Hot Off The Press: The Latest TV News and Information - Page 1047

Well, as I think I said in an earlier post, when the FCC moved the mandatory transition date, they should have mandated that one major network carrier in EACH MARKET stick with the Feb. 17 date so that the folks who just "don't get it" would realize they "weren't getting it" and WOULD get with the program by June.

But that just made TOO MUCH SENSE, I guess.
Jeff

I think the fact that some stations shut down and some stayed up can be both a good and bad thing. While it could cause more confusion overall, it may have been enough of a wake up call to get folks motivated. They lost some channels but not all, so while they weren't completely without tv, they knew they needed to go out and get the converter box, or cable or sat etc. Here in my market, Little Rock, our NBC and CW affiliates both shut off analog on Feb. 17.

Congress moved the transition date, not the FCC. The FCC implemented the rules - and moved the goalposts to qualify for a voluntary analog shutdown on Feb. 17 quite a bit - but they didn't move the date. As for mandating one major network station in each market shut down on Feb. 17, that would be a clumsy rule that would create problems in some markets where stations will be moving their digital channel with complicated interactive station channel shuffle moves. It would also not be fair to force one station to shut down it's analog broadcast while the others stay on the air and get the ratings from the holdout analog viewers. In the long run, the approx 1/3rd of all stations being digital only by Feb. 18 might work out better than the big shutdown and channel move originally called for.

That has the potential to rob eyeballs from the one station that has to shut down. How do you propose to keep it fair to them in this hypothetical scenario? I suspect that you could ask for volunteer stations and get them, since the cost of electricity to run a second transmitter (likely the case for at least one station in each market) is significant.

Well, just got back from historic show #0004 of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" and managed to get on camera twice: right as they go to the first commercial break and the camera pulls out (after the 'flashback' dude exits) and when Fallon walks through the audience as the credits roll. I'm the guy wearing the blue-and-yellow "Late Night with David Letterman" logo sweatshirt and a gray wool cap doing a two-fisted 'V' sign. It's not much but I'm pretty sure it's going to come across well on high-def TV.

My opinion of the show seeing it live is exactly the same as seeing it on TV: Fallon is far from a disaster but he's clearly suffering from rookie jitters. Jimmy doesn't come out to greet the audience before the show starts taping (only the typical stand-up warm-up guys and The Roots bringing down the house). Only after the first commercial break, while he does a local promo for WNBC-TV in New York ('Hey Chuck, Sue. I'm here in your old studio...'), does Fallon acknowledge the audience with a brief 'How are ya?'. No 'thank you for coming, please come back' from Jimmy after the show ends (he just leaves).

There was a comedy segment featuring Trump before he comes out as a guest that was weird because he was being cued to start reading the cue cards and either he didn't see the cue or couldn't read the cards (the latter is what he told Fallon afterwards happened). So he froze for 15 whole long seconds before he started doing the bit; this will probably be edited on the air into a smooth transition from Fallon. Serena Williams plays a mean game of 'Beer Pong' with Fallon afterwards (she looked stunning and more than a few males in the audience made obscene remarks you won't hear on the air about Serena's looks ). In-between the interviews there is a funny running gag involving an election of... nah, won't spoil the fun here. You'll have to watch the show throughout to get the full irony of "Late Night's" special take on a brand-new election of... you just watch. Plus there's a cameo by an MSNBC personality that, in its own quiet way, brought down the house!

Even though I don't like their music at all (not into hip-hop in the slightest) The Roots play a mean set of songs between segments; their performance with Ludacris at the end sounded amazing (and this coming from a hip-hop hater) even though it took ten minutes to get started because the DJ's laptop computer (red) crashed and lost the samples he had arranged. The way the right side of the stage moves so that it's at a 90 degree angle facing the cameras gives The Roots crew some photogenic powers. Studio 6B looks huge on TV but in person is one tiny place; there is no bad seat in the house, and me and my friend got close-to-center seats so we could see everything.

Overall, my opinion of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" is still shaping up and I still see as many positives as negatives that need to gel together. The announcer dude and his microphone are whisked away as soon as he's done introducing the show; why not keep him there to banter with Jimmy? The Roots didn't interact with Fallon again (so no, no 'Slow Jamming the News' on Thursday's show ) so it's just nervous Jimmy out there all alone talking fast, looking nervous and occasionally delivering some pretty good jokes. Again, the "Late Night" election take that runs throughout tonight's show is the funniest thing they've done all week, but it's still weak sausage compared with everything else on late night TV. And my God, Trump's hair looks as weird in person as it does on TV. The lighting on that side of "Late Night's" stage is slightly difused and soft though, so its not the cameras that are making the shots from Jimmy in the studio look soft. From my vantage point in the middle of the audience it looked soft too. The HD cameras are just capturing how softly the desk and couch are being lit by the show's lighting crew.

That's it. Will probably go back to the show in a couple of months to see if the behind-the-scenes etiquette and warm-up for Fallon's show changes somewhat. Seriously Jimmy, would it kill you to come out and say 'Hi' to the audience for a minute or two before the show starts? Letterman and O'Brien did it, why can't you?

It's my understanding that the FCC was VERY ARBITRARY in that implementation, however. I really don't know the details, but my local ABC affiliate (same one I complain about sometimes -- and I'm pretty sure I posted this before, too) ORIGINALLY ran streamers across the bottom or top of its screen for a couple of days saying it WOULD NOT delay its transition and would STILL go ALL-DIGITAL on Feb. 17 at midnight. Then, suddenly, it began running a DIFFERENT streamer that seemed to imply the FCC had somehow coerced it into changing its tune and adopting the new date (although the company, which also owns the local CW affiliate, still DID transition THAT station to all-digital Feb. 17). I'm not sure how many folks got that channel via antenna, anyway. Not that many folks even watch that network on cable, according to the ratings.

Just knowing some of the past things the FCC has done (the ways it has "implemented policies") very little would surprise me.
Jeff

Well, I'm a big fantasy football guy so it kind of kicks off the FF season for me since all the free agents are signed and we know where the rookies are going. The 1st round can be very dramatic especially if a top 10 invitee to the draft drops. It gets my football juices rolling each year.

TV Notes
Injuries Force Nancy O'Dell, Jewel to Stop Dancing'
By Andrew Krukowski, TV Week - March 5, 2009

Access Hollywood's Nancy O'Dell and singer Jewel have withdrawn from the latest season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars due to injuries sustained during practice, the network announced today.

Ms. O'Dell suffered a torn meniscus, while Jewel was diagnosed with fractures in both of her tibias, ABC said.

Both stars will appear on the season opener Monday to address their departures, with announcements of cast replacements also due to be made during the premiere.

Like most sports, dancing can be a demanding, physical activity. Each participant of Dancing With the Stars' warrants in contract that they are physically fit enough to participate in the competition, Stars executive producer Conrad Green said in a statement.

We love and appreciate Nancy's and Jewel's competitive spirit, drive and desire to perform their best. Though we share in their disappointment that they can no longer continue, their physical well-being takes precedent above all else. We thank them both for giving it their all and wish them a quick and full recovery, he said.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/03/i..._odell_jew.php

TV Notes
Prison Break: Is Gretchen Getting a Spinoff?
By Kristin Dos Santos, E! Online

Fox canceled Prison Break a few weeks back, but as we speak, producers are casting and shooting two additional hours of the show.

What does that mean?

Are they finally creating that women's prison spinoff?

Is evil (but hot) Company babe Gretchen getting a spinoff?

Here's what we're hearing...

Despite what many of you fans have emailed, Fox is not cooking up a show around Gretchen, nor is it working on a ladies-behind-bars spinoff. The Prison Break creative team is finally making that much-discussed two-hour wrap-up film.

The two bonus eps are titled "The Old Ball and Chain" and "Free," and they take place a couple of days after the events of the season finale. A studio source tells us exclusively that they're "a self-contained Prison Break adventure in which Michael faces the most challenging break ever." And yes, Gretchen is involved, but so is the rest of the Prison Break cast you know and love.

No word yet about when or where the eps will premiere, but will you be watching when they appear? What do you expect from Michael and Sara's final hours together?

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watc..._spin-off.html

TV Notes
Darren Star reunites with HBO
'Sex and the City' creator inks first-look deal with pay net
By Nellie Andreeva, The Hollywood Reporter - March 5, 2009

Darren Star is back at HBO.

The creator of one of HBO's signature series, "Sex and the City," has inked a two-year first-look deal with the pay cable network.

Under the pact, he will create a series, his first solo creation in almost a decade. He also will shepherd comedy and drama projects from other writers.

"They say you can never go home again, but with this deal at HBO, I feel I am," Star said. "I can say from my fortunate experience that there is nothing in the world quite like having a series on HBO."

Star's past experience at HBO was mostly with the network's previous regime -- on "Sex" and on Star's most recent project there, "Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl," put in development by Chris Albrecht.

But he said he already has developed great rapport with HBO's new top programming team, Richard Plepler, Michael Lombardo and Sue Naegle, whom he called "the best creative allies one could hope for."

In addition to the Emmy-winning "Sex," Star's series creator credits include Fox's "Beverly Hills, 90210" and its spinoff, "Melrose Place" -- both enjoying a second life with their CW updates -- as well as the critically praised WB comedy "Grosse Pointe."

Star, most recently based at Sony TV, is repped by WMA and attorneys Jamey Coen and Sam Fisher.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...89963b08a4a47b

Critic's (TV Sports) Notes
Heavyweights Getting The Bum Rush
By Thomas Umstead, Multichannel News - March 5, 2009

How the mighty have fallen.

The heavyweight boxing championship - once the most prized title in all of individual professional sports - has been relegated to a Saturday afternoon timeslot on ESPN.

The 24-hour sports network, which lightheartedly supports the sport through its weekly ESPN2 Friday Night Fights series, will telecast live the March 21 World Boxing Council heavyweight championship fight between champ Vitali Klitschko and relatively unknown challenger Juan Carlos Gomez at 5 p.m. from Germany.

Not even a primetime slot for a heavyweight title fight that shares the legacy of such historic bouts as Ali-Frazier, Marciano-Walcott, Louis-Schmeling and Tyson-Holyfield.

It was only seven years ago when heavyweight champions Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis met in the then richest pay-per-view boxing event in history. The storied heavyweight division had all but defined the PPV event business in the 1990s when big men like Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe ruled the boxing world and the pay-per-view box office.

Even as Holyfield, Bowe and Tyson declined in the ring, boxing fans could still count on marquee names like Lewis and Roy Jones Jr. to showcase the heavyweight division in title matchups on PPV or in primetime on HBO and Showtime.

It used to be that boxing was only as good as the heavyweight champion's popularity; thank goodness for the sport that's no longer the case. Fighters such as Oscar De La Hoya, Jones, Floyd Mayweather and more recently Manny Pacquiao have been doing the heavy lifting for the sport most of this decade.

But it's true that a strong, popular heavyweight champion can significantly lift the sport. In a time when younger viewers are migrating to mixed martial arts events, a marquee heavyweight champion in the mode of an Ali or Tyson could help recapture some straying fans and draw in new ones.

But it doesn't look like there are any knockout contenders for boxing's ambassadorship within the heavyweight ranks. The fact is most people would be hard pressed to name the three universally recognized heavyweight champions, none of which are American. (Hint: The WBC and International Boxing Federation champions are Ukrainian with the last name of Klitschko, while Russian boxer Nikolai Valuev holds the World Boxing Association title.)

As a result, premium and PPV distributors aren't rushing in to spend their time or money in the division. The heavyweight division continues to be a challenging division in terms of finding compelling match-ups at the right prices, said Ken Hershman, senior vice president and general manager of sports and event programming for Showtime, which aired Klitschko's October fight.

We have, instead, turned our focus to more talent-rich weight classes including the super middleweight and junior welterweight divisions where we can not only put on great fights right now, but we can also begin to develop compelling storylines for future bouts as well.

HBO says it will still air Vitali Klitschko's brother Wladimir's International Boxing Federation heavyweight championship fights for the immediate future. As for finding the remaining crop of heavyweight contenders on TV good luck. Maybe you can see them during afternoons on ESPN.

http://www.multichannel.com/blog/Pic...e_Bum_Rush.php

TV Notes
Bubble shows ponder finale, future
Every network has programming in jeopardy
By Michael Schneider, Variety - March 5, 2009

With the network upfronts just two months away, it's the start of nail-biting season for primetime's bubble shows.

Most of broadcast's comedies and dramas are in the midst of plotting their year-end finales. But for producers who still don't have a clue about the fate of their shows, that creates a conundrum.

Do you tie up loose ends, and shoot a de facto series finale, just in case it's all over? Or do you leave the viewers wanting more via a big, messy cliffhanger in hopes that execs will find it more difficult to cut things off midstream?

This year, the producers behind ABC's "Life on Mars" came up with a third option: Persuade the network to announce the show's fate right now in order to at least go out with a bang.

"The producers were really pushing for it," said ABC Entertainment exec VP Jeff Bader. "Based on the ratings the way they are now, it didn't look like it would be back.

"So (the producers) said, 'Let us end it.' We thought, Let's do the right thing and give viewers a satisfying ending."

"Mars" exec producer Andre Nemec said he and the show's other producers -- having just come off another show, "October Road," that left the air without a proper goodbye -- decided to sit the writers down at the very beginning and hammer out what the series' end would look like.

"Obviously we would have loved to be on the air for nine years, and none of this comes without great sadness," Nemec said. "But we found ourselves riding the bubble. The network was aware that we knew where we were going. We think (it's cool) that we're able to wrap this series up and not leave the audience high and dry."

As a result, the mysteries of "Life on Mars" will more or less be resolved when the show winds down at the start of April. But that scenario doesn't frequently occur.

More often, execs don't want to give up the option of bringing back a bubble show until May, when they've screened their pilots and know for certain what their options are.

"The series finale is definitely satisfying for the viewers of the show and provides that closure," said NBC program planning/scheduling exec VP Mitch Metcalf. "But you can't always do that. There are usually so many shows on the air that we like that we want to keep them in contention and see how everything balances out with development."

Last year, the writers' strike ended up helping primetime's bubble brigade: With few new shows available in the fall, nets were more apt to give low-performing skeins the benefit of the doubt, and many of those series returned in the fall (where they promptly collapsed).

With no work stoppage this year, and a hefty number of pilots in the works (particularly at ABC and CBS), this year's fence straddlers won't be so lucky.

Now, over the next few weeks, proactive producers will pitch net execs on their next season plans - "Chuck" producer Josh Schwartz, for example, said the show's season finale ends with a "game changer" that sets up a third season - and fans will start to bombard execs with emails and mailers in an attempt to save their favorite shows.

But it will mostly be up to how well those shows perform during the final weeks of the season -- and how all those pilots look once the nets head into the screening room. For now, a look at what the nets will be pondering over the next two months:

NBC

Among all nets, producers at the Peacock may have the most reason for concern: With "The Jay Leno Show" moving into primetime, NBC will have five fewer weekday hours in the fall.

That could be an issue for shows whose fates are still unclear, including "Chuck," "Life" and "Medium."

Then there's the granddaddy of NBC's lineup, "Law and Order." Having cheated cancellation in the past, "L&O" is once again not a lock for fall.

But given its historic importance to the net, "L&O" is perhaps the latest leading candidate for a program-sharing deal with another entity, much as "Friday Night Lights" now airs first on DirecTV and "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" initially runs on USA.

But before bubble show producers throw in the towel, the Peacock has said that it's aiming to split more time periods, with different shows airing in the fall vs. the spring. That may be why the Peacock is expected to pick up only 18-20 episodes of "Heroes," for example.

NBC is expected to use the Winter Olympics as a buffer between those fall and midseason skeds.

"We have a lot of shows that are in contention," Metcalf said. "And we've got some additional considerations with 'Leno' coming in, as there will be fewer spots. We'll take a very hard look at all of them as the pilots start coming in."

ABC

Given the sheer number of late premieres this year at the Alphabet, net execs really won't get a good read on what should stay vs. what should go until right before their upfront presentation.

Indeed, the net won't be able to make a legitimate assessment on sitcoms like "Surviving Suburbia" and "In the Motherhood" or dramas "Cupid" and "The Unusuals" until mid-April.

ABC's other two newbies, "Castle" and "Better Off Ted," premiere earlier -- but "Castle," at least, really won't be tested until April, when it no longer airs directly behind "Dancing With the Stars."

But beyond those midseason entries, ABC has a pretty good handle on what's returning and what's not now that the fate of "Life on Mars" has been determined. Despite some concerns about its perf, "Ugly Betty" is expected to be back. And although the fate of "Private Practice" was not really in doubt, its boffo numbers during a recent crossover with "Grey's Anatomy" solidified the show's return.

The Alphabet has invested enough in "Samantha Who?" that a pickup seems likely; that means the only real question marks are "Scrubs" -- which would likely be dramatically revamped if returned -- and "According to Jim," which has come back to life so many times that it's now impossible to say for sure whether the show is finally over.

CBS

If the Eye has to make some tough decisions, it's partly because CBS has an embarrassment of riches.

With few slots open for new fare, that's not a good omen for "Eleventh Hour," which cedes its spot to "Harper's Island" in April. And although sitcoms "Rules of Engagement," "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and "Gary Unmarried" all perform decently enough, the Eye will want to launch one or two other laffers in the fall -- which could be problematic for at least one of those existing half-hours.

With so many crime dramas in development and so little space on the sked, the Eye may also be looking to rest a long-running performer such as "Cold Case," "Without a Trace" or "The Unit," at least in the fall.

And in the case of close-ended procedurals, there aren't a lot of loose ends to tie up -- so the net can wait until the very end before deciding those shows' fates.

FOX

With "Prison Break" closing up and sitcom "'Til Death" already securing a pickup for next season, most of the remaining uncertainty surrounding Fox's primetime resides on Friday night.

It's still too soon to tell whether "Dollhouse" will be a long-term player for the net, but given the perennial fate of shows on the night, no renewal is assured for that series or "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles." It's also too soon to tell on newcomer "Lie to Me," which will get its first real test when Fox moves the drama to 8 p.m. next week.

While the fate of those current shows is still unknown, Fox has announced that one new skein, "Glee," already has a slot on its fall lineup.

CW

With no new laffers in the works, and last comedies standing "Everybody Hates Chris" and "The Game" both on the bubble, that's a real possibility.

Also up in the air: "Reaper," which just made its return this week, and "Privileged," which ended its season with one of those big "to be continued" cliffhangers. (Viewers waiting for resolution might be waiting a long time, in other words.)

Meanwhile, it's already a foregone conclusion that at least two -- and possibly three -- of the CW's pilots are a shoo-in for the schedule, even before a pilot has been shot: "Melrose Place" and "Vampire Diaries" are considered virtual locks, as is the "Gossip Girl" spinoff "Lily."

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=14&cs=1

Critic's Notes
Fallon Faces the Camera, Conscious of the Web
By Alessandra Stanley, The New York Times - March 6, 2009

He looked nervous, even flustered, at first, and some of the prepared comedy was surprisingly lame. That doesn't matter. Jimmy Fallon's first few days don't really reveal how Late Night With Jimmy Fallon will fare.

Monitoring the opening kinks and experiments of a new talk show is a spectator sport, and this entry comes with an added American Idol edge: NBC had the last word during the auditions, but Internet users are now expected to comment and cavil interactively and build or diminish Mr. Fallon's television audience.

Mr. Fallon was cute and funny on Saturday Night Live, but he is not necessarily the ideal choice for the Late Night core audience of young males: his humor is mischievous, not anarchic. (If fans had a call-in vote, they might have elected Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert.)

Still, Mr. Fallon is engaging and has an antic, quick-witted charm. He seemed more confident by the show's third night and, oddly enough, had better comic chemistry with Cameron Diaz on Wednesday than with Tina Fey, his former Weekend Update co-anchor on SNL, the night before. Most of his skits and routines, however, seemed written for the Web, not for broadcast.

It's still too soon to pass judgment on Mr. Fallon's talents as a talk show host, but it's a perfectly good time to examine NBC's latest test of synergy, the marriage of the Internet and a television show.

Almost all shows nowadays have Web sites with extraneous videos, fan blogs and viewer e-mail exchanges. But Mr. Fallon has gone further to co-opt the Internet than either of his two network rivals, Jimmy Kimmel on ABC and Craig Ferguson on CBS, or even cable upstarts like Chelsea Handler, the host of Chelsea Lately on E! In the months leading up to his debut on Monday, Mr. Fallon tried to pump up younger viewers' interest with Late Night Webisodes. He has pages on Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.

Perhaps accordingly, many of the routines he worked into the show in its first nights might have been better suited to YouTube. And that youth-oriented material clashes with the highly conventional, even fusty jokes in his opening monologue (Everybody's cutting back, everybody: Madonna's now down to one teenage boyfriend), as well as with the choice of a veteran actor, Robert De Niro, to be his first guest.

Twitter is so overexposed that it has become a joke, but Mr. Fallon apparently isn't in on it. He interviewed Ms. Diaz by posing questions submitted via Twitter. Those turned out to be as dull and anodyne as any taken from a live audience. (If Cameron wasn't acting, what would her dream job be? Ms. Diaz didn't have a ready answer, so Mr. Fallon supplied it: Forest ranger.)

Wednesday's quite funny parody of romance novels, bromance novels, came with a link on the show's Web site (latenightwithjimmyfallon.com) that allows users to watch a video of the shooting of the cover art.

Mr. Fallon consistently tried to incorporate a wackier Web spirit into his on-air performance, even picking random people in the studio audience and assigning them made-up Facebook identities. None were very funny.

Remarkably, given how many months he has had to prepare, many of his supposedly wacky, Web-style pranks were oddly plodding and unimaginative. On the first night three audience members were invited onstage to lick something in exchange for $10. The things were all inanimate objects: a lawn mower, a copier, a fishbowl. The slow-motion super-sexy replay was funny once, not three times.

Mr. Fallon does not have a sidekick, but he does have a cool band, the Roots, whose musicians are deadpan and steadfastly underwhelmed by his jokes, and over time that could serve as a comic foil to his eager-to-please persona.

There were other amusing moments, including a random, bizarre video of German soccer players dancing that was found on the Web and a mock charitable appeal for laid-off Wall Street workers, a Save the Bankers Foundation, that could have just as easily been a Saturday Night Live skit.

And Mr. Fallon got better, and more relaxed, after his debut, though he joked with Tina Fey about his flop sweat moment with Mr. De Niro. (When performers admit to being nervous, it's a little like a woman on a date bemoaning how fat she is: nobody wants to hear it.)

The first days are tough because large audiences tune in to see what all the prepremiere fuss was about, boosting ratings and expectations, then quickly turn away if not instantly amused. And most hosts go through a trial-and-error period. Mr. Kimmel started out more loutishly and live; now he is more buttoned-down, and his show is taped, even though it is still called Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Mr. Ferguson began with a very conventional Tonight Show format, then slowly allowed more of his own offbeat storytelling and Monty Pythonesque eccentricities into his act.

NBC picked Mr. Fallon, and he can sometimes seem like an old person's notion of a hip young comic, but that doesn't mean that he isn't funny or that he cannot hold his own on Late Night. Only time, not Twitter, will tell.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/ar...l.html?_r=1&hp

Aaaand... heeeeeere's dad1153!

Is it just ME, or does Dad look like Will Ferrell in "Elf?"

Yikes! It's true what they say, the camera adds 75 pounds to one's natural weight! Good thing they cut out the other shot at the end of the credits.

Dad, do you live in the major metro area?

And jtbell, you and I are practically neighbors. I assume you teach at Presbyterian, based on your "subtitle." Nice little college there. (Clinton and Spartanburg are about a half hour apart, if anyone's wondering what I'm going on about).
Jeff

I don't see any more logic in that approach than simply sticking with the February 17 date and requiring one (and only one) major network affiliate in each market to continue broadcasting its analog signal full-power. That accomplishes the imperative for provision of emergency service, if necessary, and would prompt the viewer behavior that you're trying to prompt with much less variability. I think the point, though, is that Congrest wanted viewers to be relatively unaffected on February 17 -- that was the overriding concern -- not incentivizing the move toward preparedness. We may not like that prioritization of objectives, but we cannot call it nonsensical. In the end, letting broadcasters transition on February 17 -- or any time before June 12 -- is best viewed as a compromise offered to mitigate the harm that this changing in priorities would inflict, but nothing more than a compromise -- a peace offering to broadcasters who would be so adversely affected by having to wait. Remember, there was significant bully-pulpit pressure applied to try to discourage broadcasters from making the switch early if they didn't really have to.

The FCC has often been capricious in its dealings, but this time, I didn't see any of that. I think you could safely describe their actions as bureaucratic, and also limited in scope of focus (as I suggested above, driven by priorities that we, perhaps, don't like).

Harlem.

Oh joy. To be back in Idol local contestant mode. At least it isn't THREE from the area as it was in 2006 with Chris Daughtry, Bucky Covington and Kelly Pickler. (Daughtry and Covington being actual station viewers!) What a zoo that was. Desai is from the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area, next market over (UNC actually).

The kid is a good singer. but who really knows?

I think we have had a local in 6 of the 8 seasons with one local winning (Fantasia - High Point) and locally/regionally Clay Aiken (Raleigh), Daughtry (Greensboro), Pickler (Charlotte), Covington (Rockingham, yep same place as old NASCAR track) making national names for themselves. Something in the water I guess.

On our way to the land of fruits & nuts this morning. I hope we get back with our senses intact.

Not surprising, as North Carolina has long been known as a karaoke powerhouse. The Japanese send their national team over here to train in the summers, you know. In fact, NBC is so impressed with FOX's ratings numbers for AI that they're trying to get karaoke added as an Olympic sport. They figure it's good for another Nielsen point or two, and the call-in lines will go international. Al Michaels will do play-by-play with Paula Abdul providing color analysis and fashion tips. Can't wait!

DWTS: Holly Madison Added

The question is no longer who will win Dancing With the Stars, but who will survive it?

In a DWTS first, not one but two contestants have been sidelined with injuries before the new season has even aired.

ABC has just confirmed that Access Hollywood host Nancy O'Dell and singer Jewel will not be a part of the new season due to leg injuries.

O'Dell suffered a twist to her right knee during rehearsals and has been diagnosed with a torn meniscus. Jewel has suffered fractured tibiae in both legs. Ouch, right?

So who will replace the two ladies? We have exclusive confirmation...

As our Marc Malkin reported yesterday, inside sources confirm that Holly Madison of E!'s reality series Girls Next Door will be coming on the dancefloor this season.

And now, Hugh Hefner himself comfirms today to Malkin that his ex-girlfriend Holly has been cast, saying he "made the arrangments" for Madison to replace Jewel on the show.

"It's a show she's wanted to be on for a long time," Hefner tells Malkin. "I'm delighted. It's all good stuff."

The other newbie will be announced on the Dancing With the Stars season premiere on Monday night. And according to ABC, Jewel and O'Dell will appear to talk about their injuries.

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watc..._holly_in.html


this means all 3 of "the girls next door" will be on tv as kendra has her own show on E! this summer & bridget has her own show on the travel channel starting soon.

DTV Notes
Noncoms Take Issue With FCC's April 16 DTV Deadline
Association for Public Television Stations urges FCC to start accepting requests to pull the plug early
By John Eggerton , Broadcasting & Cable, 3/5/2009 3:04:31 PM MT

Noncommercial stations have this message to the FCC about the DTV transition: "We're having technical difficulties. Please don't just stand by."

A number of noncommercial stations have asked that they be allowed to pull the plug on analog before April 16, citing technical and financial reasons.

The FCC last week proposed not allowing the next wave of analog cut-offs until at least April 16. Though it has not come out with final rules and won't do so until perhaps the end of next week, it has not accepted the turn-off notifications stations are required to give 30 days before cut-off, according to the Association for Public Television Stations.

APTS urged the FCC to start accepting those requests from noncoms who had planned to pull the plug in late March or early April, saying that not to do so would cause "significant financial hardship" and contravene the will of Congress in moving the date to June 12 with the stipulation that stations have the flexibility to do so "at any time before June 12."

"As a practical matter, the Commission already has begun implementing this proposal by ordering stations not to submit service termination notifications at this time, and by rejecting service termination notifications that had been submitted to it in the past several weeks prior to the release of the NPRM," said APTS in a filing at the FCC.. "APTS urges that the Commission reverse this position with regard to public television stations, begin accepting service termination notifications immediately, and reinstate any notifications previously submitted so that public television stations that have intended to terminate their analog operations between now and April 16, 2009, may do so. "

APTS argues that Congress did not give the FCC the right to override its existing flexibility-
stations, with notice, could have pulled the plug on analog up to 90 days before Feb. 17, the original hard date, and over 200 did.

And in a filing with the FCC, Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) asked that its six public TV stations be allowed to cut off analog on April 5, saying it was necessary because of severe financial and technical challenges.

Noncoms, which rely on corporate and individual largesse for most of their money, have been hard hit by the tanking economy.

The FCC has proposed a number of deadlines and requirements associated with the new June 12 hard date, which WPT has asked it to waive, saying it would be a hardship and increased burden on stations. WPT said it had originally planned to pull the plug Feb. 17, as originally instructed by the FCC, then agreed to stay on past that date, as suggested by the FCC, setting April 5 as the new date.

"WPT was quite taken aback when the NPRM [FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking] stymied its well-considered plan for analog termination. If WPT had known and understood that, after allowing maximum flexibility for stations to terminate analog service on or before February 17th, the FCC would abruptly change course and restrict further planned analog terminations, WPT would have terminated analog service for the WPT stations on February 17th.

WPT said its analog maintenance and part replacement schedule had been based on Feb. 17, and that it is at ongoing risk of "catastrophic analog equipment failure," saying two stations have already come close to that and have had to greatly reduce analog power do to technical difficulties. WPT wants to "decommission" the stations ASAP, saying they pose a threat to people and property.

It also sites an interference problem with a commercial DTV station in the area.

Facing proposed state budget cuts, the station told the FCC, the state's Education Communications Board, it already planned to use the $100,000 in utility bill savings from a Feb. 17 analog cut-off toward the proposed cuts in noncom funding, and had also reallocated station personnel and building space to cut costs.

"The postponement of the DTV transition date and the worsening economic climate have now exacerbated the financial pressures," WPT said.

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