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A federal judge ordered a two-week delay in Hearst's planned purchase of the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday. Responding to criticism that the deal will establish a newspaper monopoly, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker blocked the sale of the Chronicle until an April 13th hearing on possible antitrust implications of the sale. The Justice Department recently approved the sale of the paper to Hearst. The delay puts a hold on Hearst’s plans to buy the Chronicle for an estimated $660 million, while subsidizing the sale of its own San Francisco Examiner to the operators of a small local publishing company. Critics say the deal is designed to kill the Examiner, leaving the Chronicle as San Francisco's lone morning paper. The judge seems convinced after the recent hearing that there were enough questions about the future of the Examiner to warrant the delay.
NBC: 'God' is dead and
gone
NBC's controversial animated series "God, the Devil and
Bob" was cancelled late Wednesday. The show, which 22 affiliates
refused to air, had been protested by several religious groups and was
apparently unpopular with advertisers as well. According to Variety, the
last airing of "God," which ran on Tuesday night, featured a
large number of commercials for NBC programs, suggesting the network was
having problems selling advertising for the show.
U.S. baseball a no-hitter
for Japanese
Opening the 2000 Major League Baseball season in Japan was a novelty to be sure,
but it didn't take the Japanese people by storm, according to TV ratings
now available. The game, broadcast in Japanese primetime by Fuji TV, came
in third with a rating of 13.6. The top-rated show for the night was a
detective show on the NTV network, which landed a 15.4 rating, closely
followed by a TBS variety show with a 15.3 rating. American baseball did
much better in the ratings when the teams played Japanese teams in
exhibition games prior to the season opener. Both the Cubs and the Mets
lost games to the Yomiuri Giants; each of those games scored ratings
between 18 and 19. But even so neither was the top-rated show of the
night. The Cubs beat the Mets, by the way, 5-3.
Mary may return to
primetime after all
Mary Tyler Moore may be back on the small screen this fall
with a new series. Moore is set to star in "Good as Gold," a
half-hour sitcom from executive producers Elon Gold, of "You’re the
One" fame, and Ira Ungerleider, producer of "Friends." Gold
will also star in the show, which is based on his own life experiences
growing up in a Jewish family. Moore will play his mother and Elliot Gould
is set to play his father. Jonathan Silverman of "The Single
Guy" has been cast as Gold’s brother. Columbia TriStar is funding the
pilot, which has been in the making since last fall. CBS owns the rights to the show, since Gold originally
developed the script for the network. If CBS passes, TriStar will be
able to shop the pilot around. "Gold" is expected to begin
production within the next two weeks.
HBO wins a fistful of
Peabody Awards
The Peabody Awards, given annually for distinguished
achievement and meritorious service in broadcasting, were handed out
yesterday--36 in all for programs aired in 1999. The awards are a
hodge-podge, given simply for achievement, not for any particular
categories. As such the number varies each year; the three dozen given out
yesterday were the most ever in one year. HBO walked away with the most of
any one organization, grabbing six, including one for everybody's favorite
TV show, "The Sopranos." ABC was next with three, including an
award for a TV adaptation of the musical "Annie." CBS won two,
including a Peabody for "Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters' First
100 Years," and NBC won one for "The West Wing."
Other cable networks that earned Peabodys were ESPN, MTV, Showtime and
VH1. The rest of the awards went to a mélange of PBS documentaries,
international specials, local investigative reports and radio programs.
The Peabodys were first awarded in 1940 and honor the memory of
banker-philanthropist George Foster Peabody.
