|
|
Last night’s broadcast of "The People’s Choice Awards" on CBS helped secure the household win for its network, even though the special didn’t win any of its time periods. The awards show stayed a close second to ABC’s regular favorites of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and "The Practice," which won their respective time periods. NBC’s showing of the movie "On Deadly Ground" landed the network in fourth place for the evening among both households and adults 18-49. And Fox easily won the night among adults 18-49 with original episodes of its Sunday night lineup. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Sunday night were: CBS 10.7/16 and 5.2, Fox 10.0/15 and 8.6, ABC 9.5/14 and 5.5, and NBC 6.2/9 and 3.3. Over the weekend, ABC’s "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" had a so-so Friday night debut, winning its 8 p.m. time period but scoring ratings 17 percent lower than its Thursday edition the night before. The game show did lift the ratings of lead-out "Two Guys and a Girl" and "Norm" by about 30 percent from their last original episodes, but the comedies were so low-rated to begin with that they still finished a distant third in their time period. At 10p.m. "20/20" gained little from "Millionaire's" boost; the newsmagazine’s ratings on Friday were about the same as they have been all season. On Saturday night, Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage proved to be a more dynamic duo than Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt in the ABC-NBC Saturday movie showdown. ABC’s "The Rock" handily beat NBC’s "The Devil’s Own" and gave ABC the win among adults 18-49 for the night. But CBS edged ABC for the win among households with a new episode of "The District." The Nielsen overnight household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Friday night were: NBC 9.4/16 and 4.9, ABC 7.9/13 and 3.4, CBS 7.7/13 and 3.5 and Fox 4.5/7 and 3.5. For Saturday night: CBS 6.9/12 and 3.3, ABC 6.8/11 and 4.7, Fox 6.1/10 and 4.2, and NBC 4.9/8 and 2.5.
'Choice' winners: 'ER' and other non-surprises
The people know what they like, and it doesn’t change much from year to year. At yesterday’s People’s Choice Awards, NBC hospital drama "ER" picked up honors for favorite TV drama—the seventh consecutive year it has won. Comedy honoree "Friends" wasn’t much of a surprise either given its win last year. "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston was picked as favorite female TV performer, while Drew Carey was the best-liked man on the small screen. John Goodman won as favorite male performer in a new series—a bittersweet honor, as his show, "Normal, Ohio," has already been canceled. Bette Midler was the favorite female in a new series for her CBS sitcom "Bette." Jim Carrey, Julia Roberts and Mel Gibson were among other standbys to take home statues.
Dick Clark's New Year's blast sets a record
Dick Clark, The Ageless One, has solidified his place as timekeeper for the millennia. “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” on ABC pulled in an average 23.2 million viewers when the calendar switched, its best delivery ever. The show found 4.78 adults 18-34, also a record. The program aired from 11:35 p.m. Dec. 31 to 12:29 a.m. Jan. 1. Despite the late hour, Clark’s program beat every prime time show the week of Dec. 25 among total viewers, adults 18-49 and adults 24-54, as people were too busy toasting the New Year to watch evening television. The late segment of the show, which ran from 1:05 to 2:02 AM, averaged 6.15 million total viewers and 3.58 million adults 18-49.
Here's the word: New lease on life for UPN
With the clock running down on UPN’s affiliate contract with Chris-Craft Industries, executives at the Viacom-owned network say there’s no cause for worry. At the biannual Television Critics Association press tour over the weekend, UPN CEO Dean Valentine told listeners that a new agreement is virtually in the bag. "We’re optimistic this will all be taken care of soon," said Valentine, while Adam Ware, the weblet’s COO, promised that negotiations are nearing conclusion. The current contract expires Jan. 15; at stake are UPN’s access to eight Chris-Craft owned affiliate stations in key markets including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Chris-Craft owned half of UPN until partner Viacom forced the company to sell out its stake for $5 million early last year.
Texas anchor indicted on kid porn charges
Nearly three months after his arrest, TV news anchor Gerry Grant was indicted by a grand jury late last week on a charge of possession of child pornography. Grant, 41, the weekend anchor at ABC affiliate KSAT-TV in San Antonio, Texas, made the evening news when he was arrested on Oct. 16 after allegedly purchasing four child-pornography photos from undercover cops at a motel. He was indicted by a Bexar County grand jury on Thursday for the third-degree felony, for which he could be sentenced to serve up to 10 years in prison and pay a $10,000 fine. Grant, who before his arrest was best known for covering the O.J. Simpson trial for "Entertainment Tonight," is currently out on a $100,000 bond and is on temporary leave from his position at KSAT.
UPN reality: Tour of dirty beaneries
UPN is getting into the reality TV race with a lineup of new shows that promise to make Fox’s "Temptation Island" look like "Masterpiece Theatre." In particular, the midseason special "When Chefs Attack: America’s Filthiest Restaurants" should answer once and for all the oft-posed question: Will people watch anything? "Cheating Spouses II" will also be broadcast as a special, while "Chains of Love," the bondage-themed romance series that NBC rejected as too racy, goes into production at the end of the month. It will be joined on UPN by "Manhunt," the jungle warfare survival game produced by Vince McMahon. Looking beyond reality, the network is developing a pair of series based on stories by horror gurus Stephen King and Wes Craven and a show from music video producer Hype Williams that’s being billed as a black "Melrose Place."
Sniff! 'Star Trek' in
end-of-gig special on UPN
Trekkies everywhere will be removing their
masking-taped glasses and wiping away a tear when "Star Trek:
Voyager" ends its run with a two-hour series finale on Wednesday,
May 23 from 8 to 10 p.m. on UPN. The series, produced by Paramount
Network Television, began airing on UPN in January 1995. A retrospective
looking back on the last seven seasons (that’s 172 episodes) of
"Voyager" will air the night before the finale from
8 to 9 p.m. on UPN. The special will include outtakes and interviews with
cast members of the show. The retrospective special will be followed by an
episode of "Star Trek: Voyager" voted as the "Viewer’s
Favorite." UPN will inform Trekkies shortly as to how to vote
for their favorite show.
Send to a
Friend| Printer-Friendly Version
Cover Page | Contact
Us
© 2001 Media Life
