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CBS and NBC split wins on Sunday night, with a repeat of the CBS movie “Chance of a Lifetime” taking households and NBC’s U.S. Open golf coverage, “Weakest Link” and “Fear Factor” winning adults 18-49. Fox, which usually wins the demographic on Sunday night, placed second, as repeats of “The Simpsons” and “Malcolm in the Middle” were its only programs to win their time slots. On ABC, the four consecutive episodes of “My Wife and Kids” mustered a third place finish in both households and adults 18-49 for the network. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Sunday night were: CBS 7.0/13 and 2.1, NBC 5.7/11 and 3.1, ABC 4.3/8 and 2.1, and Fox 3.4/7 and 2.5. Over the weekend, the final game of the NBA championships may have been less than thrilling, but Game 5 of the Lakers-Sixers matchup handed an easy win for the night to NBC in both households and adults 18-49. Without adjusting for time zone differences, the game averaged a 9.1/17 household rating and share and 5.8, adult 18-49 rating, from 9-11 p.m. On Saturday night, repeats carried the night for CBS in households and for Fox among adults 18-49. The traditional Saturday night fare of CBS’s "Walker, Texas Ranger" and Fox’s "Cops" was more potent than the U.S. Open golf tournament on NBC or the "World Stunt Awards" on ABC. The preliminary average Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Friday night were: NBC 8.2/16 and 5.1, ABC 5.8/11 and 2.2, CBS 5.4/11 and 1.4, and Fox 2.1/4 and 1.5. For Saturday night: CBS 4.7/10 and 1.4, NBC 4.2/9 and 2.2, Fox 4.0/9 and 2.3, and ABC 2.4/5 and 1.2.
Now hair this: Jane Pratt's mysterious illness
As the editor--and namesake--of her own women's magazine, Jane Pratt is expected to be something of an expert in matters of health and beauty. So one can imagine how distressing it was when, earlier this year, Pratt found herself breaking out in inexplicable rashes and losing hair, according to a report in this week's New York magazine. But it wasn't until after the vomiting started that Pratt nailed down the cause of her mysterious ailment: wisps of insulation fiber floating in through the air ducts. The fibers originated upstairs, where workers were renovating a home recording studio that had belonged to pop star Paula Cole. Pratt recovered after receiving treatment at Mount Sinai hospital's environmental toxin clinic but was forced to abandon her apartment and discard most of her belongings. She is reportedly considering legal action.
Ted Turner, out at AOL, starts a movie studio
The world’s loneliest media mogul, Ted Turner, is back in the game with plans for a new movie production company. It's Turner’s first major project after being forced out of power when AOL merged with Time Warner last January. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Ted Turner Pictures, based in Atlanta and funded entirely out of Turner’s pocket, will produce commercial features and documentaries, with Warner Bros. getting first dibs on theatrical movies and PBS engaged in discussions about acquiring documentaries. Heading up the new company will be former CBS and Turner Broadcasting executive Robert Wessler, who says that TTP’s first commercial feature is about to begin production, but declined to release details. Turner appears to be in the movie business for the long haul. He is "prepared to put a sizable amount of his financial well-being" into the new company, according to Wessler. And during breaks from shooting, Turner can always drop by his old stomping grounds: The new offices of Ted Turner Pictures are only three blocks away from the CNN Center in downtown Atlanta. Meanwhile, Turner will continue his efforts to reenter broadcasting by trying to unfreeze negotiations to purchase the "independent" Russian TV network NTV.
Ugh, more shame for Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Entertainment, already reeling from controversy over its marketing practices, suffered more unwanted publicity last week with a revelation about Sony employees appearing in advertisements for "The Patriot" and a lawsuit over the marketing of "The Animal." On Friday, the Los Angeles Times reported that Sony used two of its own employees in an advertisement for "The Patriot," a summer 2000 movie from Sony’s Columbia Pictures. The two employees, Tamaya Petteway and Anthony Jefferson, posed as moviegoers in a reaction spot, calling the film a "perfect date movie!" Columbia's executive vice president of creative advertising, Dana Precious, tried to spread the blame around, telling the Times, "[P]erhaps this is a time for all of us in the business of marketing to review the practices that have become an industry standard and to rethink and redraw some boundaries." The embarrassment for Sony is all the more acute because the two Columbia employees featured in the ad are black, and "The Patriot" was widely criticized for its negligent treatment of slavery in colonial America. Sony was also hit last week with a lawsuit by two West Palm Beach parents, who charge that the company inappropriately marketed its 2001 summer comedy "The Animal" as a youth movie. James and Ana Morris, who took their twin 13-year-old sons and 10-year-old daughter to see the Rob Schneider vehicle, charge that Sony failed to warn moviegoers that the PG-13 movie contained scenes involving human and animal sexual acts. The lawsuit also claims that Sony deceived moviegoers by advertising "The Animal" with non-existent film critic David Manning’s now-infamous praise, "The producing team of ‘Big Daddy’ has produced another winner!" Earlier this month, it was revealed that Sony invented flattering quotes for posters and attributed them to the fictitious Manning, supposedly of the Ridgefield (Conn.) Press.
Scripps cable names team for Fine Living
With overcrowding rampant and revenue slumping, it's hardly the ideal environment for a cable channel launch, but Scripps is nevertheless marching ahead with plans to roll out Fine Living early next year. Today the Cincinnati-based media company will introduce the senior management team for the new channel, which will be based in Los Angeles. Coming aboard as senior vice president of programming will be Charles Segars, who has worked in upper management at CBS, E Entertainment Television and DreamWorks SKG. The senior vice president of marketing will be Robyn Miller, arriving at Fine Living after 16 years at Walt Disney Co. The senior vice president of business operations and acquisitions will be John MacDonald, most recently president and CEO of streaming media company Innovatv.com; he also spent six years as a TV executive at News Corp. These executives will work for Ken Solomon, who was hired as president of Fine Living earlier this year. Like Food Network, HGTV and Do It Yourself, the other Scripps' channels, Fine Living aims at an integrated media presentation, with an integrated web site and wireless strategy alongside its TV programming.
Study: Kids who watch TV want more toys, duh
Rocket science it ain't. Researchers at Stanford University's School of Medicine say they've found evidence of the connection between watching thousands of TV commercials and wanting stuff. Published last week, the study found that kids who watch significantly less television are up to 70 percent less likely to bug their parents to buy them toys. Four professors conducted an experiment involving all Grade 3 and 4 students at two elementary schools in San Jose, Calif. One school gave 18 lessons of 30 to 50 minutes in length, challenging the kids to go cold turkey on all TV, videotapes and video games for 10 days and keep it below seven hours a week after that. The other was the control group. "By the end of the school year, the odds of a child requesting a toy purchase in the prior week were about 70 per cent lower," lead author Thomas Robinson wrote in the published study, according to Canada's Globe and Mail. The average child nowadays views 40,000 commercials a year, up from 20,000 a year in the 1970s.
June 18, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
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