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NBC’s Sunday woes continue, as the network placed last in every half-hour in both households and adults 18-49 last night, with the exception of the second half of “Dateline,” which managed third place by one-tenth of a rating point. Part one of “The Lost Empire” got off to a particularly shaky start, losing 30 percent of its lead-in household audience from “Dateline.” Fox, on the contrary, won every half-hour among adults 18-49 except for one last night and cruised to an easy victory in the demographic. The one exception was the second half hour of the midseason replacement “The Lone Gunmen,” which lost to ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” The second episode of “Gunmen” dropped in ratings about 30 percent from its premiere episode last week. In households, the Sunday night race was tighter, with CBS, ABC, and Fox each winning at least one half-hour. In the end, CBS’s “60 Minutes,” “Touched by an Angel” and movie “Second Honeymoon” edged ABC’s movie and series combo of “Princess of Thieves,” “Millionaire” and “The Practice.” The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Sunday night were: CBS 9.6/15 and 3.7, ABC 9.1/14 and 4.4, Fox 6.3/10 and 5.3, and NBC 5.3/8 and 2.5. Over the weekend, NBC’s XFL finally found its bottom. According to Nielsen’s preliminary numbers, the XFL didn’t lose any more audience this past weekend, the first time it’s not done so since its debut game on Feb. 3. Of course, the 2.6/5 household rating and share and 1.5 rating among adults 18-49 aren’t anything to be proud of, and NBC finished a distant fourth for the night with half of the rating of third-place ABC. CBS won households on Saturday night with new episodes of “That’s Life” and “Kate Brasher,” while Fox won among adults 18-49. On Friday, ABC enjoyed rare wins in both households and adults 18-49, thanks to repeats of “Providence” and “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” on NBC. Fox’s coverage of yet another awards show, the “NAACP Image Awards,” came in last place in both households and adults 18-49. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Friday were: ABC 8.5/15 and 3.7, NBC 7.2/13 and 3.1, CBS 6.3/11 and 2.7, and Fox 3.5/6 and 2.2. For Saturday: CBS 7.4/13 and 2.9, Fox 6.0/11 and 4.0, ABC 5.1/9 and 2.8, and NBC 2.6/5 and 1.5.
ABC: Time to alter how
magazines count circ
The Audit
Bureau of Circulations is proposing a change in the way magazines
count their circulation, according to a report in today’s The Wall Street
Journal. The move could give a much-needed short-term boost to the
magazine industry but in the end the changes will prove a greater boon to
advertisers by giving them far more information on how publications are
distributed. At an ABC board meeting this weekend, the proposed
change was introduced to allow magazines to count copies of publications sold at any price.
As it stands now, publishers can only count copies sold for more than 50
percent of a magazine's basic price. But publishers under the new rules
would also
be required to report a magazine's average sales price, excluding
certain expenses such as the cost of promotions. Publishers would be asked
to provide the price and volume of copies sold for less than 35 percent of
the average price. Magazine publishers would also have to disclose how
many copies are sold through marketing partnerships. The proposed plan
would allow publishers to boost circulation and advertising rates by
counting lower-cost copies, while giving advertisers a much closer look at
who buys their magazines and for what price.
Report: Inside is looking
for a buyer
Powerful
Media, parent company of Inside.com, has begun shopping itself around to
several large media companies, according to a report today in The New York Times. The company, which also recently launched a print magazine
published as a joint venture with The Industry Standard, has held meetings
with AOL Time Warner, Primedia, Reed Elsevier, Hearst, Condé Nast and
Standard Media International, looking for possible buyers. However, so far
Primedia is the only company still interested in obtaining Inside.com,
according to the Times. Previously Powerful Media had held serious talks with Cahners, a division of
the media company Reed Elsevier; however the two companies couldn’t come
up with a deal. Powerful Media, founded by Kurt Andersen, a former editor in
chief of New York Magazine, and Michael Hirschorn, former editor in chief
of Spin, recently fell short of its goal of selling 30,000 subscriptions
to Inside.com. The company is reportedly burning through its estimated $30
million, approximately $10 million of which it has already spent on
marketing and advertising for the website and magazine.
Yet more tips on the
final 'Survivor,' perhaps?
Yet another possible "Survivor" website
leak has been detected by the folks at Survivorsucks.com. Users of the
site report that while looking at the source code of two pages on the
"Survivor: The Australian Outback" website, the final words
section and the chat archive, they noticed that a code has been written within the pages
hiding the names of all but two contestants-- Elisabeth Filarski and Amber
Brkich. What does this mean? Some say the information strongly suggests
that these two women are the last survivors-- the winner and the
runner-up. Last week, Surviorsucks.com reported that CBS’s
"Survivor" website included a picture of contestant Jeff Varner
with an "X" on it, suggesting that he was the next to be booted
off the show. Viewers found out on Thursday night that Varner was indeed
voted off the paradise. Rumor has it that the website slip-ups are
actually deliberate attempts by "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett
to cause confusion and speculation regarding the show.
'Survivor'
cameos boost CBS's 'Early Show'
Fueled by day-after "Survivor"
appearances, CBS's "The Early Show" hit all-time highs in
important demographics for the week that ended March 3. The CBS morning
program saw its 25-54 demo's numbers vault to their highest levels,
shooting up 30 percent from the same week last year to a 1.3 rating and 10 share.
The ratings were up 50 percent from last year for both women 18-49 and 25-54.
Last summer, "The Early Show" scored increased ratings when last
season's "Survivor" castaways appeared on the show. While still last among the
breakfast-casts in total viewers, the
"Early Show" crept up 16 percent (3.0 million from 2.6 million) from
the same week a year ago. ABC's "Good Morning America" slid 8
percent (4.6 million from 5.0 million), while top-rated NBC's "Today"
slipped 5 percent (6.0 million from 6.3 million). On the household ratings front,
the "Early Show" shot up 9 percent to a 2.5/10 from the same week a
year ago, making it the second most popular week since its premiere in
November of 1999. Competitor "Good Morning America" was down 12
percent and "Today" dropped four percent.
ABC adding Olsen
twins 'toon to Saturday morning
ABC will add an animated series produced
and starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen to its "Disney's One Saturday
Morning" block this fall. In association with DIC Entertainment, the
Olsen twins' production company Dualstar Animation will produce the
as-yet-untitled series. The two will host a live-action lead-in to the
beginning of each episode. ABC is seeking to use the Olsens' popularity to
prop up its slumping ratings. The network's ratings in the kids 2-11 demo
are down 24% to 2.2 from last year's 2.9. The ever-increasing Olsen Empire
currently includes a new teen magazine, a fashion line at Wal-Mart,
Playstation and Game Boy games, jewelry, dolls and accessories, books,
albums, school accessories and two-dozen movies. The twins shot into
stardom with their starring role on the now defunct TV show "Full
House" in 1987.
New Chicago magazine loses
its funding
Jim Ylisela had a swell business plan, 3,300
square feet of office space in a downtown-Chicago loft, four full-time
staffers and at least $5 million in seed money—only to see it all
disintegrate when his financial backing dried up. And get this: it wasn't
even a dot.com. Ylisela, a faculty member at Northwestern’s Medill
School of Journalism, was getting ready to launch a magazine. Clout was to
be a grittier, denser version of Chicago magazine, skipping all the
traditional city-magazine fare like lists of restaurants and glossy
celebrity photos. Instead it was going to focus on hard reporting, local
fiction, essays and issue-driven journalism. He was even going to pay
his freelancers a living wage. But in recent weeks, Ylisela’s old friend
and money-man George Ball decided that the numbers just weren’t adding
up. He told Ylisela that he could not justify the investment, and so Clout
remains a swell idea rather than a magazine.
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