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Another nail went into “You Don’t Know Jack’s” coffin last night. Not only did the ABC game show lose 18 percent of its lead-in audience from a repeat of “Drew Carey,” but in direct competition with rival game show “The Weakest Link” at 8:30 p.m., a repeat of the NBC show doubled “Jack’s” household rating and notched an adult 18-49 rating 76 percent higher. ABC’s other summer series, “The Beast,” also fared poorly, ranking third in its 10 p.m. timeslot in households and distant second among adults 18-49. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Wednesday night were: NBC 6.5/12 and 3.6, CBS 6.0/11 and 1.9, ABC 3.8/7 and 2.5, and Fox 3.6/7 and 2.4. On Tuesday, Fox swept the night in both households and adults 18-49 with its broadcast of the “Major League All-Star Game.” Without accounting for time zone differences, the game averaged during primetime a 9.6/17 household rating and share and a 4.8, adult 18-49 rating, beating its closest competitors by seven household shares. Meanwhile, CBS’s “Big Brother 2” improved its ratings significantly from Saturday night’s performance. Tuesday’s household rating increased by 60 percent and the adult 18-49 rating by 80 percent from the weekend edition, and Tuesday’s ratings were nearly even with what the premiere episode earned last Thursday. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Tuesday night were: Fox 9.6/7 and 4.8, ABC 6.1/10 and 2.6, CBS 5.6/10 and 2.6, and NBC 5.4/9 and 3.3.
'Big Bro' guy gets the boot for knife threat
In a new low for the screening process, the producers of "Big Brother," CBS’s closed-house reality show, have disqualified a contestant after he appeared to threaten the life of a female competitor. Justin Sebik, a 26-year-old bartender from Bayonne, N.J., says he was only joking when he held a kitchen knife to the throat of 28-year-old Krista Stegall and said, "I’m going to slash your throat. Would you get mad if I just killed you?" Sebik and Stegall, a waitress from Opelousas, La., were making out in the house’s kitchen at the time. Though she was reportedly neither harmed nor particularly alarmed by Sebik’s "joke," the show’s producers decided to boot Sebik, who had already been warned twice about his hostile or threatening behavior. The encounter took place on Tuesday, and paid users of the show’s web site were able to watch it unfold live. Everyone else will likely be able to watch all or part of the incident on tonight’s episode of "Big Brother."
Industry Standard's owners mull a sale
The Industry Standard, the most influential of the so-called New Economy magazines, may soon join its competitors in going up on the auction block. Majority owner IDG has reportedly hired investment bank Allen & Co. to investigate its proverbial "strategic options," which could include sale to a media company or financial investor. A spokeswoman for Standard Media International confirmed that the company is in the midst of hashing out its investment situation but declined to comment on the possibility of a sale. After breaking records for ad pages in 2000, The Industry Standard has seen sales decline dramatically this year. Through June, pages were down 74 percent to 1,083.72. Virtually every other magazine dealing with business and technology has either changed hands or spawned rumors of doing so in the past 12 months. First, Mort Zuckerman sold Fast Company to Gruner + Jahr last December in a deal worth $340 million plus bonuses. Then, in June of this year, Future Network sold Business 2.0 to Time Inc. for $68 million. In the same month, Upside confirmed that it had retained an investment firm to look at financing options including a sale. Red Herring, too, has been dogged by rumors of sellout negotiations, though officials of the company have consistently denied them.
Dow Jones lays off 150 amid cost-cutting
Dow Jones & Co. employees who thought they could breathe easy after escaping a round of job cuts in April were mistaken. The company, which publishes The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s magazine, is expected to announce around 150 layoffs today when it releases its earnings report for the second quarter. Added to the 225 staffers who got pink-slipped this spring, it means that Dow Jones has culled about 5 percent of its workforce this year. The reason for the trimming is simple: the need to cut costs in the face of declining ad revenues. Advertising linage in The Wall Street Journal is reportedly off by 34 percent year-to-date versus 2000. Earlier this week, the Journal laid off 16 editorial staffers, and yesterday officials circulated a memo notifying employees that the company planned to get rid of all its potted plants, a move calculated to save $40,000 a year in watering and other costs.
Writer: HBO stole my 'Six Feet Under' script
A New York author has accused HBO of stealing his undertaker. J. Davis Reed claims that HBO’s new series "Six Feet Under," about a family-owned funeral parlor, was ripped off from a copyrighted script called "For Heaven Sake," which Reed wrote between 1992 and 1998. He is suing HBO and series writer/producer Alan Ball in a Manhattan Federal Court. Reed claims that HBO took a glimpse at the script while he was shopping it around Hollywood and that the network lifted whole plotlines, settings and characters for its own series, which debuted in June. Reed wants production of "Six Feet Under" to cease immediately and for HBO to hand over the scripts and videos to him, as well as pay him damages. For its part, HBO insists that Ball wrote the series and that Reed’s allegations are false.
USA slates new reality and game shows for fall
Murder, guerrilla warfare and neologisms are all on the schedule for the USA Network this fall, with the network preparing to gamble on a variety of reality-based formats. Executives from USA presented the new game show "Smush" at Tuesday's Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. Put together by "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" executive producer Michael Davies, the game works by asking constestants to "smush" two words based on loose definitions given by the host. For example, Chinese martial art + a Japanese folding bed = Kungfuton. USA brass also unveiled the reality series "Mystery Mansion," which follows 22 contestants trying to solve a fictitious murder for a $1 million prize. The 13 episodes are being produced by Rocket Sciences Laboratories, the folks behind "Temptation Island." USA is also teaming up with "Survivor" producer Mark Burnett again after working with him on "Eco Challenge: Borneo" in March. Burnett will executive-produce "Combat Missions," a series that challenges veteran soldiers to complete commando-style missions. "Survivor" alum Rudy Boesch and retired Navy SEAL Rudy Boesch will host the series, which premieres Sept. 12.
July 12, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
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