Fox stays ahead in May sweeps on a slow weekend
Over a very slow weekend, Fox maintained its big sweeps lead over CBS and ABC, which actually dropped into fourth place through Saturday night among adults 18-49, though it will bounce back after last nights showing. As of Saturday, Fox was in first for May sweeps with a 4.1 average rating and 12 share, 5 percent ahead of where it was last year at this time. CBS was second at 3.7/10, followed by NBC at 3.1/9 and ABC at 3.0/9.

Fox finished first Saturday night with a 3.1 rating and 10 share for NASCARs Darlington 500 race, which ran a bit past 11 p.m. CBS was second at 1.9/7, followed by NBC at 1.9/6, ABC at 1.5/5 and Univision at 1.0/3.

Fox led every hour, starting with a 2.7 at 8 p.m. CBSs CSI: Miami repeat and NBCs Dateline tied for second at 1.7, followed by ABCs San Antonio Spurs-Dallas Mavericks game at 1.1 and Univisions Sabado Gigante at 0.9.

At 9 p.m., Fox bumped up to a 3.0, followed by CBSs 2.0 for a CSI: NY repeat and NBCs 1.6 for a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit repeat. ABCs NBA crept up to a 1.4 and Sabado to a 1.0.

At 10 p.m., Fox maintained the lead with a 3.4, followed by a Law & Order: Criminal Intent repeat on NBC at 2.3, CBSs 48 Hours and ABCs NBA at 2.0, and Sabado at 1.1.

Among households, CBS led the night at 4.9/9, followed by NBC at 4.8/9, Fox at 4.7/9, ABC at 2.8/5 and Univision at 1.3/2.

Friday night, NBC led with a 2.9/9 average in 18-49s, followed by CBS at 2.5/8, ABC at 2.1/7, Fox at 1.6/5, UPN at 1.3/4 and the WB at 0.5/2.

NBCs Deal or No Deal dominated at 8 p.m. with a 3.6, followed by a 1.8 for CBSs Keith Barry: Extraordinary, a 1.6 for ABCs Americas Funniest Home Videos rerun, a 1.3 for Foxs movie Legally Blonde 2, a 1.4 for Univision, a 1.1 for UPNs WWE and a 0.6 for the WBs movie How to Deal.

At 9 p.m., NBC maintained the lead with a 3.1 for the season finale of Las Vegas, followed by a season-low 2.2 for CBSs Close to Home. ABCs 20/20 special averaged a 1.8, followed by UPNs 1.7 for WWE, Univision at 1.6, Foxs Blonde at 1.5 and WBs Deal at 0.5.

At 10 p.m., CBS moved into the lead with a 3.3 for Numb3rs, followed by a 2.9 for 20/20 on ABC and a 1.9 for NBCs Conviction. Univision averaged a 1.5.

Among households, NBC averaged a 6.1/11, followed by CBS at 5.9/11, ABC at 4.6/8, Fox at 2.9/5, UPN at 2.2/4, Univision at 1.8/4 and WB at 1.0/2.

Born again: CW revives 'Heaven after series finale
Good thing 7th Heaven producers didnt do anything too drastic in what was billed as the series finale last week. The WB show will be revived. CW officials came to an agreement over the weekend with "7th Heaven" creator and executive producer Brenda Hampton to come back for another season. The key issue was coming to an agreement with the cast's main actors, including Stephen Collins and Catherine Hicks, after financial woes initially scuttled the show. CW and its studio CBS Paramount Network TV, which produces the show through its Spelling Television unit, are demanding pay cuts for the show's actors. Judging from AOL's "7th Heaven" message board, few of the show's fans are aware yet of its reprieve, with many fans still complaining about the cancellation. Its very unusual that a show airs its series finale only to show up again the next season, but with the CW a new launch from the merger of the WB and UPN, it needs all the help it can get, and Heaven still had a loyal following.

Look out iTunes: MTV launches e-music store Urge
Another player is entering the burgeoning online music world today. MTV Networks is launching a test version of Urge, its new music service aimed at providing music downloads. The service, which will compete with Napster and RealNetworks Rhapsody, was developed in conjunction with Microsofts new version of the Windows Media Player, also set to debut a beta version today. Urge will offer users a now-familiar service. Users can either pay $9.95 a month for unlimited downloads if they want to play the music on their computer, or $14.95 if their intention is to listen on a portable music player. Under this deal, the music will only play as long as the monthly subscription continues. Alternatively, users can choose to buy permanent rights to a track for 99 cents a pop. The service is not compatible with the Apple iPod.

Setting up shop: New Consumers Union magazine
Its set to be the latest in the string of shopping magazines launches that have taken place in recent years. But ShopSmart, as the new publication is to be called, will have a big point of differentiation it will not have any ads. The new magazine is being launched by the Consumers Union, and will be a sister publication for the consumer advocacy groups other publication, Consumer Reports, a longtime bible for product reliability and quality testing. The idea behind the new publication is to target younger women than Consumer Reports does. As such the new magazine will dispense with the lengthy, in-depth articles and tables found in Consumer Reports. Instead it will provide short reviews and will be largely focused on household items. Like Consumer Reports, it aims to remain impartial by refusing advertising, instead relying on subscriptions for its revenues.

Tonights Bush speech spoils lots of sweeps plans
It seems as though it happens every year: The White House schedules a presidential address during a crucial May sweeps night, forcing the networks to choose whether to cover the politics or chase ratings. Immigration is apparently a hot enough issue for at least three of the four major networks to interrupt their primetime programming tonight. NBC, Fox and ABC have said they will show the president's speech from 8 p.m.-8:20 p.m., and a CBS official told Media Life the network will decide shortly whether to do so as well. The networks weren't pleased with the timing of the speech, one year after the first Thursday of sweeps got preempted by the president and two years after a similar May sweeps Monday address. Fox had scheduled "Prison Breaks" season-ending episode at 8 tonight. Fox re-scheduled the show to 8:20 p.m., after Bush's speech ends. The show's broadcast time won't be affected in Rocky Mountain and Pacific time zones. NBC will shorten what was to be a special two-hour edition of "Deal or No Deal" and show it from 8:25-10 p.m. eastern time, after Bush's speech. ABC will likely push everything back 20 minutes as well.