|
|
With most of NBC’s Thursday night lineup in repeat, CBS won the night in both households and adults 18-49. Telling of how much reruns hurt NBC’s audience is the much hyped “Friends”-“Survivor 2” match-up. Last night, “Survivor 2” more than doubled the household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating of NBC’s 8 p.m. hour. And specifically against the “Friends” rerun, “Survivor 2” earned ratings 65 percent higher than the sitcom during the 8 p.m. half-hour. At 9 p.m., CBS’s “C.S.I” won in households and adults 18-49 against repeats of “Will and Grace.” At 10 p.m., a repeat episode of “ER” trailed both ABC’s “Primetime Thursday” and CBS’s “48 Hours” in households, but won among adults 18-49. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Thursday night were: CBS 12.5/20 and 7.9, NBC 8.1/13 and 6.1, ABC 8.0/13 and 3.4, NBC 8.1/13 and 6.1, and Fox 3.6/6 and 1.5. On Wednesday, ABC’s “My Wife and Kids” emerged as the strongest Wednesday night midseason replacement so for. “My Wife and Kids” won its hour in both households and adults 18-49 and slipped only about six percent in household rating from its debut the previous week. Fox’s “Boot Camp” didn’t fare as well in its second episode, dropping 21 percent in household rating and 27 percent in adults 18-49 against a first-run “West Wing” on NBC. ABC’s “The Job,” now in its fourth episode, continues to slide a little in ratings each week. Last night’s episode was down only five percent in household rating and 10 percent in adult 18-49 rating from the week before, but that represents a total decline of nine percent and 14 percent, respectively, from its debut episode. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Wednesday night were: NBC 10.7/17 and 5.5, CBS 7.5/12 and 2.8, ABC 6.9/11 and 4.5, and Fox 6.2/10 and 5.1.
Suit: 'Sopranos' maligns Italian-Americans
A group that represents the interests of Italian-Americans has filed suit against the creators of HBO’s mob drama "The Sopranos," alleging that the show suggests that most Italians are in the Mafia. The suit, filed yesterday in Chicago against Time Warner Entertainment Co., is based on a clause of the Illinois Constitution that guarantees protection of "individual dignity." The plaintiff, the American Italian Defense Association, isn’t seeking damages or asking HBO to pull the show, but merely wants a jury to declare the series an affront to Italian-Americans. HBO, meanwhile, has yet to apologize for the show’s groundbreaking suggestion that some Italian-Americans may be involved in organized crime. "We’re hardly alone in our assessment that the show is an extraordinary artistic achievement," a representative for the network told the Associated Press. In December, officials in Essex County, New Jersey, barred the show from shooting in a public park there owing to what one official called the show's unflattering depiction of Italian-Americans.
'Millionaire' to hand out $2 million jackpot
ABC is heavily hyping next week's episodes of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” promising that two contestants will win the grand prize, with one pocketing more than double the usual amount. Since no one’s won the $1 million prize since January 4, “Millionaire’s” bonus pool has grown to over $2 million, meaning next week's episode will feature the show's largest individual payoff ever. The double jackpot should give some boost to the show's ratings, which have sagged somewhat from their sky-high levels of yesteryear.
Wife fatally shoots hubby over remote control
A lot of married couples bicker over who gets to wield the remote control, but Florida wife Caron Simmons took the argument too far. Simmons, 46, shot and killed her husband after he hid the remote to their satellite television, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The 48-year-old man was rushed to Orlando Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. The two had been battling for channel-changing supremacy until the husband buried the TV remote, reportedly to annoy his wife. While searching for it, the woman uncovered a gun in a dresser. She aimed the gun at her husband and it went off, firing a bullet into his chest. Simmons, who told investigators she did not mean to kill her husband of four years, has been charged with second-degree murder.
Nat'l Geo channel picks up 4M new homes
Buoyed by this week’s agreement with Charter Communications, the National Geographic Channel is predicting that its fledgling cable network will be in 50 million homes within four years. The deal with Charter will add about four million subscribers over four years. Add to that deals with Ameritech, Millennium, James Cable and Qwest, totaling 393,000 households, and National Geographic now has commitments in place for 32 million subscribers. The network currently reaches 10 million subs through agreements with DirecTV, AT&T and Adelphia. Executives at Fox, partial owner of the network along with the National Geographic Society, point out that the gains are significant because most MSOs have little analog bandwidth left to offer.
April 6, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
Printer-Friendly
Version | Send
to a Friend
Cover Page | Contact
Us
