News Shorts

Fox stomps with Super Bowl
As is the norm with Super Bowl Sunday, Fox utterly dominated last night with its coverage of the St. Louis Rams vs. New England Patriots match-up,
winning every half-hour from 7 to 11 p.m. by a mile and a half. Fox clocked in with a 31.6 adult 18-49 rating, NBC had a 3.2, ABC a 1.9 and CBS a 1.8, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings but not accounting for time-zone differences. A half-hour into the contest, Fox pulled in a 33.0 in adults 18-49, but saw its numbers drop the next two half-hours to 31.8 at 7:30 p.m. and 30.4 at 8 p.m. From 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. the cycle repeated, as the 18-49 rating dropped from 32.6 to 31.0 to 30.7. At 10 p.m. the final Patriots drive and the post-game celebration brought in a 34.0 in adults 18-49, which quickly plummeted to a 13.2 the next half-hour with the end of the post-game and the beginning of a special one-hour "Malcolm in the Middle." NBC was the most successful of the other networks in counter-programming, as its special Playboy Playmate editions of "Fear Factor" drew a 4.6 for the 8 p.m. half-hour and a 4.7 for the 10 p.m. hour. Neither ABC nor CBS were able to score higher than a 3.0 all night. ABC presented the Disney movie "Pocahontas" and reruns of "Alias" and "The Practice." CBS rolled out "60 Minutes II," "60 Minutes," and the Harrison Ford remake "Sabrina." The average household rating and share for Sunday night were: Fox 36.6/54, CBS 5.4/8, NBC 4.4/7 and ABC 3.7/6. Over the weekend, Fox didn't as much win Saturday night as not lose it, with its "Cops" and "America's Most Wanted" besting dismal performances from reruns and feature films on the Big Three networks. ABC's "From Russia with Love," CBS's double bill of "Touched by an Angel" and NBC's "The General's Daughter" didn't crack a 2.7 the first two hours of the night. Fox took the night with a 3.2, while CBS had a 2.7, ABC a 2.5 and NBC a 2.4, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. At 10 p.m. both movies and CBS 's "The District" picked up slightly, with CBS taking the hour with a 3.4 to NBC's 3.2. The average household rating and share for Saturday night were: CBS 6.5/12, Fox 5.3/10, ABC 4.6/8 and NBC 4.6/8. On Friday night, CBS squandered an early first-place lead and ended the night tied for last. NBC's regular Friday lineup won the night with a 4.3 adult 18-49 rating. ABC had a 4.1 and Fox and CBS shared a 2.7., based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. CBS's "Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials" took the first hour with a 3.9, a half-point above a 3.4 from NBC's "Providence." ABC took 9 p.m. with a surprisingly dominant "Best Commercials You've Never Seen (And Some You Have)," which pulled in a 4.4 among adults 18-49, besting a 3.7 from "Dateline NBC." CBS's midseason entry "First Monday" came in last with a 2.6 in adults 18-49. At 10 p.m. NBC charged into first with a 5.8 from "Law & Order: SVU," more than tripling the 1.6 from CBS's "Friday Night Super Bowl Bash." The average household rating and share for Friday night were: NBC 9.3/16, ABC 7.3/13, CBS 5.0/9 and Fox 3.6/6.

Sassa set to leave NBC in June
In what looks like an amicable split, Scott Sassa, president of NBC's West Coast division, will depart the network in June. Sassa, who has been at NBC since 1997, is said to get on well with NBC Entertainment president Jeff Zucker, but the assumption of new duties by president and chief operating officer Andrew Lack has made his role running the business aspect of the network's entertainment operations somewhat superfluous. A short-term contract extension that Sassa signed in December is set to expire in June, at which time he will leave NBC. The network is not expected to replace him.

WSJ reporter believed still alive, despite scares
Despite two reports of his death, investigators in Pakistan say they believe kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is still alive, and they continue to round up and question suspects. On Friday, a number of U.S. news organizations received an email that claimed to be from the kidnappers reporting that Pearl had been executed in keeping with a threat made the day before. Police were soon able to dismiss the message as a hoax, but two days later reports of Pearl's death again circulated when an unidentified body turned up in Karachi, where he was last seen. It was quickly determined that the body was not Pearl's, although not before ABC News reported that it was, triggering similar false reports by Fox News and MSNBC. Ten people have reportedly been arrested in Pakistan in connection with the investigation.

Al-Jazeera and CNN break over new Osama tape
Middle Eastern satellite network Al-Jazeera has severed ties with CNN, accusing the U.S. cable news network of unlawfully obtaining and broadcasting a taped interview between an Al-Jazeera reporter and Osama bin Laden. The interview took place on Oct. 21, just a few weeks before Northern Alliance forces took Kabul. Al-Jazeera, which had earlier been criticized by the Bush administration for airing uncut tapes of bin Laden spouting anti-West rhetoric, says it deemed the tape not newsworthy. But CNN eagerly aired parts of the 60-minute tape and questioned why Al-Jazeera had initially denied the existence of the tape and never aired any of the footage. Intelligence and high government officials in the U.S. and Britain acquired the tape soon after it was filmed. British Prime Minister Tony Blair even quoted from it in a speech to Parliament last November. In the interview, Osama bin Laden defended the murder of innocent civilians by the forces of jihad and predicted the end of human rights in the U.S., followed by "an unbearable hell and a choking life" brought on by the policies of the Bush administration.

MSNBC's Matthews: Fox News is soooo great
Chris Matthews may have it pretty good as host of MSNBC's "Hardball," but that doesn't mean he's above fishing for a job offer from Fox News Channel now that it's the No. 1 cable news network. Appearing as a guest on "Imus in the Morning," Matthews hinted heavily that he'd be open to switching networks should Fox News boss Roger Ailes come calling. "I don't think [MSNBC] has quite figured out what it is yet," Matthews told Imus. "But Fox, you know, has got this thing figured out." He also did a bit of advance brown-nosing for the benefit of his prospective boss. "I've always liked Roger. I'll never say a word against him." While Matthews says that he would love to be able to accept some of the offers he has received from rival networks, he still has over two years left on his MSNBC contract.

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