par with The Silence of the Lambs and at times even more gruesome and unrelenting. It's on DVD for those with nerve enough to check it out. It's something to do while we wait for Dexter to come out on DVD.


This is great news, IMO, "Epitafios" was one of the very best things on TV last year but given the nature of the story, I hadn't expected a second series, but I'll definitely be looking forward to a coming series. My wish would be that they would air it on the HD channel though instead of HBO Signature, some of the photography used in the first series would look great in HD.

I knew when I first read Matt late last night that you would enjoy that answer, Jim.

I am just sorry I didn't notice the orginal mention in the Variety story for you. :)

Washington Notebook
Martin to Other FCC Members: No Arbitration
By Ted Hearn MultiChannel News 2/2/2007

Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin asked the other four commissioners to support a staff ruling that the agency can’t legally impose binding arbitration on Sinclair Broadcast Group and Mediacom Communications, an FCC source said Friday.

Martin’s insistence that the agency lacks authority clashed with the view expressed in a Jan. 30 letter he received from Senate Commerce Committee chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and the panel’s top Republican, Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, who urged FCC intervention.

After testifying before the Senate Commerce panel Thursday, Martin reiterated his position that Congress didn’t authorize the agency to force warring parties into biding arbitration when they can’t agree on carriage terms in retransmission-consent negotiations.

“It’s not clear to me that the commission does have the authority to order arbitration. I would say, however, though, that the commission has been doing its best to try to encourage both parties to agree to binding arbitration, even by the commission’s Media Bureau,” Martin told reporters, according to FCC spokeswoman Tamara Lipper.

Lipper added that Martin also repeated that the agency’s Media Bureau concluded that Sinclair had not engaged in bad-faith negotiations, which the law prohibits.

“The commission very clearly found there has been nothing that was unreasonable,” Martin said. “Despite that, we still encourage the parties to come and agree to binding arbitration by the Media Bureau.”

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6412982.html?display=Breaking+News

The Business of Television
Viacom to YouTube: Pull 100K Clips
By Todd Spangler MultiChannel News 2/2/2007

Viacom sent a notice to Google’s YouTube video-sharing site Friday demanding the removal of more than 100,000 unauthorized clips of Viacom content.

The take-down notice came after what Viacom said were months of fruitless negotiations to reach a distribution deal.

The Viacom content in question -- which the company claimed represents 1.2 billion video streams viewed to date -- comes from its entire stable of media properties, including MTV, BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures.

“After months of ongoing discussions with YouTube and Google, it has become clear that YouTube is unwilling to come to a fair market agreement that would make Viacom content available to YouTube users,” Viacom’s statement said. “Filtering tools promised repeatedly by YouTube and Google have not been put in place, and they continue to host and stream vast amounts of unauthorized video.”

According to Viacom, YouTube and Google retain all of the ad-related revenue sold against Viacom content, “without extending fair compensation to the people who have expended all of the effort and cost to create it.” Viacom said it has content-licensing agreements with more than 130 authorized Web sites.

Another issue, according to Viacom, is that it cannot control the nature of the advertising that YouTube sells against its content.

Google and YouTube representatives did not respond to a request for comment. Google closed its $1.7 billion acquisition of YouTube in November.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6412990.html?display=Breaking+News

TV Sports
Super Bowl drives NFL's rising revenues
By Gail Schiller The Hollywood Reporter Feb. 2, 2007 (Randy Williams contributed to this report.)

And people say "American Idol" is a hit.

When it comes to capturing the attention of the country, nothing, absolutely nothing, rivals the Super Bowl: Last year, more than 90.7 million viewers tuned in to the game -- more than double the 37.3 million viewers who watched the record-breaking Season 6 premiere of Fox's reality juggernaut.

At a time of increasing audience fragmentation, the Super Bowl remains television's single-largest attraction, making it a darling not just of the networks that air the game but of advertisers who this year are reportedly forking over as much as $2.6 million to CBS to run a 30-second spot during the game.

"People who never watch any football all year are suddenly in front of the television," says Sean McManus, president of news and sports for CBS, which will televise Super Bowl XLI on Sunday from Dolphin Stadium in Miami. "You think it has reached a peak, but interest seems to get bigger every year."

The game, though, is only one element of the National Football League's total annual revenue, which in the 2005 fiscal year ending March 31 totaled roughly $5.7 billion. For a sports league with only 17 weeks of regular-season games, that kind of earning prowess certainly puts it in the same arena as many major entertainment companies.

Disney Studio Entertainment, for example, generated revenue of about $7.6 billion in 2005, while all of Time Warner's networks posted revenue of $9.6 billion. NFL revenue also surpasses those of competing sports leagues -- Major League Baseball generates about $5.2 billion, while the National Basketball Assn. pulls in an average of $3.2 billion.

With the NFL's new pricier broadcasting rights deals generating an average of nearly $900 million more a year for the league, 2006 fiscal revenue is expected to top $6 billion.

It's the Super Bowl that has arguably catapulted the league into the pop-culture phenomenon that it has become. The NFL is credited for its marketing skills in not only turning the game into television's biggest event but also into one of the most effective and costly year-round marketing platforms for advertisers -- one that clearly surpasses most, if not all, TV and movie tie-ins.

"The Super Bowl is much more than a football game; it's a cultural, social and to the business world an economic phenomenon," NFL senior vp consumer products and marketing Lisa Baird says. "There's no other event that attracts such a massive audience, and that's why you see companies paying the amount they are to our network partners to advertise and why you're seeing hundreds of millions of dollars spent in activating around the Super Bowl by our sponsors and untold millions of people who try to draft off the excitement."

Adds Russ Cline, founder and CEO of Image Impact, which measures brand sponsorships and integrations in sports and media: "The NFL has spared no costs and has put all its creativity into telling the nation this is a mega-event in sports and entertainment. The NFL wants to attract every age group and demographic, so they have always changed their game to attract people and be exciting."

Whatever the league is doing, it's working. On the marketing side, the NFL has signed up 22 sponsors who pay millions of dollars just for the rights to use its trademarks and logos, as well as implement marketing campaigns for their brands built around the NFL and the Super Bowl. The price of NFL sponsorships ranges from several million dollars to a reported $120 million a year paid by Sprint for a deal that includes mobile content.

In terms of merchandising, the NFL has more than 100 licensees who generate upward of $3 billion a year in retail sales -- among some of the larger licensees are Electronic Arts, the Northwest Co., Pottery Barn, Reebok, VF Corp. and Wilson. Exclusive on-field licensing partners including Adidas, Nike, Reebok and Under Armour provide footwear for NFL players, with Reebok being the exclusive onfield uniform licensee for the NFL.

Altogether, the league received some $285 million from national NFL sponsorships and licensing deals. But the majority of its $5.7 billion haul in 2005 came from the $2.85 billion it made on broadcast rights, with $1.4 billion generated from the 17 million tickets sold to NFL games, $1.1 billion from local broadcasting deals and team sponsorships and the remainder from ancillary revenue, including the licensing of NFL footage to TV and film productions.

This season, the NFL will earn more than $3 billion in fees paid by CBS, DirecTV, ESPN, Fox and NBC for the rights to broadcast its 17 weeks of NFL games; as part of the NFL's latest broadcast rights agreements, which went into effect this season, CBS, Fox and NBC alternate in airing the Super Bowl, with CBS the latest to reap the ad revenue generated by the game's roughly 60 30-second spots.

Steve Pacheco, director of advertising for FedEx, the NFL's official delivery service, says his company is buying a spot in the Super Bowl for the 18th time not only because the game will reach a worldwide audience of close to 1 billion people after replays are factored in but because TV viewers are actually watching the commercials.

"It's an opportunity for you to bring your best advertising forward and have people really connected to it and focused on it," he says. "Instead of being skipped over, the ads are being replayed. We think the Super Bowl is one of the great mass mediums we have at our disposal."

According to Pacheco, last year's FedEx Super Bowl spot was replayed 132 times in the 72 hours after the game. "What was that worth if we had to go in and buy that? We think there's great value in reaching that many folks who are very engaged."

Adds Martha Tomas Flynn, senior director of national promotions and sponsorships for Burger King, the NFL's official quick-service restaurant sponsor: "It's absolutely the biggest marketing event in the U.S. There's only one Super Bowl. There's nothing else that even comes close."

Sharon Brown, senior sponsorship manager for Motorola, the wireless communications sponsor of the NFL, which has sideline exposure in every game, says the recall rate of people watching NFL games and noticing that NFL coaches are wearing Motorola headsets is about 65%. "Consumers perceive Motorola as being an innovator based on our NFL sponsorship. They're likely to recommend Motorola to friends and family, and they perceive Motorola as a better option when they're looking to make a purchase themselves," she says.

"There's clearly no other TV or movie event that comes even close to what the Super Bowl delivers," adds Ralph Santana, vp sports, media and interactive marketing for PepsiCo. North America, which is not only sponsoring the Super Bowl halftime show for the first time but also has bought commercial time in the game for the 21st consecutive year.

The Super Bowl halftime show, which reportedly pulls in sponsorship fees of some $10 million and has previously attracted such names as Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and Janet Jackson, will feature a live show by Prince.

Baird credits the halftime show with helping to transform the Super Bowl into a massive entertainment event. "The Super Bowl certainly grew because of the sport's popularity, but then there were things we consciously did to make it grow into a bigger activation platform for our partners," she says. "We've built an incredibly loyal and deeply engaged audience, and that's very valuable to a lot of people. We continually innovate to keep the game and the viewing experience at a world-class level and to build new audiences."

This season, Baird says the NFL is concentrating on building its
youth and Hispanic audiences with two new Web sites, NFLrush.com and NFLatino.com. And with its recent announcement that it will be hosting preseason and regular-season games in key international markets such as Beijing and London, the NFL is clearly attempting to spread the enormous popularity of the league and the Super Bowl far beyond U.S. borders.

"Our ambition is to build the NFL into a global brand," Baird says.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/features/e3ic9dc7ecac0f2a973ec7cb3c3fb28fc33

(TV content to your computer? Myabe the time is not right....yet.)
The Business of Television
Time Warner Ends ‘Unscalable’ San Diego Trial
By Tom Steinert-Threlkeld MultiChannel News 2/2/2007

Let’s say you could watch 75 channels of cable television on your PC. Would you? No. At least 99% of the time.

Time Warner Cable said Thursday that fewer than 1% of the 9,000 customers to which it had been providing basic television service to their PCs actually watched any TV that way on any given day.

And it’s not like the residents in the Mira Mesa and Tierrasanta residential areas of San Diego didn’t have a chance to warm up to the idea of getting their TV service on their PCs. The test started July 8, 2005, and it was turned off Jan. 25 of this year, after 566 days of operation.

Which should give heart to operators and programmers of video services aimed directly at the family-room TV: Long-form television is not something the average American wants to view on a computer screen, said Peter Stern, executive vice president of product management for Time Warner.

“Perhaps that’s no huge surprise, but it was still reassuring to confirm that,” he added.

The test was open only to customers who subscribed to Time Warner video and Internet services. Conventional analog- and digital-TV signals were converted to streams of packets that adhered to Internet-protocol conventions at two hubs in the San Diego area and sent to trial participants around the clock.

Basic-TV subscribers were entitled to view 15 channels, primarily local broadcast signals, while expanded-basic subscribers would receive the normal fare of mainstream cable programming, ranging from Fox News Channel to Discovery Channel to ESPN to MTV. More than 90% of the participants were expanded-basic subscribers, able to watch the normal gamut of ad-supported cable programming.

Stern said the PC did not become a replacement for the television in participating homes. Instead, the channels that came into their PCs were used almost as a second thought. Viewers who used the service might be working on their computer in their office and trying to keep on top of a live sports event, like a baseball game, or the news, through a cable news channel.

“A channel like CNN or Fox can often be an ambient background channel,” he added.

The other common condition that would propel usage of a PC as a second screen in a household would be a timing conflict. If one person is watching CSI, a second American Chopper and another wants to watch Grey’s Anatomy, then the PC might get thrown into the mix to add viewing capacity.

In effect, the PC would become the TV of last resort, Stern said.

Still, Time Warner believes the trial was a success. The company learned that it could deliver 75 channels of TV to viewers through their Internet connections.

But the company shut down the test because it knew from the beginning that its technical approach to delivering TV to PC users in San Diego could not be used on a mass scale.

In its test, Time Warner had to install a device called a transcoder for every channel. Each transcoder would convert one analog or digital channel that was going out to TV viewers into IP packets that could be sent to the PC viewers.

And it would have had to add 75 transcoders in every advertising zone in which it wanted to deliver TV programming to PC users in order to expand into a commercial service.

“This is not a scalable approach,” Stern said.

So even though Time Warner shut down the San Diego experiment, it assigned video engineers in Westminster, Colo., and data engineers in Herndon, Va., to come up with a better approach.

But the MSO has not determined when it might try to improve on what it tried out in San Diego, Stern said.

Whenever that is, the new approach is likely to try to more directly meld short-form video content that can be pulled off the Internet with the scheduled half-hour, one-hour and longer programming of TV channels, he added.

In the meantime, Time Warner is delivering TV-like services with individual, short shows pulled from the Net to viewers. The company’s high-speed-Internet service, Road Runner, is operating a video-clip, preview and trailer service in the Akron, Cleveland and Columbus areas of Ohio and in Bright House Networks’ Tampa and Orlando systems in Florida.

And cable-system operators and programmers can breathe a sigh of relief. As a result of this test, “we happen to believe broadband [Internet access] is not likely to be a substitute for linear cable TV” for mainstream American households, where families tend to watch eight hours or more of television per day, Stern said.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6413047.html?display=Breaking+News

Fred,

Great article on the SB it is just amazing when you stop and really think about the numbers.

Thanks Steve. I'll be posting a lot more Super Bowl items (some of them only very remotely related to TV) ovet the next 36 hours or so.

I hope the serious TV-only fans don't get too upoet. :)

Thanks Steve. I'll be posting a lot more Super Bowl items (some of them only very remotely related to TV) ovet the next 36 hours or so.

I hope the serious TV-only fans don't get too upoet. :)

I say go for it. It is only a once a year event and some of this information I find pretty interesting. The magnitude of this event just blows my mind and I remember the 1st SB and to see where it has come is just amazing.

And, of course, SB I was not even close to a sellout at the LA Memorial Coliseum!

Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
Super Bowl XL Shows Slight Increase In Viewers (Nielsen Media Research)

In 2006, an average of 90.7 million Americans tuned in to the ABC Network to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks. The event averaged a 41.6% household rating, up slightly from the 2005 match-up between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots, which was watched by only 86.1 million viewers in an average of 41.1% of U.S. households.

In local markets, the highest overall local rating in 2006 - at nearly 58% -- was in Pittsburgh, PA., home of Super Bowl XL champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The second largest local TV audience, with an average of 55.1%, was in the Seahawks home town of Seattle, while Detroit, the hosts of Super Bowl XL, ranked third with an average of 52.6%. Denver, Jacksonville and Cleveland followed respectively as the next three markets with the largest Super Bowl audiences (see TV Ratings chart).

Over the past ten years, the most-watched Super Bowl was the 1996 contest between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX, which drew 94.1 million viewers for an average household rating of 46%. With a rating of 49.1% the 1982 Super Bowl is the most-watched Super Bowl of all time and the fourth-highest rated television program since 1961 (just behind the final episodes of M*A*S*H, Dallas and Roots Part VIII). Overall, the Super Bowl accounts for seven of the top-10 telecasts of all time. Of the top-40 sports telecasts since January 1961, all but six telecasts were Super Bowls.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

And, of course, SB I was not even close to a sellout at the LA Memorial Coliseum!

That's right they even gave away tickets just to get fans in the stands. Boy how times have changed.

I knew when I first read Matt late last night that you would enjoy that answer, Jim.

I am just sorry I didn't notice the orginal mention in the Variety story for you. :)
No worries, a surprise is good anytime unless I had missed the actual airing. This time around though I'll probably wait for the DVD set as I'll bet it will be on Signature as it was last time, it's presented letterboxed but no HD, and the sub-titles straddle the bottom of the image so zooming to 16x9 doesn't work very well.

I can understand why HBO would think the show wouldn't have wide appeal. But maybe at least one airing late/overnight -night on HBO HD (so people could at least DVR it and enjoy the PQ) would make sense.

Especially given the drek HBO so often runs in the wee hours.

The Digital Revolution
Could that February, 2009 DTV Hard Date Be Scrapped?
Court Case Threatens Digital-TV Transition
By Ted Hearn MultiChannel News 2/2/2007

The digital-television transition could come to a sudden halt later this year if a public-advocacy group can persuade a federal court that the early 2009 mandated cutoff of analog TV was enacted unconstitutionally by Congress and President Bush about one year ago.

On Feb. 17, 2009, every full-power public- and commercial-TV station in the country is required to stop analog transmission -- a mandate affecting millions of homes that currently do not have digital-reception equipment.

TV stations will need to rely exclusively on their digital signals. Consumers without cable or satellite TV will need to buy TV sets with digital tuners or acquire digital-to-analog converter boxes to view digital broadcasts on legacy analog-TV sets.

Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer-advocacy group in Washington D.C., is trying to get the courts to strike down the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 signed by President Bush Feb. 8, 2006. The DRA -- passed without a single Democratic vote in the House -- included the analog-TV cutoff.

Public Citizen’s argument isn’t that the mechanics of the digital-TV transition were unconstitutional. Instead, it claimed that the analog cutoff is unconstitutional because it was included in a law that was enacted unconstitutionally in violation of Article 1, Section 7, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution -- language that requires the House and Senate to pass identical bills, also called the bicameral-passage requirement.

“The DRA was presented to the president in violation of that requirement: The Senate passed one version of a bill, the House another, and then the Senate’s version was presented to the president, who signed it. Under the Constitution, that bill has not become a law,” Public Citizen said in an October 2006 court brief.

The DRA’s flaw, according to Public Citizen, was that the Senate passed a deficit bill with a Medicare durable-medical-equipment payment plan that had a duration of 13 months, while the House version had a duration of 36 months.

Legal attacks on the DRA have been waged in four courtrooms -- so far without success.

“In all the cases, the plaintiffs have lost,” Public Citizen attorney Allison Zieve said.

But Public Citizen gets another crack at the DRA Feb. 9 when a three judge-panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will hear arguments on whether the Medicare inconsistency should invalidate the law that called for the demise of analog-TV service.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6413076.html?display=Breaking+News

I can understand why HBO would think the show wouldn't have wide appeal. But maybe at least one airing late/overnight -night on HBO HD (so people could at least DVR it and enjoy the PQ) would make sense.

Especially given the drek HBO so often runs in the wee hours.
Indeed. :D

Obituary
“Mod Squad’s” Tige Andrews, 86
Actor was Emmy-nominated 'Valley,' 'Squad'
By Variety Staff Feb. 2, 2007

Actor Tige Andrews, who worked for 65 years on stage, screen and television and played Capt. Greer on "The Mod Squad," died Jan. 27 in Encino, Calif. He was 86.

Andrews also had a recurring role as Lt. Johnny Russo in "The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor," which ran from 1959 to 1962. He made numerous appearances on TV shows including "The Phil Silvers Show," "Star Trek" (where he played Kras, the second-ever appearance of a Klingon), "Gunsmoke," "Marcus Welby M.D.," "Kojak" and "Murder She Wrote."

Born Tiger Andrews in Brooklyn, he was a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. He began his acting career on Broadway and Off Broadway in productions such as "Mr. Roberts" and "From Here to Eternity." He is credited with introducing "Mack the Knife" in the original New York production of "The Threepenny Opera." He went on to direct and act in other adaptations of this play.

He was Emmy-nominated for his role as Bodos in "The Big Valley" and for "The Mod Squad."

His film credits include "Imitation General," "Onionhead" and "China Doll."

His screen career began when John Ford saw him perform on Broadway in "Mr. Roberts" and brought him to Hollywood to appear in Ford's film version with Henry Fonda. He went on to appear in Ford's "The Wings of Eagles" with John Wayne and in one of Ford's rare television projects, "Flashing Spikes" with Jimmy Stewart in 1962.

Andrews served in the U.S. Army and was wounded in Sicily during WWII. He married ballerina Norma Thornton, whom he met during a publicity stunt where the men from "Mr. Roberts" competed in a bowling tournament against the women from "Gentleman Prefer Blondes." She died in 1996.

Andrews also painted and sang; in the early 1970s, he recorded two record singles "Keep America Beautiful" and "The Mod Father."

He is survived by six children and 11 grandchildren.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117958560.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
Super Bowl Viewers Reflect Diversity of American Sports Fans (Nielsen Media Research)

Although men are the demographic with the highest interest in watching the Super Bowl on TV (41.0%, or 42.6 million viewers), a significant number of women, Hispanics and African Americans also tuned in to the broadcast.

Approximately 34.7 million women over the age of 18 watched the 2006 Super Bowl for a 31.0% average rating. Among women viewers, those in the 25-54 age group had the highest interest, with a 33% average household rating.

An average of 27.2% of African Americans, or approximately 9.7 million viewers, tuned in to Super Bowl XL. The highest watching African American age category was 25-54 years olds, with a rating of 33.4%. An average of 15.7% of Hispanics, or approximately 6.1 million viewers, watched the 2006 Super Bowl. About 19.1% of Hispanics over age 55 watched the game, the highest rating for any age category of Hispanic viewers.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
Super Bowl Viewers Reflect Diversity of American Sports Fans (Nielsen Media Research)

Although men are the demographic with the highest interest in watching the Super Bowl on TV (41.0%, or 42.6 million viewers), a significant number of women, Hispanics and African Americans also tuned in to the broadcast.

Approximately 34.7 million women over the age of 18 watched the 2006 Super Bowl for a 31.0% average rating. Among women viewers, those in the 25-54 age group had the highest interest, with a 33% average household rating.

An average of 27.2% of African Americans, or approximately 9.7 million viewers, tuned in to Super Bowl XL. The highest watching African American age category was 25-54 years olds, with a rating of 33.4%. An average of 15.7% of Hispanics, or approximately 6.1 million viewers, watched the 2006 Super Bowl. About 19.1% of Hispanics over age 55 watched the game, the highest rating for any age category of Hispanic viewers.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Interesting...thanks fredfa

more...
Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
Cost of Super Bowl Advertising Continues to Rise (Nielsen Monitor-Plus)

In 2006, advertisers continued to pay an increasingly high premium for exposure to one of television's largest national audiences. According to Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the cost for a 30-second spot during the 2006 game rose to $2,500,000 from $2,402,200 in 2005.

The cost for 30-second advertisements during the Super Bowl has continued to increase over the past ten years, with the exception of 2003, which saw a slight drop of $50,000 in the rate from the previous year to $2,150,000.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Fred:

Keep your eyes peeled for Mediacom/Sinclair settlement announcements.

Does anyone still watch Survivor? I'm so burned out on it. They need something new, go to Alaska or Canada or somewhere else besides a tropical island! :rolleyes:

I would watch it if it actually lived up to it's title premise and not just being Big Brother on an a island.

If 20 people went to an island and had to forage for food and fight the elements, wild animals and each other for 3 months with nothing but the surroundings and their bare hands, I would watch that. :)

Fred:

Keep your eyes peeled for Mediacom/Sinclair settlement announcements.


I will CP95 -- I have to think Mediacom is going to cave after Martin's latest statement.

They already did.

ask and ye shall receive, CP95....
The Business of Television
Sinclair, Mediacom Strike Carriage Deal
by John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable,2/2/2007

After months of negotiation, Sinclair has reached a retransmission agreement with cable operator Mediacom, according to a release from the cable company.

The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, means that stations serving about 700,000 Mediacom subs will be restored immediately, which means before Sunday's Super Bowl.

The deal followed word that the FCC was unlikely to intervene to force arbitration on the parties, despite urgings to do so from some powerful legislators.

Mediacom had asked the FCC to intervene, arguing that Sinclair had negotiated in bad faith, or more to the point was not negotiating, and that at the least the FCC should restore the stations while the commission decided what, if anything, to do. The FCC said no on both accounts, with the Media Bureau finding Sinclair had not argued in bad faith and that the commission did not have the authority to force arbitration absent a finding of fault with Sinclair.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin had also signaled that he supported the Media Bureau and didn't think the FCC had authority to weigh in, though he had urged the parties to resolve the dispute or submit to FCC arbitration.
Mediacom favored that arbitration route, while Sinclair did not.

Sinclair has said all along that it was simply a case of Mediacom not paying what Sinclair's TV station signals were worth.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6413203.html?display=Breaking+News

That's right they even gave away tickets just to get fans in the stands. Boy how times have changed.Technically, I don't think it was even called Superbowl until after they decided to do a second game

It might even have been after -- or just before -- SB III (the Namath game. As I recall, it was still called the AFC-NFC Championship game then. I think it was the late Lamar Hunt who came up with "Super Bowl".

Critic’s Notebook
You wake up and it's like it all happened before
... I'm talking about February sweeps, but you knew that
By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn”

Here's an oddity: This year, the February “sweeps” are actually going to begin and end in the month of February. Usually, Nielsen starts the big mid-winter ratings period in January, or ends it in March, but expects us to refer to it as the “February” sweep.

Well, precision was never Nielsen's game, despite what this company built on data might have you believe. Only last week, Nielsen announced it was going to start counting the millions of college kids who watch TV in their dorms. I'm sure over at NBC they said, “You're a little late!”

NBC, you see, has for decades wanted dorm viewership to count in the ratings. It was 25 years ago this week that David Letterman began doing a late-night talk show for NBC. He was an immediate hit on America's campuses … but thanks to Nielsen's indifference no one really knew how big.

And so you see, boys and girls, that's how Jay was able to snatch “The Tonight Show” away from Dave …

But enough ancient history. Here's what's coming up for sweeps, which started Feb. 1 and conclude Feb. 28:

(All times Central.)

So let's say, just hypothetically, that you don't want to watch eight hours of football on Sunday. You could instead tune to “Puppy Bowl III” at 2 p.m. on Animal Planet, where the adorable doggies roll around and horseplay on a non-regulation-sized field. It's every bit as cute and chaotic as 6-year-olds playing soccer, only nobody's yelling at them. Fox is airing “X2: X-Men United” at 6:30 p.m.

As always, certain cable channels are using the big game to attract the fairer sex. Lifetime is showing the Jennifer Aniston movie “The Good Girl” (Jake Gyllenhaal's in it, too), at 4 p.m., midway through a marathon of chick flicks. At during halftime of the Super Bowl, switch over to the Hallmark Channel for “Whole Lotta Love,” a half-hour compendium of “classic” Hallmark Cards and “Hall of Fame” commercials.

CBS unveils a new sitcom, “Rules of Engagement,” tailored to remind viewers of its old sitcoms (8:30 p.m. Monday). David Spade is the designated playboy, a la Doogie Howser on “How I Met Your Mother” and Charlie Sheen on “Two and a Half Men.”

Three movies adapted from Nora Roberts novels air on Lifetime the next three Mondays (8 p.m. on Feb. 5, 12, 19).

“Bastards of the Party” (9 p.m. Tuesday, HBO) is that rare gem: a historical documentary that makes you feel like it all happened yesterday. And for good reason. Filmmaker Cle Sloan is looking at the gangs of Los Angeles, which he took part in from the age of 12. Hall of Famer Jim Brown helped get Sloan into the film business, and his odyssey to uncover the roots of L.A. gangs began. To his surprise, the Crips and Bloods date back to political movements of the 1940s, and Sloan would like to see the gangs returning someday to its origins, which were about empowerment instead of destruction.

“Lost” returns to ABC in a new later time period. Based on the screener I can tell you that mfllffmmgrbldrrfrp … (9 p.m. Wednesday).

For those of you who wondered if, not when, Gil Grissom would return from his sabbatical to “CSI,” wonder no more. William Petersen's character is back just in time for sweeps (8 p.m. Thursday, CBS), and surprise surprise, he immediately discovers why everyone thinks his temporary replacement Keppler (Liev Schreiber) is so secretive and creepy.

“24” has a two-hour blockbuster Feb. 12 (Fox). Not only does this show follow the clock, but the calendar as well: To make up for a late start to its season, Fox needed to find a place on the schedule to air back-to-back episodes so that “24” can finish in the last week of May sweeps.

“Frontline: News War” (Feb. 13, 20, 27 and March 27 on PBS). Lowell Bergman raises troubling questions about his fellow journalists and his industry in general, which is beset by unprecedented challenges to its credibility and viability.

“Jericho” returns with a handy catch-up clip show (Feb. 14, CBS) before resuming the story on Feb. 21. In addition, an online “Inside Jericho” talk show launches Feb. 22 on CBS.com.

Not to be out-thrilled by American TV show, the Brits respond with “The State Within.” This miniseries about Western leaders who try to spin a terrorist attack for political gain is from the writers of HBO's “Dirty War” (Feb. 17, BBC America).

“Slings & Arrows,” a gift from Canada, airs its brilliant third season with a truly Shakespearean story arc (Feb. 18, Sundance).

“Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes” (Feb. 20). An aficionado of rap calls the music of his life into question for its unsavory social messages in this PBS documentary.

“Sit Down Comedy With David Steinberg” (Feb. 21, TV Land). Jerry Seinfeld, Robin Williams and others discuss their craft with the onetime TV star turned director, who is no James Lipton, thank heaven.

“The O.C.,” the hottest TV series to go ice-cold since Arsenio Hall's talk show, signs off for good Feb. 22 (Fox).

The 79th Academy Awards bring an end to something even more overhyped than Nielsen sweeps months -- namely, awards season. Ellen DeGeneres, in case you haven't heard, is host (Feb. 25, ABC).

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2007/02/you_wake_up_and.html#more

TV Notebook
NBC Announces start dates
“Black Donnells” and “Andy Barker, PI” set
( NBC Press Release)

BURBANK, Calif. February 2, 2007 NBC's new mid-season drama "The Black Donnellys" will premiere on Monday, March 5 (10-11 p.m. ET) -- following the hit drama "Heroes" (9-10 p.m. ET) while the new comedy "Andy Barker, P.I.," starring Andy Richter, will debut on Thursday, March 15 (9:30-10 p.m. ET), it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment.

"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (currently Mondays, 10-11 p.m. ET) will return later this season on a date to be determined. "30 Rock" will return to its previous Thursday (9:30-10 p.m. ET) day and time with original episodes on April 19 after "Andy Barker" completes its slate of episodes.

Academy Award winners Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco (both for "Crash") are the creators and executive producers of "The Black Donnellys," a gritty new crime-drama series filmed in New York City and loosely based on Moresco's background.

The series follows the exploits of four young, working-class Irish-American brothers and their involvement in organized crime in New York City. The Donnelly brothers will do anything to protect each other against all odds.

The ensemble cast includes Kirk Acevedo, Thomas Guiry, Billy Lush, Keith Nobbs, Michael Stahl-David, Jonathan Tucker and Olivia Wilde. The pilot was directed by Haggis, who also wrote the Academy Award-winning "Million Dollar Baby."

"The Black Donnellys" is a production of NBC Universal Television Studio in association with Blackfriars Bridge Productions.

In the comedy "Andy Barker, P.I.," Richter ("Late Night with Conan O'Brien") re-teams with Conan O'Brien (series co-creator and executive producer). Richter portrays Andy Barker, an earnest, hard-working CPA who has succeeded at everything -- until his new accounting business fails to take off. But when he's mistaken for Lew Staziak (Harve Presnell, "Fargo"), the retired private detective who used to occupy his storefront office, Andy embraces the twist of fate and dives into his double life.

Andy's relentlessly supportive wife Jen (Clea Lewis, "Ellen") isn't sold on this risky new venture, that is, until she notices a sudden boost in Andy's self-confidence. Andy's fellow strip mall neighbors -- Simon (Tony Hale, "Arrested Development") and Wally (Marshall Manesh, "Will & Grace") join him in the dicey investigations.

This comedy series was created by O'Brien and former "Late Night" head writer Jonathan Groff ("Ed"), who executive-produce the series with Jeff Ross and David Kissinger. "Andy Barker, P.I." is from NBC Universal Television Studio and Conaco.

It might even have been after -- or just before -- SB III (the Namath game. As I recall, it was still called the AFC-NFC Championship game then. I think it was the late Lamar Hunt who came up with "Super Bowl".
I do believe the story goes that he got the idea for the name from his daughter's Super Ball toy.

TV Notebook
NBC Announces start dates
“Black Donnells” and “Andy Barker, PI” set
( NBC Press Release)

BURBANK, Calif. February 2, 2007 NBC's new mid-season drama "The Black Donnellys" will premiere on Monday, March 5 (10-11 p.m. ET) -- following the hit drama "Heroes" (9-10 p.m. ET) while the new comedy "Andy Barker, P.I.," starring Andy Richter, will debut on Thursday, March 15 (9:30-10 p.m. ET), it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment.

"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (currently Mondays, 10-11 p.m. ET) will return later this season on a date to be determined. "30 Rock" will return to its previous Thursday (9:30-10 p.m. ET) day and time with original episodes on April 19 after "Andy Barker" completes its slate of episodes.

I don't like the wording of that press release in the least! :(

I don't like the wording of that press release in the least! :(


No kidding.

Reilly made that part of the announcement at the TCA Tour two weeks ago.

It is the ratings we shouldn't like. It seems clear that, at best, NBC is willing to go out of its way to save either "Studio 60" or "Friday Night Lights". The numbers for both are terrible. So, in all likelihood, both are gone.

My suspicion is, that if NBC decides to give either of them a second season, it will be "Friday Night Lights".

Reilly made that part of the announcement at the TCA Tour two weeks ago.

It is the ratings we shouldn't like. It seems clear that, at best, NBC is willing to go out of its way to save either "Studio 60" or "Friday Night Lights". The numbers for both are terrible. So, in all likelihood, both are gone.

My suspicion is, that if NBC decides to give either of them a second season, it will be "Friday Night Lights".

While I am still watching both shows, if one is to be saved, it deserves to be FNL. One of the best shows on TV right now.

Pity only 4 people watch it.

:rolleyes:

Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
Traditional Advertiser Categories Dominated at Super Bowl 2006 (Nielsen Monitor-Plus)

Fifty-seven unique brands advertised over 47 minutes and 20 seconds of commercial time during the 2006 Super Bowl, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus. The categories that advertised the most during the 2006 Super Bowl included Beer, Motion Pictures, Automotive and Wireless Telephone Services.

The Beer category increased its airtime from 4 minutes in 2005 to 4 ½ minutes in 2006. Motion Pictures decreased ad time in 2006 versus the prior year by one minute from 5 ½ to 4 ½ minutes. Automotive also saw a decline in ad budgets by 1 ½ minutes to 4 minutes in 2006.

Anheuser-Busch aired the most commercial time with 4 ½ minutes for their Budweiser, Bud Light, and Michelob Amber brands. Budweiser aired one 60-second ad and two 30 second ads. Bud Light ran four 30-second ads, while Michelob Ultra aired just one 30-second spot.

Pepsi-Cola aired 2 minutes of commercials, making it the second largest advertiser. Gilette, Mobile ESPN, Walt Disney World, and Warner Brothers Entertainment tied for third place, each airing 90 seconds of ads.

In 2006, the automotive category included advertising for Toyota, Cadillac, Ford, Hummer and Honda. Toyota promoted its Camry Hybrid and Tacoma Truck with 30-second spots for each; Ford Escape Hybrid and Honda Ridgeline also ran one 30-second ad for their brands, while Cadillac Escalade and Hummer H3 each ran one 60-second commercial.

In the Motion Picture category, nine different films were advertised, each with a 30-second commercial. Warner Brothers Entertainment ran the most commercials, advertising for its movies: 16 Blocks, V for Vendetta, and Poseidon.

Finally, in 2006, the Wireless Telephone category was domiated by Mobile ESPN and Sprint, accounting for a total of 2 ½ minutes of commercial time.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

ask and ye shall receive, CP95....
The Business of Television
Sinclair, Mediacom Strike Carriage Deal
by John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable,2/2/2007
So I guess all those comercials you see that say "you're local channels for free" aren't going to be true anymore. :rolleyes:

So I guess all those comercials you see that say "you're local channels for free" aren't going to be true anymore. :rolleyes:

Hate to tell you but you have been paying for them the whole time with all of that profit going directly into the cableco's pocket.

Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
Album Sales of Half Time Performers Again See Strong Increase (Nielsen SoundScan)

This year, recording artist Prince will take a break from his Las Vegas show to perform in the Pepsi Super Bowl XLI Halftime Show at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. According to past trends, Prince and other Super Bowl performers can expect to see a sharp increase in album sales in the week following the big game.

As a halftime performer during the 2006 Super Bowl, The Rolling Stones saw a significant increase in sales of their albums. Nielsen SoundScan compared album sales data from the week prior to Super Bowl XL, ending February 5, 2006, versus the week ending February 12, 2006, and the Rolling Stones "A Bigger Bang" saw a 34% increase in sales.

Super Bowl performers in 2005 also saw their album sales increase in the week following the game. Paul McCartney's 2002 Back in the U.S. saw a 542% increase in sales. Similarly, his 1987 album, All the Best, saw a 246% increase in sales, while his 2001 release, Wingspan: Hits and History, recorded a 161% increase. Sales of The Beatles albums also rose, including The Beatles 1, released in 2000, which saw a 72% increase in sales.

In 2004, performers also saw their album sales increase in the week following the game. Justified by Justin Timberlake saw an increase in sales of 160% and three of Janet Jackson's albums, including Rhythm Nation, Velvet Rope and All For You all had over a 100% increase in sales. At the same time, Nelly saw a 56% increase of sales for Nellyville, while Kid Rock's self-titled album had a sales increase of 25%.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Hate to tell you but you have been paying for them the whole time with all of that profit going directly into the cableco's pocket.
Oh I know we have, I just find those commercials to be funny. :D

The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, means that stations serving about 700,000 Mediacom subs will be restored immediately, which means before Sunday's Super Bowl.


A friend in an affected territory reports that her Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate is back on the local Mediacom system there, so it's already happening.

TV Notebook
My Network trimming back on telenovelas
By Phil Rosenthal Chicago Tribune Media Columnist February 2, 2007

Close the book on the nightly telenovela.

The internationally popular soap-opera format, which asks viewers to tune in for an hourlong chapter of a melodrama each night, did not survive its translation to U.S. television. News Corp.'s fledgling My Network TV is abandoning the scheduling experiment, effective next month.

"Unfortunately, I don't think anybody has the time to watch one particular show five nights a week in prime time," Greg Meidel, who was named My Network TV's president last month, said Thursday. "You have too many viewer choices."

The next iteration of My Network TV, set to launch March 8 on stations covering 95 percent of the country, including Chicago's WPWR-Ch. 50, will include a pair of novelas already in its pipeline. But "American Heiress" and "Saints & Sinners," which stars Maria Conchita Alonso, Robin Givens and Mel Harris, each will air weekly in two-hour blocks instead.

Those soaps will be complemented by movie nights on Thursdays and Fridays and a Monday series following the lives of mixed-martial-arts fighters. That's a marked departure from the decidedly female-oriented romance tales My Network had embraced since its debut in the fall.

"A 0.3 rating will do that," said Brad Adgate, research director for ad buyer Horizon Media. "It's valuable real estate, and they lost a year. ... They'll get some of [the audience] back with better programming, but it doesn't get any easier.

"Hindsight's always 20/20. But out of the box, a lot of people were very dubious. It looked cheesy with B stars [such as] Tatum O'Neal and Bo Derek. ... Channel surfing, it was nice eye candy."

The low-budget telenovelas, originally developed by News Corp.'s Twentieth Television syndication arm, were pressed into network duty when News Corp. needed a stopgap solution for the stations orphaned last year. That resulted from the surprise announcement by CBS Inc. and Time Warner's Warner Bros. in January 2006 that they were euthanizing mini-networks UPN and the WB to launch the CW last fall.

In that context, it was a minor miracle My Network, little sister to News Corp.'s Fox, came together at all. But it might have been better served by yanking its original concept sooner.

"They did, what, $50 million in the upfront?" Adgate said. "So how much money could they lose by going forward like this out of the whole News Corp. revenue stream? They could have easily cut it. In this day and age, for those 600,000 who watched it, there's broadband video, there's My Space. If you're really hooked on the show, there are other opportunities.

"I thought it would do about half of what UPN did, and it wound up doing about a quarter, and it's not like the CW went up. Most of those lost viewers went away from broadcasting to cable."

Yet, while News Corp. was finding viewers unable or unwilling to commit to its nightly adaptations of foreign soaps, ABC scored with its reimagination of the international telenovela hit "Betty la Fea," as the more traditional once-a-week dramedy "Ugly Betty."

"I think that's the way to go if you're going to do an English version," Meidel said. "You can maybe do twice a week, but more than that is asking the impossible because viewers can choose from `House,' `Prison Break' or `American Idol,' `CSI,' ` Law & Order' or `Grey's Anatomy.'"

CBS, according to an executive there, has a couple telenovelas in development, but the network hasn't found the right business model yet. The dramas originally were set to air last summer, but reality TV was a more reliable bet that time of year, and CBS had "Big Brother" and "Rock Star: Supernova" to help fill out its schedule.

"Our strategy was we needed to make a change, and we need to make a change sooner than later because the telenovelas were not living up to our expectations five nights a week," Meidel said. "You get a lot more story and energy in a two-hour block than watching five days a week."

Said Adgate, "It can't do any worse."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-0702020024feb02,0,1539504.column

Hate to tell you but you have been paying for them the whole time with all of that profit going directly into the cableco's pocket.Umm, sure, right. And now it will go into Belo's, and Sinclair's, and probably even yours sooner or later. I'm sorry, but I just don't see much of a distinction here.

Critic’s Notebook
Andy's promotion, Fry's alarm and good "WKRP" news
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher” February 02, 2007

Here are a few bits and pieces before I go into hibernation mode so that I’m rested up for the Super Bowl (which I will be live-blogging on Sunday):

• Kansas City Star TV critic Aaron Barnhart has http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2007/01/adult_swim_mans.html#more of the apology that aired on Adult Swim on Wednesday. Adult Swim’s marketing campaign for “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” set off a furor in Boston this week, when some officials in that city thought that blinking promotional signs hung around town were part of a terrorist plot.

According to a Friday story by the Tribune’s Emma Graves Fitzsimmons, Chicago police removed 20 of the lighted signs, which depict a robotic figure making a rude gesture, from the North Side, but a police official said “the public never reported the devices.”

All I can think is that Adult Swim’s marketing campaign succeeded beyond the network’s wildest dreams. If you hadn’t heard of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” before, you have now.

• Andy Dehnart of Reality Blurred watched “Top Chef” much more closely than I did, and he wrote up his compelling thoughts on the Bravo show’s second season for MSNBC. A discussion of the show is still going on here, by the way.

• The ever-vigilant Gord Lacey of TVshowsonDVD.com reports that Fox has finally given a firm April 24 release date for its first-season DVD boxed set of “WKRP in Cincinnati,” which even Fox had said in the past might “never” come out on DVD due to its use of expensive-to-license music in the soundtrack.

Substitutions have been made for some of the original tracks (that’s also been the case with other DVD releases in recent years). Lacey writes that “WKRP” creator Hugh Wilson “has heard some of the replaced music and thought Fox did a good job.”

• Ed Helms, who said here that he "would be back" on "The Office," has been promoted to series regular on the NBC comedy.

• I want to thank my Tribune colleague Lilah Lohr for alerting me to the Stephen Fry alarm that’s now for sale here. The clock has Fry, who starred in “Jeeves & Wooster” with “House’s” Hugh Laurie, awakening slumberers with one of more than 50 Jeeves-ian utterances, because, as the manufacturers say, “we all like a little admiration in the morning.” There’s also a 90-second relaxation recording designed to “ease the Master into sleep.”

• A reminder: If you want to see how “Day Break” turned out, the remaining episodes of the show are now on ABC’s Web site. The site’s navigation is less than ideal -- I think the best route to the episodes is can be found by clicking here, then clicking on “Day Break.”

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

TV Notebook
Network patience (yes, it exists) pays off
Four sophomore series -- 'Close to Home,' 'Supernatural,' 'Bones' and 'How I Met Your Mother' -- benefit from careful nurturing.
By Martin Miller Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 2, 2007

When "Close to Home" premiered in fall 2005, the CBS show centered on a happily married suburban woman returning to her career as a prosecuting attorney after the birth of her first child. Whether it was its Tuesday time slot, a whisper-quiet marketing campaign or its working woman-centric focus, the program's ratings didn't exactly pop. It moved to Fridays and did better there, but "Close to Home" ended its freshman season on the renewal bubble.

The show hung on, but by its sophomore premiere much had changed. Behind the scenes, "Close to Home" had a new executive producer and its story lines dealt more and more with career and crime and less and less with home and child. But that can happen when you kill off the main character's husband and introduce a new hunk, played by former "JAG" star David James Elliott.

"He's a leading-man type that tests very well with the ladies," said Eric Overmeyer, the show's new executive producer. "We're doing our best to get his shirt off as much as we can this season, though this is difficult because he's a district attorney."

But "Close to Home's" most notable makeover has come in its ratings, which have gone from wobbly to fairly sure-footed. The show has picked up an additional 2 million weekly viewers this season, upping its audience to the 11 million-plus range, good enough on some weeks to finish among the top 30 most-watched programs.

Television isn't fantasyland, and if your numbers don't add up, you're gone. Just ask CBS about its high-profile, high-cost crime drama "Smith," or NBC about its oldster sitcom "Twenty Good Years," or Fox about its aptly named drama "Vanished." They're all washed-out members of this year's freshman class that couldn't get past its first semester.

Between sidelining low-rated shows and cheering the obvious winners such as NBC's "Heroes" lies one of network executives' hardest tasks: demonstrating patience with new programs that haven't found an audience yet. While the last season generated some clear winners, such as CBS' "Criminal Minds" and Fox's "Prison Break," the class of 2005-06 produced more shows with smaller constituencies that are still looking to break away from the pack.

Sophomore shows such as "Close to Home," the CW's horror-thriller "Supernatural," Fox's crime investigative drama "Bones" and CBS' sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" have shored up some of their initial ratings doldrums. But they haven't completely outrun the scheduling ax just yet. For now, the networks will wait and see, hoping to build the promising shows into prime-time stalwarts.

"Out-of-the-box hits are a true rarity," said Peter Roth, president of Warner Bros. Studios, which produces "Supernatural" and "Close to Home." "Most shows invade a new time period and then we need to habituate an audience to watching it."

Traditional pressures on network television have only been magnified in recent years with audience fragmentation caused by computer games, iPods and a smorgasbord of cable channels. However, networks and studios that stand behind shows can be richly rewarded. The most famous examples are "Seinfeld" and "The X-Files," neither of which burned up the ratings initially.

"Network executives may have 10 failing shows and all 10 of their executive producers are all saying they can turn their ship around," said Tim Brooks, a noted television historian and also an executive vice president of research at Lifetime Networks. "That's what the suits get paid the big bucks for — to evaluate which of the failing 10 will find an audience."

Like most second-year shows that didn't blow up the Nielsen ratings, "Supernatural" has undergone a creative back-and-forth with both the network and the studio in a bid to draw the largest possible audience. Eric Kripke, the show's creator and an executive producer, described the process last season with the now-defunct WB as "fairly amicable" but admits it was not without its tensions.

"The network wanted a more rollicking, red-blooded tone that was more evident in the pilot," said Kripke, whose episodes carry titles like "Bloody Mary," "Hell House" and "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things." "But every so often we wanted to try and stretch our legs and tell a story that had a more philosophical bent or was more somber in tone."

The show's creative team and the network clashed over scripts and story lines. Sometimes the creative team backed down, and other times they found even more "creative" ways around the impasse.

"The huge advantage any TV producer has on their side is the breakneck schedule, and I'll fully own up to taking great advantage of that a time or two," Kripke said. "If we pulled the script for the [network's] story suggestions, that means shutting down production. There's not any time for that, so we'd have to move forward."

Last season, the show was given a sound lead-in with "Gilmore Girls," but the gap in tone between the two genres hurt "Supernatural's" numbers. Then in a be-careful-what-you-wish-for scenario, Kripke successfully lobbied to have the show moved to Thursday nights at 9 p.m., following the popular and well-regarded "Smallville." He reasoned that "Smallville" seemed a better fit with sci-fi thriller themes. His request was greenlighted by the WB, and the two shows did indeed mesh well together.

But then this season, ABC announced that "Grey's Anatomy" was moving to that same time slot to compete with CBS' "CSI," which meant that "Supernatural" would face two of the most popular shows on television.

"It's been a roller-coaster ride for us," Kripke said. "We're fighting out hearts out to hold on to an audience. It's like we're the Japanese businessmen beneath Godzilla and Mothra."

On television's most competitive night, the show's ratings didn't improve, even dropping slightly on occasion. But the good news was that it retained more of its lead-in audience — a critical consideration for executives.

"They're really doing yeoman's work," said Kelly Kahl, programming chief for the CW. "I don't know if there's another CW show we could put there that would do any better."

Meanwhile, Fox's "Bones," a dark-humored drama inspired by a real-life forensic anthropologist and novelist, also bounced around the schedule and was retooled before putting up better numbers as well. The show moved from Tuesdays to Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and in the second season introduced a new character, a beautiful pathologist played by Tamara Taylor.

"A show on the bubble is a bit like a high school romance," said Hart Hanson, one of the show's executive producers. "We're the girl going out with the quarterback, and he's always looking for the next cheerleader. We have to wonder how long he's going to go out with us. If we do everything he says, he won't respect us, and if we do nothing he says, he won't respect us either."

Apparently, the quarterback still respects the cheerleader.

"Ultimately, we like the show, and that counts for a lot," said Craig Erwich, executive vice president of programming at Fox. "You stick with it as long as you can within the context of what's going on with the rest of our schedule. We stuck with 'Arrested Development' for three years."

The show's impressive outing Wednesday, which drew 12.5 million viewers, its second-highest audience ever, validated the patience it has been shown.

"Pretty early on, we saw enough examples of lightning in the bottle that we felt a deep obligation to roll up our sleeves and keep that show on the air," said Dana Walden, president of 20th Century Fox Television, which produces "Bones" and "How I Met Your Mother." "Creatively, they've really hit their stride, and the audience is finding the show."

It certainly didn't hurt "Close to Home" that the name of one of Hollywood's most successful and prolific producers — Jerry Bruckheimer — was associated with the show. But beyond that, executives felt the show could rise if it toned down the working mother story lines and pumped up its suburban crime themes.

"We're still looking to improve our storytelling," Overmeyer said. "We're interested in crimes that, say, your next-door neighbor could be up to. Something awful, almost in a David Lynch 'Blue Velvet' fashion."

Few first-year shows that survived to a second season felt more pressure than CBS' "How I Met Your Mother," a sitcom with the clever hook of a romance narrated through flashbacks from the future. Sitcoms, once the dominant force in prime-time television, have largely been killed off by reality programming and both serialized and procedural dramas. In fact, NBC's hit game show "Deal or No Deal" nearly sent "Mother" to the graveyard.

"You can pinpoint where our show dipped, and that was when Howie [Mandel] and his stripper chicks came on and started kicking our ass," said Craig Thomas, the show's co-creator. "It's just made it harder than ever to get people's attention. We want to tell people, 'Sitcoms still exist! We're still here!' "

One way the show found to attract attention came via the Internet. The show's writers developed a plot in which one of their characters was a former teen pop star in Canada who had a hit song called "Let's Go to the Mall."

As that was revealed on the show, the music video of that same song went live on YouTube.com. More than 400,000 viewers caught the Web clip.

The stunt sparked positive chatter, something that matters to network executives reviewing renewals for next season.

"We're looking for breadcrumbs long the way, signs of improvement," said Kahl, who is also in charge of the CBS schedule. "Good buzz helps. Letters help. Taken together, do we feel the show is moving forward or is it stalled dead in the water?

"Well," continued Kahl, "I don't think there's anybody at CBS that doesn't want to see that show come back."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-sophomore2feb02,0,5791404,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
Super Bowl Continues to Influence Sports Merchandise Sales (SportScanINFO)

A dramatic increase in retail sales of Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts merchandise reflect how loyal football fans are voting with their pocketbooks again this year for their favorite Super Bowl teams.

The Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts are both among the top five overall best selling teams in the NFL to date. Over the past four weeks, since the start of the NFL playoffs, the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears are the top two best selling teams, respectively.

In terms of jersey sales, both Peyton Manning and Joseph Addai of the Indianapolis Colts, along with Brian Urlacher of the Chicago Bears, are currently among the top 6 best sellers among all NFL players.

In 2006, the NFL finished the year up 15.0% in terms of dollar sales at retail and is currently up 41.7% for the first 4 weeks of 2007 in terms of all licensed merchandise.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

TV Notebook
My Network trimming back on telenovelas
By Phil Rosenthal Chicago Tribune Media Columnist February 2, 2007

"American Heiress" and "Saints & Sinners," which stars Maria Conchita Alonso, Robin Givens and Mel Harris, each will air weekly in two-hour blocks instead.

Those soaps will be complemented by movie nights on Thursdays and Fridays and a Monday series following the lives of mixed-martial-arts fighters. That's a marked departure from the decidedly female-oriented romance tales My Network had embraced since its debut in the fall.

"A 0.3 rating will do that," said Brad Adgate, research director for ad buyer Horizon Media. "It's valuable real estate, and they lost a year. ... They'll get some of [the audience] back with better programming, but it doesn't get any easier.

Said Adgate, "It can't do any worse."

Say what you want about how creatively bankrupt, niche' (particularly to African-American on specific nights) and low-rated the UPN and WB networks were when they started up. At least there were people at the helm of these broadcast outlets (many from Fox) that had a demographic target, a vision of how to appeal to that demographic and tailored-for-that-audience programming know-how guiding the ship. When you think early WB you think of Felicity, Buffy and Dawson's Creek. When you think UPN you think Star Trek Voyager, Friday Night Smackdown and... nothing else unless you dredge the buried-and-forgotten corpses (Diary of Desmong Pfeiffer anyone?). MyNetwork is a ruderless ship run by Newscorp suits handed a last-minute thankless job of filling programming with little resources and lead time (by TV network standards) that are clearly making this network up as they go along. What MyNetwork needs is a Kevin Reilly or the guy that ran FX (and now runs Fox), a visionary that is handed the checkbook, time and freedom to pursue a broadcast identity for MyNetwork with suits willing to let this man/woman's vision sink or swim on merits.

And for the record, a 0.3 rating is what Game Show Network scores in primetime with years-old repeats of Regis' Millionaire, original gameshows Chain Reaction and cancelled I've Got A Secret revival and 30+ year-old repeats of Match Game (source: Cableworld). And GSN's reach is only 60 million households vs. MyNetwork's larger reach!

MyNetwork reminds me of an early attempt in 1990 by Universal to launch an ad-hoc network of syndicated shows called the Hollywood Premiere Network. Two sitcoms (Shades From L.A. and They Came From Outer Space) and a sci-fi/horror drama (She-Wolf of London) that Universal co-produced with British production companies/broadcast partners were syndicated to appear on the same night of the week across the country on non-affiliated stations that eventually became UPN/WB affiliated (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She-Wolf_of_London). In NYC, for example, these shows aired on WWOR-Ch.9 on Wednesday nights with repeats on Saturday. The shows bombed both creatively and ratingwise, although my heart has a gigantic soft spot for She-Wolf (a show that was ahead of Buffy in mixing horror with comedy while featuring a strong female lead played by Kate Hodge). Universal withdrew from the primetime syndicated network biz, paving the way for Warner and Paramount to come with their networks a few years later. Universal had better luck a couple years after the failed Hollywood Premiere Network experimenting syndicating a two-hour block of action shows, one of which was the revival Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues (don't remember the other).

Actually the 0.3 is not the same, dad. GSN's 0.3 is in its households, not all TV households.

MNTV's 0.3 is a share of all TV households, so it is about 50% larger in real numbers.

Obviously MNTV was a stop-gap measure to provide programming from suddenly orphaned stations. It will take a while to see how it shakes out. I suspect Meidel (and Ailes) will end up on the winning end.

I would rather have either of them running my network thsn Dawn Ostroff, for example.

I suspect Meidel (and Ailes) will end up on the winning end. I would rather have either of them running my network thsn Dawn Ostroff, for example.

Hire Jordan McDeere away from 'that other network.' I hear come May she's out a job anyway! :) Thanks for correcting me about the MN/GSN ratings but 0.3 for any broadcast TV outlet in primetime is still a s*** rating no matter how its sliced. How'd you like to be news director of a 10PM newscast that has these shows as lead-in to your station's biggest money-making time slot?

ask and ye shall receive, CP95....
The Business of Television
Sinclair, Mediacom Strike Carriage Deal
by John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable,2/2/2007
Sinclair has said all along that it was simply a case of Mediacom not paying what Sinclair's TV station signals were worth.

Humm ... and how long will it be until Mediacom announces their next rate increase? :rolleyes:

Humm ... and how long will it be until Mediacom announces their next rate increase? :rolleyes:

Monday morning after the Superbowl... :D

Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
Box Office Gross (Nielsen EDI)

As usual, movie-going plunged on 2006 Super Bowl Sunday. Box office receipts, which averaged $31.1 million on a typical winter Sunday in 2006, fell to $19.4 million on Sunday, February 5, 2006 - a 38% decline. Over the past five years, the average domestic box office for Super Bowl Sunday versus the average winter Sunday is down by about $11.8 million.

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Humm ... and how long will it be until Mediacom announces their next rate increase? :rolleyes:

Actually, Mediacom announced a rate hike earlier this week.

Here is the story, posted Tuesday afternoon:

The Business of TV
Mediacom Announces March Price Hike
By P.J. Bednarski Broadcasting & Cable 1/30/2007

Mediacom, in the midst of a retransmission battle with Sinclair Broadcasting Group in 12 small to middle-sized markets, is telling customers that starting in March, they'll be paying more for some services.

But Tom Larsen, Mediacom's vice president for legal affairs, says the rate increases have nothing to do with the cable company's lingering battle with Sinclair, which on Jan. 6 yanked 23 of its stations off Mediacom systems in a dispute over retransmission.

Larsen says the rate increases largely pertain to charges for Internet service, installation charges and increases for customers getting digital service.

"The rate hikes are limited in scope," Larsen says. "But if we lose this fight with Sinclair, that could have a dramatic effect on rates."

Sinclair has been demanding cash payments for carriage of its channels in Mediacom markets in communities including including Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Altogether the dispute is keeping Sinclair stations out of 700,000 homes in several states. That's about half the homes Mediacom serves.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6411767

Hire Jordan McDeere away from 'that other network.' I hear come May she's out a job anyway! :) Thanks for correcting me about the MN/GSN ratings but 0.3 for any broadcast TV outlet in primetime is still a s*** rating no matter how its sliced. How'd you like to be news director of a 10PM newscast that has these shows as lead-in to your station's biggest money-making time slot?

Thankfully, (for them) only a small handful of MNTV stations have 10 p.m. newscasts, dad.

Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
Indianapolis and Chicago Super Bowl Fans Trend Towards Different Lifestyles (Spectra)

A consumer segmentation analysis from the marketing company Spectra revealed some of the unique characteristics of Super Bowl viewers from Miami, Indianapolis, and Chicago compared with national professional football fans. Utilizing Spectra's BehaviorScape framework, viewer characteristics can be determined based upon BehaviorStages (which bring to life key household factors that impact consumer purchasing behavior), and LifeStyles, (which further differentiate consumers by highlighting affluence and the neighborhood type in which they live).

For instance, most viewers of professional football across the U.S. typically watch on the weekend one or more times per month, and tend to come from affluent neighborhoods from a variety of household types. They span across all neighborhood types and tend to skew toward couples 35+ without children in the household as well as singles under 35 with no children. Popular Super Bowl snacks that skew highly across the average US viewer are bags of nuts, brats, popcorn, and frozen poultry.

Super Bowl viewers in the host city of Miami watch the game on TV live in both urban and affluent suburban households across household types.

Indianapolis residents who watched the Super Bowl last year generally come from rural and downscale suburban neighborhoods.

Additionally:

• Indianapolis viewers purchase above average amounts of sausage, buns, and brats than the average viewer.

• Indianapolis viewers are likely to do their grocery shopping (possibly for Super Bowl snacks) at Wal-Mart, Aldi, or Kroger.

• There is also a very high concentration of Super Bowl viewers who are likely to shop in smaller accounts such as IGA and Buehler's Buy Low.

Chicago residents who watched the Super Bowl last year likely live in urban and affluent suburban households across household types.

Additionally:

• Viewers in Chicago tend to purchase more bagged nuts, beer, frozen poultry and meat than the average viewer.

• Chicago viewers are likely to do their grocery shopping (possibly for Super Bowl snacks) in Dominick's, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods.

TV Notebook
Many Happy Returns
'Hiatus' Status No Longer Reserved for Ratings Duds
By Amy Amatangelo Special to The Washington Post Sunday, February 4, 2007

Some of network television's biggest hits took a long winter's nap this season and disappeared from the schedule -- for a while.

There was a time when being placed on hiatus meant that a TV show was awaiting inevitable cancellation. But now, with only 22 episodes to air over a 35-week television season, networks are scrambling for ways to keep fans engaged in serialized dramas.

Fox's "Prison Break" returned Jan. 22. ABC's "Lost" is back on Wednesday at 10 p.m. And CBS's newest success "Jericho" returns to the schedule Feb. 21. They all come back with a promise of uninterrupted runs into the season finales.

Other series also are experimenting with their schedules: After a Dec. 4 cliffhanger, NBC's "Heroes" began airing seven new episodes on Jan. 22. But it will break in March, returning April 16 with five new installments through its May 14 season finale.

"It's reflective of what has become a general climate in TV," said "Prison Break" executive producer Matt Olmstead. "Having a normal schedule where there's repeats, two on and two off -- that can frustrate viewers."

Viewers have become much more demanding, said "Lost" executive producer Carlton Cuse. "The notion that the audience can tolerate repeats is gone."

From their inception, cable shows such as "The Sopranos" and "Rescue Me" have aired new episodes in clusters, and now networks increasingly are following suit.

"It's another way of competing with cable," said "Jericho" executive producer Carol Barbee. "I think the audience is starting to get used to the idea of 'Let me know when you're ready [with new episodes] and I'll watch.'"

In its second season, "Lost" frustrated fans by alternating two or three consecutive new episodes with two or three repeats.

In preparing for Season 3, "Lost" had a few choices: Keep things as they were and continue to antagonize loyal devotees; air the episodes all in a row a la "24"; or strategically break up the season.

The producers and ABC decided to air six episodes in the fall and the remaining 16 beginning in February. But Cuse and executive producer Damon Lindelof weren't prepared for viewer backlash to this season's initial episodes -- which focused almost exclusively on Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) being held captive by the Others.

When the series returns it will focus on fan favorite characters such as Sayid (Naveen Andrews) and Claire (Emilie de Ravin).

"We didn't anticipate that people would look at this six-episode arc and expect that to sort of have all the answers and updates on all the characters," Cuse said.

Dividing the season in half has been very successful for "Jericho," one of the few new serialized dramas to make it past the fall. CBS always planned on airing the first 11 episodes consecutively. "That's huge," Barbee said. "Because the hardest thing for a show to do is to keep its audience week after week after week, and it's exponentially harder when you're not on every week or when your show reruns and people feel that they don't have to keep showing up to see the new information."

But will viewers tune in again when a show has been off the air for so long?

"People have been waiting for us to come back on and that's a good sign," said Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Jin on "Lost." "The worst thing would be if no one cared."

The series plan big plot reveals when their shows return:

• "Prison Break" already has resumed its penchant for killing off key characters -- this time the president's brother really is dead.

• "Lost" will resolve two lingering mysteries: How Locke (Terry O'Quinn) became paralyzed and how Jack got his tattoos.

• "Jericho" returns with an episode that shows the town 36 hours before the bomb went off and later in the season will reveal where Jake (Skeet Ulrich) has been for the past five years.

This kind of clustering of episodes is most likely the wave of the future, several producers said. There's even talk that "Lost" will run 22 uninterrupted episodes next season.

"Now everything is out the window," said "Prison Break's" Olmstead. "There really are no rules as far as I can see."

Off Again, On Again

Among network serials returning with new episodes:

Prison Break
Mondays, 8 p.m., Fox
Went on hiatus: Nov. 28
Returned: Two weeks ago
New episodes left: 7

Heroes
Mondays, 9 p.m., NBC
Went on hiatus: Dec. 4
Returned: Two weeks ago
New episodes left: 10

Lost
Wednesdays, 10 p.m., ABC
Went on hiatus: Nov. 8
Returns: This week
New episodes left: 16

Jericho
Wednesdays, 8 p.m., CBS
Went on hiatus: Nov. 29
Returns: Feb. 21
New episodes left: 11

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/30/AR2007013001019_pf.html

Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
Indianapolis and Chicago Super Bowl Fans Trend Towards Different Lifestyles (Spectra)

A consumer segmentation analysis from the marketing company Spectra revealed some of the unique characteristics of Super Bowl viewers from Miami, Indianapolis, and Chicago compared with national professional football fans. Utilizing Spectra's BehaviorScape framework, viewer characteristics can be determined based upon BehaviorStages (which bring to life key household factors that impact consumer purchasing behavior), and LifeStyles, (which further differentiate consumers by highlighting affluence and the neighborhood type in which they live).

For instance, most viewers of professional football across the U.S. typically watch on the weekend one or more times per month, and tend to come from affluent neighborhoods from a variety of household types. They span across all neighborhood types and tend to skew toward couples 35+ without children in the household as well as singles under 35 with no children. Popular Super Bowl snacks that skew highly across the average US viewer are bags of nuts, brats, popcorn, and frozen poultry.

Super Bowl viewers in the host city of Miami watch the game on TV live in both urban and affluent suburban households across household types.

Indianapolis residents who watched the Super Bowl last year generally come from rural and downscale suburban neighborhoods.

Additionally:

• Indianapolis viewers purchase above average amounts of sausage, buns, and brats than the average viewer.

• Indianapolis viewers are likely to do their grocery shopping (possibly for Super Bowl snacks) at Wal-Mart, Aldi, or Kroger.

• There is also a very high concentration of Super Bowl viewers who are likely to shop in smaller accounts such as IGA and Buehler's Buy Low.

Chicago residents who watched the Super Bowl last year likely live in urban and affluent suburban households across household types.

Additionally:

• Viewers in Chicago tend to purchase more bagged nuts, beer, frozen poultry and meat than the average viewer.

• Chicago viewers are likely to do their grocery shopping (possibly for Super Bowl snacks) in Dominick's, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods.

And the point being?

This article appears to be written by someone with an agenda.

TV Sports
Baseball TV deal contested
MLB is trying to move Extra Innings package exclusively to DirecTV, but there's resistance.
By Larry Stewart Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 3, 2007 (Times staff writer Jim Puzzanghera contributed to this report from Washington.)

Red Sox Nation has spoken. A pending deal by Major League Baseball to put its Extra Innings pay package exclusively on DirecTV may have to be put on hold now, buffeted by an uprising involving baseball's most ardent fans, spearheaded by those who live and die with the Boston Red Sox.

MLB expected to announce the deal as early as next week, but that was less certain after Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) on Thursday asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the matter.

For five seasons, MLB's Extra Innings has offered up to 60 regular-season, out-of-market games a week on cable, through the In Demand service, as well as DirecTV and Dish Network.

Under terms of the new deal, DirecTV reportedly would pay $100 million a year over seven years for the rights to the package. In Demand reportedly had offered $70 million a year to retain Extra Innings.

The crux of the deal apparently centered on MLB's plans to launch its own channel in 2009, similar to NFL Network and NBA TV. According to a source familiar with the negotiations, MLB unsuccessfully used Extra Innings as a negotiating wedge to get cable to put the new channel on a basic tier rather than a pay tier so it could get the widest exposure possible.

Cable companies, including Time Warner in L.A., often seek to place such niche offerings on a pay sports tier so that only the customers who want them have to pay for them. Last year, a similar carriage dispute took NFL Network off Time Warner.

Sports television consultant Neal Pilson said Friday it is his understanding that, indeed, the baseball channel "was a component" in the negotiations. But, he added, "Baseball is almost religious in its financial analysis before making any deal and you can be sure there has been a lot of deliberation and a lot of research that has gone into this."

That didn't matter to fans, who have been voicing their displeasure since news of the pending deal broke two weeks ago.

Michael Abramowicz, 34, of Arlington, Va., is a law professor at George Washington University who gets Extra Innings on cable. He talked about the pending deal in a blog last week. "My reaction to this has been genuine sadness," he wrote. "Watching baseball games is my No. 1 hobby, and my house can't get DirecTV because of nearby trees. It did occur to me that if I chopped down my neighbors' trees, I would probably do a year in jail, which would leave me six years to enjoy the games."

Reached by phone Friday, Abramowicz said he would switch to DirecTV to keep Extra Innings if he could.

Ryan Hecht, 34, of Queens, a Time Warner Cable subscriber and a die-hard Dodgers fan, is in the same situation as Abramowicz. Reached by phone Friday, he said, "I'd switch to DirecTV if I could, but my landlord will not let me install a satellite dish."

The issue gained national attention when Kerry on Wednesday said he would question FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin at a previously scheduled Senate Commerce committee hearing the next day.

Kerry left the hearing early, though, and instead faxed a letter to Martin, citing concerns about the deal and contending that Extra Innings has been available to 75 million subscribers but would be available to only 15 million if DirecTV has it alone.

Of the 500,000 subscribers to the Extra Innings package last season, 270,000 were with DirecTV, according to sources. Going by those numbers, 230,000 would be left out this season.

DirecTV has a disproportionate number of Extra Innings subscribers because it caters to sports fans. NFL Sunday Ticket, by far the most popular pay sports package, has always belonged to DirecTV exclusively, and the rights fee is now a whopping $700 million a year. That package's exclusivity never caused much of an uproar among fans because it was never available on cable.

Kerry, in his letter, said, "In the case of my hometown team, Red Sox Nation stretches all across our country from coast to coast. I am concerned that this deal … will separate fans from their favorite teams."

Kerry could not be reached by phone Friday, but Vince Morris, a spokesman, said the senator is taking up the fight not only because he is a Red Sox fan but because people had been approaching him, seeking answers.

"He wants to find out more facts and find out what the FCC can do," Morris said.

An FCC spokesman would not comment on Kerry's letter. The agency has some authority over cable and satellite television but generally stays out of programming issues that don't involve local content.

The FCC has allowed NFL Sunday Ticket to be offered exclusively on DirecTV since 1994. However, News Corp. has filed a request for permission from the FCC to transfer its controlling 38.5% stake in DirecTV to Liberty Media Corp in a swap of assets, and any complaints about baseball's Extra Innings deal could come up in that review.

Those involved in the deal declined to comment, but baseball executives have privately suggested that fans with cable can subscribe to the broadband package, which cost $79 last season, $100 less than what Extra Innings cost.

But Hecht, for one, isn't buying it, saying, "There is no substitute to kicking back on a couch and watching a game on a TV screen."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-sp-extrainnings3feb03,0,5077465,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

And the point being?

This article appears to be written by someone with an agenda.


The point is that, in the spirit of Super Bowl weekend, I have been filing some articles with Super Bowl background from Nielsen.

By the way, what agenda?

The Business of TV
Sinclair, Mediacom agree on contract
Mediacom VP: We are paying for retrans rights
By William Ryberg and Donnelle Eller Des Moines Register Business Writers February 3, 2007

Cable TV viewers in eastern Iowa will have a super Super Bowl Sunday after all.

"American Idol" fans in central Iowa can put away the rabbit ears.

Mediacom Communications and Sinclair Broadcasting announced late Friday afternoon that the two companies had reached agreement on a new contract to put Sinclair broadcast stations back on the Mediacom cable system.

The stations were back within a half-hour after the deal was announced. Among them: KDSM-TV, the Fox network affiliate in Des Moines, and KGAN-TV, the CBS affiliate in Cedar Rapids, which will carry the Super Bowl.

Details of the agreement weren't disclosed.

The battle between the broadcaster and the cable provider was over money. Mediacom agreed, for the first time, to pay money for the right to carry the stations, said Thomas Larsen, Mediacom's vice president for legal affairs.

Larsen said he could not say whether the new contract will mean an increase in rates for Mediacom cable subscribers.

Twenty-two Sinclair broadcast stations in Iowa and 11 other states were pulled from the Mediacom cable lineup Jan. 6 after a contract expired that had given Mediacom the right to retransmit the stations' signals. The dispute affected more than 700,000 Mediacom subscribers, including 450,000 in Iowa. Roughly 200,000 of those Iowa subscribers, depending on where they live, were able to get Fox or CBS programming on another channel on the Mediacom lineup.

Larsen said the deal was reached after a day of intense discussions.

The contract does include paying money for the right to carry the stations, Larsen said, although he couldn't say whether the payments are on a per-subscriber basis as Sinclair had wanted. Sinclair had said it was asking less than 50 cents per month per subscriber.

The contract runs through Dec. 31, 2009.

Barry Faber, Sinclair's vice president and corporate attorney at its headquarters in Hunt Valley, Md., declared his side the winner.

He said the deal was reached because Mediacom concluded that no government agency was going to intervene on Mediacom's behalf. He said the approach of the Super Bowl was a factor in the agreement.

Faber said that as part of the deal, Mediacom will drop legal and regulatory complaints against Sinclair and will reimburse Sinclair for its expenses, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, in defending itself.

Stephen Winzenburg, professor of communications at Grand View College in Des Moines, said Mediacom was likely losing customers to satellite companies.

"Mediacom, at some point, had to look at the economics and say, 'We're losing too much money. We need to settle this,' " Winzenburg said. He added that Mediacom's ill-timed price increase for some services probably added to the loss of customers.

The enormous fan base for "American Idol" - the highest rated regular entertainment program with about 33 million viewers - probably pushed Mediacom into a deal.

"A lot of people were upset they weren't getting American Idol," he said.

Mediacom subscriber Jeff Zahrt of Cedar Rapids is happy that the two companies reached an agreement. "I'm glad to see CBS back on Mediacom, which is the way it is supposed to be, since it is supposed to be a free network," he said.

Zahrt didn't get rabbit ears to see KGAN programming while it was off Mediacom's lineup. He is looking forward to "seeing some of the network's programming - and Hawkeye basketball - again."

The deal ended up being an agreement between two private companies, but the dispute drew the attention of lawmakers in Iowa and Washington.

An Iowa legislative committee held a hearing on the dispute in Des Moines. Members of Iowa's congressional delegation urged the two sides to settle.

"I'm glad Mediacom and Sinclair settled this on their own and without the heavy hand of government," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Ia., said in a statement. "I was happy to help give them a nudge back to the negotiating table to reach and agreement."

Mediacom, based in Middletown, N.Y., has tried to ease subscriber pain with football viewing parties at bars and free rabbit ears so subscribers could get Sinclair channels over the air.

Among the latest plans: giving away 10,000 free frozen pizzas today to subscribers in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo to help them enjoy the Super Bowl. Subscribers will now see the game on cable, but the giveaway will go on anyway, said Phyllis Peters, a Mediacom spokeswoman.

While customers can breath a sigh of relief, Winzenburg said more disputes are likely between cable companies and local broadcast stations.

"This is just the beginning," with competition increasing for communications dollars, he said. "The bottom line is money."

"A few pennies each month can cost a company millions," he said.

"If this can happen with a small affiliate like Fox, negotiating contracts for CBS or NBC could cause even bigger problems.

"Hopefully they'll have the sense to settle it before it gets to this point."

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070203/BUSINESS/702030332/1029/business

Friday’s fast national over night prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted near the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.

TV Review
'Rules of Engagement'
Sucks out all the love and calls it a sitcom
By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic

When you're single, you're exactly as happy as you are. When you're married, you can only be as happy as the least happy person in the relationship.

And while watching these opening statements of "Rules of Engagement" Monday, 9:30 ET/PT, CBS) play out, the mind wanders through the various possibilities of what you'd rather be doing. Talking on the phone with your in-laws is preferable to paying attention, as is scrubbing the grout in your kitchen.

Here's a brave suggestion by this sitcom's standards -- you might try having a good time with the one you love or people you genuinely enjoy. Other options for fun are easily attainable on a Monday at 9:30 in the evening. Finding them could be as simple as: a) pick up remote, and b) change channel.

But I suppose it depends on what you consider to be a good time. "Rules of Engagement," another examination of all the ways marriage is akin to a walking coma and engagement is a suffocating trap, might do the job. If you're loving Fox's " 'Til Death," then you'll probably take a shine to this.

The main difference between the CBS sitcom and Fox's Brad Garrett vehicle is that "Rules of Engagement" has Patrick Warburton playing the part of "large man resigned to sticking out sexless marriage." Otherwise, "Rules" is "'Til Death's" fraternal twin.

As unwise as it would seem to have two series mining the same premise in the same season, plunking one on the schedule months after most people soundly rejected the other can only be interpreted as a mildly sadistic act toward viewers.

No, please, not again, you may be thinking. Sorry, but yes. Here we are once more.

Interesting how the 2006-07 season has treated modern marriage. No longer is it a war of the sexes between you and the person you choose to hunker down with in life's foxhole. Nor is it a Mexican standoff.

Nowadays, TV commitment can be measured by the trips to Pottery Barn, or registering for all the merchandise needed to fill the pit that opens up after intimacy abandons the cottage.

We're getting ahead of ourselves. "Rules" involves the simple concept of examining the challenges faced by the newly engaged Adam and Jennifer (Oliver Hudson and Seattle native Bianca Kajlich), the most daunting being whether they're heading too quickly to the altar after only knowing each other for seven months.

That's the main concern of Adam's single pal Russell (David Spade), who lives for no-strings-attached sexual conquests (David Spade? Really?) and ogles every woman in the way he'd eye a porterhouse steak. When Russell isn't chasing tail, he reminds Adam of all the ways in which he's making a mistake. After that, he finds a dingbat to bang.

The couple's married friends Jeff and Audrey (Warburton and Megyn Price) don't make the institution look all that attractive either. Jeff, in particular, exists to lower all of Adam's expectations on how happy he's going to be -- warning him, for instance, that sex will soon be replaced by David Letterman.

Bright-eyed and happy Adam refuses to believe it. Jennifer's hot! She still looks good in low-cut jeans. "You know, I think marriage is going to be really great!" he squeaks.

Then, horror of horrors, he sees the registry list -- Gulp! There's a cake plate! More gulping!

Then Jeff informs Adam that this is just the start of the unnecessary clutter that stifles a marriage. The cake plate, Jeff assures him, will never hold a cake.

Adam freaks out. Cakeless marriage? Say it ain't so. "There has to be cake!" he blurts.

Yeah, well I'd take that over a mirthless sitcom.

Besides making every aspect of dating and mating look depressing, it's hard to come up with a reason to spend time with any of these characters. Warburton's could be the exception, but credit the actor for his appeal, not the way Jeff is written. Warburton is a hoot in almost everything he does.

Spade, though, lacks the spark and burn for which he is famous. Russell has his moments, but as horndogs go, this one's neutered.

Surely there's a way to spin laughter out of the complicated negotiation of engagement and marriage, but neither "Rules" nor "Death" have stumbled upon it.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=t&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/302098_tv02.html

TV Notebook
Many Happy Returns
'Hiatus' Status No Longer Reserved for Ratings Duds
By Amy Amatangelo Special to The Washington Post Sunday, February 4, 2007

Some of network television's biggest hits took a long winter's nap this season and disappeared from the schedule -- for a while.


When the series returns it will focus on fan favorite characters such as Sayid (Naveen Andrews) and Claire (Emilie de Ravin).

"We didn't anticipate that people would look at this six-episode arc and expect that to sort of have all the answers and updates on all the characters," Cuse said.


• "Lost" will resolve two lingering mysteries: How Locke (Terry O'Quinn) became paralyzed and how Jack got his tattoos.



Oh Wow, I can hardly wait. Not. Maybe it's just me, but I've had enough of all the character's pasts to last me for several serialized shows.

TV Notebook
Networks Pick Comedy over Drama
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 2/5/2007

After years of dramas dominated by dead bodies and angst-ridden detectives, the networks may lighten things up this fall.

With light-hearted dramas like Grey’s Anatomy and rookie Ugly Betty boosting ABC on lucrative Thursday nights, the networks are lining up, as they always do, to chase the latest genre to succeed in primetime. An analysis of the 45 drama-pilot pickups from the five networks indicates that this fall’s new crop of dramas may bring more laughs and less serialization than in years past.

While gloomy hits 24 and the CSI franchise still deliver huge ratings, the networks may have reached maximum capacity in that arena: Viewers collectively shunned a batch of decidedly dark fare last fall. Audiences, it seems, may have had enough. Moreover, with the networks’ inability to resuscitate the 30-minute comedy, lightening up dramas is one way to remedy the problem.

“You look at what’s out there, and it’s hard to imagine another strict procedural with dark storylines could fit anywhere,” says CW drama chief Thom Sherman. “You have three CSIs and three Law & Orders, and you see what happened with a show like The Nine, which was a terrific show. Maybe it is time for a change, hopefully.”

Last season, such shows as ABC’s gritty The Nine and NBC’s parental nightmare Kidnapped attracted strong buzz, but when the season started, they and many like them fizzled while lighter dramas like Ugly Betty prospered.

With Betty a hit, Grey’s still strong after moving to Thursdays, and even shows like NBC’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip playing up comedy and romance in a nod to ratings, network executives say lighter dramas are taking hold.

“It certainly feels like it’s in the ether and it’s working,” says ABC Senior VP of Drama Development Suzanne Patmore-Gibbs. “People may be ready for more-uplifting shows at the end of the day.”

She is happy that audiences are looking for something more than melancholy crime and courtroom dramas: “I think it’s liberating for a lot of us because it expands the range of what we can do. When everyone was trying to replicate those, it felt very limiting.”

NBC development chief Katharine Pope says a lack of comedic elements in dramas in recent years “was a mistake, and we are course-correcting.” Injecting more comedy into dramas, she observes, gives them a real-life feel: “Nobody’s lives are just constant dead bodies and saving the world.”

Pope adds that having more comedy in dramas is a natural evolution as a result of sitcoms’ drying up on network TV in recent years: “More comedy writers moved into the one-hour form because they couldn’t get jobs.”

An added benefit: Fewer dark, violent images may help keep the violence-vigilant FCC at bay.

But the networks aren’t likely to forgo crime and courtroom dramas, which remain the backbone of what works in the drama genre.

“For as much as people put into figuring out new workplaces or new franchises, [police and court dramas] stand the test of time for a reason: There are automatic stakes,” says Fox Executive VP Craig Erwich. “Those stories are hard to beat.”

So while police, court and medical dramas aren’t going anywhere, network executives do say they need to back off the heavy serialization.

“That is something we learned this year,” says ABC’s Patmore-Gibbs. “Obviously, serials have worked, but we can’t rely so heavily on things you need to do a lot of homework to watch.”

More closed-ended hits would be good news for studios, as they command higher prices from off-network buyers. For instance, the Law & Order and CSI franchises can fetch $1 million-$2 million per episode, while a serialized hit like Desperate Housewives last year brought in just $500,000 per episode from Lifetime.

And Fox’s Erwich says his network, like the others, is conscious of what happened last fall, when audiences for the most part greeted a batch of dark, serialized dramas with a collective shrug.

“You can’t rely on concepts alone,” he says. “The audience is very wise when it comes to the networks’ trying to rip themselves off or go to territory they’ve ventured to before. It was a very hard year.”

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6413123

TV Notebook
Networks Pick Comedy over Drama
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 2/5/2007

After years of dramas dominated by dead bodies and angst-ridden detectives, the networks may lighten things up this fall.

With light-hearted dramas like Grey’s Anatomy... [snip]


I'd venture a guess that Mr. Grossman has not seen Grey's Anatomy. While it does have some humor, it's far from a light-hearted comedy.

For some unexplained reason, it still falls in the dramedy category.

I agree with you. It has its light moments, but it definitely does not seem to me to be "light-hearted".

For some unexplained reason, it still falls in the dramedy category.

I agree with you. It has its light moments, but it definitely does not seem to me to be "light-hearted".

Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
Indianapolis and Chicago Super Bowl Fans Trend Towards Different Lifestyles (Spectra) .

The point is I have been filing some articles with Super Bowl background from Nielsen. This one probably was too far off the mark.

So if you delete your post, I'll delete it entirely.

By the way, what agenda?

The agenda of pitting Indianapolis' flyover-country fruited-plain Red State lifestyles vs. Chicago's urban-dwelling divorced-from-wholesomeness Blue State lifetyle. Seemed pretty obvious to me the first time I read it.

That's quite a stretch. If someone sees a political agenda in that article, they're going out of their way to see everything as red vs. blue. They compared two midwestern cities and shocker - both buy more meat than average and shop at grocery stores. Indy residents apparently are more likely to shop at budget supermarkets.

Hardly a political agenda.

I sure didn't see any poltical agenda. Just a recitation of some differences between the two cities.

I think many of us are getting far too sensitive.

And here is some more:

Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
More Women are Fans of the Indianapolis Colts than the Chicago Bears Scarborough Sports Marketing

Scarborough Sports Marketing, a media and marketing service which measures lifestyles shopping habits, and media patterns of America's sports fans, finds that Bears and Colts fans have distinct demographics and lifestyles.

The Scarborough analysis found that 59% of Indianapolis women are Colts fans, versus 46% of Chicago women who are Bears fans. Both Bears and Colts fans are more likely than others in their cities to have an annual household income of $100k+, but more Bears fans fall into this bracket. Thirty percent of Bears fans have this income level, versus 16% of Colts fans. Fans of both teams are more likely than others in their market to be in white collar jobs.

Expect lots of golfing in Miami. Both Bears and Colts fans are avid golfers. Bears fans are 44% more likely than other Chicagoans to have golfed during the past year, and Colts fans are 45% more likely than others in Indianapolis to hit the links. Fans of both teams are active and enjoy a wide range of outdoor activities. Among their top five leisure activities, both teams enjoy gardening, swimming and bowling as favorites.

When it comes to beverages, it is no surprise that fans of both teams enjoy beer all types of beer: domestic and foreign, microbrews and light beers, Bears and Colts fans are more likely than others in their cities to enjoy them all. Vodka, rum, and tequila are the top choices for Bears and Colts fans in the liquor category.

In the restaurant category, both Bears and Colts fans cite McDonald's as their fast food restaurant of choice, and, they are avid fast food restaurant goers. Bears fans are 15% more likely than other Chicagoans to have eaten at a fast food restaurant 10 or more times during the past month. Colts fans are 12% more likely than others in Indianapolis to have done so.

Sporting goods and apparel shopping varies slightly between both teams, in part because the stores available in each of their cities differ. Dick's Sporting Goods is the top sporting goods store for Colts fans. 28% percent of Colts fans shopped at Dick's during the past three months. Wal-Mart is the leading sporting goods store for Bears fans. 19% of Bears fans shopped Wal-Mart for sporting goods during the pat three months. Bears fans are 55% more likely than other Chicagoans to have purchased NFL apparel during the past year. Colts fans are 31% more likely than all adults in Indianapolis to have done so.

Bears and Colts fans are more likely than others in their cities to use their cell phone for instant messaging. In fact, they use a variety of features on their cell phone, from picture taking and ring tone downloads to Internet and push-to-talk (2-way).

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Is that because women find Peyton Manning appealing, or because even women don't care for crappy quarterbacks. :)

TV Notebook
Fourth hour of Today Show?
By Paige Albiniak Broadcasting & Cable 2/5/2007

For a number of NBC affiliates, the network's plan to add a fourth hour to its morning powerhouse Today this fall isn't exactly a slam dunk. While many stations welcome more programming from a proven news brand, others aren't convinced it's the solution to a lackluster daytime schedule. Still, they say, it's better than what they've got now—particularly a certain soap opera.

“I would do almost anything to get rid of Passions,” says Alan Frank, president/CEO of Post-Newsweek Stations, which has affiliates in Houston and Detroit. “That being said, I wonder whether or not this is one step forward for Today. I was very fearful that the third hour would dilute the brand, but it's proven to be moderately okay. But this might take it one step too far.”

One of NBC's most important programs, Today brings in somewhere from $500 million to $560 million in annual revenue, according to TNS Media Intelligence. NBC has said that Today turns in some $250 million in annual profits. And the show remains the highest-rated morning network news program, even as ABC's Good Morning America has chipped away at its lead in recent years.

But the daytime lineup on NBC's 10 owned-and-operated stations founders once Today signs off. Soaps Passions and Days of Our Lives, Warner Bros.' Ellen DeGeneres Show, and NBC Universal's own Martha, iVillage Live and the cancelled Megan Mullally have rarely mustered more than a 1.0 rating among key female demographics.

NBC hasn't officially cancelled Passions, but the show is expected to be off the network's air come fall—to the delight of affiliates that have long regarded the show as an albatross.

“For most of our stations, Passions was a fairly significant underperformer,” says Roger Ogden, president of Gannett Broadcasting. “So a fourth hour of Today is potentially more profitable for us than Passions was.”

Says Perry Sook, chairman/president/CEO of Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc., which has 12 NBC affiliates, “It's as close to a no-brainer as you get in this business. Anytime you can exchange soap-opera content for news content that's topical, that helps us provide a better service to our viewers.”

NBC has yet to give affiliates details on a fourth hour, but a spokeswoman says the general reaction has been favorable. With the focus expected to be even lighter and more devoted to lifestyle segments than the third hour, however, many affiliates want NBC to rededicate Today's first two hours to its hard-news roots.

“I hope this will mean more serious content from 7 to 8,” says Lisa Churchville, general manager of WJAR Providence, one of Media General's 9 NBC affiliates. “Hopefully, they'll appeal more to people preparing for the workday. Right now, it's very light, even a little giggly.”

Affiliates haven't been told how much inventory they will get in the fourth hour, but Ogden says they “certainly better get the same amount of inventory as we get in the third hour.”Stations also get five minutes per half-hour of local-news cutaways, something that affiliates say helps build their news brands.

But many stations will face a scheduling challenge with a fourth hour of Today. Gannett, for example, airs local community shows at 10 a.m. in 10 markets.

“I've already told NBC that I'm not going to replace these shows,” says Ogden. “On almost all of our stations, we'll run the fourth hour in the time period where Passions runs.”

In some markets (like Denver, where Gannet's KUSA airs Passions at 2 p.m.), that means running the fourth hour in the afternoon, apart from the core program. “I've been telling them that they need to produce it as a stand-alone hour that happens to have a great brand,” says Ogden.

Other stations run top performers, such as Buena Vista's Live With Regis and Kelly, in the 10 a.m. hour and probably aren't inclined to move them.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6413223

Nielsen Media Research Super Bowl XLI Notes
More Women are Fans of the Indianapolis Colts than the Chicago Bears Scarborough Sports Marketing

Women can't help but think that Chicago QB Rex Grossman is kind-of gross (sorry, couldn't help myself)! :rolleyes:

Super Bowl XLI
St. Louis HD blackout
By Dan Caesar St. Louis Post-Dispatch 2/3/07

Unless there is an 11th-hour settlement this weekend, which seems unlikely, Charter Communications will not be carrying a high definition telecast of the Super Bowl.

As of the close of business Friday, Belo Inc., KMOV's parent company, still was insisting that Charter pay for the right to carry the HD signal and Charter was refusing. Belo pulled its HD transmission several weeks ago from Charter, which provides the service to more than 90 percent of those in the St. Louis area who buy cable TV.

Will there be an 11th-hour settlement?

"Could it happen? Yes,'' said one source close to the situation. "But don't hold your breath

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/dancaesar/story/026B7E6D559DFA208625727700177566?OpenDocument

Super Bowl XLI
All in all, Jim Nantz is glad Phila. didn't call
By Marc Narducci Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist Feb. 3, 2007

Jim Nantz will call his first Super Bowl tomorrow for CBS, a continuation of a successful career with the network that began in August 1985.

One wonders where Nantz's career would have taken him had he been offered a job in Philadelphia a month before being hired by CBS.

In late July 1985, Nantz was a hot broadcasting commodity, working in Utah as a sports anchor, the play-by-play announcer for Brigham Young football and basketball, and a color analyst for the NBA's Utah Jazz's television games.

Earlier that year, he had turned down an anchor job because he also wanted to continue doing play-by-play. Nantz also had offers from stations in Houston, Denver and Cincinnati, but none were for play-by-play, so he didn't make a move.

Then came his interview at Philadelphia's NBC affiliate, which at the time was KYW-TV, Channel 3.

At the time, KYW needed a second anchor to join Howard Eskin.

Eskin picked Nantz up from the airport and took him to his interview. Growing up in Colts Neck, in Monmouth County, N.J., Nantz was well aware of Channel 3 and the Philadelphia market.

"I remember listening to the Phillies on WCAU with Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn," Nantz said before leaving for the Super Bowl. "I remember when I came for the interview, Howard Eskin was extremely supportive and wanted me to be the No. 2 anchor at Channel 3."

Apparently Channel 3 was less excited.

"They never made an offer and were dragging their feet," Nantz recalls. "Every place where I had an interview, by the time my visit was over, I had an offer, except from Philadelphia."

Shortly after, CBS called, and Nantz was hired as a college football studio host. Since then he has become CBS's No. 1 announcer on golf, the NCAA men's basketball tournament, and now the NFL.

For all the 47-year-old Nantz has accomplished in his broadcasting career, this will be his first Super Bowl as the play-by-play announcer.

"It's a big thing," Nantz said.

He said he can only hope the Super Bowl matches CBS's coverage of Indianapolis' 38-34 win over New England in the AFC title game.

"I was as proud of that AFC champion broadcast as anything I've been part of," Nantz said. "The whole production will go down as one of the best ever, and I can't wait to call the Super Bowl."

Nantz will be the first person to call the Masters, the NCAA Final Four, and the Super Bowl in the same year. Curt Gowdy and Dick Enberg have called Super Bowls and Final Fours in the same year.

Nantz said he was considering writing a book about his experiences over the next few months, beginning with the Super Bowl and ending with the Masters.

"It's a 63-day journey that nobody has had the chance to navigate," he said.

And who knows, if Nantz had been successful in securing a job offer from Philadelphia, his career could have taken a much different path.

"Had they made me an offer, who knows, I may have taken it and this may not happen," Nantz said. "I am so thankful that they dragged their feet."

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/16612080.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

TV Review
'Rules of Engagement'
By Ed Bark former Dallas Morning News TV critic at his website unclebarky.com

The actor who played "Puddy" on Seinfeld is always worth at least a few rolls in the sitcom hay.

His name is Patrick Warburton, and he's back as a deadpanning big lug of a married man on CBS' new Rules of Engagement. It's not bad, not great and a lot like Fox's pre-existing 'Til Death with Brad Garrett. Also, oddly enough, it's temporarily replacing Old Christine, whose star, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, dated Puddy while playing Elaine Benes on Seinfeld

“Rules of Engagement” (9:30 ET/PT Monday, CBS) begins with a pretty unassailable truism. "When you're single, you're exactly as happy as you are," it says in a printed prologue. "When you're married, you can only be as happy as the least happy person in the relationship." Think about it.

Warburton's character, a Jeff with no last name, is married to Audrey (Megyn Price from Grounded for Life). Both have more or less settled into a childless, less than live-wire relationship.

"Actually, we've sort of wrapped up the sex portion of the marriage," says Jeff. "It's been replaced by Letterman."

Also please welcome the newly engaged Adam and Jennifer (Oliver Huston, Bianca Kajlich), and commitment-phobic Russell (David Spade). Frankly it's getting nigh unto impossible to buy Spade as a stone cold chick magnet. But he's still playing a character who has no trouble bedding room temp IQ knockouts for less than a one-night stand if he can help it.

Monday's premiere finds Adam worried about falling into the same marriage gulch as Jeff. As Rules' sometimes painfully earnest straight man, he's mostly on the receiving end of laconic knockdown punches from the other two men in this show's life.

Next week's episode is built around Jeff's secret "birthday deal" with his wife, who does something special with him every year he gets older. Of course Adam wants the same arrangement, but starts to fear that Jennifer in turn might demand something too kinky from him. It's all pretty labored, playing like a very poor man's Seinfeld episode. Two crummy potty jokes further underscore that impression.

A third half-hour finds Jeff ham-handedly hitting on 24-year-old women in hopes he can replicate Russell's "shallow, sex-based relationships built on lies." Jeff's wife gives him permission to try it just this once, convinced he'll make an ass of himself. Then she starts to worry. She needn't have.

Rules of Engagement isn't as good as Old Christine but rises above The Class. It has a chance to fit in nicely, if unexceptionally, in CBS' traditionally mounted, laugh track-juiced Monday night comedy lineup.

Warburton's the main attraction, laying down a steady downbeat of beat-down. It's still easy to grin and bear him. But Spade? Not quite so much anymore.

Grade: C+

http://www.unclebarky.com/reviews.html

Super Bowl XLI
CBS hopes game is focus
By Dan Caesar St. Louis Post-Dispatch 2/3/07
(Note: all times are Central)

CBS is expecting a tremendous amount of exposure for the network on Super Bowl Sunday — but not the kind it had the last time it aired the biggest television event of the year.

Three years ago, CBS was enveloped in a firestorm of controversy when one of Janet Jackson's breasts was exposed during the halftime show, resulting in a $550,000 fine for the network.

This time, CBS is hoping the only exposure it has is in a massive audience watching the telecast, and trends bode well. The NFC title game on Fox received its highest rating in 10 years and the AFC championship contest on CBS drew the highest rating of any program thus far in the television season.

"It's hard to imagine going into the Super Bowl with more momentum or a better storyline than we have,'' Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports, said on a conference call. "We're set up for a really exciting day. All we're praying for is a close game deep into the fourth quarter" to keep the audience from tuning out. "The rating primarily is determined not even so much by the matchup but by how deep into the game the game stays close.''

On radio, Westwood One has the coverage with Marv Albert doing the play-by-play and Boomer Esiason the analysis.

Nantz's trifecta

Jim Nantz will be doing the play-by-play of his first Super Bowl, working with analyst Phil Simms. It begins an unparalleled broadcasting journey for Nantz, who will broadcast the Final Four and Masters events in ensuing weeks.

This will be the first time anyone has had that trifecta in network television history.

"To do that in 63 days is a tribute to where Jim is in his professional life right now,'' McManus said. "The fact that we would entrust those three events to him is indicative of what we feel about Jim Nantz.''

Nantz said that the three sports that form his unique run — football, basketball and golf — were his favorites when he was a youngster.

"There's not really any other sporting event I really would want to do,'' he said. "I'm not qualified to do (something) like the World Series. I couldn't do it, I don't speak the language, I don't have the baseball lexicon down. I stick with the events that I know. I have some integrity invested in those sports. These are the three that I grew up always wanting to be a part of.''

He's about to begin his unprecedented stretch.

"I relish the chance; I'm grateful for the chance,'' he said. "Believe me, I feel no sense of entitlement that they're supposed to give me this, that I'm supposed to go do the Masters or the Super Bowl.

"I just love being in this moment. Believe me, I'm savoring it."

Nantz is in the right place at the right time, as he couldn't accomplish the feat if another network had the rights to one of those events, just as Joe Buck benefits by Fox having Major League Baseball and the NFL as he nears his own broadcasting milestones.

But the networks give their plum assignments to those they deem most qualified to handle them.

"The assignments are based purely on merit," McManus said. "We assign the best people to do the events we think they're most suited.''

Nantz long has been CBS' lead golf and college basketball broadcaster, but is in just his third season in the lead NFL play-by-play role.

"It just indicates where he's come in his professional life and where he stands among the great announcers, not just the current announcers but announcers going back many years,'' McManus said. "It's a testament to how far he's come in his career and how good he is.''

Pregame parade

As has become customary, there will be a full day of Super Bowl pregame programming — six hours on CBS.

At a recent press gathering, CBS' McManus was asked if he thought that was going to cause "people to be nauseated." Responded McManus: "Well, they may be nauseated, but they still watch."

Coverage begins at 11 a.m. on KMOV (Channel 4) with an NFL Films production looking back at some of the big plays of the season and continues an hour later with the unveiling of Phil Simms' "All Iron'' team.

The name isn't meant to imply Ironmen, or anything of that ilk. It reflects Simms' infatuation with ironing his clothes.

And of course CBS has to squeeze in a report from new "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric in the pregame show to try to give her some face time in front of the large audience. She'll do a feature on Pittsburgh's Hines Ward, who played in last year's Super Bowl.

The hoopla from Miami begins at 1 p.m., where four hours of features, reports and on-site events are covered for five hours until it's time for the player introductions and Billy Joel singing the national anthem.

The game is set to kick off at 5:25 p.m., with its commercials that went for $2.6 million per 30 seconds.

St. Louis-based brewer Anheuser-Busch leads the commercial parade with nine of them.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/dancaesar/story/026B7E6D559DFA208625727700177566?OpenDocument

Critic’s Notebook
JPTV: My So-Called Job Edition
By James Poniewozik Time Magazine television critic in Time’s “Tuned In” blog

In the spirit of today's theme--namely, that corporate America is all about getting the customers to do the work for you--let's turn it over the mic to commenter C. Brown:

“James, how much tv do you watch in a day? I'm just curious is all.”

Because I think my job is just so tremendously fascinating, I'm devoting a post to this. I get asked this all the time, and I never know whether to be embarrassed because I watch so much or because I watch so little. Some days I do nothing but watch screeners, then a night's worth of recreational TV. I could log eight hours or more, easy. If I'm on deadline, writing a column, I might watch almost nothing the whole work day. Let's say five hours, average. Does this make me a bad person?

To wax Clintonian, the number depends partly on what "watching" is. I'm a big fan of the mute button, so my desktop TV is almost always playing something--news, MTV, whatever--whether I'm paying attention or not. And half the time I'm "watching" TV as a civilian (e.g., not taking notes for a review), I'm multitasking, with my laptop open. On the other hand, since I'm usually watching preview DVDs or shows on TiVo, I'm skipping commercials, so 44 minutes of my TV-watching equals an hour of yours. Finally, there's the secondhand TV exposure I get through Tuned In Jr. and Tuned in Jr. Jr. (This morning: Johnny and the Sprites! Because if there's one thing today's preschoolers love, it's contemporary Broadway showtunes!)

And to answer the next question in advance: yes, I actually went to college for this.

We Are All David Letterman Now

Of all the things David Letterman has given us--the Top Ten list, Stupid Pet Tricks, the Alka-Seltzer suit--maybe the most influential is the mainstreaming of absurdist humor. Back when Letterman was working as a local weatherman in Indiana, it was a truly weird thing for a weathercaster to talk about "hailstones the size of canned hams." Last night, celebrating his 25th anniversary in late-night TV, when he presented a woman in the audience with a box of raw meat for her 40th birthday, it was the most normal thing in the world.

Normal--that was the word that kept going through my head watching Letterman's anniversary show. So many of the elements that once made Letterman revolutionary are utterly business-as-usual in TV now: Dave making a phone call with Bill Murray to bust Les Moonves' chops for instance; the casual assumption that viewers will know who CBS president Les Moonves is, for another instance. The snarkiness, the non sequiturs, the absurdism are not just the stuff of late-night comedy; they're the lingua franca of ESPN and advertising. (Not to beat a dead Mooninite, but without Dave's brand of absurd juxtapositions, could we still have ended up with this?)

None of this makes Letterman any less funny--even though I'd personally take Conan most nights--but it's the mark of a revolutionary entertainer that he makes you forget, through his very success, how much he changed the culture. Dave started out as a weatherman; today he's the weather, whether we realize we're breathing him in or not.

http://time-blog.com/tuned_in/

TV Notebook
Change of Locale
By Roger Catlin Hartford Courant TV Critic in his “TV Eye” blog

News intervened Friday to prevent Katie Couric from having the m

ost embarrassing site from which to report “The CBS Evening News.”

She was originally scheduled Friday to be what is thought to be the first network news anchor to originate a broadcast from the site of the Super Bowl.

Sean McManus CBS president of news and sports, compared the plan with anchors reporting from the site of the Olympics. But that international sports competition is quite a bit different than the overhyped culmination of the NFL season; the only reason Couric would be there was because CBS had the rights to Super Bowl XLI.

As Couric herself explained from Florida, “it is of course much more than just another football game. It’s become the ultimate symbol of American culture, the most visible television event of the year.”

What’s more, it’s a level 1 national security event, she said, on the way to flying in a helicopter for her “CBS News In Focus” piece about preparations.

Still, when deadly tornadoes ripped through Central Florida, 280 miles northwest of Miami early Friday morning, it gave Couric an actual news reason to be in the Sunshine State.

Standing amid the wreckage of a church in Lady Lake, Fla., she navigated through 11 shaky minutes at the top of the newscast about the storm that struck in the middle of the night and killed 19. Four counties were declared disaster areas by Gov. Charlie Crist, who was standing by for his own Couric interview.

There was still room for some Super Bowl tie-ins, but the report about the turf company whose product was hurt by rains seemed even more insignificant against the devastation at hand.

http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/

Super Bowl XLI
CBS' Nantz majoring in majors
Broadcaster in line to call 3 big events over next 9 weeks
Ed Sherman Chicago Tribune

MIAMI -- When Jeff Joniak ran into Jim Nantz the other day, he wanted to make the most of the opportunity.

"I asked him, 'What advice can you give me about calling the Super Bowl?'" said the Bears' play-by-play voice, who will be calling his first Sunday.

Nantz told Joniak he could offer no help since this also will be his first Super Bowl as a play-by-play man.

"I was stunned," Joniak said. "It just seemed to me like he had done a bunch of Super Bowls."

There is a reason Joniak had that perception. Nantz, 47, has done virtually everything as the face of CBS Sports, and that includes twice hosting the "NFL Today" pregame show for the Super Bowl. But Sunday will mark his maiden run at calling the biggest game in sports.

It could have happened sooner. When CBS reacquired the rights to the NFL in 1998, division President Sean McManus offered Nantz the choice of doing play-by-play or hosting "NFL Today." At the time, with a 3-year-old daughter and a feeling of being "overtraveled," he opted for the studio.

"All the while, Sean kept telling me, 'One day you're going to be the man on the NFL,'" Nantz said.

Sure enough, that day came during a round of golf in spring 2004. McManus told Nantz, "I really want you to think [about going to the booth]."

Nantz said he initially bristled at the notion and still hadn't decided when he saw McManus a week later.

"Then in June he called me and said, 'I really, really want you to consider this,'" Nantz said. "I knew it had crossed that invisible line where I didn't have much of a say anymore."

McManus had a clear motivation: He wanted to secure Nantz's place in history.

Nantz already had reached superstar level with a body of work that included every Final Four since 1990 and serving as the lead voice of the Masters since 1994. But in McManus' eyes, it wasn't enough.

"I didn't think he would be considered at the top of his profession unless he called the Super Bowl," McManus said. "It was something missing on his résumé."

Thanks to McManus, Nantz will have a broadcast first on that résumé. Within 63 days, he will call the Super Bowl, the Final Four and the Masters, becoming the only announcer to pull that trifecta in the same year. He joins Curt Gowdy and Dick Enberg as the only announcers to work the Super Bowl and the Final Four the same year.

Nantz talks with great emotion about anything that links him to the great announcers. Mention Chris Schenkel, and he will give you five minutes.

"These guys are bigger than life for me," Nantz said. "I always wanted to be just like them. Pat Summerall, Jack Whitaker, Jim McKay. Schenkel used to call me all the time. He said, 'I'm rooting for you, Jim. You're representing our generation. We passed the torch to you.'"

McManus also has a keen view of broadcast history, growing up as McKay's son. (His father took McKay as a professional name.) McManus sees a lot of his father in Nantz.

"Neither of them wanted to be the center of the story," McManus said. "They wanted to be the best in describing and documenting the story. Both are good writers. That's vastly underestimated in this business."

Nantz's trademark is weaving in stories about athletes. It also has opened him up to criticism that he can get too syrupy at times, as if he cues that numbing Masters music while launching into a tale.

So be it, Nantz said.

"I can't help it; that's who I am," Nantz said. "I was raised in a home where people were sensitive and had feelings for others. I love to get into the hearts of people and find the humanity of the story."

He is certain to tell many stories Sunday. He says it won't be his ultimate assignment, however. Nantz, a former college golfer and roommate of Fred Couples at the University of Houston, says the Masters "reaches down in the heart the most." He loves the Final Four too.

But for the man who has done nearly everything, calling the Super Bowl to an audience of more than 140 million will be a new experience.

"I'm in sensory overload," Nantz said. "Every sense is heightened because this one is so big."

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-070201sherman,1,920148,print.column?coll=cs-columnists

“I've already told NBC that I'm not going to replace these shows,” says Ogden. “On almost all of our stations, we'll run the fourth hour in the time period where Passions runs.”

In some markets (like Denver, where Gannet's KUSA airs Passions at 2 p.m.), that means running the fourth hour in the afternoon, apart from the core program. “I've been telling them that they need to produce it as a stand-alone hour that happens to have a great brand,” says Ogden.

Wow, that sounds like a horrible idea, unless the fourth hour of Today is practically a new hour of Access Hollywood-type programming. Maybe the fourth hour should be something like Good Day Live if that's the case.

But, anyway, here's what I don't get, at least as a viewer of WRC in Washington, which is an NBC O&O. You've got Early Today at 4:30, which runs into local morning news, which runs into Today. So you've got news from 4:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Then news starts up again at 4:00 p.m. and runs until NBC Nightly News at 7:00, followed by Access Hollywood at 7:30. Then you have local news at 11:00 p.m.

How in the world is that a sustainable business model? It's news, news, news, news, news all the time. Don't people get tired of watching the news? There aren't that many things to cover in a day, even in a big market like Washington. I mean, it seems that with three major cable news networks, Headline News, The Weather Channel, CNBC, and let's not forget the Internet, how can people possibly stomach any more news?

And now I'm wondering if they're going to shift the 10:00 a.m. hour of local news to make up for new hour of Today. NBC4 News at Noon? I think so. Yuck.

Are all the NBC O&Os that dedicated to airing local news?

The fourth hour of "Today", while produced by NBC News will be much more of "service" show than a news program

(As is the third hour, and a good part of the second hour.)

And just because it is produced by NBC News, don't confuse it with real news (remember NBC News also gives us those interminable catch a predator Nightline programs.) So we are not talking "60 Minutes" here.

The business model is this: "Today" already contributes a major portion of NBC's annual profit. It is difficult to buy commercials on the program -- thus advertisers also buy hour three to gain access to hours one and two. I am sure hour four will be similarly positioned.

The fourth hour is more a demonstration that NBC has no idea how to program daytime than it is a great idea. It just is a very safe way for the corporation to go. Ground-breaking it ain't.

TV Notebook
Fourth hour of Today Show?
By Paige Albiniak Broadcasting & Cable 2/5/2007

“I would do almost anything to get rid of Passions,” says Alan Frank, president/CEO of Post-Newsweek Stations, which has affiliates in Houston and Detroit.
How ironic is that. WDIV, the Post-Newsweek NBC station, in Detroit did not show Passions for almost 4 years after it debuted. WDIV allowed WADL the independent/christian station in Detroit to air Passions.

Super Bowl XLI
Media Frenzy
Beyond the X’s and O’s, a Lesson in How to Be Big
By Richard Siklos The New York Times Feb. 4, 2007

It has become an American rite. Every year at this time, much ink is spilled to marvel at what a phenomenon the Super Bowl has become — not merely as a sporting contest or a forum for advertisers to make a splash, but also as a fully realized spectacle.

The Event, of course, is the most elusive and desirable of all media constructs, whether it’s “event television,” “the movie event of the season” or the release of the final “Harry Potter” book. To state the obvious, the Event by its very definition is something that cannot happen every minute of every day.

Yet a lesson lurks in today’s big show — with its 90 million viewers watching $2.6-million, 30-second commercials and consuming untold vats of seven-layer dip. To my eye, part of the Super Bowl’s pre-eminence stems from one of the savvy and counterintuitive ways in which the National Football League has reinforced its brand value: by emphasizing its scarcity.

It’s hard to say for certain, but there is data to suggest that the N.F.L. generates more profit than the combined profit of America’s other three major sports leagues — the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball. The N.F.L. churns out that operating profit, estimated at about $1 billion, with only 16 regular season games a year, versus 82 for basketball, 84 for hockey and 162 for baseball.

(I came to this much-bruited but hard-to-confirm conclusion by checking in with several sports economists, including David J. Berri of California State University, Bakersfield, and Rodney Fort of Washington State University, who crunch industry figures compiled by Forbes magazine.)

There are many possible reasons for this. With so few games in football, every play counts more. How many times, for example, have you watched a basketball game and felt as if the stars were mailing in their performances, maybe because they have three more games this week or are holding powder for the playoffs (which too many teams will get into anyway)? And, as my brother, the sports fan in the family, has pointed out to me, football has a “metronomic regularity” that has made Sunday afternoons something of a sacred ritual in many family rooms and sports bars. An Event.

There’s more, of course. Mark Yost, the author of “Tailgating, Sacks and Salary Caps: How the N.F.L. Became the Most Successful Sports League in History” (Kaplan Business, 2006), said the league’s desire to protect its brand led it to rein in its licensing program, which in the late 1990s allowed more than 300 suppliers to slap team and league logos over all kinds of bric-a-brac.

The league brought in a new consumer products minder, who cut the number of suppliers by two-thirds and began controlling how the league was portrayed — down to patrolling the sidelines at games to make sure that even the coaches were wearing products made by the league’s clothing licensee, Reebok. Licensing revenue subsequently doubled, to around $3 billion a year, Mr. Yost estimates.

Even the trademark fedora and suit worn by Tom Landry, the legendary Dallas Cowboys coach, would be a no-no in the league now, Mr. Yost told me.

The N.F.L. doesn’t look at itself as a sports brand, he said: “It looks at itself as a consumer product that is all about competing with other forms of consumer entertainment.”

While guarding against overexposure, the N.F.L. is not ignorant of innovation. It, too, aspires to spread its fare across multiple platforms — including video-on-demand highlights on devices like iPods and BlackBerrys — and has been studying the logistics of international expansion. Every few years it introduces expansion teams, and it has started an N.F.L. Network cable channel with 24-hour programming for diehard fans. But there is a difference between enhancing the brand and watering down the stew.

Keeping its core product tight and finite is something that the N.F.L. has in common with some other notable media ventures. The astonishing popularity of “American Idol” in its sixth season is partly a testament to the fact that the Fox network has not fiddled with its winning formula and spun off all sorts of additional contests under the “Idol” banner. In other words, it hasn’t diluted “Idol” the way ABC memorably short-circuited the run of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” a few seasons back.

In a similar vein, many news organizations have expressed admiration for the success of The Economist, the British newsweekly. Although The Economist has a creditable Web presence, it is the weekly magazine that manages to seem relevant and fresh despite its supposedly pressured “newsweekly” format. (Ditto, in a way, for The New Yorker and the Sunday edition of just about every big newspaper.)

One big question of the digital age, of course, is whether media companies can make up on volume what they lose on price when they move their output online. But another question — which today’s contest reminds us of — is whether the digital rush will backfire and water down the value of content and brands in the same way it has challenged the value and efficiency of other forms of advertising.

Time Inc., the nation’s largest magazine publisher, has been in the news because it has cut staff and sold titles while emphasizing the building of digital outlets like Time<129>.com and People.com. (It’s not a wholly different story at most newspapers, of course; newsrooms are being reconfigured to publish news continuously in a digital format even while the print product is created but once a day.)

Ann S. Moore, Time Inc.’s chairwoman and chief executive, enthuses about all the material that Sports Illustrated now publishes on its Web site, SI.com, including daily stories, blogs and archival material. After all, the cost of “publishing” a digital page is vastly less than with a printed one, so why not? An answer to that question is really an existential one: It depends how far you stretch the brand and what is lost along the way. Just because you can do something doesn’t always mean that you must.

Ms. Moore told me that in her business, at least, she has seen no notable declines in readership or circulation for print editions as she has pushed further online. What she has seen is the loss of print advertising to the Internet, not print readers — who continue to want material in both formats.

IN the magazine business, this discussion is partly about “frequency” — basically, how often you publish. Daily, weekly and monthly are all common frequencies. And they can change — it’s been a long time, for example, since Gentleman’s Quarterly was a quarterly.

The prevailing view is that just about any media property can become a 24-7 digital brand regardless of how often it has been produced in the past. But the Super Bowl is a reminder that amid the digital blur, the Event remains singularly powerful.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/business/yourmoney/04frenzy.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=media&pagewanted=print

And just because it is produced by NBC News, don't confuse it with real news (remember NBC News also gives us those interminable catch a predator Nightline programs.) So we are not talking "60 Minutes" here.

Ahem... ahem... Nightline? Now that you mention it I did see an installment of Nightline: To Catch A Predator in which one of the sexual predators ran away before entering the house when he spotted Ted Koppel's hair from around the corner. Now excuse me while I go watch the 11:30PM sober news recap show Dateline with that anchorman extraordinaire Chris Hansen. :D

Super Bowl XLI
Option plays for game day
By Marisa Guthrie New York Daily News (All times are Eastern)

The Super Bowl is a fire-breathing Godzilla, stomping through the television landscape and crushing all comers with the weight of its bloated audience.

But if you don't know the difference between a shuffle pass and a screen pass, the big show is probably a big bore.

Those who just want to see the artfully conceived commercials -- estimated at $2.6 million for a 30-second spot this year -- can watch them on YouTube. So the challenge for every network except CBS is to give viewers allergic to pigskin something else to gnaw on.

NBC may as well turn off the lights and curl up in the fetal position because presenting four hours of Grease: You're the One That I Want reruns (7 to 11 p.m.) is basically playing dead.

ABC has reruns of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (7 p.m.) and America's Funniest Home Videos (8 p.m.), followed by the lunkheaded classic Old School (9 p.m.). And Fox has X2: X-Men United, starring a white-haired Halle Berry (7:30 to 10 p.m.).

If you missed the last two episodes of the sweet-as-sugar reality show Beauty and the Geek, CW reruns them beginning at 7 p.m., leading into a new episode at 9.

Cable takes its usual counterprogramming posture on Super Bowl Sunday: the marathon.

Animal Planet once again has its Puppy Bowl (6 to 11 p.m.), which is basically one long puppy play date.

Hallmark again presents hours and hours of '70s bawl-fest Little House on the Prairie (noon to 3 a.m.).

If you have yet to check out TBS' comedy My Boys, starring the charming Jordana Spiro as a tomboy sportswriter whose best friends are men in varying stages of emotional development, the first of eight back-to-back episodes begins at 5 p.m.

USA and TNT have dueling sleuth sessions. USA's Monk marathon, starring Tony Shalhoub as an obsessive-compulsive gumshoe, begins at 10 a.m. -- while TNT runs the entire first season of The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick as a Southern belle detective with a weakness for frosted doughnuts. It begins at 11 a.m.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/television/16604462.htm

(I don’t think there are any real spoilers in this article – but tread at your own risk.)
Critic’s Notebook
A question of SURVIVAL
Creators of ABC's 'Lost' think they've found a way to hang onto viewers by focusing on characters instead of mysteries
By Verne Gay Newsday Staff Writer February 4, 2007

In the opening seconds of this week's "Lost" (Wednesday at 10 p.m., ABC/7), there's a long resolve of a beach at sunset, with striated bands of orange and deep red on the horizon and phosphorescent waves crashing on a distant reef. It's alluring and unsettling, familiar yet strange. All in all, a classic "Lost" kind of visual.

In the old days - that'd be a season ago - a scene opener like this might send fans, or at least the more compulsively odd ones, scrambling for Meaning: Why a "beach?" What do those colors signify? Do they correspond to the number? Does Alvar Hanso like beaches?

And so on. One of the infuriating charms and undeniable pleasures of "Lost" was that a beach or just about anything else could signify something in the overall "Lost" mythology - that word commonly used by "Losties" for the evocative and richly symbolic world that's all tied into the big mystery. Fact is, many things often did.

A cigar is just a cigar

Then, the third season rolled around, and over the first six episodes at least, a cigar was usually just a cigar. A beach? Yeah, that's the thing with a lot of sand on it. (Or, in this instance, it sets up a flashback for Elizabeth Mitchell's character, Juliet.)

As if anyone needs to be told, "Lost" became a different show last fall, with clear plotlines, some thriller components, and a love story as well. Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh

Holloway) have clinched, so to speak. Jack (Matthew Fox) is jealous - or perhaps about to be pumped and primed for his own star-crossed love affair (see Juliet). Ben is still Ben (Michael Emerson), though feeling much improved after the operation. (ABC airs a "Lost Survivor Guide," Wednesday at 9 ET/PT, recapping the story so far.)

We've heard nothing, by the way, from dear old Hanso though Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) did have an unfortunate run-in with the Black Smoke.

Now that we've caught up - the final 16 episodes begin Wednesday - fans, critics, cultural observers and even ABC could be forgiven for taking a wistful glance over their shoulders. Reason is, "Lost" was the best show on television for most of its first two seasons, and one of the more influential in TV history. The immediate impact of all this influence is more or less mundane: setting sad-sack ABC back on the road to full recovery, and spawning a subgenre of serials that also played with haute-literary narrative devices like character point-of-view or time-shifting. (None, with the exception of "Heroes," worked, by the way.)

But for a brief, shining moment "Lost" made viewers forget that they were just watching a TV set because they were actively engaging it. They believed - no doubt, many still do - that all the symbols, numbers and visual clues weren't just clutter but signposts to a deeper meaning and mystery off-screen.

"What's in the hatch?" became a cultural catchphrase, closely followed by "Who the hell is this Desmond dude anyway?"

Then enter (stage right): The backlash. Ratings started to slip, viewers clamored for answers, and the nub of a question began to take shape, from fandom to networkdom. Where is all this leading and when will it all end? As the third season wraps four months from now, the show will deliver some answers. Indeed, it has been forced to.

End of their rope

The producers "still have three things going for them," says Orson Scott Card, the prominent sci-fi novelist ("Ender's Game") and editor of a recent book of essays on the show's meaning called "Getting Lost." "One, they've got the mythology - though if they explain all of that away, then the show's not mystical or magical anymore; second, the overall conspiracy everyone's lying to everyone else and that we need to find out the truth; and finally, the intense character relations.

"But every time give us a glimpse of what's going on, that leads to a bigger mystery. You can only do that for so long, and I think they're nearing the end of their rope."

"Lost's" dilemma - if that's the right word - is actually an interesting one, and begs some other questions, most notably: How long are TV series supposed to last anyway? Should they have a beginning, middle and end? Episodic dramas don't need to worry about this sort of stuff because they are (after all) episodic. They just keep on chugging along - like the "Law & Order" train - until they run out of track (and viewers). But serials are like novels, and novels have an ending.

The end game for "Lost" is "one of the things we're in discussions with the network about right now," Carlton Cuse, the show's co-executive producer, told a roomful of TV critics at the press tour last month in Pasadena. "It's time for us now to find an end point for this show. It's always been discussed that the show would have a beginning, middle and end...[and] once we a lot of the anxiety and a lot of these questions like - 'we're not getting answers' - will go away."

Those questions, he added, "represent, I think, an underlying anxiety that this is not going to end well or that we don't know what we're doing."

Not to worry, Carlton. We know you know what you're doing. The problem is, no one else seems to. In the candid exchange with critics, Cuse and his production and writing partner, Damon Lindelof, described a creative process that sounds a little more like a balance-beam exercise than a TV production. "We want the characters to focus primarily on their relationships with each other" this season, Cuse said. "We always viewed the show as a character show with a mythology frosting over the top all the questions we get asked are about the mythology."

Fans and even ABC have been frustrated with the pace of the "reveals," or as Lindelof put it, "the only pressure that we've ever received from is 'answer some -- questions.' ... We have gotten that note, on occasion, [that reads] "now it's time for a nice, rich mythological download."

But the problem with nice, rich downloads is obvious: "Once the mythology is made explicit, I think the mystery goes out of the show," says Cuse, who along with Lindelof is grappling with a few other creative catch-22's. Because there was so much convoluted mythology in the first two seasons, ABC research found that some viewers - OK, maybe millions - couldn't or wouldn't jump in and out of the show; it required concentration and commitment, which are not always surefire ingredients for success on commercial TV.

[b]On to Plan B

So the writers went to Plan B this season: more character development and interaction, and more "exposition" (letting people know just what the heck is going on).

Here's what's wrong with this approach. Most viewers who were drawn to "Lost" for the mystery could probably not care less about whether Kate and Sawyer become a pair, or whether Jack will become part of the oldest trick on TV - a love triangle (which has already proliferated on other ABC dramas, by the way). And the more time "Lost" spends in character development, that's less time spent in solving mysteries.

But Cuse and Lindelof have made their choice: "I think there's a much larger audience that's much more interested in who is Kate going to choose than the details about who Alvar Hanso is," Cuse says.

Maybe. Maybe not. Cuse and Lindelof are smart guys. They'll probably figure it out. In the meantime, love is in the air at "Lost." Mythology is on forced sabbatical. We'll get our answers one of these days.

We hope.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-fftv5075023feb04,0,2624920.story?coll=ny-television-headlines

Oh Wow, I can hardly wait. Not. Maybe it's just me, but I've had enough of all the character's pasts to last me for several serialized shows.

they played out Locke's big secret too long, I don't really care now either. And Jack's tattoo's? Really? Nobody should care about that. That's like wondering where Sun bought her clothes.

Oh Wow, I can hardly wait. Not. Maybe it's just me, but I've had enough of all the character's pasts to last me for several serialized shows.

LOL...I couldn't agree more.

TV Sports
MLB plays hardball with cable
Baseball close to exclusive deal with DirecTV
By John Dempsey Variety Feb. 4, 2007

All of a sudden, baseball is not Mom and apple pie any more.

The sports world is in an uproar over reports that Major League Baseball has thrown a beanball at cable TV, turning down its offer to renew Extra Innings, the league's out-of-market package of regular-season games.

Instead, baseball is close to an exclusive deal with DirecTV, which is ready to fork over $100 million a year for a seven-year contract to carry Extra Innings, starting this season.

If that deal goes through, more than 300,000 people who paid $179 each last year to get Extra Innings either on cable or on EchoStar, DirecTV's sole satellite competitor, will be out of luck.

Some of these people are bombarding Washington with angry calls and e-mails. The most high-profile responder to date: Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who said last week that he's going to sic the FCC on MLB.

But baseball appears willing to shrug off all of these slings and arrows, not only because of DirecTV's $700 million license fee but because DirecTV will embrace the planned 24/7 Baseball Network, shoehorning it into the Total Choice package that goes to almost all of its 15.8 million subscribers. The Baseball Network (TBN) is still in the works, but it's expected to open for business early in 2009.

Baseball made a similar proposal to In Demand, which put together previous Extra Innings deals for cable. To renew Extra Innings, baseball wanted full clearance of TBN, meaning a choice slot on the expanded basic tier, which would put it in front of 95% or more of cable subscribers in each system.

Baseball's TBN-coverage requirement turned out to be a deal breaker: The days when a fledgling network could claim expanded basic on a cable system have vanished.

Just ask the NFL Network, which offers huge volumes of original programming, highlighted by eight regular-season primetime games each year. Many cable ops, including Time Warner and Charter, have rejected the NFL net's expanded-basic demands.

Says Bob Gutkowski, CEO of Sports Marketing Intl.: "I'm not sure that reaching only 15 million people with Extra Innings and the new network is such a great business model. If you're a good distributor, you want to get the whole world." The most widely cleared cable networks now reach about 92.5 million cable-and-satellite homes.

"But baseball is not negotiating from a position of strength," says Rick Gentile, professor of sports management for Seton Hall U. "Its ratings have fallen off in the last couple of years, and the last few World Series have hit record lows."

However, Chris Bevilacqua, a partner in SPC Worldwide, a sports-marketing operation, says baseball could still climb out of its dilemma by beefing up its broadband Website.

Cable subscribers don't have to cancel cable and buy DirecTV. Instead, Bevilacqua says that with high-speed connections, they can get all of the out-of-market games through streaming video on their computers for an annual fee of less than $100.

But what about eyestrain from watching baseball games on a small laptop screen? Have no fear, he says: "Manufacturers are working on devices that will link up the computer to your TV set wirelessly."

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117958571&categoryid=14

TV Notebook
Elaine’s Boyfriend Returns to TV as a Sitcom Husband
By Joe Rhodes The New York Times

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 2 — Patrick Warburton, who’s been doing this long enough to know how the game is played, was saying all the appropriate things about his new ensemble sitcom, “Rules of Engagement” (which has its premiere on Monday night on CBS): how the writers are smart and talented, the actors are “phenomenal” and easy to work with, how the show has the potential to be really good, if the audience gives it a chance.

He talked, self-deprecatingly, about the similarities between himself and his character on the show. Mr. Warburton, who still gets shout-outs from strangers from his 10 appearances a decade ago as Puddy, Elaine’s high-fiving, face-painting mechanic boyfriend on “Seinfeld,” plays a working stiff in a thrill-is-mostly-gone marriage, the kind in which late nights in bed are less about romance and more about who’s on David Letterman’s show. He’s a guy who’s amused by, and occasionally envious of, the puppy-love enthusiasm of the newly engaged couple down the hall and the spin-the-wheel sex life of his eternal bachelor pal, played by David Spade.

“I live out in Ventura County with my rather large brood,” Mr. Warburton, 42, married with four children, said, talking about his real life. Besides picking up after his dog with a pooper scooper, he said, “I take the kids to school and tae kwon do. I do domestic stuff. That’s my life. And I ask myself, is this what an actor’s life is supposed to be?”

“David Spade, on the other hand,” he continued, “is probably on a boat to Catalina right now with some young lovely. He might not like Catalina. He may never even have been to Catalina. But this is what I imagine in my mind. When I’m out there with the pooper scooper.”

He kept it going for a while, sitting there eating pasta in a too trendy Hollywood bistro where he’d never been before, good-soldiering his way through the standard quotations about why the show deserves to be a hit, how the material is more cutting-edge than it appears. Finally, as if exhausted from the spinning, he leaned back in his chair, shrugged his massive shoulders and said:

“But, whatever. It’s a crap shoot. If it doesn’t work, then next week I’ll be doing another cartoon or something that’s not as exciting as a four-camera show with a great cast. I’ll be a little disappointed, but I’ve been there before.”

Yes, he has. Ever since his break-out appearance on “Seinfeld,” it’s as if Hollywood has been trying, unsuccessfully, to figure out what to do with Mr. Warburton, how to take advantage of his distinctive vocal cadences (could anyone else have turned Puddy’s flat-lined “Yeah — that’s right” into a catch phrase?) and imposing he-man physique. He is 6 foot 3, 230 pounds, barrel-chested, square-jawed and kind of impossible to miss, especially in Hollywood, where everyone is thinner, smaller and more delicate than the world at large. So he’s played a series of big, understated, slightly off-kilter guys, variations on a broad-shouldered theme, some menacing, some dumb, some heroic, all stereotypes with a twist.

On “NewsRadio” he was an evil corporate schemer, on “Less Than Perfect” a blowhard TV anchor, on “The Tick” a superhero without a clue. Even his voice-over work — as the homicidal bodyguard Brock Samson on “The Venture Brothers,” the gung-ho paraplegic police officer Joe Swanson on “Family Guy” — fits the pattern. He’s played more than his share of cops and thugs and dimwitted galoots. He’s not ungrateful for the steady work, but you can tell he longs to do more.

“I know you could argue that ‘You’re not exactly a chameleon,’ ” Mr. Warburton said, acknowledging that his character, Jeff, in “Rules of Engagement” bears some resemblance to characters he’s played before, delivering to-the-point deadpanned punch lines that wouldn’t be funny if not for his Puddy-like intonations. For instance, in Monday night’s episode the newly engaged neighbor (played by Oliver Hudson) excitedly says, “I think marriage is gonna be really great.”

And Mr. Warburton’s world-weary Jeff simply says, “Based on what?”

“I’m still struggling to get those other opportunities, to do different stuff,” said Mr. Warburton, who’s most proud of his least-seen work: lead performances in the independent films “The Woman Chaser,” a stylized noir comedy released in 1999, and “The Civilization of Matthew Bright,” filmed in 2004 and still seeking a distributor, a sometimes brutal portrait of a misogynist’s unlikely path to redemption. In that film, instead of understated and sardonic, he plays a character who is, at times, jarringly violent. Not Puddy-like at all.

The thought of Mr. Warburton’s being in a Merchant Ivory type of picture, he said, “is laughable to many, but the fact of the matter is, why couldn’t that happen?”

Jerry Seinfeld, whose animated “Bee Movie,” to be released this fall, will feature Mr. Warburton’s voice, gushes when discussing him. “It actually bothers me,” he said, “that Patrick isn’t a bigger star than he is. He’s one of the greatest pure talents I’ve ever seen.”

From Mr. Warburton’s first audition for Puddy, a nondescript character that was only meant to make a single appearance, Mr. Seinfeld realized that he’d stumbled onto an unusual comic voice. “You’re always looking for someone who makes the things in between the funny things funny,” he said. “It’s a unique gift. And it’s even funnier because he’s such a big, handsome guy, ’cause those guys are never funny.”

And maybe Mr. Warburton wouldn’t have been, if he’d been big and handsome all his life. But until his senior year in high school, he was a 105-pound, glasses-wearing, stamp-collecting nerd, too shy to talk to girls, too self-conscious to think of himself as a future leading man. By the time he decided to go into acting, he was already leaning toward quirkier choices. He says that has served him well.

“Maybe I’d have made different choices and I’d have a very different career if I wasn’t a married father of four,” he said. “But I’m just an actor, with a nice balance between life, family, reality and show business. Sure, I’d like to do stuff that surprises people. But I feel really blessed to have the career that I have.”

“I hate the idea of there being an A, B, C or D list,” he added. “I don’t know where I’d go. But I hope I’m somewhere in the middle. I’m not going to complain about that.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/03/arts/television/03rule.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=television&pagewanted=print

TV Notebook
Going up against some real pros
Amateur entrants in contests to create TV ads for the big game find themselves bowled over
By Alana Semuels Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 4, 2007

Dan McCoig was thrilled when he heard last fall that Doritos was soliciting regular folks to create a homemade ad for the snack to air during today's Super Bowl.

Enticed by the year's biggest advertising showcase — 30-second spots on the Bears-Colts matchup are going for $2.6 million — McCoig crafted nine commercials to post on the contest's website. Among the Charlotte, N.C., resident's subjects: a village for nutcrackers, hippies and a grandmother.

But a few days before the entry deadline, McCoig, 45, suspected that he was up against some ringers. This eventually was confirmed when the winners were announced.

Embarrassed by the high-quality, professional-looking commercials he saw popping up on the contest site, McCoig took down some of his own ads.

"I'm drawing chips in a bag; I'm drawing hippies," he said. "What I should have been doing is renting a high-definition camera and hiring actors."

The marketing world has been abuzz about the concept of consumer-generated ads, drawn to the democratic aura YouTube and other websites have created by letting anyone post videos.

Super Bowl advertisers such as Chevrolet, Alka-Seltzer, Frito-Lay and even the NFL itself got reams of publicity by asking people to audition their commercials in what has been portrayed as an advertising industry equivalent of "American Idol."

USA Today told readers, "You could create Frito-Lay Bowl ad," and a Reuters story said, "Jane and Joe get in on Super Bowl ads."

But as McCoig and others discovered, the contests are looking more gimmicky than real as amateurs like himself are facing off against aspiring filmmakers and advertising professionals, who are coming up winners.

A man who works for a marketing company in Maine won the NFL contest. A radio DJ and former songwriter won the Alka-Seltzer contest in which contestants rewrote the lyrics to its classic "Plop Plop Fizz Fizz" jingle. And four out of the five finalists in the Doritos contest either are filmmakers, employed by advertising agencies or have produced commercials in the past.

Attracting pros to a contest billed as being for average Janes and Joes has generated controversy in the advertising world. After all, the competitions are overseen by ad agencies.

"It strikes me as a stunt," said Brian Morrissey of Adweek.

Although he sees nothing wrong with companies trying to create buzz, Morrissey noted that "they're not going to get true consumers or someone who's just passionate about Doritos."

But buzz goes only so far. Mark Stevens, author of the book "Your Marketing Sucks" and a blog about advertising, said sales of Miller Lite actually went down after its widely talked-about "Catfight" commercials in which two busty women slugged it out and lost articles of clothing while arguing about the beer.

True consumer-generated advertising is the kind spread in a guerrilla-like way through YouTube or word of mouth, not through competitions that are controlled by companies, said Joseph Jaffe, who runs the advertising blog Jaffe Juice.

"The organic kind is more believable and credible," he said.

For these contests to be truly user-generated, Jaffe said, companies would have to take bigger risks than they are currently taking by letting consumers play with both the form and the content of advertising, rather than just create formulaic TV commercials.

By talking about turning advertising over to the public while not completely doing so, Jaffe said, companies may face a backlash.

The advertisers said they staged the contests to engage the general public.

"Our intent was to give the consumers their voice" and connect with people who are "passionate about the brand," said Ann Mukherjee, vice president of marketing for Doritos owner Frito-Lay Inc.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the majority of contest entrants had a "passion for the NFL."

Granted, engaging people in ad campaigns is important to agencies, said Jason Kuperman, director of Tequila, the interactive and entertainment practice at ad giant TBWA/Chiat/Day. "That is sort of the greatest compliment: that people will be involved and interested enough to engage in these campaigns."

But it's difficult to know if aspiring ad executives and filmmakers are the demographic group the companies are seeking. Many of the contestants say that they like the brand they created commercials for, but that fame and potential fortune prompted them to get in the contest.

"I entered because it seemed like a good opportunity to get more exposure," said Scott Ippolito, a freelance filmmaker in Atlanta who spent $5,000 making his ads. "The film business is so competitive that everybody's always looking for exposure."

John Weaver, 32, head of John Weaver Productions, thinks it's about time a contest like this came along for creative types.

"I'm not a jock, I'm not a prom king, and now finally there's a contest that I have a chance at," he said. "If someone else doesn't think it's fair, too bad."

But being up against those with media savvy doesn't sit well with Tim Knapp, the owner of a holography company outside Baltimore. He spent weeks making three commercials for the competition and barely saw his wife and children during the weeks leading up to the deadline.

Knapp, 34, even injured his foot during the long hours he spent cramped at a desk drawing one of his commercials, which was animated and featured ferocious winged monsters and a Doritos superhero.

In the week before the contest, he said, he knew he wouldn't win when he saw the competition.

"It's not a level playing field," he said. "You kind of feel like you don't have a shot."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-fi-super4feb04,0,6765033,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

TV Notebook
Ebert empire holding up
Roeper continuing show with guest critics
By John Dempsey Variety Feb. 4, 2007

Roger Ebert's ongoing battle with cancer has kept him off his longrunning syndie series "Ebert & Roeper at the Movies" since July, but the show has barely missed a beat, losing just 5% of its Nielsen household audience season to date.

In his absence, Richard Roeper, also a Chicago movie reviewer, has done the show with guest critics.

"Ebert & Roeper" is the most profitable, and highest-visibility, of the various parts of the Ebert empire.

Disney, the distributor of the series, says TV stations in 90% of the U.S. have renewed "Ebert & Roeper" for the upcoming season, but it will for the first time since 2003 face a movie-review competitor, "Lyons & Bailes Reel Talk," which NBC Universal is now rolling out. It's hosted by the movie reviewers Jeffrey Lyons and Alison Bailes.

On other fronts, Ebert will not do his annual Oscar special "An Evening at the Academy Awards" with Roeper, which Buena Vista distributes separately from the "Ebert & Roeper" series. This year, Roeper will cohost the Oscar festivities with George Pennacchio, entertainment reporter for KABC.

Andrews McMeel Publishing meanwhile has just released the latest hard-cover collection of Ebert reviews under the title "Your Movie Sucks." Ebert still writes an occasional review for his home base, the Chicago Sun-Times.

Ebert's physicians are planning to have him checked into a facility in Houston for what Ebert, in an eight-paragraph Jan. 12 update, called "a staged, multi-phased approach to getting me back in shape."

In a month or so Disney execs plan to meet with Ebert to talk about the future of "Ebert & Roeper." In his Jan. 12 comment, Ebert put it simply: "I hope to return soon."

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117958569&categoryid=13

Can't MLB come up with a better network name than TBN?

Can't MLB come up with a better network name than TBN?
Apparently they want to relive the glory years of 94 and 95 with the ill fated Baseball Network partnership between ABC/NBC and MLB. Or they have the same people that came up with the CW name working for them. :D

Super Bowls XLI Notebook
Play by Play by Play
Super Bowl Is First Leg in Nantz's Triple Crown
By Leonard Shapiro The Washington Post Sunday, February 4, 2007; Y03

When the ball dropped at midnight on New Year's Eve, CBS Sports broadcaster Jim Nantz, right, said "it first crossed my mind how great 2007 is going to be."

After all, it's not every calendar year one person gets to handle the play-by-play for the Super Bowl, the NCAA men's basketball tournament and the Masters, all within a frenetic two-month span.

For Nantz, the whirl begins today in Miami, where he's working Super Bowl XLI with his broadcast partner, analyst Phil Simms. Five weeks later, Nantz's attention turns to basketball: He'll call most of the NCAA tournament's marquee games with long-time hoops partner Billy Packer, culminating with the Final Four March 31 and April 2. And the very next weekend, Nantz will be in the tower at the 18th hole at Augusta National with new CBS golf analyst Nick Faldo, broadcasting what he calls his all-time favorite sporting event, the Masters.

Nantz, who's been with CBS since 1985, will become the first broadcaster in history to work play-by-play on three of the highest rated sports extravaganzas in such a short span.

"I hate to use the old cliche, but you really do have to look at it as one event at a time," Nantz said. "Of course I circled the calendar when I saw the Super Bowl date, and doing that game is obviously a huge highlight of any career."

Nantz, 47, was born in North Carolina and said that, as such, college basketball is in his DNA. "But the one event as a young boy that I had this crazy obsession about was the Masters," he said. "For as long as I can remember, that's the event I always wanted to broadcast. That was the dream."

Nantz's normal preparation routine for each of the three events won't change much from past years. As pre-game, halftime and post-game studio host for two previous Super Bowls, he had to study a mountain of material on the participating teams -- newspaper and magazine clippings, reams of statistics, biographical data and anything else he could get his hands on.

As the game's broadcaster, he'll also have access to a number of players and coaches for up-close-and-personal background interviews in the days leading up to the football game.

"But Phil and I are going to approach it like we do every game," Nantz said. "We're not going to talk to 45 players and every assistant coach. There's really only so much you can cram, and the game will dictate where we go, not the pre-game interviews."

Super Bowl XLI

The game: Indianapolis Colts vs. Chicago Bears. Kickoff is at 6:25 PM ET Sunday on CBS.

Halftime entertainment: Headlined by Prince.

Just for kicks: This is CBS's first Super Bowl since the 2004 Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/30/AR2007013001020_pf.html

TV Notebook
Changing the Channel
By Bill Carter The New York Times February 4, 2007

VH1 knows who its signature star is. Yes, he has diamond-studded teeth and wears a clock around his neck, but Flavor Flav, sometime member of the rap group Public Enemy, now better known as the king of a programming genre called “celeb-reality,” is the Johnny Carson, Jerry Seinfeld, Jackie Gleason or Roseanne Barr of the cable network once known mainly as television’s “oldies” channel.

If there had been any doubt about his status before — and there wasn’t really — it was put to rest on Jan. 8 when VH1’s latest venture into Flav-based television, a spinoff of his big hit “Flavor of Love” called “I Love New York,” was the most-watched show in all of cable television. Its premiere was seen by 4.4 million viewers, beating even that week’s enormously promoted opening episode of “The Sopranos” on A&E.

Speaking of “Flavor of Love,” which finished last season with an episode seen by more than seven million viewers, Tom Calderone, the general manager of VH1, said, “That show just did it for us.” What it did was convince the channel’s management that it could build a new identity on a simple formula: Take a pop cultural idol from the past 20 years or so — idol being defined so broadly as to include almost anyone who ever struck the public consciousness even a glancing blow — and place him or her in some reality television context.

VH1 even set aside a night exclusively for this new programming gambit, Sunday, and gave it a formal umbrella title: “Celeb-Reality.” It has become VH1’s answer to “Must-See TV.”

It all started with “The Surreal Life,” a show on the old WB network on which C-level celebrities (Tammy Faye Baker, Vanilla Ice, Emmanuel Lewis) shared a house, participated in idiotic stunts and got on one another’s nerves. At the time VH1 — a music-based channel that appealed to an audience a generation older than MTV’s — was trying to find its way out of a punishing ratings decline. Brian Graden, the president of entertainment for VH1’s parent company, MTV Networks, said he started from the premise that “the core mission is finding programming that celebrates the music or pop culture that we all have in common.”

“I noticed that ‘Surreal Life’ was the only show on the networks that was really where VH1 wanted to be,” he recalled. After two seasons WB lost interest in that series, and Mr. Graden snapped it up.

The first cast provided a rich stew of personalities headed by, yes, Flavor Flav — at the time a forgotten punch line from the rap group Public Enemy — who started a bizarrely fascinating romance with Brigitte Nielsen, the former actress who had at one time been married to Sylvester Stallone. “It was a huge hit right off the bat,” Mr. Graden said. “It’s what really spawned celeb-reality.”

Their affair begat a spinoff series called “Strange Love,” which — when they proved unable to work out their romantic differences — begat “Flavor of Love.” Modeled unmistakably on ABC’s “Bachelor,” it featured a bevy of high-energy hopefuls competing, at times violently, for Flavor Flav’s favor. More recently the genre gave rise to other shows like “Hogan Knows Best,” a nontraditional look at family values à la “The Osbournes,” and “World Series of Pop Culture,” a gonzo mix of “The World Series of Poker” and the movie “Spellbound” in which contestants vie to prove their knowledge of has-been celebrity casting and dating.

Now, Mr. Graden said, “celeb-reality is the signature of the channel.”

Nobody is currently emphasizing that signature more than Tiffany Pollard, the contestant on both seasons of “Flavor of Love” whom Flavor Flav — who is fond of nicknames — christened “New York.” In her new show Miss Pollard is eliminating her own roster of outrageous suitors. In January VH1 had so much confidence in “I Love New York,” it decided to build a second celeb-reality night, Monday, around the series. “She was not previously a celebrity,” Mr. Calderone said with a smile. “We made her a celebrity.”

That VH1 is capable of conferring that status is one indication of the channel’s growing success under Mr. Calderone and his management team, which includes Mr. Graden and Michael Hirschorn, the executive vice president for original programming for the channel. Another indication is that each year for the past three VH1 has hit a new ratings record.

No one at the network is exactly calling it a succès d’estime, but they aren’t apologizing for it either. In a meeting of the top staff Mr. Hirschorn, who went to Harvard with Conan O’Brien and Jeff Zucker, chief executive of NBC television, and has a graduate degree in comparative literature from Columbia, laid out the list of forthcoming programs with a sense of fun, not embarrassment.

But some viewers and cultural critics have taken “Flavor of Love” and “I Love New York,” and the people who present them, to task for perpetuating what they see as dangerous racial stereotypes, or just for catering to the lowest common denominator. In a commentary on NPR, Mark Anthony Neal, a professor of African American studies at Duke University, called Flav a “Sambo figure”: “For many black audiences,” he said, “ ‘Flavor of Love’ is too much of a reminder of the racist and stereotypical depictions that blacks were forced to endure on television and in film for much of the 20th century.”

In November, the Chicago Tribune columnist Dawn Turner Trice reported that an African-American woman named Theresa Tracy had started a petition directed against the “Flavor of Love” producers. She was quoted saying, “I want black women to see this kind of thing for what it is: an attack on our image.”

VH1 executives have said that they had never received any such petitions, but that they are sensitive to those criticisms. When Mo’Nique, the actress best known for shows like “Moesha” and “The Parkers,” let staffers know that she hated the “Flavor of Love” contestants’ undignified behavior, the network responded by giving her her own show, called “Charm School.” “She made it her personal project to embed some self-esteem and stronger values in these women,” Mr. Hirschorn said. Or as another VH1 executive put it, “She said she wanted to de-hootchify them.”

But the executives also say that the great majority of feedback has been positive, most notably among African-American audiences. For the premiere of “I Love New York” black viewers made up 61 percent of the total viewers of the show.

VH1 executives do however seem eager to discuss some of their shows that may be lower rated but have a more salubrious cachet with critics, like “Best Week Ever,” a weekly satirical video clip wrap-up of news events that continues to be much praised for its wit. And Mr. Calderone takes special pains to assert that VH1 remains committed to its music roots. “We really want to make sure that the whole voice of VH1 has that balance between the music and the pop culture programming,” he said.

“For us, the music is kind of that special sauce that differentiates us from our competition,” he explained. So when it comes to new prospects, “It probably helps if somebody pitches us a show that has music elements.”

Plenty of producers have. The follow-up show to “I Love New York” on Monday nights is “White Rapper,” an “American Idol” kind of elimination contest for would-be hip-hop stars with questionable street cred. Forthcoming shows include “Bridging the Gap,” a match between a current music star and a past singing idol: the first pairs Eve with Queen Latifah. Another music reality entry is “Band of Men,” which will bring former members of boy bands together into a new “man band.”

But VH1 continues to be one of the growth engines of its parent company and everybody knows where that growth is coming from: celebrities playing themselves (or some version thereof) on camera. At the program meeting, when Mr. Hirschorn laid out the channel’s plans for the next six months, the highlights were new entries featuring familiar but somewhat forgotten names.

“The Springer Hustle,” coming in March, will go behind the scenes of the infamous “Jerry Springer” show. “Dice Undisputed,” with which it will be paired, will find the leather-clad comic Andrew Dice Clay amid a crew of hanger-ons that Mr. Calderone labeled “a bunch of misfits, losers really.” Mo’Nique will be followed on Sunday nights in April by a look at the surprisingly conventional home life of Irv Gotti, the boss of the one-time hip-hop label, Murder Inc., who was acquitted in late 2005 of laundering money for a New York drug kingpin.

But in many ways the ideal VH1 celeb-reality star is Scott Baio. He burst on the scene during the formative years for many of the channel’s viewers, became famous for not much, and has maintained that level of performance for a long time.

How does one build a reality show around Scott Baio? Mr. Hirschorn explained that the channel worked with him to find the right concept. What they came up with was something to recapture the one area where Mr. Baio had undisputed success: women. So far a long list of former conquests have signed up to take part in the project, even Joanie (Erin Moran), who apparently really did love Chachi.

The exception to the rule of VH1’s has-beens and hardly-weres is Jack Black, a justifiably celebrated entertainer who surely doesn’t need the gig. He will headline a series the channel is especially high on called “Acceptable TV.” It is based on a comedy act Mr. Black has tried out in Los Angeles clubs for years, called “Channel 101.”

Mr. Black was an early adapter to user-generated video, offering found clips for club audiences who voted for their favorites. He will do mainly the same thing on the show, which will invite submissions of amateur and professional comedy videos. The best ones, if there are any, will make it onto the air as three-minute episodes of possible series.

Mr. Hirschorn noted that Mr. Black and his partners were interested in that material long before YouTube was born. But they now have concluded that somebody needs to be the gatekeeper to what is “acceptable TV” and what isn’t. The show dovetails neatly with the general skepticism that VH1 executives have about the value of the Internet vs. traditional television.

“The whole user-generated content revolution has not generated a huge amount of quality,” Mr. Hirschorn said. “I think this is kind of a first stage. There’s now going to be a bit of a backlash, and we’re leading the backlash. We’re sort of rah-rah television; we believe in television.”

VH1 seems to be making it “a mission,” in Mr. Calderone’s words, to give its audience a traditional television experience, free from Internet interruption, and wherever possible, as he put it, “TiVo proof.” “This audience still loves television,” Mr. Calderone said. “They use broadband services, but this is not one of those things where I feel like we’re losing ground to the other platforms. Right now we’re in that sweet spot where it’s still O.K. to sit on the couch and watch television.”

At least for the moment that conviction is likely to mean yet more pitches from one-time and would-be celebrities convinced that their personal lives are the stuff of entertaining television.

Mr. Graden said, “You can’t imagine the number of pitches we get that consist of: I’m a celebrity; follow me, it will be fascinating.”

It rarely is, he said. But then there’s the always fascinating Flavor Flav. Yes, he will be back with another series, Mr. Calderone said.

“Flav is very happy,” he said. “He feels the love. We’ll do more with him.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/arts/television/04cartNEW.html?pagewanted=print

Super Bowls XLI Notebook
The Bigger Stars May Be the Ones in the Commercials
By Richard Sandomir The New York Times February 4, 2007

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and the talk is about Peyton Manning, Rex Grossman — and Kevin Federline, whose mocking of his D-tier celebrity in a 30-second commercial for Nationwide Insurance will run during the game.

For those with eclectic attention spans, K-Fed’s fast-food-worker-to-rapper fantasy is as familiar as the struggles of Grossman, the relief that Manning finally made it to the Super Bowl and the first appearance at the game of two African-American coaches, Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy.

Federline, who gained fame when he married Britney Spears in 2004, won’t be able to touch the Vince Lombardi Trophy, which should please the spirits of Lombardi and Pete Rozelle. But the chatter about K-Fed symbolizes the altered Super Bowl advertising life cycle: Nationwide released the ad on its Web site last week — generating all the talk — rather than surprise 90 million viewers with it in the third quarter.

The new advertising landscape should make the N.F.L. rethink who should attend its annual Super Bowl media day: the players or the commercial stars, the quarterbacks or the Federlines, the Clydesdales and the talking frogs.

Nationwide certainly believes the attention last week has been worth the cost of producing the ad and the $2.6 million it is paying CBS.

The ad is slotted to run in the third quarter, which, in terms of Super Bowl positioning is pretty good; most advertisers prefer a first-quarter berth, but those sell out quickly. A fourth-quarter slot is risky; the ad could run at the end of a blowout, or it could precede a game-winning field goal.

Although there is no shortage of companies that can pay the ever-rising price each year, Ed Erhardt, the president of ESPN/ABC consumer marketing and sales, said, “Fewer companies choose to want to afford it.”

Erhardt, who oversaw the sale of commercials when ABC televised the Super Bowl last year, said one major reason that some companies are shying away from advertising during the game is the scrutiny the commercials receive by outposts like USA Today’s Ad Meter, which uses a focus group that records its reactions to the ads electronically.

McDonald’s has sat out the Super Bowl since its 2005 commercial — featuring a couple who auction a French fry that resembles Abraham Lincoln — was ranked 47th by Ad Meter voters out of the 55 ads judged that night. A McDonald’s spokesman did not respond to messages seeking comment.

“Super Bowl advertising started as buying ads in the game,” Erhardt said. “Then it became advertising as public relations, and then it became advertising as marketing. Now it’s advertising as content, which can be reviewed as good or bad, tasteful or not tasteful, appropriate or inappropriate.” If the ad gets a bad review, he added, the executive who championed the purchase may land on a well-heated, uncomfortable seat.

Erhardt said the scrutiny had compelled some advertisers to spend their postseason money on the conference championship games, which generate little or no critical interest, rather than risk it on the Super Bowl.

JoAnn Ross, CBS’s president of sales, said: “The Ad Meter is what it is, but it’s a reason a lot of advertisers want to be in the Super Bowl. I wouldn’t say clients are skittish about it.”

John Bogusz, CBS’s executive vice president for sports sales, added: “While there are people who have shied away due to the Ad Meter, we’re sold out. So there are a number of people embracing the game and believe in the value of its huge audience.”

GoDaddy.com started its embrace in 2005 with a risqué ad that featured a buxom model and World Wrestling Entertainment diva, Candice Michelle, testifying in a strap-breaking tank top to a make-believe censorship committee in Salem, Mass. It was meant to parody the debate over taste that followed the baring of Janet Jackson’s right breast by Justin Timberlake during their duet at the Super Bowl the year before. After running the spot once, Fox felt a spasm of guilt and pulled it before its fourth-quarter reprise.

In recent weeks, Bob Parsons, the chief executive of GoDaddy, described in his blog how CBS had rejected two commercials, one with Michelle mimicking Sharon Stone’s body language from her interrogation scene in “Basic Instinct.” On Jan. 13, he wrote of his hope that CBS would approve a third ad, saying, “Given the puritanical standards that were applied to our first two submissions, I’m not so sure it will be approved.” He subsequently released the two rejected commercials to the Internet.

Last Monday, he wrote that CBS had approved the third submission, with some tweaks, starring Michelle and the IndyCar driver Danica Patrick and the Teutuls of “American Chopper.” Parsons wrote, “I’m confident that Super Bowl viewers will still find the approved commercial to be GoDaddyesque (i.e., edgy, innovative and slightly inappropriate).”

Ross said she wasn’t bothered by GoDaddy’s public play-by-play of what usually remains private. “It’s no different than when we do an upfront negotiation and when it’s over, someone in the agency tells the press,” she said. “It’s just out there, virally. That’s the way things are these days. Our lives are moving along, and if that’s what the clients want to do, it’s O.K.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/sports/football/04sandomir.html?pagewanted=print

Obituary
Charles E. Scripps, 87
longtime leader of media company
From Los Angeles Times Staff and Wire Reports February 4, 2007

Charles E. Scripps, 87, longtime chairman of the E.W. Scripps media firm, died Saturday of natural causes near his home in Naples, Fla., the company said.

He was board chairman from 1953 until 1994, presiding over the company's growth as a newspaper publisher along with its entry into broadcast television, cable TV systems and networks, and the Internet.

The company's newspapers include the Cincinnati Post, the Rocky Mountain News and the Ventura County Star, and its cable networks include HGTV and the Food Network.

His grandfather, Edward W. Scripps, started the company in 1878.

Born Jan. 27, 1920, in San Diego, Charles Scripps grew up on his grandfather's 2,000-acre ranch northeast of the city.

He attended William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Va., and Pomona College.

He began his newspaper career at his grandfather's first paper, the Cleveland Press, where he was a reporter covering police and courts.

He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, then returned to the family business and became chairman of the family trust at 28.

He became chairman of the company five years later.

He retired in May 2003 from the company's board of directors but remained chairman of the Edward W. Scripps Trust, the controlling shareholder of the company, until 2004.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-passings4.3feb04,1,1150073.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california

Obituary
Charles E. Scripps, 87
longtime leader of media company
From Los Angeles Times Staff and Wire Reports February 4, 2007

Charles E. Scripps, 87, longtime chairman of the E.W. Scripps media firm, died Saturday of natural causes near his home in Naples, Fla., the company said.

He was board chairman from 1953 until 1994, presiding over the company's growth as a newspaper publisher along with its entry into broadcast television, cable TV systems and networks, and the Internet.

The company's newspapers include the Cincinnati Post, the Rocky Mountain News and the Ventura County Star, and its cable networks include HGTV and the Food Network.

His grandfather, Edward W. Scripps, started the company in 1878.

Born Jan. 27, 1920, in San Diego, Charles Scripps grew up on his grandfather's 2,000-acre ranch northeast of the city.

He attended William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Va., and Pomona College.

He began his newspaper career at his grandfather's first paper, the Cleveland Press, where he was a reporter covering police and courts.

He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, then returned to the family business and became chairman of the family trust at 28.

He became chairman of the company five years later.

He retired in May 2003 from the company's board of directors but remained chairman of the Edward W. Scripps Trust, the controlling shareholder of the company, until 2004.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-passings4.3feb04,1,1150073.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california


Just out of curiosity...is this the same company that sponsors the National Spelling Bee ?

Obituary
Charles E. Scripps dies at 87
longtime leader of media company
By Scripps Howard News Service

Charles E. Scripps, scion of a legendary media family and the board chairman of The E. W. Scripps Company for more than four decades, died today of natural causes at the age 87 near his home in Naples, Fla.

Charles Scripps' long tenure as head of the company founded in 1878 by his grandfather, Edward W. Scripps, was marked by dramatic expansion into new businesses and impressive financial growth.

As board chairman from 1953 until 1994, he presided over the company's growth as a newspaper publisher and the company's entry into other forms of media, including broadcast television, cable TV systems, cable TV networks and the Internet. The E.W. Scripps Company owns the Rocky Mountain News.

In 1986, the company brought cousin John P. Scripps' seven West Coast newspapers into the family fold with a merger agreement, and two years later initiated a public stock offering that provided family members with a way to diversify their holdings. Simultaneously, Scripps served as trustee of The Edward W. Scripps Trust - controlling shareholder of the company - and was chairman of the Trust from 1948 until 2004.

"To carry the family name is to carry the responsibility for quality and innovation in an ever-changing media environment," Scripps said in a 2003 interview. "The E.W. Scripps Company has survived 125 years because it embodies the entrepreneurial spirit of its founding father."

It was that spirit, which fostered development of Scripps Networks - the division that operates HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living and GAC (Great American Country), of which Scripps was especially proud.

"This company, our community and the entire media industry are affected by the loss of Charles Scripps," said Kenneth W. Lowe, president and chief executive officer of

The E. W. Scripps Company. "Charles set the tone for this company's fearless journalism, unquestioned integrity and restless innovation. Those are legacies that continue to influence our approach to operating the business that carries his family's name."

When once asked about a guiding principle, Scripps said, "It's simple, really. Just look at the direction you're going and ask: 'Can we be proud of that?'"

"Charles Scripps provided the glue that bonded the Scripps enterprise together for a half-century," said William R. Burleigh, chairman of The E. W. Scripps Company. "He stepped forward as the family's representative when he was only 28 and served continuously until 2003, presiding over a period of unprecedented growth and success. This sense of responsibility and wise counsel animated everything he did - the company, in his family and in the community."

Often described as "a newspaperman's newspaperman," Scripps regularly asked editors, "What are you doing for your communities?"

When the newspaper division was introducing its Total Quality program to news and business leaders in the late 1980s, Scripps was asked for a slogan. He responded with just three words: "Quality reflects character."

He later explained, "I remember getting a note from a disgruntled reader about an error in one of our newspapers. I checked it out and I was told it was 'just a minor error.' I remember saying that there's no such thing as a minor error. An error is an advertisement of poor workmanship and we simply can't tolerate that in our newspapers. To be in journalism is to be in the business of credibility."

Scripps was born Jan. 27, 1920, in San Diego, to Robert Paine and Margaret Culbertson Scripps. He and his three brothers and two sisters grew up at nearby Miramar, their grandfather Edward Willis Scripps' 2,000-acre ranch.

Scripps attended William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Va., but returned to California and entered Pomona College after his father - the sole trustee of The Edward W. Scripps Trust - died at age 42 in 1938. Shortly thereafter, Scripps began his newspaper career at his grandfather's first newspaper, The Cleveland Press, where he covered police and courts.

"He willingly rose to the responsibility inherent to his birthright," said Lawrence A. Leser, retired chairman and CEO of Scripps. "He learned the business from the bottom up, tutored by the men who had worked with his father."

Just as Scripps inherited his grandfather's passion for publishing, the two also shared a love of sailing. It came as no surprise when young Scripps enlisted with the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II. He was stationed in the Pacific and rose to the rank of lieutenant before returning to the family business after the war.

Scripps was 28 when he became chairman of the family trust and moved to Cincinnati, where the trust was headquartered. Even after he became chairman of The E. W. Scripps Company five years later, he continued to live in Cincinnati rather than move to company headquarters in New York City. In 1977, he welcomed corporate executives to Cincinnati, where the company has since been headquartered.

Recognizing that with leadership comes responsibility, Scripps used his influence to promote freedom of the press throughout the world. He served as president of the Inter-American Press Association in 1980 and president of its advisory council from 1981-82. During that time, he also traveled to Mexico, Austria and the Soviet Union in support of UNESCO's International Programme for the Development of Communication and to France for the World Press Freedom Committee.

Through the years he served on the boards of many organizations, both those related to the media industry as well as civic and public service organizations in Cincinnati and, in later years, in Naples, Fla., where he spent the winter months.

However, the nonprofit organization that received his greatest attention was The Salvation Army, which he served locally, nationally and internationally.

"Mr. Scripps was a gentle giant," said Maj. Kenneth Maynor, divisional commander of The Salvation Army. "He was warm, humble and gracious - totally without pretense - and yet he was world-renowned as an innovative, truly great leader. During his 30-plus years of service he was a revered partner in the ministry, whose wisdom was a blessing we did not take for granted."

Scripps received The William Booth Award in 1988 and the prestigious "Others Award" from The Greater Cincinnati Salvation Army. In addition, he has been honored by the National Jewish Hospital and Research Center in Denver and the American Advertising Foundation. In 1983, he received an honorary doctorate from Ohio University for his contributions to communications and his "championship of press freedom worldwide." In 1986, the Scripps Howard Foundation established the Charles E. Scripps Literacy Award in his honor.

The Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce presented its Great Living Cincinnatian Award to Scripps in February 2003. In accepting the honor, he said, "It's not about power. It's about influence and how you use that for the betterment of your community and the world."

After 57 years on the company's board of directors, Scripps retired in May 2003. Four months later, Scripps was presented with a framed copy of the resolution board members passed in honor of his service. It recognizes the family-friendly workplace he created, his vision for the company, faith in its leadership and "resolve to produce quality journalism that enlightened the populace, improved communities and defended the First Amendment."

He leaves his wife, Mary Elizabeth (Libby) Breslin Scripps, whom he married in 1993; four children: Charles E. Scripps, Jr., of Darby, Mont.; Marilyn Scripps Wade and Julia Scripps Heidt, both of Cincinnati; and Eaton Scripps, of Boulder, Colo.; two stepsons, Ben P. Breslin and Andrew W. Breslin; seven grandchildren and three step-grandchildren; two brothers: Robert P. Scripps, of Fredericksburg, Texas; and Sam Scripps of Rhinebeck, N.Y. He was preceded in death by his wife of 41 years, Lois Anne MacKay Scripps.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/obituaries/article/0,1299,DRMN_45_5326792,00.html

Just out of curiosity...is this the same company that sponsors the National Spelling Bee ?
Yes it is.

What I'd rather be watching while I'm watching the Super Bowl
By Melanie McFarland Seattle Post-Intelligencer TV Critic in her TV blog
(Note: All time are Pacific)

I am not, and will never be, a football fan. But, does The Husband care? Hell no. He has decreed that although he never watches football during the regular season, we are obligated to show allegiance to sweet (former) home Chicago by cheering on the Bears in this Sunday's Super Bowl.

Now folks, I understand the importance of the Big Game to American viewers, and my spirit is with the town of my birth. But I put in my time in 1985. Really, I did. To this day I can still recite most of the lyrics to The Super Bowl Shuffle; during the lip-synch portion of many a slumber party that year, I had to pretend like I was Samurai Mike, and I stopped 'em cold. I pretty much hated every minute of it.

Besides, these days the commercials aren't even interesting.

No matter. "Oh, we are watching the Super Bowl," he said.

B-b-b-b-but --

"You are not to make any other plans." And I guess that's final.

The thing is, I had made other plans, and they are all TV related. Tell me, what could possibly be better than...

"Puppy Bowl III"? (3 p.m., Animal Planet; repeats at 6 and 9 p.m.) Let's really think about this. You can watch mountainous men hopped up on Chunky charging around after a ball…or you could get wasted on the King of Beers, the Blue Ribbon, or the swill from the land of sky blue water (Wa-a-ter) and giggle and coo at the puppies on Animal Planet.

For three hours straight. Three hours!

The channel unleashes baby-dog havoc in a stadium-shaped play area, in an attempt to seduce you into adopt a little dipsy doodle of your own from a local shelter. Then at halftime, the poopers clear the field, making way for the half-time entertainment: Kitties!

Now, even I have a cuteness threshhold. That's why starting at 4 p.m., I planned to turn over to Spike TV's Puppy Bowl counterprogramming: Back-to-back airings "When Animals Attack 3," "When Animals Attack 4," "When Good Pets Go Bad" and "When Good Pets Go Bad 2," which really wraps up all the loose ends left over from the first one.

Then there are the hygenic concerns associated with making a bunch of large, sweaty men bash themselves against each other and sliding face first through natural turf. Watching "Monk's" 14-episode marathon, which starts hours before the gridiron action/pork rind eating contest (10 a.m., USA Network), might be the perfect prescription.

There's no reason to create a reactionary viewing plan, though. Sometimes other channels just look at the Super Bowl's monster draw as a reason bring out really great TV.

There's "The Closer" marathon. ( 11 a.m. TNT) By now this is either one of those summertime vices you spend the rest of the year pining for, or it's the show you haven't met yet but is on your list of things to check out. Either way, Sunday presents a golden opportunity to spend quality time with the LAPD's head of the Priority Murder Squad, Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson (Golden Globe winner Kyra Sedgwick) in a re-airing of the entire first season.

Other options:

"My Boys," (5 p.m., TBS) The sporting girl who doesn't care about the Big Game might want to give the first (only?) season of this high charm, low wattage comedy a shot. You might not want to stick around for all 13 episodes, but they're there for you.

"World's Strongest Man Competition," (1:30 p.m., ESPN2.) Hours upon hours of lantern-jawed men hefting weights normal people move with diesel-fueled construction equipment. Yes, I would watch that.

Finally, "Paula's Party" (2 p.m., Food Network) gives you six hours of celebratory food from Paula Deen, which also means six hours of contemplating what the inside of this bacon lovin' chef's arteries look like. Appropriately, the marathon is capped off with the episode called "Everything's Better with Butter."

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/print.asp?entryID=111117

Super Bowls XLI Notebook
Who will win?

According to the online poll at the Chicago Sun Times, 80% of the respondents say Da Bears will win.

According to the online poll at the Indianapolis Star, 80% of the respondents say the Colts will win.

(Presumably less biased, ESPN’s poll has it Colts, 63%-37%.)

Critic’s Notebook
“Are you having a laugh?”
By David Kronke Los Angeles Daily News Television Critic in his “The Mayor Of Television” blog

The (Los Angeles) Daily News ran a New York Times essay on “Extras,” (tonight, 10 PM ET/PT HBO) Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant’s latest wallow in cringe-inducing comedy, and it was a bit of a head-scratcher.

The writer assailed Gervais for his treatment of all the celebrities who portray heightened versions of themselves on the show (a bawdy Kate Winslet cynically taking the role of a righteous nun only in order to win an Oscar; an even bawdier Daniel Radcliffe randily dangling a condom all around), suggesting that he has a rather dim view of them:

“(I)t leaves you wondering, in the end, whether Gervais down deep imagines no real difference between what motivates Clint Eastwood and what drives Vanna White. … (Celebrities playing “themselves”) are there to enact Gervais' caricature, largely reprising the same dim, self-aggrandizing megalomaniac over and over. Every time they do, they seem to be inadvertently making Gervais' point for him, because by getting in his game, they are betraying the kind of self-regard that leaves us assuming that they consider themselves exempt from his critique. Anyone who subjects himself to Gervais' camera must believe that he does not belong to the class of arrogant jerks that Gervais is making so much fun of.”

Where to begin? Did the writer think Gervais considered all middle-managers as incompetent as "The Office's" David Brent? I think, actually, Gervais found all sorts of different ways for the celebrities to tweak their personae: Some are arrogant, some are foolish, some are downright mean. (My new favorite is Ian McKellan, who is particularly funny in next week’s episode describing the process of acting in a self-important yet utterly imbecilic way. “How do I act so well?” he asks rhetorically. “How did I know what to say?” He then whispers, conspiratorily, “The words were written down for me in a script,” and recalls having to inform Peter Jackson, when asked to play Gandolf in the “Lord of the Rings” films, “You are aware that I’m not really a wizard.”)

Where was this crack Times writer when “The Larry Sanders Show” was on TV? That show did the same thing, and far more truculently; by contrast, “Extras” is fairly benign and even seems fond of celebrity peccadilloes. The main problem with the show as I see it, in fact, is that it feels a little late in the game to have actors parody themselves. Rather than actors doing these shows because they think it shows they don’t “belong to the class of arrogant jerks,” they do it because it’s trendy and they have a sense of humor about themselves and their line of work, not because they’ve been duped by a secretly sinister Gervais.

And besides, “Extras” is, after all, a comedy. To have celebrities play themselves as normal, well-adjusted people, simply put, wouldn’t be very funny.

The essayist then made another point: “Abjection, one of the show's favorite themes, is now almost entirely Maggie's (Ashley Jensen) to bear, and she bears more than a viewer's comfort level can sustain.”

To which I can only respond, at the risk of sounding like Dick Cheney, hogwash. Maggie has been hit on by both Orlando Bloom and Daniel Radcliffe this season, and if that’s this writer’s notion of “abjection,” I can’t even imagine the kind of rich, exotic and fulfilling life she must be leading.

Gervais’s character, Andy, has suffered horribly this season, and he’s not even a quarter of the unrelenting boob that David Brent, Gervais’s inspired creation on “The Office,” was, and therefore hardly as deserving of his routine humiliations. Andy has watched in muted dismay as his TV series, “When the Whistle Blows” (a bizarro-world version, in fact, of “The Office”), has been compromised by his collaborators into something worse, even, than “According to Jim.” (In fact, “Extras” in its second season really isn’t about movie extras, sort of like how “Prison Break” this year hasn’t been about breaking out of prison.) Andy’s “Whistle” character, wearing a doltish wig and a nutter’s coke-bottle spectacles, has been reduced to uttering a spectacularly unfunny catchphrase: “Are you having a laugh?” (And finally, the headline on this entry makes sense.) Despite withering reviews, the show’s a success, but all that manages to do is further thresh Andy’s soul. Now that’s abjection.

So anyway, onto the final three episodes, the first of which airs tonight (long after the Super Bowl will have ended, one would think): Tonight, Chris Martin of Coldplay (whom Gervais once witheringly parodied on his hilarious British radio show, which resulted in his podcasts) shamelessly promotes his new album, whether when doing a public service announcement or when appearing, for no reason whatsoever, on “When the Whistle Blows.” Andy’s further pilloried for that creative decision, which he fought tooth and nail, but on the other hand, he’s up for a BAFTA (England’s Emmy). His cynically clueless (or is it cluelessly cynical?) agent (hilariously played by Merchant) informs him, “It’s all crap this year, so you’ve got as good a chance as anyone.”

And yet, what should be at least a decent evening devolves into an utter horror show for Andy. Yet again. Again, I say: Now that’s abjection.

Next week, Ian McKellan casts Andy in a play that promises to demonstrate that he has real acting chops, except that the play has a gay theme and the homophobic Andy makes a shambles of it. Again, I say: Now that’s abjection.

In the final episode, Andy’s bullied by the mother of a terminally ill son to visit him in the hospital. British actor Robert Lindsay is insulted that he wasn’t asked, and makes a horrible scene at the hospital; Maggie dates a nerd who still lives with his parents, who expect her to satisfy their boy – “You don’t want people saying you’re a pr!ck tease, do you?” mom asks/warns Maggie – and the show employs the most wasted use of Robert De Niro in entertainment history. But, of course, that’s the joke.

This is reportedly the last season of “Extras,” and I can’t imagine that like Gervais’s “Office,” they’ll be asked to do a Christmas special finale. As entertaining as it could be, Gervais and Merchant never really found a clear and driving point to the show (as evidenced by the change in direction from season one to season two). And Andy was hardly as memorable a character as David Brent (or as Steve Carell’s Michael Scott on the American version, for that matter). Gervais allowed, wittingly or otherwise, for the show to be stolen by Merchant and Jensen, who both played dementedly dim characters, albeit ones with precious few redeeming qualities.

Still, I did have a laugh.

http://www.insidesocal.com/tv/

Critic’s Notebook
Underdog `Minds' rewards CBS's faith
By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News Feb. 4, 2007

PASADENA - CBS's ``Criminal Minds'' is the biggest success story on television that you've probably never read or heard about.

When the crime drama made its debut in the fall of 2005, it was treated like an afterthought, little promoted by the network and all but ignored by the press. It never has had the buzz -- the magazine covers, the segments on ``Entertainment Tonight,'' the Web traffic -- generated by such shows as ABC's ``Lost,'' its competition at 9 p.m. Wednesdays for 16 months.

About the only time the series warranted any attention was in the context of stories noting just how many police procedurals are on the networks' schedules -- particularly CBS's -- and asking whether viewers really need a constant stream of violent crime.

But a funny thing happened with ``Minds.'' It became a hit.

``We're pretty good at this,'' says Kelly Kahl, CBS's senior executive vice president for programming operations. ``We put shows like `Criminal Minds' on, and we leave them on. We try not to move them out of their time periods.

``Then after a while, they just kind of catch on, and people go, `Hey, where did this show come from?' ''

Indeed, suggests ``Minds'' co-star Thomas Gibson, the lack of attention may have worked to the show's advantage: ``We had the luxury of low expectations.''

``Minds'' may never get that elusive buzz, but the viewers have found it in large numbers. During its first season, it held its own against ``Lost.'' Last fall, its audience shot up to an average 17 million-plus, often beating ``Lost'' and, many weeks, turning ``Minds'' into a Top 10 show in the Nielsen ratings. (``Lost'' has moved to 10 p.m. Wednesdays, partly to avoid further damage.)

As its reward, CBS has given ``Minds'' one of the most coveted slots in the television year: the prime-time hour behind the Super Bowl (7 tonight, time approximate, Chs. 5, 46), which in the past has given a big boost to the viewership of such series as ``Grey's Anatomy.''

``It's a great opportunity for us. It's a great vote of confidence from CBS,'' says executive producer Mark Gordon. ``And without tooting our own horn, I think it's a good move on their part. We are on the rise, so it's a great way to take a show that's already successful and doing well and to create more of an audience for it.''

Although they may have been tempted to turn tonight's episode into a star-studded extravaganza, the producers of ``Minds'' ended up sticking with the formula that has made it a success.

``It was real important to us to do our show, not spend millions of dollars we won't have on a weekly basis and sort of pretend that the show is something that it isn't,'' says ``Minds'' executive producer Ed Bernero, a former Chicago cop. ``We just talked about doing a really good episode of our show.''

Those involved in the series insist that ``Minds'' is different from a standard police procedural and cite those differences as the reasons for its success.

`` `Criminal Minds' is `Criminal Minds,' '' co-star Shemar Moore says. ``We're not `Without a Trace,' we're not `Cold Case,' we're not `CSI.' ''

While those series focus on crimes that already happened, the twist in ``Minds'' is that the investigators attached to the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) are trying to stop serial criminals before they strike again -- mostly by getting into their heads.

``Most of the other crime shows are about the crime happening and then we watch them solve it,'' Gordon says. But ``we're pro-active. Our guys are out there stopping it from happening again.''

The unit consists of BAU boss Aaron Hotchner (Gibson); obsessional crime expert Derek Morgan (Moore); computer whiz Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness); public affairs expert J.J. Jareau (A.J. Cook); resident genius Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler); and the series' dominant character, behavioral analyst Jason Gideon (Broadway musical star Mandy Patinkin in a twitchy but effective performance).

In recent weeks, Paget Brewster has joined the show as agent Emily Prentiss, whose sudden and unexpected promotion to the unit has made her something of an outsider.

``We're telling essential Arthurian stories,'' Bernero says, evoking the tales of King Arthur and his heroic knights. ``We have someone in distress, and our team meets around a round table and then goes out and battles dragons.''

Moore suggests that the imperfections of the team members -- and their occasional failures -- give the show a bit of an edge. ``We don't always save the day,'' he says. ``We may minimize damage, but we don't always save the day -- which is humbling to the characters and interesting to the audience.''

Mention the main criticism of the series -- that its cases involving serial killers, rapists, kidnappers and arsonists are too grisly and over-the-top to be believed -- and the producers and cast just shake their heads.

``Our cases all start with a basis in reality, but we've had to tone down almost every single one of them,'' says Bernero, noting that a real-life FBI profiler, Jim Clemente, is the lead adviser on the show. ``What is really happening is much worse than anything we could or want to do.''

Brewster, who went through a crash course on the real BAU before joining the cast, says, ``We're not at all showing what people are capable of. You couldn't put it on television, the things that are done to victims and their bodies afterward.

``It's appalling and burns into your brain. I had a couple of weeks where I didn't sleep so well.''

(There are some fanciful elements to the show. The real BAU doesn't have its own private jet. Spencer Reid, as bright as he is, is too young and inexperienced ever to be attached to a top FBI unit.)

Even with the expected boost from tonight's post-Super Bowl appearance, ``Minds'' is facing a formidable task for the rest of this season. ``Lost'' may have scrambled out of the 9 p.m. Wednesday time period, but Fox has moved ``American Idol'' into the hour.

But the folks of ``Criminal Minds'' have faith.

``You can't expect anything up against a juggernaut like that to be other than a very, very strong second,'' Gordon says. ``We figure we will just keep moving along like we have.''

Besides, some people will be looking for an ``Idol'' alternative.

``We're nothing like `Idol.' None of us sings, except for Mandy,'' Moore says with a laugh. ``We are nothing like `Lost.' And we beat `Lost.' ''

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/16620947.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

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

Super Bowl XLI
Recent Super Bowl Ratings:

XL: Feb. 5, 2005 (ABC) - HH: 41.6/62, Viewers: 90.7 million (Seattle/Pittsburgh)

XXXIX: Feb. 6, 2005 (Fox) - HH: 41.1/62, Viewers: 86.1 million (Philadelphia/New England)

XXXVIII: Feb. 1, 2004 (CBS) -
HH: 41.4/63, Viewers: 89.8 million (Carolina/New England)

XXXVII: Jan. 26, 2003 (ABC) -
HH: 40.7/61, Viewers: 88.6 million (Tampa Bay/Oakland)

XXXVI: Feb. 3, 2002 (Fox) -
HH: 40.4/61, Viewers: 86.8 million (St. Louis/New England)

XXXV: Jan. 28, 2001 (CBS) -
HH: 40.4/61, Viewers: 84.3 million (New York Giants/Baltimore)

XXXIV: Jan. 30, 2000 (ABC) -
HH: 43.3/61, Viewers: 88.5 million (St. Louis/Tennessee)

XXXIII: Jan. 31, 1999 (Fox) -
HH: 40.2/61, Viewers: 83.7 million (Atlanta/Denver)

XXXII: Jan. 25, 1998 (NBC) -
HH: 44.5/67, Viewers: 90.0 million (Green Bay/Denver)

XXXI: Jan. 26, 1997 (Fox) -
HH: 43.3/65, Viewers: 87.9 million (Green Bay/New England)

XXX: Jan. 28, 1996 (NBC) -
HH: 46.0/68, Viewers: 94.1 million (Dallas/Pittsburgh)

XXIX: Jan. 29, 1995 (ABC) -
HH: 41.3/62, Viewers: 83.4 million (San Francisco/San Diego)

• Source: Nielsen Media Research data

The Business of TV
Jeff Zucker to take top spot at NBC Universal
The 41-year-old will replace Bob Wright as chief executive, insiders say. An announcement is expected this week
By Meg James Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 4, 2007

Jeff Zucker, the fast-rising television executive who made his name as executive producer of NBC's morning show "Today," will be named chief executive of NBC Universal this week, according to four people at the company.

Zucker, 41, will succeed Bob Wright, who has spent nearly 21 years building the company brick by brick, transforming "the peacock" from a stand-alone TV network into a sprawling entertainment empire with broadcast and cable channels, a Hollywood movie studio and theme parks.

Wright's reign will have been among the longest in media history.

The regime change was confirmed by people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the appointment was not yet official. Key executives from NBC Universal's West Coast operations planned to fly to New York this week for the announcement.

The move comes as Jeffrey Immelt, chairman of General Electric Co., the owner of NBC Universal, looks to shake up its entertainment unit and compete more aggressively against digital powers such as Google and popular youth websites such as MySpace.

NBC's dominance in TV has slipped in recent years. All traditional media have lost ground as advertisers and viewers have migrated to the Internet.

The 63-year-old Wright, who is also a vice chairman of GE, had wanted to stay on as chief executive at least until the end of the year, three people close to him said. But Immelt, 50, insisted that the transition occur now. He was determined to put his own team in place at NBC Universal, just as GE's legendary chief executive Jack Welch did when he handed the keys to Wright when the industrial behemoth bought the network in 1986.

The GE boss decided late last year that Zucker, after being groomed for more than a decade, was ready for the top job, according to two people familiar with his thinking.

GE and NBC Universal declined to comment.

Cultural change coming?

The changing of the guard could radically alter the culture within NBC Universal, which is known for its buttoned-down, financially focused sensibilities. Wright is a lawyer and financial strategist seen as serious, cerebral and aloof, while Zucker is considered more of a creative executive who is casual, cocky and known for his shoot-from-the-hip style.

In addition to its headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York, NBC Universal has West Coast operations that include Universal Studios, KNBC Channel 4, two Spanish-language television stations, and TV and film production facilities in Universal City and Burbank.

The media industry has been captivated by the drama playing out at the top of one of the world's largest media conglomerates. Zucker, who has been Wright's second in command since December 2005, has long been considered the favorite to succeed his boss.

The Harvard graduate quickly rose through the ranks at NBC after joining the company in 1986 as a sports researcher for its Olympics coverage. He moved to "Today" in 1989, and three years later, at 26, became the program's youngest executive producer ever.

He is credited with building "Today" into a juggernaut that continues to be the company's most profitable program and has been TV's most-watched morning show for 11 years.

In 2000, Zucker was dispatched to Burbank to stabilize NBC's prime-time entertainment division, which had been rocked by management upheaval. He managed to keep hundreds of millions of dollars flowing into GE's coffers by extending "Friends" for two additional seasons and by plunging into unscripted TV with such moneymakers as the gross-out show "Fear Factor" and the Donald Trump vehicle "The Apprentice."

He won fans among the troops in Burbank with his open-door, team-building approach.

But during his four years running NBC's West Coast operations, Zucker failed to find a blockbuster to replace the retiring hits "Friends" and "Frasier." When he returned to New York in 2004, NBC's once well-stocked cupboard of culture-defining prime-time shows was nearly bare. Soon, the network tumbled from its long-held perch at the top of the ratings to fourth place, behind Fox, ABC and CBS.

That put Zucker's ascent in jeopardy.

Delivering on mandate

Early last year, Immelt quietly put out feelers to see if there was a worthy candidate outside the company to replace Wright, according to two high-level media executives.

About that time, Immelt gave Zucker a mandate to clean up the lingering issues bedeviling NBC's various television units. Isolate the problem to NBC's prime time, he told Zucker, according to two ranking company executives.

Zucker delivered.

He scored points for averting a potential disaster on "Today." When star anchor Katie Couric announced that she was leaving after more than 15 years, Zucker wooed Meredith Vieira from Walt Disney Co. as her replacement. The seamless transition kept the ratings high.

At the lagging MSNBC cable channel, Zucker installed a new management team and increased the profile of newscaster Keith Olbermann. The channel is up in the ratings.

So is CNBC. Zucker greenlighted Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" stock-picking show, and last year was the channel's most profitable.

Last fall, Zucker spearheaded a companywide cost-cutting plan, dubbed NBC 2.0, that in part streamlined the news-gathering operations. It is expected to save NBC Universal $700 million over three years.

What finally moved Zucker back into the pole position, according to two high-level company executives, was when NBC began showing signs of a turnaround last fall, with "Sunday Night Football" and younger-skewing shows such as "Heroes" and "The Office."

Wright won't be leaving immediately. He is expected to stay on as chairman of NBC Universal during the transition, according to one executive close to the situation. It was unclear how many months he would remain.

Wright joined GE in 1969 as a staff attorney. In 1986, when GE acquired the network for $6.3 billion from RCA, Welch caused a stir by appointing Wright chief executive. At the time, Wright was running GE Financial Services and was 42 — about Zucker's age.

"There was a lot of skepticism that he could do the job or do it well," said Edward Lawler, distinguished research professor at the USC Marshall School of Business. "But he proved the cynics wrong."

One of the first things Wright did was steer NBC into the cable business. Wright, who left GE for a short stint in the early 1980s to run Cox Cable Communications, was an early believer in the value of cable channels at a time when most broadcasters dismissed them as low-rent knockoffs.

Today, cable outlets USA Network, Bravo and CNBC are among NBC Universal's most lucrative assets.

Wright also built the flagship into the industry's most profitable television network. He invested heavily to keep the Olympics on NBC and exited money-losing sports such as professional football and baseball. (NBC renewed its NFL partnership last year to help lift ratings.)

In the mid-1990s, Wright masterminded an unconventional package to keep a then-restless Jerry Seinfeld on the air and away from other networks. He arranged for the comedian to receive valuable GE stock.

Seinfeld, in effect, became the network's business partner. And with such shows as "Seinfeld," "Friends," "Law & Order" and "The West Wing," NBC secured its image — and billions of dollars in profits over the years — as the network that catered to the young, urban, upscale adults whom advertisers most covet.

Wright championed NBC's entry into the burgeoning Spanish-language TV business with its 2002 purchase of Telemundo, which is just beginning to pay dividends.

But his biggest gamble, and perhaps his greatest legacy, was the 2003 deal to buy Universal Studios from the French firm Vivendi Universal. The acquisition catapulted the newly renamed NBC Universal into the big leagues, adding a movie studio, theme parks and profitable cable channels to the mix.

Into the new frontier

But just as Wright forged a path for NBC in the brave new world of cable, Immelt seems to believe a younger executive is needed to charge the emerging digital frontier.

Zucker's challenge will be to keep NBC Universal's core businesses healthy while mining new riches from the Internet and other digital technologies.

"Bob was a brilliant strategist who really built the company into what it is today," said a senior NBC Universal executive. "But now you need an operator, a manager, someone to take it to the next level."

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-me-wright4feb04,0,6211432,print.story?coll=la-home-entertainment

A look back – at last year’s Super Bowl Commercials:

Super Bowl XL: The Commercials
Super Bowl XL 18th Annual Ad Meter

(USA Today)

10 most popular Super Bowl Commercials
Company - Commercial Description - Score
Bud Light A secret fridge stocks Bud Light. 8.39
Budweiser Young Clydesdale dreams big. 8.18
FedEx Cave man uses prehistoric overnight delivery. 7.95
Sierra Mist Sierra Mist can't clear airport security. 7.86
Bud Kight Men pretend to work on rooftops, but relax instead. 7.82
Budweiser Sheep streaks at big game. 7.81
Ameriquest Patient's family walks in on medical misunderstanding. 7.80
Bud Light Office manager motivates employees with hidden bottles. 7.69
Ameriquest Plane turbulence creates awkward situation. 7.67
Budweiser Stadium crowd turns a wave into a Bud promotion. 7.65

The rest

Bud Light Man saves himself from scary bear. 7.64
CareerBuilder Chimps celebrate strong sales quarter. 7.55
CareerBuilder Employees commiserate about workplace animals. 7.43
Sprint Man downloads music for burning couch from Sprint phone. 7.22
Michelob Ultra Amber Touch football gets ugly. 7.03
Dove Dove promotes self-esteem fund for young girls. 6.96
Sharpie Pirate mascot uses retractable Sharpie to sign autographs. 6.82
Nationwide Insurance Life moves fast for romance novel cover star Fabio. 6.73
MasterCard MacGyver buys lifesaving gadgets with MasterCard. 6.59
Walt Disney Promo for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. 6.54
Honda Ad for Ridgeline pickup brings trucking icons to life. 6.53
Ford Motor Kermit says green is good when he sees Escape hybrid. 6.40
GM Hummer Monsters marry and have a Hummer baby. 6.37
Degree for Men People living on the edge in Stunt City. 6.28
Burger King Whopperettes sing and dance. 6.24
Walt Disney Theme park celebrates 50 years. 6.22
NFL Mobile Fan checks scores at checkout line. 6.21
Toyota Tacoma pickup rides out the incoming tide. 6.16
Diet Pepsi Jackie Chan appears in an action film. 6.15
Aleve Leonard Nimoy's hand pain gets in way of an appearance. 5.95
Here's to Beer.com Drinkers toast to beer in different languages. 5.91
GoDaddy GoDaddy woman returns in steamy ad. 5.88
Warner Bros. Promo for Poseidon. 5.87
Magnolia Pictures Promo for The World's Fastest Indian. 5.85
Toyota Boy compares bilingual father to hybrid vehicle. 5.80
Walt Disney Promo for Cars. 5.78
Outback Steakhouse Devoted fan makes like a boomerang. 5.77
Fidelity Paul McCartney as role model. 5.72
Paramount Ads promote Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible III. 5.71
GoDaddy GoDaddy woman sends man for oxygen again. 5.68
Major League Baseball Players promote World Baseball Classic tournament. 5.68
Motorola Meteoric explosion helps create new Pebl phone. 5.54
Taco Bell Love blossoms at stoplight. 5.49
Emerald of California Machete men love Emerald Nuts. 5.36
ESPN Mobile (60 sec.) Fan is in sports heaven when he uses ESPN's mobile phone. 5.34
Walt Disney Chris Berman calls play-by-play on The Shaggy Dog. 5.30
Gillette Five-blade razor is a top secret until now. 5.27
Diet Pepsi Diet Pepsi sings with Diddy. 5.22
PS Cleaning Products Some people avoid germs by living in green suits. 5.20
Warner Bros. Promo for V for Vendetta. 5.14
Westin Hotels Breathe and relax in smoke-free hotels. 5.06
New Line Cinema Ad for new action movie Running Scared. 5.05
Warner Bros. Promo for 16 Blocks. 5.04

5 least popular

ESPN Mobile (30 sec.) Fan is in sports heaven when he uses ESPN's mobile phone. 5.04
GM Cadillac New Escalade truck poses on the catwalk as fashion model. 4.96
Overstock.com O as part of life. 4.91
Slim-Fast Four-hour hunger control. 4.28
Gillette Razor brand unveils 5-blade system. 4.05

http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/admeter/2006-ad-meter-results-chart.htm

The Business of TV
Jeff Zucker to take top spot at NBC Universal
The 41-year-old will replace Bob Wright as chief executive, insiders say. An announcement is expected this week
By Meg James Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 4, 2007

This much I can predict with certainty for the 2007-08 season if Zucker takes over: 'Friday Night Lights' (whether cancelled or renewed) will be off the 8PM time slot. :rolleyes:

Hopefully Zucker does a great job. He has really improved NBC since last year...

I can't believe he is only 41... very impressive!!

Wasn't he at the helm as they took their nosedive in recent years?

Yep, under Zucker's watch The Apprentice was made the centerpiece of Thursday 'Must See TV,' Joey was greenlit as the next-big-thing (both of these moves contributed mightly to the dismantling of NBC's once-unbeatable Thursday night schedule), Fear Factory became a network mainstay on the strength of its low production cost (paving the way for the big money gameshow revival boom started by Deal or No Deal), Saturday became Law & Order rerun night after that Infertility medical show tanked two seasons ago and Dateline: To Catch A Predator specials became regularly scheduled Sweeps events (the one classy thing Zucker ever did for the betterment of NBC and humanity as a whole! :p). To his credit Zucker has brought on Kevin Reilly, and under both men's watch this season we got Studio 60 and Friday Night Lights, arguably two of the most talked-about and/or critically-acclaimed shows of the new season. So basically if you put Zucker's head in an ice box and his feet to the fire you could argue as a whole he makes for an even-tempered choice to take over Bob Wright's office. Now how's 30 Rock going to satirize this corporate move above Alec Baldwin's head I ask? :rolleyes:

I suspect the improvement in NBC in the past year is all Reilly.

The network was #1 when Zucker took over.

I suspect the improvement in NBC in the past year is all Reilly.

The network was #1 when Zucker took over.
So do I, getting Zucker further away from the programming is a good thing for NBC.

Agreed.

Give all the NBC programming decisions to Reilly and don't bother him for the next three years.

Am I the only one in this forum actively avoiding the Super Bowl commercials like if they were regular season commercials? I paused the DVR a second before kickoff, went to do other things and came back 45 minutes later so I could "chase" the game by fast-forwarding through the commercials. I don't care that each commercial costs $2.6 million or that people go out of their way to watch them. A commercial is a commercial, and I'm not paying $10 a month to TWC for my DVR to not be used to zap through these things (as well as Prince's concert and the Blockbuster whatever-that's-called Halftime Show). Am I weird? :confused:

"Am I weird?"

Yes.

You're paying to be able to fast forward. It's become part of the Super Bowl. The commercials are funnier when your team is winning.

I am with you on this one, dad.

If a commercial gets a lot of pub, I can always go back and take a look.

Like commercials won't be replayed over the next year. :)

Super Bowl XLI Notebook
Blogging the Bears Bowl
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher”
(All times are Central)

6:40 p.m. Speaking of ads, that videogame-style Coca-Cola ad –- do you know where its theme song, “You Give a Little Love,” came from?

Here’s where my background as a child of the '70s comes in handy. It was from the 1976 movie musical “Bugsy Malone,” which starred Scott Baio and Jodie Foster. I was 10 when it came out so of course I thought it was one of the best movies ever. Any movie featuring “splurge guns” and spats and kids as gangsters and their molls -- well, that was pretty cool to a 10 year old.

The Coke ad that used that song (and it's not a brand-new ad, I'm told) was king of interesting too -- if you were expecting it to be a “Vice City” sort of violent videogame knockoff, the ad nicely subverted your expectations by having the main game character be a good guy who did nice deeds throughout the “game.”
6:20 p.m. If you didn’t see the Oprah Winfrey-David Letterman commercial in the first quarter of the Super Bowl -- and you’re not recording the game –--you’re out of luck. CBS said in a press release it issued just moments ago that the ad was a one-time deal. The network is not going to air it again.

If you missed it, the ad, which was all the more effective and surprising thanks to its brevity, opened on a tight shot of Indianapolis native Letterman munching on a game snack and wearing a Colts jersey. He said, “You want the Bears and I want the Colts, but we both win because we’re in love.”

The shot widened to show Winfrey, who was wearing a Bears jersey, and who said, “Honey, don’t talk with your mouth full.”

According to CBS, the ad was shot Jan. 24 in New York City at the Ed Sullivan Theatre, Letterman’s base of operations. Hmm, that was one day before Letterman’s 25th anniversary in late-night TV. Hope Oprah brought him a nice gift. She is known for gifting, after all.
6 p.m. So far, the game’s overshadowing the ads. Which is pretty dang cool. I like Jim Gaffigan (the beard-combover guy and the martial arts class guy) in the Sierra Mist ads, but then again, I like Jim Gaffigan in just about anything (he’s the best thing about the TBS comedy “My Boys”). Someone needs to give Jim Gaffigan his own show.

But what’s really cool is that there’s a football game going on here. That opening-play score by the Bears was incredibly exciting, and you could feel the general tension and excitement radiating off the field. I’m not thrilled that the Colts scored, but so far, anyway, the game’s pretty exciting. And the Bears scored again, so nyah, nyah, Colts fans!

What an excellent first quarter so far. Interceptions, fumbles, fumble recoveries, scores – hey, this is fun to watch. Let’s hope that continues for the next nine hours or however long this thing goes.

Of the ads that have aired so far, none have been all that memorable. That FedEx ad was kind of a misfire. I’m sure it was pretty expensive, but any use of “The Final Countdown” instantly reminds me of “Arrested Development” and Gob’s magic show. That Snickers ad about guys ripping off their chest hair was just gross. The Doritos ad created by a regular guy was pretty good, though.

I’m thinking it’s not a good sign that Terrence Howard’s gone from Oscar nominee to the guy who’s starring in a (no doubt inspiring) movie about a ... swim team.
5:37 p.m. Nice opening play, Bears! That’s what I’m talking about!

Bring it, haters! The Bears are in the house! Yeah!

What a fabulous start to the game.

A few other thoughts on things that were not nearly that exciting:

Now that’s more like it. One man, one piano, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Well played, sir.

Billy Joel did a good job with the song (though, my goodness, he’s looking his age, isn’t he?), and I’m glad that nobody associated with the Super Bowl felt the need to dress the song up with pyrotechnics and giant alligators.

The rain did put a little damper on things, though. Joel appeared to be a little dampish, and there’s rain on the camera lenses – wonder how that looks in HD? Not that I’m jealous that I don’t have HD or anything.

No matter, as we know, the Bears do fine playing in all sorts of weather – I think the snowy playoff game in which they clinched their Super Bowl berth was one of the best football games in recent memory.

Two last things -- Is it me, or does lead referee Tony Corrente look a little like Steve Buscemi? And am I just being paranoid, or has the pregame coverage showered Peyton Manning with just way too much love?

5:15 p.m. Wait, are those umpires riding giant flamingos -- on stilts?

That must mean the pre-game show has started. And I guess it’s proof, if we needed it, that Cirque du Soleil is as capable of egregious, laughable cheesiness as anyone else.

There are face-painted people in Bears and Colts jerseys grappling with each other on the field, people being launched across the field by a giant swing, guys that look like they’re made up to be fish folk, cheerleaders tossing each other around, and a giant floating alligator, of course.

Because nothing says football like a colorful floating alligator the size of three schoolbuses.

And it’s all performed against a backdrop of Latin-lite music with bland lyrics about awakening “the dream that’s in your heart.”

Uh, isn’t the dream in the hearts of either team to pound the snot out of each other and win a game? Tell that to the lady in the diaphanous orange gown who’s whispering lyrics about “one dream.” Agggghhhgh.

Well, whatever else it was, the Cirque part of the pregame show was … colorful.

And there was a giant alligator!

OK, on to another matter: Is it dangerous that I’ve been watching the pregame coverage for only about an hour and I’m already unbelievably sick of car commercials?

4:47 p.m. Wow, talk about bias in the media. Boomer Esiason, Dan Marino and Shannon Sharpe all just picked the Colts to win Super Bowl XLI. Yeah, fine. We Bears fans can take it. Victory will be all the sweeter because we’ll be able to rub those wrong predictions in these pundits’ faces.

Oh, by the way, welcome to my live blog of the Super Bowl. I’ll be commenting on the broadcast as it unfolds, but don’t worry, I won’t be dissecting every single play – I’ll leave that to my more than capable colleagues in Sports.

I’ll be watching the game as a fan of the Bears and a fan of televised spectacles in general and weird commercials in particular. I’ll be posting thoughts on anything that strikes me as odd, funny or just plain wrong – like those predictions. Oh, they’ll wish they could take them back. I hope.

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

I am with you on this one, dad.

If a commercial gets a lot of pub, I can always go back and take a look.

Or download them from CBS Sportsline's website (saw the plug coming into one of the breaks). Now back to the Turnover Bowl! :p

Super Bowl XLI Notebook
Blogging the Bears Bowl
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher”
(All times are Central)
8:15 p.m. Oh man, where did that fun game go? Where did that exciting battle between two evenly matched teams go? I want that game back. This third-quarter action is giving me a very bad feeling.

I promised not to write too much about the actual game play, since my colleagues in Sports are far better at that than I could ever be, but I have to say, could Rex Grossman please not get sacked two times in a row any more? Please?

My mom says that the Bears should put Prince into the game. I’m thinking that might be not be a bad idea. He looks fast. And ornery, if cornered.

If I wasn’t a true fan, my faith in the Bears would be dampened by what’s happening in this now-soggy Super Bowl. It’s a slog, and a painful one for Bears fans during this quarter. Come on, Chicago Bears, bear down!

Oh, and I’m in agreement with our Internet critic, Steve Johnson, about the ads (his thoughts are here). So far there have been a few amusing ones and one or two downright cool ones, but otherwise it’s been a pretty lackluster roster of ads. Note to advertisers: I don’t need to see any ads with talking animals again, ever.
Did you hear me? I am done with animal ads!
And what was with that Sheryl Crow Revlon ad for hair color? It went on way too long and I don’t think the people in the Super Bowl viewing audience are thinking about their hair color right now. Nor do they want to know the thoughts of Sheryl’s hair stylist. Sheesh.

And those Katie Couric ads for the CBS Evening News are pretty irritating too.

We’re in a sad state when the Keven Federline ad is the best thing to happen in the quarter. OK, props must be given. Federline’s ad was pretty darn good.
7:30 p.m. Wow. Prince was awesome.

I don’t know why I thought the halftime show would be lame. Oh wait. That’s because most halftime shows are lame.

But why did I doubt Prince? Somehow the man from Minneapolis made it all work -- the rain provided a spectacular setting for his last song, the always-inspiring “Purple Rain.” He made it seem as though he'd planned the actual rain in advance.

And let’s also praise the Florida A&M Marching Band, the Marching 100, which provided stirring accompaniment on several of Prince’s songs. Not only was their marching-band music just the right accessory for the Super Bowl, they also brought the funk in their dance steps. And they had neon piping on their uniforms. Nice!

But back to Prince. Of all the things I expected from the halftime show this year, to be reminded of Jimi Hendrix was not on that list. But Prince wailing on his guitar in front of a waving scrim that recalled a wall of flames was incredibly cool.

The man is a great performer. I give him a lot of credit for giving us a memorable halftime show. At the end, as fans waved lights in the background and the rain poured, the man on the purple stage gave an electric rendition of “Purple Rain.” And despite the rain, he managed to not get electrified. Thank goodness.

One final note on the halftime show: I give his backup dancers a lot of credit for remaining upright on that stage, despite the fact that it was covered in water and that they were wearing spike heels.

Kudos all ’round.
7:05 p.m. I don’t mind a little bad weather, but the rain in this game is starting to get distracting. Not because the players and the field are wet, but because the rain on the cameras is making the game, from some angles, look misty and semi-obscured.

Still, it’s been a great first half, thanks to all the fumbles and interceptions and so forth. Of course it’d be better if the Bears were finishing the half in the lead. Grrr.

I guess it just proves that games played in snow are better than games played in the rain. The rain just makes things hard to see, while snow is more picturesque and doesn’t interfere as much with picture quality.

Ads I liked: The careerbuilder.com ad with the office workers in the jungle. Those guys are on a real streak – there are very few ads from careerbuilder that I haven’t liked. (And no, I’m not just saying that because the Tribune is a part owner of careerbuilder.com). Also, the Sprint ad goofing on “connectile disfunction” was pretty funny.

An ad I didn’t like: What was up with that Chevy HHR ad? In it, women in a car were surrounded by a big group of men who danced around them while removing their shirts, for reasons that are still not clear to me. All I ask the advertisers of the world is this: If there are going to be shirtless guys in your ads, can they please be hot shirtless guys?

By the way, the game’s commentators said that the ads from the game will be available at cbs.sportsline.com/superads after the game.

OK, that’s the last post until the halftime game is over. I’ll post with thoughts on the Prince spectacular when that’s over.

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

Am I the only one in this forum actively avoiding the Super Bowl commercials like if they were regular season commercials?


You didn't miss anything, they stunk in my opinion.

You didn't miss anything, they stunk in my opinion.

So did the game, and rain sure takes the sparkle out of HD.

Super Bowl XLI Notebook
More Questions Than Answers (or Mud)
By Richard Sandomir The New York Times February 5, 2007

We start with questions.

Why was there no mud yesterday and why didn’t CBS’s Jim Nantz and Phil Simms explain why during the Super Bowl? It rained torrentially, which has never happened at the Super Bowl, yet the grass, and the layers of sand packed beneath it at Dolphin Stadium, did not yield a natural combination: mud.

NBC’s John Madden, whose heart lies in the offensive line, would have mentioned it and would have wallowed in questions about the mudlessness.

If the night’s lack of mud eluded them, Simms and Nantz could have made more of the impact of the rain, especially with all the early fumbles (which, to be fair, weren’t all rain related).

And where were Archie and Eli Manning? After all the psychodrama about whether Peyton could win the big one, here he was, leading his Colts to a victory, yet I never saw reaction shots of his father, Archie (who was on the pregame set), and his brother Eli.

The problem might have been that the family was in NBC’s suite, but Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports, said by telephone that he had moved to the rear of the suite (with a camera-shy Eli) to let CBS get a clear shot of Archie.

• • • • • • • • • • •

If CBS resisted looking for reaction shots in a rival’s luxury box, it was also too reticent to reach to see how fans were reacting. While CBS need not have imitated Fox’s penchant for overreacting to fans (a style seen in overabundance at its college bowl games), it should have been less stingy.

Still, it had a Fox-like moment: showing the stars of its new sitcom, “Rules of Engagement,” in the stadium. Simms leavened the corporate imperative by suggesting that if it were a hit, they would have been in a suite.

And where were the in-the-trench replay sequences to show the domination by the Indianapolis offensive line? The story was there to be shown. It was the missing visual link to explain why the Colts were winning. Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai were rolling for 190 yards on 40 carries.

To be sure, Simms and Nantz verbally described the Colts’ adoption of a tight run defense in the playoffs. But illustrating the Colts’ offensive line power should have been a key element to CBS’s production.

CBS excelled several times in finding the definitive replays that would seem to have allowed the referee to decide the coaches’ challenges.

Yet on an elementary part of the production — the opening kickoff — CBS gambled with a low-angle beauty shot. The risk did not pay off; with camera flashes going off throughout the stadium, it was impossible to see the ball being kicked to the Bears. CBS recovered, and Nantz provided a sparkling call of Devin Hester’s 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Simms has demonstrated for years that he is sophisticated at breaking down plays from the high-angle replays of all 22 players on the field. But analysts are also judged by what they say at critical moments of the game. Such a moment came with about as the Bears prepared for a fourth-and-9 play with about five minutes left in the game.

Simms and Nantz certainly had to discuss the injury to Colts cornerback Marlin Jackson on the previous play, but they never speculated on what Grossman might call in the most important play of the crucial drive, with Chicago behind by 12. They were instead giving a précis on the career of Bears Coach Lovie Smith; the last thing Simms said before the snap was that Smith and Colts Coach Tony Dungy have never raised their voices (never, ever?), an irrelevant point at the point in the game. (Grossman, by the way, threw an incomplete pass.)

Simms, who had one of the greatest days in Super Bowl history, seemed quite kind all evening to Grossman, who had one of the least impressive days. He spoke around Grossman’s failings, criticizing some play calls and interceptions, — and he did not throw darts at Smith’s offensive game plan, which failed because the Bears ran with only some effectiveness.

But you sensed that Simms would have preferred to say how lousy Grossman was.

• • • • • • • • • • •


PREGAME ANALYSIS: Am I only viewer who wondered, when Katie Couric introduced her story on the pregame program, “What’s with her hair?”

She was delivering a report on Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward and his reconciling with being half-Korean, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her hair. In the damp Miami air, it was reasonable to ask: Was that a new coif (tousled? feathered?) or was it the humidity?

My small survey of women, including my wife, split on the answer.

That concludes my intrusion into such mindless territory.

For its four-hour program, CBS offered a safe, expanded version of its usual one-hour “NFL Today.” The network tried little new. It didn’t dwell on much hard-core analysis, and guest commentary by the former Steelers coach Bill Cowher sounded disjointed.

CBS excelled primarily in its features. Couric examined how Ward, who was born to black and South Korean parents, was ashamed as a youngster that his mother was Korean, but last year set up a foundation in South Korea to help mixed-race children like himself, who are often shunned there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/05/sports/football/05sandomir.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=sports&pagewanted=print

Super Bowl XLI Notebook
How all the commercials ranked
USA Today February 5, 2007

Advertisers paid up to $2.6 million for a 30-second ad in the Super Bowl.

10 most popular

Company Description Length (in sec.) Qtr. Score
Budweiser Crabs worship Bud ice chest. 30 4th 8.56
Budweiser Stray dog and the Clydesdales. 60 2nd 8.29
Bud Light Rock, Paper, Scissors game for beer. 30 1st 8.28
Doritos Guy in car, girl show Doritos qualities. 30 1st 7.95
Bud Light Immigrants learn to ask for Bud Light. 30 1st 7.87
Bud Light Wedding shortened by auctioneer. 30 1st 7.83
Bud Light Ape loses out on beer while posing. 30 3rd 7.76
FedEx FedEx truck on the moon. 45 1st 7.74
Snickers Mechanics enjoy candy bar. 30 1st 7.57
Bud Light Scary hitcher gets ride for Bud Light. 30 3rd 7.51

The rest

Blockbuster Rabbit uses (real) mouse to order. 30 1st 7.44
NFL Fans mourn end of season. 30 4th 7.43
Coca-Cola No more regrets for old man. 30 2nd 7.36
Snapple Green Tea Fan researches mystery ingredient. 30 4th 7.27
Taco Bell Lions chat about new Taquitos. 30 3rd 7.26
CareerBuilder.com Dodging darts in office jungle. 30 2nd 7.10
Emerald Nuts Robert Goulet and low energy danger. 30 3rd 7.07
General Motors Factory robot dreams he's fired. 60 2nd 7.06
E-Trade What one finger can do. 30 4th 7.05
Schick Quattro tested in gym workout. 30 1st 6.99
Coca-Cola Video game guy does good deeds. 60 2nd 6.96
T-Mobile Fan doesn't recognize Charles Barkley. 30 3rd 6.91
Toyota Tundra accelerates, stops at cliff. 30 1st 6.81
Disney Movie trailer for Wild Hogs. 30 2nd 6.74
Bud Light Slapping replaces fist bumping. 30 2nd 6.71
Sierra Mist Beard comb-over doesn't work. 30 1st 6.66
CareerBuilder.com Fight for promotion in office jungle. 30 3rd 6.54
CareerBuilder.com Performance review in office jungle. 30 4th 6.52
Coca-Cola Black History Month tribute. 30 2nd 6.50
Chevrolet Bare-chested guys wash HHR. 30 2nd 6.47
Coca-Cola Inside a Coke vending machine. 60 3rd 6.44
Bud Select Jay-Z, Don Shula play 3-D football. 30 4th 6.30
Frito-Lay Black History Month tribute. 30 2nd 6.30
Doritos Checkout girl gets excited. 30 2nd 6.18
FedEx Can't judge people by their names. 30 3rd 6.16
Sierra Mist Karate students defend soft drink. 30 1st 6.15
Disney Movie trailer for Meet the Robinsons. 30 3rd 6.10
Prudential Financial What rocks can do for you. 30 4th 5.96
Izod PerformX sportswear in the snow. 30 4th 5.89
Sprint Mobile broadband connections. 30 2nd 5.81
Chevrolet Stars sing songs with Chevy in lyrics. 60 1st 5.78
E-Trade Bank robs customers. 30 3rd 5.70
Lionsgate Movie trailer for Pride. 30 1st 5.63
Toyota Tundra tows load on see-saw ramp. 30 3rd 5.63
Hewlett-Packard PC, motorcycles, American Chopper star. 30 4th 5.60
Honda Fuel efficiency of Hondas. 30 4th 5.49
Honda Elvis' Burning Love for new CR-V. 30 4th 5.38
GoDaddy.com GoDaddy marketing department parties. 30 1st 5.28
King Pharma. Guy in heart suit attacked by risks. 60 2nd 5.23
Van Heusen Man dressed for any occasion. 30 3rd 5.04
Nationwide Ins. Kevin Federline dreams of rap career. 30 3rd 4.94
Weinstein Co. Movie trailer for Hannibal Rising. 30 4th 4.77

5 least popular

GoDaddy.com 2nd airing of marketing department. 30 4th 4.71
Garmin GPS navigator vs. paper map monster. 30 2nd 4.34
Flomax Prostate drug lets men bike, kayak. 60 4th 4.22
Revlon Colorist Sheryl Crow sings new song. 60 3rd 4.09
Salesgenie.com Salesgenie.com helps sales success. 30 1st 4.05

http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/admeter/2007-02-04-ad-meter-chart_x.htm

TV Review
'Rules of Engagement'
The latest CBS sitcom has a cast we might just invite over every week
By Robert Lloyd Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 5, 2007

If I may generalize on behalf of everybody who watches television, we choose our shows less for what they're about than for who we get to visit there. A premise may sell a series, but it's only as good as the people who enact it and the characters they play.

If the actor and the role are both good, and well mated, so much the better. But I would probably watch Megyn Price — who stars in the new sitcom "Rules of Engagement," premiering tonight on CBS — even in the wrong role. Here, as on her last series, "Grounded for Life," there is something provocative and yet down-to-earth about her.

"When you're single, you're exactly as happy as you are; when you're married, you can only be as happy as the least happy person in the relationship," reads the title card that begins the pilot. This is phony wisdom, but it does for a start. Not even the show's creators take it seriously: Though the humor comes mostly from moments of friction and misunderstanding, "Rules of Engagement" is, on the whole, a brief for the tonic properties of marriage and commitment.

There is nothing especially new or brilliant here: It's another vaguely modern sitcom featuring people who hang out only with one another, whose jobs are obscure. Built around a married couple, a neighboring engaged couple and a single guy, it may be seen as a kinder, gentler, funnier cousin to Fox's bitter " 'Til Death." The jokes are typical War of the Sexes stuff, with the men, as usual, coming off as the dumber, weaker party — ruled, as they are, by their genitals.

But it is, for all that, a sweet-tempered show, well made and well played, and in addition to Price it has the benefit of Patrick Warburton (still most famously Puddy on "Seinfeld") as Price's husband. The aggressively deadpan Warburton is an actor who as much as any may be accounted a matter of taste, but he is not quite the Johnny One Note his parts can make him seem. The writers have constructed a more or less real person around his particular gifts, and he locks well with Price. His ongoing comic effect is rooted in the fact that he's got the body and the voice of an old-school superhero in a post-superhero world: John Wayne with nothing more to worry about than how much money his wife spends on face cream. ("Eighty-five dollars for that tiny jar? What's in it — eighty dollars?")

Here is a joke you can see coming six miles away and which, but for the way that Warburton rolls through it, might not have been funny at all:

"Audrey and I, we compromise all the time. Like when we got our first apartment, she wanted to get a cat, and I didn't want to get a cat. So we compromised and got a cat."

Oliver Hudson and Bianca Kalich are the engaged couple — they've just moved in together, strangers at close quarters. They have charm. David Spade's unattached skirt-chaser rounds out the cast. Spade has never quite been my thing, but like his friends on the show, who also regard him with suspicion, I can tolerate, and sometimes enjoy, his company.

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-rules5feb05,0,7677944,print.story?coll=cl-tvent

Super Bowl XLI Notebook
Game was a break from the boring commercials
Mike Penner Los Angeles Times Columnist February 5, 2007

It seems like an urban legend, but back in the day, right around the last time the Chicago Bears made it to the big game, the Super Bowl was known as a competitive dud saved only by the commercials.

That was a long time ago, as Chicago fans watching Rex Grossman bear no resemblance to Jim McMahon can tell you.

In recent years, the action on the field has caught up and passed the promotional filler in between. Even Sunday's sloppy, soggy turnover-fest was more interesting, more inventive and infinitely more memorable than any of the many opportunities fumbled away by a marketing industry whose creative imagination is running on fumes.

Most of the commercials that made the Super Bowl cut could have been summarized by the woman in the Chevrolet ad, cringing as her car is surrounded by crazed, half-naked men with the kind of torsos shirts were made for.

Covering her eyes, the woman pleads, "Tell me when it's over." This was the first Super Bowl to feature commercials made by amateurs. That Chevy spot was one. A Doritos ad that had a bag of chips serving as a crunchy air bag was another.

The best thing that could be said about the amateur ads was that you couldn't tell them from the professional ones.

The best ad of the day was a CBS promo — Colts-loving David Letterman and Bears-backing Oprah Winfrey on the same sofa, if not the same page.

When the official sponsors weighed in, the not-too-subliminal message was, "We really have no more new ideas." Past contenders such as FedEx and Careerbuilder.com trotted out pale imitations of old successes. FedEx swapped its crushed caveman for a spaceman obliterated by a comet — same end result, only this time no laughs. Careerbuilder.com broke the cardinal rule of commercial-making — it got rid of the monkeys, replacing them with a training seminar set in a jungle.

Where's a dart gun when you really need one?

Next, we can only presume, come the remakes of old favorites — cover versions of the classics. How about Tank Johnson as Mean Joe Greene? Only in the new version, when the youngster hands the player his Coke, Tank pulls out a rifle.

Most of Sunday's ads fell into one of two camps. There were those that were unspectacular but got the job done — much like Manning in the Colts' 29-17 triumph. And there were those that wobbled and misfired and, like too many Grossman passes, never should have been launched.

A few examples:

MANNING DIVISION

• Nationwide Mutual Insurance: This was the Kevin Federline ad, its punch line ruined by the controversy spawned by a few humorless National Restaurant Assn. executives who regard the drive-thru window at Jack In The Box one of life's higher callings. Maybe the funniest of the bunch, and if protesters had their way, it never would have made it to the screen. This year's Super Bowl commercials' problem in a nutshell.

• Coca Cola: A quiet, dignified nod to the history surrounding the accomplishment of Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith becoming the first African American coaches to reach the Super Bowl. Lesson to you Super Bowl commercial crafters of the future: When in doubt, play-it-straight is not a bad strategy.

• Bud Light: Hitchhiker holding beer and an ax finds a ride, because the beer is either that good or, more likely, a decent substitute for anti-freeze. Ax man is horrified when his ride decides to stop for a beer man waving a chain saw. Certainly more inspired than the remake of "The Hitcher."

• General Motors: A robot gets downsized at GM and embarks on a nightmarish future, completed by a haunting "All By Myself" soundtrack. This is how far we've fallen — outsourcing passing as escapist entertainment.

• Budweiser: A hapless white pooch is having a dog day afternoon before rallying when he is splattered by mud, mistaken for a fire-house Dalmatian and allowed to join the parade. The pooch caught a lucky break. Unlike the rest of us. We still had dozens of additional ads on deck, just waiting to destroy more brain cells.

GROSSMAN DIVISION

• Sierra Mist: A guy with a bad beard comb-over is supposed to make me crave a sparkling lemon-lime beverage?

• Bud Light: Some highly paid advertising experts thought it would be amusing to film men slapping other men for no apparent reason. Those advertising experts need to be slapped.

• Snickers: Two guys. One candy bar. They get carried away in a way that calls into question their "manhood." Their solution is to — rip out their chest hair?

• Emerald Nuts: Emerald has made its advertising name with calculated weirdness, but Robert Goulet as an aging office gremlin wreaking havoc as blood-sugar supplies deplete from desk to desk is taking calculated weirdness to a level we'd rather not know about.

• T-Mobile: You put Dwyane Wade in a commercial with Charles Barkley and the best you can manage is a lame he-looks-old joke? Perhaps the sorriest case of wasted potential on a day devoted to it.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/football/nfl/la-sp-penner5feb05,1,2031993,print.story?coll=la-headlines-sports

Super Bowl XLI Notebook
CBS earns passing grade on Super Bowl coverage
Michael Hiestand USA Today Sports Television Columnist February 5, 2007

About the only late suspense in the Super Bowl was something CBS couldn't touch: When the Chicago Bears got the ball with 1:48 left and down by 12 points and the game's point spread was still in doubt.

And CBS, to its credit, didn't try to pretend it had a thriller. With the Bears down five points with about 13 minutes to play, announcer Jim Nantz noted, "It's amazing how one-sided this game has been and Chicago could still win."

Shortly afterward, the Colts scored on an interception that created what would be the game's final score — and Nantz noted no team had come back from 10 points or more to win a Super Bowl.

And Peyton Manning's performance didn't lend itself to a heroic story line, although he was named MVP. Nantz, however, told Manning in a postgame interview, "Anyone on your team could have been named MVP." (By the way, let's hope viewers knew Criminal Minds was the CBS show after the game, otherwise the onscreen graphic of that title popping up under postgame player interviews might have seemed strangely suggestive.) CBS' Boomer Esiason suggested at least Manning should be relieved at winning a Super Bowl: "Finally, validation — get off the guy's back."

CBS came up with a broadcast that was perfectly adequate and certainly more than the over-hyped Super Bowl ads. Nantz, calling his first Super Bowl, and analyst Phil Simms were their usual selves: fairly straightforward, enthusiastic without being hysterical and pretty good at avoiding clichés.

There were some small glitches. CBS missed a live snap in the third quarter. The announcers didn't seem sure where Bears ace kick returner Devin Hester was positioned on a second-quarter Indianapolis Colts kickoff. And CBS lost audio in a live pregame talk with Chicago's Brian Urlacher. And CBS didn't predict all the rain. Said Nantz in the second quarter: "I failed meteorology school." (Said Simms: "You would have given the teacher an apple and changed the grade.")

Before the kickoff, CBS didn't fumble — or turn in any amazing plays. Super Bowl pregame shows can't really unearth anything terribly new anyway given how much all things Super Bowl have been chewed over.

Pregame shows, if you want to play it safe, don't have to be terribly original. Lots of viewers tuning into the Super Bowl don't otherwise follow football. So a network can replay already well-known stories. And for viewers who hadn't already heard, say, ex-NFL coach Bill Walsh talk about his fight with leukemia or somehow missed the old footage of Manning dancing the tango in eighth grade, CBS' pregame brought them up to speed. Said Deion Sanders, when the Manning tango footage aired on the NFL Network on Sunday: "He won't be on Dancing with the Stars."

And pregame shows could probably get great ratings — way better than most sports events — if networks just aired test patterns. That won't happen, of course, because networks will always allow us to meet the people — starting with the moms — who helped get pro athletes to where they are today. Just once, to wake everybody up, could we get up-close-and-personal with an athlete who's not grateful to anybody? CBS, however, deserved big credit for at least not going overboard hyping other CBS shows.

Pregame highs and lows

• Just before kickoff, Simms said, "Unless it really pours, I don't think weather is going to be a real factor." But with three fumbles in the first quarter, Esiason looked prescient: Hours earlier, he'd argued wetness meant the game will be "all about ball security."

• CBS' Randy Cross, in Iraq for a CBS-created "Baghdad Bowl" — touch football between U.S. troops — was solid in a creative feature. One glitch: CBS pregame host James Brown talked over assembled troops giving a shout-out on live TV.

• Bill Cowher, who recently quit as the Pittsburgh Steelers coach, seems an obvious candidate for TV work — and made an audition tape with a drop-by on CBS' pregame. CBS' Shannon Sharpe reminded him working on-air didn't pay as much as coaching. But, Cowher said, "I can't lose a game up here."

• New CBS News anchor Katie Couric's feature on the Pittsburgh Steelers' Hines Ward having a mother from Korea — a big story when Ward was last year's Super Bowl MVP — found that Ward was a big deal when he visited Korea and is still proud of his heritage. "What a wonderful story," said Couric, using it as a transition to tout an upcoming CBS News series on "what's right with America." Sure, we're in a country that's concluded it's the greatest country ever, but we could always use a little bucking up.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2007-02-05-hiestand-xli_x.htm

TV Notebook
College Credit
Cable TV Networks Benefit as Nielsen Counts Students
By Jon Lafayette Television Week February 5, 2007

College kids appear to be studying TV-cable TV in particular.

An average of about 1.2 million new viewers in the 18 to 24 age group showed up in Nielsen Media Research prime-time data last week, when the company began including college students watching at school in the ratings.

College viewers represented 13 percent of the 18- to 24-year-olds watching TV last week.

The additional viewers could provide a shot in the arm for television networks because young consumers are avidly sought by advertisers.

Amid the hoopla surrounding digital media, the new figures demonstrate that people in coveted demographics can still be reached with TV commercials.

"It's nice to know that despite what people have proclaimed you can still reach young people through TV," said Andy Donchin, director of broadcast at media buyer Carat. "After all you read about the digital revolution, I think TV is still doing the heavy lifting."

The kids are counted as if they were watching at home, and Nielsen did not provide a specific breakout of student viewing. But a preliminary picture could be gleaned by comparing viewing in the 18 to 24 demo with the prior week. With the new numbers, there was a 13 percent increase in viewership.

On Monday 900,000 more 18-to24year-olds were watching TV, a 10 percent increase. The total number of people 18 to49 using television that night was 41.2 million. An additional 719,000 were watching cable while just 93,000 were added on the broadcast networks.

The pattern shifted Tuesday, probably because in the previous week the broadcasters aired the State of the Union address, which had little draw for the younger viewers. There were 1.3 million additional viewers in the demo. Broadcast networks registered 1.15 million more viewers, while cable network picked up 127,000.

Wednesday, there were 1.23 million additional viewers in the demo. Slightly fewer 18-to24-year-olds watched the broadcast networks, while 1.4 million more watched cable.

It wasn't clear last week whether advertisers are willing yet to pay more for commercials now that a change in measurement has produced more viewers.

"Let's look at the information and talk about it," Mr. Donchin said. "We need to see what the numbers are and move forward."

Top of the Curve

Some of the networks benefiting from the change were fairly predictable.

MTV added more than 100,000 viewers in the demo each day. It added 130,000 females in the demo on Monday when it aired "My Super Sweet 16," "The Hills," "Engaged and Underage" and "Dancelife."

MTV knew it was attracting college students before Nielsen started counting them, said Brian Graden, president of MTV programming. He said the network targets 21-year-old viewers.

"We know that college is ground zero for us," Mr. Graden told TelevisionWeek in an interview last week.

Mr. Graden said that getting credit for additional viewers is important, but MTV's ad sales now are more about multiplatform packages that include media other than just TV.

"Increasingly ratings are but a component of what you want to offer the client," he said. "They're always important, but they're not what they were five years ago."

He said it would be a few weeks before the network could figure out how to use the new ratings to help figure out what types of shows appeal to the college audience. MTV has one show in particular in the pipeline he thinks will appeal to college kids, "Human Giant," a fast paced-sketch comedy series.

"I'm hoping that will click with that audience," Mr. Graden said.

Also, unsurprisingly, ESPN added 130,000 males on Monday night when it showed a college basketball doubleheader. It also added a handful of women viewers in the demo.

"We would like to think that Nielsen's inclusion of students has something to do with this unique differential week-to-week. Can we know for sure? Not yet," said Artie Bulgrin, senior VP of research and sales development at ESPN. "It's a positive sign and now we have to see if a pattern emerges from here."

Other cable networks, including Comedy Central and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, also picked up viewers most nights.

On broadcast, campus viewing was led by "American Idol," which picked up more than 400,000 mostly female viewers during the week.

On Monday, NBC's "Heroes" added 169,000 male viewers (fewer female viewers in the demo were tuned in). NBC's "Friday Night Lights" added 190,000 mostly female viewers on Tuesday.

http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=31459