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Wednesday’s two freshman shows seem to be among those most ripe for cancellation this year. Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m., ABC’s “According to Jim” fell 25 percent in household rating and 20 percent in adult 18-49 rating from its premiere numbers last week. The show also lost 17 percent of “My Wife and Kids'” lead-in household audience. At 10 p.m., CBS’s “Wolf Lake” slid another 10 percent in households and 18 percent among adults 18-49 from last week, bringing the total drop from its premiere to 30 percent in each rating group. NBC easily won the night, with the season premiere of “Ed” winning its 8:30 p.m. half-hour among adults 18-49. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Wednesday night were: NBC 12.6/20 and 7.2, ABC 7.0/11 and 4.6, CBS 6.3/10 and 3.1, and Fox 5.8/9 and 2.8.
FBI: American Media anthrax attack was 'isolated'
Law enforcement officials in Florida are tentatively calling the outbreak of anthrax at American Media an 'isolated incident' after turning up no new evidence pointing to the involvement of terrorists. Attorney General John Ashcroft told reporters yesterday that, while the FBI is treating the case as a criminal investigation, he would not label it an act of bioterrorism based on the evidence so far. Investigators believe the strain of anthrax that infected three employees of the tabloid publisher is one that was isolated at an Iowa lab in the 1950s and is used widely by researchers. So far, investigators have yet to detect anthrax spores anywhere outside the American Media facilities, but Ashcroft said the fact that the spores were present in sufficient quantity to infect three people suggest that they got there through a deliberate act.
Docs say Rush Limbaugh may hear again
Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh is preparing to undergo experimental drug therapy that doctors say may have the potential to restore his damaged hearing. At a press conference yesterday, three ear specialists said they have diagnosed Limbaugh with autoimmune inner ear disease. They said it will be six weeks before they can say whether the medications he is on are having the desired effect. On his program Monday, Limbaugh disclosed to listeners that he has been losing his hearing rapidly for four months and is now almost totally deaf. He said he can no longer hear the voices of callers, but said he would find a way to keep doing the show.
Ted Turner critiques U.S. foreign policy
They don't call him "the Mouth of the South" for nothing. Speaking to a gathering at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on Wednesday, CNN founder Ted Turner offered some, um, original arguments for why Russia should be allowed to join NATO. "If you've ever been not allowed to join a club, and you want to join, you know how much it hurts to be insulted like that--because you're Jewish or black or just talk a little too much or are Southern or whatever," said Turner. "I've had it happen to me on numerous occasions, and it makes you mad as hell." He also had some thoughts on how the U.S. can improve its image in the Third World. "If you're rich and powerful, you better be nice, and humble. . . . You can get a lot more cooperation out of people if they like you." Turner said the news media must improve their international coverage if the U.S. is not to be criticized for its insularity. "Americans are woefully uninformed at the current time about international news in general, and I've always said we were doing that at our peril."
'Nightline' draws fire for airing doomsday scenario
Is "Nightline" guilty of giving dangerous people bad ideas? Some people think so after a mentally ill man caused a brief germ-warfare scare by spraying aerosol in a Washington, D.C., subway station. The incident came days after "Nightline" aired a segment about a hypothetical bio-attack scenario in which anthrax is sprayed in the subway system, killing 42,000 people in one week. In the real-life incident, police arrested the man, and the substance he sprayed was found to be a cleaning agent. Some people suffered from nausea, headaches and sore throats, but police attributed their symptoms to the pepper spray used to subdue the perpetrator. No one knows whether the man was influenced by the broadcast but concerned citizens called in alarm to the show. "Nightline" executives have defended the news value of the segment.
October 12, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
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