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TV Notebook
'Friday Night Lights' Shine on Applebee's
Placement Ranks in Top 5 in Viewer Engagement
By Jon Lafayette Television Week February 5, 2007
If the people who work at Applebee's had Nielsen meters in their homes, "Friday Night Lights" might have better ratings.
The chain made an advertising deal to have one of its restaurants in Austin serve as a set in the drama about small-town Texas high school football. Despite the show's low ratings, Applebee's considers its deal with NBC as money well spent.
"Of course we'd like to see the ratings a bit higher, but really there's not been a down side to the integration that we've seen," said Donna Josephson, executive director of field marketing for Applebee's.
The company hasn't gotten back formal research on the effectiveness of the integration deal, but the restaurant chain's employees get reminders to tune in and they're proud of the show and the way the restaurant is depicted, she said.
Ms. Josephson declined to say how much Applebee's has paid for its season-long commitment to the show. ITVX, a research company that tracks product placement, estimates that a scene in an October episode of the show in which a character working as an Applebee's waitress meets an interesting man, was worth $155,000. That compares with $135,000 for a 30-second spot.
ITVX said the Applebee's placement was one of the top five in terms of engaging viewers that week, out of 70 shows measured.
Last week, Applebee's got a prominent placement in the show again as a radio broadcast was seen originating in the restaurant, where the football team's booster club regularly meets. The announcer declared that he was broadcasting from Applebee's to set up the scene.
With digital video recorders taking a bigger bite out of traditional TV commercials, advertisers are looking at product placement as a way to put their brands in front of viewers. And networks see it as way to increase the value of the TV ad deals they provide to sponsors.
Product placement could even give a boost to a show like "Friday Night Lights," which despite its critical acclaim could have been canceled at midseason due to low ratings and might not live to see season two.
Last week, "Friday Night Lights" bounced back from a season low to register a 2.4 rating in the 18 to 49 demo, its best since October, but still finished fourth in its timeslot. TV executives say that while being advertiser friendly can help keep a show on the air, it is just one of many factors that go into that decision.
In addition to Applebee's, Gatorade, Toyota and Under Armour have integration deals with "Friday Night Lights."
Selling ad packages that include integration and extensions onto the Internet, VOD and mobile media is becoming more important at the broadcast networks as advertisers seek ways other than traditional commercials to connect with viewers.
"This has been a pivotal year for the marketing community and the television community to establish ways to work with our brands trying to offset the effects of the DVR," said Jim Hoffman, senior VP of network entertainment sales at NBC. "I think we're all on the same page with the same issues as far as clients looking to market their product to a more fragmented audience," he said.
Applebee's is a big TV spender. It bought about $27 million worth of ad time on NBC during the first 11 months of 2006, according to Nielsen Monitor Plus. This TV season the chain spent more than $3 million with NBC in September, October and November, with $550,000 worth of that coming in "Friday Night Lights," which premiered Oct. 3.
Ms. Josephson has concerns about the continuing effectiveness of commercials.
"One of the reasons we took on this partnership is because with traditional viewing patterns changing, we need to find new creative venues to catch viewers' attention and we thought this was an excellent way to do that," she said.
Commercials combined with integration deals stick with viewers two times better than spots by themselves, Mr. Hoffman said. The halo effect of having a product integrated into a show can last, boosting viewer engagement with a spot 15 percent to 20 percent a week later.
Applebee's media buying agency, Starcom, identified "Friday Night Lights" back in February and made a deal with NBC to secure the show for the restaurant category even before it was on the schedule.
"All the themes of football, family, neighbors are a perfect fit for what Applebee's really stands for," said Caroline Boes, associate director of Starcom Entertainment.
Mr. Hoffman declined to disclose the financial details of the integration package, but agency executives said that with a new show like "Friday Night Lights," NBC probably sought a reasonable fee on top of the cost of the commercials Applebee's planned to run.
(For more on Applebee's "Friday Night Lights" integration deal, visit TVWeek.com)
http://www.tvweek.com/article.cms?articleId=31453
The Business of Television
Meeting of NBC Board May Mean Change at Top
By Bill Carter The New York Times February 5, 2007
The board of NBC Universal has scheduled a meeting in New York tomorrow morning, fueling speculation that the long-awaited appointment of Jeff Zucker as the company’s new chairman and chief executive, succeeding Bob Wright, will be formally announced the same day.
One executive expected to participate in the meeting noted that three executives from the Vivendi Corporation, including its chief, Jean-Bernard Levy, are to travel from Paris to attend the meeting. Vivendi, which sold its main entertainment assets to NBC in 2003, remains a 20 percent owner of NBC Universal.
Mr. Zucker’s ascension to the top position at NBC Universal has been forecast for many months. The appointment, if it takes place as expected, will be consistent with most succession plans at the General Electric Company, the parent of NBC Universal, in that it will elevate a longtime insider who had been groomed specifically for the job for many years.
The coming retirement of Mr. Wright, who has led NBC for nearly 20 years and is now 63, and the appointment of Mr. Zucker, who is 41, were both presaged in an interview given to The New York Times in November by Jeffrey R. Immelt, the chairman of G.E.
“Bob’s done his job extremely well for a long period of time,” Mr. Immelt said, “and he’s getting close to retirement.” In the same interview, Mr. Immelt openly declared his backing for Mr. Zucker, saying, “I am today and have been a Jeff Zucker fan.”
The G.E. board discussed the succession plan at NBC Universal at its own meeting last month, a G.E. executive said. G.E. and NBC executives have emphasized in interviews over the last year that while Mr. Immelt would certainly consult with other members of the G.E. board, the decision to select Mr. Zucker rested with him alone.
Over the last year or so, names of several outside executives have surfaced as potential successors to Mr. Wright. They included Jeffrey L. Bewkes, the president of Time Warner; Peter A. Chernin, the president of the News Corporation; and Tom Freston, who was ousted in September as the chief executive of Viacom.
But none of them became a serious candidate for the position, executives at NBC and G.E. have said in interviews in recent months. The reason, they said, was Mr. Immelt’s unswerving confidence in Mr. Zucker.
The selection of Mr. Zucker would complete a spectacular rise for the young executive. He has worked at NBC for his entire career, coming up through the ranks in its sports and news divisions, where he began as a researcher for the 1988 Olympics.
Mr. Zucker became the executive producer of “Today” when he was only 26. The show, NBC’s most profitable, achieved its most dominant position in the ratings under him.
More recently he has guided NBC’s entertainment and cable divisions. His current title is chief executive of the NBC Universal Television Group, which includes the network as well as the cable channels USA, Bravo, Sci-Fi, CNBC and MSNBC. The NBC network has struggled lately, dropping from first to last in ratings at one point, clouding Mr. Zucker’s sterling reputation. But the network is now rebounding, with solid ratings for “Sunday Night Football” and several new shows, including “Heroes” and “The Office.”
Mr. Wright has enjoyed enormous success leading NBC, which for most of his two-decade tenure has been the most profitable of the television network companies. He engineered many acquisitions for NBC, including the Financial News Network in 1991 (which established CNBC as the dominant business news channel) and the Universal properties in 2003, including the film studio and theme park division. He is expected to remain vice chairman of G.E.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/05/business/media/05nbc.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=media&pagewanted=print
The Business of Television
Nascar Sponsorships Shift Into Overdrive
By John Consoli Media Week February 5, 2007
With the start of the Nascar season just two weeks away, advertisers appear to be ignoring last year’s TV ratings declines and a barrage of published speculation that interest in the sport may be waning. Instead, they’re lining up to run ad campaigns with the three Nascar TV rights-holders—Fox, TNT and ESPN/ABC.
Fox’s telecast of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18 is just about sold out, with the network intentionally holding back a handful of units. Spots for the race, Fox sources say, have sold for as much as $500,000 per 30-second unit, with the average spot going for between $350,000 and $400,000. As for Fox’s entire 13-race telecast season, insiders say advertising is close to 80 percent sold.
ESPN—which will air seven Nextel Cup races beginning July 29, and will air the Busch Series throughout the season—is sold out for its first Busch race, the Daytona 300, on Feb. 17. And TNT is reporting that its sales of ad time on its six Nextel Cup races that begin on June 17 are pacing ahead of last year.
“The marketplace is very strong for Nascar both for the Nextel Cup and Busch Series races,” said Ed Erhardt, president of ESPN Customer Marketing and Sales. “Not only have many of the Nascar official sponsors expanded their ad spending, but new advertisers are coming in.”
Ten advertisers are expected to unveil new marketing campaigns on Fox’s Daytona 500 telecast. Chevron is one newcomer to Fox’s coverage, buying units in both the Daytona 500 telecast and all of the Nextel Cup races. John Deere is not in Daytona, but will be airing spots in the Cup telecasts. And Toyota, which has its cars running in races this season, will be airing spots in all TV rights-holders’ telecasts.
Having the rights to air the Daytona 500 every year (under the new eight-year TV rights deal) rather than alternating every other year with one of the other broadcast rights partners has let Fox put multiyear packages together, Fox sources said.
Ratings for Nascar on Fox dipped 6.5 percent from a 6.0 in 2005 to a 5.6 in 2006, while ratings on TNT dropped from a 3.9 to a 3.7, down 5 percent. Fox representative Lou D’Ermilio tried to find some positive in the drop, noting that Fox’s 5.6 Nascar rating last season was still up 12 percent over the 5.0 it recorded in 2000 (its first year of Nascar coverage).
The biggest decline was on NBC, where Nascar ratings fell nearly 10 percent from a 5.2 to a 4.7, despite the net’s coverage of the final 10 “Race to the Cup” races, which were specifically instituted to increase fan and viewer interest.
Sam Sussman, senior vp, media director, at Starcom, who handles sports buying, noted that, other than for the National Football League, “A 5.6 rating for a sports telecast on Sunday afternoon is good in an absolute sense. Nascar is doing just fine.”
Sussman added that he sees last season’s ratings declines as “a temporary setback” for Nascar, pointing out that there were a few reasons viewership could have been off. Among them, two rain-outs resulted in races moved from Fox on Sunday to FX on Monday, and NBC’s lame-duck status, which many believe caused the network to use more of its promotion time to plug its new NFL schedule instead of Nascar. NBC has denied that was the case.
To foster interest in Nascar on a year-round basis, ESPN on Feb. 5 begins running Nascar Now, the network’s first-ever news show totally dedicated to the sport. The half-hour show, which runs six nights a week and resembles ESPN’s signature SportsCenter, will offer a different presenting sponsor for each night, among them Office Depot and Aaron’s.
Julie Sobieski, ESPN director of programming, said the network will air several special weeknight editions of Nascar Now leading up to the Daytona 500 during the week of Feb. 12-16, and those shows will originate from Daytona. ESPN during the Nascar season will also televise Cup practice and qualifying sessions, in addition to the races.
ESPN Original Entertainment is producing a history of Nascar documentary series that will air beginning in July and will be promoted with countdown moments that will air on SportsCenter for 100 straight days beginning in April. And Sobieski said, “We are continuing to look at all-types of anciliary programming for Nascar.”
ABC will air the last 11 Sunday Nextel Cup races, and six Bush races on Saturday afternoons, and the network is also looking at televising some anciliary Nascar programming
Nascar will also get extensive coverage on Fox Sports’ brother cable network, Speed, which will televise 75 hours of coverage surrounding the Daytona 500, and during the season will air the Speed Road Tour Challenge. That will involve four Nascar fans traveling to Cup series race locations and competing to win a new Toyota Tundra.
Speed recently completed deals with BFGoodrich Tires, Alltel Wireless and Sunoco as first-time advertisers on the network’s Nascar coverage. BF Goodrich will be the presenting sponsor of
The Speed Report on Sunday nights at 8, which will recap that day’s competition at the Nascar race. Sunoco will sponsor a pit strategy feature in the network’s pre-race coverage.
Home Depot and Wrangler are back for a second season on Speed, and Microsoft and Toyota will sponsor branded specials on the network.
In another advertiser-friendly move, ESPN/ABC, in its Nextel and Busch telecasts, is offering sponsorships of several information icons that will appear on the screen during the telecasts. ESPN is also selling Nascar packages across all platforms as part of its ESPN Surround.
David Levy, president of Turner Sports and Entertainment sales and marketing, said TNT during the season also will be experimenting with new ways for advertisers to appear in the telecasts. One will be a commercial-free telecast of the Pepsi 400 in prime time on July 7. Pepsi, DirecTV and 360 OTC have so far been locked in as advertisers; they will sponsor preproduced segments within the telecast, get enhanced signage around the studio desk and have product-placement enhancements within the telecasts. “Then we’ll see how much the viewers embrace this type of wide-open racing telecast,” Levy said.
TNT plans to begin promoting its Nascar coverage with on-air spots in the National Basketball Association Eastern Conference finals telecasts in May. “The NBA games get the highest ratings on our network so it will be a good vehicle to promote the start of the Nascar telecasts on June 10,” Levy said.
Turner also operates the Nascar.com Web site and plans to execute many tie-ins between TV coverage and the Web site.
“Nascar is still underdeveloped in the Top 20 markets and will continue to grow viewer interest there,” said Starcom’s Sussman. “And the sports’ efforts to bring in new drivers like [Formula 1 driver] Juan Pablo Montoya will also bring in new viewers.”
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003541436
dad1153
02-05-07, 09:23 AM
The Business of Television
Meeting of NBC Board May Mean Change at Top
By Bill Carter The New York Times February 5, 2007
Mr. Wright has enjoyed enormous success leading NBC, which for most of his two-decade tenure has been the most profitable of the television network companies. He engineered many acquisitions for NBC, including the Financial News Network in 1991 (which established CNBC as the dominant business news channel) and the Universal properties in 2003, including the film studio and theme park division. He is expected to remain vice chairman of G.E.
The HD-DVD/Blu-ray forums are speculating whether Zucker's reach also includes the home video divisions of Universal Studios, the only major Hollywood studio that is currently an HD-DVD exclusive backer (every other studio is either neutral or Blu-ray exclusive). If Zucker were to make Universal neutral or BD-exclusive it would be close to the kiss of death to the HD-DVD format. So naturally BD supporters want him to do just that while the HD-DVD fanboys (like me!) hope he's either not involved in this process or decides to give HD-DVD time to prove itself.
dad1153
02-05-07, 09:26 AM
Super Bowl XLI Notebook
Game was a break from the boring commercials
Mike Penner Los Angeles Times Columnist February 5, 2007
MANNING DIVISION
• Nationwide Mutual Insurance:
• Coca Cola:
• Bud Light:
• General Motors:
• Budweiser:
GROSSMAN DIVISION
• Sierra Mist:
• Bud Light:
• Snickers:
• Emerald Nuts:
• T-Mobile:
I hope Rex Grossman has Tony Romo's phone number (or Scott Norwood's for yer old-timers) so they can whale on each other's shoulders. :cool:
I hope Rex Grossman has Tony Romo's phone number (or Scott Norwood's for yer old-timers) so they can whale on each other's shoulders. :cool:
Hey, give Romo and Norwood a break...they came up small at ONE moment...Grossman came up small the entire GAME (except for 1 TD throw) :-)
Personally glad to see Peyton get that particular monkey off his back, now I don't have to hear about it anymore lol. It also shuts up Patriots fans who seem to revile Peyton for some reason, even when Peyton always lost to them lol.
The HD-DVD/Blu-ray forums are speculating whether Zucker's reach also includes the home video divisions of Universal Studios, the only major Hollywood studio that is currently an HD-DVD exclusive backer (every other studio is either neutral or Blu-ray exclusive). If Zucker were to make Universal neutral or BD-exclusive it would be close to the kiss of death to the HD-DVD format. So naturally BD supporters want him to do just that while the HD-DVD fanboys (like me!) hope he's either not involved in this process or decides to give HD-DVD time to prove itself.
Of course his reach includes Universal. It IS called NBC Universal, after all. The whole ball of wax will be his domain.
I know little about the BR/HDVD battle, except to wonder why any studio has cast its lot with one or the other format (aside from Sony, of course).
From a business point of view I don't understand the upside to making such a gamble.
(Of course it also puzzles me why people take such a personal -- and fanatic -- interest in such a battle of mega corporations. If seems to me a far more prudent way to deal with life is to wait until such battles shake out, and then decide which one to buy. Early adopting, as we all know, has its pitfalls.)
Sunday’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.
Super Bowl XLI
Bud Light Spots Top TiVo's Super Bowl List
By Glen Dickson Broadcasting & Cable,2/5/2007
Two humorous spots from brewer Anheuser-Busch were the most-viewed Super Bowl commercials among TiVo viewers, according to audience measurement data from the digital video recorder (DVR) supplier.
Bud Light's "Language Course with Carlos Mencia" and "Rock Paper Scissors" headed TiVo's Top 10 list, which is prepared using aggregated, anonymous, second-by-second audience measurement data about how TiVo subscribers watched the game. The analysis, based on a sample of 10,000 anonymous TiVo households, gauges the interest in programming content by measuring the percentage of the TiVo audience watching in “play” speed.
Two "user-generated" spots for Doritos also made TiVo's Top 10, which also included a much-touted spot for insurer Nationwide that featured erstwhile rapper Kevin Federline and a Schick ad that has been airing nationally for weeks.
The TiVo audience measurement analysis showed that TiVo households on average utilized the Trick Play features – pausing, rewinding, fast forwarding during live broadcasts – an average of 109 times during the game, a slight uptick from 100 times for last year's contest.
This Super Bowl was the first time subscribers were able to download their favorite commercials to their TiVo box via the Internet using its "Product Watch" service, which allowed viewers to use the TiVo interface to find their favorite ad online and record it to a broadband-enabled TiVo unit. Participating advertisers included Anheuser-Busch, Chrysler, Emerald Nuts, Fed Ex, GM, GoDaddy.com, Honda, Michelin, Nationwide, Sprint, and Taco Bell.
According to Todd Juenger, VP/GM of Audience Research and Measurement for TiVo, one interesting finding this year was that there didn't seem to be any controversial plays that caused TiVo users to frantically rewind the action, such as Ben Roethlisberger's disputed touchdown run last year.
"In years past, there have been big plays that caused giant spikes [in Trick Play usage]," says Juenger. "This year, there wasn't anything like that."
TiVo's Top 10:
1. Bud Light: Language Course with Carlos Mencia
2. Bud Light: Rock Paper Scissors
3. FedEx: Don’t Judge
4. Nationwide: Kevin Federline Rollin’ VIP
5. Doritos Crash the Super Bowl
6. CareerBuilder: Office Jungle
7. Blockbuster: Mouse
8. Doritos Crash The Super Bowl: Checkout Girl
9. Chevrolet: Everybody Loves a Chevy
10. Schick: Quarto Science
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6413247.html?display=Breaking+News
In case you missed the news…
TV Notebook
'Studio 60' and '30 Rock' headed for hiatus
NBC is swapping around its schedule, according to the network’s nbcumv.com web site, and it’s not a good sign for several struggling shows.
“Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and “30 Rock” are headed for hiatus to make way for the new drama “The Black Donnellys” and “Andy Barker, P.I.”
The network insists in the release that both first-year programs will be back later this season, but it does not give a specific date for “Studio 60,” never a good sign.
“Donnellys” gets “Studio 60’s” plum Monday 10 p.m. spot leading out of the network’s biggest hit, “Heroes,” beginning on March 5. “Barker” lands behind “Scrubs” in NBC’s solid-if-unspectacular Thursday lineup, airing at 9:30 p.m. starting March 15. The network promised that “Rock” would return April 19.
Media people expect that “Rock” will make a second season despite low ratings because NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly sees potential in the show and it has grown a bit since moving to Thursdays.
But “Studio 60,” whose total viewers audience has dropped nearly in half since its debut despite being the season’s most anticipated new show, likely won’t be back. It reportedly is expensive to produce, in part because it has a star-heavy cast.
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/cat_index_32.asp
Super Bowl XLI
Call on Simms: Hit & misses
By Neil Best Newsday Feb. 5, 2007
Phil Simms famously missed on only three passes when he led the Giants to their first Super Bowl title 20 years ago.
But last night he opened his fifth Super Bowl as an analyst with two misfires.
Simms said he thought the weather would not be much of a factor and that "maybe it was a blessing [for the Colts] losing the coin toss."
Oops.
The first rainy night in Super Bowl history turned out to be a huge factor, and the Bears' Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown.
No harm, though.
Simms, as usual, was willing to poke fun at himself, especially about what became a deluge not forecast by weathermen. In the end, he and Jim Nantz logged their customary sound, level-headed effort.
Still, Hester's return was a nutty start that set the tone for a weird evening.
It was a game marked by turnovers, CBS lenses in need of regular squeegee-ing and an above-average halftime show by Prince that inspired a Nantz line about hearing "Purple Rain in a driving rain."
During the regular season, bad weather usually boosts ratings. The Super Bowl doesn't need that sort of help. So the elements mostly just made for a peculiar atmosphere, one that made it seem like a normal game rather than one named with a Roman numeral.
CBS helped create that atmosphere by limiting its use of gimmicks and graphics, whether by choice or partly because of the weather.
The network did what it could with the pictures under the awful conditions, something Nantz and Simms should have discussed in further detail before it began impacting the game with a botched extra-point hold followed by two consecutive fumbles in the first quarter.
Simms jokingly said after the Bears' second score: "I said the rain would not be a factor in the game."
And by the middle of the third quarter, Simms dryly noted, "Jim, it has not stopped raining."
Nantz seemed as shocked as everyone else in America when the first half ended with Adam Vinatieri missing a short field goal wide left.
"The kick is not perfect!" he said. "It is wide of the mark."
The best commercial of the first half was Colts fan David Letterman and Bears fan Oprah Winfrey cozily watching together on a loveseat.
At halftime, Prince's eclectic, relatively shtick-free performance was a good one for the genre, more so given the added challenge of the rain.
The game's impact on Peyton Manning's legacy was perhaps the most important subplot overall, and the most intriguing broadcasting subplot was how Nantz and Simms would handle the topic.
The two are not known for sharply criticizing coaches and players, especially quarterbacks. But after a shaky start, there was not much to complain about with Manning, who was named MVP after leading the team capably and leaning on his running game.
The Bears' Rex Grossman was another story.
As usual, CBS' halftime analysts were more blunt in looking at the big picture than Nantz and Simms, with Shannon Sharpe and Boomer Esiason blasting Grossman for his shaky play and Esiason reiterating a pregame warning about ball security.
Simms defended Grossman in the second half, saying he had not been allowed to get into a flow.
Simms' tone changed when Grossman coughed up the game for good by throwing an interception that Kelvin Hayden returned 56 yards for a touchdown to make it 29-17.
Said Simms: "There was no chance of the receiver catching that football."
Soon Simms was saying that Grossman might start playing better now that he would get more opportunities to pass.
Seconds later, he threw another interception - and Simms had matched his number of misses in Super Bowl XXI.
STRANGE BUT TRUE:
Puppies are jacked up!
Alas, the people, um, behind Lingerie Bowl IV canceled this year's game, leaving the alternative Super Bowl programming field open for other young performers, ones wearing nothing at all.
Yup, Animal Planet came through again yesterday with Puppy Bowl III, and the stars were as cuddly as ever. One even took a snooze at midfield.
One thing, though: The violence level seemed to be up from 2006, with some gratuitous replays of pups wrestling and biting and ramming into each other. Just like the way TV covers real football!
Meanwhile, on the official halftime show ... At least the NFL trotted out a headliner under 60 after two years of Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger.
Still, Prince is 48 and his debut album came out in 1978, two years before Rex Grossman was born.
JUST WONDERING:
Humidity fogs plans for CBS
There was much talk before the Super Bowl about how soggy weather might affect the players, but what about a guy who had to worry about 47 high-def cameras and other very expensive electronic toys?
That was Ken Aagaard's problem, and CBS' senior VP of operations did not sound too happy about it 3 1/2 hours before kickoff.
"When the weather gets bad everything is four times more difficult," he said.
And when there is as much equipment as at a Super Bowl?
"There are four times more things that can get screwed up."
As of 3 p.m., planned aerial shots and others from a 750-foot tower were off because of fog. (They got cleared for aerial shots at 5:15.)
Camera lenses had to be wiped off because of condensation, but the big concern was humidity affecting what Aagaard called "8 zillion miles of cable laid out here."
CBS even lost a generator and had to use a backup. "Generators don't like humidity," he said.
Nor, apparently, did Katie Couric's hair. Nothing Aagaard could do about that.
BEST'S BETS:
CBS' pregame road is uneven
CBS started all this 50 years ago, pioneering the idea of NFL pregame shows, with Bud Palmer hosting one that mercifully lasted only 15 minutes.
The network also was an innovator in Super Bowl pregames, offering two hours before SBVI.
This year the fun started at noon, or was it at 10:30 a.m., when Bob Schieffer of "Face the Nation" did what news types always do when around jocks: turn to mush.
Schieffer was so smitten with Phil Simms and Dan Marino it was a wonder he didn't lean over and hug them.
CBS Sports president Sean McManus recently put all this in perspective, when asked whether so many hours of filler risks nauseating viewers.
"Well, they may be nauseated," he said, "but they still watch."
It is extremely difficult to do anything groundbreaking in a Super Bowl pregame and CBS didn't, other than finding new ways to squeeze paid sponsorships into the festivities.
Randy Cross hosted a report from Iraq with U.S. troops, but unfortunately James Brown inadvertently talked over the soldiers' shouted message to the folks back home.
Hey, stuff happens. That wasn't as strange as Simms playing golf with the GEICO "caveman" during his "All-Iron" show, sponsored by ... GEICO.
CBS finished the pregame marathon nicely with a piece at 6 o'clock that featured greetings from friends and relatives of the players, including Peyton Manning's older brother, Cooper.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/ny-spmedia5081348feb05,0,5888148,print.column?coll=ny-sports-columnists
Super Bowl XLI
Nantz's first call is successful, but Simms provides mouthful
By Dusty Saunders (Denver) Rocky Mountain News Feb. 5, 2007
It was a first for a Super Bowl and Jim Nantz.
The Bears' Devin Hester became the first player to run an opening Super Bowl kickoff back for a touchdown.
Nantz provided the play-by-play - his first Super Bowl call.
Involved in previous Super Bowl telecasts as a studio host, Nantz, who joined analyst Phil Simms in the 2004 season, was making his Super Bowl debut as a play-by-play man.
The kickoff return statistic is not one the CBS announcing crew had at its fingertips.
After the Bears kicked off and the Colts ran two plays, Nantz announced that Hester had set a record while refraining from announcing his own accomplishment of being in the right place at the right time.
Actually, Nantz, who has improved greatly from his rookie season in the booth three seasons ago, had a good day.
In the upper echelon of network sports broadcasters, Nantz nearly always displays a "viewer friendly" attitude while not being patronizing.
Nantz kept the game in focus, with his only small misstep coming before the half when, without saying so, he left the impression that Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri had an easy field-goal attempt. Vinatieri missed.
Simms, a keen student of the game, was, as always, a bit verbose, providing 50-word analyses when 20 words would do.
And he wasn't as critical as he should have been of the play of Bears quarterback Rex Grossman, who threw two key interceptions in the second half.
In the second quarter, when Chicago fell behind for the first time (16-14), Simms said Grossman was off "to a pretty good start."
He should have noted that the pressure was on the often-maligned quarterback, who now had to come from behind.
On the positive side, Simms was quick to note that Colts offensive coordinator Tom Moore stressed that the first possession of the second half was always a key. The Colts' initial second-half drive resulted in an important field goal.
Technically, the high definition coverage, under coordinating producer Lance Barrow and director Mike Arnold, was superb, including key replays like the one that showed the Colts' Kelvin Hayden stayed in bounds on his interception for a touchdown.
In this age of electronic magic, such first-rate coverage in controversial situations is expected.
Keep in mind, CBS Sports utilized three VizRT Graphix Engines. My electronics pals tell me that every decent sports network needs at least one of those.
'LOST' SUPER BOWL: Sunday's game will be replayed again . . . and again . . . and again (add as many "agains" as you want.)
The NFL Films crew was on hand to cover every play from various camera angles.
Ever wonder why only a few excerpts from Super Bowl I, played in the Los Angeles Coliseum 40 years ago, are shown on TV?
Although the game was broadcast by both CBS and NBC, neither network has a complete tape of the game. According to both networks, the game tapes were accidentally erased or discarded.
Storage costs of the bulky 2-inch tapes used in the '60s were expensive.
However, former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson, who now runs a sports marketing firm, "guesses" there was an inadvertent erasure.
A bit of television irony is connected with the "lost" Super Bowl.
The game was the first and only time two networks competed in coverage of a national sports championship.
FIVE COMRADES: It's not surprising that CBS' Sunday Morning would broadcast an entertaining feature away from the bloated, predictable Super Bowl pregame stuff. The irrepressible Bill Geist provided a colorful Miami interview with a quintet of NFL fans from around the nation, including one from Denver, who have attended every Super Bowl while becoming close friends in the process.
LOGICAL QUESTION: In a pregame interview, Dan Marino asked Colts quarterback Peyton Manning: "Assuming you win, is there any way you can do more TV commercials?"
Peyton's answer: A shrug of the shoulders and a laugh.
So what other sporting events were televised on Super Bowl Sunday?
ESPN2 spent part of the afternoon covering food-eating competition, timely TV considering that many couch potatoes were gorging themselves while watching Indianapolis beat Chicago.
Competition started at noon with a brats-eating contest as the ESPN announcers actually played it straight while introducing contestants who ran through a crowd of avid supporters.
One superstar eater had recently slammed down 20 brats in 18 minutes of competition.
A real athlete.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/spotlight_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23962_5329327,00.html
TV Review
Ignorable ' 'Rules'
Obnoxious New Sitcom Gets Old Fast
By Tom Shales Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, February 5, 2007
Every now and then, it seems reasonable to stop and wonder, "Where have all the sitcoms gone?" Then one network or another will introduce a new one, it will fall to earth with a sad "splat," and you are reminded that perhaps the only thing worse than a bad sitcom is a bad reality show. It's a race too close to call.
Take tonight's CBS debut. Please. The new show, "Rules of Engagement," (9:30 ET/PT) does not rule. It tends instead to reek, emitting the aroma of a decaying clone. Essentially it's the umpty-umpth attempt to imitate "Friends," with the friends in this case being two couples (one married, one engaged) and a swinging single guy who can't imagine being tied down.
Actually, he can imagine being tied down, but only to the bed as part of some naughty sex play. The alleged comedy derives from the uncertainty built into relationships and the little things in life that make people alternately love and loathe one another.
In addition, and hewing to a relatively new sitcom tradition, there are lots of gay jokes and references. The first scene of the first episode, in fact, depends on gayness for a couple of wee laughs: We're in a diner and Russell, the single guy (David Spade), is joining his friend Adam (Oliver Hudson) for lunch.
Russell: "You ordered for me? Why don't we just make out?"
Adam announces his engagement to girlfriend Jennifer (Bianca Kajlich): "I proposed to her because I love her."
Russell: " So gay."
Adam: "Being in love with a girl is gay?"
Russell: "No -- but saying it out loud to another guy is."
And so writer Tom Hertz is off and stumbling with dialogue from the Book of Cheap and Easy Laughs. The gay references persist, and although individually they might not be offensive or crude, in profusion they just become obnoxious. They're also signs of lazy writing.
In next week's second episode, the words "annual" and "anal" are confused in an attempt at rib tickling.
This episode is called "The Birthday Deal," a reference to a special annual treat, presumably sexual, that Jeff (Patrick Warburton), married for 12 years, receives from his wife, Audrey (Megyn Price). Jeff won't tell Adam exactly what the "deal" is, but Adam tells Jeff: "I'm getting a deal," too, "and every year when I'm doing it, I'm going to think of you." Oh-ho, that's rich.
Later, at a furniture store, Adam tells Jeff that he has talked his fiancee into not one but two "birthday deals" each year. The writers try not to stray from the topic of sex for more than two minutes or so; they seem to feel helplessly adrift without a sex joke nearby. Thus is there talk of "crazy sex fantasies" and "kinky" sex practices.
And the long-suffering Jeff laments, during chitchat at a cocktail party, that "we sort of wrapped up the sex portion of our marriage" some time ago and moved on to a kind of convivial void. A few jokes border on funny, some really are funny, none are hilarious and most are laborious.
Warburton, so amusingly deadpan as Puddy on "Seinfeld," seems merely a bitter grouch here, and viewers might well wonder what makes the slight and disheveled Spade so attractive to gorgeous women. Perhaps they're farsighted.
Kajlich and Price are cheerfully innocuous, whereas Hudson comes across limply and wimpily. No one in the cast is likely to be your new favorite actor.
Every time a new sitcom is announced, some of us, giddy with optimism, wonder, "Will this be the new 'Seinfeld'?" Or, "Will this at least be the new 'Friends'?" But "Rules of Engagement" is neither. It's the new nothing, and it seems not only old at first encounter, but dead on arrival.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/04/AR2007020401290_pf.html
shuttermaker
02-05-07, 11:21 AM
Super Bowl XLI
Bud Light Spots Top TiVo's Super Bowl List
By Glen Dickson Broadcasting & Cable,2/5/2007
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6413247.html?display=Breaking+News
I was just glad to not see another barrage of Pepsi commercials attacking Coke.
Super Bowl XLI
The Rain in Miami Falls Mainly On the Players
By Ray Richmond The Hollywood Reporter in his blog “Past Deadline”
So the above headline ain't exactly poetry. It's accurate, at least. Super Bowl XLI was nothing if not all wet. And slippery. And typically hard-hitting. And very entertaining -- for the usual first 30 minutes. The final 30? Not so much. But at least we had those commercials, though are you like me? Do you have to remind yourself every time there's an advertising break, "Ooooh! Ooooh! Commercials. Gotta watch." And then you can hear about 35% of it, because the kids are running around, people are telling stories, laughing and crunching chips, and the truth is that only half of your brain is inspired to give a rat's arse even if you know these are supposed to be cooler-than-usual ads.
All of that said, there was plenty of entertainment to be had here on Super Bowl Sunday. And it had nothing to do with the halftime entertainment from Prince, who is one of those performers whom you either get or don't get (and I don't). Yeah, it was really appropriate for him to sing "Purple Rain" because -- hey! -- it was raining. But you have to care about "Purple Rain" and its lyrics for that to matter beyond thinking, "Hey, it's raining, and the little guy wearing the scarf on his head is singing a rain song!"
I don't have the Prince gene. Is it just me, or does he appear to have no evident personality apart from his earnest stage persona? He's also really really short, and if we've learned anything from Randy Newman, it's that short people got no reason to live. So pardon me if I don't go all gaga that Prince graced America and the world with his presence. I still hear his name and wonder, "Prince what? Charles? Now there's one guy I'd pay to see go electric."
So anyway, here are the commercials I liked best (in order):
1. The Bud Light ad featuring the couple who pick up the guy wielding an ax and another one with a chainsaw. A perfect blend of farce and ridiculosity (which I know isn't a real word and I don't care).
2. The Taco Bell spot with the talking lions with the rollllllling tongues. Highly amusing, even if most actual lions you see today are lukewarm over fast food carne asadas.
3. That was one superb advertisement for the American Heart Association where we see diabetes and obesity and cholesterol beat up on the poor guy until he's barely beating. Great point, delivered with mirth, verve and intelligence.
4. Robert Goulet for Emerald nuts. I've watched it a few times and I'm still not even sure what the point of the ad was -- lack of energy? -- but that doesn't matter as much as seeing Goulet crawling, cat-like, on a ceiling. Remind me to tell you my Robert Goulet story sometime.
5. The spot for Budweiser featuring the fake Dalmatian who gets to lead his own parade was cute too, if a little bit drawn out.
6. It was a little dumb, but I still liked the Bud Light ad that had all of those guys slapping each other instead of bumping fists. An amusing concept.
7. The otherwise drab commercial for Sprint that coined the phrase "Connectile Dysfunction." That alone deserves a medal.
8. I also kinda liked the Snickers ad where the auto mechanics accidentally kiss and need to "do something manly" to ward off the evil gay spirits. But then it was pointed out to me how homophobic this was, and I felt shame for even thinking about liking it. And that's the truth, so help me Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
I also thought that Coca-Cola did a swell job creatively with its series of ads, even if none of them stood out individually in a huge way with their cleverness. It was, all in all, a decent enough (though hardly exceptional) series of commercials by the various advertisers who plunked down over $2.5 million for 30 seconds of face time with the viewing public, though I still wonder about the actual value of them from a marketing perspective aside from ego and name recognition (and if you're Doritos or Coke or Bud, you probably don't need much of that).
As an annual television event, Super Bowl Sunday remains unparalleled, and it speaks to the uncanny promotional might of former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle (and less his successor Paul Tagliabue). I used to be a football fan back when Los Angeles had a team. I've pretty much given up on the sport professionally. Yet it's fairly inconceivable that I'd miss a Super Bowl even if I didn't have money on the game.
The outlandish pomp and hype are so outsized to the actual human importance of the thing that it approaches the realm of surrealism each and every year. It also speaks to America's penchant for doing everything bigger, longer and with greater intensity. By that measure, the Super Bowl is us in a nutshell. But I refuse to try to wax any more poetic or profound than that, lest anyone accuse me of similar outsized hyperbole.
Whoops. Too late.
http://www.pastdeadline.com/
The Business of Television
Added Nielsen College Viewers to Have Little Impact
By John Consoli Media Week February 5, 2007
Media buyers expect little impact on overall TV ratings as a result of Nielsen Media Research’s inclusion of college student viewing into its national people meter sample, which began on Jan. 29.
“With the exception of MTV, Comedy Central and a few other cable networks that actually sell ads based on that particular 18-24 demo, the rating points for the other networks are not going to change that much,” said Lyle Schwartz, senior vp, media research director for GroupM.
Preliminary Nielsen results during the test period showed that college viewers increased adults 18-24 ratings between 3 percent and 5 percent. But when that was factored into the typical broadcast or cable network adults 18-34 or 18-49 ad-buy, ratings grew only 1 percent, Schwartz said. “Daytime ratings, particularly soap operas, will be helped maybe another few percentage points, because there are a lot more college kids watching daytime than people realize,” he added.
Generally speaking, agency research executives believe that the addition of college viewing will offer a more accurate overall indicator of who is watching, but it won’t generate any new windfall of ad revenue for the TV networks. “I would think the impact on the broader demos 18-34 and 18-49 will be minimal, particularly for the higher rated programs,” argued Steve Sternberg, executive vp of audience analysis for Magna Global USA. “But for smaller, more targeted cable shows or networks, like Adult Swim or MTV2, the percent gains among 18-24s could be more significant.”
According to Nielsen pilot data (Nielsen, like Mediaweek, is owned by The Nielsen Co.), the show that got the biggest bump from the inclusion of college women 18-24 was ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, which rose by 4.6 rating points, or 5.3 percent in the demo. Among men 18-24, Comedy Central’s Drawn Together grew the most, with college viewing adding 1.2 rating points or 6.3 percent. More generally, the pilot data showed that college viewers had the greatest impact on football telecasts and animated programming.
Media agency researchers believe it’s going to take awhile before any viewing patterns are established. “We’ve only seen limited data from Nielsen so far, so we really need to wait and see what the actual impact will be,” Sternberg said.
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003541435
CPanther95
02-05-07, 11:47 AM
Super Bowl XLI
The Rain in Miami Falls Mainly On the Players
By Ray Richmond The Hollywood Reporter in his blog “Past Deadline”
8. I also kinda liked the Snickers ad where the auto mechanics accidentally kiss and need to "do something manly" to ward off the evil gay spirits. But then it was pointed out to me how homophobic this was, and I felt shame for even thinking about liking it. And that's the truth, so help me Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
Good Lord. Do you guys in California actually feel that any man that doesn't appreciate kissing another man is a homophobe?
I was going to reply that Ray's comment was meant to be tongue in cheek -- then I realized that might not be the best term to use.
But you get my drift.
TV Notebook
Turner Broadcasting to pay $2M in Boston bomb scare
By Casey Ross, Jessica Fargen and Peter Gelzinis Boston Herald Monday, February 5, 2007
Turner Broadcasting Corp. will pay back Massachusetts $2 million for the Cartoon Network guerilla marketing campaign that prompted a rash of bomb scares across the city last week.
Attorney General Martha Coakley announced the agreement this morning, which absolves the entertainment giant of any civil or criminal claims with the state and local agencies who were a part of the settlement.
Half of the cash will be used to pay back the law enforcement agencies that provided a full response to the bomb scares, while the other half will go toward homeland security and other programs.
The controversy began last Wednesday morning, when an MBTA employee spotted a circuit board with wires stuck on a steel girder under Interstate 93 at Somerville Square station in Charlestown. Over the course of the day, 10 similar suspicious devices were found in sensitive locations across Boston, Somerville and Cambridge. Late in the afternoon, Turner Broadcasting contacted city officials to report that the devices were actually mini billboards featuring a cartoon character named “Err” from the Cartoon Network’s “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.”
By that time, local, state and federal authorities had already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars investigating each device.
Today, Coakley defended the police response to what turned out to be an advertising campaign.
“I believe the actions that were taken by law enforcement were appropriate and in proportion to the perceived threat as we saw it at the time,” she said.
Meanwhile, Coakley said the case against two men arrested for installing the magnetic signs across Boston is being negotiated. Peter Berdovsky, 27, an Arlington art college graduate, and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown, are charged with placing the Lite-Brite-esque devices under bridges and near MBTA stations in the Boston area.
Coakley said she hopes to reach some agreement with both soon.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=181185
TV Review
'Rules' of thumb:
Warburton is worth watching, but CBS' new sitcom feels tired
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher” Monday, February 5, 2007
There’s good news regarding CBS’ new sitcom “The Rules of Engagement” (9:30 ET/PT, CBS). It’s not awful, which most new network sitcoms are.
At no point will you feel like scratching your own eyes out rather than sitting through an episode. So there’s that.
One very large plus is in the form of the man-mountain known as Patrick Warburton, a ubiquitous voice actor who also appeared in “The Tick” and on “Seinfeld.” Warburton has a wonderful way of underselling a line, yet using his sonorous voice to wring the most dry wit from it. This thinly constructed show may be worth watching for the sly Warburton alone.
Also on the scene is David Spade, whose snarky lech act (not to mention his strangely feminine hair) is showing its age but still has a modicum of life left in it. Spade plays Russell, a semi-creepy middle-age lothario who is the improbable sidekick of two couples who live in the same building.
The first couple is Jeff and Audrey (Warburton and Megyn Price). Hitched a dozen years ago, they’re grizzled veterans of married life.
“We’ve sort of wrapped up the sex part of the marriage,” Jeff confides to his neighbor, Adam. “It’s been replaced by Letterman.”
Adam (Oliver Hudson) is half of the other couple on the show; he and Jennifer (Bianca Kajlich) are starry-eyed lovers who’ve just gotten engaged.
And there’s the bad news. That premise - cynical married couple mocks the romantic naivete of a younger couple - has been done to death, most recently by the black-hearted Fox sitcom “’Til Death.”
Thankfully, “Rules” is no “’Til Death”: There are funny moments on the CBS comedy. Spade and especially Warburton are genuinely enjoyable, and Oliver Hudson is intermittently charming as the nervous Adam.
The problem with this show is the whiff of tiresome sexism that hangs over it. The female characters on “Rules,” as on so many other TV comedies, are either unattainable sex objects or critical, disappointed harpies who exist to deprive the menfolk of good times. Ha ha, that’s so funny I forgot to laugh.
Not every comedy sees the world this way; for all its faults (which lessened over the course of its first season), TBS’ “My Boys” posited that a woman could be as narcissistic, confident and clueless as a man - and as kind and guileless.
In case we’re too stupid to get where “Rules” is coming from, Adam wears a shirt decorated with images of handcuffs in the second episode. Then again, that episode is the strongest of the first three. In it, a comically uncomfortable Adam wonders what his wife’s most secret fantasy could be - what if it’s so weird that he just can’t wrap his mind around it?
It’s an unfortunate fact that Price and Kajlich aren’t nearly as entertaining to watch as the male actors on “Rules,” and it doesn’t help that some of their lines could have been lifted from any tired married-life sitcom from the last, oh, 40 years.
“Why do you have to put a price tag on everything?” Audrey wails when Jeff complains about her spending. Honestly, in this day and age, is that line still supposed to be funny?
If CBS wants to put a hammerlock on the much-desired 18-49 demographic, it shouldn’t commission comedies that have such a musty, retro view of gender politics.
http://tempo.typepad.com/entertainment_tv/
Critic’s Notebook
Super Bowl Sunday:
Après le Déluge
By Matt Roush: TVGuide.com TV Critic Feb. 5, 2007
The best thing I saw on Super Bowl Sunday? Pan’s Labyrinth. But that’s a different story (or a different column). Anything to get out of doors (even in the frigid cold) to skip the first few hours of pre-Super Bowl hype.
The worst thing I saw on Super Bowl Sunday? A typically unpleasant, thoroughly predictable episode of Criminal Minds that followed the big game. More on that later.
In between, we had a game played in torrential rain that had plenty of reversals (how slippery was that football, anyway?) and was plenty exciting, especially to a former Indiana resident and current Peyton Manning fan. The buzz about Super Bowls is that this is usually the one night of the year when you actually watch the ads and zip your TiVo through the game. This year, that would have been a mistake.
I lost count of the number of moronic Bud Light ads I had to sit through just to get to the two memorable ads for classic Budweiser. As usual, there was a classy one involving Clydesdales, this year focusing on a mutt who, when splattered and spotted with mud, gets to pretend to be a Dalmatian and thus ride in a parade with the mighty horses (and the beauty queens). Later in the game, another clever Budweiser ad (clever because the animals didn’t actually speak) offered up a gathering of crabs on the beach who scuttle away with a cooler of Buds; when the sun hits the cooler and two longneck bottles, casting a shadow that resembles a godlike crab, the crabs mimic and bow to it.
The celebrity ads seemed a bit of a bust. I’d heard that Robert Goulet was spoofing his fame (such as it is) in an Emerald Nuts ad, but the concept was awfully random, casting the singer as an office gremlin who messes things up while employees take their afternoon nap. He didn’t sing a note, which made me wonder: Is Goulet truly that iconic? What gives? The other quasi-celebrity ad of note featured Kevin Federline dreaming of rap stardom while pushing fast-food fries in his more humbled post-Britney existence. I guess that's more funny than sad. Hard to say.
The only star sighting I truly enjoyed, because it was such a surprise, was the quickie David Letterman promo that showed him and Oprah curled up on a couch watching the game. “Honey, don’t talk with your mouth full,” she said. Great gag. (Almost as funny as Jim Gaffigan’s beard comb-over in a Sierra Mist Free ad.)
Of the many talking-animals ads, a Super Bowl staple, the best were for Blockbuster, which gave new meaning to “dragging the mouse”; Bud Light, in which a gorilla is too busy posing for pictures to participate in a smash-and-grab plot; and Taco Bell, with lions jawing about the pronunciation of “carnes” (with a fun swipe at Ricardo Montalban) while watching campers chow down.
If the ads were mostly ho-hum, at least the game had its moments and moved relatively swiftly. As for halftime, CBS’ first since the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake debacle, Prince kept his clothes and his groove on, in what may go down as the most memorable superstar performance in the driving rain since Diana Ross’ infamous Central Park concert.
From a purely TV perspective, and regardless of what the ratings reveal today, I am still so disappointed in CBS for giving Criminal Minds the post-game position. I know why they did it. A year ago, ABC took a second-season rising star, Grey’s Anatomy, and programmed the first of a two-parter after the game, and the show’s fortunes climbed. The same could happen here. The difference, however, being that Grey’s is fabulous entertainment with one of the most appealing casts in all of TV, while Minds is the grimmest and grossest of CBS’ soul-numbing surplus of crime dramas, featuring an ensemble that often looks like it’s in a competition to see who can look the most constipated.
Where Grey’s stepped up with a gripping (albeit melodramatic) crowd-pleaser that may very well have won Chandra Wilson her SAG Award of a week ago (and perhaps the cast its ensemble trophy as well), Minds delivered a particularly derivative time-waster that borrowed more than a little from Psycho, featuring former Dawson’s Creek throb James Van der Beek as a transparent clone of Norman Bates. Even if the shot of blood going down the shower drain wasn’t a giveaway we were in Psycho territory, only a novice to this genre would have been surprised by the reveal that our tormented Dawson (frequently flashing back to childhood scenes of abuse by a religious zealot father) was two villains in one, channeling the spirit of his mad father as well as his more timid tech-support self. The cliff-hanger climax was especially silly, in which nerdy Reid tried to go all action-hero but was felled in a cornfield by split-personality Dawson; meanwhile, JJ was in a barn, facing down killer dogs who had devoured an earlier victim in a typically nauseating scene.
What I really hate about Criminal Minds is its smug, smarmy hypocrisy. Here’s a show that’s produced as cheesily as any slasher flick, but when these FBI hacks are told that this week’s murders have become the most downloaded videos on the Internet, Mandy Patinkin’s dour Gideon clucks his tongue: “Murder as entertainment.” As if Criminal Minds isn’t all about serving up a weekly diet of gruesome tableaux for the audience’s voyeuristic amusement.
After a night of good sportsmanship from two coaches who seem the epitome of decency, and amid a tone of overall celebration and revelry, CBS bungled badly with this deadly choice. I know the network wants to position this show as an even bigger hit, especially with the American Idol juggernaut facing it for the rest of the season, and this may have done the trick (although I’d like to think it scared away more viewers than it attracted). But by putting it on this most high-profile of nights, CBS has basically anointed Criminal Minds as a signature show, something to be proud of. For shame.
When you watch How I Met Your Mother tonight, in a silly but enjoyable farce that’s themed to the Super Bowl, try to convince me that it wouldn’t have been a much better choice to close out this Sunday. Heck, I’d even have settled for a CSI: Miami two-parter. At least it would have been location-appropriate. And after all that rain, I could have used a little sun.
http://community.tvguide.com/thread.jspa?threadID=800007765
Critic’s Notebook
Super Bowl Sunday:
Après le Déluge
By Matt Roush: TVGuide.com TV Critic Feb. 5, 2007
The worst thing I saw on Super Bowl Sunday? A typically unpleasant, thoroughly predictable episode of Criminal Minds that followed the big game. More on that later.
From a purely TV perspective, and regardless of what the ratings reveal today, I am still so disappointed in CBS for giving Criminal Minds the post-game position. I know why they did it. A year ago, ABC took a second-season rising star, Grey’s Anatomy, and programmed the first of a two-parter after the game, and the show’s fortunes climbed. The same could happen here. The difference, however, being that Grey’s is fabulous entertainment with one of the most appealing casts in all of TV, while Minds is the grimmest and grossest of CBS’ soul-numbing surplus of crime dramas, featuring an ensemble that often looks like it’s in a competition to see who can look the most constipated.
While I don't agree with his overall opinion of CM (I think it's a great show, and not really a procedural at all. It's more Manhunter than CSI), I do have to agree that this was NOT their best ep. It was very predictable, and this show generally isn't. I think they dumbed it down a bit for first-time viewers and took it too far.
I don't think it will negatively effect their ratings, but I don't expect to see a Grey's Anatomy effect either. It will hold it's own against AI because some people just don't care about AI and enjoy CM.
TV Review
Couple A, meet couple B.
Cue the single dude.
By Tim Goodman San Francisco Chronicle Television Critic Monday, February 5, 2007
It's a curious thing what CBS does to comedies. Instead of reinventing a tired genre or suffusing it with fresh genius, the network seems content to work up the kind of chemistry that produces something good, not great -- a work of safety, of above-average ambition, but one without any sharp corners or dangerous ideas.
In some circles, that's akin to taking a Prius and giving it an iPod and some flashy rims. It's better but not exactly something from Porsche and many people simply won't take the ride.
But there's something crafty and even admirable in what CBS is doing. The network knows its audience, knows what works and is too smart to be something it's not. For CBS, good is good. Period.
And why not? It's far better to have "How I Met Your Mother" than Fox's "The War at Home." It's far better to have "The New Adventures of Old Christine" than Fox's " 'Til Death." While Fox flounders at being hip and funny, CBS usually delivers better-than-expected sitcoms that sometimes but not always end up on your TiVo to-do list. (Granted, the network also fails. "The Class" was dumb when it started and not much better now.)
Tonight, CBS unveils its latest sitcom, "Rules of Engagement" -- not very impressive but it manages to overcome that mediocrity in the next two episodes and settles right into that gray area where it passes a half hour with decent speed and makes you laugh once or twice.
You might not remember to record it every week, but if you stumble upon it, you might stay.
So, what to make of "Rules of Engagement?" (9:30 ET/PT). It's CBS good.
The very premise of the series guarantees it will be no better than that. A sitcom about "the different phases of male/female relationships" isn't exactly groundbreaking. Adding an oppressive laugh track does not help. And coming out of the gate a little wobbly doesn't inspire much confidence. But the series does improve and it does have Patrick Warburton ("The Tick," "Seinfeld") who all but saves it by being, well, Patrick Warburton.
"Rules of Engagement" revolves around a young couple who just got engaged -- Adam (Oliver Hudson) and Jennifer (Bianca Kajlich) -- a couple who have been married for more than a decade -- Jeff (Warburton) and Audrey (Megyn Price) -- and an aging lone-wolf lothario, Russell (David Spade).
True, it sounds partly like Fox's " 'Til Death" -- except that it doesn't make you want to poke your eyes out -- and a little bit like CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" -- except it's not as good yet.
(It also looks, strangely enough, like "Seinfeld," with similar New York exteriors and apartments and a convenient corner diner where everyone can meet. And Puddy, too.)
Too bad about that premise. A young couple on the verge of getting married, with all the attendant worries and nervous hopes, who just happen to live next door to a grounded (but thankfully not bitter) married couple in the same apartment complex. Who would have guessed? And look, their mutual friend Russell just pops in conveniently with his bimbos to make the two other guys feel slightly (but not always) jealous.
Hmm.
At first, Spade seems an odd choice to be an amoral, shallow swinger. And he is. Yet, if the writers continue to make him out to be more pathetic than enviable, it will work. Still, these well-worn sitcom constraints are not easily surmounted (and that laugh track does nothing but remind you that, yes, you have seen this 1,694 times before).
But Hudson's panicky Adam character becomes less annoying, while Warburton and Price step in to add a comedic comfort level. Even Spade elevates his game from merely hitting sharp singles off the material the writers give him to smacking a steady diet of doubles. CBS likes doubles.
The series begins to click as Warburton's dourly sensible, longtime married guy routine gets more space. The reason people fall in love (or at least stay loyal) to well-worn premises and safe comedies is that some element of truth is spoken back to them as they watch. In Warburton's character, "Rules of Engagement" finds a likable reflection of a guy's guy. As Jeff, he's accepting of the fact that there's little or no mystique or freshness left in a marriage that's chugging solidly along. He's not out at the bars with Russell, but, then again, he's not out at the bars with Russell. He may scoff at Adam's idealistic notions of how life won't change or how it might actually get better when he marries Jennifer, yet his bitterness isn't overstated like most longtime married sitcom men who seek to advise newbies.
He doesn't tell Adam that life is over and that Jennifer will turn into a raving nag -- accepted sitcom wisdom. Nor is he weary or defeated in revealing his own condition. He accepts the trappings of marriage as what they are. Some good, some not so good. You'll watch more Letterman than you'll get sex, he says. The cake plate on the registry will never have a cake on it. Just deal with it.
If "Rules of Engagement" works, it will pair up well with CBS' other Monday sitcoms. So if the ratings are there for these seven episodes, then a future might be there as well.
And that's a good thing -- a CBS good thing -- in the end. Better to have a decent diversion you can count on than yet another sitcom that fails at a revolution.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/02/05/DDGF7NU0VA1.DTL&type=printable
The Digital Revolution
TV Retail Prices Tumble
In Final Week Of Super Bowl Promos
by Alan Wolf –TWICE
New York — Consumer eletctronic chains finally pulled the trigger on TV price promotions in the last few days before the Super Bowl in a final push to clear out old inventory.
While price points had generally held firm through most of January, the final week of the month brought with it another round of price declines that saw 42W-inch, tier-three plasma displays fall below $1,000 (Maxent), and 40W-inch tier-one LCD panels fall below $1,500 (Samsung).
Although Panasonic took much of the heat for the disruptive holiday season, the Super Bowl promotions were led largely by Samsung, Sony and Toshiba. Among the more striking price cuts: Sony’s highly-touted SXRD rear-projection line. Best Buy offered the 50W-inch 1,080p Grand Wega for $1,800 shipped in an online special, and the 55W-inch model for $2,025.
Other rear-projection TVs that were footballed this week included Samsung’s 50W-inch 720p DLP ($1,250 online at Circuit City); JVC’s 52W-inch, 1,080p HD-ILA ($1,500 at hhgregg); and Mitsubishi’s 57W-inch 1,080p DLP ($2,000, also at hhgregg).
Toshiba sets also hit new lows, with its 37W-inch REGZA LCD-TV/DVD combo selling for $1,498 at Abt Electronics, while the company offered a $200 incentive on combined purchases of its HD DVD players and HDTVs 42W-inches and higher.
Plasma price points also fell, with tier-one displays generally retailing for $1,300 in 42W-inch sizes and $1,800 for 50W-inch sets.
The promotions and pre-game hoopla apparently had their effect. David Morrish, merchandising senior VP for Best Buy, who visited one of the chain’s Manhattan stores with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer this week to herald Vista’s launch, said the location enjoyed “a surprising amount of traffic for big-screen TVs” as the new operating system launched.
Zero-percent financing offers also played a major role in Super Bowl promotions. Morrish said the plans are important to mass market consumers who are suddenly finding HDTVs within their reach.
http://www.twice.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6413116
Turner Broadcasting Corp. will pay back Massachusetts $2 million for the Cartoon Network guerilla marketing campaign that prompted a rash of bomb scares across the city last week.
Cheaper then a Superbowl commercial, and still getting them plenty of exposure.
Yes, but I don't think it was a bargain in any sense of the word.
At a time when mega corporations face increasing hostility in Washington (and media companies perhaps more than most) Turner and Time Warner didn't need this debacle -- especially with its uncomfortable (and in my opinion incredibly dumb) reminder of terrorism.
It just served to reinforce the feeling in many that the big media corporations care about nothing but their bottom line. And Washington can easily cause problems with the bottom line.
Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
Early word: Super Bowl flat in Demo
Demo up less than a point
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Feb. 5, 2007
It looks as though last night’s highly anticipated Super Bowl between the Chicago Bears and the victorious Indianapolis Colts on CBS may match the strong numbers from last year’s game on ABC.
The Super Bowl averaged a 42 household rating and 63 share, according to Nielsen data collected from the top 55 markets and released by CBS this afternoon. That’s down half a percent from last year’s 42.2/63.
In fast national ratings from 7 to 10 p.m., the game averaged a 32.4 adults 18-49 rating, up slightly from last year’s 31.8 on ABC in the same time period.
The game ran from 6:25 p.m. to around 10 p.m., and it peaked with a 44.0/63 at 9 p.m. It dipped just 0.1 from 9:30 to 10 p.m., as the Colts ran out their victory.
The game started with a 38.2/61 at 6:30, then built to a 43.2 by 8:30 p.m., obliterating the competition.
CBS also said that “Criminal Minds,” the drama it aired in the hour after the game, averaged a 15.3/26, its best-ever rating in the 55 metered markets.
Final numbers, including total viewers, are expected to be available late today or early tomorrow. Last year’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks was seen by 90.7 million total viewers, the best tally in 10 years and one of just five games ever to hit 90 million or above.
Of course, CBS finished first for the night among 18-49s, averaging a 28.0 rating and a 57 share in primetime, according to fast nationals. ABC was second at 1.8/4, Univision third at 1.4/3, Fox fourth at 1.1/2, NBC fifth at 1.0/2 and CW sixth at 0.5/1.
At 7 p.m. CBS led with a 32.7 rating for the Super Bowl. ABC was second with a 1.3 for a repeat of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” Univision third with a 1.2 for “Hora Pico” and Fox fourth with a 0.9 for a repeat of “The Simpsons” and the first 30 minutes of the movie “X2: X-Men United.” NBC was fifth with a 0.5 for a repeat of “Grease: You’re the One That I Want” and CW sixth with a 0.3 for a repeat of “Beauty and the Geek.”
At 8 p.m. CBS fell a little, leading with a 32.5 for the Super Bowl. ABC was second with a 1.6 for a repeat of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” Univision third with a 1.3 for the first hour of “Bailando por la Boda de Mis Suenos” and Fox fourth with a 1.2 for “X-Men.” NBC was fifth with a 0.9 for another repeat of “Grease” and CW sixth with a 0.5 for another “Beauty and the Geek” repeat.
CBS declined once more at 9 p.m. with a 31.9 for the Super Bowl. ABC was second with a 1.7 for the first hour of the movie “Old School” with Univision third with a 1.5 for the second hour of “Bailando,” Fox fourth with a 1.3 for the end of “X-Men,” NBC fifth with a 1.1 for another “Grease” rerun and CW sixth with a 0.7 for yet another repeat of “Beauty and the Geek.”
At 10 p.m. CBS was on top with a 14.7 for the postgame show and “Criminal Minds,” with ABC second with a 2.4 for “Old School” and Univision and NBC tied for third at 1.5, Univision for the last hour of “Bailando” and NBC for another “Grease” repeat.
Among households, CBS led with a 34.6 average rating and a 52 share. ABC was second at 3.0/5, NBC third at 2.3/4, Fox fourth at 1.9/3, Univision fifth at 1.6/2 and CW sixth at 0.8/1.
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_9984.asp
URFloorMatt
02-05-07, 02:37 PM
Yes, but I don't think it was a bargain in any sense of the word.
At a time when mega corporations face increasing hostility in Washington (and media companies perhaps more than most) Turner and Time Warner didn't need this debacle -- especially with its uncomfortable (and in my opinion incredibly dumb) reminder of terrorism.
It just served to reinforce the feeling in many that the big media corporations care about nothing but their bottom line. And Washington can easily cause problems with the bottom line.
I don't know. It's not like all the cities that had these ads hidden throughout went into panic mode, just Boston. I think it would've been very bad if they all flipped out, but as it stands only one did. I'd chalk it up to Bostonian stupidity more than Turner stupidity.
The ones that went up for sale on Ebay looked awesome, not terror-inducing. I wish I could've burned through the thousands of dollars that they ended up selling for and gotten one myself.
You could be right, Matt, we'll find out somewhere down the road.
But a lot of very influential people on Capitol Hill are not amused. And it is in TW's best interests not to rile those folks up for no reason.
TV Q&A
Ask Matt
(from the Ask Matt column at TVGuide.com
By Matt Roush: TVGuide.com TV Critic Monday, February 5, 2007
Question: Do you think the powers that be at Fox would ever consider giving Jayne Atkinson and James Morrison a 24 spin-off series? Bill Buchanan and Karen Hayes really need to be in the same room before the end of the day. My friends keep saying it's too early for me to start obsessing over this, but if it's going to take her four to five episodes to get to L.A., she needs to get those airplane tickets soon. (PS. You look a lot like my international relations teacher.)— Bel
Matt Roush: This question came in before last week's twist, in which Karen was forced to resign and requested to be flown, via military transport, back to CTU. Part of Bel's wish has been granted: a Karen-and-Bill reunion. But a spin-off? Not likely. Characters like these are lucky to make it from season to season, and carrying their own show would truly be too much to ask. And what would you call a 24 spin-off anyway? "12"? "48"? Not a good idea. (And is looking like your teacher a good thing? I almost fear asking.)
Question: I'm kind of dismayed at your reaction to Monday's 24. If I'm not mistaken, you enjoyed the first five hours. That's five good episodes to one stinker, and you're already calling for "cautious optimism"? I also thought the episode was a dud, but then every season has duds like this. You're telling me this was worse than the horrific Russian sex-slave episode last year? That was early in the season, and the show was obviously resting on its laurels. It wasn't until Episode 9, when Martha got into the motorcade, that things picked up again. I know this is 24, and we expect excellence week in and week out, but give the show one bad episode. Two or three episodes from now, if the show is still spinning its wheels, it'll be time to take a long hard look at what's wrong. But until then, give the show some breathing room. Heck, I'm expecting it to kick back into high gear next week. If I'm wrong, I'll be the first to admit it.— Luis C.
Matt Roush: I think it's pretty well known by now that I'm the last person who would pile on to nitpick or slam 24, but I figured that Dispatch was worth writing because of all the hubbub over the plot twists involving Jack's family. This was an episode that should have capitalized on that twist, and to a degree it did. But not in a way that gave me great confidence or even rooting interest in what's to come. Combine that with the lame resolution of the Islamic detention center subplot (although as I said, maybe there's more there than met the eye) and Karen's sheepish resignation, and I think my critical reaction was fair at this specific moment in time. That's why I call those columns "Dispatches." They're not meant to be the final word. As much as I like 24, I don't have time to obsess over any one show, so I barely even remember the episode from last season to which you refer. There may have been some slow stretches last season — there almost always are — but the cumulative impact of the full year was such that any flaws fade into memory. I'm hoping the same will be said of this season.
And here's another question, which also reflects on that same Dispatch from last Tuesday (at least I think it does)....
Question: Here's my opinion of why Studio 60 is not doing well and why I gave up on it last week (and I was a huge West Wing/Aaron Sorkin fan!): There are no characters who evoke any sympathy from viewers, at least not this one. The shows I love have characters whom viewers can relate to and have empathy for. What are your thoughts on this?— Jason
Matt Roush: Again referring to my Dispatch, I'll stand by my opinion that I'm with Jack Rudolph (Steven Weber) in his disdain for and disinterest in everything happening on the "Studio 60" set these days. Who knew he'd be my hero? Abhorring all the characters, who have for the most part been singularly ill-developed on this series, is certainly a major obstacle.
Question: I'm glad you mentioned Danny's off-putting stalker tactics on Studio 60. Everyone I know who saw it had the same puzzled reaction. I get that Sorkin was probably thinking, "It's not stalking if she really does love him back, deep down," but then that totally sounds like the justification of a stalker. And between Jordan changing her phone number and Danny's "no" when she told him to stop, it was more than a little creepy. That same week on TV also provided Allison sympathizing a bit too much with the ghost of a stalker on Medium, and Taylor following Ryan around with binoculars and a logbook on The O.C. I don't take television seriously enough to actually get offended by it — I just thought it was a weird mini-trend in the depiction of TV romance, and I felt a little sorry for any previously stalked viewers who caught these shows. At least ER is still representing this particular mental illness in a realistic (totally scary) way.— Dave
Matt Roush: You win this week's I Watch More TV than Matt Roush award! Either that or you Googled the listings for stalker story lines, which I doubt. Either way, bravo for the trend-spotting. Of all these, I find Studio 60 by far the most objectionable, because these characters are supposed to resemble real people once in a while (apologies to Allison Dubois). As I noted in my Dispatch after last week's episode, the scene of Danny and Jordan locked out on the roof may have hit a new low, almost as bad as those two episodes in Nevada.
Question: Well, Aaron Sorkin has taken another potshot at reality TV on Studio 60 (calling it "illiterate programming"), and once again the online forums and blogosphere are spewing venom that he would dare to do such a thing. True, some of this reaction probably has to do with the fact that Studio 60 isn't living up to its potential — if it were a better show, people would probably give him more slack. Still, I don't understand why people get so worked up about the fact that Sorkin doesn't like reality TV. Why should he? He's a writer of scripted shows, some of them very good. It's no surprise if he thinks scripted TV is better than reality TV. The real question, to me, is why the online community is so easily offended. Sorkin doesn't have the exact same TV tastes as they do — so what? The irony is that you would think taking part in online discussions would make people more accepting of differing opinions. Instead, the opposite seems to be true. Your thoughts?— Julie
Matt Roush: You're just now catching on to the poisonous nature of the blogosphere? This is hardly confined to Studio 60 and Aaron Sorkin. (And yes, I know, this is an awful lot of questions devoted to such a marginally rated show.) In this case, it may not be just a matter of Sorkin taking on reality TV, which is fair game. It's how self-righteous and tin-eared the show is on the subject. Nearly every pitch you hear Jordan take, and dismiss, is for an appallingly caricatured version of a reality show. What if she had the option to produce something as lavish and entertaining as The Amazing Race? There is good and bad, wretched and sublime, in reality TV as there is in any other TV genre, but the way Sorkin demonizes it is just another example of how off-base and off-putting this show so often is. Ditto the targeting of the FCC, again fair game, with the ludicrous example of the network being fined for a news clip involving a soldier shouting an expletive while under attack.
Question: Is it true that Adam Beach is joining Law & Order: Special Victims Unit? This is my favorite crime show, and I can't help but feel like he is eventually going to be a show-killer. I hated his character and his interactions with Finn a couple of weeks ago, and as a result I thought that was one of the show's weakest episodes in a long time. SVU is a character-driven crime show, unlike the original, so one new character would make a big difference and completely affect the show. I like Benson and Stabler and am glad that they are usually front and center. I like Munch and Finn, who are great as supporting players. Casey Novak can be annoying, but her role is necessary for court scenes. I enjoy the psychiatrist and, finally, I even love when Judith Light appears as a judge from time to time. In order for Adam Beach to join, either Munch or Finn would have to go, and I don't want that. Also, the flirting between Novak and Beach's character was ewwww! Please tell me this is not true.— Nicole
Matt Roush: Sorry, it's true. After getting a number of e-mails about this episode, I went back and watched, and while it certainly wasn't my favorite SVU ever, I was mildly intrigued by Adam Beach's character. Having enjoyed him in the PBS adaptations of Tony Hillerman's mysteries, and finding him the most compelling aspect of Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, I'm more concerned that he'll be wasted in the margins of the show rather than upstage the two leads, who now that they've signed rich new contracts aren't likely to concede ground to the show's underused ensemble. And I haven't read or heard anything to indicate that either Ice-T or Richard Belzer are leaving to make room for Beach. (In fact, given the grudging respect Finn showed toward the new guy from Brooklyn by the end of that episode, I imagine they'll be working some cases together.) Let's see how it plays out before we start freaking out, OK?
Question: What is up with FX? Dirt is just not that great! It is just another one of FX's "shock-skank" shows. What is so annoying, though, is that you can't even watch any of the network's quality programming without them constantly cramming this new show and its previews down your throat at every commercial break. And FX is canceling other programs to show the same stupid episode over and over. I'm sick of Dirt and don't even watch FX anymore. Is this network really that desperate?— Deborah W.
Matt Roush: Seems to me that FX always builds its schedule and its promotional muscle around whatever original programming happens to be airing at the time. Nothing new in that. It might not be so annoying if the promos were for something wonderful, like The Shield or Rescue Me, but for the moment, FX is in the unfortunate position of having an utter piece of junk as its centerpiece, which will be the sad case until the Eddie Izzard-Minnie Driver vehicle The Riches shows up mid-March. It looks like The Shield will finally return sometime around April 3, once Dirt signs off. Speaking of Dirt, here's a comment from Brian, bravely sticking up for it:
"Everyone has the right to their opinion, so here's mine. I think that both you and Mark are way off the mark about Dirt. This show is a guilty pleasure that fills the void until Nip/Tuck returns. This is Courteney Cox's best acting since the Scream trilogy. She should stick with drama and suspense and stay away from comedy."
Sorry, but even in the world of guilty pleasures, there needs to be some standards. And Dirt fails every one of them. It's just plain guilty. Guilty of being too self-righteous about itself, not to mention glum and depressing, so it's never as fun as it ought to be. Guilty of lousy casting (except for Ian Holm as the mad paparazzo and perhaps Cox herself), which is appalling, especially the characters of Holt and Laura, who are supposed to be big-deal Hollywood stars. Holt looks like the cadaverous cousin of Edward Norton, and he's supposed to be some big action hottie? Uh, no. Guilty of plots that are as predictable as they are pandering, aiming for shock but only achieving disgust. And do we really need one more scene of Lucy curled up to her vibrator? The answer, again, is no. While Nip/Tuck has also hit the skids more often than not lately, at least there's a residual glimmer of glamour and anything-goes outrageousness. And the characters, when they're allowed to be, are still often compelling. Given how unappealing the characters of Dirt uniformly are, I like to think of it as the porn version of Studio 60.
Question: If you had to make a prediction right now, what do you think are the five freshman series that have the greatest likelihood of making it to a second season?— Jim
Matt Roush: The one no-brainer is Heroes, which has already been picked up for next season. Five other sure bets: Ugly Betty and Brothers & Sisters on ABC, Shark and Jericho on CBS and probably 30 Rock on NBC (preserving the "comedy night done right" lineup). I'm hopeful for Men in Trees and praying for Friday Night Lights (hands-down this season's "Best Show You're Not Watching"). Anything currently on indefinite hiatus is toast. Which leaves Studio 60, The Class, Knights of Prosperity, The Game, 'Til Death and Standoff (which is expected to return on Fridays in the spring) as the iffiest of the ifs. I would frankly be surprised to see any of those return next fall, although anything's possible.
Question: Just wanted to throw some praise (rather than the usual "sexist pig" name-calling you're used to, apparently) your way for your comments on Brothers & Sisters' refreshing treatment of its gay character. I noticed in your response that you mentioned homosexual characters who are forced to be "laughable sitcom bait." I couldn't help but think of Sean Maguire's character on the otherwise steadily improving The Class. While all of a sudden the show strives to define itself as "Friends 2.0," I see Maguire's character Kyle getting pushed more and more to the periphery. At the start of the series he was in a stable relationship with his boyfriend, but nowadays he seems to be the least gay homosexual since Will Truman. Between the Heroes de-gaying and The Class' Kyle, I have to wonder why networks feel that fully developed homosexual characters have to be sacrificed for increased popularity? Thankfully, ABC seems to be above that.— DJ
Matt Roush: Good point, but knowing the producers behind The Class, I find it hard to believe that the Kyle dilemma is as much a function of purposeful de-gaying as it is a direct result of the show struggling to figure itself out this season. I'm not sure why Kyle's boyfriend has gone absent (he wasn't a regular, so maybe the actor got a better gig for a while?), but Kyle's connection to the ensemble was always tenuous, in that he was mainly seen in relation to the horrible Holly character, who has since been written out. (Strangely, Holly's gay-acting but apparently straight husband Perry will still be seen from time to time.) Recently, Kyle has only been seen as Ethan's platonic buddy, a development that seemed to come out (so to speak) of nowhere. All in all, though there are still some bright spots and I enjoy watching it, The Class is a bit of a mess, and Kyle is just one of the casualties.
Question: I recently read your review of Rules of Engagement, in which you indicate The New Adventures of Old Christine will be missed. I, for one, couldn't be happier, because when Christine returns, it will be on after my favorite non-NBC comedy, How I Met Your Mother. I have only one VCR and am addicted to Heroes, so I've been missing the CBS laffer ever since 24 premiered. As I'm not a fan of The Class, I hope next season that CBS decides to keep HIMYM and Christine paired together for a truly must-see hour of comedy. I also want to sing the praises of King of the Hill and say how glad I am to have it on after The Simpsons. Having grown up in small-town Iowa, I often relate to the humor on this comedy more than the live-action competition. I was a little nervous with the promos for the season premiere — "Who's coming out?" — which, in typical network-promo fashion, were misleading. The actual episode, however, was sheer delight. I don't think the majority of comedies out there today, even the more acclaimed ones, could pull off an episode dealing with drag queens in which everyone comes out with their dignity intact. Bravo to the writers and producers behind this often-neglected series. I know it was almost canceled, but I hope it sticks around. Now, if only ABC had paired Knights of Prosperity with Help Me Help You, or kept Sons & Daughters. I may never have a chance to find out if they rob Mick Jagger.— Kurt
Matt Roush: Mother and Christine will make a solid hour of comedy, no question, and I'm always happy to spread the good word about King of the Hill, which I'm glad to see paired with The Simpsons. As for Knights, I'm with you. It deserves better than being stranded on ABC, where there are currently no comedies deserving of its company (or, for that matter, deserving of the title "comedy").
http://www.tvguide.com/News-Views/Columnists/Ask-Matt/Default.aspx#01twentyfour
DoubleDAZ
02-05-07, 02:49 PM
But did all the other cities know about the stunt as a result of Boston's reaction? I haven't been following this because it seems like just another stupid stunt coupled with over-reaction. :)
Note: Sunday's fast national ratings (the ones with the actual viewer numbers) continue to be delayed at Nielsen.
You'll see them when I do.
The Business of Television
EchoStar, HBO Strike Carriage Deal
By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable 2/5/2007
EchoStar and premium service Home Box Office have struck a long-term carriage deal for HBO and Cinemax on the satellite network.
As part of the deal, EchoStar has dropped its program access complaint against HBO and HBO has dropped its suit against EchoStar, filed suit in a New York court earlier this month to recover $90 million over what it said were unpaid license fees.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6413353
123HDTV
02-05-07, 03:03 PM
Note: Sunday's fast national ratings (the ones with the actual viewer numbers) continue to be delayed at Nielsen.
You'll see them when I do.
I'm sooo excited to find out what the #1 show was last night <tongue in cheek grin>
shuttermaker
02-05-07, 03:06 PM
But did all the other cities know about the stunt as a result of Boston's reaction? I haven't been following this because it seems like just another stupid stunt coupled with over-reaction. :)
Over reaction is a good term for what happened however, better to err on the side of caution. Complacency could have resulted in a far worse situation. Id like to think that Boston, compared to the other involved cities were at the least "on their toes".
TV Notebook
Following the Super Bowl
(wikipedia)
With all the discussion about whether CBS made a blunder in showing "Criminal Minds" after yesterday's Super Bowl, here is a list of shows that have aired after the Super Bowl in the United States for the past 25 years:
Year Program (notes) Net
1983 The A-Team (premiere episode) NBC
1984 Airwolf (premiere episode) CBS
1985 MacGruder and Loud (premiere episode) ABC
1986 The Last Precinct (premiere episode) NBC
1987 Hard Copy (premiere episode) CBS
1988 The Wonder Years (premiere episode) ABC
1989 Brotherhood of the Rose (miniseries) NBC
1990 Grand Slam (premiere episode) CBS
1991 Davis Rules (premiere episode) ABC
1992 60 Minutes (Clintons interview) CBS
1993 Homicide: Life on the Street (premiere episode) NBC
1994 The Good Life NBC
1995 Extreme (premiere episode) ABC
1996 Friends NBC
1997 The X-Files FOX
1998 3rd Rock From the Sun NBC
1999 The Simpsons, Family Guy (premiere episode) FOX
2000 The Practice ABC
2001 Survivor (second series premiere) CBS
2002 Malcolm in the Middle FOX
2003 Alias ABC
2004 Survivor (All-Stars premiere) CBS
2005 The Simpsons, American Dad (premiere episode) FOX
2006 Grey's Anatomy ABC
2007 Criminal Minds CBS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Super_Bowl_Television_Shows
Over reaction is a good term for what happened however, better to err on the side of caution. Complacency could have resulted in a far worse situation. Id like to think that Boston, compared to the other involved cities were at the least "on their toes".
At least 2 of the 9/11 hijacks were out of Boston's Logan...I too am glad they are now being vigilant. Better an over reaction than saying "gee, what are these blinking boxes placed in public places?....ah...sure it's nothing, damn the Pats lost" :-)
TV Notebook
“Oz” Actor faces homicide charge
Man fell down elevator shaft during a fight
(New York – WABC) - An actor is under arrest this morning after a man fell down an elevator shaft and died at a Chelsea nightclub.
Forty three year-old Granville Adams, who used to play Zahir Arif on HBO's show "OZ" is charged with criminally negligent homicide.
Yesterday morning at the night club 'BED' on West 27th Street, police say 35-year-old Orlando Valle somehow started fighting with Adams.
The two men apparently slammed into an elevator door which popped open.
Valle then fell four stories down the shaft.
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=4986273
(A MultiChannel News EXCLUSIVE)
The Business of TV
After the Sinclair-Mediacom flap
Commisso: ‘Industry Has Major Issues’
By Tom Steinert-Threlkeld MultiChannel News 2/5/2007
The cable-television industry must seek significant changes in laws governing relationships with broadcasters, the chairman of Mediacom Communications said Monday after his company came to terms with Sinclair Broadcast Group late Friday to carry the signals of its 23 TV stations in 16 markets.
The pact put Sinclair stations back on Mediacom systems after two months of darkness just in time for Sunday’s Super Bowl championship game in professional football.
“The industry has some major issues to face,” Rocco Commisso said in an interview with Multichannel News Monday morning.
Commisso and Mediacom officials have not disclosed terms of the agreement reached Friday with Sinclair after a long, contentious dispute.
But the case may wind up buttressing broadcasters’ contentions that they should be paid for the signals of their local TV stations. Mediacom may have agreed to pay as much as 50 cents per subscriber, per month for each of Sinclair’s stations, according to one party close to the company. The Wall Street Journal Monday put the payments in the range of 40-50 cents.
Those payments will likely get passed on to Mediacom’s customers at some point. But Commisso said his company doesn’t have any other major renewals of contracts with broadcasters coming up for another couple of years.
Nonetheless, Mediacom is one of the nation’s 10 largest cable operators, with approximately 1.4 million subscribers. About 700,000 of those subscribers were affected by the blackout of Sinclair stations.
Mediacom handed out over-the-air antennas to customers to help them get the signals while the dispute went on. Sinclair offered rebates to those Mediacom subscribers who agreed to switch over to the DirecTV direct-broadcast satellite service.
And while Sinclair pulled its signals from Mediacom systems Dec. 1, the broadcaster came to terms with a larger operator -- Time Warner Cable, which serves 13.5 million customers -- in mid-January.
Commisso Monday said Congress should look again at the rules governing how cable operators and broadcasters deal with each other over the carriage of local TV station signals on cable systems.
His set of prescriptions:
• 1: Discrimination should not be acceptable. Rates afforded to large operators should also be afforded to small operators. All small operators, for instance, compete with DBS services that have more than 10 million subscribers.
• 2: Local monopolies on broadcast-TV signals should be eliminated. Cable operators should be allowed to import signals when there is an impasse. Competition should be fostered in local markets.
• 3: Anticompetitive marketing campaigns should be outlawed. A broadcaster should not be allowed to subsidize customers to switch to another provider of multichannel-video services, such as occurred in this case.
• 4: Eliminate the requirement that broadcast TV stations be part of the basic tier of cable programming. If broadcasters’ signals can be placed on a separate tier of service, as occurs on satellite services, they should be separable on cable, as well.
• 5: Treat broadcast networks like cable networks. Cable operators shouldn’t be forced to distribute local TV signals to 100% of their subscribers and should be able to make agreements directly with national networks to take their full lineups or individual shows.
• 6: Allow operators to share in the revenue. Cable operators should be entitled to two minutes of advertising per hour. In effect, cable operators, if they’re paying for carriage of a network, should also get to share in the revenue generated by having that network on their systems.
• 7: Stop further relaxation of rules governing consolidation of media operations. Particularly, no broadcaster should be allowed to own or operate more than one TV station in a market.
Imagine what would happen if broadcasters had two or three stations in a market, the right to charge for each of those stations and force carriage of them to 100% of the subscribers in each market, Commisso said, adding, “They’d put you in bankruptcy.”
Broadcasters should be required to establish rates and publish their rate cards so that the same rates are available to all multichannel pay service providers.
And whatever the price may be, the price shouldn’t be based on the leverage a broadcaster holds over a cable operator. The pricing should be based on a rate card, “where no one is discriminated against,” he said.
In any case, “The consumer should not go dark,” Commisso added.
In this case, Commisso placed blame for the outcome squarely on the shoulders of Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin J. Martin.
Commisso had urged Martin to force binding arbitration in the dispute with Sinclair. Mediacom last month, producing a set of comments made by Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) indicating that the lawmaker believed the FCC did have the authority to mandate arbitration. Those comments came in 1992, when rules governing getting consent to retransmit broadcast-TV signals were first established.
Martin more than once said he wasn’t sure that the FCC had the power to mandate arbitration.
But, Commisso said Monday, “The FCC could have easily done it. If we had a different chairman, that would have taken place, guaranteed. Just change the chairman, and you’ll see what different results you would have gotten.”
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6413340.html?display=Breaking+News
Some thoughts about Rozzo Commiso’s “prescriptions” for fixing the cable industry:
Let’s just take a quick look at Mr. Commiso’s seven points. It seems clear to me he is still speaking as a man whom just got his corporate a** whipped, and is not at all thinking clearly about what his proposals could do long-range.
Point 1: No problem with this one. But then perhaps large cable companies would have to provide all their channels for all comers?
Point 2: That would work out great. The major networks would simplky undercuit the local guys so Disney, CBS, GE and NewsCorp would get all the money.
Point 3: OK, great. But then a cable company shouldn’t be able to offer bundled rates, either. If DBS/Telco can’t offer inventives, then cable sholuldn’t be allowed to, either..
Point 4: When cable is able to provide truly local news and information on a consistent basis (as is done in a number of markets) and when it can guarantee to run crawls on all channels in case of emergency, I see no problem with this.
Point 5: Seems like point 1 to me. Same reaction.
Point 6: Then the cable nets, I assume will also share in the cable provider’s profits?
Point 7: No problem with me on this one. But while we are at it, let’s strike down the exclusivity cable companies have in almost every market. Open everything up and don’t allow anyone to hog control of a TV market.
Commisso obviously wants the government to shackle his competition and allow cable providers free rein. Good luck, Rocco.
TV Notebook
Lowest-Rated Super Bowl in 15 Years
By James Hibberd Television Week Feb. 5, 2007
Sunday’s Super Bowl was the lowest-rated match in 15 years, yet it still managed to give CBS an enormous ratings boost for the season and was only off 6 percent from 2006.
Preliminary Nielsen ratings show the game between Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts earned a 32.4 rating among adults 18 to 49, and was seen by an estimated 90.7 million total viewers. The Bowl was down 6 percent in 18 to 49 and down 5 percent in households, making it the lowest rated in both measures in 15 years. Due to the nature of live sports, the ratings can change in the nationals released later today.
The Super Bowl is usually good for about two-tenths of a ratings point boost for the host network’s season average, and despite being down slightly from last year, CBS should benefit mightily from Sunday’s game.
CBS followed with “Criminal Minds,” which earned a 10.0 rating. That’s easily the best rating in “Minds” history, yet down 39 percent from “Grey’s Anatomy” post-Super Bowl performance last year, and it was the lowest-rated Bowl lead-out since “Alias” on ABC in 2003.
The Bowl made for dramatically anemic ratings for the other networks. ABC was in second place with an average of 1.8, running repeats of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (1.3), “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (1.6) and a movie.
Fox was third with a 1.1 average, running a movie. NBC was fourth with a 1.0 average for a marathon of “Grease: You’re the One That I Want.” The CW was last with a 0.5 rating for a “Beauty and the Geek” marathon.
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11504
TV Notebook
The CBS Super Bowl Ratings Spin
CBS SPORTS' COVERAGE OF SUPER BOWL XLI SCORES AN OVERNIGHT RATING/SHARE OF 42.0/63 AS PEYTON AND COLTS REIGN SUPREME
CBS News Release Feb. 5, 2007
CBS Sports' coverage of rain-soaked Super Bowl XLI featuring the INDIANAPOLIS COLTS' 29-17 win over the CHICAGO BEARS on Sunday, Feb. 4 (6:30-10:00 PM, ET), earned an average overnight household rating/share of 42.0/63.
The Super Bowl XLI rating/share peaked at 44.0/63 from 9:00-9:30 PM, ET. Following is a breakdown of the ratings by half-hours.
(All times ET)
6:30-7:00 - 38.2/61
7:00-7:30 - 40.8/64
7:30-8:00 - 41.9/64
8:00-8:30 - 41.8/62
8:30-9:00 - 43.2/63
9:00-9:30 - 44.0/63
9:30-10:00 - 43.9/63
CRIMINAL MINDS averaged a 15.3/26, its highest ever rating in the 55 metered markets.
From 12:00 Midnight-1:00 A.M, THE LATE LATE SHOW with CRAIG FERGUSON averaged a 3.9/11, also the highest metered market rating in the show's history.
NOTE: National ratings/share and viewership numbers will be available later today.
RussTC3
02-05-07, 04:38 PM
Gee, there are like 3 or 4 different estimates for the Super Bowl. Which is right (though I see the CBS press release is based on the overnights)?
Hollywood Reporter has it at a 42.6/64 with 93.1M viewers
I realize it is possible to parse ratings in many ways.
But did James Hibberd and Paul Gough do their stories from the same Nielsen statistics?
The differences are spectacular.
Was it the “Second Most Watched” or the “Lowest-Rated in 15 years”?
TV Notebook
Super Bowl is 2nd most watched ever
93.1 mil viewers is 3rd highest telecast audience in history
By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Repor