News Shorts

Newsmagazines still lure eyeballs
News programs continued to dominate primetime last night, as viewers overwhelmingly tuned to CBS’s “48 Hours” at 8 p.m. and NBC’s “Dateline” at 10 p.m. ABC’s news special, also at 10 p.m., placed second for the time period in both households and adults 18-49. At 9 p.m., when no news was on, CBS’s “Big Brother 2” won the hour in both households and adults 18-49, topping sitcom reruns on the other three networks. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Tuesday night were: CBS 7.6/12 and 3.9, NBC 6.9/11 and 4.0, ABC 6.8/11 and 3.4, and Fox 4.1/6 and 3.1. On Monday, all of the Big Three networks ran fan favorites, then capped the evening with news specials at 10 p.m. ABC’s special attracted the most viewers, winning the hour in both households and adults 18-49. Leading up to the news, households tuned into two episodes of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” and adults 18-49 watched repeats of sitcoms on CBS. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Monday night were: ABC 8.0/13 and 3.8, CBS 7.5/12 and 4.1, NBC 6.3/10 and 3.5, and Fox 4.8/7 and 3.0.

Stars aplenty sign on for pan-network telethon
In an unprecedented act of cooperation, the Big Four television networks will band together on Friday night for a two-hour telethon featuring the biggest celebrities from the worlds of music and entertainment. Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Paul Simon, Will Smith and Jim Carrey will be among the stars appearing on "America: A Tribute to Heroes," which will air from 9 to 11 p.m. EDT on ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. The show will also be made available to UPN and the WB as well as to any cable networks or radio stations that care to broadcast it. Other stars donating their time to the event will include Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen, Conan O'Brien, Tom Petty, Ray Romano, Robin Williams, Robert DeNiro, Faith Hill, Billy Joel, Neil Young, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder and the rock group Bon Jovi.

Some advertisers irked over People WTC special
By working frantically all day last Tuesday and through the night, the editorial staff of People magazine was able to turn out a special issue devoted entirely to the terrorist attacks on America by Thursday morning. But some advertisers were less than impressed with the end result, saying they would have preferred the option of withdrawing their ads rather than having them appear juxtaposed with images of death, ruin and suffering. Among the chagrined was Kraft Foods, which ran ads for Honey Nut Shredded Wheat cereal and Oasis nutrition bars. Both ads contained jokes about air travel. People Magazine Group president Nora McAniff told The Wall Street Journal that there wasn't enough time to notify advertisers and that getting in touch with them during the crisis would probably have been impossible anyway.

ABC decides to give WTC footage a rest
After playing footage of a hijacked airliner crashing into the World Trade Center and the towers collapsing hundreds of times, ABC News has decided enough is enough. Saying the constant replay of such images was eroding their truly shocking nature, senior officials at the network have ordered that footage of the buildings from last Tuesday morning be used sparingly, if at all. Still photos are now encouraged, though videos of the impact and collapse will still be allowed if they are critical to the story. The message was delivered to the news staff and to the network's affiliates through a memo from ABC News president David Westin, who made the decision after a dialogue with senior management team members. The network insists the choice was not influenced by any viewer response or any orders from corporate parent Disney. The other networks, notably NBC and CBS, have decreased their rotation of the tragedy footage, limiting it only to when it is relevant to a certain story.

CNN reporter fights to stay in Afghanistan
As the U.S. military calls up reserves and President Bush talks tough about capturing suspected WTC terrorist Osama bin Laden "dead or alive," CNN reporters are pleading with the government of Afghanistan to let them stay and cover any developments. Nic Robertson and his camera crew are reportedly the only U.S. TV journalists in the 95 percent of Afghanistan controlled by the Islamic-fundamentalist Taliban government. Robertson recently drove 14 hours from Kabul, the capital, to Kandahar to meet with Taliban officials, who have so far denied all his requests to stay, despite his insistence that coverage of the Afghan people will be essential if war does erupt. Robertson has also been pointing out that his long-term presence in Afghanistan has given him an understanding of the people a rookie newsman would not have. Word of his meeting with the war-torn nation's foreign minister has not emerged. If Robertson does receive a reprieve, he will have to continue to find ways around the Taliban's laws that forbid the photography or videotaping of any living creature. Meanwhile, CNN Moscow correspondent Steve Harrigan is filing reports from the mountainous region still held by the resistance fighters of the Northern Alliance.

OAAA shows support with 'United' billboards
You may have noticed the motto "In God We Trust, United We Stand" popping up on billboards and bus shelters across the country. That's the work of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, which had scheduled its annual meeting for Sept. 11-13 in New York City. Though the meeting was canceled following the attacks, a few board members stuck around in New York and decided to come up with a message of support that they would ask OAA members to put on their billboards. The message went up almost immediately on billboards in Manhattan and has started to appear all over the country. OAA board member Diane Cimine took part in the brainstorming session. About the seemingly religious nature of the message, Cimine says, “Essentially, there’s no magic. We were drawing upon a sense of patriotism. All you have to do is pick up a dollar to find that message.” Cimine, who holds a degree in philosophy, says that the word “God” is not meant to isolate one religious tradition. “One thing that continues to be prominent in our minds are these endless religious gatherings, where there are dozens and dozens of religions present. For a group, this represents a larger sense of healing.” The next OAA convention will take place in the spring of 2003.

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