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Last night was the real test for the shows that premiered to a lot of hype last Tuesday. How would ABC’s "The Mole" and NBC’s "Three Sisters" stack up the second time around? "The Mole" did suffer a 12 percent ratings drop from last week, but those losses weren’t particularly devastating, or even unique. ABC’s "NYPD Blue" also dropped 12 percent in ratings from its season premiere a week ago, and "The Mole" finished second in both households and adults 18-49 in the 8 p.m. hour. "Three Sisters," on the other hand, had an unquestionably successful second night, winning the 9:30 p.m. slot in both households and adults 18-49. The show lost only 5 percent of its ratings and managed to retain more of its lead-in audience from "Frasier" than last week. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Tuesday night were: CBS 10.2/16 and 3.9, NBC 8.5/13 and 5.4, ABC 8.2/13 and 5.2, and Fox 7.0/11 and 5.8. On Monday night, things looked bleak for ABC without "Monday Night Football." The network placed fourth with its post-football regular programming of a movie and "Gideon’s Crossing." The movie, "The Object of My Affection," fared decently, averaging a 7.0 household rating and topping NBC’s "Mysterious Ways." But "Gideon’s Crossing," debuting in its new Monday night time slot, dropped over 20 percent of this lead-in audience and finished last in its time slot by 5 household shares. Fox was the major beneficiary of ABC’s decline, easily winning the night among adults 18-49 and nearly beating CBS for the household win. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Monday night were: CBS 8.9/13 and 4.7, Fox 8.6/12 and 7.0, NBC 7.7/11 and 4.3, and ABC 6.4/10 and 3.8.
Last-minute station deal rescues UPN
As expected, TV network UPN and TV station owner Chris-Craft have renewed their affiliation agreements, keeping the network on the air in major markets including New York and Los Angeles. United Paramount Network and all eight UPN-affiliated Chris-Craft/United Television Division stations have entered into multi-season agreements that extend their primary affiliations. In a press release issued late last night, Dean Valentine, president and chief executive officer of UPN said of the announcement, "This important multi-station deal will allow UPN to continue the tremendous momentum we've enjoyed over the past few years. We have a wonderful personal and professional relationship with the Chris-Craft/United Television management and we look forward to continuing our productive alliance with these key stations. We look forward as well to working together with Fox when the merger is granted approval." News of the deal came at the eleventh hour as Chris-Craft's old pact with UPN expired on Monday, giving it until 4:59 pm PST Tuesday to decide before primetime programming on the East Coast began. Chris-Craft owns UPN affiliates in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Orlando, Portland and Baltimore. UPN carries the extremely popular "WWF Smackdown."
Coffey scoots from CNN as layoffs loom
Shelby Coffey III has resigned as president of CNN Business News and CNNfn, the company's financial news network. Coffey had reportedly been planning on leaving for months, but agreed to stay on until the close of the AOL-Time Warner merger. He is leaving his posts to form a foundation with his wife, an emergency room physician. Coffey, 54, joined CNN in Nov. 1999, after the sudden departure of Lou Dobbs, CNNfn's founding president and longtime anchor of "Moneyline," the network’s flagship financial news program. CNN reportedly has a replacement for Coffey in mind but has not yet announced his successor. Coffey's departure comes at an extremely inopportune time for the networks. CNN is expected to announce massive layoffs and a reorganization of its newsgathering operations within the next few days in response to the AOL-Time Warner merger. CNN is now part of AOL Time Warner Inc.
VH1 enters the reality TV fray with new series
VH1 is cranking the original programming dial up to 11, producing a host of new series, films and documentaries that will air next season. Not surprisingly, two of the new shows will be of the reality type: "Bands on the Run," a show that will allow four unsigned bands to compete for a prize that will most likely be a recording contract; and "Name That Video," a game show. Two fictional series are also in the works: "Animal Trax," a weekend cartoon show about animals in the music industry, and "Signs of Life," a drama about a has-been rock group trying to make it big again. Next season’s documentaries will include "Say It Loud: Black Music in America," produced by Quincy Jones, as well as "The History of Sex in Music" and "VH1 Presents the ‘80s." The network, which is expected to announce the new programs at today’s Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif., will also air at least four original movies including a Def Leppard biopic.
Poll: 'Temp Island' wins over 'Survivor 2'
Think you know what America's favorite reality show is? Guess again. In a poll of over 34,000 America Online users, "Temptation Island" beat out "Survivor II" as the series most people want to watch. Just over 41 percent of respondents picked "Island," the new Fox series that takes committed couples to a tropical resort and surrounds them with sexy singles. The show scored 16.1 million viewers during its first episode, which aired last Wednesday at 9 p.m. "Survivor: The Australian Outback" was the choice of 38.1 percent of poll respondents. The series premieres on Jan. 28 after the Super Bowl on CBS. ABC’s new show "The Mole" came in a distant third among the reality programs, polling only 14.1 percent, followed by The WB’s new girl band series "Popstars," which scored 6.7 percent of the votes.
No NY takers for 'Hooters Girl' dating show
Is “Who Wants to Date a Hooters Girl?” destined to be a bust? It's looking that way. So far, not one station in New York has yet signed on to carry the show, a dating game spin-off of the national restaurant chain. Without carriage in New York, "Hooters" will have a tough time scoring any kind of national distribution. It's not just the premise of the show, which lets men vie for a chance to win a date with one of Hooters' generously-proportioned waitresses, that's holding it back; "Hooters" also has a lot of competition in the dating show department. Four other new syndicated dating shows will compete for time slots this fall as well. Intended for late-night five nights a week, “Hooters” will be hosted by three Hooters Girls and comedian Kevin Gray. After passing a series of typical dating-game challenges, the remaining contestants, chosen out of the audience, will duke it out in a final “baseball round" with the first to arrive at home base winning the date.
Study: Cutting TV time
curbs aggression in kids
Few debates get people more worked up than the one about the link
between media consumption and violence. Though it won't be resolved
anytime soon, a new study provides fresh ammunition for those who would
blame kids' violent behavior on the shows they watch. Researchers at
Stanford University found that decreasing the amount of time children
spend watching TV and playing video games may help curb their
aggressiveness. Researchers took two similar groups of third- and
fourth-grade children at two public schools in San Jose, Calif. Subjects in
the control group were allowed to watch and play all they wanted, while
kids in the other group were encouraged, with the help of their parents,
to watch no more than seven hours per week. At the end of the test,
students at the limited-exposure school reported 25 percent less
aggression in their peers than students in the control group. The authors
of the study acknowledge that the results must be replicated on a larger
scale before any major conclusions can be drawn.
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