Hot Off The Press: The Latest TV News and Information - Page 1097

TV Notes
Don't believe what you read,
Without ratings improvement, Dollhouse won't return
By Robert Seidman, TVByTheNumbers.com, April 6, 2009

I've received a few e-mails today and I'm sure people have posted links in the comments to a story that FOX is considering renewing Dollhouse. Ah, the Internet, where speculation runs rampant. So let me add my $.02 of speculation.

Until announcements are made, of course that is fair speculation, but these kind of stories seem to suggest that while the ratings are worse than even FOX expected them to be on Friday nights, that FOX is mesmerized by the critical acclaim for recent episodes. Simply put, that's complete BS.

While it's true the vaunted sixth episode was generally well-received by critics, it did absolutely nothing for the show's ratings. And anecdotally, critical reception of the two episodes that followed has been mixed. But it's irrelevant really. Here's the deal: the show won't be back if it keeps pulling 1.4 overnight ratings among adults 18-49. FOX will not consider renewing it with those numbers. I think it needs to get to a 1.6, and probably a 1.7 for FOX to even consider bringing it back for a second season.

While it's definitely possible the show could turn the ratings around and improve them, it isn't very probable. The trend has been down since the premiere and while things have flattened out the last couple of weeks, the trend hasn't really been reversed.

Some are suggesting that things will improve when Dollhouse has Prison Break as a lead-in. I'm not thinking there will be much improvement, and certainly not in the range of 15%-20% improvement to the 18-49 ratings that seem necessary at a minimum to keep the show afloat.

Will FOX keep an open mind and see what happens? I certainly think that is likely. But I doubt that FOX execs are truly any more optimistic than I am that it will actually happen. And I've seen nothing to indicate, hey, we believe in this show and are going to spend a couple extra million to promote it!

FOX is simply playing it in a fashion where if it does miraculously turn around they, like the fans, can be ecstatic, and if it doesn't it is well positioned to say, Hey, we tried, it didn't work.

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/04/06...t-return/16054

TV Q&A
Ask Matt
What Took Rescue Me So Long?
By Matt Roush, TV Guide Senior Critic April 06, 2009

Question: I have been a fan of Rescue Me since day one and I'm really looking forward to the show’s return this week. My question is: Why is there such a long gap between seasons of all of FX's shows? I mean I cannot even remember what happened last on Rescue Me. How long has it actually been? I completely gave up on Nip/Tuck, mostly because of really bad story lines and a complete waste of Portia de Rossi (love her and hope Better Off Ted lasts, though I’m not crazy about it). FX's programming is mostly reruns of movies, not like they don't have the airtime to get these shows on a normal rotation, Damages included.—Sharon H

Matt Roush: There’s nothing “normal” about the world of stop-and-start cable scheduling, but even so, the break between Rescue Me seasons was almost Sopranos-esque in length, wasn’t it? We haven’t seen a full new episode since September 07, although we did get those little bite-size “mini-sode” morsels last summer to whet our appetite. The good news: This wait was worth it. I’ve seen the first month’s worth of episodes of the fifth season, and it’s terrific, easily the best show currently on FX’s roster, and it arrives just in time to spice up what has been a pretty dreary midseason (at least where new shows are concerned). Chalk up Rescue Me’s insanely long layoff as another casualty of last year’s writers’ strike. The show might have returned sooner, but FX committed to a full 22-episode season (more good news!), which is considerably longer than most cable shows get, with a guarantee of an 18-episode sixth season a year from now. I’m with you on Nip/Tuck, but overall, FX’s track record is a good and powerful one.

Question: Count me as one who was incredibly disappointed with the finale for Life on Mars. I felt as though the writers set up many great questions and mysteries (the man on the phone, the bearded man with the African-American girl) only to blindside the audience with an incredibly loosely connected ending to the series. I actually enjoyed about 55 out of 60 minutes of the finale, but the last five absolutely ruined it for me. I remember feeling this way when Lost ended its first season peering down the hatch, but at least that show wasn't ending. Imagine if Lost ended with John Locke waking up from a dream—it would cheapen the emotional ride of the entire series. For me, Life on Mars represented Sam Tyler's journey to find answers to his existence, but led to us finding out the journey was meaningless in the first place. I committed to watch this show for its full 17-episode run, and it absolutely infuriates me to see it end like this.—Alex M

Matt Roush: My sentiments exactly, although to be perfectly honest, I’d bailed on the show well before the end, and the final hour just confirmed that I was right in doing so. (No slam on Jason O’Mara here; he was excellent throughout.) For me, the final sequence made the entire series look like a bad joke. Here’s another view.

Question: So, I really enjoyed Life on Mars as a whole (haven't seen the BBC version). I liked the retrospective look at the 70s (albeit in a completely different way than, say, Mad Men looks at the 60s), the music, and the humor (still have Sam Tyler's Vanilla Ice rap on the DVR). Sure, the ending was a bit cheesy and heavy-handed, but at least I only invested 17 hours of pretty good TV in a disappointing ending. If it had been Lost, which I have been watching for years, and found out that Dr. Shepard dreamed about a whacked-out island while on his way to Mars, boy, I would have been ticked. So, my question is: How important is the finale of a series? Does a bad one (Seinfeld and The Sopranos, in my book) in any way negate an otherwise great series? Does a great one (Newhart) elevate an otherwise average series? When you think back on this version of Life on Mars, are the enjoyable aspects now mitigated by an ending that falters?—Erin

Matt Roush: That’s a really intriguing question. ABC’s Mars in most ways is too negligible a series for the ending to really matter. I embraced the pilot as a terrific reinvention of the original, but felt the show faltered whenever it went out on its own. And when it was clear it wasn’t going to be a keeper, this silly ending can be looked back at sadly as something of a desperation move. As we discussed here a week ago, the Lost finale is likely to be much more of a watershed moment in series wrap-ups, but even if we’re left wanting (and the nay-saying will no doubt be clamorous), that won’t negate the fabulous experience of having embarked on that wild ride. Ditto for Seinfeld and Sopranos. Given that Seinfeld was just the sort of twisted show that wouldn’t dream of giving its fans a typical release, it at least stayed true to its anti-sentimental roots. Sopranos was so convinced it was art it refused to deliver cathartic drama in its final act, but the fact is, the show was art, and that’s a great example of a show where we tend to remember the good and not the bad moments. Newhart ended brilliantly, in part because it churned up memories of how much we loved his first hit CBS sitcom (by putting Suzanne Pleshette back in his bed). As with most things about TV, there are no rules when it comes to how a finale will affect a show’s overall reputation. In most cases, like with ER, they tend to arrive too late in the game to really matter.

Question: I just love Bones, mostly because of David and Emily, but also because all of the characters are so highly intelligent and sharp. While I really want Booth and Bones to consummate their obvious love for each other, I wonder what then? What do you think will happen to this sizzling relationship?—Carol D

Matt Roush: Well, that’s the kazillion-dollar question, isn’t it, and no doubt why they’ve waited till this season to announce that the inevitable will finally happen. (And also why we devoted a cover-story package in the magazine recently to the Bones relationship, putting them in context with other should-they-or-shouldn’t-they couples.) My main concern with these partners going all the way is that come the morning after, and the week after, and the months, etc., that follow, they’d better not taking themselves too seriously. What elevates Bones for me isn’t just the affection but the humor with which these guys go about their business. If that sours because things got “serious,” then so might the show.

Question: I recently read that CBS is thinking of dropping Cold Case. This is one of my favorite shows, but it is frustrating to watch or tape it as its time slot is almost always pre-empted by an overlong football game or some dumb reality show. Perhaps it would get back its audience if CBS put it on a different night where it would not run into conflict with other shows.—Julia

Matt Roush: What’s endangering Cold Case isn’t the fact that it airs on Sundays, where it’s played for the entire six seasons it has been on the air, doing fairly well for CBS in that time. It’s not easy for any CBS series that airs on Sundays, because of the inevitable sports overruns for much of the year. And unlike Fox with its half-hour cartoons, CBS is inflexible when it comes to shrinking its hour shows, including 60 Minutes.(It gets worse the longer the overrun, the later the time period, which is why The Unit, airing at the end of the night, is in even worse shape.) The issue concerning CBS keeping Cold Case on the air is all about money. Shows get more expensive the longer they run, and like everyone in the media business, CBS is trying to keep costs down, and this isn’t one of the shows they own (which also matters to the bottom line). If they work out a deal to make Cold Case cost-efficient, it may well return. But even if not, six seasons is hardly anything to scoff at.

Question: It's spring and time to renew shows for next year. I thought this would be the perfect time to ask some questions that let you air your views and maybe vent a little. Which low-rated show do you save for each network and why? As a follow up question, what are the chances those shows can really be saved?—Carol

Matt Roush: To take your follow-up first, this is a tough year and a tough economy, so unless more saviors in the world of cable and satellite come along (like DirecTV’s unprecedented deal to keep Friday Night Lights afloat)—and in most cases, don’t count on it—shows on the bubble are likely to see that bubble burst regardless of fan desire. Now to play your game. ABC: Having already shed so many of its great shows from fall, I’m left with Samantha Who and Ugly Betty, but leaning toward Samantha, if only because it deserves the chance to air alongside another strong comedy, which ABC sorely lacks. CBS: The New Adventures of Old Christine, which I believe will be renewed but which is vulnerable on Wednesdays and is an underrated delight. NBC: a tie between Chuck and Life, which have never been given time periods where they could flourish. I still think Chuck is a terrifically commercial franchise. Fox: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but only if it can keep the recent intensity going. The CW: Everybody Hates Chris, which lays there on Fridays like an abandoned stepchild.
It deserves so much better than that.

Question: How or to whom can I address a comment about Law & Order? The powers that be need to know that the show is as good or better than it has ever been, and I have watched from the beginning. The detective duo is the best team ever—great chemistry. And the DA and staff are super. Really grow on you. The only fly is that stinker Jack—love to hate him. So I hope the rumblings I heard about the show being canceled are not true. If they want to cancel an L&O franchise, let it be SVU. It has deteriorated into unbelievable story lines (I don't know who is writing some of the stuff) and the two main characters seem to be so over-the-top sometimes it’s hard to believe. So, one long-time fan's opinion, and who do I tell at the top?—Donna Jean

Matt Roush: Let me be your conduit. You’re hardly alone. With the latest cast shake-up, Law & Order has defied the odds and become probably my favorite crime drama again most weeks, and this from someone who’d tuned out for several entire seasons. The stories are crisp and topical again, and I love the tension especially in the second half as Cutter often clashes with his politically obsessed boss McCoy. Great dynamics in both halves of the show, though. Sadly, NBC is in such a sorry state that it has depressed the flagship show’s performance on Wednesday, obscuring its creative renaissance. With the Jay Leno tsunami about to hit the prime-time schedule, I’m hoping NBC will find a way to keep this going at least another season, perhaps letting it share a time period with SVU with shorter episode orders, the way I believe NBC will be forced to do on many fronts with less hours available to schedule.

Question: I’m still curious: What did you think of Dexter season 3, since your online columns were on hiatus during the time of its finale? And about 24: I just read the other day that Kiefer is all for doing season 8. What would you like Season 8 to be? Me? I'd like to see a real change. For example: The good guys are Americans. Jack is back in charge. Nobody on our side ever doubts that he's right, or hunts him down. The President and everyone around him or her are competent, good people who believe in American principles. The female characters are smart, strong, capable women who are not raped, thrown down stairs, sluts and traitors, crazy, or the President of the United States who allows herself to be bitch-slapped by a terrorist to save her stupid daughter. Which reminds me. Have they wasted Chloe this season, or what? Great to have you back.—Lori

Matt Roush: Can’t say it often enough. I’m thrilled to be back. I still love Dexter, and thought nearly everything about his storyline with Jimmy Smits—as his friend-turned-accomplice-turned-nemesis—was riveting. The season forced Dexter to work well with others, and then made him turn on his partner when Smits began doing the dirty deeds for all the wrong reasons. Great suspense. But I was much less enchanted with the subplots involving the other characters this season, so overall, it was probably the weakest of the three seasons (season 2, when the show began to break away from the books, being the best). You make an excellent point about 24, which has been increasingly irritating on one front this season. When are these people going to start trusting this guy? I was pretty fed up as well when the feds turned on Jack again when he was framed for murdering the traitor in the hospital and then the senator. Yes, we know Jack has a bad track record when it comes to confronting bad guys and leaving them in one piece, but for crying out loud, he’d just helped rescue the president from the White House hostage crisis! (And this is where defending 24 as anything but a guilty pleasure gets dicey.) Otherwise, I’m OK with the big bad this season being a power-mad U.S. military contractor with his own private militia, but whoever the villains turn out to be next season, you know someone’s going to be offended. And I happen to like this season’s female president, and think the women have just as much right to be victimized and flawed as the men. But am I scared at the thought of Kim returning? You bet I am. Final point: Didn’t Mary Lynn Rajskub’s maternity leave have something to do with Chloe’s temporarily low profile?

Question: The Battlestar Galactica finale left something hanging that I've wanted addressed the entire run of the show: How did Baltar survive the nuclear strike at the very beginning? As I recall, he and Six were in his house, the explosion ripped through, and then he was in a field by Helo and Boomer. I always figured that this was one of the major questions and that the solution was wrapped in the overall answer to everything. After they reached Earth and were cycling through the final plot lines, all I could think was that they were going to get to the Baltar/Six issue and deal with it. And they didn't. Did I miss something??? Or did the importance of this point get blown up in my head more than, apparently, the writers’ heads? Until Starbuck disappeared, I at least thought it was going to be the same answer for both—but no. I suppose the solution is "God saved him," but they at least could have said it. I would actually say that this diminished my enjoyment of the wrap-up. Have other people complained about this? Also: What happened to Lucy Lawless? They seemed to have every other Cylon model in the finale. Were they unable to get her to come back for it?—John K

Matt Roush: Oh boy, you’ve come to the wrong place to get the skinny on mythology matters. But for the record, I’ve not had anyone bring up that particular issue with me before. My take on Baltar surviving the nuclear blast was always that Caprica Six somehow shielded him, knowing he would be useful in what was next to come. Not everyone on the planet perished, and although that amazing shot of Baltar and Six crouched against the explosion (seen in the credits for the entire run of the series) sure looked like a fatality, but she saved him for a fate possibly worse than death. (If anyone has a better answer, share in the comments below.) As for Lucy Lawless: Her character decided to stay behind on the blasted Earth while everyone else leaped away to find a new home. That’s why she was missing from the final chapter.

Question: I was really happy to hear the news about the two-season renewal for Friday Night Lights! While the third season ends with a lot of good closure for a lot of the characters, I feel like the Taylors, the McCoys and Matt Saracen still have a lot to their stories left to tell, especially after that third-season finale (I won't spoil for those who haven't yet seen it; it airs this Friday). My question, tangential to FNL's renewal, is this: With NBC essentially moving to programming only two hours a night with this Leno-at-10 pm thing, what shows do you think will make it to next season? What shows do you hope will make it to next season? Also, do you think this will give NBC the impetus it needs to do shorter seasons and more time-slot sharing and frontloading/backloading rather than stretching out shows' seasons from September to May with reruns and long breaks? For example, I would happily take a 13-episode season of Chuck or Life rather than losing them altogether, which I'm gathering is a real possibility right now.—Onika

Matt Roush: Much of NBC’s current lineup has to be seen as vulnerable, given the shrinking schedule. Shows on the bubble like Chuck and Life are especially endangered, and I can’t imagine both surviving. I still think Chuck would work as a half-hour adventure-comedy (trimming some of the Buy More action could only be a plus), and NBC will have to reduce The Biggest Loser from its current woefully overextended two-hour format. I wonder about the fate of Heroes as well, and I’m not sure that wildly uneven show has earned another chance. (I’d much rather see Chuck return in any form, but its numbers in that overcrowded 8/7c time period are not good.) Sharing time periods, as discussed earlier in the Law & Order question, is another option, and trimming episode orders will also save money for this beleaguered network. (That model will not work for every show, however.) It’s definitely a transitional time for NBC, and without question something’s gotta give. (Of the comedies, besides already-goner Kath & Kim, the show most in peril is no doubt My Name Is Earl, which I can’t say I’d miss.) Who’d have thought of all shows that Friday Night Lights would be sitting among the prettiest?

Question: I don’t know if you have been keeping up with Brothers & Sisters. I haven’t been enjoying this season as much, and am contemplating letting it go. The recent arc with Tommy and his embezzling funds from Ojai wasn’t horrible, but I was bothered that they all tried to find a way to get him off the hook. I know he is family, and nobody wants someone they love to go to jail, but not one character really stood up and ever said, “We know for a fact he is guilty; maybe he deserves to go to jail?” And I was deeply offended by the comparison in the most recent episode where Nora made an analogy between Tommy’s situation and that of a child dying of cancer. (A mother of a child who is a cancer survivor told Nora she never accepted ‘no’ as an answer, and Nora paralleled that to everyone telling her that Tommy’s situation was hopeless and he was inevitably going to jail). I found the idea of comparing those two situations to be very distasteful and offensive. It misfired horribly. Tommy made conscious choices to break the law, embezzle money and steal the company from Holly. Comparing that to a child with cancer? Really? For a woman running a home for families of kids with cancer, that seems pretty awful. So my question is: Do you have a “criteria” for when you decide to stop watching a show? I have considered giving up in recent years on Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy, but stuck with them and have been rewarded lately. With Brothers & Sisters, I find that I still care about the characters, and still care what happens, even though I don’t always enjoy the show that much. Does that make sense?—Ed

Matt Roush: Totally makes sense. What it boils down to is that there are often things we don’t like in even our favorite shows—no show is perfect—and it’s a personal judgment as to when the discontent overwhelms the reward. It really depends on the show and how long the decline lasts. (Grey’s in particular hit absolute bottom earlier this season, and it was painful to keep watching, but I was invested enough in the show to stick with it, and I’m glad I did.) I’m not to the breaking point yet with Brothers & Sisters, though I know some who are. The Tommy storyline hasn’t been a high point, for sure, and some of that has to do with the show’s ongoing problem with making the character interesting in anything he does. But I’m never surprised at the lengths Nora will go to for her children, or the rationalizations she’ll make for her desperate defense of her family. I thought it was pretty clear most of the family was disgusted by what Tommy had done, even Nora (whose slap was pretty resounding), and the only thing that redeems making that cancer analogy is the way it depicts the desperation of a mother to make things right for her family and keep it intact. I wasn’t so much offended as (probably) bored as that story played out. Thank goodness for Sally Field, who can pull off just about anything.

Question: On Lost, did it seem kind of short-sighted to you for Sayid to only shoot Ben once? I would have thought he would have emptied out the gun on him, or pulled a “Highlander” and beheaded him, or do SOMETHING, that would ensure the Island (or Jack or Juliet) couldn’t save him. The kids’ organs are probably on the opposite side of his body or it hit a rib and was deflected. It probably is what caused the Adult Ben problem that Jack had to operate on.—Cynthia W

Matt Roush: Fun to speculate, isn’t it? Honestly, I was plenty shocked when Sayid shot the boy, and didn’t give much thought to how he could have sealed the deal more definitely. (Beheading the little boy, even though he would grow up to be Ben? Ick!) Once I got thinking about it, and realized the boy wasn’t going to die, that makes more sense to me, and as it turns out, it sets up Richard taking Ben into the Temple (whatever that is) and making him an official “other.” Which also helps answer Hurley’s question to Miles during that priceless time-travel conversation, about why Ben doesn’t remember that Sayid shot him when he was a kid.

Question: I was just wondering about the show Castle. Is it doing well? I love Nathan Fillion, even though he played one of the most evil characters on Buffy. I find that I really do not watch anything on ABC, but this show has got me hooked.—Joni Z

Matt Roush: It’s doing well enough. Not a breakout, but definitely holding its own on a busy night. I’m thinking this one’s a keeper, at least for another season. There’s some real potential here, and most of it has to do with the considerable appeal of Nathan Fillion, who’s overdue a star turn. Like with The Mentalist, there’s some weakness in the supporting cast, and a disposable quality to much of the plotting, but it’s fun, and that counts for a lot.

Question: How is Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles doing in the ratings? This show is so good. Seeing how they are slowly making John into John Connor at times gives me goosebumps. I just wish the British redhead would exit. Maybe I am slow, but she is boring and that plot leaves me cold. I think I stuck around after Brian Austin Green showed up. The added emotional factor of his character is great. He plays the role well, which initially surprised me.—Amy H.

Matt Roush: And I bet you were really surprised when they killed off Green’s character so suddenly last week. (Pause for mourning.) I wish the news were better about the show, but Terminator was struggling on Mondays earlier this season, and it’s pretty much dying on Fridays. Most people are thinking this show’s return is a long-shot, to put it mildly. I agree with you in some respects that when the show is in full gear, it’s terrific, and the way it anticipates what will happen after the apocalypse is chilling. I like Shirley Manson as Catherine Weaver, but agree that the storyline involving the creation of John Henry has been slow to the point of ponderous many weeks. It has finally kicked into gear, but a show like this simply didn’t have the luxury to indulge its metaphysical-philosophical-spiritual side with so little immediate dramatic payoff.

Question: Please use your contacts at ABC to find out what their problem is with airing the final three episodes of Pushing Daisies. They claim they don't have the available time slot, and yet last week they found the time to repeat the first two episodes of Better Off Ted. Other than the pilot episode of Daisies on a Saturday, I don't think they ever repeated it again to try to boost its ratings, including not repeating the first season in the summer leading up to the premiere of season two. What gives?—Galen

Matt Roush: Face it, there is no way the network is going to burn off the episodes of any of its scuttled series before the end of the season. [This Just In: ABC has announced some of its summer programming plans, including airing the unseen Pushing Daisies episodes on Saturdays at 10/9c, which is about as remote a burn-off location as you can imagine. So pardon my earlier cynicism that they might not see the light of day.] As for replaying the Ted episodes: That was an attempt, however futile, to get a new show some extra exposure. It’s not in ABC’s interest at this point to devote any time on the schedule to defunct series, as frustrating as that may be to accept. In the past, we’ve griped at length about ABC’s poor treatment of Pushing Daisies, opting not to repeat the strike-shortened first season over the summer or to repurpose it anywhere but online. That’s history now. The good news, as we’ve reported before, is that the entire season 2 will be out on DVD (and Blu-Ray) on July 21. Mark your calendar, and prepare to be dazzled (and no doubt saddened) all over again.

Question: I don't understand why ABC can't get a new show to work. Contrary to some critics, I applaud them for redeveloping Cupid which fits perfectly with their shows and their audience. It was sweet, funny, hopeful. Yet no matter what they do (Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, The Nine, Life on Mars, etc.), no new show seems to work. Yet CBS can clone the same version of the same show with slight modifications and they work almost every time. I don't begrudge CBS for its success, but the fact that ABC develops shows that are clever, original, fit with their current hits and are everything people say they want now, and they still keep flopping is really frustrating as a fan of TV. I am sure it is for the ABC execs as well. I loved the original Cupid and it didn't really get a shot, but this at least has a decent time slot. Whatever, it’s not life and death, and I kind of expected it to flop (I guess they did too, since they didn’t ramp up promotion until the week before premiere). But it’s a bummer. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.—Marc

Matt Roush: Yes, it is discouraging to see so much failure on a network that is at least trying to program something a bit different, while others who lean on formula do so much better. It just shows again how much more difficult it is in this fragmented media universe to launch anything that cuts against the grain of what already works.

On that less-than-happy note, a reminder to send all questions, rants and raves to askmatt@tvguidemagazine.com

http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/ask-m...-long-550.html

TV Notes
Leno-WHDH Flap Divides NBC Station GMs
By Andrew Krukowski, TVWeek.com, April 6, 2009

WHDH-TV’s announcement that it won’t run Jay Leno’s new 10 p.m. talk show has left NBC-affiliated station bosses divided, with some voicing sympathy and others wondering what the Boston affiliate was thinking.

The NBC network hammered Sunbeam Television owned WHDH as soon as the station announced plans to schedule the Leno hour with local news. Since then, the station has fallen silent, leaving the industry wondering whether WHDH will pull back from the brink.

NBC has promised retribution if WHDH goes through with its plan, promising that Leno will air in Boston—whether WHDH is the network affiliate or whether that affiliation goes to another broadcast outlet.

WHDH’s precipitous move prompted some GMs to wonder whether Sunbeam had a Plan B when it made its announcement.

“I imagine that they thought this out before they announced it,” Lisa Poe-Howfield, general manager of Las Vegas NBC affiliate KVBC, said. “[WHDH] must have some other plan in their back pocket.”

Ms. Poe-Howfield and Louisville’s WAVE general manager Steve Langford, said that NBC’s 10 p.m. lead-ins have always struggled to push viewers into the news. The Leno plan can only stabilize or improve numbers, they said.

“My take is that I’m going to get 39 weeks of fresh programming in a time period that, quite frankly, NBC has had great difficulty with over the past few years,” Mr. Langford said. “I don’t see a lot of downside. I only see upside potential.”

Some general managers weren’t optimistic about the 10 p.m. hour under Mr. Leno.

“Given NBC’s track record of late, it could get worse,” Craig Allison, general manager of NBC’s Kansas City affiliate, KSHB, said.

Mr. Allison said he hopes for the best in terms of NBC affiliates and the Leno gamble, but understands that by going with news instead of Leno, a local station would get to keeps the entire ad inventory. Depending on the 10 p.m. news in the market, that could make a significant viewership grab.

“It’s almost a no-brainer. The only thing you have at stake is the relationship you have with the network,” Mr. Allison said.

Other general managers agreed.

“If they pull this off, and they a full hour of late news, they’re probably going to make more money than the other way around,” Mr. Langford said of WHDH’s gambit.

If WHDH continues with their plan of removing Leno at 10 p.m., it’s essentially certain that NBC would strip the station of its affiliation.

NBC owns WNEU-TV in Boston, currently a Telemundo station that could be converted into the NBC affiliate.

A source familiar with the conflict said several stations in the Boston area have already contacted NBC regarding the possible up-for-grabs affiliation agreement.

Mr. Allison said he was skeptical that quality stations would rush to NBC to claim the affiliation.

“The line of prospective NBC affiliated desirees is not as long as it was six years ago,” he said.

Even if NBC squashes the unrest over Leno in Boston, the controversy could be distracting.

“If there were other GMs out there that had that concern, it might solidify it in their minds now that maybe they should be thinking along those lines,” Ms. Poe-Howfield said.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/04/l...s_nbc_stat.php

TV Notes
CW Makes Summer Programming Push
By Josef Adalian, TVWeek.com, April 6, 2009

The CW is finally getting into the summer programming game.

After taking the warm weather months off during its first two years, the network has decided to debut two new reality shows this year. The RDF USA/Mike Fleiss-produced “Hitched or Ditched” will premiere in May, while docusoap “Blond Charity Mafia” rolls out in July.

“We’re very excited to be launching original programming during the summer months for the first time,” said Dawn Ostroff, president of entertainment for The CW. “We want to keep this season’s momentum going by freshening our schedule with two new reality shows with fun, relatable concepts aimed squarely at our young female demo.”

“Hitched,” will air Tuesdays at 9 p.m. starting May 26, with repeats Wednesdays at 9. The CW has ordered six episodes of the series, which will run through June 30.

The project, in the works since last fall, was originally developed as "For Better or Worse".

"Hitched" will air opposite NBC's "America's Got Talent." Mr. Fleiss' other new reality series— "More to Love," or, as Variety is now calling it, "The Fatchelor"-- will air on Fox in the same 9 p.m. Tuesday slot later in July.

Once “Hitched” wraps, the CW will premiere “Mafia” with back-to-back half-hour episodes at 9 and 9:30 p.m. on July 7. On July 14, original episodes of “Mafia” shift to 9:30 p.m., with the previous week’s episode airing at 9 p.m.

“Mafia” will end its run in early August. The CW hasn’t set its fall premiere dates yet, but there’s been speculation the network may once again roll out its series early, either in late August or early September.

Here’s how the CW’s press release describes the new summer series:

—HITCHED OR DITCHED is a one-hour reality show focusing on couples who are in long-term relationships but have not yet taken that big leap into marriage. Nominated by a friend who believes it’s either time for the couple to tie to the knot or break up, each episode features a different couple who accept their friend's proposition to set a wedding date in one week’s time. Throughout the week leading up to the big day, the couple is put through a series of personalized exercises that test their relationship, all while planning their dream wedding. They may have to confront their problems ranging from mending relationships with future in-laws to dealing with jealousy issues. When the wedding day arrives, the couple will make the final decision – will they tie the knot or call the whole thing off? Viewers will witness every emotional milestone as the couple decides if it’s time to get HITCHED OR DITCHED. The series is hosted by Tanya McQueen (“Extreme Make-Over Home Edition”). HITCHED OR DITCHED is produced by RDF USA in association with Next Entertainment. The executive producers are Mike Fleiss (“The Bachelor,” “High School Reunion”), Chris Coelen (“Secret Millionaire,” “Don’t Forget the Lyrics”), Greg Goldman (“Secret Millionaire,” “Wife Swap”), Mike Duffy (“Addicted to Beauty”) and Jason Ehrlich (“The Bachelor”).

—BLONDE CHARITY MAFIA is a docu-series about the lives of Washington, D.C.’s most influential 20-something Alpha Girls. The BCM runs the D.C. social circuit from charity events to society parties. Their events are the hottest ticket in town, and everyone vies for an invitation – from Congressmen to Hill staffers. Gossip about the BCM is played out and played up on LATENIGHTSHOTS.com (a local, invite-only social website), where minute-by-minute gossip updates about the BCM's daily (and nightly) exploits are shared for the D.C. public to devour. BLONDE CHARITY MAFIA is from Capital Hills Productions, Inc. with executive producers Patty Ivins (“The Modern Girl’s Guide To Life,” “Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Model Search”) and Julie Pizzi (“The Modern Girl’s Guide To Life,” “Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Model Search”)

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/04/c...ramming_pu.php

Nielsen Notes
A weekly reminder:

Tuesday is the day Nielsen releases last week’s ratings.

So check in throughout the day to see the network and cable ratings as they are made available.

TV Notes
On The Air Tonight
Tuesday Network Prime-Time Programming Options

(Reminder: If you are recording these programs, check your network listings for precise start/end times. For PBS, please double check your local listings.)

ABC
8 It’s The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (R)
9 Dancing With The Stars HD
10 Cupid HD

CBS
8 NCIS HD
9 The Mentalist HD
10 Without A Trace HD

NBC
8 The Biggest Loser (two hours)
10 Law & Order: SVU HD

Fox
8 American Idol HD
9 Fringe HD

PBS
8 Nova: Doctor’s Diaries, Part 1 (R)
9 Frontline: Black Money HD
10 Independent Lens: Milking the Rhino HD

The CW
8 Reaper HD
9 90210 HD

MNT
8 Street Patrol
8:30 Street Patrol
9 Jail HD
9:30 Jail (R)

MNTV HD Schedule is from jimboy’s http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0714&highlight

Tuesday’s metered market overnight prime-time ratings – along with Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted at the top of Ratings News -- the second post in this thread.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&#post10367387

TV Notes
Hola, Telemundo!
Jay Leno downplays Boston snub
By Ed Mason and Jessica Heslam, Boston Herald, Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Jay Leno laughed off his hometown station’s snub last night, joking that he’s prepared to speak Spanish should his new show wind up on Telemundo if Channel 7 goes ahead and axes him in favor of local news.

“This is one of those affiliate things - it happens all the time. I’m sure they’ll work it out,” Leno said last night of NBC affiliate WHDH-TV’s plans to bump his new 10 p.m. show for an hour of news.

“If I had to speak Spanish and do it on Telemundo” - a local Spanish station also owned by NBC - “that’s what you got to do,” Leno quipped during a visit to the Bay State.

The Andover native, who graduated from Emerson College, made his comments before taking the stage at Salem State College, where he hosted an event to raise money for student scholarships in honor of former North Shore club owner Lennie Sogoloff and his late wife, Barbara.

Lennie Sogoloff helped catapult Leno’s career when he let him perform at his club back in the 1970s.

The event, “An Evening with Jay Leno,” was sold out.

WHDH announced last week that it plans to air an hourlong newscast at 10 p.m. instead of Leno’s new prime-time show, which debuts in September.

Leno is handing over the reins of “The Tonight Show” to another Bay State homeboy, Conan O’Brien, in June.

Channel 7’s brazen move prompted NBC to threaten to strip the Hub station of its Peacock affiliation. Owner Ed Ansin didn’t return a call yesterday.

John Eck, president of the NBC TV network, has said that Channel 7’s move is a “flagrant violation” of the terms of its contract with NBC. He also said the network has a number of other strong options in the Boston market.

They include Telemundo, which is owned and operated by NBC. The network could move its programming to Telemundo or an independent station interested in becoming an NBC affiliate. Either way, NBC is vowing to broadcast Leno’s new show in Beantown.

“Jay Leno fans will not be disappointed,” Eck said in a statement Friday. “Make no mistake, the new Leno show will air at 10 p.m. weeknights in the Boston market on NBC.”

NBC stations nationwide fear Leno’s prime-time show may hurt their local late night news ratings, partly because his audience skews to an older demographic.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/reg...icleid=1163976

TV Notes
For NBC, next fall is looking better
Even Though the network's ratings are sure to take a hit over all
By Kevin Downey, MediaLifeMagazine.com staff writer, Apr 7, 2009

NBC has been in dreadful shape these past few years, sinking to No. 4 in the 18-49 demographic it once dominated, and that makes what it plans for the coming fall seem all the more urgent as it meets with media buyers ahead of this year's upfront market.

But while most of those shows are still in the scriptwriting phase, media buyers say NBC appears to be in better shape than one might expect.

Overall ratings are certain to be down as the network turns over the 10 p.m. weeknight hour to longtime "Tonight" host Jay Leno, but NBC should perform better during the 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. hours.

With fewer hours to fill, it can focus on filling those hours with shows with the promise of drawing audiences, rather than scrambling to patch holes, as it has in recent years.

“It’s much harder to fill 22 hours than 15 hours,” says Steve Sternberg, executive vice president of audience analysis at buying shop Magna. “If you look at Fox, they have been very competitive programming from 8 to 10.”

Having fewer hours also makes it easier to generate audience flow from one hour to the next, pairing shows that attract similar audiences.

NBC could actually see ratings improve over those two hours.

And the network will save money in the process. Two hours are not only easier to fill, they're cheaper.

Last year, NBC ditched the traditional pilot process, where initial episodes of prospective new shows are created to see how they look and to work out bugs. It was a bust, so NBC is back to making pilots.

“That’s the real good news coming out of NBC,” says David Scardino, entertainment specialist at RPA in Santa Monica, Calif. “They’re going back to a more traditional development process.”

For next fall, a few of NBC shows in development already sound promising.

Among these are the lighthearted drama “Legally Mad” from “Boston Legal’s” David E. Kelley and cop show “Lost and Found” from “Law & Order’s” Dick Wolf.

Comedies include single-camera sitcoms and more traditional comedies such as “100 Questions for Charlotte Payne,” about a young woman trying to build a career in New York.

Reality shows include the Jerry Seinfeld-produced “The Marriage Ref.”

At 10 p.m., with Leno hosting a "Tonight"-like entertainment strip, NBC can expect to take a big hit in ratings. Leno would have to roughly double his “Tonight Show” ratings to keep NBC where it is, estimates Scardino.

Still, the show will be far less costly to produce than five hours of scripted dramas, and airing in primetime the show will almost certainly make more money than "Tonight."

“They are going to make money, no question about it,” says Scardino.

But, more important than that, media buyers don’t much care about average primetime ratings, says Sternberg.

“The average ratings are almost irrelevant at this point,” he says. “It’s a program game. It’s not a network-average game anymore.”

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

TV Notes
Networks are on a laugh track
Of 71 scripted pilots in contention for slots at the five networks, 33 are half-hour comedies and 19 of those are multi-camera formats.
By Maria Elena Fernandez, Los Angeles Times staff writer, April 7, 2009

America: Do you feel like laughing?

The television industry hopes so because a slew of family, buddy and workplace comedy pilots might be coming to a small screen near you later this year. Despite the cloud of anger and anxiety hanging over the nation because of the ailing economy, the broadcast networks believe the genre is poised for a comeback.

That there is even a pilot season -- the annual springtime ritual of dashed hopes and broken dreams as networks test potential new shows -- is notable. Last year, some networks declared that the writers strike had pushed the industry into a year-round model and would force them to abandon the usual winter and spring development season. And although the recession can be largely blamed for about 40 fewer pilots this season than in recent years, there are still more scripted shows in the works than most industry insiders expected.

The mad scramble ends in mid-May with the "upfronts" in New York City, where network executives unveil their fall season lineups in hopes of attracting billions of dollars in Madison Avenue advertising.

"I know that people are still trying to play with the model, but what I think we all realize is that even though it can be somewhat dysfunctional, we're all competing for the same thing at the same time," said Suzanne-Patmore Gibbs, executive vice president of drama development. "Here at ABC, we do well with deadlines. We like to see things in context."

Of 71 scripted pilots in contention for slots at the five networks, 33 are half-hour comedies and 19 of those are multi-camera formats -- shows taped before a live audience, and sometimes enhanced by laugh tracks. Today, only CBS airs multi-cam sitcoms.

The multi-cam sitcom, such as legendary hits "I Love Lucy" and "Cheers," was once the dominant format in which to televise comedies, as much for conveying a theater-like intimacy to home audiences as for its relatively cheap production costs. But within the last decade, multi-cam sitcoms began to disappear, while single-camera comedies like "30 Rock" and "The Office," with its movie-like freedom, started to rise in prominence.

"The industry had been moving away from multi-cameras out of a sense that other formats offer more creative freedom," said Jamie Erlicht, president of programming at Sony Pictures Television. "But there's room for both and there's a real appetite in these economic times for the tried and true multi-camera format."

Sony, which produces the multi-cam "Rules of Engagement" for CBS, is also behind 10 of the comedies under consideration this pilot season. A year ago, Sony commissioned a study to determine how a change in government or the economy could affect television habits. Its conclusion was that this pendulum would swing away from dramas. Six of the shows on Sony's slate are traditional sitcoms, including "AB FAB," a remake of the popular British series "Absolutely Fabulous" for Fox.

While Fox has a healthy animation comedy block on Sunday nights, it has failed to successfully develop a live-action series for some time. Its pilot slate includes two multi-camera comedies, two single-cameras, one hybrid, and a one-hour comedy.

"Post-9/11, reality TV was very, very fresh to the audience and took up a lot of the space that comedies did," President of Entertainment Kevin Reilly said. "Right now, people are angry. That's where comedy historically has come into play -- when you need someone to voice something in a way that you can hear it."

ABC, which lately has provided most of its lasting laughs on one-hour shows like "Desperate Housewives" or "Ugly Betty," wants to invigorate its family comedy brand, according to executives. Half of ABC's 14 comedy pilots are multi-camera.

"We strongly believe in the benefits of the communal feeling you get watching a comedy with an audience and I think some of the stigma has eroded," Samie Falvey, senior vice president of comedy development at ABC, wrote in an e-mail to The Times.

NBC is committed to a full night of comedy on Thursdays, built around the critically acclaimed shows "30 Rock" and "The Office." The network, which has been taking a beating in the ratings, is producing five comedy pilots, including two traditional multi-cam sitcoms.

"We love that genre and we would have made more but we just didn't have as many strong multi-camera scripts as we did single-camera," said NBC President of Primetime Entertainment Angela Bromstad. "When you look at what's working and what is standing in a very crowded environment, the multi-cameras on CBS are doing very well and prove that it's not a dying format."

In fact, CBS' Monday night lineup helped launch a second comedy hour on Wednesday nights this season. CBS President of Entertainment Nina Tassler said she expects to keep both comedy lineups next year.

The network is producing seven multi-camera pilots and one hybrid, "The Fish Tank," that will be shot multi-camera, but without an audience, like "How I Met Your Mother."

"It took us a long time to get to the place where we could have a second night of comedy," Tassler said. "And we're going to support that."

The CW, where the hip kids live, is bucking the trend altogether and did not order any comedy pilots this year. Instead, the network for 18- to 34-year-olds will offer laughs on its dramas, a la "Gossip Girl," and reality shows. It is producing six dramatic pilots.

"I think it's really hard to get it right," CW President of Entertainment Dawn Ostroff said. "They need to be very unique and different and we just haven't been able to make enough noise."

One factor moving the networks toward sitcoms was cost. Because a half-hour single-camera comedy is filmed like a drama and costs almost as much as a one-hour show to produce, it makes sense to gamble on more sitcoms in lean financial times, Reilly said.

"Multi-cameras are cheaper," said Zack Van Amburg, president of programming at Sony Pictures Television. "But I promise you this: While everyone is being saner and smarter and the economics are more pressured than they ever have been, it's still a hit-driven business. I don't think if they didn't believe and we didn't believe that good multi-cameras can still break out that you'd be seeing this trend."

There's no doubt cutting costs is a paramount consideration this season. Cash-strapped networks have taken a number of steps to lower their expenses, including filming outside of Los Angeles to take advantage of tax incentives, reducing license fees, or asking talent to accept lower fees.

"It's a healthy and good shift in perspective," said Warner Bros. Television President Peter Roth. "All industries, including our own, are looking at costs more carefully and diligently, with greater scrutiny than ever before."

To that end, the networks also have developed more procedurals, that is closed-ended narratives for cop, medical and legal dramas. Fox and CBS are looking to expand their female audiences, while CBS and ABC executives hope that NBC's decision to schedule Jay Leno at 10 p.m. five nights a week will give their dramas an opportunity to flourish. (With fewer slots on the schedule to fill, NBC will probably order only 13 episodes of some shows so that two shows can share time slots over the course of the year, said Bromstad.)

ABC also is searching to fill the pop culture crater that will be left by "Lost," which concludes next season. They have two candidates at the moment -- either "Flash Forward," which centers on an international event that enables people to see their future for two minutes, or the remake of "V," a sci-fi show in which humans battle alien invaders.

"Whatever it is doesn't need to be that serialized," Patmore-Gibbs said. "But it needs to feel like a global event of import that hopefully gets people just as emotionally invested."

At the CW, Ostroff admits it will be difficult choosing half of six drama pilots to pick up. Two of them, the "Gossip Girl" spinoff, starring Brittany Snow, and the "Melrose Place" spinoff have generated a lot of buzz. The others include "Lux," about a girl (Brittany Robertson) who emancipates herself from foster care on her 16th birthday and hunts down her biological parents, and "Vampire Diaries," about a heroine caught between two vampire brothers.

"This is my favorite time of year: when everything seems possible," Bromstad said.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...05,print.story

TV Notes
'Battlestar' actor to star in 'Riverworld'
By James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter senior reporter, in his LiveFeed blog

Sci Fi has cast its leads for Riverworld and The Phantom -- the network’s upcoming original movie events that will serve as trials for potential new series.

Battlestar Galatica veteran Tahmoh Penikett and Smallville's supergirl Laura Vandervoort will star in Riverworld, while Ryan Carnes (”Desperate Housewives”) has been cast as The Phantom.

Penikett is best known for playing Helo on Battlestar. In Riverworld he'll play war correspondent Matt Ellman, who is killed along with his fiance played by Vandervoort and then awake into a mysterious world populated by everybody who has ever lived on Earth. Alan Cumming (Tin Man) guest stars as “The Caretaker.”

On The Phantom, Carnes will play the newest incarnation of the comic book hero, with Isabella Rossellini guest starring as the villainous Lithia, the head of mind control experiment.

Also cast in Riverworld are Jeananne Goossen and Mark Deklin, with Cameron Goodman and Sandrine Holt added to the Phantom cast.

Both projects are from RHI Entertainment and started production Monday.

Riverworld and The Phantom will air as four-hour movies on Sci Fi sometime next year. A third RHI project for the network, Alice, will air this year

http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/04/helo-...orld.html#more

As well as those of us who love "Friday Night Lights", Groucho.

TV Sports
2009 Season Begins With MLB Blackout Policy Still a Bone of Contention
By Maury Brown, bizofbaseball.com

“We’re still working on it.”

That was is the word from MLB on its television blackout policy that affects not only MLB Extra Innings, but national broadcasts on ESPN, TBS, and now MLB Network’s Thursday Night Baseball. While MLB President and COO Bob DuPuy looked to have the owners address the policy in the off-season, it seems the economy pushed the issue out... again.

For the uninitiated, here’s how the blackout policy functions across the various platforms.

MLB Extra Innings and MLB.TV, the online package for watching out of market games:

• Local Live Blackout: ALL LIVE MLB.TV games will be blacked out in each applicable Club's home television territory (except for certain home television territories for which MLB.com may offer in-market subscription services) or in Japan.
• National Live Blackout (Regular Season): Due to Major League Baseball national exclusivities, each Saturday until 7:00 PM EST (beginning May 17, 2008 and continuing for remaining Saturdays during the regular season) and each Sunday night (for games that begin after 5:00 PM EST), all scheduled webcasts of games played within such time period will be blacked out.
• National Live Blackout (Post Season): Due to Major League Baseball national exclusivities, during the MLB postseason, if you live within the following nations or territories, webcasts of all postseason games will be blacked out: United States, Canada, Guam, US Virgin Islands, South Korea and Japan.
• NOTE: Due to broadcast restrictions, new MLB.TV and Condensed Game archives are limited to a playing time of five minutes in duration until 6 am ET on the day following that on which the applicable game commenced play.

As noted above, the country is blacked out due to agreements with FOX, ESPN and TBS. Here’s how that breaks down:

Every Saturday, from 1:10 PM ET or before 7:05 PM ET, all games are blacked out due to an exclusivity agreement with FOX, which typically broadcasts one game starting at 3:55 Eastern. That means in a six-hour window in which games are being played, you can watch two games at most--the FOX game and your local team if it's playing on TV in that window and isn't the game being carried on FOX.

On Sundays, ESPN holds the rights to night games, so any games that start after 5 p.m. ET are blacked out. In practice, this only affects a handful of games, as almost all Sunday games are played in the daytime. TBS airs 26 Sunday afternoon games this year which are blacked out in local markets--TBS can air an alternate game in those areas, and as many as 13 of any single team. So those of you in Boston and New York may barely be aware of TBS' arrangement by the end of the season.

Adding a new wrinkle to the Blackout Blues this year is MLB Network’s Thursday Night Baseball. For MLB Network, games will be blacked out in each team’s home television territory. Viewers in areas subject to blackouts will be provided with an alternate game telecast or other programming.

As for those blackout areas, it is a tangled world out there. Select Read More to see an image for each of the “local” broadcast areas for each of the 30 clubs.

http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.p...work&Itemid=82

Monday's fast affiliate overnight prime-time ratings (which include the total viewers and 18-49 demographic estimates) – along with Media Week Analyst Marc Berman’s view of what they mean -- have been posted near the top of Ratings News -- the second post in this thread.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&#post10367387

TV Notes
Magna Study: Broadcast nets still slipping
By Wayne Friedman, MediaPost.com

Although many press reports claim that TV viewing is stable -- if not up a bit -- it is still a tale of two media, says Steve Sternberg, executive vice president and audience analysis for Magna, in a recent report.

Broadcast ratings continue to sink -- anywhere from 5% to 10% this season, depending on the networks. Kids and Teens viewing have shown steeper declines. The beneficiaries? Ad-supported cable.

For the broadcast networks, this current season has seen some of the same trends of recent years. Fox maintains its leadership with viewers 35 and under; CBS does the same for viewers 35+.

Each network has specific needs to improve next season. Sternberg writes: "Given its lack of new series success, ABC could be in big trouble if its key female dramas, "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" continue to slip."

ABC needs to come up with series that can replace two hours of "Dancing with the Stars" when it goes off in the first quarter, he notes.

In recent seasons, ABC tried to schedule shows with more dual audience -- appealing to men and women. But many of these shows have failed, including "Pushing Daisies," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Eli Stone," and "Life on Mars." The jury is still out on "Castle."

While ABC continues to lead among women 18-49, but just barely over CBS and Fox, Sternberg says ABC could be in trouble next season. It may not be the top among any key female demos.

CBS has had great consistency, says Sternberg, in part because of its scripted series success. Regular-season reality shows "Survivor" and "Amazing Race" are sturdy performers, but they are not as crucial to the network's success as other shows.

This past season, scripted entertainment comprised 18 of CBS' 22-hour schedule -- 82% -- the best of all networks. NBC was next at 13.5 hours, or 61%; with ABC at 10.5 hours, or 48%. Fox was the lowest, with 8 hours of its 15 as scripted series, or 53%. CW had 10 of its 13 hours -- 77% -- as scripted entertainment series.

But Sternberg warns CBS that "gradual audience declines can lead to a number of series that can be considered borderline. Stability often leads to conservatism, and the network may start to leave shows on the air too long, when a new show might do better."

In recent years, one of the better decisions for NBC was in getting "Sunday Night Football." But the network can't figure out how to replace it with other programming in the first quarter -- when its ratings generally start to decline.

It made sense at NBC to air escapist fare that drew men, much like "Sunday Night Football." This genre includes: "Heroes," "Chuck," "My Own Worst Enemy," "Knight Rider," "Crusoe," "Merlin" and "Kings." Yet all have either been canceled or may be. "Heroes" has declined in viewership; "Chuck" is barely treading water.

In regard to its move of Jay Leno to 10 p.m. -- which has stirred a firestorm of comment -- Sternberg says if ratings maintain what NBC's dramas have done in recent years, NBC will consider it a success. With more original programming in that time period, NBC may do well when the other networks are opting for repeats.

Fox continues to produce industry-leading numbers, as well as delivering young and male viewers. Going forward, Sternberg sees problems with Fox for scripted shows. This season, with "Fringe," however -- and to a lesser extent, "Lie To Me" -- Fox seems to have improved in that quarter.

Fox's "American Idol" still carries ratings weight. This season, "House" was somewhat hurt early on, losing some steam in and after the Major League Baseball playoffs. All of this means Fox could use another scripted series.

CW has been revived in part this past season. "Gossip Girl" and "One Tree Hill" have improved versus a year ago, contributing to the network lifting to a 1.8 rating in the fourth quarter among women 18-49 versus a 1.5 in fourth-quarter 2007.

While "90210" gets a lot of press, he says its numbers are still barely getting to a 1.0 rating among women 18-49. "America's Next Top Model" still brings good numbers -- although down from recent seasons.

If the network wants another good story next season, it needs to improve growth of "90210," he says, and add at least one new success -- possibly the new "Melrose Place."

http://www.mediapost.com/publication...art_aid=103546

TV Notes
Who Covered Pres. Obama's Early Morning Istanbul Town Hall?
By Steve Krakauer, associate editor, TVNewser at MediaBistro.com, April 7, 2009

During President Barack Obama's just-completed trip to Europe, he's dealt with some difficulties concerning time differences whether it's early morning news conferences or overnight speeches.

This morning he held a town hall with a group of students in Istanbul, Turkey at 5:15amET (12:15pm local time), and only Fox News took the town hall in full.

Fox & Friends co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade anchored and Major Garrett reported from the region.

CNN stayed in an AC 360 repeat and MSNBC in a Hardball repeat. The town hall concluded at 6:02amET, and CNN and MSNBC's morning shows made mention of it as they went live at the top of the hour.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

TV Notes
Daytime Emmys shifting to the CW
First time the awards will air outside Big Three networks
By Nellie Andreeva, The Hollywood Reporter, April 7, 2009

It's official -- the Daytime Emmy Awards are moving to the CW.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has inked a deal with the network to broadcast this year's show, which will be held Aug. 30 at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.

That is a couple months later than the usual time for the Daytime Emmys and is sure to be a part of the CW's promotional push for its fall launch.

NATAS approached the CW after CBS, which had been alternating with ABC in carrying the event, declined to renew its contract. After ABC also declined, saying it was not prepared to broadcast the event two years in a row, the academy pitched it to other nets.

This will mark the first time the Daytime Emmys air on a non-Big Three net.

"Sesame Street" will be honored with the lifetime achievement award at the event for "40 years of educational television."

"The Daytime Emmy Awards are one of the cornerstones of our business," said Frank Radice, president and chief marketing officer of NATAS. "From the extravagant red carpet to the great entertainment, the viewer will experience the show through new approaches which will make this year's show more robust and relevant than ever before."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...b34200e5c3bd2e

TV Advertising Notes
Warm and Fuzzy Makes a Comeback
By Stuart Elliott, The New York Times, April 7, 2009

If music hath charm to soothe the savage breast, what can calm worried consumers during an economic crisis? Madison Avenue believes one answer is nostalgia.

As the recession continues taking its toll, marketers are trying to tap into fond memories to help sell what few products shoppers are still buying. The time-machine tactics are primarily evoking four decades — the 1950s through the 1980s.

For instance, on April 20 a beverage unit of PepsiCo will begin an eight-week campaign for “throwback” versions of two soft drinks, Pepsi-Cola and Mountain Dew. The packages and formulas, along with advertising and promotions, will evoke the ’60s and ’70s.

The hope is that warm, fuzzy feelings about the past will help make people feel better about the present and future.

“It’s about yearning for the past, a simpler time, even though the ’60s and ’70s were not simple,” said Frank Cooper, chief marketing officer for sparkling beverages at the Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages unit of PepsiCo.

“They just seem simple, looking back,” he added.

The merchants of nostalgia also include other blue-chip names like Coca-Cola, General Mills, McDonald’s, MillerCoors, Target and Unilever. The companies are using marketing tactics including:

¶Reviving vintage slogans and jingles as well as package designs. Diet Coke is being promoted again with “Just for the taste of it,” the theme used by the Coca-Cola Company to introduce the soda in 1982. Five Big G cereals from General Mills, among them Cheerios and Trix, were sold in throwback boxes in Target stores, accompanied by a T-shirt offer (cerealwear.com).

And as part of “a back-to-our-roots campaign” for Nationwide insurance to be introduced this month, Eric Hargrove, a company spokesman in Columbus, Ohio, said on Monday, there would be a prominent role for the venerable “Nationwide is on your side” jingle.

¶Bringing back familiar products and menu items to stores and restaurants. The Target circular this week features sock monkeys and gumball machines as part of a sale on “selected retro toys.” The Carl’s Jr. fast-food chain, owned by CKE Restaurants, reintroduced an original menu offering, chili dogs.

¶Recreating in ads nostalgic moments from the popular culture. In a commercial for a new sweet tea sold by McDonald’s, a man walks home through an urban neighborhood of the ’70s. Commercials for the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter line of spreads sold by Unilever feature a make-believe 1950s family named the Buttertons.

“In a time of anxiety, people are seeking out brands they’re comfortable with and they can trust,” said Ric Hendee, vice president for marketing services at Cotton Inc. in New York.

Cotton Inc. is reintroducing a song from 1989, “The Fabric of Our Lives,” that served through the 1990s as a jingle in commercials for clothing and home furnishings made from cotton. Research found that women in their 20s and 30s — the intended audience for messages about cotton’s benefits — “remember the song and understand what it means,” Mr. Hendee said.

“Even teenage girls” had some memories of it, he added. The jingle comes back this week in a campaign from DDB Worldwide in New York, part of the Omnicom Group.

Those taking part in the trend acknowledge a potential pitfall of nostalgic pitches: They could lead consumers to believe a brand or product is outdated and therefore not for them.

To make sure the cotton jingle “is relevant to a new audience,” said Cassandra Anderson, creative director at DDB New York, it is being performed by contemporary musicians like Zooey Deschanel, Miranda Lambert and Jazmine Sullivan rather than the previous cotton crooners, Richie Havens and Aaron Neville. Similarly, as Bumble Bee Foods revives its ’70s jingle for Bumble Bee tuna — “Yum, yum, Bumble Bee, Bumble Bee tuna” — the song is being given a fresh presentation. Commercials are centered on a troubadour character, seemingly from the Me Decade, who serenades modern-day consumers eating dishes like tuna sushi and tuna tacos.

The campaigns for Bumble Bee and the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spreads were created by McCann Erickson Worldwide, part of the McCann Worldgroup unit of the Interpublic Group of Companies. In both cases, the agency avoids wallowing in nostalgia.

For instance, the members of the Butterton family, and their ardor for butter, serve as a foil for the modern product.

“We use what we call a then-and-now set-up,” said Keith Bobier, senior director for marketing at the Englewood Cliffs, N.J., office of Unilever, “to show people the difference between life as it used to be and today, when there’s far more understanding of health concerns.”

Hard times have frequently inspired fond looks in the rear-view mirror. There was a nostalgia boom during World War II, as evidenced by movies like “Meet Me in St. Louis” and songs like “Long Ago and Far Away.”

In the ’60s, the American Tobacco Company, now part of Reynolds American, introduced a filtered version of one of its first national cigarette brands, Sweet Caporal.

In the economic turbulence of the ’70s, there was a fad for nostalgia for the ’50s. The ’60s made a comeback in the ’80s and the ’70s were revived in the ’90s.

One updated aspect of nostalgic marketing is that it is starting to take place in Internet time. It used to be that an anniversary would be commemorated if a brand or product lasted 20, 25 or 50 years. But a campaign from Viacom and its licensees promoting SpongeBob SquarePants and his friends carries the theme “Celebrating 10 years of happy.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/bu...gewanted=print

Weekly Nielsen Notes
Syndication Ratings: 'Dr. Phil' Still in Good Health
By David Tanklefsky, Broadcasting & Cable, 4/7/2009

CTD's Dr. Phil had the biggest increase of any strip in first-run for the week ending Mar. 29, gaining 16% from the week before to a 3.6. What made it all the more impressive was that the gains came despite the fact that Phil was heavily pre-empted by March Madness basketball coverage. The show did not air in 7 of the top 20 markets including Los Angeles on Mar. 26 and 27.

Elsewhere in daytime talk, CBS Television Distribution's Oprah was up 8% to a 5.3. Disney/ABC's Live with Regis and Kelly also added 8% to 2.8. Warner Bros.' Ellen Degeneres gained 5% to 2.3 after a show with Noah Wyle talking about the ER finale hit a 2.4. CTD's Rachel Ray rose 6% to 1.8 with a boost of 18% to 2.0 with an appearance by Joy Behar from the View on Mar. 27. NBCU's Maury was unchanged at 1.8.

Warner Bros.' Tyra Banks matched its season-high with a 9% gain to a 1.2. She hit a peak for a show about a mother trying to leave her X-rated lifestyle on Mar. 25 which pushed ratings up 18% to 1.3. NBCU's Steve Wilkos jumped 9% to 1.2 and equaled his season-high. Jerry Springer (NBCU), the Morning Show with Mike and Juliet (Twentieth), and Martha Stewart (NBCU), were all unchanged at 1.1., 0.9, 0.7 respectively.

It was also a good week for court shows with five shows increasing their week-by-week numbers. CTD's Judge Judy continued to lead the field, up 7% to 4.4. Her most-watched case of the week involved a child custody battle between a 21 year-old mother battling a 53 year-old father on Mar. 23 which sent ratings up to a 4.7. CTD's Judge Joe Brown rose 5% to a 2.3. Warner Bros.' People's Court was flat at 2.0. Warner Bros.' Judge Mathis rose 6% to 1.7. Twentieth's Divorce Court was steady at 1.4. Christina's Court climbed 10% to 1.1. Judge David Young was unchanged at 0.8.

In the rookie race, CTD's The Doctors was on top for the tenth week in a row with a 6% improvement to 1.9. Deal Or No Deal was a close second, gaining 6% to 1.8. Warner Bros.' Bonnie Hunt was up 11% to 1.0. Judge Karen (Sony), Trivial Pursuit (Debmar-Mercury), and Family Court (Program Partners), were all flat at 0.9, 0.6, and 0.5 respectively.

In access, CTD's Entertainment Tonight topped the magazines with a 4.3, though it was down 2% from the week before. CTD's Inside Edition was unchanged at 2.9. Warner Bros.' TMZ was up 5% to 2.3. NBCU's Access Hollywood and Extra were unchanged at 2.2 and 1.8 respectively. CTD's The Insider dropped off 16% to 1.6 after being heavily pre-empted by NCAA basketball.

Game shows increased slightly with CTD's Wheel of Fortune edging up 1% to 7.3. CTD's Jeopardy gained 4% to 5.7. Disney/ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire also inched up 4% to 2.4 after dropping to a new season-low the week before. Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud stayed flat at 1.5.

In off-net sitcoms, Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men rose 2% to 4.9. Twentieth's Family Guy gained 5% to 4.0. Sony's Seinfeld was up 9% to 3.7. CTD's Everybody Loves Raymond lost 3% to 3.0. Warner Bros.' George Lopez and Twentieth's King of the Hill each gained 4% to 2.9 and 2.8 respectively. Sony's King of Queens added 8% to 2.6. Warner Bros.' Friends fell 4% to 2.4.

Elsewhere, weekly off-cable Storm Stories was unchanged at 1.3. Off-TBS strip House of Payne was up 5% to 2.3.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...ood_Health.php