NBC's debuting 'Kristin' crimped by 'Millionaire'
Surrounded by a cushion of “Frasiers,” NBC’s summer series “Kristin” got off to a ho-hum start last night. The sitcom topped repeats of Fox’s “Titus” and CBS’s “JAG” among adults 18-49, but earned only half of ABC’s “Who Wants to be a Millionaire’s” 8:30 p.m. household rating and three quarters of its adult 18-49 rating. “Kristin” did retain 100 percent of its 8 p.m. “Frasier” lead-in household audience and built slightly on its lead-in adult 18-49 rating. NBC tied ABC for first place among adults 18-49 for the night, while ABC edged CBS for the household win. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Tuesday night were: ABC 6.9/12 and 3.3, CBS 6.6/11 and 2.4, NBC 5.5/10 and 3.3, and Fox 4.4/8 and 3.0. On Monday, the NHL Stanley Cup games on ABC proved that even a close series doesn’t necessarily translate into big ratings. Monday 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.

Hollywood writers thumbs-up new contract
Back on May 8, the Writers Guild of America leadership recommended that its members approve a new three-year contract with the Alliance of Theatrical Motion Picture and Television Producers. Yesterday, WGA members did so with gusto. With 3,785 yes votes and only 343 voting no, the writers' union ratified the contract, assuring at least three years of strike-free writing in Hollywood. It was the biggest turnout in WGA history, with some 38 percent of the Guild's 11,000 members voting. The new contract will increase pay to writers by $41 million, with 3.5 percent increases in minimum pay for each of the three years covered by the agreement. The contract also granted increases in residuals from things like TV shows being aired overseas and shows made for basic cable. The timing of the vote is auspicious since negotiations resume today between the producers and the two actors' unions, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which together represent 130,000 actors. Many have assumed that the writers' agreement will make it less likely the actors will end up striking, but so far the talks have made no headway. Negotiations are expected to get more serious as the June 30 deadline nears. 

New editor at Better Homes & Gardens
The nation’s largest women’s magazine has a new editor in chief. Karol DeWulf Nickell, editor of Traditional Home magazine, is moving over to head up the 7.6 million-circulation Meredith flagship. She replaces Jean LemMon, who announced her retirement in January after eight years as editor in chief of the title. Nickell, who founded the bimonthly Traditional Home 13 years ago, has been at Meredith since 1979. Replacing her at Traditional Home is Mark Mayfield, former editor of Entrée and Traditional Home magazines.

Cruise sues Bold mag over gay rumors
How many times does Tom Cruise have to tell you people: He’s not gay, and he’ll sue the pants off anyone who says otherwise. Yesterday, the actor filed a libel suit against Michael Davis, publisher of Bold, a racy lifestyle magazine based in Los Angeles. Cruise seeks damages of $100 million, alleging that Davis was the author of an anonymous letter sent to a dozen news organizations. CNN and Howard Stern’s radio show were among recipients of the letter, which claimed that Cruise and a male partner were caught on videotape flagrante delicto. Davis had already earned the "Top Gun" star’s ire by offering a $500,000 reward to anyone coming forth with a photo or video of Cruise getting it on with another guy. The publisher is the second person to be slapped with such a lawsuit this year. Last month, Cruise sued porno actor Chad Slater after Slater was quoted in a French magazine saying he had had a sexual liaison with Cruise.

Court: '20/20's' Babs can't visit Dr. Death
ABC newswoman Barbara Walters' efforts to interview assisted-suicide activist Jack Kevorkian have been frustrated once again following a decision by the Michigan Court of Appeals. The court ruled Monday that it is up to the state's Department of Corrections to decide whether reporters can conduct interviews with inmates. The department last year turned down a request from Walters to interview Kevorkian for "20/20." A county judge ordered the department to allow the interview but that ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeals last month. The government has taken a tough stand on media access to prisoners in the last three years, claiming that the possible disruptiveness of the access justifies the prison officials' discretion over the matter. ABC and other organizations have argued it is an affront to the First Amendment. Kevorkian is serving a 10- to 25-year sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder in the 1998 death of a terminally ill man. The death was videotaped and aired on CBS's "60 Minutes."

Now, a word from our sponsors...just for you
Behold the next step in the endless march toward interactive television: personalized commercials. OpenTV, based in Mountain View, Calif., announced Monday that it has struck a deal with software maker Predictive Networks to incorporate Predictive’s user profiling software into its set-top-box operating system. The software will enable marketers to assess a viewer’s habits and programming preferences and send tailored advertisements to the individual television. Further, Predictive promises that the software will be able to recognize who is in front of the TV by the way the person wields the remote control. Less clear is how the software would handle group viewing, though Predictive says they’re working on a solution. OpenTV, whose operating system is already in place in about 16 million digital set-top boxes worldwide, expects the new operating system to debut this fall.

June 6, 2001 © 2001 Media Life

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