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CBS finally figured out how to get audiences to watch “Big Brother 2”: hold a knife to somebody’s throat. “Big Brother 2” won its hour last night in households and edged NBC’s “Spy TV” at 8:30 p.m. among adults 18-49 by one-tenth of a rating point. But diminishing the impact of the knife-wielding controversy is the fact that “Big Brother’s” ratings improved only marginally over Tuesday’s episode, and last night’s ratings were simply equal to what the premiere earned one week ago. CBS’s reality show also lost the 8 p.m. half-hour among adults 18-49 to a repeat of “Friends.” Fox’s summer horror show, “Night Visions,” debuted to dismal numbers, finishing fourth in both households and adults 18-49. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Thursday night were: ABC 7.2/13 and 3.4, CBS 6.6/12 and 3.6, NBC 5.4/10 and 3.8, and Fox 3.6/7 and 2.2. On Wednesday, another nail went into “You Don’t Know Jack’s” coffin. 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 “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. time slot in households and a 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.
CNN Headline News pretties up
With a new image, a new anchor and a new slogan, CNN Headline News hopes to show viewers that CNN’s younger sibling has grown up. The new style will premiere on Aug. 6, demonstrating the most significant revamping of a network since AOL and Time Warner merged in January. Headline News, whose ratings have dropped considerably in recent years, will now focus more on news that is “relevant” to viewers rather than concentrating on international stories, the network’s executive vice president and general manager, Teya Ryan, said Wednesday at a Television Critics Association Tour in Pasadena. In addition to two anchors and several correspondents, the new cast will include a special anchor for breaking news. Among the changes Ryan described are a new set with more graphics, including “data boxes” that will supplement the anchors’ reports, new music, and the addition of former “NYPD Blue” actress Andrea Thompson, who will co-anchor with Miles O’Brien.
Mega buying unit for Interpublic agencies
Clout is the key word in a major reorganization at Interpublic Group that will see companies representing $40 billion in annual billings stacked up into one media negotiating monolith. Interpublic announced today the creation of Magna Global, a new "agency-neutral" company that will handle buying negotiations for all of Interpublic’s businesses, which include Initiative Media, Universal McCann, FCB Worldwide and Lowe Lintas & Partners. Bill Cella, previously executive vice president/director of national broadcast and programming at Universal McCann, will head up Magna Global USA, which is set to start operations on Sept. 1 with a focus on the national television market.
Wash. pols ease push for cheapo TV time
The battle between broadcasters and politicians reached a temporary standstill yesterday as the U.S. House of Representatives voted to postpone debate on a campaign finance reform bill that could, among other things, require television operators to give political candidates deep discounts on air time for campaign ads. Following the 228-203 vote, lobbyists for the television industry will push hard to have language requiring such discounts deleted from the bills under consideration. Two similar campaign reform bills sit before the House, but only one, sponsored by Reps. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and Martin Meehan, D-Mass., includes the so-called Torricelli Amendment. That is the portion of the bill, first proposed by Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.), that would require broadcasters to sell commercial time to political candidates at the lowest price that time sold for in the previous year. House and Senate Republicans are said to be favoring the version of the Shays-Meehan bill with the Torricelli Amendment, gambling that such a bill will never make it through the Senate.
Cheapskate 'West Wing' skimps on actor salaries
For the second time in two weeks, NBC and "The West Wing" find themselves in an ugly money dispute with talent. Emmy-nominated actors Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and John Spencer reportedly did not show up for filming of the next season of the show on Monday, vowing to sit out until they get raises. The four are reportedly seeking another $50,000 per episode on top of their current $100,000-per-show salaries. A similar tactic worked for the actors on "Friends," who reportedly threatened to quit if they didn't each receive $750,000 per episode. The "West Wing" actors' beef follows reports two weeks ago that the writers for the presidential drama will not be eligible for contract raises won by the Writers' Guild during the last contract renegotiation and scheduled to go into effect next season, even though executive producer John Wells served as chairman of the WGA. Series creator Aaron Sorkin, who credited himself as the principal writer of all 22 episodes last season, has defended the decision by saying what the writers on his show do is more akin to research than screenwriting. He also said the producers chose to withhold the raises rather than let go of certain writers altogether.
'Sopranos' leads Emmy noms with 22
Proving that a little controversy never hurt anybody, "The Sopranos" leads all shows in nominations for this year's Emmy Awards, announced yesterday. The HBO family/mob drama earned 22, four more than last year. Tony Soprano's home network, HBO, was the nomination leader among networks with 94. NBC wrangled 76 nominations, followed by ABC with 63, CBS with 46 and Fox with 40. Within "The Sopranos" crew, both Lorraine Bracco and Edie Falco will be up for Outstanding Actress; James Gandolfini for Outstanding Actor; and Dominic Chianese and Michael Imperioli for Outstanding Supporting Actor. "The Sopranos" itself will be up for Outstanding Drama, which it has never won, along with four out of five nominations for Outstanding Writing. The show's big competition, "The West Wing," garnered 18 nods, including Outstanding Actor honors for Martin Sheen and Rob Lowe; Outstanding Supporting Actress for Stockard Channing and Allison Janney; and Outstanding Supporting Actor for Bradley Whitford, John Spencer and Richard Schiff. NBC's "Will & Grace" was the top comedy again, taking 12 nods, just like last year, while "Frasier" grabbed 11 and HBO's "Sex and the City" snatched 10. In the first-ever running of the newly-created Outstanding Non-Fiction Program category, the first "Survivor" will battle it out with fellow Burnett product "Eco-Challenge: Borneo," MTV's "Road Rules: Maximum Velocity Tour" and VH1's "Bands On the Run." The awards will be announced Sept. 16.
July 13, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
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