CBS leads
biz and financial Emmy nods
Other shorts: Mental health groups boo 'Office' suicide joke
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Nov 6, 2009
CBS leads business and financial Emmy nods
CBS dominated the nominations for the seventh annual Business & Financial Reporting Emmy Awards, announced yesterday. The network garnered 15 nods, triple the number of No. 2 PBS, which received five nominations. BBC America and CNBC got three apiece. "60 Minutes" led all shows with eight nominations, followed by the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" and "BBC World News America" with three apiece. PBS's "Frontline" grabbed two nods. Outgoing PBS "Nightly Business Report" anchor Paul Kangas will receive a lifetime achievement award, as will Linda O'Bryon, the founder of the "NBR" 30 years ago. The awards will be handed out Dec. 7 at Fordham University's Lincoln Center campus in New York.
Mental health groups boo 'Office' suicide joke
"The Office's" Halloween haunted house has spooked several suicide prevention groups. They have complained about a scene in which clueless boss Michael (Steve Carell) appears with a noose around his neck, trying to scare the young children at the haunted house. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Mental Health America, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Suicide Awareness say the NBC show should not have used suicide as a punchline. In last week's episode, Michael wears the noose while scaring the kids, then tells them, "Kids, just remember, suicide is not the answer. It is the easy way out." Not funny, say the groups. They claim that seeing media depictions of suicide makes suicidal people more likely to take their lives. NBC has not responded to the protests.
Programming notes: CBS re-ups 'Dr. Phil'
The doctor will be in at least through 2014. CBS Television Distribution has renewed “Dr. Phil” through the 2013-‘14 season in 70 percent of the country, extending the current contract that expires in 2011. “Dr. Phil” averaged a 2.8 household rating during the week ended Oct. 25, the latest week available, according to Nielsen, tying for No. 10 for the week among syndicated programs. Meanwhile, in other programming, Cartoon Network has ordered its first two original live-action scripted series: “Tower Prep,” an action show about a teen at a mysterious prep school, and “Unnatural History,” about a pair of high-schoolers who solve mysteries related to a national museum. The cable network has picked up 13 episodes of each. USA has grabbed the syndication rights to “NCIS: Los Angeles,” after just seven episodes have aired on CBS. The show will start airing weekly on USA in fall 2011. TNT has scored syndicated rights to CBS's "The Mentalist." And Comedy Central has ordered a pilot from The Onion that will spoof sports news shows such as ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”
Air heir's snafu: adidas drops UCF sponsorship
Michael Jordan had better be engineering a deal between Nike and the University of Central Florida men’s basketball team now that adidas has ended its five-year sponsorship contract with the school. The move came after UFC freshman guard Marcus Jordan, the son of Nike man Michael, wore a pair of Nike shoes during an exhibition game. In a statement, adidas spokesperson Andrea Corso said the school “has chosen not to deliver on their contractual commitment to adidas. As a result, we have chosen not to continue our relationship with them moving forward.” The original six-year, $3 million deal between adidas and UCF was set to end in June, and now the speculation is the school will have a new deal with Nike or its Jordan brand. The younger Jordan wore white Air Jordan shoes during the game with no visible Nike or Jordan logo, as well as ankle braces that clearly showed the adidas logo. UCF had promised Jordan he could wear his father’s shoes and reportedly had a deal in place with regional adidas reps to let the player do so despite the contract. But executives at adidas disagreed, apparently leading to the company’s termination of the contract.
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