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As the NBA championships loom near for NBC, the NHL Stanley Cup games on ABC are proving that even a close series doesn’t necessarily translate into big ratings. Last night’s game five, in which the New Jersey Devils took a 3-2 series lead over the Colorado Avalanche, was the lowest rated program in every primetime half-hour among both households and adults 18-49. The preliminary numbers are only time period averages and don’t account for time zone differences during live programs, but ABC’s 3.1/5 household rating and share was just one-third of CBS’s average from sitcom reruns and “48 Hours.” The preliminary household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Monday night were: CBS 8.7/15 and 4.2, NBC 7.5/13 and 3.8, Fox 4.3/7 and 2.7, and ABC 3.1/5 and 2.0.
Big night for 'Producers,' but not for Tonys
It may be springtime for Hitler, but there were scant signs of new life for this year’s Tony Awards telecast. Despite the smash-hit Mel Brooks musical "The Producers" winning a record 15 Tonys including Best Musical, Best Actor and Best Score, "The 55th Annual Tony Awards" managed only a 6.4 household rating and 10 share in the 9 to 11 p.m. time period Sunday night. The program made year-to-year gains in several demographics including adults 18-49 (2.5 rating/6 share) and adults 25-54 (3.2/7), but it still finished last for the night. Though the presence of co-hosts Mathew Broderick and Nathan Lane was expected to drive up viewership of the event, the Tonys faced stiff competition, most notably from Game 7 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals. Also siphoning away viewers were the season premiere of "Sex and the City" on HBO and the rematch of Bobby Flay and Masaharu Morimoto on the Food Network’s "Iron Chef" special.
The Sciences magazine closes after 30 years
The Sciences, one of the nation’s least well-known but most highly-regarded general science magazines, is no more. The New York Academy of Sciences, which published the 46,000-circulation quarterly, has put a stop to it, citing the need to cut costs. "The Board agreed that the Academy needs to refocus its energy and budget on its primary mission, which cannot include being publisher of a general science magazine," reads a statement on the magazine’s web site from NYAS Chief Executive Rodney W. Nichols, who says he recommended that The Sciences be shut down and its resources reallocated to other Academy programs. The magazine’s six staff members have been asked to resign, according to The New York Times. The Sciences won seven National Magazine Awards in its 30 years in publication, including one for Essays in 2000 for an article about the astronomical clock in Strasbourg Cathedral.
Sony Pictures red-faced after fake film critic flap
If you didn't know any better, you might simply think that David Manning of the Ridgefield Press had terrible taste in movies after the way he heaped praise on “A Knight’s Tale” and other widely-panned films like “Hollow Man” and “Vertical Limit.” The problem is, Manning has no taste at all. He doesn't exist. Columbia parent Sony Pictures Entertainment, which produced the films mentioned above, has admitted that its marketing department fabricated Manning last July. Since then, up until Newsweek exposed the deception last week, no one thought to question the existence of the critic, even those at the small Connecticut weekly he was supposed to work for. Glowing blurbs for “The Animal” and “A Knight’s Tale” were pulled from ads this last weekend, but some still made it to weekend arts sections. “It was an incredibly foolish decision, and we’re horrified,” Sony spokeswoman Susan Tick said of the fraud, according to Newsweek. “We are looking into it and will take appropriate action.”
Big casting changes for 'Ally McBeal'
Major casting changes appear to be afoot at Fox's "Ally McBeal" for this coming season. Reports are in that Josh Hopkins ("The Perfect Storm") and Regina Hall ("Scary Movie") are coming aboard and that James Marsden ("X-Men") and Julianne Nicholson ("The Love Letter") are also likely to sign on with David E. Kelley's popular comedy-drama. The cast had some holes to fill following the departure of both Lisa Nicole Carson and James LeGros--although word has it that Carson, who plays McBeal's roommate Renee, will continue to make guest appearances. Of the incoming players, Hall will resume the role she played in three episodes last season as an associate of Larry Paul, the character played by Robert Downey Jr. Nicholson is also reportedly playing a lawyer while Marsden may be a new sweetie for McBeal. As Paul, Downey played the titular heroine's last love interest, but he's off the show for good following his most recent arrest.
Another radio station fined for playing Eminem
Bleeping out swears just isn’t enough. That is seemingly the situation facing radio stations after the FCC fined KKMG (FM) Pueblo $7,000 Friday for airing an edited version of rapper Eminem's hit single “The Real Slim Shady” last spring and summer between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., which are ruled off-limits for “indecent programming.” Though specific obscenities were masked, the FCC claimed that entire passages should have been blocked, as the words could still be recognized and the full meaning of the passage understood. Critics of the move claim an edited version of the song was played on numerous stations across the country and argue that the measure could open the way for a flood of complaints about other songs. Long-delayed indecency guidelines issued by the FCC two months ago were supposed to clarify such issues, but have apparently not addressed fine line cases. Most ironically, the song's lyrics address, among other things, the artist's bitterness over the inconsistency of rules meant to shelter children from broadcast vulgarity but which allow them to watch all kinds of sex and violence on cable.
Report: Inside.com subscribers only 1,200
Inside.com has at least partially solved the mystery of whether or not web users are willing to pay for online content: They’re not, at least when it comes to Inside. Until recently it was widely know that the online media and entertainment industry site had not made its first-year subscription goal of 30,000, but no one outside the company was privy to what the actual numbers were. Now it appears subscribers fell considerably below that goal. According to an article in this week's issue of The New Yorker by writer Ken Auletta, the number could be as low as 1,200. One "person who knows Inside’s finances intimately" told Auletta the actual number of paying subscribers did not exceed 1,200. Another told him it "was closer to five thousand" at its peak, with the current subscriber base hovering around half that. Inside says the 1,200 figure is off the mark, but it won't say what the actual subscriber total is. "There are obviously no confirmed numbers, as the article says," Inside spokeswoman Cindy Rosenthal told Media Life. "We are not confirming that number, since it didn't come from us."
June 5, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
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