View Full Version : Hot Off The Press! The Latest Television News and Info
shuttermaker
02-19-07, 02:38 PM
This is obviously not TV-related, but since many of you are early adopters, I assume it will be of interest .
(By the way, the Wall Street Journal is also reporting a deal between the two companies is near.)
Technology Notebook
Sirius and XM near to a Heavenly Deal
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/02192007/business/heavenly_deal_business_peter_lauria.htm
Thanks fred. Ill have to keep my eyes peeled for more info. I wont complain if you decide to update this as you see fit. Thanks Again.
ABC News is now saying it has confirmed the story (that there will be an announcement today). The WSJ is saying XM and Sirius are in "final merger talks".
TV Sports
ESPN Dramatically Increases HD Production
In its February 19 issue, Sports Business Journal reports that “In a nod to the growing popularity of its high-definition broadcasts, ESPN plans to produce all game coverage from seven sports entirely in HD this year.
The commitment means that ESPN’s event programming of the NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR, MLS, college football and the National Hot Rod Association will be completely in HD this year.
College basketball will not get the 24-7 HD treatment, although its 150 planned HD telecasts — out of 400 games — is the biggest amount of HD games for a single sport on ESPN….”
Gary*w*
02-19-07, 02:59 PM
Confirmation from XM's Website the deal is done.
http://xmradio.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=1423 There's confirmation on XM's website:
steverobertson
02-19-07, 03:07 PM
TV Sports
ESPN Dramatically Increases HD Production
In its February 19 issue, Sports Business Journal reports that “In a nod to the growing popularity of its high-definition broadcasts, ESPN plans to produce all game coverage from seven sports entirely in HD this year.
The commitment means that ESPN’s event programming of the NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR, MLS, college football and the National Hot Rod Association will be completely in HD this year.
College basketball will not get the 24-7 HD treatment, although its 150 planned HD telecasts — out of 400 games — is the biggest amount of HD games for a single sport on ESPN….”
This great news, now the last hurdle I guess is CBB it took a while but ESPN has really stepped up to the plate since first launching the channel
Does this mean the Hawaii Bowl will finally make the HD transition? :)
College basketball is a tougher nut, with its more out of the way venues, so many games on each day, etc. It might take a while -- but 150 games this year ios a big step. (And CBS doing every March Madness game in HD is great, too!)
steverobertson
02-19-07, 03:16 PM
Does this mean the Hawaii Bowl will finally make the HD transition? :)
College basketball is a tougher nut, with its more out of the way venues, so many games on each day, etc. It might take a while -- but 150 games this year ios a big step. (And CBS doing every March Madness game in HD is great, too!)
I agree there are just so many games every week it would be tough to do all at this point but they have really stepped up.
CBS doing all the games in HD is huge as well I remember not to long agao it was just the Final 4.
Here you go, homcom:
TV Sports
Fox Finishes Fifth-Highest All-Time At Daytona
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 2/19/2007
The five markets with the highest ratings were Greenville, S.C. (22.1 rating), Greensboro, N.C. (22.0), Indianapolis (21.6), Charlotte (20.6) and Orlando (20.1).
That is typical for us, Charlotte and Greenville. With most of the teams in the Charlotte and Greensboro markets, Daytona and Talladega races always sees a drop out of 1 and 2 for us and Charlotte during those races. Everyone is down there partying I guess!! :cool:
Some Favorite Links
As I mentioned a few days ago, I've been working on posting some of my favorite TV links.
(Of course, I am gambling the list won't keep you from returning to the "Hot Off The Press" thread -- frequently!)
My list of links is a work in progress and will be expanded, updated, and edited frequently.
So, for the moment, it is just a start.
You'll find it (it is post #7 in this thread) here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4278624&&#post4278624
Does this mean the Hawaii Bowl will finally make the HD transition? :)
I think this year's Hula Bowl is a good indication of ESPN's plan for Hawii. My guess is you'll see another flypack over there so every Bowl game is in HD this coming year. I also would not be surprised to see the Maui Invite in HD to kick off the college Bball schedule.
I think I read somewhere that the Maui tournament will be in HD this year -- I just can't remember my source.
But with 12 games and a handful of top teams (this year's lineup is Arizona State, Duke, Illinois, LSU, Marquette, Oklahoma State, Princeton and host Chaminade), it would seem to make economic sense for ESPN.
steverobertson
02-19-07, 03:42 PM
Nice job on the links Fred
Thanks steve.
I'll be adding quite a few more favorite TV writers and critics in the days ahead.
Does this mean the Hawaii Bowl will finally make the HD transition? :)
ESPN usually does some University of Hawaii regular season games too, so I guess the Hula Bowl test worked out well.
This is obviously not TV-related, but since many of you are early adopters, I assume it will be of interest .
(By the way, the Wall Street Journal is also reporting a deal between the two companies is near.)
Technology Notebook
Sirius and XM near to a Heavenly Deal
Personally I'd love this. Baseball and Howard Stern on my radio and since the wife has XM hopefully we'd save some $ using the 2nd radio discount.
mike_somd
02-19-07, 03:53 PM
Does this mean the Hawaii Bowl will finally make the HD transition? :)
I could give a rip about the Hawaii Bowl in HD. :eek: I would rather see the PBA in HD every week rather than a single bowl game that means nothing in the grand sceme of college football. :D
Since, as I understand it, mike, the PBA produces its own programming and buys time from ESPN, perhaps communicating directly with the PBA would be helpful.
mike_somd
02-19-07, 04:15 PM
I understand that Fredfa, its just that ESPN forces Dave Ryan on the PBA, he is probably the worst announcer ever, so it would be nice if ESPN would throw the PBA a bone. Dave Ryan never shuts his mouth, and knows absolutely nothing about bowling. The PBA is struggling financially as it is, prize funds were cut this year, so I doubt they would put out the capital for HD. It would be nice, I just don't see it happening for awhile.
TV Sports
ESPN Dramatically Increases HD Production
In its February 19 issue, Sports Business Journal reports that “In a nod to the growing popularity of its high-definition broadcasts, ESPN plans to produce all game coverage from seven sports entirely in HD this year.
The commitment means that ESPN’s event programming of the NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR, MLS, college football and the National Hot Rod Association will be completely in HD this year.
College basketball will not get the 24-7 HD treatment, although its 150 planned HD telecasts — out of 400 games — is the biggest amount of HD games for a single sport on ESPN….”
Kool in the GANG!
SJKurtzke
02-19-07, 04:16 PM
ABC News is now saying it has confirmed the story (that there will be an announcement today). The WSJ is saying XM and Sirius are in "final merger talks".
Official Press Release:
SIRIUS and XM to Combine in $13 Billion Merger of Equals
Provides Consumers with Enhanced Content, Greater Choices and Accelerated Technological Innovation
Enables Satellite Radio to Better Compete in Rapidly Evolving Audio Entertainment Industry
Extraordinary Value Creation for Shareholders
Mel Karmazin to Serve as Chief Executive Officer and Gary Parsons to Serve as Chairman of Combined Company
WASHINGTON and NEW YORK, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR) and SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement, under which the companies will be combined in a tax-free, all-stock merger of equals with a combined enterprise value of approximately $13 billion, which includes net debt of approximately $1.6 billion.
Under the terms of the agreement, XM shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 4.6 shares of SIRIUS common stock for each share of XM they own. XM and SIRIUS shareholders will each own approximately 50 percent of the combined company.
Mel Karmazin, currently Chief Executive Officer of SIRIUS, will become Chief Executive Officer of the combined company and Gary Parsons, currently Chairman of XM, will become Chairman of the combined company. The new company's board of directors will consist of 12 directors, including Messrs. Karmazin and Parsons, four independent members designated by each company, as well as one representative from each of General Motors and American Honda. Hugh Panero, the Chief Executive Officer of XM, will continue in his current role until the anticipated close of the merger.
The combined company will benefit from a highly experienced management team from both companies with extensive industry knowledge in radio, media, consumer electronics, OEM engineering and technology. Further management appointments will be announced prior to closing. The companies will continue to operate independently until the transaction is completed and will work together to determine the combined company's corporate name and headquarters location prior to closing.
The combination creates a nationwide audio entertainment provider with combined 2006 revenues of approximately $1.5 billion based on analysts' consensus estimates. Today the companies have approximately 14 million combined subscribers. Together, SIRIUS and XM will create a stronger platform for future innovation within the audio entertainment industry and will provide significant benefits to all constituencies, including:
* Greater Programming and Content Choices -- The combined company is
committed to consumer choice, including offering consumers the ability
to pick and choose the channels and content they want on a more a la
carte basis. The combined company will also provide consumers with a
broader selection of content, including a wide range of commercial-free
music channels, exclusive and non-exclusive sports coverage, news,
talk, and entertainment programming. Together, XM and SIRIUS will be
able to improve on products such as real-time traffic and rear-seat
video and introduce new ones such as advanced data services including
enhanced traffic, weather and infotainment offerings.
* Accelerated Technological Innovation -- The merger will enable the
combined company to develop and introduce a wider range of lower cost,
easy-to-use, and multi-functional devices through efficiencies in chip
set and radio design and procurement. Such innovation is essential to
remaining competitive in the consumer electronics-driven world of audio
entertainment.
* Benefits to OEM and Retail Partners -- The combined company will offer
automakers and retailers the opportunity to provide a broader content
offering to their customers. Consumer electronics retailers, including
Best Buy, Circuit City, RadioShack, Wal-Mart and others, will benefit
from enhanced product offerings that should allow satellite radio to
compete more effectively.
* Enhanced Financial Performance -- This transaction will enhance the
long-term financial success of satellite radio by allowing the combined
company to better manage its costs through sales and marketing and
subscriber acquisition efficiencies, satellite fleet synergies, combined
R&D and other benefits from economies of scale. Wall Street equity
analysts have published estimates of the present value of cost synergies
ranging from $3 billion to $7 billion.
* More Competitive Audio Entertainment Provider -- The combination of an
enhanced programming lineup with improved technology, distribution and
financials will better position satellite radio to compete for
consumers' attention and entertainment dollars against a host of
products and services in the highly competitive and rapidly evolving
audio entertainment marketplace. In addition to existing competition
from free "over-the-air" AM and FM radio as well as iPods and mobile
phone streaming, satellite radio will face new challenges from the rapid
growth of HD Radio, Internet radio and next generation wireless
technologies."We are excited for the many opportunities that an XM and SIRIUS combination will provide consumers," said Gary Parsons, Chairman of XM Satellite Radio and Hugh Panero, CEO of XM Satellite Radio, in a joint statement. "The combined company will be better positioned to compete effectively with the continually expanding array of entertainment alternatives that consumers have embraced since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) first granted our satellite radio licenses a decade ago."
"This combination is the next logical step in the evolution of audio entertainment," said Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS Satellite Radio. "Together, our best-in-class management team and programming content will create unprecedented choice for consumers, while creating long-term value for shareholders of both companies. The combined company will be positioned to capitalize on SIRIUS and XM's complementary distribution and licensing agreements to enhance availability of satellite radios, offer expanded content to subscribers, drive increased advertising revenue and reduce expenses. Each of our companies has a strong commitment to providing listeners the broadest range of music, news, sports and entertainment and the best customer service possible. We look forward to sharing the benefits of the exciting new growth opportunities this combination will provide with all of our stakeholders."
The transaction is subject to approval by both companies' shareholders, the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and regulatory review and approvals, including antitrust agencies and the FCC. Pending regulatory approval, the companies expect the transaction to be completed by the end of 2007.
SIRIUS's financial advisor on the transaction is Morgan Stanley and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Wiley Rein LLP are acting as legal counsel. XM's financial advisor on the transaction is J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; Jones Day; and Latham & Watkins LLP are acting as legal counsel.
Conference Call and Webcast Information
The companies will hold a joint conference call and webcast on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 8:30 AM ET to discuss this announcement. The conference call can be monitored by dialing 800-573-4840 within the U.S. and 617-224-4326 for all other locations, passcode 29490052. The webcast can be accessed at http://www.sirius.com/ and http://www.xmradio.com/ as well as on their satellite radio services by tuning to SIRIUS channel 122 and XM channel 200. The webcast will be archived at http://www.sirius.com/ and http://www.xmradio.com/.
About SIRIUS
SIRIUS, "The Best Radio on Radio," delivers more than 130 channels of the best programming in all of radio. SIRIUS is the original and only home of 100% commercial free music channels in satellite radio, offering 69 music channels. SIRIUS also delivers 65 channels of sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather and data. SIRIUS is the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, NASCAR, NBA and NHL, and broadcasts live play-by-play games of the NFL, NBA and NHL, as well as live NASCAR races. All SIRIUS programming is available for a monthly subscription fee of only $12.95.
SIRIUS Internet Radio (SIR) is a CD-quality, Internet-only version of the SIRIUS radio service, without the use of a radio, for the monthly subscription fee of $12.95. SIR delivers more than 75 channels of talk, entertainment, sports, and 100% commercial free music.
SIRIUS products for the car, truck, home, RV and boat are available in more than 25,000 retail locations, including Best Buy, Circuit City, Crutchfield, Costco, Target, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, RadioShack and at http://shop.sirius.com/.
SIRIUS radios are offered in vehicles from Audi, Bentley, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Infiniti, Jaguar, Jeep®, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercury, Maybach, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Rolls Royce, Scion, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo. Hertz also offers SIRIUS in its rental cars at major locations around the country.
Click on http://www.sirius.com/ to listen to SIRIUS live, or to purchase a SIRIUS radio and subscription.
About XM
XM (NASDAQ: XMSR) is America's number one satellite radio company with more than 7.6 million subscribers. Broadcasting live daily from studios in Washington, DC, New York City, Chicago, the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Toronto and Montreal, XM's 2007 lineup includes more than 170 digital channels of choice from coast to coast: commercial-free music, premier sports, news, talk radio, comedy, children's and entertainment programming; and the most advanced traffic and weather information.
XM, the leader in satellite-delivered entertainment and data services for the automobile market through partnerships with General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota is available in 140 different vehicle models for 2007. XM's industry-leading products are available at consumer electronics retailers nationwide. For more information about XM hardware, programming and partnerships, please visit http://www.xmradio.com/.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of the business combination transaction involving Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., including potential synergies and cost savings and the timing thereof, future financial and operating results, the combined company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future operations, products and services; and other statements identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "will," "should," "may," or words of similar meaning. Such forward- looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of SIRIUS' and XM's management and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of SIRIUS and XM. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements.
The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statement: general business and economic conditions; the performance of financial markets and interest rates; the ability to obtain governmental approvals of the transaction on a timely basis; the failure of SIRIUS and XM shareholders to approve the transaction; the failure to realize synergies and cost-savings from the transaction or delay in realization thereof; the businesses of SIRIUS and XM may not be combined successfully, or such combination may take longer, be more difficult, time-consuming or costly to accomplish than expected; and operating costs and business disruption following the merger, including adverse effects on employee retention and on our business relationships with third parties, including manufacturers of radios, retailers, automakers and programming providers. Additional factors that could cause SIRIUS' and XM's results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in SIRIUS' and XM's Annual Reports on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2006, June 30, 2006 and September 30, 2006 which are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov/). The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and Sirius and XM disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release.
Important Additional Information Will be Filed with the SEC
This communication is being made in respect of the proposed business combination involving SIRIUS and XM. In connection with the proposed transaction, SIRIUS plans to file with the SEC a Registration Statement on Form S-4 containing a Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus and each of SIRIUS and XM plan to file with the SEC other documents regarding the proposed transaction. The definitive Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus will be mailed to stockholders of SIRIUS and XM. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF SIRIUS AND XM ARE URGED TO READ THE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.
Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the Registration Statement and the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus (when available) and other documents filed with the SEC by SIRIUS and XM through the web site maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov/. Free copies of the Registration Statement and the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus (when available) and other documents filed with the SEC can also be obtained by directing a request to Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, Attention: Investor Relations or by directing a request to XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., 1500 Eckington Place, NE Washington, DC 20002, Attention: Investor Relations.
SIRIUS, XM and their respective directors and executive officers and other persons may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed transaction. Information regarding SIRIUS' directors and executive officers is available in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, which was filed with the SEC on March 13, 2006, and its proxy statement for its 2006 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 21, 2006, and information regarding XM's directors and executive officers is available in XM's Annual Report on Form 10-K, for the year ended December 31, 2005, which was filed with the SEC on March 3, 2006 and its proxy statement for its 2006 annual meeting of shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 25, 2006. Other information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC when they become available.
steverobertson
02-19-07, 04:23 PM
Thanks steve.
I'll be adding quite a few more favorite TV writers and critics in the days ahead.
Fred just a thought maybe you can add the link to your links on your signature?
By the way I am gracing your thread with my 3k post.
Good idea steve, I'll add to to my sig a bit later.
And congrats on 3,000! Glad you chose this forum for your celebratory post!
steverobertson
02-19-07, 04:35 PM
Good idea steve, I'll add to to my sig a bit later.
And congrats on 3,000! Glad you chose this forum for your celebratory post!
Thanks Fred I figured you deserved it LOL
archiguy
02-19-07, 04:53 PM
I understand that Fredfa, its just that ESPN forces Dave Ryan on the PBA, he is probably the worst announcer ever, so it would be nice if ESPN would throw the PBA a bone. Dave Ryan never shuts his mouth, and knows absolutely nothing about bowling. The PBA is struggling financially as it is, prize funds were cut this year, so I doubt they would put out the capital for HD. It would be nice, I just don't see it happening for awhile.
Wow, I couldn't disagree more. In my humble opinion, Dave Ryan and Randy Peterson form one of the premiere announcing duos in any sport. (Adding Norm Duke to the broadcast team this year was a bad move as he adds nothing and only crowds the booth. Three's definitely a crowd in this case.) Ryan knows the sport extremely well, never runs his mouth unless he has something worthwhile to say, and has terrific chemistry with Peterson who's an extremely likable color man. But Ryan is right up there with the great Chris Schenkle, IMO.
I had not heard that prize money was cut this year, however. I thought the PBA was on a more sound financial footing since the big overhaul a few years back. I wonder if ESPN is happy with the ratings? I've never seen any numbers for the bowling telecasts. Man, it would be awesome if they'd go HD, but like you, I can't see that happening for awhile.
Official Press Release:
SIRIUS and XM to Combine in $13 Billion Merger of Equals
Provides Consumers with Enhanced Content, Greater Choices and Accelerated Technological Innovation
Web site: http://www.xmradio.com/
http://www.sirius.com/
http://shop.sirius.com/
I wonder how this will affect the music channel agreements XM has with D* and SIRIUS has with E*.
mbarloewen
02-19-07, 05:34 PM
TV Sports
ESPN Dramatically Increases HD Production
In its February 19 issue, Sports Business Journal reports that “In a nod to the growing popularity of its high-definition broadcasts, ESPN plans to produce all game coverage from seven sports entirely in HD this year.
The commitment means that ESPN’s event programming of the NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR, MLS, college football and the National Hot Rod Association will be completely in HD this year.
College basketball will not get the 24-7 HD treatment, although its 150 planned HD telecasts — out of 400 games — is the biggest amount of HD games for a single sport on ESPN….”
Fred, is there a link to the Sports business journal website?
This is the closest us MLS fans have come to seeing confirmation that the matches will definitly be broadcast in HD this upcoming season...
Great thread as always...
I think SBJ is subscription based...?
mbarloewen
02-19-07, 06:02 PM
I think SBJ is subscription based...?
Looks like you are right. Never mind Fred.
Great news for HD sports fans, that's for sure.
Sorry I have been away.
Yes SBJ is $249 a year.
Just another cross I bear to bring you all the latest. :)
By the way, mbarloewen, do you know if HDNet will be broadcasting MLS games again, or does the new ESPN deal give the Bristol folks exclusivity?
mbarloewen
02-19-07, 07:06 PM
By the way, mbarloewen, do you know if HDNet will be broadcasting MLS games again, or does the new ESPN deal give the Bristol folks exclusivity?
HDNET is again broadcasting MLS matches. ESPN2 does not have exclusivity. What ESPN2 does get is hand picked in advance matches scheduled on Thursday nights that are only available on ESPN2. (expect to see a lot of Beckham and the smaller soccer specific stadiums that look much better on TV as they are mostly full as opposed to mostly empty NFL stadiums)
The HDnet games are only available in HD on HDNet but similar to NHL hockey they are often available in other ways such as regional sports broadcasts or on Fox soccer channel...
For those of us lucky enough to have HDnet and ESPN2hd, we've got a lot of matches to look forward to.
Mike
Thanks for the info Mike.
Critic’s Notebook
“Jericho” bucks the odds…
…gains success
By Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury News February 19, 2007
Of all the serialized dramas that debuted last fall, CBS's ``Jericho'' had the dubious distinction of being the odds-on favorite for the quickest exit.
The series -- set in a small Kansas town, post-nuclear apocalypse -- simply didn't seem to have much going for it.
The pilot was relentlessly grim, drawing a tepid reaction from critics. It had a tough early evening time slot (``Hey, hon, let's watch some nuclear destruction right after dinner!''). It was on CBS, which relies heavily on traditional procedurals for its considerable ratings success and hasn't done well with sci-fi shows in the recent past (anyone remember ``Threshold''?).
But here we are in February, and while many highly touted serials have disappeared from the airwaves, ``Jericho'' (which returns at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Chs. 5, 46, with new episodes) is hanging in there very nicely.
While not a smash hit like NBC's ``Heroes,'' the series has built an average weekly audience of 10.7 million, a not-inconsiderable achievement opposite ``Dancing With the Stars.'' It also is CBS's No. 1 show in terms of Web traffic and generates at least a small measure of buzz, something the network craves but rarely gets.
Still, there's the question of why the lightly regarded ``Jericho'' has succeeded where other serialized dramas (``Smith,'' ``Vanished,'' ``Kidnapped'') have failed. It's an interesting case of how to take a potentially fragile premise and craft it into a solid, if not spectacular, bit of entertainment.
A) It keeps things simple.
Executive producer Jon Turteltaub thinks ``the premise of the show'' -- a tightly knit community pulling together to survive after a nuclear holocaust -- ``is easy to understand and intriguing.''
While the show has a mythology and all kinds of unanswered questions about the attack, the creators haven't overloaded it with vast conspiracies and dense subplots. If you dial out of ``Jericho'' for a week, you don't have to worry much about catching up.
It also (B) keeps the nuclear destruction at a distance.
All that the Jericho townspeople -- and the viewers -- know of the vast destruction so far is a brief snippet of video from a Chinese television station, some messages left on answering machines and descriptions provided by attack survivors who manage to make it to the relative safety of the town.
That was a conscious decision on the part of writers who, says executive producer Carol Barbee, drew their inspiration from the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina. ``We watched the end of the world on CNN. It wasn't in our neighborhood. We watched it from afar. But it looked pretty awful, and we knew in some way that it was going to reverberate into our lives.''
The show even © manages to be uplifting.
Especially in the wake of Katrina, many Americans aren't confident in the government's ability to respond to disasters. So there's something appealing in the way the townspeople -- even while struggling with their fears -- pull together in an effort to maintain a certain normalcy, whether harvesting corn crops, holding a mayoral election or throwing a Halloween party for the sake of the town's children.
``With `Jericho,' I don't think you feel doom and gloom,'' Barbee says. ``I think you feel empowered.''
In fact, ``Jericho'' comes off many episodes as more family drama than fantasy thriller. The central family in the show -- the town's mayor (Gerald McRaney), his wife (Pamela Reed) and their two sons (Skeet Ulrich and Kenneth Mitchell) -- is a loving unit that manages to deal each week not just with outside events but also with such everyday crises as family secrets, divorce, growing old and rekindling old loves.
``There's a segment of our audience who loves that stuff,'' Barbee says, ``and misses it when we're focusing on the mythology.''
Finally, ``Jericho'' (D) has a character that really ``popped.''
Even though it has a large ensemble cast, ``Jericho'' owes much of its success to the mysterious and seemingly dangerous Robert Hawkins, a newcomer to Jericho who may have played a role in the attack. (His involvement is somewhat clarified in this week's episode, which follows the key characters during the 36 hours leading up to the nuclear explosions.)
As played with nuance and a deft sense of character by the splendid British actor Lennie James in his first American series, Hawkins provides a fulcrum for the intersection of the show's family drama and post-holocaust mythology. The only character with a link to outside events, he's the guy who most often moves the story line forward, sometimes for the betterment of the town, sometimes not.
As it begins the second half of its season, ``Jericho'' does face some problems.
The show has been away for almost three months. Wednesday's episode will be a key indicator of how its audience will return after the long break. It still hasn't broken through as much with younger viewers as CBS would like. (The average age of a ``Jericho'' viewer is 51; for ``Heroes, it's 36.)
And how much longer the writers can credibly keep Jericho isolated from the outside world -- and where the story goes from here -- are open to question.
But at least, given the series' initial success, no one is betting against it anymore.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/16732211.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Critic’s Notebook
'Friday Night Lights,' NBC's unsung champ
Low-rated high school drama is always on its game
By Paul Brownfield Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 20, 2007
It's the storylines that tell you how good "Friday Night Lights" has become. They're rich, swirling around one another in a kind of perpetual motion.
The NBC drama is ostensibly about the outsized importance of the high school football team in a small Texas town; this is the easiest entry point for anyone who hasn't yet seen the show (and there are, alas, many of you).
The series, which is flirting with cancellation, is based on a movie — a specific one, "Friday Night Lights," which was itself based on a book. The show, which airs Wednesday nights at 8, is fluid and involving, so much so that you forget that its cast is, yes, probably too good-looking.
Within this conceit, though, the series has a remarkably balanced tapestry of characters and an egalitarian interest in developing each of them. "Friday Night Lights" began with the glory/tragedy duality of sports — in the pilot, the Dillon Panthers' star quarterback, Jason Street (Scott Porter), was paralyzed from the waist down and was relieved by the scrawny backup, Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford), who came in to throw the winning touchdown.
Since then the show, refreshingly, hasn't been about glory or tragedy — just the incremental stuff of life in the town. "Friday Night Lights" is arguably the most intimate series on network television, thanks to a stellar cast and a cinematic style — lots of hand-held camera and quick cuts — that make you feel like a fly on the wall behind various closed doors.
Those doors don't lead to fussy, VIP places — the counter-terrorism unit headquarters on Fox's "24" or one of the Mode magazine offices on ABC's "Ugly Betty." In creating place, "Friday Night Lights" moves briskly from Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) watching game film in his office, to good ol' boy Buddy Garrity (Brad Leland) at his car dealership, to the paralyzed Street getting a driving lesson from his wheelchair-bound buddy Herc (Kevin Rankin).
It's all pretty breezy and effortless, and it feels located. Dillon is a drive-through town, somewhere off the interstate taking you to Dallas or Austin, and lots of episodes feature iconic shots of hardscrabble Dillon speeding by while the local sports talk radio guy is heard second-guessing play calls and hand-wringing over the next big game.
Cannily, "Friday Night Lights" is about sports in precisely the way professional sports has evolved — as an all-week referendum on personality and back story (most sports talk radio is not about a game but about whether a coach should be hired or fired or whether a player is on drugs, or, currently, whether it's good or bad that a former NBA player has come out as gay).
It's all gossipy stuff, and so, on "Friday Night Lights," the games have become secondary; some episodes pass without one, and in recent weeks Coach Taylor has dealt less with Xs and O's and more with a player on steroids, a 15-year-old daughter on the brink of sleeping with Saracen, the team's quarterback, and a racist comment by a coach.
In that episode, the team was roiled by a boilerplate quote given the media by the team's longtime assistant coach, in which he mused that black players have "a natural gift for running the ball," because they're "fearless, dangerous, like junkyard dogs."
As a story about racism in the workplace, the episode found its energy in the gray area of a sports cliché. So too did an episode in which a blue-chip black quarterback and Hurricane Katrina victim joined the team to buff his recruiting résumé.
Coach Taylor kind of deals with these controversies the way Coach Reeves on "The White Shadow" did, by furrowing his brow and putting his hands on his hips and hoping that the whole thing blows over by game time. The White Shadow was a bachelor; but on "Friday Night Lights," the best scenes involve the mutual support between Taylor and his wife, a guidance counselor played by Connie Britton. (It's the most unfussy portrayal of a marriage on television).
All of this sophistication unfolds in a red state. Dillon is Middle America but without the condescension that the phrase implies; the mayor is a lesbian, for instance, and Garrity who cares way too much about the Panthers, is terrified that his cheerleader daughter, Lyla (Minka Kelly), is going to go off with Street, the paralyzed quarterback.
Throughout, "Friday Night Lights" artfully contextualizes its sense of place and feels into the political climate of America. Although the show has only one character in Iraq, the father of the Dillon Panthers quarterback Saracen, you can all but feel the parking lot of the Wal-Mart where military recruiters are stationed. And you can all but feel the daily, off-stage improvements and setbacks of the war-maimed in the character of Street.
But they're all, at bottom, good kids with a finite amount of options on "Friday Night Lights," and it is from this unspectacular, unsalable premise that the series sparkles like it's game night.
http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-ontv20feb20,0,3703195,print.story?coll=cl-tv-features
Yes SBJ is $249 a year.
Just another cross I bear to bring you all the latest. :)
On behalf of others here at AVS I thank you for bearing that cross.
I am not excited for Jericho at all. As I mention in the other thread.. the extremely long hiatus killed the excitiment I had for this show.
Quite frankly I really don't care what happens now. I may still tune in.. but the anticipation is truly gone.
shuttermaker
02-19-07, 11:29 PM
I am not excited for Jericho at all. As I mention in the other thread.. the extremely long hiatus killed the excitiment I had for this show.
Quite frankly I really don't care what happens now. I may still tune in.. but the anticipation is truly gone.
So just for kicks lets say it didnt have the long hiatus. Would you still be saying the same thing when the new fall season begins and youve had months away from it during the summer?
Im looking forward to it ramping up again. I could be wrong but i think i read here that Heroes will be off for awhile after the March 5 episode? Thats gonna suck. Tonights show was good and tomorrows looks REALLY good.
More of Some Favorite Links
I’ve upgraded my favorite TV links with a number of additions. But it remains a work in progress and will be expanded, updated, and edited frequently.
So it is still just a start.
You'll find it (it is post #7 in this thread) here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4278624&&#post4278624
So just for kicks lets say it didnt have the long hiatus. Would you still be saying the same thing when the new fall season begins and youve had months away from it during the summer?
Im looking forward to it ramping up again. I could be wrong but i think i read here that Heroes will be off for awhile after the March 5 episode? Thats gonna suck. Tonights show was good and tomorrows looks REALLY good.
Totally different...
They took a break during the season..
TV Notebook
For Fox’s Rivals, ‘American Idol’ Remains a ‘Schoolyard Bully’
By Bill Carter The New York Times February 20, 2007
Listening to the Fox network’s competitors describe what “American Idol” has done to the television landscape is not unlike listening to a group of quavering readers offer a synopsis of a Stephen King novel:
Once a year an unrelenting monster invades a town, and all the townspeople, cowed by years of being crushed under its massive claws, have to pay it fealty or run off and hide until it goes back into a six-month hibernation.
Kelly Kahl, the chief scheduler for CBS, summed up the “Idol” factor this way: “This is a big monolith sitting out there. It’s the ultimate schoolyard bully.”
If any of Fox’s rivals had hopes that this year might signal some hint that the monster — NBC favors the term Death Star — would finally betray some sign of weakness, those hopes were dispelled in just a week. Most television shows, no matter how successful, fall off sometime after their second or third season, but against all expectations, and most of the historic record of network television, “American Idol” has come back for its sixth season bigger and stronger than ever.
Last year at this time, five weeks into its season, “American Idol” was roaring along as television’s most-watched show, with an average of 31.7 million viewers (up substantially from its fourth season, when it averaged 28.3 million viewers over the same five weeks).
Improbably, this season the show has done even better, averaging 33.5 million viewers over its first five weeks. For perspective, at this point “Idol” could lose half its audience and still rank among the top 10 shows on television. And no one dares predict when this phenomenon will fade.
“Idol” is creating ever more powerful shock waves. A growing number of television executives have begun to regard “American Idol” as a programming force unlike any seen before. Jeff Zucker, the new chief executive of NBC Universal, said, “I think ‘Idol’ is the most impactful show in the history of television.”
That takes in a lot of time and territory, but there is ample justification for the assessment, beginning with those raw numbers. Bringing in well over 30 million viewers for each installment in a television universe filled with hundreds of channels is an undeniable feat. Just about everything else in television loses viewers every year; not “Idol.”
Other top-rated shows have demonstrated similar dominance in the past. “The Cosby Show” in the 1980s, for example, regularly attracted about half of the available audience.
Still, that show accounted for just one half-hour of one night every week. “American Idol” has filled up to four hours on two nights for Fox so far this season. And starting tonight, it will occupy three nights a week for three weeks, expanding its reach beyond its regular Tuesday and Wednesday nights to a Thursday hour as well. There it will presumably take a serious bite out of “Survivor,” “Ugly Betty,” “My Name Is Earl” and “The Office.”
That is the last thing CBS, NBC and ABC want to see happen. One fallout from the overpowering performances of “Idol” on Tuesday and Wednesday nights has been a circling of the programming wagons on Monday and Thursday nights. A collection of the strongest shows the other networks program has been piling up on those two nights, out of fear that they would be chewed up by “American Idol.”
The most notable recent example of a show’s being rescheduled out of danger was ABC’s decision to protect its own reality series “Dancing With the Stars” from having to compete directly with “Idol.”
“Dancing” was a runaway hit last fall, when it played for 90 minutes on Tuesdays and an hour on Wednesdays. When it returns next month, it will be seen at 8 on Mondays, a night with no episodes of “Idol,” and at 9 on Tuesdays — just as “Idol” goes off the air.
ABC executives declined to comment on the influence “Idol” has had on their scheduling. But executives at two of the other networks noted that ABC probably had the best programming counter to “Idol” in “Dancing,” yet clearly wanted no part of that showdown.
Similarly, last winter NBC moved its promising comedies “Earl” and “The Office” from Tuesday nights, where they had thrived, to Thursday, partly to escape the annual January “Idol” invasion. ABC and NBC have mostly backed off from any serious challenge to “Idol,” relying on repeats, low-rated comedies and news magazines as cannon fodder in the hours “Idol” is on the air.
Only CBS has managed to eke out respectable ratings numbers versus “American Idol,” relying on a couple of its steady crime dramas: “NCIS” on Tuesday and “Criminal Minds” on Wednesday.
“In a way we feel a little bit lucky to have two shows that basically hit our average ratings against it,” Mr. Kahl, CBS’s chief scheduler, said. “We don’t feel quite the doom and gloom that the other guys feel. We’re lucky. We don’t get nuked.”
ABC, on the other hand, went into retreat this month with one of its signature hit series, “Lost,” moving it from 9 p.m. on Wednesdays to 10 p.m., when it no longer has to face “Idol.”
One senior network executive said the shadow “American Idol” casts was so formidable that “we have ‘Idol’ strategy sessions.” The executive asked not to be identified because the network did not want to acknowledge openly the impact “Idol” was having. “We realize we’ve got to be very, very practical” in dealing with the threat that “Idol” poses to new and promising shows, the executive said.
This has proved especially true, the executive noted, with comedy, a genre that has become especially fragile on television. The prospect that “American Idol” will arrive every January on Tuesday and Wednesday nights means that any show introduced on those nights in September is living on borrowed time — and ratings.
That makes things especially hard for ABC, which has no half-hour comedy shows on any other night.
At Fox, executives are doing no boasting at all, perhaps realizing that this kind of phenomenon cannot be planned. And, indeed, the story of Fox’s initial reluctance to put “American Idol” on the air is now well known. Far from beating their chests, Fox executives seem in awe of what the show has wrought.
“When you have it, you don’t quite grasp it when you come in in the morning and see those ratings,” said Preston Beckman, the chief scheduler for Fox.
The show’s impact on Fox has been disproportionate, even with all the hours that it fills between January and May every year. Fox is a network with only 15 prime-time hours, as opposed to the 22 that ABC, NBC and CBS program each week. (Fox’s nightly schedule ends an hour earlier than theirs.) Adding the enormous “Idol” ratings raises its network average much more quickly.
Fox has ranked fourth and last for much of this season. Now it wins most weeks, and it probably will for most of the rest of the television season.
The show has also begun to extend its sphere of influence. Fox is using “American Idol” to enhance other shows around it. The already strong drama “House” has recently grown into the highest-rated scripted show on television, thanks in large part to its post-“Idol” slot on Tuesdays.
A newer drama, “Bones,” has seen its ratings rise in the past month because it gets some early tune-in on Wednesday nights, when it plays at 8 p.m., just before “Idol.” And Fox has plans to build a new game show, “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?,” into a hit by placing it behind “Idol” many times in the coming weeks.
A new show could hardly get a better opportunity to find viewers quickly. One competing executive noted that the numbers Fox has been getting weekly from “Idol” almost amount to the equivalent of having the Super Bowl on every week.
Fox executives look at it much the same way. “It really is an event every year,” Mr. Beckman said. “Really, it doesn’t feel like a TV show sometimes. It’s like the Super Bowl. It’s like a big sporting event. Sometimes it almost feels like it’s bigger than Fox. At some point in the year, it’s just time for ‘Idol.’ ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/arts/television/20idol.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=television&pagewanted=print
Critic’s Notebook
” Studio 60”:
Apparently, that's all there is
By Alan Sepinwall of the Newark Star-Ledger in his TV blog “What’s Alan Watching” Tuesday, February 20, 2007
So was that the last we'll see of this show on NBC's airwaves? There are still six episodes either in the can or in the process of being made, and a lot of time left in the TV season for some other NBC show to fail and create a hole in the schedule. Hell, "Black Donnellys" could wind up doing an even worse number next week and we'll see "Studio 60" back on Mondays in a month. TV is a wacky, wacky business, though the wackiness Sorkin has generally tried to depict is more of the headless baby doll variety than the capriciousness of both the public and network executives.
The nice people at Throwing Things http://throwingthings.blogspot.com/2007_02_18_archive.html#8170332384051025997#8170332384051025 997 are doing a post-mortem on where Sorkin went wrong in general, but I feel like I've done that 15 or 16 times already, so I'll just stick to this episode.
Start with Matt's bad crack in the schoolyard hallucinations, which last week were considered a major M. Night Shyamalan-level crisis, and here were quickly turned into a joke about Matt's ultimate sexual fantasy appearing in front of him right before the opening titles began. And, frankly, I think the lawyer (from Sam Seaborn's old firm of Gage Whitney) would have worked better as a figment, because her omniscience about all things Matt got old in a big damn hurry.
Then there was the suggestion that Harriet Hayes -- the beautiful, allegedly talented, allegedly beloved star of a broadcast TV network's flagship series -- can boil her romantic choices in life down to two men: the immature bullying ass, or the immature bullying ass. If I was Harriet, I'd be playing that Anita Pallenberg scene for real. If the kiss at the end was supposed to seem like Harriet following Danny's suggestion and humoring Matt, it worked; if it was supposed to convey any kind of real feeling between the two of them, not so much.
And, of course, the notion that the writers' room thrives on Samuel Taylor Coleridge trivia contests, or that Matt's only problem with a sketch about the Freemasons would be their inability to do research on it. I'm sure the folks in Bristol had some fun pointing out the inaccuracies and dramatic license in "Sports Night," but "Studio 60" must be one non-stop drinking game for the people who work at 30 Rock (either the address or the show).
Finally, there's Jordan buying a robot baby and not even acknowledging the fact that, with her schedule and income, a nanny's going to be doing the bulk of the child-rearing. The bit where Danny left the room and Tom immediately started holding the doll upside down by the ankle was funny, though, as were the eyes bugging out and scaring the bejeesus out of Jordan.
The sexual harassment story, inspired no doubt by a lawsuit from a woman who worked on Matthew Perry's last TV series, at least felt like something relevant to what this show is kinda sorta supposed to be about, as well as something that might turn into an interesting two or three-episode runner if NBC sees fit to bring it back. In particular, I liked Matt's acknowledgment that, while he wouldn't allow that kind of talk in his writers' room, other perfectly funny shows would. If nothing else, maybe Evan Handler and Carlos Jacott will pop up on the inevitable DVD.
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2007/02/studio-60-apparently-thats-all-there-is.html
Was there any uptick for "Studio 60" in the overnight ratings?
Monday’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 second post in this thread.
Technology Notebook
San Francisco’s KGO Launches Hi-Def News
32nd HD Local News Operation; 5th ABC O&O
By Glen Dickson Broadcasting & Cable 2/20/2007
KGO San Francisco launched high-definition newscasts Saturday, Feb. 17, becoming the second station in the No. 5 market to broadcast high-definition newscasts, after Cox station and Fox affiliate KTVU.
KGO is the 32nd station nationwide to offer HD news, following recent launches by WTVF Nashville, WFAA Dallas and KTLA Los Angeles, and the fifth ABC owned-and-operated station to do so. It will provide 33.5 hours of HD news weekly, along with five hours of local entertainment (the daily View from the Bay talk show) and an hour of local affairs programming.
"We’ve been closely examining what the shots look like and what the set looks like, and have made distinct changes to really take advantage of what HD can do," says David Salinger, KGO VP of programming and creative. He says the station has been planning the HD switch since July 2006.
KGO, which first deployed a hi-def helicopter last year, has reworked its news studio by moving the anchor desk and installing Ikegami HD cameras with Canon lenses, Christie HD projection systems, and VizRT HD graphics. For now, field production will be handled in widescreen standard-definition and upconverted.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6417476
Critic’s Notebook
Battle of “Jericho”:
Will split season help or hurt?
By Hal Boedeker Orlando Sentinel Television Critic February 20, 2007
To split or not to split? That is the question facing broadcasters with hit dramas this season.
ABC divided the season of Lost in two. The drama aired six episodes in the fall, left the air for three months, then returned Feb. 7. The plan: Air 16 fresh installments in a row.
The results have been discouraging. Lost averaged 17.8 million viewers in the fall. The average for two episodes that have aired in February has fallen to 13.7 million.
CBS' Jericho tries to make the split season work when it returns at 8 ET/PT on Wednesday. The drama focuses on a Kansas town struggling to survive after nuclear bombs devastate the nation. Jericho offered 11 episodes in the fall and became a surprise hit, averaging 10.8 million viewers.
This week, Jericho tries to lure viewers back with a compelling episode about life shortly before the bombs exploded. Fans gain critical insights into heroic Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich) and mysterious Robert Hawkins (Lennie James).
But there's an ominous sign: When Jericho presented a recap special last week, just 7.4 million tuned in.
Broadcasters are devising various strategies to spread a 22- or 24-episode series over a 36-week season. One reason for slicing up the show's run: avoiding repeats. Serialized dramas such as Lost perform poorly in reruns. Crime dramas such as CSI, which wrap up their main stories each week, stand up better in repeats.
So what to do to keep the faithful tuned to a serial? Fox holds 24 till January and airs fresh episodes through May (Lost might mimic that scheduling next season). That compressed approach heightens the tension for fans of agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), whose family life plays like a Greek tragedy this season.
NBC has chopped Heroes into several chunks. A string of new episodes is airing in the February ratings period. The show will go into repeats in March, then return with six fresh installments to wrap up the season.
That scheduling is paying off despite a sprawling plot and a large roster of characters. Heroes is the most-watched series introduced in the fall; it averages 14.5 million viewers each week. And Heroes is succeeding at 9 p.m. Mondays against the established 24.
A split season clearly has hurt Lost. The drama bored some fans in the fall with punishing episodes about the Others and their torture of Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway). Shifting the series to a later hour, 10 p.m. Wednesdays, means fewer young viewers can watch at that time.
Still, Lost remains capable of quality, original drama. The series offered one of its finest episodes last week, an eerie look at Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) and fate. The episode compared favorably to the best of The Twilight Zone. Unfortunately, only 12.8 million watched.
What will the split season mean for Jericho? That series drew many negative reviews in the fall for treating an apocalyptic premise in mundane terms.
Yet Wednesday's return suggests the series has improved dramatically; it's as if you're watching a different show. Maybe the future for Jericho isn't so dire, even after those nuclear explosions.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/orl-jericho_107feb20,0,1197316,print.story?coll=orl-caltvtop
shuttermaker
02-20-07, 11:27 AM
Technology Notebook
San Francisco’s KGO Launches Hi-Def News
32nd HD Local News Operation; 5th ABC O&O
By Glen Dickson Broadcasting & Cable 2/20/2007
KGO San Francisco launched high-definition newscasts Saturday, Feb. 17, becoming the second station in the No. 5 market to broadcast high-definition newscasts, after Cox station and Fox affiliate KTVU.
KGO is the 32nd station nationwide to offer HD news, following recent launches by WTVF Nashville, WFAA Dallas and KTLA Los Angeles, and the fifth ABC owned-and-operated station to do so. It will provide 33.5 hours of HD news weekly, along with five hours of local entertainment (the daily View from the Bay talk show) and an hour of local affairs programming.
"We’ve been closely examining what the shots look like and what the set looks like, and have made distinct changes to really take advantage of what HD can do," says David Salinger, KGO VP of programming and creative. He says the station has been planning the HD switch since July 2006.
KGO, which first deployed a hi-def helicopter last year, has reworked its news studio by moving the anchor desk and installing Ikegami HD cameras with Canon lenses, Christie HD projection systems, and VizRT HD graphics. For now, field production will be handled in widescreen standard-definition and upconverted.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6417476
Anybody have any insight on what the initial startup costs are for local news broadcasts to be done in HD?
It varies wildly (how much infrastructure needs to be revamped, will there be an HD Chopper, how many news crews, editing suites, etc) but it seems like $3 million-$5 million appears to be the ballpark.
Many stations seem to be upgrading in their more or less normal cycle of updating their equipment -- which is every five years or so.
I am sure KEnglish and foxeng could give us better insights.
Yesterday’s fast national over night prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted near the top of Ratings News the second post in this thread.
It varies wildly (how much infrastructure needs to be revamped, will there be an HD Chopper, how many news crews, editing suites, etc) but it seems like $3 million-$5 million appears to be the ballpark.
Many stations seem to be upgrading in their more or less normal cycle of updating their equipment -- which is every five years or so.
I am sure KEnglish and foxeng could give us better insights.
Studio wise and nothing else (cameras and switcher not including anything else), less than a 1 million but that doesn't get the signal out of the studio!! 3 to 5 mil is about right. And you are correct, stations are not willing to cough up those kinds of dollars on the heels of about the same amount for a new transmission facility within the last 4 years or so. They are adding HD pieces as old things wear out and are updated. And as time moves on, the prices continue to come down.
dmedina
02-20-07, 02:01 PM
Are HD channels still not "counted" in Nielsen ratings?
Not a dumb question at all, Dave.
I'll check with Nielsen and get the answer directly from the horse's mouth.
OK, Dave, here is what Nielsen says:
"If someone has a high def set, they are definitely in our sample."
A press spokesman told me "we don't (yet) break out specific High Def ratings, but our sample accurately reflects the numbers of High Def households."
I asked him if that would be somewhere between 20 and 25 per cent of the nation's TV homes and he replied that that "sounded about right".
And, he added, with the soaring acceptance of HD by the nation's viewers, it is more and more important that Nielsen keeps adding HD households to the sample.
It should be clear he and I were discussing the national ratings sample, not the 55 or so local metered markets. Although, from what I understand, there is a proportional HD representation there, too. And those ratings count broadcast channels. He said the national HD channels are similarly counted in the cable and satellite universe -- most of them mirrioring their SD brethren so they are not broken out into SD and HD. The few HD-only channels apparently have, at the moment, too few viewers to register.
As a check and balance, TiVo has been monitoring thousands of its HD TiVo boxes for a couple of years. So perhaps it would be able to break out the differences between HD and SD viewing specifically. When I get a chance I'll give somebody there a call.
At any rate, according to Nielsen, the common belief in AVS and elsewhere that HD viewers don't count in the Nielsen ratings is simply false.
Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
A stinker sendoff for NBC's 'Studio 60'
Once promising drama pulls series-low 2.6 in 18-49s
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Feb 20, 2007
What was once the most anticipated new show of the season left the air with a whimper last night for an extended and perhaps permanent hiatus.
“Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” fell to a series-low 2.6 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, finishing 0.1 behind ABC’s struggling “What About Brian” in the 10 p.m. timeslot.
That was 0.2 behind its 2.8 overnight last week, its previous season low. And it was 24 percent below “Strip’s” 3.4 season-to-date average. The recent ratings decline has come as the drama about life at a “Saturday Night Live”-style late-night show changed its focus from Hollywood insider stuff to romance.
Next week NBC is replacing “Strip” with midseason drama “The Black Donnellys.” The network originally had planned to begin airing “Donnellys” on March 5, allowing “Strip” to finish out the February sweeps in the valuable post-“Heroes” timeslot.
But after “Strip” continued to slide in recent weeks, NBC decided to move “Donnellys” in before “Heroes” moved to repeats.
Whether “Strip” will return at all now seems questionable. NBC has not announced a return date for the program, saying only that it will be back later this season.
Unless “Donnellys” really bombs, “Strip” won’t resurface on Monday. The network has a powerful lineup in the 8-10 p.m. slots, yet “Strip” is now losing more than half its lead-in and pulling the longtime No. 1 network on Mondays down to second or third.
At the least, it seems a sure bet that “Strip,” which was created by “West Wing’s” Aaron Sorkin and boasted an A-list, expensive cast, will not be back next year.
Indeed, last night CBS finished first among 18-49s with a 4.8 average rating and a 12 share. It was followed closely by NBC at 4.5/11 and Fox at 4.4/11, with ABC fourth at 3.3/8, Univision fifth at 1.7/4 and CW sixth at 1.1/3.
NBC started the night on top with a 4.8 rating at 8 p.m. for “Deal or No Deal.” Fox was second with a 3.9 for “Prison Break,” ABC third with a 3.7 for “Wife Swap,” tying last week’s season high, and CBS fourth with a 3.4 average for “How I Met Your Mother” (3.5) and “The Class” (3.3). Univision was fifth with a 2.3 for “La Fea Mas Bella” and CW sixth with a 1.2 average for “Everybody Hates Chris” (1.3) and “All of Us” (1.1).
NBC led again during a competitive 9 p.m. hour with a 6.0 for “Heroes.” CBS was second with a 5.1 average for “Two and a Half Men” (5.3) and “Rules of Engagement” (4.9), Fox third with a 5.0 for “24” and ABC fourth with a 3.5 for “Supernanny.” Univision was fifth that hour with a 1.6 for “Mundo de Fieras” and CW sixth with a 1.0 average for “Girlfriends” (1.0) and “The Game” (1.0).
CBS took the lead at 10 p.m. with a 5.9 for “CSI: Miami,” followed by a 2.7 for ABC for “What About Brian.” NBC dropped to third with a 2.6 for “Strip” and Univision was fourth with a 1.2 for “Cristina.”
Among households, CBS led the night with a 9.2 average rating and a 14 share. NBC was second at 7.7/12, Fox third at 6.9/10, ABC fourth at 5.3/8, Univision fifth at 2.2/3 and CW sixth at 1.7/2.
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_10291.asp
dmedina
02-20-07, 04:23 PM
Wow, that's great information! Thank you very much, Fred. I'm glad to know "my vote counts."
Critic’s Notebook
Last night's '24':
'Just trust me. It's personal'
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher” February 20, 2007
I have lots to do today and not that much to say about last night’s rather lackluster “24,” but here are three thoughts:
• Boy, is the show lacking something without the old-school CTU staff. Killing Edgar, Michelle, Tony and more or less everyone else we cared about (except for Chloe and Bill Buchanan) was quite possibly “24’s” biggest-ever mistake -- and one that is now only becoming truly apparent. I must admit that the deaths of Michelle and Edgar had big dramatic impacts when they occurred (not so much Tony’s death, which was fumbled and didn’t give the character a proper sendoff), but this season, there’s a dearth of characters at CTU (and at the White House) to get invested in.
I like Carlo Rota as Morris O’Brian, and his alcoholism crisis on Monday was fine, but overall, the CTU scenes this year just lack a spark. We barely saw Bill last night, Karen Hayes is nowhere to be found, Milo is still a cipher at this point and I’ve not yet found one interesting thing about Nadia Yassir. Remember the days of Ryan Chappelle, George Mason, Nina Myers? We’re not seeing characters like that this year on the show, and it's a problem.
• What is this great legacy that Papa Bauer keeps talking about – the one he’s willing to preserve at any cost? The company that he ran? I wish we’d known more about his business and his shadowy power, maybe then we’d understand why he’d kill just about everyone he’s related to in order to keep that “legacy” intact. James Cromwell is a fine actor but I just don't understand Papa Bauer's motivations much.
• The only reason I’m going to tune in next week is to see ex-President Logan again. A bearded Logan (the great Gregory Itzin) popping up at the end of Monday’s episode was an excellent sight, and gave me a little hope that this season can be salvaged. We’ll see. If the Logans and Aaron Pierce (who's also returning soon) can’t turn things around, nothing can.
http://tempo.typepad.com/entertainment_tv/
URFloorMatt
02-20-07, 05:26 PM
Critic’s Notebook
Last night's '24':
'Just trust me. It's personal'
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher” February 20, 2007
I have lots to do today and not that much to say about last night’s rather lackluster “24,” but here are three thoughts:
• Boy, is the show lacking something without the old-school CTU staff. Killing Edgar, Michelle, Tony and more or less everyone else we cared about (except for Chloe and Bill Buchanan) was quite possibly “24’s” biggest-ever mistake -- and one that is now only becoming truly apparent. I must admit that the deaths of Michelle and Edgar had big dramatic impacts when they occurred (not so much Tony’s death, which was fumbled and didn’t give the character a proper sendoff)
Now that's just crazy. Edgar's death (and his character) was just one big joke. Dramatic impact? I was laughing so hard I cried.
In my eyes, this year's White House and CTU staffs are miles ahead of Season 4 and Season 5, Tony and Michelle be damned.
Washington Notebook
A La Carte a Key FCC Concern?
Multichannel News February 20, 2007
In a story today about the merger plans of XM and Sirius, MultiChannel News reported about a meeting Sirius CEO – who would become CEO of the merged satellite radio company – had with Sirius employees today.
Some of his comments spoke directly and indirectly about the future of a la carte in the cable/satellite/telco TV world. Here is an excerpt:
“…Karmazin also hinted that one way to achieve regulatory approval for the merger -- which many analysts believe will be almost impossible -- is by offering some form of a la carte programming.
He added that he has already met with all five Federal Communications Commission members, and their top priorities in evaluating whether the deal is in the public interest concern consumer choice and pricing.
‘Three of the five commissioners have said that what they would like to see -- and they would also like to see this in cable television -- is a service where the consumer can decide which of the channels they want to get if they’re going to be expected to pay for it,' Karmazin said. 'If somebody wants to have fewer choices, they’d like to see a service that we would have available to them with fewer channels and at a lower price’….”
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6417928.html?display=Breaking+News
Critic’s Notebook
The “Studio 60” Situation
(NBC Exec says production will continue)
Studio 60' Poised To Be Deep-Sixed. Or Then Again, Maybe Not. But Regardless, Please, No Whining. Life Will Go On. I'm Pretty Sure It's Just a TV Show (Quiet Aaron!)
By Ray Richmond The Hollywood Reporter in his blog “Past Deadline” February 20, 2007
A quick primer in network primetime television economics: you make money, you get to stay; you lose money, you have to go. It's kinda Business 101, really. And this is the dilemma that Aaron Sorkin's much-hyped and fate-debated "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" finds itself in right now. It was pulled from the NBC Monday night schedule following last night's episode because its ratings blow.
The show reportedly costs over $2 million per episode to make and isn't coming close to justifying that investment based on numbers that continue to head south. Last night's hour was its lowest yet: a 2.6 rating and 7% audience share with 6.4 million total viewers, according to Nielsen. It was "Studio 60's" worst performance in both total households and the crucial adults 18-49 demographic measure that advertisers use as a key yardstick for buys.
When NBC announced last week that the show was being replaced on Mondays at 10 p.m. by "The Black Donnellys" beginning Feb. 26, it also said "Studio 60" would "return to the schedule later this season." But I wouldn't hold my breath, and neither should you. More likely, the completed episodes will get burned off over the summer before winding up as "TV That's Too Good For TV" on Bravo.
(UPDATE: I just spoke with someone in authority at NBC who assured me that -- while "Studio 60" is off on a two-week production hiatus right now -- it will indeed resume production (on Episode #18, of a 22-episode order) the first week in March. This seems to point to NBC actually bringing the show back this spring, unless it's hellbent on blowing $10 million more on a series that's already been relegated to the ash heap. Then again, we'll see if production actually resumes.)
NBC Entertainment chief Kevin Reilly has proven himself to have the patience of Job, considering the way he stuck through thin and thin with "The Office." But the man also has shareholders to answer to, and "Studio 60" appears to be showing not even the thinnest glimmer of upward trending or any reason for optimism. Yes, in the past networks have given promising shows that happen to be performing poorly a season to find their legs. But that was in the era before TV began to demand instant success.
Please don't take it personally that "Studio 60" is undoubtedly looking at a one-season-and-out fate. It's just one of those things. And don't blame NBC. This is a business, ladies and gentlemen, not a public trust. That's what they tell me, anyway.
http://www.pastdeadline.com/
CPanther95
02-20-07, 09:44 PM
Critic’s Notebook
The “Studio 60” Situation
(NBC Exec says production will continue)
Studio 60' Poised To Be Deep-Sixed. Or Then Again, Maybe Not. But Regardless, Please, No Whining. Life Will Go On. I'm Pretty Sure It's Just a TV Show (Quiet Aaron!)
By Ray Richmond The Hollywood Reporter in his blog “Past Deadline” February 20, 2007
..........................(UPDATE: I just spoke with someone in authority at NBC who assured me that -- while "Studio 60" is off on a two-week production hiatus right now -- it will indeed resume production (on Episode #18, of a 22-episode order) the first week in March.
Ray knows quite well that even people "in authority" often hold on to the cover story well beyond the point that anyone really believes it. I hope I'm wrong, but I'd wager that this break in production will become permanent just before they are set to start up again. (and the key people involved in production already know that now)
Inundated
02-20-07, 09:53 PM
They are adding HD pieces as old things wear out and are updated. And as time moves on, the prices continue to come down.
A certain sister FOX O&O of yours up here actually bought its HD studio cameras a couple or three years before converting the newscast to HD.
Ray knows quite well that even people "in authority" often hold on to the cover story well beyond the point that anyone really believes it. I hope I'm wrong, but I'd wager that this break in production will become permanent just before they are set to start up again. (and the key people involved in production already know that now)
Of course I haven't seen the contract wit Sorkin, but I would be surprised if there wasn't a fairly large cancellation penalty if NBC didn't cover all the first year's episodes. And (at least) Matt Perry probably gets paid whether the episodes are shot or not.
Plus, the network most likely wants to continue a relationship with Sorkin and Schlamme.
But even with that said, I wouldn't be really surprised if production doesn't start again. Perhaps the network will simply committ to another S/S production.
CPanther95
02-20-07, 10:13 PM
Maybe they can sign them to do a reality show to help fill up their Fall 2008 8pm slots. ;)
TV Notebook
'24' Lays its Cards on Table
By Alex Romanelli Television Week February 20, 2007
In TVWeek.com's exclusive Backlot Talk podcast, Howard Gordon -- showrunner of Fox's "24" -- described the latest episode as laying its cards on the table, something necessary to the show's pacing.
"Sometimes it's just like the tempo in a musical piece: You've really got a lot of velocity and you're exhausted and it gets to be too much and you want to slow it down, or something demands explanation," Mr. Gordon said. "It's really by feel. It's not designed; it's not architectural; it's not mathematic."
For the full interview with Mr. Gordon, where he also touches upon the ongoing controversy surrounding the show's use of torture, go to http://www.tvweek.com/page.cms?pageId=407
Critic’s Notebook
Amanda Tapping joins 'Stargate Atlantis'
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher”February 20, 2007
Changes are afoot in outer space.
“Stargate SG-1” is wrapping up its long run with 10 episodes that begin airing April 13, Sci Fi Channel announced Tuesday. A spinoff series, “Stargate Atlantis,” will also air 10 episodes of its third season starting on the same date.
The biggest news, however, is that Amanda Tapping, who played “Stargate SG-1’s” Samantha Carter for 10 seasons, will join the main cast of “Atlantis” for its fourth season, which arrives in the fall.
Tapping will be in 14 of the 20 Season 4 episodes of “Atlantis,” which, like “SG-1,” revolves around intrepid explorers using wormhole technology to travel all over the universe (an activity that often leads to epic battles with alien bad guys).
Torri Higginson, who plays Elizabeth Weir, the head of the “Stargate Atlantis” mission, will be a recurring character in Season 4, executive producer Joseph Mallozzi said in a phone interview from the show’s Vancouver set. Mallozzi couldn’t say for sure how many fourth-season episodes Higginson would be in; that number is in “a state of flux,” he said.
Mallozzi didn’t want to be specific about how Higginson and Tapping’s characters will fit into the command structure of the Atlantis expedition in Season 4, but he did say that Carter will provide “more of a support role.”
“She’ll be an important member of the Atlantis expedition, but the Atlantis team is the Atlantis team. The stories will focus on them as a team and on them in terms of the development of the characters. Sam isn’t there to overshadow what we have in place but to support it,” Mallozzi said.
But Carter’s background as an astrophysicist will mean that Rodney McKay (David Hewlett), the snarky in-house genius on “Atlantis,” will have another scientific brain to pick.
“She can take some of that workload off David -- David has a terrific amount of technobabble” on the show, Mallozzi said. Carter’s experience as a military officer, a warrior and a leader will also come in handy, he said.
Mallozzi would not confirm one development that has been widely discussed on “Stargate” fan sites for months, which is the death of “Atlantis” doctor Carson Beckett, who’s played by Paul McGillion. The actor told Starburst magazine that his character is killed off in an upcoming Season 3 episode called “Sunday” (which has already aired in Canada).
“Needless to say I was stunned, for lack of a better word. I didn’t see that coming at all. Personally, I felt like I was doing a good job on the program and I think the producers thought so as well. …. I was sad and disappointed by their decision, but yet this is a business. I understand that and I respect these guys for giving me the chance to play a character like Carson Beckett,” McGillion told Starburst.
Mallozzi would neither confirm or deny the death of Beckett, but he did say, speaking hypothetically, that in the realm of sci fi, even “dead” characters have a way of turning up again in some way. Could Beckett make an appearance in Season 4? “It’s possible,” Mallozzi said. “This is sci fi, no one is every gone for good.”
He added that if the character were to exit, Beckett would not “ascend,” as Daniel Jackson did when his character exited for a season. “I can guarantee you that will not be the route we go,” Mallozzi said.
Asked whether any other cast members of “Atlantis” are leaving, he said, “stay tuned on that one.”
Jewel Staite, of Joss Whedon’s “Firefly,” will join “Atlantis” for eight episodes as Dr. Keller, “a physician who joins the Atlantis expedition,” according to a Sci Fi press release. (Staite already had a guest role on the show as a different character, a Wraith child named Ellia).
Mallozzi said that Season 4 of “Atlantis” would also feature the arrival of a new alien race, one that will be an “unpredictable wild card.”
“Looking over the 10 stories we’ve been thinking about” for the first half of Season 4 of “Atlantis,” Mallozzi said, “the easiest way to put it is that a lot of [stuff] is going to go down. Some fans will not like it, some fans will love it. We’re going to get movement on characters, and we’ll have some fairly character-centric stories. We’re going to develop an aspect of the Wraith, and we’re going to have this new wild-card race,” he said.
There were no plans at present, he said, to have Ben Browder (who plays “SG-1’s” Cameron Mitchell), Claudia Black (“SG-1’s” Vala Mal Doran) or Michael Shanks (“SG-1’s” Daniel Jackson) guest on “Atlantis,” but Mallozzi didn’t rule it out.
“They’re going to be in the two [‘Stargate SG-1’ DVD] movies” that are being filmed this spring, Mallozzi said. As far as bringing them back to “Atlantis,” “it’s a matter of coming up with a believable story and the actors’ availability and everything else. At this point it makes more sense for Teal’c or for Daniel Jackson to come to ‘Atlantis’ than for [Cameron] Mitchell."
He added that Christopher Judge, who plays Teal’c on “SG-1,” will guest on one early fourth season episode of “Atlantis.”
A few final thoughts from Joseph Mallozzi:
Some general thoughts on Season 4 of “Atlantis”: “The past couple of years, we’ve done 40 episodes of TV . That’s kind of a huge order by anyone’s standards. We got an early start and we got stuff done, we were never late, but we were always up against it. These 20 episodes [for Season 4], we were able to think things through and really focus a lot. People complained that [in the past] there were a lot of McKay-centered stories. This year, when we went into Season 4 planning, we wanted to have a story for each character, something that explores their backstory and personality, with things that had not been revealed in previous episodes. We’re also doing a little more in terms of setting up extended, season-long arcs.”
[B]On the new race in Season 4: “I want to keep it somewhat vague, but they are a race of beings that are atypical of the Pegasus galaxy. They’re a type of people we’ve encountered before in ‘SG-1,’ but we’ve yet to encounter [this type of race] in the ‘Atlantis’ universe.”
On the series finale of “Stargate SG-1” and the two “Stargate SG-1” movies: “The season finale – it’s not a cliffhanger, but on the other hand, it’s not a neat and tidy tie-up like ‘Mobius.’ For many fans of the show, ‘Mobius’ was a nice wrap up to [Jack O’Neill’s] run on ‘SG-1.’ In the first movie, we’re going to seek to tie up loose ends regarding the Ori. The second movie is more of a standalone, it’s nothing to do with the Ori. It’s more of a Goauld story, a more traditional ‘Stargate SG-1’ story.”
On fan reactions to the upcoming season of “Atlantis”: I think fans are needlessly worried. They read spoilers and get upset [before they see the episodes]. The heartache and the anger – fans would save themselves a lot of that if they would wait and watch the episodes. I’m sure they are already starting their letter-writing campaigns. But in our case, to be brutally honest, they don’t really have an impact on creative decisions.”
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/02/amanda_tapping_.html#more
TV Notebook
ABC keeps 'Housewives' honcho
Cherry signs four-year deal with studio
By Josef Adalian Variety February 21, 2007
In what figures to be one of the biggest TV deals of the year, "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry has inked a four-year, eight-figure overall pact with ABC Television Studio.
Deal, which keeps Cherry under wraps until May 2011, ensures creative continuity on "DH" through the skein's seventh season. Studio has also quietly negotiated deals with all key members of the cast that will keep them on the hit skein for at least as long as Cherry is attached.
Neither the studio nor Cherry's reps would comment on financial particulars. Still, it's believed the pact exceeds the rich $15 million, 3½-year deal "Nip/Tuck" creator Ryan Murphy inked with three News Corp. units last week (Daily Variety, Feb. 16).
Cherry said he has no plans to develop projects beyond "DH," though if he does, it'll be for ABC Television Studio (ATS). Instead, the scribe wants to focus on his current show.
"The studio and the network and I all feel it's best for me to stay glued to the set," he told Daily Variety. "I've got my ship, and I'm gonna run it."
And, if Cherry gets his way, the S.S. Wisteria Lane will complete its voyage in 2011 -- the same time his new deal wraps.
"I think that, at the end of my deal, and after seven seasons, it will be a good time to call it quits," he said. "I don't want anyone else to run the show, and I don't want us to fade away."
Cherry joked that ATS execs "smile and nod" when he mentions his plan, which echoes recent end-date scenarios set out by the brain trust behind another ATS skein, "Lost."
"But I'm serious in my intent to end it after seven years," Cherry said. "I don't want to overstay my welcome."
ATS prexy Mark Pedowitz said Cherry's plans for "Desperate Housewives" don't come as a surprise to him.
"He has always said he sees this as a seven-year show," Pedowitz said. "But nobody's made any determinations that it will end after seven years. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
Pedowitz said reupping Cherry was an easy deal to make.
"Desperate Housewives" is an "enormous asset for this company," he said. "And it's his creation and vision. It would be silly to do something without Marc Cherry involved."
Pedowitz also praised Cherry for steering "Desperate Housewives" back on track after some creative hurdles during the show's second season. "He's shown himself to be a very capable showrunner," Pedowitz said.
While Cherry's reps received inquiries about the scribe's availability, there was never any serious danger that he would jump ship.
"The only thing hard about the choice is that this is the most exhaustive thing I've ever done," Cherry said. "The only thing harder would be letting someone else run the show. And they certainly made it worth my while, so it was easy to sign on the dotted line."
With a potential end date in mind, Cherry is also free to begin planning the next stage of his career.
"After I've completed 'Desperate Housewives,' I'm packing my bags, moving to New York, and I'm going to start writing books for Broadway musicals," the singing waiter-turned-scribe said.
Don't expect "Desperate Housewives: The Musical," however.
"I can't emphasize this enough: God, no," he said when asked about such an idea. "It will not take place in suburbia."
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117959858&categoryid=14
Critic’s Notebook
The Olbermann deal,
“Studio 60”, and what's the deal with Carlos
By Aaron Barnhart Kansas City Star in his blog “TV Barn”Feb 20, 2007
Today on KMOX, Paul Harris and I recapped the dustup between Joe Rogan and Carlos Mencia, noted the demise of "Studio 60," which Paul cheered along with the renewal of "Til Death."
A little less sanguine, I lamented the fact that no network (besides CBS) seems to know what to do with sitcoms anymore.
And, bringing an extra-packed segment to a close, we vetted Keith Olbermann's deal with NBC, which apparently does not call for him to do any crossover episodes with Chris Hansen.
You can get the link to the podcast here:
http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/
TV Sports
FCC Eyes Program Access
By Ted Hearn MultiChannel News 2/21/2007
The Federal Communications Commission Tuesday opened a long-awaited rulemaking on whether cable operators must continue to sell many of their video-programming services to satellite and phone-company rivals.
Key features of federal program-access rules are scheduled to expire Oct. 5 unless extended by the FCC. The rules were extended for five years in 2002 in a ruling narrowly supported by FCC chairman Kevin Martin, who was a regular FCC member at the time. In recent weeks, Martin has indicated his support for a second extension.
Under a 1992 law, the FCC has required cable companies to sell satellite-delivered programming in which they have an ownership interest to competing multichannel-video-programming distributors. Thus, Time Warner has been forced to sell CNN and HBO to such competitors as DirecTV, EchoStar Communications’ Dish Network and Verizon Communications’ FiOS TV service.
EchoStar in particular has asked both Congress and the FCC to extend the rules to cover cable-affiliated programming networks that are delivered terrestrially to MVPDs. In its proposed rulemaking, the FCC did not directly mention plans to close the so-called terrestrial loophole.
Last July, in approving the sale of Adelphia Communications, the FCC said Comcast and Time Warner could not withhold regional sports networks, whether satellite- or terrestrially delivered, from their pay TV rivals for a period of six years. Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia received an exemption with regard to distributors not under contract.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6417950.html?display=Breaking+News
The TV Column
"Most Watched",
(a Gross Exaggeration)
By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Do you toss and turn at night wondering how CBS can run promos proclaiming its new James Woods drama, "Shark," the season's most watched new series, and "CSI" the most watched show, when NBC's new "Heroes" is clocking about a million more viewers than "Shark" and Tuesday's "American Idol" on Fox posts about 15 million more viewers than "CSI"?
Never fear, we're here to help you get a good night's sleep by explaining this outbreak of apparent TV industry horseradish:
Through last Sunday, "Heroes" is averaging about 14.5 million viewers to "Shark's" 13.4 mil.
You and I might say that makes "Heroes" the season's most watched new show. Number-crunching Nielsen Media Research feels otherwise.
CBS explains:
"According to Nielsen, claims of 'most watched' can only be made based on gross impressions, which is number of telecasts multiplied by the program's average audience," the network said in a statement sent to The TV Column.
"In the case of 'Shark,' it's based on 20 broadcasts multiplied by its average audience of 13.37 million viewers, which equals 267.38 million gross impressions, more than any other new series," the network said.
"Heroes," on the other hand, had aired only 15 times through last weekend, which, when multiplied by its season average of 14.5 million viewers, works out to about 217 million gross impressions.
It's this same kind of big picture, out-of-the-box thinking that makes "CSI" the season's most watched series though it's eating "Idol's" dust each week.
"CSI" has been on since September. Its season average of 20.6 million viewers therefore gets multiplied by 20 episodes for a grand total of 412 million gross impressions.
Through last weekend, "American Idol" had aired only four times on Tuesdays, for instance. This means its Tuesday average audience -- a whopping 35.3 million viewers -- gets multiplied by just 4. This leaves "Idol" with a measly 141 gross impressions on Tuesday nights.
Now, some people at one network -- extra credit for correctly guessing which one -- note that a little clause in the Nielsen National Reference Supplement issued for the 2006-07 TV season tells network suits the expression "most watched" "should not compare individual programs with significant disparity in the number of telecasts."
Execs at other networks have discussed the CBS promos with Nielsen. Nielsen, they say, is sticking by its guns.
On the other hand, if NBC wants to run a promo declaring "Heroes" the No. 1 new series or the highest-rated new series, it could certainly do that. Ditto Fox, should it feel moved to air promos crowning "American Idol" TV's No. 1 show.
"There's something here for everyone," Nielsen spokesman Jack Loftus told The TV Column.
Shockingly, neither promotion may come to pass.
One of the deeper-thought thinkers at one of those networks explained they've dismissed the CBS promos as "just another form of [flagpole] waving." The executive did not want to be identified because he did not want to acknowledge he'd given a moment's thought to the CBS promos.
Some non-CBS execs even suggested optimistically the CBS promos could make the network sound foolish because, they insisted, most people realize more people are watching "American Idol" than any other program and that "Heroes" is topping the heap of new series.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001761_pf.html
shuttermaker
02-21-07, 10:26 AM
TV Sports
FCC Eyes Program Access
By Ted Hearn MultiChannel News 2/21/2007
The Federal Communications Commission Tuesday opened a long-awaited rulemaking on whether cable operators must continue to sell many of their video-programming services to satellite and phone-company rivals.
Key features of federal program-access rules are scheduled to expire Oct. 5 unless extended by the FCC. The rules were extended for five years in 2002 in a ruling narrowly supported by FCC chairman Kevin Martin, who was a regular FCC member at the time. In recent weeks, Martin has indicated his support for a second extension.
Under a 1992 law, the FCC has required cable companies to sell satellite-delivered programming in which they have an ownership interest to competing multichannel-video-programming distributors. Thus, Time Warner has been forced to sell CNN and HBO to such competitors as DirecTV, EchoStar Communications’ Dish Network and Verizon Communications’ FiOS TV service.
EchoStar in particular has asked both Congress and the FCC to extend the rules to cover cable-affiliated programming networks that are delivered terrestrially to MVPDs. In its proposed rulemaking, the FCC did not directly mention plans to close the so-called terrestrial loophole.
Last July, in approving the sale of Adelphia Communications, the FCC said Comcast and Time Warner could not withhold regional sports networks, whether satellite- or terrestrially delivered, from their pay TV rivals for a period of six years. Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia received an exemption with regard to distributors not under contract.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6417950.html?display=Breaking+News
I have a few questions.
1. What are MVPDs ?
2. If TWC is forced to sell certain programming, are they also limited in what price they can ask for these services?
Not to sound like a flip-flopper but, im glad the FCC mandates this. However, if I were TWC Id be mad as hell at the FCC.
shuttermaker
02-21-07, 10:30 AM
The TV Column
"Most Watched",
(a Gross Exaggeration)
By Lisa de Moraes Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Do you toss and turn at night wondering how CBS can run promos proclaiming its new James Woods drama, "Shark," the season's most watched new series, and "CSI" the most watched show, when NBC's new "Heroes" is clocking about a million more viewers than "Shark" and Tuesday's "American Idol" on Fox posts about 15 million more viewers than "CSI"?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001761_pf.html
Wow, i was just asking myself these same questions earlier in the week. Also, How does TNT claim that "The Closer" is cables most watched TV show ever? That might not be the exact quote but its something along those lines. However it was put, I couldnt help but think "BS".
NTVNotebook
Kate Walsh (Dr. Addison Shepherd) May Get Her Own Show
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Kate Walsh’s Dr. Addison Shepherd character on the mega hit series “Grey’s Anatomy” may be spun off into its own series by ABC.
In an article written by Brook Barnes, the move is called “bold” and will be preceded by a two-hour “Grey’s” episode which would serve as a pilot. The episode would air in May, giving the network time to decide whether to go ahead with the project before it announces its news schedule at the May upfronts.
For the season, Nielsen Media Services reports that “Grey’s” is the highest-rated scripted show in the coveted 18-49 demographic, nudging out second place “Desperate Housewives”.
The complete WSJ story is available to subscribers here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117203280453414676.html?mod=mm_media_marketing_hs_left
TV Notebook
Dancing With the Stars Unveils Season 4 Contestants
By Marc Berman MediaWeek February 21, 2007 -
ABC reality/competition Dancing With the Stars, which opens season No. 4 on Monday, March 19 at 8 p.m., has announced the next round of celebrity contestants.
The 11 stars competing are boxer Laila Ali, country crooner Billy Ray Cyrus; NBA great Clyde Drexler; former NSYNC singer Joey Fatone; former Miss USA Shandi Finnessey; daytime favorite Leeza Gibbons; Paul McCartney’s soon-to-be ex, Heather Mills; Olympic Gold medal winner Apolo Anton Ohno; Sopranos mobster Vincent Pastore; supermodel Paulina Porizkova; and former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Ian Ziering.
Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris host. Returning as the judges are Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.
Note: The MediaWeek link to this story has been disabled. The main MediaWeek site is here:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/index.jsp
shuttermaker
02-21-07, 10:41 AM
TV Notebook
Dancing With the Stars Unveils Season 4 Contestants
By Marc Berman MediaWeek February 21, 2007 -
ABC reality/competition Dancing With the Stars, which opens season No. 4 on Monday, March 19 at 8 p.m., has announced the next round of celebrity contestants.
The 11 stars competing are boxer Laila Ali, country crooner Billy Ray Cyrus; NBA great Clyde Dexter; former NSYNC singer Joey Fatone; former Miss USA Shandi Finnessey; daytime favorite Leeza Gibbons; Paul McCartney’s soon-to-be ex, Heather Mills; Olympic Gold medal winner Apolo Anton Ohno; Sopranos mobster Vincent Pastore; supermodel Paulina Porizkova; and former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Ian Ziering.
Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris host. Returning as the judges are Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/networktv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003548029
Shouldnt that be NBA great Clyde "The Glide" Drexler ?
Yesterday’s metered market over-night prime-time ratings – and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted just near the top of Ratings News the second post in this thread.
archiguy
02-21-07, 11:15 AM
ABC reality/competition Dancing With the Stars, which opens season No. 4 on Monday, March 19 at 8 p.m., has announced the next round of celebrity contestants.
The 11 stars competing are boxer Laila Ali, country crooner Billy Ray Cyrus; NBA great Clyde Dexter; former NSYNC singer Joey Fatone; former Miss USA Shandi Finnessey; daytime favorite Leeza Gibbons; Paul McCartney’s soon-to-be ex, Heather Mills; Olympic Gold medal winner Apolo Anton Ohno; Sopranos mobster Vincent Pastore; supermodel Paulina Porizkova; and former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Ian Ziering.
Amongst all the usual washed-up and C-list "stars" we've come to expect from this "competition", this time one stands out for it's audaciousness: Heather Mills...? :eek: Besides recently becoming a pariah for the nasty divorce of one of the most universally loved rock 'n rollers ever, doesn't she have a prosthetic leg?? Seems that would be a rather large obstacle to overcome when it comes to ballroom dancing. :confused:
CPanther95
02-21-07, 11:20 AM
.. or an unfair advantage if partnered with someone with a propensity to step on toes. ;)
You are right, shuttermaker. I think Marc mistyped. It is Clyde Drexler, not Clyde Dexter. I've corrected the original posted version.
(But to me, this group looks far lamer than the usual.)
DoubleDAZ
02-21-07, 11:38 AM
Wow, i was just asking myself these same questions earlier in the week. Also, How does TNT claim that "The Closer" is cables most watched TV show ever? That might not be the exact quote but its something along those lines. However it was put, I couldnt help but think "BS".I believe they say most watched "cable" show, but be that as it may, statistics can be used to sell almost any side of an issue. That's just one reason statisticians gather as much data as they can, so they can sell to all sides of an argument and still be right. :)
shuttermaker:
MVPD = Multichannel Video Programming Distribution (Broadcast Cable, Satellite or Telco)
...If TWC is forced to sell certain programming, are they also limited in what price they can ask for these services?...
No, but if TWC wants carriage of some of its lower-rated channels it pr