News Shorts

CBS and Fox split Tuesday
With nearly all sitcoms on rerun Tuesday, CBS’s dramas ruled the night in households, while Fox won among adults 18-49. At 8 p.m., a repeat of CBS’s “JAG” doubled the household rating and share of most of its competition, except for a new episode of Fox’s “That '70s Show,” which won its half-hour among adults 18-49. A new episode of “That '70s Show’s” lead-out, “Undeclared,” also won its half-hour in the demographic. At 9 p.m., all the dramas were new, and ABC’s “NYPD Blue” won its hour in both households and adults 18-49. CBS’s “The Guardian” placed second in households, while Fox’s “24” tied with NBC’s sitcoms for second place among adults 18-49. At 10 p.m., ABC’s “Philly” and CBS’s “Judging Amy” each took a half-hour among adults 18-49, but “Judging Amy” easily won the night in households. NBC’s “People Magazine’s 25 Most Intriguing People” was a distant third. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Tuesday night were: CBS 9.3/15 and 3.7, ABC 7.2/12 and 4.0, Fox 5.4/9 and 4.3, and NBC 5.2/9 and 3.3.

It's official: Katie Couric re-ups at NBC for $65M
Ending months of rampant speculation, "Today" co-host Katie Couric has re-upped with NBC for $65 million over five years, or $13 million per year. She will continue to provide additional reporting for "Dateline NBC" and for primetime specials. The contract leaves an option for a syndication show on NBC, though nothing is currently planned. Suitors from AOL Time Warner to Dreamworks to CBS all vied to snag the morning news veteran this year, even as ABC's "Good Morning America" has slowly crept up within 630,000 viewers of "Today." Couric's name was also tossed around as a replacement for Rosie O'Donnell on "Rosie" and for Tom Brokaw on "The NBC Nightly News," which she has anchored on occasion. Couric replaced Deborah Norville as co-host of "Today" in 1991.

Dick Clark: Grammys play dirty talent pool
Claiming that the Grammys have been monopolizing all the A-list awards show guests, Dick Clark has filed a lawsuit against the head of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, C. Michael Greene. Clark says that Greene warns artists that if they want to appear on the Grammys, they had better not participate in the American Music Awards, put on by Dick Clark Productions. Last year, such a threat allegedly kept Britney Spears from performing at the AMAs, and now Clark says that Michael Jackson has backed out of a verbal commitment to appear at next year's show, where he was to have accepted an "Artist of the Century" award. Don Cornelius, executive producer of "Soul Train," made a similar accusation about the MTV Video Music Awards in August, threatening to file charges with the Federal Trade Commission unless MTV discontinued its policy of prohibiting performers from appearing on other awards' broadcasts for 30 days before the VMAs.

Noose swings closer for NBC chefcom 'Emeril'
To paraphrase the Bard, a lousy sitcom dies a thousand deaths, and that has certainly been the case for "Emeril." Reports once again have NBC ready to pull the plug, and this time it's a good bet that the network will actually go through with it. The show, starring celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, has been little more than a headache for NBC since its inception, requiring intensive therapy, in the form of recasting and a pilot reshoot, before it ever hit the air. "Emeril" has averaged 6.8 million viewers and a 2.7 rating/8 share in adults 18-49 over the course of seven airings. Two other underperformers, "Inside Schwartz" and "UC: Undercover," are also said to be marked for death. Propped up by "Friends," "Schwartz" has managed to average 17.4 million viewers and an 8.5/21 rating in adults 18-49. "UC" has been averaging 8.9 million viewers and a 3.6/9 in adults 18-49.

WB shakes up schedule with double 'Angel'
The WB is looking to remedy the odd pairing of the Christian family drama "7th Heaven" and the vampire-slaying "Angel" on Monday nights by airing a second episode of "Angel" on Thursdays before the sorcerer-battling "Charmed." The David Boreanz drama currently comes on at 9 p.m. after "7th Heaven." Airing the additional episode will plug up a hole in the WB schedule made by the cancellation of "Elimidate" and the end of "Popstars'" limited run. The WB may move "Angel" to Thursday nights if it does well in this new time slot. Also on the move is "Raising Dad," which will switch air times with "Maybe It's Me," moving to 8:30 p.m. while "Maybe" shifts to 9:30 p.m. starting on Jan. 4. Over at Fox, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon has secured a 13-episode commitment for his futuristic "Firefly," the first fall drama commitment for Fox. The sci fi series follows a spaceship crew from 500 years in the future. Whedon will write, executive-produce and direct the two-hour pilot. He is also creating another spinoff program about "Buffy's" former Watcher, Rupert Giles, for Britain's BBC series.

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