May sweeps: Victory for Fox and solid gains for ABC
Fox will win the May sweeps, but ABC will be the only network to show gains over last year. In fact, the network is poised for its best May sweeps since 2001 in total viewers and its best adults 18-49 finish since 2000. Sweeps ends tonight. Through Monday night, the most recent available, Fox leads with an average 3.7 rating and 11 share, down 14 percent from last year’s 4.3/12. ABC is second at 3.6/11, up 3 percent from last year’s 3.5/10. CBS is third at 3.1/9, down 18 percent from last year’s 3.8/10, while NBC is fourth at 2.5/7, down 24 percent from last year’s 3.3/9. ABC is also the only network to grow among total viewers, up 13 percent to 10.49 million. It trails CBS, at 11.14 million, for second. Fox is third at 9.61 million, and NBC is fourth at 7.26 million. Fox gets a big boost last night and tonight as “American Idol” finishes up, but ABC is also expected to post strong numbers, with last night’s “Dancing with the Stars” finale and tonight’s “Lost” season ender. Meanwhile, the CW is averaging a 1.3 rating and 4 share in 18-49s for sweeps, and 3.11 million total viewers.

Study: Young people really aren't abandoning print
If you think young people only read things on the internet, think again. A new study by McPheters & Company, a New York-based consulting and research firm, finds that not only are younger generations reading digital print, they also read traditional print products. In fact, the report shows young people, ages 19-34, read more than those who are 35 and older. Younger readers are not only picking up Teen Vogue and CosmoGirl, they are more likely to read bridal magazines, tech titles, sports and news magazines, says Rebecca McPheters, president of the research firm. The younger age group is also as likely to pick up a newspaper as the older generation. This goes against current thinking that print publications are being phased out. “Because many established titles have seen the median age of their readers increase, there has been a misperception that magazine readers are getting older,” she says on the company web site. “While younger adults tend to read different titles than those in older age groups, the fact that they read more magazines overall is very exciting.”

Angry 'Jericho' fans not calmed by Tassler message
With a season average of 9.49 million total viewers, but just a 2.8 rating in adults 18-49, CBS’s “Jericho” didn’t have a big enough fan base to receive a second-season renewal. But apparently the people who do watch the show are a passionate bunch, creating such a ruckus that CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler posted a note to them on the network’s message boards yesterday promising them some sort of resolution to the first season’s many unanswered questions. “We truly appreciate the commitment you made to the series and we are humbled by your disappointment. In the coming weeks, we hope to develop a way to provide closure to the compelling drama that was the Jericho story,” she writes. That follows a passionate campaign by a group at JerichoLives.com, which posted daily marching orders such as “call your local CBS affiliate,” “send a letter or postcard” and “spend as much time on the CBS board as possible.” Just what CBS plans to do to is now the subject of much speculation. Posters think it could be a movie or some sort of online extension. But even Tassler’s response was not enough to cool fans’ tempers. “I don't want a 2-hour movie ‘special.’ I want my Wednesday night show back. This household is continuing to ban CBS and ALL its programming,” writes one respondent. Writes another, “No offense Nina, but a special closure is NOT enough for this fan. I'm not stopping until we get a FULL season of the show. If you don't want to air it, then sell the rights to another network, like TNT or USA.”

Family ties: Bancrofts meet to discuss Murdoch bid
Will they or won’t they? The Bancroft family is due to meet today to discuss Rupert Murdoch’s $5 billion takeover bid for Dow Jones, according to the Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Dow Jones. The family, which owns 64 percent of the voting shares of Dow Jones, has so far taken no action on the bid and is reportedly divided on the offer – the owners of 52 percent of the family’s voting shares apparently oppose the deal. However, the family does not have to vote as a block, opening the way for Murdoch to prevail without convincing the entire family to accept the deal. The Journal reports that some family members want to meet to discuss the deal and other options. On May 11, Murdoch sent the Bancroft family a letter asking them to meet with him to discuss the deal. In the letter, Murdoch also promised to protect the independence of the Journal and offered the family a seat on the News Corp. board. Murdoch made the bid more than a month ago, but it was not made public until the beginning of May.

Ethiopia releases three New York Times journalists
Three New York Times journalists are home safe after being held for five days and interrogated at gunpoint by the Ethiopian military. Jeffrey Gettleman, the Nairobi bureau chief, photographer Vanessa Vick and videographer Courtenay Morris were released Monday but not charged, the Times reports. Just why they were taken still remains unclear. The trio was covering a rebel conflict in the Ogaden region near Somalia when they were arrested. They were in the country on media visas and not in a restricted area. The journalists, who were moved to three different jails before being released, say they were never told why they were detained and that the Ethiopian military refused to notify the American embassy of their arrest. Soldiers took all of the journalists' equipment, including computers, cameras and mobile phones, and have not returned them, saying the equipment is being held for security reasons.