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Three new shows premiered last night, and ABC’s “Alias” was the viewers’ top pick of the three. “Alias” won both households and adults 18-49 for the 9 p.m. hour, defeating the debut of NBC’s “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” in head-to-head competition. At 10 p.m., NBC’s “UC: Undercover” dropped 17 percent of “Criminal Intent’s” lead-in household rating and barely edged CBS’s “Sunday Movie” in households, but “UC” maintained its audience among adults 18-49 to finish second in the time period in the demographic. At 8 p.m., CBS’s “The Education of Max Bickford” won its hour in households, but declined 10 percent in ratings from its debut episode last week. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Sunday were: CBS 9.3/15 and 3.4, ABC 8.6/14 and 5.5, NBC 7.4/12 and 3.9, and Fox 5.2/8 and 4.0. Over the weekend, new series and relocated programs were no match for returning favorites. On Friday, NBC swept the night in both households and adults 18-49 with new episodes of “Providence,” “Dateline” and “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.” Fox’s “Dark Angel” managed to tie “Providence” among adults 18-49 at 8 p.m., and ABC’s “Thieves” tied “Dateline” in the demographic at 9 p.m. The most disappointing debuts of the night were ABC’s “The Mole 2,” which placed last during the 8 p.m. hour, and Fox’s “Pasadena,” which was last during the 9 p.m. hour. On Saturday night, ABC’s repeat of the feature film “Ransom” won every hour among adults 18-49 and every hour but one in households. That hour went to CBS’s “Touched by an Angel,” in its new time slot at 8 p.m. CBS’s new series “Citizen Baines” built slightly on that lead-in audience, but neither it nor “The District” at 10 p.m. were able to top “Ransom.” The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Friday night were: NBC 9.8/18 and 4.2, CBS 5.2/9 and 2.5, ABC 5.0/9 and 3.0, and Fox 4.0/7 and 2.7. For Saturday night: ABC 7.0/13 and 4.6, CBS 6.9/13 and 2.5, Fox 4.6/9 and 2.8, and NBC 3.4/6 and 2.2.
Curtain falls on Brill’s Contentville
Another Brill-iant idea, down the tubes. Brill Media Holdings plans to shutter its Contentville.com site, an online bazaar for books, magazines and other written materials. Conceived as an improvement on the Amazon.com concept, Contentville offered Ph.D. dissertations, television transcripts and single magazine articles, as well as expert commentary in a variety of areas. A bit surprisingly, the company isn’t pointing at the economic downturn, gloomy advertising market and dot.com implosion as the reasons behind Contentville’s demise. Founder Steven Brill, in a company memo, wrote that the concept behind Contentville “just didn’t work.” The site was launched in July 2000. Its 15 employees will lose their jobs as a result of the shutdown.
Emmys in dual-coast broadcast over flying fears
Easing the flying concerns of its New York stars, the Emmy Awards will be broadcast both from Los Angeles and New York on Oct. 7. A number of major actors from "The West Wing" and "The Sopranos" reportedly expressed trepidation over flying cross-country to L.A. for the Emmy ceremony as well as leaving their families far away in a time of crisis. They will now gather in NBC's Studio 6A, the location for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." Only four or five of the total 27 primetime awards will be given out in the New York location. Approximately 100 cast and crew members are located in the New York area. The Emmys were originally a bi-coastal affair starting in 1955 but switched to a national telecast from L.A. in the 1970s. Format changes will include opening remarks from elder news statesman Walter Cronkite and various tributes to those lost in the WTC tragedy. Emmy officials say they also hope to emphasize unity in the TV industry rather than mere competition for statuettes.
Brit girl expires after viewing FHM spread
A 14-year-old British girl fainted and died after she saw pictures of the “circus freaks” in FHM magazine, according to a report in the Times of London. In April, Odette Coulson and her friends were looking at the lad magazine’s spread called “The Carnival of the Grotesque.” Among the images in the spread were a “penis-contorting Indian” and a “two-mouthed man.” After she saw the pictures, Coulson fainted and hit her head on the concrete floor of a cricket court at her elementary school in North Yorkshire, England. She died of brain injuries 20 minutes later. Coulson was known to be sensitive; she once fainted during a biology class film that showed people being injected. Coulson’s parents have spoken out in favor of controlling access to magazines like FHM. FHM raised controversy two years ago when it published instructions for ten methods of suicide.
MPA switches magazine conference to New York
With cross-country air travel looking not very appealing right now, the Magazine Publishers of America and the American Society of Magazine Editors have changed the plans for their annual magazine conference. The American Magazine Conference will now be held in New York City, at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, from Oct. 21-23. "Many of our member attendees as well as speakers expressed their reluctance to leave their New York-based offices during such challenging times," said MPA President Nina Link in a statement. The conference was originally to be held in Phoenix, Ariz. A spokeswoman for MPA says the planners are notifying speakers of the venue change and reconfirming their participation.
October 1, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
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