Oops! USA yanks WTC séance stunt

Oops! USA yanks
WTC séance stunt

'Crossing Over's' Edward planned to talk to dead

By Elizabeth White

    If the idea sounded a tad far-fetched yesterday, today it appears to have been a bad idea that got worse the longer executives of Studios USA thought about it.
    Bulletin: During the November sweeps TV-psychic medium John Edward will NOT attempt to contact victims of the World Trade Center attacks on his syndicated series "Crossing Over with John Edward."
    After getting grief from advertisers and station managers, and presumably a stiff-fingered no from USA boss Barry Diller, USA has dropped plans for any such shows.
   The idea for the shows came about, say studio executives, after Edwards was contacted by families of the victims seeking to communicate via séance with their departed loved ones. The initial sense was that the shows would bring comfort not just to the families but also be viewed as uplifting.
   But word of the televised séances leaked out and was published on the site of Broadcasting & Cable, and that in turn set off calls to USA questioning the taste of the idea.
   Though the séances won't air, they are likely to live on in memory as the worst of the worst when it comes to sweeps stunts.
    The whole episode may also be remembered as Edward's last gasp at seeing a second year, using a sweeps stunt to build a following that has eluded him among daytime viewers.
    Though always controversial, Edward did strong numbers on the Sci-Fi Channel, and the presumption was that his show would do well in syndication.
    It has not, nor has syndicated TV.
     "Syndicated ratings are down for typical erosion reasons and also because of recent events," says Brad Adgate, senior vice president and corporate research director at Horizon Media.
    "The events have bumped a lot of the syndication shows around, and it’s hard for viewers to set their patterns. People are tuning more to news than entertainment programs."
    The November sweeps are also of exceptional importance among syndicated series, as one of the few times affiliates get accurate numbers for the shows and as the only sweeps period before NATPE.
    "This erosion has been going on for years. What’s always important is the November sweeps, and that will be the true indication of whether they’ll be around. Programs that do well will get upgrades," says Adgate.
     "Contacting WTC victims is certainly a sweep thing to do or to publicize. It depends on if you believe in it. It’s obviously an attempt to bring in viewers."
     "Crossing Over" is an oddly compelling half-hour, in which Edward stands in the middle of a small studio, rattling off images, numbers, letters and relationships, and asks certain audience members if these things have any significance.
    When they do mean something, Edward nods and says little more than, "That person is there and wants you to know that he’s okay." Then he quickly moves on to the next image or the next audience member.
    The formula has worked relatively well. An hour-long version is a second-year hit on the Sci-Fi cable network.
    But while "Crossing Over" is the highest-rated syndicated talk show of the freshman class, it is at best a dubious distinction. It still trails reigning talk show queen "Oprah Winfrey" by more than 60 percent.
    "Crossing Over" earned a 1.8 household rating the week of Oct. 8, while other freshman talkers scored in the low ones, like "Ananda Lewis’s" 1.2 , "Iyanla’s" 1.0, "The Other Half’s" 1.0 and "Talk or Walk’s" 0.7. "Oprah," in contrast, scored a 6.4 household rating that same week.
    Yet "Oprah" benefits from being a familiar old show, part of a category of programs that have been doing particularly well after Sept. 11, while new shows have struggled.
    A case in point is that the highest-rated first-year syndicated series is the off-network sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond," which earned a 4.5 household rating the week of Oct. 8.
    "‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ is also doing well in primetime," says Adgate. "Maybe it has something to do with how viewers are returning to old favorites. ‘Friends’ is really killing ‘Survivor.’ It’s somewhat of a comfort."
    Among new syndicated shows, "Raymond" is followed by the action series "Mutant X," which scored a 3.3 during the week of Oct. 8, but the rest of the top-five freshman series are off-network series. "King of the Hill" and "The Practice" each garnered a 2.7, and "Just Shoot Me" and "World’s Wildest Police Chases" each earned a 2.4.

Household Ratings for First-Year Syndicated Series Week of Oct. 8-Oct. 14, 2001
Show	Rtg	Syndicator	Show- Type	Daypart	Coverage % of US
Ananda Lewis Show	1.2	King World	Talk	-	-
Buffy the Vampire Slayer	1.9	Twentieth Television	Off Network	Weekend Access	98
Card Sharks	0.9	Pearson Television	Game	Daytime	85
Crossing Over with John Edward	1.8	Studios USA	Reality	Daytime	90
Elimidate	1.2	Warner Bros.	Dating	Late Night	90
Everybody Loves Raymond	4.5	King World	Off Network	-	-
Iyanla	1.0	Buena Vista Television	Talk	Early Fringe/ Daytime	85
Just Shoot Me	2.4	Columbia Tristar Television	Off Network	Access/Late Fringe	95
King of the Hill	2.7	Twentieth Television	Off Network	Prime Access	99
Mad TV	0.9	Warner Bros.	Off Network	Late Night	90
Mutant X	3.3	Tribune Enter'ment	Sci-Fi	Primetime/ Fringe	90
Rendez- View	0.9	Paramount	Dating	Late Fringe	85
Steve Harvey	1.4	Columbia Tristar Television	Off Network	Access/Late Fringe	95
Talk or Walk	0.7	Tribune Enter'ment	Talk	Daytime	90
The 5th Wheel	1.0	Tribune Enter'ment	Dating	Late Fringe	85
The Bravest	1.2	Tribune Enter'ment	Reality	Primetime/ Fringe	85
The Other Half	1.0	Tribune Enter'ment	Talk	Daytime	90
The Practice	2.7	Twentieth Television	Off Network	Weekend Access/ Fringe	98
World's Wildest Police Videos	2.4	Twentieth Television	Off Network	Weekend Access/ Fringe	95
Source: Nielsen Media Research

-Elizabeth White is a staff writer for Media Life.

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