Cowabungle: HBO axes noir surfer drama ‘John’
HBO’s first post-“Sopranos” drama has been whacked. The network yesterday canceled “John From Cincinnati” after just one season, following mixed critical reception and unimpressive viewership. “John” launched after the series finale of “Sopranos” in June amid high expectations. The show had a noteworthy cast, including Rebecca DeMornay, Luke Perry and Ed O’Neill, and a smart creator, “Deadwood’s” David Milch. But the far-out concept, a noirish take on a family of surfers, left viewers cold from the start. The show lost 71 percent of “Sopranos’” lead-in for its premiere, averaging 3.4 million viewers, and the numbers slipped from there. The cancellation, though expected, represents a major blow to the network’s continued search for a new buzz-generating show. With “Sex and the City” and “Sopranos” gone, and the fate of the new “Flight of the Conchords” undecided, HBO’s only consistent original performer is now “Entourage,” whose audience is nowhere near those of its network forbearers.
Woods' PGA win swings fifth-best ratings since '86
Even an off year for Tiger Woods ranks among the best for the PGA Championship. CBS’s coverage of the final round of the PGA Sunday drew the fifth-best metered market rating since 1986 for the year’s final major, which Woods won for the second straight year. The tournament’s last day averaged a 6.8 rating and 15 household share, including a 9.4/19 from 6:30 to 7 p.m. Still, CBS’s rating was down 6 percent from a 7.2 rating for last year’s Woods win, ranking behind Tiger’s three previous PGA victories and the 2002 PGA, when he finished second. The lower ratings could be because Woods held a fairly commanding lead at the start of the round, or because last year he was playing for his second straight major title, which usually juices up viewership. For the weekend, including Saturday’s third-round coverage, CBS averaged a 5.7/14.
Major turn-off: Time-shifted ads show poorly on TiVo
The season finale of “House” was the June favorite among TiVo viewers, and 10 advertisements that aired during the episode were the top-viewed commercials of the month, according to figures released yesterday. But the data also confirms once again that viewership is falling sharply during commercials among both the total audience and the timeshifted audience. TiVo Stop//Watch ratings rank the “House” season ender No. 1 with a 17.1 rating among total viewers, 68 percent of whom stuck around to watch the month’s No. 1 ad spot, for hamburger chain Wendy’s. At the bottom of the top-10 list was a commercial for “Mr. Brooks,” the Kevin Costner movie, which retained only 53 percent of total viewers. The same commercials in a different order, all airing during the “House” finale, made the top-10 list for timeshifted viewing, but commercial viewership was off even more there, from a high of 58 percent retention for AT&T Wireless to a low of 34 percent for “Mr. Brooks.” And the month’s least fast-forwarded brand campaigns? Leading the list in the one, two and three spots were CORT Furniture Rentals, Dominican Republic Tourism and Hooters.
OutFoxed: Goldmans find a publisher for 'If I Did It'
Nine months after public outrage derailed O.J. Simpson’s HarperCollins book project and the accompanying Fox television interview, in the process embarrassing corporate paterfamilias Rupert Murdoch, a new publisher has bought the ghostwritten tome, now repackaged by the family of the man who was murdered with Simpson’s ex-wife. “If I Did It,” Simpson’s speculative telling of how he might have murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, will emerge intact but with added commentary added by Goldman’s family. Simpson, acquitted of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife and Goldman, later lost a wrongful-death suit brought by the Goldmans, who won $33.5 million in damages that Simpson has yet to pay. Last month in federal bankruptcy court, they were awarded the rights to the book. Sold by California literary agent Sharlene Martin, the book will be published by a New York company whose identity will be announced today. The publisher, Martin and the Goldmans reportedly will donate a portion of proceeds to the Ron Goldman Foundation for Justice.
With 900 layoffs since April, paper cuts continue
Since April, more than 900 newsroom jobs have been cut in these days of declining circulation and shrinking ad revenues. Now the paper cuts are extending even to those who’ve made an effort to avoid them in the past. For the first time in the history of Illinois’ third-largest newspaper, the suburban Daily Herald is laying off staff, although it’s unclear how many. That’s despite the fact the 150,000-circulation paper actually saw slight increases in its Sunday and daily paid circulations compared with the same six months in 2006, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations’ March figures. The family-owned-and-operated Paddock Publications, which is based in Arlington Heights, cited a significant drop in ad revenue as the reason for the layoffs, which reportedly affect clerical and other lower-level employees. There will also be an across-the-board 5 percent salary reduction. Other cost-cutting measures include freezing raises and cutting each department’s non-payroll expenses by 10 percent. Other recent paper cuts have come at the San Jose Mercury News, Chicago Tribune and Denver Post, among many others.
