News Shorts

ABC takes households and 18-49s
ABC squeaked out a win in both households and adults 18-49 last night, edging CBS in households and Fox in the demographic. Only two of ABC’s programs won their hours—the couples edition of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” in households and “NYPD Blue” in adults 18-49—but whenever ABC didn’t win, it finished in second place. At 8 p.m. “Millionaire” was second behind Fox’s “That '70’s Show” and “Titus” in adults 18-49, at 9 p.m. ABC’s “Dharma and Greg” and “What about Joan” placed second behind NBC’s hour-long “Frasier” in both households and adults 18-49; and at 10 p.m., “NYPD Blue” was second in households to CBS’s “Judging Amy.” The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Tuesday night were: ABC 8.8/14 and 4.8, CBS 8.7/14 and 3.1, NBC 7.3/12 and 4.2, and Fox 6.0/10 and 4.7. On Monday, Robert Downey Jr.’s final appearance on “Ally McBeal” helped boost Fox to an adult 18-49 win and a close second-place finish in households on Monday night. The program lost in households to CBS’s “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Becker,” but easily topped NBC’s “Dateline” and ABC’s repeat of “Con Air.” Among adults 18-49, Fox won every adult 18-49 half-hour except the 9 p.m., when “Raymond” edged “Ally” in the demographic. CBS also managed to win the night in households, despite losing three half-hours to NBC’s "Weakest Link” and “Third Watch.” The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Monday night were: CBS 8.6/14 and 4.5, Fox 7.9/13 and 5.8, NBC 7.8/13 and 4.7, and ABC 7.0/11 and 4.5.

Big ratings for 'Moneyline' as Dobbs rides again
CNN, which reportedly paid millions to regain the services of Lou Dobbs, may get its money’s worth after all. On his first night back behind the desk at "Moneyline," Dobbs spurred the show on to strong ratings and a win of sorts over its arch-rival, CNBC’s "Business Center." "Moneyline" (full name: "Lou Dobbs Moneyline") averaged 356,000 households and 393,000 viewers on Monday night, compared to the 249,000 households and 296,000 viewers it averaged during the first quarter of the year under co-anchors Stuart Varney and Willow Bay. During the hour it went head-to-head with "Moneyline," "Business Center" drew 366,000 households and 356,000 viewers, according to Nielsen. Dobbs has said that "Moneyline" will consistently outdraw "Business Center" again within a year.

Women's Wear prez jumps to head InStyle
After two months with no one to head up business operations at InStyle, Time Inc. has finally found the woman for the job. Stephanie George, president of Women’s Wear Daily at Fairchild Publications, will join Time Inc. as president of InStyle beginning June 1, the company said yesterday. George was also launch publisher of W magazine. InStyle lost its last publisher when Condé Nast poached Louis Cona to be publisher of Vanity Fair just prior to the Oscars in March. The long delay in naming a successor had many in the industry wondering. Just this Monday, a report in the trades suggested that no one wanted the job and the expectations it carried—the need to sustain an unsustainable rate of growth. But fat as it was last year with ad pages, InStyle doesn’t seem to have hit its wall just yet: pages were up 9.4 percent through April to 988.04, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

Rupe: How I pity Ted Turner
Aging media mogul Rupert Murdoch, speaking in an interview that will air tonight on CNBC, slung what must surely be his most elegant insult yet at his erstwhile rival Ted Turner. Noting how Turner has been more or less shoved aside in the AOL Time Warner hierarchy of power, Murdoch said, "You can't help but feel rather sorry for him." But Rupe's empathy is on a short string; he quickly added that Turner made his own bed there. "It was his mistake for selling out," said Murdoch, who has been in a talkative mood this week. Speaking to an investment conference in Hong Kong via video feed from New York, the News Corp. chief went on record as being in favor of Beijing's bid to get the 2008 Olympics, citing in particular the incentive it would give the Chinese government to clean up the city's environment. Not so coincidentally, Murdoch's News Corp. owns 38 percent of the Chinese satellite TV company Phoenix Satellite Television. Phoenix appears ready to expand the number of channels it offers, according to Murdoch, whose Star TV enterprise also provides programming to many Chinese cable systems.

Tina's Talk snags a No. 2 from New York mag
Maer Roshan has been flirting with the glossies for some time; now he’s finally made the jump. The oft-courted deputy editor of New York magazine has taken a job as editorial director of Talk. There he’ll serve as Tina Brown’s second-in-command, meaning that current No. 2 Bob Wallace becomes a vice president, giving up day-to-day editorial duties, according to reports. Brown has had her eye on Roshan for a long time, and in late 1999 she reportedly tried to lure him with an offer to double his salary. Roshan told his bosses about the offer and was promptly given a generous raise, enough to convince him to stay. He also was asked to serve as editor in chief of Gotham, the new high-end monthly for Manhattanites, but turned that down too.

WB shows to get second run on TNT
WB executives may finally get their wish next year as some of their shows--possibly "Gilmore Girls" and "Charmed"--are being discussed with sister network TNT as suitable for airing several days after their initial WB premieres. Executives hope the sharing of the programs will help promote them to a broader audience and help sell more advertising time at a higher rate. Viewers will also be able to catch up on episodes they initially missed. Circumstances have changed since the WB tried and failed to get the concept accepted years before. Newly-merged AOL Time Warner has placed a high priority on sharing properties, and new Turner Broadcasting chief Jamie Kellner was one of the WB executives who originally pushed for the idea. Repeat showings on partner networks are not rare. Lifetime has rerun "Once and Again" episodes shortly after they aired on ABC. The "Today" show has aired on NBC only to appear a few hours later on MSNBC.

Pols hold hearing on postal hikes for magazines
Massive lobbying efforts by the Magazine Publishers Association over postal rate hikes seem to be paying off. Senator Fred Thompson, chairman of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, began hearings yesterday on the Postal Services finances. His immediate concern: last week's rate increase of 2.6 percent on periodical postage, set to take effect in July. ''I intend to question the board about this action,'' the senator said in a statement. ''They will be asked to justify these new rates.'' Today the Government Reform Committee in the House, chaired by Rep. Dan Burton, will hold its second hearing this year on postal matters. The hearing will feature testimony from those affected by the rate hike and unions representing postal employees. Rep. John McHugh's reform bill, which would give the Postal Service more flexibility to change product prices, overhaul the rate-setting procedure and authorize the Post Office to negotiate discounted bulk mail contracts, faces tough opposition from Postal Service unions; private delivery companies like UPS, which says it would face competitive disadvantage with the reforms; and congressmen wary of endangering Postal Service jobs in their area.

Printer-Friendly Version | Send to a Friend
Cover Page | Contact Us