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Strong showings from their regular hits brought first and second place finishes to NBC and Fox Monday night, as both edged out habitual winner CBS. NBC crept past with a 5.5 adult 18-49 rating, Fox had a 5.4, CBS a 5.1 and ABC a 2.9, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. NBC's "Fear Factor" continued to display strong legs with a 6.2 rating among adults 18-49 for the hour, easily beating a 5.5 from CBS's duo of "King of Queens" and "Yes, Dear" and Fox's "Boston Public," which garnered a respectable 5.2. CBS took the 9 p.m. with a 6.8 in adults 18-49, but a 25 percent drop by "Becker" from its lead-in of "Everybody Loves Raymond" allowed Fox's "Ally McBeal" to take the second half-hour by just a tenth of a point. The resurgent David E. Kelley dramedy picked up a 5.7 adult 18-49 rating for the hour, topping a 5.1 from NBC's "Third Watch." At 10 p.m. NBC's "Crossing Jordan" continued its supremacy in the hour, defeating CBS's "Family Law" by two full rating points. ABC failed to excite viewers with its package of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and the Robin Williams movie "Patch Adams." The average household rating and share for Monday night were: CBS 9.5/14, NBC 8.1/12, Fox 7.8/11, and ABC 6.6/10. On Sunday night, Fox utterly dominated with its coverage of the St. Louis Rams vs. New England Patriots matchup, 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 postgame 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 postgame 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.
Murdoch plots to ice EchoStar/DirecTV merger
News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch is used to getting what he wants. But when he doesn't, watch out. Snubbed in a deal to acquire satellite TV company DirecTV last fall, Murdoch is intent on seeing to it that the FCC blocks its pending merger with EchoStar Communications, the other satellite giant. News Corp. lobbyists are said to be hard at work distributing copies of the 100-plus-page dossier "The Essential Guide to the EchoStar/DirecTV Deal," which attempts to detonate the arguments put forth by merger supporters. EchoStar claims the deal would enable it to provide local TV signals in 100 markets, up from 40 today, an increase that would be a boon to rural communities. News Corp. denies such claims, asserting that both satellite companies can provide local TV stations in all local markets today but don't want to. News Corp. also decries a national pricing plan, an assurance to rural consumers with no alternatives for service, since it would necessitate constant supervision from the Justice Department, a role it has never taken on. Murdoch's officials also insist the resulting satellite company would still be able to abuse its monopoly status through customer service or programming availability. EchoStar executives say Murdoch is pushing now since he did not want to face them at hearings last December.
Maxim cat joke angers animal rights crowd
Is Maxim guilty of encouraging young men to torture cats? That's what some animal rights groups are suggesting, incensed over a joke that appeared in the magazine's December 2001 issue, according to the New York Post. Cat-hating humor is something of a staple for men's magazines, but even by their standards, the Maxim joke, submitted by a reader, was pretty cringe-worthy: "How do you make a cat go woof? Douse it with gasoline and toss it into a fireplace." The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Humane Society of the United States, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have all written letters to Maxim editor Keith Blanchard pointing out that cat burning is a distressingly common occurrence and that young men in Maxim's demographic are the most common perpetrators of such acts. Blanchard and Maxim have yet to apologize for the joke or respond to the letter-writers’ concerns.
HBO, NBC will air Matthew Shepard tele-pics
NBC and HBO are racing to memorialize Matthew Shepard, the gay college student whose brutal murder drew national attention to the issue of hate crimes. Originally both NBC's "The Matthew Shepard Story" and HBO's "The Laramie Project" were going to premiere the same day, March 16. HBO, however, moved the air date of "The Laramie Project" up a week, to March 9, so as to "broaden the audience for both projects," according to Chris Albrecht, president of HBO original programming. "The Matthew Shepard Story" will focus on the parents of the victim and how they were forced to deal with the death of their son as well as a nationally publicized trial, while "The Laramie Project" is based on a play about the city's response to the crime.
'Sopranos' star Iler declines plea bargain deal
"Sopranos" star Robert Iler has decided to take his chances fighting a mugging rap rather than cut a deal with the prosecutor. Iler, 16, was arrested last summer and charged with mugging and marijuana possession. He and two friends allegedly robbed two other teens of $40 on a street corner on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Under the deal offered to him on Friday, Iler and one of the codefendants, Alban Selimaj, would avoid the prospect of jail time by pleading guilty to petty larceny, a lesser charge. But the boys reportedly balked at the offer, as it would require them to plead guilty to a crime they still insist they did not commit. The third defendant was not offered a plea bargain deal, as he is older and was said to have instigated the mugging.
February 5, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
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