18M watch Friday's Katrina telethon on broadcast
   Eighteen million total viewers tuned in to Friday night’s “Shelter from the Storm” telethon, which raised millions of dollars for Hurricane Katrina and aired at 8 p.m. on the broadcast networks and a variety of cable networks. NBC led with 4.3 million total viewers, followed by ABC at 4.1 million, CBS at 3.8 million, UPN at 2.8 million, Fox at 2.3 million and the WB at 1.3 million.
   NBC took first for the night among viewers 18-49 with a 2.1 average rating. CBS was second at 1.4, ABC third at 1.3, UPN fourth at 1.2, Fox fifth at 1.0, and the WB sixth at 0.6.
   NBC finished first for the night among households with a 4.8/9 average rating. ABC was second at 3.2/6, CBS third at 2.8/5, UPN fourth at 2.4/4, Fox fifth at 1.6/3 and the WB sixth at 1.0/2.
   NBC led the 9 p.m. hour among households with a 4.9 average rating for “Dateline.” CBS was second with a 3.0 for a special called “Fashion Rocks” and UPN third with a 2.9 for “Smackdown.”
   At 10 p.m. NBC led with a 6.3 average for another hour of “Dateline,” followed by a 4.4 for ABC’s “20/20” and a 2.6 for the last hour of CBS’s “Fashion Rocks.”
    On Saturday night, ABC aired an exciting college football game between Texas and Ohio State, and led the night among 18-49s with a 3.1 average rating. Fox was second for the night at 2.0, NBC third at 1.9 and CBS fourth at 1.6.
   ABC finished first for the night among households with a 5.9 average rating and an 11 share. NBC was second at 3.8/7, Fox third at 3.6/7 and CBS fourth at 3.1/6.
   Among households, ABC led at 8 p.m. with a 5.5 average for the first hour of the football game. NBC’s “The Most Outrageous Moments on Live TV” finished second, with an hour of Fox’s “Cops” third with a 3.3 average rating.
   ABC led again at 9 p.m. with the game improving to a 5.8 rating. Fox was second that hour with a 3.7 for “America’s Most Wanted” and NBC third with a 3.5 for “Live From New York: The First 5 Years of Saturday Night Live.”
   ABC finished the night in the lead with a 6.4 average rating at 10 p.m. for football. NBC was second with another hour of “Live From New York” and CBS third with a 3.7 for “Big Brother.”

She's back: Syndie 'Martha' show debuts today
Pull out your poncho and turn on the TV: Today marks the debut of Stewart’s new syndicated talk show “Martha,” kicking off with a guest appearance by “Desperate Housewives’” Marcia Cross, whose character is said to be based on Stewart. Distributed by NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution, “Martha” will air in 98 percent of the country. It marks the beginning of a relationship between Stewart and Mark Burnett, who produces "Martha" and "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart,” which premieres on NBC next Wednesday at 8 p.m. Also on today’s episode: recipes for scrambled eggs with crème fraîche, caviar in eggshell cups and spaghetti and meatballs from the DiSanto sisters, two of Stewart’s biggest fans. Stewart had a syndicated show before she was convicted of lying to investigators about a stock sale in 2004. 

Gov't won't block media from showing NOLA dead
The media will be allowed to report on the retrieval of dead bodies in New Orleans. The federal government abandoned its effort to prohibit such reporting Saturday in the face of a lawsuit by CNN. U.S. District Court Judge Keith Ellison issued a temporary restraining order Friday against a "zero access" policy announced earlier in the day by Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who is overseeing the federal relief effort in New Orleans, and Terry Ebbert, the city's homeland security director. Army Lt. Col. Richard Steele, a member of Honore's staff, told CNN Saturday night that Honore was partially misunderstood: the policy was that no reporters could be part of teams recovering bodies, but recovery groups would not keep reporters from doing their jobs. Judge Ellison was considering a permanent injunction Saturday when the government decided to drop its "zero access" policy. 

'Nightline' jumps to No. 1 with hurricane coverage
It took one of the biggest news stories of the decade to pull viewers away from “Tonight Show” reruns and over to “Nightline.” For the first time since the March 2003 onset of the war in Iraq, ABC’s “Nightline” finished first among total viewers in late night with its coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Ted Koppel, reporting from down South, welcomed guests such as Federal Emergency Management Agency boss Michael Brown en route to averaging 5 million viewers nightly. NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” averaged 4.5 million per night, while an average 3.59 million watched CBS’s “Late Show.” In the adults 25-54 demo, a biggie for news, “Nightline” scored a 2.1 rating, or 2.53 million 25-54 viewers, with Leno coming in at 2.12 million and Letterman averaging 1.86 million. 

'Housewives' starts haul at Creative Emmys
What’s expected to be a very big Emmy haul for ABC hit “Desperate Housewives” began yesterday at the Creative Arts awards show, when "Housewives" netted four awards, including a guest actress in a comedy nod for “Kathryn Joosten,” aka Lynette’s cranky neighbor Mrs. McCluskey. ABC’s “Lost” also won four. Other guest actor winners were Ray Liotta for NBC's "ER," Amanda Plummer for NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," and Bobby Cannavale for NBC's "Will & Grace." Angela Lansbury lost yet again, this time for her “SVU” work. Overall HBO dominated the Creative Arts, taking 20 awards at the ceremony, which will be broadcast Saturday at 7 p.m. on E! ABC took second with 10 awards, PBS was third with nine, NBC was fourth with eight and the Cartoon Network was fifth with seven. Among individual programs, "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers," which appeared on HBO, garnered six awards; HBO's "Deadwood" won five. Comedy Central's "South Park" earned its first award as Outstanding Animated Program (less than an hour). The Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBS.

Stern to dirty DJs: Join me in the promised land
Looks like Howard Stern could be the glue that holds controversial radio hosts together. On Friday, Stern invited Bubba the Love Sponge to join him on Sirius Satellite Radio when he makes the move in January. He also extended a hand to other former Federal Communications Commission investigees including Philadelphia’s Chris Kidd and the infamous Mancow Muller. According to his web site, Stern has three months and 18 days remaining in his contract with Infinity before going to Sirius in January in a deal that will pay him some $500 million. Prior speculation was that Mancow would take over for Stern at Infinity, but Mancow squashed these rumors himself at the end of August. The New York Daily News has reported that the Stern slot will likely be occupied by different personalities in different markets, with Comedy Central’s Adam Carolla likely to take over out West.