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ABC won both households and adults 18-49 last night, thanks to its “NFL Preseason Game” between the Oakland Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys. Without adjusting for time zone differences, the game averaged a 7.2/12 household rating and share and a 3.8 adult 18-49 rating. CBS placed second for the night in both households and adults 18-49, with “The King of Queens” at 8 p.m. and “Everybody Loves Raymond” at 9 p.m. winning their half-hours in both audience groups. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Monday night were: ABC 7.2/12 and 3.8, CBS 6.6/11 and 3.3, NBC 6.1/10 and 3.2, and Fox 3.3/5 and 2.4. On Tuesday, ABC edged CBS in households, due to a strong performance by the “Little League World Series” and wins by “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and “The Practice.” Without adjusting for time zone differences, the “Little League World Series” game averaged a preliminary 6.2/11 household rating and share and a 2.8, adult 18-49, rating from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., good enough for second place in its time period in both households and adults 18-49. ABC lost the night in adults 18-49 to Fox by one-tenth of a rating point. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Sunday were: ABC 6.8/12 and 3.0, CBS 6.6/12 and 2.3, NBC 3.9/7 and 2.3, and Fox 3.7/7 and 3.1.
'Moneyline' revamp foiled by blackout
The stock market isn't the only thing that's unpredictable, as Lou Dobbs saw for himself yesterday. Dobbs was preparing to anchor the first broadcast of the revamped "Moneyline" when a manhole exploded on the street below, cutting off power to most of the CNN building near Penn Station in Manhattan. The result was a decidedly low-tech broadcast, with Dobbs substituting hand-drawn visual aids for the slick new graphics he had been planning to unveil. Worse yet, with lights functioning but no air conditioning, the studio became unbearably hot, as the evening’s guest, Xerox president and CEO Anne Mulcahy, was no doubt disappointed to learn after scaling 22 flights of stairs just to get there.
Industry Standard declares bankruptcy
Signaling an end to an era, Standard Media Inc., publisher of The Industry Standard, filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 yesterday. The move came a week after the company suspended publication of the internet-business newsweekly, putting most of its staff out of work. Chapter 11 protection allows Standard Media to sell off its assets, including the magazine's name and subscriber list, and the company says it is in talks with at least one interested party. While the company was crippled by the dramatic falloff in ad spending this year, it was Standard Media’s ponderous infrastructure, especially the many leases signed during its rapid expansion from 1999 into 2000, that doomed it. Laid off employees reportedly received no severance pay, although freelancers have been told they will receive any outstanding payments.
Tiger burns bright for CBS on Sunday night
Providing the kind of gripping, edge-of-your-seat action that golf isn't exactly known for, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk battled it out for seven sudden-death holes before Woods came away with the victory at the NEC Invitational on Sunday. The showdown was especially thrilling for CBS, which saw ratings for the final round of the tournament grow 34 percent over last year. The five-hour broadcast scored a 7.1/16 rating and share, making it the most-watched NEC telecast since 1986. The climactic two-hour finale averaged a 10.1/21, hitting an 11.3/22 in the final half-hour of play.
Reality show sends husband-hunters to Alaska
After the debacle of "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?" you'd think the Fox network had learned its lesson about pairing reality TV and matrimony, but it's not looking that way. Fox has ordered seven one-hour episodes of the tentatively titled "I Want a Wife: Alaska" from LMNO Productions. Though it's still in the early stages of development, the show's premise has four urban women traveling to the male-dominated tundra of Alaska to pick a prospective mate from a pool of 40 men. Each woman will date one fella and then decide whether he should be "saved" or eliminated, though the man can stave off his fate with a marriage proposal. The men will have a chance to prove their worth as they compete in various contests and challenges. Last year's "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?" hoped to capitalize on the popularity of the original "Millionaire" but managed only to sink into scandal and embarrassment when it was revealed that the multimillionaire didn't live up to his name, on top of having some run-ins with the law. Pretty good ratings, though.
Canada's Black eyes NY Post, Wash. Times
With the sale of the remaining half of Canada's National Post to CanWest Global Communications behind him, Hollinger International chairman and chief executive Conrad Black is now ready for just about anything, including snapping up a few U.S. papers. Standing in his way, however, is a dearth of available titles. Black has admitted he is interested in some acquisitions, after selling Canadian titles to pay down his company's debt, and says he has had discussions with the Moonies, the religious group that owns the Washington Times, as well as several meetings with Rupert Murdoch, the owner of the New York Post. At the moment, though, it doesn't look like either party is ready to sell. Black's Hollinger still owns England's The Daily Telegraph, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post. The first half of the National Post was sold last summer along with internet and publishing assets and several Southam papers for $3.2 billion. A number of Ontario papers were sold last month for $220 million in cash.
August 28, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
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