More hurt for ABC's fast-sinking 'My Town' Sunday
   It's now less than a month before ABC's powerful Sunday lineup returns with new episodes, and the network must be overjoyed. That means at most only four more weeks of ratings like Sunday night.
   ABC finish third among adults 18-49 with a dismal 2.2 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, barely a third of what it often averaged during the regular season. Blame the three-week-old reality show "My Kind of Town" for some of ABC's woes.
   “Town” averaged a series-low 2.1 rating among viewers 18-49, a 4.5 percent drop versus last week’s 2.2 average, and a 27.6 percent dip versus a 2.9 for the premiere episode two weeks ago. That got a boost from an original "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."
   Fox finished first among 18-49s with a 2.5 average rating and a 7 share last night. CBS was second at 2.3/6, ABC third at 2.2/6, NBC fourth at 1.9/5 and the WB fifth at 0.7/2.
   At 7 p.m. ABC finished first with a 2.2 average rating for “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” CBS was a close second that hour with a 2.1 for “60 Minutes” and Fox third with a 1.7 average for “Malcolm in the Middle” (1.6) and “King of the Hill” (1.9).
   Fox took the lead at 8 p.m. with a 3.0 average for repeats of “The Simpsons” (3.0) and “Family Guy” (2.9). ABC was a close second with its 2.8 for “Home Edition” and CBS third with a 2.3 for a “Cold Case” rerun.
   Fox led again at 9 p.m., this time with a 2.8 average for “Family Guy” (3.0) and “American Dad” (2.6). NBC was second with a 2.4 average for a repeat of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” followed by a 2.3 for CBS for the first hour of the movie “Stone Cold.” ABC was fourth that hour with its 2.1 average for “Town.”
   NBC finished the night in the lead with a 2.6 average rating at 10 p.m. for “Crossing Jordan.” CBS was second that hour with a 2.4 for the last hour of its movie and ABC third with a 1.9 for “Desperate Housewives.”
   CBS finished comfortably in first place for the night among households with a 6.8 average rating and an 11 share. NBC was second at 4.2/7, ABC third at 3.9/6, Fox fourth at 3.2/5 and the WB fifth at 1.2/2.

Gender divide: Men spend 1.5 hours more with TV
Conventional wisdom says women watch more TV. Forrester says they don't. According to a new study released this week by Forrester Research, men spend 13.6 hours a week on average watching the tube, compared to 12.1 hours for women. Meanwhile, women spend 2.4 hours a week reading magazines, compared with 2.3 hours for men, according to Forrester. The report studies media usage habits of women versus men. As for newspapers, men devote 3.6 hours a week to reading them while women spend 3.2 hours a week reading the paper. Men devote 6.7 hours a week to the internet compared with 5.3 hours for women. Once they're on the net, men tend to look for news, magazines, finance, job and career information, and discussion boards. Women are more interested in movie information, playing games, sharing photos and finding phone listings. Women also use the web more than men to find bargains and download coupons. 

Report: More journalists died in Iraq than Vietnam
The death toll for journalists in Iraq has surpassed that in Vietnam. Since the U.S. and its allies invaded Iraq in March 2003, 66 journalists and their assistants have been killed, according to a report by media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) issued this week. The death total in Iraq surpasses the 63 journalists killed during the 20-year Vietnam conflict (1955-75). In the Algerian civil war (1993-96), 77 journalists and media assistants were killed, and fighting in former Yugoslavia (1991-95) left 49 journalists slain. In Iraq, about two-thirds of the media members killed have been Iraqis, and 5 percent Americans, RSF said. About one-third of the deaths in Iraq were caused by enemy forces, while U.S. forces were responsible for eight deaths. The latest media casualty was a Reuters Television soundman who was shot in Baghdad Sunday.

Monster of a casting coup: Theron joins 'Arrested'
Fox’s “Arrested Development” has the acclaim, it has the awards and now it has an Oscar winner. All it needs now is an audience. Last year’s Best Comedy Emmy winner, which last year limped  to 2.8 adults 18-49 rating to rank No. 75 for the season, has signed  Charlize Theron to play the object of character Michael Bluth’s (Jason Batemen) desires for five episodes this fall. The role, likely a departure from her Oscar-winning turn as “Monster’s” Aileen Wuornos, will be the South African’s first recurring role on the small screen and will begin with the second episode of the season. The series has a history of bringing on interesting guest stars, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Liza Minnelli, Heather Graham and Henry Winkler last season. But none have boosted the ratings for the third-year show, which moves from Sundays to Monday at 8 p.m. next month.

GLAAD says gay characters up slightly this year
Gay characters make up only 2 percent of the characters on broadcast network TV, a Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation study released yesterday shows. Sixteen gay, lesbian and bisexual characters appear on 14 scripted programs on the six major broadcast networks. Considering two are on just one show, NBC's "Will & Grace," GLAAD's not thrilled. "Out of 710 'series regulars' that will appear this season on the broadcast networks, gay, lesbian and bisexual characters make up less than 2 percent," says GLAAD Entertainment Media Director Damon Romine said in a statement on the group’s web site. "[It’s a] shocking misrepresentation of reality and of the audience." Many estimate the gay population at about 10 percent in the U.S. Despite the departure of David Fisher and Keith Charles from HBO’s "Six Feet Under," cable TV still offers viewers 25 LGBT characters, including the only recurring transgender character on TV, who will be on “The L Word” this coming fall. The study finds the vast majority of gay representation on TV is gay white males.

Programming notes: Grisham book comes to TNT
Who better to executive produce a legal drama than John Grisham? He will be behind the camera on TNT’s four-hour backdoor pilot based on his novel “The Street Lawyer.” It’s about a lawyer who leaves a high-powered law firm after being held hostage by a homeless man. ABC considered the show in 2003, and the movie could eventually turn into a series. In other programming, USA has cast James Roday and Dule Hill (“West Wing”) in the pilot “Psych,” about a guy who tricks the police into thinking he has psychic powers that help him solve crimes. CNBC will launch “High Net Worth” on Sept. 18 at 8 p.m., hosted by Tyler Mathisen, about how to get the most out of your assets. Look out, Current. On Oct. 3, Local Television Network will launch in Southern California with all-original programming focused on lifestyle, sports, shopping, travel and entertainment for viewers 18-34. On Oct. 5 at 10 p.m., Sundance Channel launches “I am NOT an ANIMAL,” a six-episode animated series about lab animals that escape to the wild. And on Oct. 15 at 10 p.m., Discovery Times Channel will premiere “Off to War,” a documentary series that follows a unit of soldiers to Iraq.