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Fox squeaked out a Monday night win among adults 18-49 last night, winning only one half-hour in the demographic. But ABC’s “Monday Night Football” match-up between the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans was too low-rated to give its network the win. Without adjusting for time zone differences, the game averaged a preliminary 10.5/16 household rating and share and 6.6 adult 18-49 rating. ABC won households for the night, but CBS won three half-hours in households with “King of Queens,” “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Becker.” “King of Queens” and “Raymond” also won their half-hours among adults 18-49. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Monday night were: ABC 10.0/15 and 5.6, CBS 9.8/15 and 5.3, NBC 7.7/12 and 4.9, and Fox 7.3/11 and 5.7. Over the Veteran’s Day weekend, all four networks took turns with the audience. NBC won Friday, and CBS won Saturday, each with their usual lineups, while ABC and Fox split Sunday night among households and adults 18-49. The unedited broadcast premiere of “Saving Private Ryan” won the night in households for ABC, and the season premieres of “Malcolm in the Middle” and “The X-Files” helped win the night among adults 18-49 for Fox. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share for Sunday were: ABC 10.1/16 and 5.7, CBS 9.8/15 and 3.9, Fox 7.8/12 and 6.1, and NBC 6.5/10 and 3.5. For Saturday: CBS 7.8/14 and 3.3, Fox 4.7/9 and 2.8, ABC 4.2/8 and 2.6, and NBC 3.7/7 and 2.0. For Friday: NBC 9.6/17 and 4.2, CBS 5.4/10 and 2.4, ABC 4.5/8 and 2.2, and Fox 4.4/8 and 3.5.
Feminist mag Ms. gets new owners
Ms., the seminal feminist magazine started 30 years ago by Gloria Steinem, is changing hands again. Beginning early next year, it will be published by the Feminist Majority Foundation, the group headed by Eleanor Smeal, former president of the National Organization for Women. The magazine has laid off most of its New York staff in preparation for transferring editorial operations to Los Angeles. Ms.’s current owner, Liberty Media for Women LLC, bought the title from MacDonald Communications Corp. in 1998. Steinem, who served as chair of Liberty Media for Women, will remain onboard as a consulting editor.
EPA breaks promise to help in AMI cleanup
Anxiety has given way to resentment at American Media Inc., where CEO David Pecker has criticized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for rescinding an offer to help the company decontaminate its headquarters. Pecker says the EPA stopped short of pinpointing areas in the building where the concentration of anthrax spores is highest, according to the Miami Herald. "We had requested that the EPA undertake additional testing to disclose the intensity of a ‘hot’ area in order to fine-tune a building cleanup plan that would better fit the actual conditions of our building, but it does not appear they will assist us in this endeavor," Pecker wrote in a memo to all AMI employees yesterday. A team of environmental consultants hired by AMI also rejects the EPA's assurances that the building's ventilation system is free of contamination. Two employees of AMI, which publishes the National Enquirer and other tabloids, have been diagnosed with inhalation anthrax. One, photo editor Bob Stevens, died; the other, mailroom supervisor Ernesto Blanco, is said to be recovering.
WWF president booted amid layoffs
With one shoulder on the canvas, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. has been forced to take painful measures, parting with 9 percent of its employees and sending a top executive packing. Stuart Snyder, president and chief operating officer of WWFE for the last year-and-a-half, is out after an apparent power play by CEO Linda McMahon. Pete DiNicola, formerly senior vice president in charge of planning and administration, becomes the new COO, while McMahon will fulfill the duties of president. As part of a wider reorganization, 39 jobs were eliminated from the workforce of 450, mainly in the marketing and consumer products divisions. After looking unstoppable last year, WWFE has suffered a reversal of fortune that was anything but staged. Ratings for "Raw" and "Smackdown" are down by double-digit percentages, and the XFL, a new football league formed in partnership with NBC, was an expensive flop.
Sassa re-ups as NBC West Coast chief
Pink slips are landing on desks all over the entertainment industry these days, but one fellow you won't see standing on line at the unemployment office is Scott Sassa, NBC's West Coast president. Contrary to a lot of people's expectations, Sassa will stay on at the network after his current three-year contract runs out at the end of December. A TV veteran who launched TNT and the Cartoon Network during his days at Turner Broadcasting, Sassa has signed a new agreement that will keep him at NBC for at least two more years, possibly more. His job looked to be in jeopardy last season as NBC appeared to miss out on the reality craze. In the time since, the network has made several semi-successful stabs at the genre and has seen the aging sitcom "Friends" vault back to the top of the ratings, at the expense of CBS's "Survivor."
Curtains for Bust? Looks that way
It looks like Bust, the indie women's magazine with an outsize attitude, may be just about finished. Razorfish Studios, which owns the title, has laid off Bust’s employees, including editor Debbie Stoller and creative director Laurie Henzel, according to a report in the Silicon Alley Daily. Founded in 1993, Bust attracted a fair amount of attention in hipster circles while managing to avoid the conventions of traditional magazinedom, such as a regular publishing schedule. Razorfish had said it was going to relaunch Bust early next year as a monthly with an expanded circulation. But the company apparently had second thoughts, holding unproductive negotiations with Dennis Publishing and Harris Publishing before dismissing Bust’s staff.
November 13, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
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