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"Apollo 13" with Tom Hanks helped ABC win Saturday with unspectacular ratings a week after the NCAA basketball games on CBS dominated the night. CBS’s lineup was back to "That’s Life" and "Kate Brasher," which came in a distant third in both adults 18-49 and households but managed to beat the XFL (and two episodes of "Deadline" on the West Coast) on NBC. CBS’s 18-49 rating was down 35 percent compared to the week before despite a first place finish in households by "The District" at 10:00 p.m. That show, however, was behind ABC’s movie by more than two rating points among the younger demo. ABC’s ratings improved in every half-hour and nearly tripled by the end of the night. The movie lost to Fox’s "Cops," though, in its first hour. Fox’s ratings were virtually unchanged from last week, as were NBC’s, and ABC’s 18-49 rating was down, which suggests that the NCAA brought in new viewers to Saturday last week. That left the rankings for the night to pretty much return to normal. ABC averaged a 3.9 adult 18-49 rating and had a 6.5 household rating and 12 share, based on preliminary Nielsen data. Fox had a 3.7 and 6.0/11, CBS had a 2.1 and 6.2/12, and NBC had a 0.9 and 1.7/3.
Bush ups two Repubs and a Dem for FCC seats
President Bush has nominated two Republicans and a Democrat for seats on the Federal Communications Commission. Kevin Martin, a White House aide who previously served as deputy general counsel of Bush's election campaign; Kathleen Abernathy, a Republican telecommunications executive and former legal adviser to former FCC Commissioner James Quello; and Michael Copps, a longtime aide to Democratic Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, are up for FCC Commissioner posts. The Senate must confirm all three nominations, but no serious opposition is expected on Capitol Hill. If all nominees are confirmed, the five-member agency, headed by FCC Chairman Michael Powell, a Republican, would be made up of three Republicans and two Democrats. Republican control of the agency will most likely mean telecommunications mergers will have an easier time gaining FCC approval than under Democratic control, and restrictions on media ownership may be relaxed.
Leno on hot seat for calling NYC mayor a 'fascist'
For most late-night comedians, rampant political incorrectness is practically part of the job description. But Jay Leno? The lantern-jawed "Tonight Show" host drew criticism over the weekend for a remark made on his show last Thursday in which he labeled New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani a "fascist." Chatting with Judy Sheindlin (TV’s "Judge Judy"), an uncharacteristically serious Leno compared Giuliani’s proposed "decency commission," which would veto "offensive" art from appearing in public museums, to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s crusade to purge German museums of modern art. William Fugazy, head of the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations, decried Leno’s comparison as "disgraceful." "I’m shocked. I’ve always liked Leno," Fugazy, a longtime supporter of Giuliani, told the New York Post. He said it was particularly insensitive of Leno to bring up Hitler’s name around the time of the Passover holiday, calling it "a wrist slap at the Jewish community." Fugazy and his group have demanded that the comedian apologize for his comment.
PETA pranksters set to ambush Vogue's Anna
Though the folks in People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) may have their hands full policing "Survivor," they’re never too busy to harass their favorite target: Anna Wintour. The Vogue editor in chief, who’s seldom seen in public without a fur around her shoulders, will co-host a party next week to celebrate the premiere of the new Baz Luhrmann film "Moulin Rouge." Crashing the shindig will be mayhem-bent operatives from PETA, according to a report in New York magazine. The guerillas will hand out samples of a perfume they concocted, called Anna Wintour VISCERA. The fragrance, whose name stands for "Vixen, Impaled, Stomach, Carcass, Entrails, Rotting, Aroma," will come with a card bearing a picture of a skinned mink and the slogan "It Brings Out Your Animal In-Stinks." And in case that’s not enough to make partygoers lose their cosmopolitans, each bottle will have a fake maggot inside.
$#!@ hits the fan as soiled teens sue MTV
Two 14-year-old girls are claiming intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and battery in a suit against MTV after the pair were spritzed in the face with fecal matter during the taping of the music channel's show "Dude, This Sucks." The teens were next to a stage on Jan. 21 at a ski resort in the San Bernardino Mountains watching a two-man act called "Shower Rangers." All of a sudden, the men turned their backs to the audience, opened flaps on their shorts, bent over and emptied their bowels into the audience--rather explosively. "All of a sudden I was smelling something disgusting and I started to gag. I looked around at my friends. They were covered in something. As I looked down at myself, I realized I was, too," said plaintiff Monique Garcia during a news conference. The two teens are seeking unspecified general, compensatory and punitive damages. MTV has apologized, promising that the episode will never air.
Court gives Viacom more time to shed stations
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted a request by Viacom to suspend the date by which the company must shed some of its stations to comply with federal TV limits. Currently, the federal appeals court is in the process of reviewing TV ownership limits that prohibit one company from owning stations that reach more than 35 percent of U.S. households. Since Viacom obtained CBS, the company has a national audience reach of 41 percent. The Federal Communications Commission approved the Viacom-CBS union despite the violation but ordered the company to drop enough stations to bring it under the cap by next month.
TiVo axes 25% of staff in bid to save $60M
Digital video recording service TiVo has announced layoffs of approximately 25 percent of its workforce and a 35 percent reduction in expenses. The cutbacks will save $60 million and will allow the company to continue to function without outside financial aid until the end of the year. Though TiVo has seen exceptional sales of its stand-alone product and combination service with DirecTV, it has endured the same assault on its stock price as other, less successful, tech firms. TiVo's stock stood at $78 just a year ago; following the layoffs, it soared 27 percent to $5.13. To further ensure solvency, other moves to reduce costs and increase revenue will be implemented, including a new platform design that is expected to save money, a decrease in funding the information technology division and cooperation with partners like AOL and DirecTV to market the service more efficiently. The cost of a "lifetime" membership will be jacked up to $249, up from $199.
April 9, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
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