Fantasy has been all the range at the movies the last seven years, with the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Spider-Man” and “Harry Potter” films breaking box office records.
Now fantasy is making a comeback in syndication.
Seven years after “Xena: Warrior Princess” was canceled, Disney-ABC Domestic Television is readying a new series based on the “Sword of Truth” books, about a woodsman named Richard who becomes a magical leader to fight a terrible tyrant. It's one of the most-talked-about new series to come out of this year's National Association of Television Program Executives convention in Las Vegas.
“Wizard’s First Rule” will debut on Tribune Broadcasting stations this fall, covering 35 percent of the country, including the top three Nielsen markets, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Twenty-two one-hour episodes will be produced for the first season, which will run on weekends.
It’s been more than a decade since the fantasy craze began in syndication, and it quickly burned out in the late ‘90s when a glut of off-network series were slotted into their weekend timeslots.
That killed off “Hercules,” “Xena,” “Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Lost World,’” “Relic Hunter” and other first-run syndicated adventure series, which all included other-worldly elements.
But the impressive pedigree of “Wizard,” along with the current absence of any such original syndicated series, could help revive the craze once more.
The show is being produced by Sam Raimi, director of the “Spider-Man” films, and Robert Tapert, a producer on “Xena” and “Hercules,” the show “Xena” was spun off from.
And it’s based on a series of bestselling books by Terry Goodkind that began in 1994 with “Wizard’s.” The 11-book series has sold more than 10 million copies and been translated into 20 languages.
The show has a good shot to build on the big-screen popularity of fantasy as well as draw in former “Xena” and other fantasy fans. Already yesterday bloggers were buzzing about the new show, including lesbian site AfterEllen.com.
“Since my favorite warrior took her leave, I've been not-so-patiently waiting for my next chance to see such exploits each and every week,” writes blogger nogoal4u. “Naturally, upon hearing of this series and the two men who will produce it, I began having flashbacks to happier TV times.”
Meanwhile, in other dayparts for the week ended Jan. 20, NBC’s “Meet the Press” was first among the Sunday morning shows in total viewers with 4.61 million tuning in and among viewers 25-54 with a 1.4 rating. CBS’s “Face the Nation” was second in viewers with 3.01 million and third among 25-54s with a 0.8, with ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” pulling 2.98 million viewers and a 1.0 among 25-54s. “Fox News Sunday” was fourth in viewers with 1.50 million and among 25-54s with a 0.6.
In late night, NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” finished first for the week, averaging 5.0 million total viewers and a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman” had 4.1 million viewers and a 1.2 rating in the demo, with ABC’s “Nightline” bringing in 3.1 million viewers and a 0.9 18-49 rating. In late-late night, NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” had 2.0 million total viewers and a 0.8 in 18-49s, with CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” at 1.9 million viewers and a 0.6, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 1.6 million viewers and a 0.6, and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” bringing in 1.2 million viewers and a 0.5 among 18-49s.
In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first with 5.9 million total viewers and a 4.5 household rating and 15 share, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 4.7 million viewers and a 3.6/12. CBS’s “Early Show” was third with 3.3 million total viewers and a 2.6/9.
CBS once again had the largest full daytime audience during the week, averaging 4.11 million viewers, but was third among women 18-49 with a 1.4 rating. ABC had the second-largest audience, averaging 3.08 million viewers, and was tied for first among women 18-49 with a 1.5 rating. NBC had a full daytime audience of 2.96 million and also tied for first among women 18-49 with a 1.5 rating.
In evening network news for the week ended Jan. 27, ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” was first among total viewers, averaging 9.81 million, and among 25-54s with a 2.5 average rating. NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” was second in viewers, averaging 9.264 million, and tied for first among 25-54s with a 2.4, while CBS’s “Evening News with Katie Couric” was third for the week with 7.13 million total viewers and a 1.9 25-54 rating.
|
SUNDAY MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week ending January 20, 2008
Sunday averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
|
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Adults 25-54 |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Meet the Press |
NBC |
3.4 |
9 |
1.4 |
4.606 |
|
Face the Nation |
CBS |
2.2 |
6 |
0.8 |
3.012 |
|
This Week With George Stephanopoulos |
ABC |
2.1 |
5 |
1.0 |
2.976 |
|
News Sunday |
Fox |
1.1 |
3 |
0.6 |
1.503 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
LATE-NIGHT RATINGS
Week Ending January 20, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Rtg% |
|
Tonight Show with Jay Leno |
NBC |
5.0 |
1.4 |
|
Late Show with David Letterman |
CBS |
4.1 |
1.2 |
|
Nightline |
ABC |
3.1 |
0.9 |
|
Late Night with Conan O’Brien |
NBC |
2.0 |
0.8 |
|
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson |
CBS |
1.9 |
0.6 |
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live |
ABC |
1.6 |
0.6 |
|
Last Call with
Carson Daly |
NBC |
1.2 |
0.5 |
|
Source: NTI
|
|
MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week Ending January 20, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Today |
NBC |
4.5 |
15 |
5.9 |
|
Good Morning
America |
ABC |
3.6 |
12 |
4.7 |
|
Early Show |
CBS |
2.6 |
9 |
3.3 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
DAYTIME RATINGS
Week Ending January 20, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
CBS |
4.11 |
1.4 |
|
ABC |
3.08 |
1.5 |
|
NBC |
2.96 |
1.5 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
EVENING NETWORK NEWS RATINGS
Week Ending January 27, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
25-54s |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
ABC World News with Charles Gibson |
ABC |
2.5 |
9.810 |
|
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams |
NBC |
2.4 |
9.640 |
|
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric |
CBS |
1.9 |
7.130 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
|
SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending January 6, 2008
|
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Syndicator |
Households |
|
US
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
|
CTD
|
7.5
|
8495
|
|
2
|
JEOPARDY
|
CTD
|
6.4
|
7225
|
|
3
|
JUDGE JUDY (AT)
|
CTD
|
5
|
5649
|
|
4
|
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW
|
CTD
|
4.7
|
5332
|
|
5
|
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)
|
CTD
|
4.4
|
4947
|
|
6
|
TWO-HALF MEN-SYN (AT)
|
WB
|
4.3
|
4873
|
|
7
|
CSI MIAMI-SYN (AT)
|
CTD
|
4
|
4558
|
|
7
|
DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)
|
CTD
|
4
|
4456
|
|
9
|
FAMILY GUY-MF-SYN (AT)
|
2/T
|
3.9
|
4380
|
|
10
|
EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN(AT)
|
CTD
|
3.7
|
4176
|
|
11
|
SEINFELD-WKND (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.5
|
3993
|
|
11
|
CENTURY 19
|
2/T
|
3.5
|
3945
|
|
13
|
CENTURY PREMIERE
|
2/T
|
3.4
|
3841
|
|
14
|
SEINFELD (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.3
|
3687
|
|
15
|
MILLIONAIRE (AT)
|
DAD
|
3.2
|
3617
|
|
16
|
INSIDE EDITION
|
CTD
|
3.1
|
3522
|
|
16
|
LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY
|
DAD
|
3.1
|
3497
|
|
16
|
KING OF QUEENS-SYN (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.1
|
3489
|
|
19
|
JUDGE JOE BROWN (AT)
|
CTD
|
3
|
3357
|
|
20
|
WITHOUT A TRACE (AT)
|
WB
|
2.7
|
3035
|
|
20
|
GEORGE LOPEZ (AT)
|
WB
|
2.7
|
3031
|
|
20
|
FRIENDS (AT)
|
WB
|
2.7
|
3014
|
|
23
|
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT WKD
|
CTD
|
2.6
|
2980
|
|
23
|
PEOPLE'S COURT (AT)
|
WB
|
2.6
|
2934
|
|
23
|
GEORGE LOPEZ WKND A (AT)
|
WB
|
2.6
|
2903
|
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
