Hot Off The Press! The Latest Television News and Info

[fredfa]

The Digital Revolution
Verizon DVR Reaches Whole Home
By Karen Brown Multichannel News 8/14/2006

Verizon Communications is unveiling a new digital-video recorder that can serve up three simultaneous streams of video, as well as photos and music, to televisions throughout the home.

The new Home Media DVR, available to Verizon FiOS TV customers this week, will allow customers to set up a home media network with the Motorola QIP6416 DVR set-top box serving as the hub and standard-definition Motorola QIP2500 set-tops as the remote terminals attached to secondary television sets.

Verizon is offering the multiroom DVR service for $19.95 monthly plus $3.95 per month for each added standard-definition box to link to the secondary TV sets.

Media Manager software included with the box can draw photos from the customer’s PC and display them via the TV sets. A beta version of an application allowing them to play music stored on a home computer via TV sets also is being offered, with plans to release a final version later this year.

Verizon also plans to update the service to support more simultaneous video streams that the hub DVR box can serve.

“Home Media DVR, with its combination of services, is one of the most powerful and convenient DVRs available,” Verizon senior vice president of video solutions Marilyn O’Connell said. “It breaks through technology barriers and living-room walls to let customers enjoy TV on their own terms throughout the home. It’s another way that Verizon innovation is changing the way customers watch TV.”

The whole-home DVR service follows on the heels of FiOS TV Widgets, a set of interactive features introduced in June that add local-weather and traffic-information tickers on the bottom of the TV screen.

http://www.multichannel.com/index.as...leid=CA6362308

[fredfa]

As noted in another thread, it appears for the moment the Verizon Home Media DVR only works with SD.

[fredfa]

The Digital Revolution
Penetration of HDTV Service Rising Rapidly
In-Stat News Release

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., August 14, 2006 – The number of households watching High-Definition (HD) TV programming continues to rise rapidly, reports In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). Households with HDTV service, which are defined as homes with an HDTV set that receive and watch HD programming, are projected to grow from 15 million in mid-2006 to 20.3 million at the end of 2006. This impressive household growth is tempered by the fact that it is occurring in just a few countries, the high-tech market research firm says. On a more positive note, several new countries introduced HDTV service this year.

"Consumer demand to see the World Cup in HD served as a catalyst for the start of HDTV services in several European countries," says Mike Paxton, In-Stat analyst. "In addition, select TV households in countries like China, Singapore, and Mexico can now also get HDTV service."

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• As of mid-2006, the US and Japan accounted for 91% of all worldwide HDTV households. Other countries with significant numbers of HDTV households include Canada, Australia, and South Korea.

• The number of worldwide HDTV households is expected to spike over the next few years as new markets for HD services, particularly in Europe, open up. By the end of 2009, In-Stat is projecting that the number of HDTV households will exceed 55 million.

• HDTV services are currently being delivered by all types of television service providers, including satellite/Direct-to-Home service providers, cable TV operators, telco TV operators, and terrestrial broadcasters.

• In the US, there is still a "disconnect" between HD services and the penetration of HDTV sets. Currently, only one-third of US households with HD-capable TV sets are actually using them to watch HD programming.

The research, "HDTV Service Expands: Over 15 Million Households Now Watch High-Def TV" (#IN0603204MBS), covers the worldwide market for HDTV. It analyzes HDTV service market drivers and challenges, and provides forecasts for HDTV households by transmission platform and by geographic region through 2010. It also examines the HDTV business models of leading service providers. The price is $2,495 (US).

For more information on this research, please visit: http://www.instat.com/catalog/Ccatalogue.asp?id=288. The price is $2,495 (US).

[fredfa]

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
'SNF' slides as viewers' curiosity fades
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Aug 14, 2006, 10:35

It didn’t take viewers long to realize that not much has changed from ABC’s “Monday Night Football” to NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” which features the same announcers and same setup as the old program.

In its second preseason outing, “SNF” fell 14 percent from the previous week, from a 3.6 adults 18-49 overnight rating last week to a 3.1 this week.

That measures 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., though ratings will likely adjust when final numbers are released. Fast national ratings measure only timeslot data and not actual program data, and the game did not end until just after 11 p.m.

The curiosity factor was evident last week, when viewership for the first hour of the game averaged a 4.0 rating, very strong for summer. This week, with viewers already having gotten a glimpse of the new halftime crew and confirming that John Madden and Al Michaels were doing their same old shtick, the first hour averaged a 2.9.

What will be more interesting is seeing how the show fares in its regular-season debut Sept. 10. It premieres before most of its formidable timeslot competition, which includes Fox’s “Family Guy,” ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” and CBS’s “Without a Trace.”

Last night’s preseason game was also a dull one even if you were cheering for one of the two participants. The host Cincinnati Bengals beat the Washington Redskins 19-3 in a battle of two 2005 playoff participants.

“SNF” boosted NBC to the nightly lead with a 2.8 rating and 9 share in 18-49s, followed by CBS at 2.1/6, ABC at 2.0/6, Fox at 1.8/6, Univision at 1.1/4 and the WB at 0.6/2.

At 7 p.m., NBC led at 2.0 for "Dateline," ahead of CBS at 1.7 for "60 Minutes," ABC at 1.6 for an "America's Funniest Home Videos" rerun, Fox at 1.0 for "Fox Fall Preview" and a "King of the Hill" repeat, Univision at 0.9 for "Hora Pico," and the WB at 0.5 for "Just Legal."

At 8 p.m., NBC was No. 1 again at 2.9 for the "SNF" exhibition game, followed by CBS at 2.5 for "Big Brother 7: All-Stars," ABC and Fox each at 2.1 for an "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" repeat and reruns of "The Simpsons" and "American Dad," Univision at 0.9 for "Cantando por un Sueño" and the WB at 0.6 for a "Charmed" rerun.

At 9 p.m., NBC held the lead for "SNF" at 3.4, ahead of Fox's repeats of "Family Guy" and "War at Home" at 2.2, CBS's "Cold Case" rerun at 2.0, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" repeat at 1.8, Univision's "Cantando" at 1.2 and WB's "Charmed" rerun at 0.6.

At 10 p.m., NBC's "SNF" led again at 3.1, trailed by ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" repeat at 2.5, CBS's "Without a Trace" rerun at 2.3 and Univision's "Cantando" at 1.2.

Among households, CBS led for the night at a 5.6 rating and 10 share, followed by NBC at 5.4/10, ABC at 4.0/7, Fox at 2.5/4, Univision at 1.4/2 and the WB at 1.0/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...inter_6640.asp

[fredfa]

TV Sports
Buck To Host Pre-Game Show
By Ben Grossman Broadcasting & Cable 8/14/2006

Fox Sports said Monday that lead NFL commentator Joe Buck will also host the network’s Fox NFL Sunday pre-game show, which will travel to the site of the network’s main NFC football game each week.

On three October Sundays when Buck is calling the baseball playoffs for the network, Fox’s Curt Menefee will step in and handle hosting duties and the show will originate from the Fox Sports studio in Los Angeles.

Buck replaces James Brown, who jumped to CBS’s NFL pre-game show.

In-game updates, previously handled by Brown as the studio host, will be handled out of the Los Angeles studio by a yet-to-be-finalized host.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ind...leID=CA6362322

[fredfa]

TV Sports
FOX NFL Sunday announces new host
(FOX Sports)

It will still be JB, Terry, Howie and Jimmy on NFL on FOX Sunday this fall. But plenty will change as the network's pregame show will sport a whole new look.

Joe Buck, a six-time Emmy Award winner, has been named as new host for the FOX NFL Sunday pregame show and postgame show The OT on doubleheader weekends.

It marks the first time in sports television history that a broadcaster will host an NFL pregame show while simultaneously handling play-by-play duties.

The announcement was made Monday by David Hill, chairman of the FOX Sports television group and executive producer for FOX Sports.

Buck joins Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson, Pam Oliver, insider Jay Glazer and comedian Frank Caliendo this season, beginning with the 2006 premiere on Sunday, September 10 at noon ET.

Buck will also continue as the network's lead NFL and MLB play-by-play voice with analysts Troy Aikman and Tim McCarver.

"We considered a number of superb candidates for this role, who each would have brought something special to the show, but once we thought about this fascinating scenario featuring Joe, we knew this was the right thing to do," Hill said.

"The success of FOX NFL Sunday has always been based on chemistry, and Joe, while still relatively young, has a maturity that belies his age and a clever, contemporary style that will add a fresh, exciting energy to the program. The only consistent thing about television is change, and I expect the interaction between Joe, Terry, Howie and Jimmy to give FOX NFL Sunday and The OT new and different dynamics."

Curt Menefee will host FOX NFL Sunday's halftime and postgame coverage.

Menefee is also set to host three pregame shows in October when Buck calls FOX Sports' coverage of Major League Baseball's postseason.

"Curt is a consummate pro whose smooth, affable style fits in perfectly with the FOX NFL Sunday team," Hill said.

Pregame show hits the road

FOX NFL Sunday, which has called Los Angeles, Calif. home for the past 12 seasons, will hit the road during most weekends this season in a state-of-the-art traveling set.

The FOX NFL Sunday road show opens in Jacksonville on Sept. 10 as Terrell Owens makes his Dallas Cowboys debut vs. the Jaguars.

The show will travel to Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field in Week 2 for a classic NFC East battle between the New York Giants and Eagles.

Then it's on to Seattle for Week 3 as the Giants visit the defending NFC champion Seahawks.

The rest of the 2006 FOX NFL Sunday road show schedule will be announced at a later date.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5871590?print=true

[RussTC3]

I had a feeling they would tap Joe Buck.

He's a good announcer, one of the few I enjoy listening to.

Not sure if this data is out there archived or what not Fred, but do you happen to know how this second pre-season game (1st after the HOF game) faired last season on ABC?

[fredfa]

Russ, I'll try to find the info for you.

[fredfa]

TV Notebook
Fox News Journalists Kidnapped in Gaza

The Associated Press is reporting that:

“Palestinian gunmen ambushed a car carrying a Fox News crew in Gaza City on Monday and kidnapped two of the journalists inside, according to witnesses and Fox. "We can confirm that two of our people were taken against their will in Gaza," Fox News said in a statement.

A Fox employee in Gaza, who declined to give his name because he was not authorized to release information about the incident, said the two kidnapped people were reporter Steve Centanni, a U.S. citizen, and a cameraman from New Zealand…”

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/08/14/D8JGC6V80.html

[fredfa]

TV Notebook
2 Fox News Journalists Kidnapped in Gaza
USA Today

News update: Fox News Channel just confirmed on the air that two of its journalists were kidnapped in Gaza today. It did not release their names and said that negotiations are underway to secure their release.

ABC News, CNN and Reuters are reporting that -- according to witnesses -- two journalists from Fox News were kidnapped by armed gunmen today. ABC and CNN say Fox has confirmed that two of its people are missing, though there's no such confirmation at FoxNews.com and the network has not been talking about it on the air.

The Associated Press is reporting that:

"Palestinian gunmen kidnapped two foreign journalists in Gaza City on Monday, according to witnesses.

"Two trucks filled with gunmen boxed in the reporters' car near the Palestinian security headquarters and seized them, according to witnesses.

"Several foreigners have been kidnapped in Gaza in recent months. All of them have been released within hours without harm."

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline...s_2_journ.html

[fredfa]

TV Notebook
Steve Centanni bio
Fox News Channel

Steve Centanni is a national correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He has been with the network since its inception in 1996 and has reported on numerous global news stories and events.

In July 2003, Centanni was the first television network reporter to provide on-site reports from the building where Uday and Qusay Hussein were killed after a gun battle with the 101st Airborne Division. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Centanni served as an embedded journalist with the Navy SEAL’s and provided numerous first reports for the network, including a report that the U.S. had captured two main offshore oil terminals located 22 miles off Iraq's southern coast, preventing them from being blown up by the Iraqis.

Previously, while covering the War on Terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Centanni was first to report the fall of the Taliban in their final stronghold of Kandahar. During Operation Enduring Freedom, he reported on U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, the new interim government in Kabul and hostilities between Pakistani and Indian troops along the frontlines in Kashmir. Currently, Centanni is covering the crisis in Iraq and is stationed in Doha, Qatar.

During his tenure at FNC, Centanni has provided extensive coverage of the Pentagon, the U.S. Supreme Court and the Presidential Campaign of Sen. Bob Dole in 1996. He traveled with former President Clinton during his 1996 presidential campaign and his second term in office.

Centanni, a California native, began his broadcast career as an anchor and reporter for radio stations in San Francisco and Oakland, Calif. For eight years he wrote and produced news segments for KRON-TV (formerly an NBC affiliate) in San Francisco. In 1989 he won the Alaska Press Club Award for producing a weekly news magazine show for KTUU-TV (NBC) in Alaska.

Centanni attended the University of Colorado and earned a Bachelor’s degree in broadcasting from San Francisco State University.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,1182,00.html

[fredfa]

TV Notebook
Dancing with ... Tucker Carlson?
From Maureen Ryan’s Chicago Tribune blog “The Watcher”

It sounds like the answer to a "Jeopardy!" question gone terribly wrong: Jerry Springer, Tucker Carlson and Joey Lawrence.

No, the question is not "People one is likely to find on the televisions in Hell."

All three will be part of the next season of "Dancing With the Stars" when it premieres Sept. 12. Yes, the list of contestants is once again a calvacade of strangeness.

Also on the bill: Shanna Moakler of that bad MTV show about Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and his (soon to be ex) wife; NFL player Emmitt Smith; country singer Sara Evans; Willa Ford, who is a "singing sensation" according to ABC's press release; random TV guy Mario Lopez; Harry Hamlin (husband of last season's "Dancing" contestant Lisa Rinna); Monique Coleman from "High School Musical"; and Vivica A. Fox (reality-TV trivia nuts will note that Fox's last reality gig was on "The Starlet," a 2005 WB show that apparently had only one viewer -- me).

Anyone else having trouble trying to wrap their head around the idea of Tucker Carlson dancing around on prime-time TV? It's only the third season of "Dancing," and if ABC has to stoop to enlisting a cable pundit already, that can't be a good sign for the future of this show.

By the way,in the interest of full disclosure, Joey Lawrence wants to be known as Joe Lawrence these days.

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

[fredfa]

TV Notebook
Steve Centanni Update

GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian gunmen kidnapped two foreign journalists working for the Fox News Channel in Gaza on Monday, a witness and the U.S. television network said.

A Fox spokeswoman in New York named the two journalists as correspondent Steve Centanni, an American, and cameraman Olaf Wiig, from New Zealand.

A Fox news report said the network did not know who had seized them but that "negotiations were under way to secure their release".

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the abduction.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...src=rss&rpc=22

[fredfa]

TV Notebook
'Weeds' not taking hits, but it's still smoking
By Gail Shister Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

For a network that's jonesing for controversy, Showtime hasn't drawn an ounce of buzz from marijuana.

Weeds, starring Mary-Louise Parker as a widowed suburban mom turned pot dealer, generates zero backlash, according to Showtime Entertainment chief Robert Greenblatt.

Not a peep. Not from antidrug groups. Not from religious groups. Not from family groups.

Bob's bummed.

"Controversy is always a good thing for us," Greenblatt, 46, says. "It's great to have people talking about your stuff. When we get a great script, I'm always hoping what goes along with it is some stirred-up emotions."

Even buzz-less, Weeds - which launches its second season at 10 p.m. tomorrow - is the premium network's most popular show, averaging 1.6 million total viewers (over multiple airings) last season.

In Showtime's tiny universe of 14.5 million homes, that's a serious number.

Another serious number: five. That's how many Emmy nominations Weeds received, including one for Elizabeth Perkins for best supporting actress in a comedy. The awards air live Aug. 27 on NBC.

"We all expected blogs to be flying right, left and center about 'the moral corruption' on our show," says Perkins, who plays Parker's boozy, bossy neighbor, Celia Hodes.

Instead, "it was so quiet, it was almost like there was a cricket in the room. It was very surprising to us."

As themes go, marijuana is about the tamest on Showtime's prime-time roster, which includes terrorists (Sleeper Cell), serial killers (Dexter) and documentary coitus (Sexual Healing), not to mention gorgeous lesbians (The L Word.)

In Greenblatt's view, pot has become so prevalent in our culture that it's "kind of benign," despite its classification as an illegal substance.

"If you polled people over 20, most of them will tell you they've probably tried it. I can't remember the last time somebody died because of marijuana. Alcohol is not remotely illegal and it kills people in many different ways."

With a nod toward Mel Gibson, Greenblatt adds that being stoned "doesn't make you anti-Semitic, either."

For the record, Greenblatt, the product of a "repressed" Catholic family in rural Illinois, swears he's never smoked dope. ("I'm so square you wouldn't believe it.") He says he prefers good chocolate.

Perkins, 45, a mother of four who ditched doobies years ago for red wine, agrees with Greenblatt's assessment of the drug. Unlike crystal meth or cocaine or alcohol, she says, "marijuana doesn't destroy entire families."

Perkins says she'd rather her kids, all teenagers, "smoke a joint than drink a fifth of vodka and get behind the wheel of a car. I'd rather they have a bong hit in their room."

Party on, Liz.

Justin Kirk, who plays Parker's horndog, freeloading brother-in-law, Andy, acknowledges that he's inhaled, and liked it.

"I have smoked marijuana, and have enjoyed it," says Kirk, 38. "I tend to be coy about that particular question, because I'm concerned about offending our demographic. I try to keep it mysterious."

Equally mysterious, we might add, is the question of Kirk's sexuality.

Having won major kudos playing gay men in HBO's adaptation of Angels in America and the big-screen version of Love! Valour! Compassion!, the actor is widely assumed to be homosexual.

Au contraire - he's outing himself as a card-carrying hetero.

"I love the gays and the gays love me. What can I say? I've been in iconic pieces of theater, slash, movies. The theater is a gay place. I grew up there. A lot of gay men... were my mentors and teachers."

Tongue firmly in cheek, Kirk says he's not married, "but I've had sex with several married women."

Perkins, who's not one of them, describes her costar as "extremely manly and testosterone-filled and very obviously into women. I've never met anyone more heterosexual."

Says the tres gay Greenblatt: "I wish he were gay. I think he's adorable."

Kirk's Andy Botwin spends most of his time in a semi-comatose state at Nancy's house in the mythical cookie-cutter town of Agrestic, Calif. The good news: He cooks for her and her two sons.

Preferring to cruise chicks and get stoned instead of looking for a real job, Andy's been labeled "a raging id" by Weeds creator Jenji Kohan. (Fun Fact: Her brother, David Kohan, co-created Will & Grace.)

"I believe the writers act out a good deal of issues through me," Kirk says. "They feel they can put more far-out things into the mouth of this particular character.

"They know I'll pretty much do anything. I won't come to them and say, 'This isn't cool.'... One of my main objectives is to offend. I hope the show lasts forever. It's a dream."

Despite his obvious shortcomings, Andy is "an admirable character" in Kirk's eyes. "He runs at things full speed and doesn't have fear. He enjoys life and has a lot of lust for things."

Kirk and Angels alum Parker, whom Greenblatt labels "the Meryl Streep of her time," share a special connection, Kirk says. Their relationship "continues to grow in new and bizarre ways."

Like many actors in premium cable, Kirk and Perkins both say they're not in a hurry to return to the FCC-regulated world of broadcast TV.

"We're completely spoiled," she says. "I can go as far as I want as a performer. There's not this giant thumb hanging over our heads. Every line doesn't have to be approved and reapproved.

"I can't imagine returning to broadcast TV. Once you've seen Paris, it's hard to go back to the farm."

Put that in your hookah and smoke it.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/ent...printstory.jsp

[fredfa]

(If you haven’t lived in Memphis, you probably have never heard of Tom Walter. But he was a wonderful writer about television. A kind and gentle man, he left us too soon. Thanks to Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star for linking to the Walter obit.)

Obituary
Tom Walter, 57
Critic saw world through TV's prism

By Fredric Koeppel and Pamela Perkins Memphis Commercial Appeal August 13, 2006

When Tom Walter began writing about television for The Commercial Appeal in 1984, the top programs included "Dynasty," "Dallas," "The Cosby Show," "60 Minutes," "Family Ties" and "Knots Landing," all commercial network productions and not a cop, doc or lawyer show among them.

When Walter retired in May 2005, television had been transformed by the frankness and inventiveness of the cable networks, by the proliferation of "reality" programming and by the evolution of news broadcasting and reporting into infotainment.

But whether covering national or local television, Walter continued to write about his beat with equal measures of cynicism, humor and affection.

Walter, 57, died Saturday morning at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis after a three-year battle with cancer.

"Covering television is the best job any reporter could have," he said in a farewell column last year. "When you write about television, you write about the world."

Walter came to Memphis from his native Chicago in 1983, the year he started working at The Commercial Appeal.

"The first thing I could ever say about Tom is he had a very gentle spirit and he was a mild-mannered guy who went about his job in the most competent way that anybody could ever ask," said Otis Sanford, the newspaper's managing editor.

"He was an undisputed expert in television and how television evolved and how it affects our lives, and just solid reporting on the ins and outs of television."

Peggy McKenzie, editor of the newspaper's "M" lifestyle section that featured Walter's work, called him "a journalist to the bone."

"Tom was well-respected and admired among his peers here and nationally," McKenzie said.

Peggy Phillip, news director for WMC-TV and Walter's eventual friend, grew to appreciate being on the pointy side of Walter's critical sword, she said.

"Tom and I probably had a hate-love relationship. I think at the beginning I wasn't very appreciative of some of the things he wrote over the years," Phillip said. "He did have a very distinctive insight into television news that I appreciated sometimes and other times not very much."

McKenzie also echoed sentiments regarding Walter's gentle nature. But every man has his limits.

"Tom was the easiest person to work with that you could imagine. He was just a really nice gentle man. I only saw him get mad one time in all the years I've been there -- almost 27 years. It was when we tried to assign him a story on Britney Spears and the effect her having a baby would have on her fan base. He blew up. And he did not do it," she said.

"We will all miss our friend greatly."

"Tom never lost his love for his hometown," said Susan Adler Thorp, former political writer for The Commercial Appeal and editorial commentator for WMC-TV Channel 5. "He could talk about Polish sausages given any opportunity."

When Walter closed out his career as a television reporter last year, he offered an eclectic list of his favorite shows from 21 years. Among them were "Hill Street Blues," "L.A. Law," "Seinfeld," "Gilmore Girls," "The Sopranos," "Frasier," "The Cosby Show," "The West Wing" ("first few years"), "Twin Peaks" ("The first season was brilliant ... The second season was a mess"), "The Daily Show" and "The Simpsons" ("After 350 episodes, it remains the best comedy on TV, perhaps the best ever").

Walter is survived by his wife, Sara, of Memphis; and a sister, Janice Kieckhefer of Oak Park, Ill.

Visitation will be Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m., at Canale Funeral Directors, 2700 Union Ext. A funeral mass will be said Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Memorials may be sent to Immaculate Conception or the American Cancer Society.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/...913662,00.html

[fredfa]

TV Notebook
Couric ready to work, but sitting tight
By Paul J. Gough The Hollywood Reporter Aug. 15, 2006

NEW YORK -- Soon-to-be "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric said Monday that she has been tempted to go on the air in the month that she's been at the network but instead is taking the longer view and preparing for her Sept. 5 debut.

Couric started at CBS News in July and hasn't appeared on the air since her final "Today" telecast on NBC at the end of May. But she's hardly been taking the time off: She's been working with CBS News president Sean McManus and "Evening News" executive producer Rome Hartman to shape the evening newscast. She also completed a weeklong town meeting-style round of events around the country and has been doing other things behind the scenes.

"I've been working on a '60 Minutes' piece that will air Sept. 10 and planning some other pieces as well," Couric said Monday. "That's been very time consuming. I really want to come out of the box strong. As a reporter, I've wanted to be involved in some of the (breaking) stories, but I also understand the importance of good planning" (for the debut of her newscast).

Hartman said there have been some discussions about Couric appearing on air but that it never got to the point where she was about to do it.

"She's been out shooting '60 Minutes' stories and stories that are going to air for us in the fall," Hartman said. "She's been out practicing the craft, that's for sure -- just not on the air."

In a roundtable interview Monday at CBS News headquarters in Manhattan, Couric said that she was trying to chart a new path for the evening newscast. That includes taking on a case-by-case basis whether to travel extensively in war zones or other dangerous places, something for which her predecessor Dan Rather was famous.

"If I feel strongly that my presence will advance a story, that I'm not just window dressing to show that I'm at a particular story, which I think does happen quite frankly in certain situations," Couric said. "If I get an important interview or actually have time to do real reporting and my presence will serve the story, that's something I will consider. But additionally, though, there are family considerations for me that would be part of the equation."

Hartman agreed. "There is a game of network 'chicken' sometimes, and I don't think we necessarily feel the need to play that game," he said.

Couric, who tackled a wide range of topics in the 30-minute interview, declined to tip her hand to many of the specifics of how her newscast will be different. But she said not to expect a "soup to nuts" roundup of the day's news, which she said wasn't appropriate in the current media landscape.

"We're going to take risks and try some new things, and we're not going to be tied to the formulaic evening newscast that we've all pretty much grown up with that hasn't changed very much in the last several decades," Couric said. "We're going to take some chances and try some new things."

But don't expect Couric to be the same on air as she was during 15 years at "Today" -- or a robo-anchor either.

"I had opportunities to show my sense of humor or more playful side (on 'Today')," she said. "I think there will certainly be fewer opportunities for that on the evening news, and yet I hope the essence of who I am will surface on the broadcast."

Said Hartman: "Every evening newscast on every network has always reflected to some degree the personality and the taste and the sensibility of its anchor. Ours will, as others have. Katie brings what she brings, she is who she is, and that is going to come through."

She's planning to address the "CBS Evening News" audience during her first newscast but said she doesn't know what she'll say or when.

"I can't sort of show up and pretend like this is my 87th newscast and there's nothing new and different here," Couric said. "I think that obviously I will want at some point to say a few words to the four people who are watching -- my parents and my kids -- and give them some sort of indication of what we are going to try to do here."

Couric said she was thinking about what she'd use as her closing but hadn't come up with anything. She said her mother was working on it too. And she's planning to stick with Katie instead of Katherine, a change she made in the early days of "Today."

"No one called me that except my father when he was mad at me," Couric joked. "That's just not who I am."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr..._id=1002986405

[fredfa]

TV Notebook
'Brothers' gets a jump on drama
The highly anticipated show's executive producer abruptly quits. Veteran Greg Berlanti is brought in to help out for the meantime.
By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times Staff Writer August 15, 2006

If the scripts for ABC's new fall drama "Brothers & Sisters" are as good as the behind-the-scenes intrigue surrounding the show, the network might have a hit on its hands.

Last week, executive producer Marti Noxon abruptly quit, a decision people familiar with the situation say was due to creative differences with series creator Jon Robin Baitz.

The defection of Noxon, who as the "showrunner" was the producer responsible for day-to-day supervision of the series, casts a cloud over "Brothers," which debuts next month and stars Calista Flockhart as a New York talk-show host drawn back to her extended family in Southern California.

To fill the gap, Walt Disney Co.-owned Touchstone Television, which makes the show, has tapped veteran writer-producer Greg Berlanti to help out with scripts and production management, a spokeswoman confirmed Monday.

Berlanti is an A-list TV industry player, best-known as the creator of two critically acclaimed but now-canceled WB network dramas, "Everwood" and "Jack and Bobby." He also has a development deal with Touchstone and has been working on an ABC drama pilot called "Eli Stone," about an attorney who may have supernatural powers.

His new role raises the possibility that Berlanti might permanently take the reins on "Brothers." That would in turn heighten doubts about the level of control retained by Baitz and another executive producer, Ken Olin.

The situation bears some similarities to "Commander in Chief," the ABC drama starring Geena Davis that imploded last year after Rod Lurie, the series' creator, suddenly exited the show early in its run. "Commander" then went through tumultuous personnel shifts before being canceled.

Noxon hasn't commented on her departure.

Neither Berlanti nor his agent immediately returned telephone calls, but Touchstone spokeswoman Charissa Gilmore dismissed any hint of turmoil on "Brothers."

"Everyone is absolutely thrilled about this collaboration, and we're still trying to weigh options for going forward," she said of Berlanti. "No decisions have been made as of yet."

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et...?coll=cl-tvent

[posg]

Originally Posted by fredfa

As noted in another thread, it appears for the moment the Verizon Home Media DVR only works with SD.

My Time Warner HD DVR only costs me $6.95/month. I could rent 3 of those and have much more flexibility for the same price as Verizon is charging for one SD unit.

Don't worry Fredfa. I'm not gonna hijack your thread. It's too valuable. But couldn't pass this one up.

[fredfa]

Glad to see you join us here, posg.
My feeling is that both cable and satellite better be very, very afraid of the telcos - at least for the moment.
Yet it also seems very possible that somewhere down the line there will be an internet-based (or yet-to-be-developed) delivery system which could put them all out of business.
Once the program producers/sports leagues/movie studios can deliver their products to consumers directly the party for cable/dbs/telco will be over.

[posg]

Originally Posted by fredfa

Glad to see you join us here, posg.
My feeling is that both cable and satellite better be very, very afraid of the telcos - at least for the moment.
Yet it also seems very possible that somewhere down the line there will be an internet-based (or yet-to-be-developed) delivery system which could put them all out of business.
Once the program producers/sports leagues/movie studios can deliver their products to consumers directly the party for cable/dbs/telco will be over.

Somebody still needs to own the "pipe".

It's ironic that the telcos have historically been in the "pipe" business, while cable has been more in the "programming" business. Cable ended up with the better fatter pipe. Telco is now implementing an even bigger fatter pipe. It's a battle over who's got the better infrastructure, because again, there still needs to be a pipe.

Satellite is definitely the long term loser. Both telco and cable's pipes are analogous to city water and sewer. Satellite is a well and septic tank.

[fredfa]

TV Notebook
Countdown to Couric debut starts with a quip

By Julie Hinds Detroit Free Press

Katie Couric didn't miss a beat Monday when someone described the "CBS Evening News" as being in the ratings basement for years.

"Well, we prefer to call it the ratings rec room," joked Couric, deftly fielding questions from reporters via telephone. The session was tied to her Sept. 5 debut as top CBS anchor.

Couric insisted she's not focused on ratings. "I just really am interested in building a quality newscast that is willing to, when appropriate, take some risks and try some new things," she said.

Other Couric tidbits:

• The best advice she's gotten so far? "It's probably from my parents, who just said to be myself."

• She's working on a 9/11-related story for "60 Minutes" and plans to contribute to a CBS blog.

• She realizes there's interest in her personal style as it relates to her new job, but it's not her favorite subject. "It's about No. 57 on my to-do list, and I'm really focused on the work and the content of the show, and that's really my No. 1 priority."

• Anything else regarding her on-air look? "I have no plans to get a crew cut or shop at Brooks Brothers or whatever," she quipped.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...NT07/608150360

[fredfa]

Monday’s network prime-time ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the first post in this thread).

[fredfa]

Overnights in the 18-49 Demo
One hell of a finale for Fox's 'Kitchen'
By Toni Fitzgerald MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer Aug 15, 2006, 10:48

Heather won a shot to run her own Las Vegas restaurant last night on the season ender of Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen.” Fox likely gained one of the summer’s best finales, and secured “Kitchen’s” place as one of the few summer shows to actually grow from start to finish.

“Kitchen” averaged a series-best 3.9 adults 18-49 overnight rating for its two-hour finale last night, up 5 percent over last year’s 3.7 for its first-season ender.

It averaged 8.49 million total viewers.

“Kitchen,” which bettered last week’s penultimate 3.8 rating, was one of the few programs this summer that didn’t fade after a big debut. In fact, it grew steadily from its debut and will end the season up slightly from last year in adults 18-49.

The show peaked with a 4.6 in the final half hour at 9:30 p.m., easily besting the competition. It nearly beat the combined average of the tied-for-No. 2 shows, ABC’s “Wife Swap” and CBS’s “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” which each averaged a 2.4.

“Kitchen” will likely be the summer’s No. 2 program behind fellow Fox offering “So You Think You Can Dance.” With “America’s Got Talent” on NBC fading over recent weeks, “Kitchen’s” finale could well be the second-best of the summer as well, assuming tomorrow’s “Dance” finale tops a 3.9.

Gordon Ramsay will return for a third season of “Kitchen” next summer.

“Kitchen” boosted Fox to No. 1 for the night with a 3.9 rating and 11 share in 18-49s, followed by CBS at 2.6/7, ABC at 2.2/6, NBC and Univision both at 1.6/4, UPN at 0.9/3 and WB at 0.7/2.

At 8 p.m., Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" finale was No. 1 at 3.4, ahead of CBS's repeats of "Two and a Half Men" and "How I Met Your Mother" at 2.3, ABC's "Wife Swap" repeat at 2.1, Univision's "La Fea Mas Bella" at 1.9, NBC's "Psych" repeat at 1.3, UPN's repeats of "One on One" and "All of Us" at 0.9 and WB's "7th Heaven" rerun at 0.7.

At 9 p.m., Fox's "Kitchen" led again at 4.4, ahead of CBS's repeats of "Men" and "New Adventures of Old Christine" at 2.6, ABC's "Wife Swap" repeat at 2.4, NBC's "Treasure Hunters" at 1.8, Univision's "Barrera de Amor" at 1.5, UPN's reruns of "Girlfriends" and "Half & Half" at 0.9, and WB's "Heaven" rerun at 0.7.

At 10 p.m., CBS's "CSI: Miami" repeat led at 2.9, followed by ABC's "Supernanny" rerun at 2.0, NBC's "Medium" rerun at 1.6 and Univision's "Cristina" at 1.4.

Among households, CBS led for the night at a 5.9 rating and 10 share, ahead of Fox at 5.3/9, ABC at 3.8/6, NBC at 2.9/5, Univision at 2.1/3, UPN at 1.7/3 and the WB at 1.1/2.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...inter_6670.asp

[fredfa]

TV Notebook
Up Close And Too Personal
Katie Couric, Center of Attention, Says She Just Wants to Do Her Job
By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, August 15, 2006; C01

NEW YORK, Aug. 14--She is already the most heavily scrutinized, psychoanalyzed and gossiped-about anchor in network history, and she hasn't yet uttered a single "good evening" on a CBS newscast.

Katie Couric's wardrobe has been analyzed by the Wall Street Journal, her makeup assailed in USA Today, her dating life examined by Parade magazine, her fitness for nightly news duty debated by columnists, cable combatants, bloggers and bloviators.

"I'm really focused on work and trying to tune the other stuff out, because it could potentially drive you absolutely out of your mind," Couric says in a conference room down the hall from the new set being constructed for her Sept. 5 debut.

When she takes the helm of the "CBS Evening News," Couric's challenge to NBC's Brian Williams and ABC's Charlie Gibson will mark the first such three-way showdown since Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings initially went at it in the early 1980s. But the media landscape has shifted dramatically since then, leaving this trio fighting for a shrinking slice of the audience and increasingly taking their battle online.

Because Couric is both the first woman to serve as a solo nightly news anchor and a big-time celebrity, some are casting her debut as the biggest event of the fall television season. After 15 years as a popular morning personality at NBC, she is armed with some new ideas -- including a regular soapbox segment for advocates and activists-- to jazz up an evening news format that sometimes seems set in concrete.

After conducting town meetings in a half-dozen cities last month, Couric concluded that "people are hungry" for more positive stories. She is, for example, working on a piece about an Alexandria foundation that teaches juvenile delinquents how to build boats and helps them get high school equivalency degrees.

"Sometimes when you watch the evening news, it's all gloom and doom -- and some of it has to be, because the world is a complicated and pretty scary place right now," says Couric, 49. "But there has to be a place for more hopeful stories."

But, she adds, "it's not going to be smiley-face happy news."

What viewers want is a constant topic of discussion among the staffs of the evening newscasts, which still reach a combined 25 million viewers but have seen their share of the total audience gradually decline for nearly three decades. Whether Couric can revive interest in the genre is the focus of considerable debate.

Williams, who has occupied first place since succeeding Brokaw at "NBC Nightly News" 21 months ago, calls her a "great communicator" who "brings to the job an already established personal relationship with millions of viewers. She will be formidable competition, no ifs, ands or buts. . . . Like any product launch in the marketing world, an introduction is going to get sampling. I think that dies down rather quickly."

But Williams, 47, sees no need to tinker with his newscast, saying: "We're the established industry leader."

Gibson, 63, who took over second-place "World News" in June after Bob Woodruff was sidelined by injuries suffered in Iraq and ABC reassigned co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas, has said the showdown should be focused on news, not personalities.

"I believe competition is good for all of us," says Jon Banner, executive producer of "World News," who calls Couric and Williams tough rivals. "It brings more attention to the evening news, which lots of people determined some time ago was going to go away. Charlie's move to the evening and Katie's move to the evening give the lie to that. The only challenge we've had is to make sure they know he's on in the evening now."

Public fascination with the anchors has reached the point that Gallup recently polled about them, as if they were presidential candidates. Couric led the trio with a 60 percent approval rating but, with 23 percent disapproving, had the highest negatives as well. Gibson got positive marks from 55 percent of those surveyed and thumbs down from 8 percent, while 47 percent approved of Williams and 7 percent disapproved.

CBS has done its part to stoke the interest in Couric as she takes the reins from Bob Schieffer, who will return to his Washington job after having boosted the "Evening News" ratings during his 18 months as Rather's interim replacement. The network has launched a promotional campaign and tapped Academy Award-winning composer James Horner to write new theme music for the broadcast.

CBS News President Sean McManus says he sees a media "feeding frenzy" over Couric's new role and is surprised by "this unbelievable thirst for information" about her life. "It's a good thing that everyone is talking about the 'CBS Evening News' right now," he says. "The downside is that people are going to be so quick to jump to conclusions after one broadcast. Some things are going to work and others aren't going to work."

One of those elements is the new commentary segment, dubbed "Free Speech," which will give a 90-second platform to outsiders -- some prominent, some not -- and will also include a weekly essay by Schieffer.

"People are sick of the lack of civil discourse," Couric says, with guests "screaming and interrupting each other and trying to stay on message and berating the other person. They want us to get away from sound bites from inside the Beltway and roll up our sleeves and hear from real people."

On immigration, Couric says, CBS might interview a restaurant owner about illegal immigrants or a recent emigre from Guatemala. "Sometimes in recent years there's been such an effort to bend over backwards to placate both sides of the political aisle, and that on-the-one-hand-this, on-the-other-hand-that approach has left people a little bit cold," she says. "Sometimes they want more analysis and fact-finding and critical thinking."

On the other hand . . . one planned segment will also feature author Nora Ephron expounding on plastic surgery, a subject of her new book. "They're not all going to be super-heavy," Couric says.

Executive Producer Rome Hartman describes the changes as evolutionary. "People watching the first night will know it's a different broadcast, but it's not going to be outside the tradition or form of the 'CBS Evening News,' " he says. "It's not going to be one of these radical remakes."

CBS executives are trying to tamp down expectations of a dramatic boost for their last-place newscast. "The ratings movement might be slow and very gradual," McManus says. "Moving the needle takes a long time, I don't care who your anchor is."

Despite her years of experience interviewing presidents and world leaders on the "Today" show, Couric has faced skepticism rooted in her singing, dancing, cooking and other morning high jinks -- even though press reports about Gibson rarely mention the lighter shtick he did during 19 years on "Good Morning America."

"She's America's cutie pie," says Robert Lichter of the Center for Media and Public Affairs. "She's bringing star power to a job that has been a black hole in terms of losing viewers. She's a devil to people who think TV news is losing its soul, and an angel to people who think TV news needs shaking up."

Couric's presence will be felt beyond the anchor desk that, as press reports frequently note, was once occupied by Walter Cronkite. She is already working on two pieces for "60 Minutes," one of which is related to Sept. 11. She will host a prime-time documentary on the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks the night after her debut. She plans to appear daily on CBS Radio and blog at least once a week for the network's Web site, fielding questions "if people have a beef with us. It just adds to the transparency we're trying to promote. We just want to let viewers in a little bit on the process of how a newscast is put together and what decisions we make."

In that regard, CBS is a step behind NBC, where Williams has been writing a daily blog since last year, and ABC, where Gibson anchors a 15-minute afternoon webcast that was downloaded nearly 8 million times in June. CBS recently cut a deal with the online site WebMD to contribute to medical segments.

With the average age of evening news watchers about 60, and the total number of viewers having dropped by half since 1980, network executives see the Internet as a new forum for reaching younger people accustomed to watching news and video online.

"It's easy for people our age to dismiss a generation with a broad brush," Couric says. But, she adds, it would be nice if more younger viewers knew "as much about the state of the country as they know about the state of Britney Spears's marriage."

Couric's life may not draw as much attention as Spears's marriage, but it is surely dissected more fervently than those of most journalists. That is in part because of her celebrity status and in part because she often shared personal experiences with the "Today" audience -- particularly after the 1998 death of her husband, Jay Monahan, turned Couric into a crusader and fundraiser for cancer-related causes. With a salary of $15 million a year, she moves easily among Manhattan's jet set.

Couric, who has two teenage daughters, sparked a debate after saying in May that as a single mother she might not be willing to travel with U.S. forces in Iraq. The entertainment show "Access Hollywood" later recycled the quote, erroneously, as applying to whether Couric would have gone to Israel to cover its war with Hezbollah. She says such matters would have to be decided on a case-by-case basis, but she is not apologetic about hesitating to parachute into any war zone.

"I'm not saying I'm going to be totally blowing off my family," says Couric. "That's a very important role in my life, that I'm a mother."

Asked why her comments generated so much attention, she says: "Probably there's still a lot of consternation in this country about people trying to balance work and family. . . . It's a sticky wicket. People applauded the fact that I was going to put my [foot] down at some point and say no.

"If it's going to advance the story -- if I get an interview with an important figure in said hot spot -- obviously I want to go. Do I want to go just to put on a flak jacket and front a news show? Not necessarily. Viewers are smart. They understand when someone really needs to be there and when it's more of a show."

Couric, who left "Today" at the end of May, sounds a bit impatient to get on with it, telling reporters on a conference call Monday: "It's been an out-of-body experience to watch these major news events unfold in my pajamas." But in the interview in the first-floor conference room, she cautions against the idea of a personal transformation.

"I don't want to lose who I am, in terms of how I communicate with people," she says. "I'm not going to become a different person. The downside of all the attention is to suggest I'm going to single-handedly save anything. I'm just going to try to be a contributor with a great group of people who are already in place."

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...inter_6670.asp

[fredfa]

TV Sports
Kornheiser, Not Yet in Game Shape On 'MNF'
By Paul Farhi Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Tony Kornheiser played it safe in his "Monday Night Football" announcing debut last night, making few missteps but offering little for the highlight reel. It wasn't exactly clear at times why he was there at all.

It's still early, as the coaches like to say. But on the basis of his first preseason game, Kornheiser, the Post sports columnist and co-host of ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption," wasn't many of the things that ESPN hired him for. He wasn't especially witty, provocative or insightful in calling the Raiders' 16-13 win over the Vikings from the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

It was enough to make one yearn for Dennis Miller, the comedian whose star-crossed tenure as a "Monday Night Football" analyst in 2000-01 was at least marked by a certain danger, a whiff of the unexpected, or the just plain loony.

Kornheiser mostly spluttered, typically emphasizing the obvious and playing third fiddle to his more experienced mike mates, play-by-play man Mike Tirico and fellow color analyst Joe Theismann.

"You fumble a kickoff on a nationally televised game on the opening kickoff, you want to crawl into a hole!" he offered on the very first play.

"These are not good numbers tonight, are they?" he asked at one point as the passing statistics for Aaron Brooks, the Raiders quarterback, flashed on-screen. Given that Brooks was 0-for-4 passing at the time, the question was either needlessly rhetorical or hopelessly naive.

Hyping next Monday night's game (with a full 3 1/2 quarters still to play in the one he was announcing), he offered, "Reggie Bush is the kind of player people will pay money to see!"

Of course this was a hugely meaningless preseason game, even by the standards of meaningless preseason games. The Raiders-Vikings contest had a few hypeable story lines -- former Minnesota star receiver Randy Moss playing against his old teammates, a new coach for the Vikings -- but all that was dispensed with after about 10 minutes. The game had even less moment than the usual "Monday Night Football" preseason kickoff, the Hall of Fame game from Canton, Ohio (the game and venue in which Miller got off perhaps the best one-liner of his short-lived "MNF" career: "Ironically enough, you can't find any good Cantonese food in Canton").

Kornheiser is the first to admit he's no matinee idol, but he looked oddly washed out under the TV lights (this may explain why ESPN had close-ups of Tirico and Theismann, as well as sideline reporters Michele Tafoya and Suzy Kolber, but not Kornheiser). Some unsolicited advice: Tony, get a tan.

Kornheiser's challenge is to translate his familiar "PTI" personality -- opinionated, sarcastic, bombastic, a little curmudgeonly -- into the announcing booth. That's a tough assignment. Sarcasm can sound mean in the wrong hands. Tougher still, Kornheiser doesn't have Michael Wilbon, his fellow Post sports columnist and "PTI" co-host, in the booth with him. "PTI" is watchable primarily because of the verbal fireworks and good-natured banter between the two.

On "MNF," Kornheiser's foil is Theismann, who -- and let's be charitable to a Redskins legend -- is kind of a stiff. Kornheiser should be bouncing off of him like a Superball. Theismann is plainly knowledgeable about the game but often goes off on his own personal lecture circuit. He's also so smug and pretentious -- did he mention that he used to play the game? Oh, yes, about 12 times -- that he invites deflation. All this could be a good thing, at least from Kornheiser's perspective. Sticking the pin in the Theismann blimp could create some nice tension from week to week.

To his or ESPN's credit, Kornheiser seems to understand the value of a good argument. Getting into one is the problem. Kornheiser did seem to loosen up somewhat as the game wore on, waving red flags at Theismann and drawing him into brief verbal exchanges.

Noting that the Raiders' newly hired assistant coach, Tom Walsh, had left pro football to run a bed-and-breakfast in Idaho, he asked Theismann if he'd have hired him: "Would you be comfortable with Bob Newhart?" Kornheiser taunted. "He ran a B&B!"

"Joe, I know you like Brad Johnson," the Vikings quarterback, he said at another point. "Don't you think Brad Johnson is a downgrade from Daunte Culpepper?" Good question, the kind that viewers might want to hear some opinion-slinging about.

Kornheiser's strongest opinion was his horror near the end of the game when it looked like Minnesota might push the game into overtime -- and keep him from getting to bed.

ESPN tried to force a little of Kornheiser's "PTI" mojo by instituting an in-game mini-feature called "Tony, Tony, Tony!" The idea is to have viewers e-mail their questions to Kornheiser, who answers them on the air. It played like it sounds -- contrived.

"What team deserves a fun nickname?" asked one e-mailer.

"That's the hardest question I ever heard," Kornheiser replied. "I don't know."

After a few moments, he did suggest a nickname (but not which team should get it): "Snakes on a plane."

Kind of reminded you of Dennis Miller. In a bad way.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...401503_pf.html

[fredfa]

On the other hand…..
TV Sports
Kornheiser Steals the Show
ESPN's 'Monday Night Football' announcing team is off to a good start, especially the veteran columnist
By Larry StewartLos Angeles Times Staff Writer August 15, 2006

After its debut, one thing is clear about ESPN's "Monday Night Football" announcing team. It's a big cast — three game announcers and two sideline reporters — with one star.

And that star, as evidenced by ESPN's telecast Monday night of the Oakland Raiders' 16-13 exhibition victory over the Minnesota Vikings, is newcomer Tony Kornheiser. He was the focal point of the telecast, and all things considered, he not only survived but was pretty good.

He came across as less obnoxious than Howard Cosell, and funnier than Dennis Miller. Miller was put in the "Monday Night Football" booth for strictly entertainment purposes. Sure, Kornheiser is also there to entertain, but he is also able to inform.

The difference between Miller and Kornheiser is that Miller was never a credentialed journalist. Kornheiser is a longtime sports columnist for the Washington Post, and with that job comes the responsibility of knowing sports, studying sports and forming opinions about sports.

An example of what Kornheiser can bring to a game telecast occurred near the end of the second half Monday. Sideline reporter Suzy Kolber, interviewing the Raiders' Warren Sapp, asked him to throw a trivia question at Kornheiser. Said Sapp: What four quarterbacks who were No. 1 draft choices later were Super Bowl MVPs?

Kornheiser got two of them — John Elway and Jim Plunkett. He missed Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman. The significance wasn't that Kornheiser was able to name two of them, or not name two of them, it was that he had fun with it.

He also had fun when it appeared the game might go into overtime. Kornheiser, a notoriously early riser, complained it was already past his bedtime. When Vikings Coach Brad Childress decided to go for a winning touchdown rather than a tying field goal, Childress suddenly became Kornheiser's best friend.

So maybe it will be OK to make Kornheiser the star, and maybe commentating partner Joe Theismann will be accepting of that.

But, overall, this was a good debut for Kornheiser and ESPN, despite a minor slip-up by play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico at the top of the telecast. He said the two teams on the field, the Vikings and Raiders, would be featured when ESPN begins "Monday Night Football's" regular season with a doubleheader Sept. 11. But he also said the Vikings and Raiders would be on the road that night. Well, he was half right. The Vikings will be at Washington, but the Raiders will play host to San Diego.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/printe...ines-pe-sports

[generalpatton78]

Originally Posted by fredfa

TV Sports
Kornheiser, Not Yet in Game Shape On 'MNF'
By Paul Farhi Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Tony Kornheiser played it safe in his "Monday Night Football" announcing debut last night, making few missteps but offering little for the highlight reel. It wasn't exactly clear at times why he was there at all.

It's still early, as the coaches like to say. But on the basis of his first preseason game, Kornheiser, the Post sports columnist and co-host of ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption," wasn't many of the things that ESPN hired him for. He wasn't especially witty, provocative or insightful in calling the Raiders' 16-13 win over the Vikings from the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

It was enough to make one yearn for Dennis Miller, the comedian whose star-crossed tenure as a "Monday Night Football" analyst in 2000-01 was at least marked by a certain danger, a whiff of the unexpected, or the just plain loony.

Kornheiser mostly spluttered, typically emphasizing the obvious and playing third fiddle to his more experienced mike mates, play-by-play man Mike Tirico and fellow color analyst Joe Theismann.

"You fumble a kickoff on a nationally televised game on the opening kickoff, you want to crawl into a hole!" he offered on the very first play.

"These are not good numbers tonight, are they?" he asked at one point as the passing statistics for Aaron Brooks, the Raiders quarterback, flashed on-screen. Given that Brooks was 0-for-4 passing at the time, the question was either needlessly rhetorical or hopelessly naive.

Hyping next Monday night's game (with a full 3 1/2 quarters still to play in the one he was announcing), he offered, "Reggie Bush is the kind of player people will pay money to see!"

Of course this was a hugely meaningless preseason game, even by the standards of meaningless preseason games. The Raiders-Vikings contest had a few hypeable story lines -- former Minnesota star receiver Randy Moss playing against his old teammates, a new coach for the Vikings -- but all that was dispensed with after about 10 minutes. The game had even less moment than the usual "Monday Night Football" preseason kickoff, the Hall of Fame game from Canton, Ohio (the game and venue in which Miller got off perhaps the best one-liner of his short-lived "MNF" career: "Ironically enough, you can't find any good Cantonese food in Canton").

Kornheiser is the first to admit he's no matinee idol, but he looked oddly washed out under the TV lights (this may explain why ESPN had close-ups of Tirico and Theismann, as well as sideline reporters Michele Tafoya and Suzy Kolber, but not Kornheiser). Some unsolicited advice: Tony, get a tan.

Kornheiser's challenge is to translate his familiar "PTI" personality -- opinionated, sarcastic, bombastic, a little curmudgeonly -- into the announcing booth. That's a tough assignment. Sarcasm can sound mean in the wrong hands. Tougher still, Kornheiser doesn't have Michael Wilbon, his fellow Post sports columnist and "PTI" co-host, in the booth with him. "PTI" is watchable primarily because of the verbal fireworks and good-natured banter between the two.

On "MNF," Kornheiser's foil is Theismann, who -- and let's be charitable to a Redskins legend -- is kind of a stiff. Kornheiser should be bouncing off of him like a Superball. Theismann is plainly knowledgeable about the game but often goes off on his own personal lecture circuit. He's also so smug and pretentious -- did he mention that he used to play the game? Oh, yes, about 12 times -- that he invites deflation. All this could be a good thing, at least from Kornheiser's perspective. Sticking the pin in the Theismann blimp could create some nice tension from week to week.

To his or ESPN's credit, Kornheiser seems to understand the value of a good argument. Getting into one is the problem. Kornheiser did seem to loosen up somewhat as the game wore on, waving red flags at Theismann and drawing him into brief verbal exchanges.

Noting that the Raiders' newly hired assistant coach, Tom Walsh, had left pro football to run a bed-and-breakfast in Idaho, he asked Theismann if he'd have hired him: "Would you be comfortable with Bob Newhart?" Kornheiser taunted. "He ran a B&B!"

"Joe, I know you like Brad Johnson," the Vikings quarterback, he said at another point. "Don't you think Brad Johnson is a downgrade from Daunte Culpepper?" Good question, the kind that viewers might want to hear some opinion-slinging about.

Kornheiser's strongest opinion was his horror near the end of the game when it looked like Minnesota might push the game into overtime -- and keep him from getting to bed.

ESPN tried to force a little of Kornheiser's "PTI" mojo by instituting an in-game mini-feature called "Tony, Tony, Tony!" The idea is to have viewers e-mail their questions to Kornheiser, who answers them on the air. It played like it sounds -- contrived.

"What team deserves a fun nickname?" asked one e-mailer.

"That's the hardest question I ever heard," Kornheiser replied. "I don't know."

After a few moments, he did suggest a nickname (but not which team should get it): "Snakes on a plane."

Kind of reminded you of Dennis Miller. In a bad way.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...401503_pf.html

How original one sports writer criticizing another. MNF has just become a punching bag for people. I would have loved to have Al instead of Mike, but thats life. I'd say they have the potential to be something very good. Although I think Chris Collensworth instead of joe thiesman would have been interesting. I could see Tony and Chris go at it for hours.

[fredfa]

Prime-time ratings for Monday– and Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted at the top of Ratings News the first post in this thread.
Monday’s network prime-time ratings are now at the top of RATINGS NEWS (the first post in this thread).

[fredfa]

(The more TV critics who actually see HDTV, the better off we all will be. Oh, and Mark Cuban keeps adding to the HDTV population, even if it is one viewer at a time.)
The Digital Revolution
Hypnotized by HDTV
By Ellen Gray Philadelphia Daily News Tue, Aug. 15, 2006

When it comes to television sets, I come from a long line of late adopters.

My mother's often bragged that hers was the last family in their neighborhood to get a TV, probably about 1950 or so.

In high school at the time, she didn't care that her parents weren't keeping up with the Joneses. TVs "were these teensy little things and you could mostly only get ball games on them," she recalls.

My father, who loved TV - and ball games - stuck with black-and-white for years, arguing he was waiting till they worked out the bugs in the color.

With seven children to feed and clothe - and dispatch with a pair of pliers to switch channels, which passed for remote control in our house - he also had better places to put his money.

They must have worked out those bugs, because after we chipped in to buy him a color set in 1976, I never heard a word of complaint about the color.

In college then, I'd become so used to life without living color that I lived TV-free for several years. And though my husband's parents had been the first on their block to get a set, a 13-inch, black-and-white box was the main TV in our own first house as late as the mid-'80s.

Fast-forward 10 years, and I'm getting paid to write about TV. Most of my viewing's done on a 27-inch color set I'd won in a United Way raffle, and honestly, it looks fine to me, though most of my TV critic friends would've hooted with derision if they'd seen it.

When that one starts to flicker, I eventually replace it with a 24-inch flat-screen (but not flat panel) Sony, and a few years later, when the number of things I'm screening at home that can't be watched with kids around - as in just about anything from HBO or Showtime - exceeds the number of hours when they're asleep and I'm not, I add a 20-inch Sony for my study. A 13-inch TV/VCR combo in the kitchen allows me to watch the occasional screener while cooking dinner (back before most of the screeners arrived on DVD), and as far as I'm concerned, we're full up on TVs.

Sure, every time I walk into one of the neighbors' houses, I can't help noticing that one of their TV sets is bigger than our three combined, but I'm a pro: I don't need a 60-inch screen to see that "Deadwood" is better than "Biggest Loser," and all "high-def" means to me is seeing way too much of other people's pores.

Plus, every time I see the sticker on an HDTV set, it's flashing "trip to Europe, trip to Europe."

And that's where I was on the whole HDTV question until last month, when, during a press conference where Dan Rather and Mark Cuban were promoting Rather's new deal with Cuban's HDNet, it occurred to me that if I actually wanted to see Rather's latest reporting venture, I'd need a new TV set.

As it turns out, I'd also need a satellite dish, since Comcast doesn't carry HDNet here. And no one in her right mind actually goes high-def to see Dan Rather.

Still, once I'd started down that road, it was easy to think of work-related reasons that I needed the 32-inch Sony Bravia LCD I eventually bought on sale for, OK, maybe half a trip to Europe. (You can hear Daily News tech guru Jonathan Takiff talking me through the process on the latest Philly Feed podcast http://www.phillyfeed.com/archives/003629.html)

My friends told me this purchase would change the way I felt about TV, and they were right.

Since the new TV moved into our library, I find myself watching more screeners there. One result: The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the subject of most of my viewing last week, now appear clearer to me than they did at the time, when I watched events unfold on the 13-inch office set.

I'm not sure that's a good thing.

Last week, I stayed up to watch CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" for no other reason than to view the topography of guest Denis Leary's face. (Only guests seem to get the close-ups now that high-def's here, so I was spared too close a look at Dave.)

I've interviewed Leary, but even craning my neck to look up - he's got more than a foot on me - I'd have needed a magnifying glass to get the view "Late Show" fans got.

Again, I'm not sure that's a good thing.

I've never been much of a nature-show person, but it turns out that two of the most dependable players on Comcast's high-def lineup are the Discovery Channel and WHYY, so I find myself spending hours looking at sharks or penguins or old-growth forests when once I might've put down the remote and picked up a book.

And that can't be a good thing.

Can it?

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/ent...printstory.jsp

[Marcus Carr]

Six Nets Join All-Digital Platform

By Karen Brown 8/15/2006 1:24:00 PM

Six more television-network groups are taking the all-digital plunge, inking contracts to have their East and West Coast satellite feeds delivered via Comcast Media Center’s and SES Americom’s joint Total Digital Solution platform.

The programmers are A&E Television Networks, Hallmark Channel, Jewelry Television, ION Media Networks, Oxygen Media and WGN. The six groups combined field 10 East and West Coast satellite feeds.

They join a list of programmers using the all-digital transport that includes Comcast properties E! Entertainment Television and G4, as well as PBS Kids Sprout, C-SPAN, Lifetime Networks and Food Network.

The Total Digital Solution offers an all-digital video-delivery backbone using CMC’s content-management services and SES’ AMC-4 satellite. It can deliver to cable operators all-digital-video feeds, secured authorization and digital program-insertion triggers used to place ad spots and high-quality video and audio.

“For the industry’s programming networks, Total Digital represents a cost-effective and complementary distribution method for reaching their affiliates,” CMC chief operating officer Gary Traver said.

“For cable operators, our Total Digital Solution offers a highly efficient means for launching all-digital service in their markets by shifting much of the investment, maintenance and quality assurance for digital compression to a company that’s been providing this service to the industry for over 12 years,” he added.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...=Breaking+News