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Five medal wins--three of them gold--gave the U.S. its best medal day ever at the Winter Olympics and NBC another strong win last night in adults 18-49 and households. NBC posted its third-highest adult 18-49 rating of this Olympiad, its 11.2 easily outdistancing a 3.5 from Fox. ABC had a 3.3 and CBS a 2.5, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. The winter games from Salt Lake City have experienced a resurgence since Tuesday's huge 13.9 among adults 18-49, after suffering a steady decline in the ten days after the opening ceremony. Its rating in the demo swelled from an 8.3 at 8 p.m. to an 12.6 at 9:30 p.m. before dropping off slightly to an 11.4 at 10:30 p.m. On the other networks at 8 p.m. repeats of "My Wife and Kids" and "According to Jim" beat out new episodes of the faltering "That '80s Show" and "Grounded for Life" on Fox with a 3.7 to their 3.3 adult 18-49 rating. At 9 p.m. "Bernie Mac" and "Titus" posted a 3.8 in adults 18-49, better than a 3.0 from reruns of "Drew Carey" and "Whose Line." At 10 p.m. The second hour of the Kurt Russell movie "Breakdown" on CBS outdrew "20/20 Downtown" on ABC at 10 p.m., as its 18-49 rating climbed 32 percent from its first hour. The average household rating and share for Wednesday night were: NBC 19.0/30, CBS 5.6/9, ABC 5.1/8 and Fox 4.6/7. On Tuesday night, Michelle Kwan's first-place finish in the figure skating short program drew a huge audience for NBC, as its adult 18-49 audience surged 62 percent from the previous night, making it the second-highest-rated night so far of this Olympiad. NBC easily took the night with a 13.9 adult 18-49 rating, Fox had a 4.1, ABC a 3.4 and CBS a 2.0, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. NBC's Olympic coverage began with a strong 11.6 at 8 p.m. and surged to a 16.3 by 9 p.m., falling off gradually to a 11.9 at 10:30 p.m. At 8 p.m. Fox held up well with a 4.5 among adults 18-49 from its duo of "That '70s Show" and "Undeclared," while reruns of "My Wife and Kids" and "According to Jim" on ABC grabbed a 3.3 for third place. At 9 p.m. Fox's "24" didn't do as well as its lead-in, capturing only a 3.7 adult 18-49 rating for the hour. A new episode of ABC's "NYPD Blue" at 10 p.m. drew a 4.1 adult 18-49 rating for second place, less than a third of the Olympic audience. CBS was stuck in the basement all night as repeats of "JAG," "The Guardian," and "Judging Amy" never made it past a 2.4 in adults 18-49. The average household rating and share for Tuesday night were: NBC 22.8/35, CBS 5.6/9, ABC 5.5/8, and Fox 4.9/7.
A&E cancels much-praised '100 Centre Street'
On March 5, A&E will air the final episode of famed director Sidney Lumet's hard-biting courtroom drama "100 Centre Street." The show, the network's first original series, debuted last January to considerable praise from critics, including Media Life's Andrew Wallenstein, who observed that "Centre Street" "chronicles the proceedings at a Manhattan night court with riveting realism." In announcing the show's cancellation, A&E cited the series' declining ratings in its second season, in the wake of Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A&E moved the show in the fall from Monday to Tuesday, but the scheduling switch failed to halt the decline. In his review of the show, Wallenstein noted its similarity to NBC's long-running hit "Law & Order" but concluded: "'Centre' may in fact be better than the vaunted 'L&O' if its determination to present jurisprudence vérité is any indication."
Goldman denies plans to create magazine unit
It looks like Goldman, Sachs & Co. has scuttled its plans -- if it ever had them to begin with -- to put as much as $1 billion into a new magazine investing unit. The investment bank denied reports yesterday that it is gearing up to launch "a separate investment vehicle around publishing," according to The Daily Deal, a newspaper that covers mergers and acquisitions. Goldman had reportedly approached a number of publishing executives to see if any of them would be interested in running the unit at a salary of $45 million over four years, plus bonuses. Among those said to be on the list were the top executives of practically every major magazine company: Time Inc.'s Don Logan, Condé Nast's Steve Florio, Hearst's Cathleen Black, Hachette Filipacchi's Jack Kliger, and others. But the New York Observer reported that Goldman would probably kill the deal if it couldn't find someone sufficiently high-profile for the job, and that may be what happened.
Executive shakeup at Infinity Broadcasting
In a surprise move, Infinity Broadcasting's top executive Farid Suleman, has abruptly resigned to head radio company Citadel Communications. Suleman is a longtime associate of Viacom president Mel Karmazin, and his departure is being seen as a serious setback for both Viacom and for Karmazin, who of late has been in a widely publicized power struggle with Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone over the direction of the media conglomerate. Karmazin will assume Suleman's duties running Infinity, the radio and outdoor advertising unit of Viacom. Suleman denies reports of a rift with his longtime boss, saying the position with Citadel affords him an opportunity to "make my own mark," as he put it to The Wall Street Journal. While Karmazin's public clashes with Redstone have appeared to ease, it is widely expected that his contracted will not be renewed next year and that he too will leave the company he played such a critical role in building.
Computer code for good and evil on '24'?
In a cloak-and-dagger world where appearances are intended to deceive, how can you tell the good guys from the traitors? Look at their hardware, says "24" viewer and Mac devotee Dean Browell. A self-proclaimed "Mac-spotter," Browell believes that telling the good guys from the bad on the Fox espionage thriller boils down to which computers they use, Mac or PC, according to Wired News. Good guys Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and his agents all carry PowerBooks, iBooks and PowerMacs. Browell's theory appeared to be falling apart after he noticed that CIA agent Jamey Farrell was working on a Dell, but it was saved when the agent was recently outed as a traitor. Browell suspects another character, Tony Almeida, also a suspected traitor, has been outfitted with a Mac to divert viewers in the know, while seeming good-guy Nina Myers may be up to mischief after using a PC on a recent episode, which to Browell spells yet more trouble. The show's producers say it's all nonsense.
February 21, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
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