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The winter Olympics on NBC went out with a bang last night, as the last three hours of coverage captured the fourth-highest ratings of the Olympiad, vaulting the network into a dominant win in adults 18-49 and households. NBC captured an 11.4 adult 18-49 rating for the night, Fox had a 4.5, ABC a 3.4 and CBS a 2.6, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. For the 8-11 p.m. block, NBC averaged a 13.1, behind only the 15.4 from the opening ceremonies and the 13.9 and 15.0 from two nights of figure skating. Overall the games from Salt Lake City averaged a 10.7 among adults 18-49 during the 17 days. At 7 p.m. anticipation for the Olympics fueled a 6.4 adult 18-49 rating for NBC's "Dateline," which easily outdistanced a 3.5 from two episodes of "King of the Hill" on Fox. A new "Simpsons" and a repeat of "Malcolm in the Middle" gave Fox another commanding second-place win the next hour with a 5.9 in the demo, more than the combined audience for CBS's "Education of Max Bickford" and the second hour of the Disney movie "Tarzan" on ABC. At 9 p.m. "The Rosa Parks Story" on CBS came in last place in adults 18-49 in every one of its half-hours, as repeats of "The Simpsons" and "Bernie Mac" on Fox took the first hour and ABC's "The Practice" won the 10 p.m. hour. The average household rating and share for Sunday night were: NBC 20.0/30, CBS 6.9/10, ABC 5.4/8 and Fox 5.3/8. Over the weekend, the end of figure skating led to a bit of ratings sag on NBC, though the winter Olympics still easily topped all competitors among adults 18-49 and households. On Saturday NBC posted an 8.6 adult 18-49 rating, Fox had a 3.3, ABC a 1.9 and CBS a 1.5, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. Though improved slightly from last Saturday's 8.2 in adults 18-49, viewership in the demo still tied for third-lowest of this Olympiad. Fox came in second for the night behind four episodes of "Cops," which was enough to match the combined audience for CBS and ABC. A repeat of "Touched By an Angel" and two reruns of "The District" on CBS and the James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice" on ABC failed to draw viewer interest. The average household rating and share for Saturday night were: NBC 15.0/26, Fox 4.9/9, CBS 4.4/8, and ABC 3.2/6. On Friday night, NBC saw its Olympic adult 18-49 audience sink 41 percent from the night before, though it still came in 6 percent above the previous Friday's mark. NBC nevertheless dominated the night with an 8.9 in adults 18-49. CBS had a 2.5, Fox a 2.3 and ABC a 1.9, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. At 8 p.m. reruns of "My Wife and Kids" and "According to Jim" on ABC defeated the first hour of the 1998 sci-fi flick "Lost in Space" on Fox and "48 Hours" on CBS. At 9 p.m. the second hour of "Lost in Space" tied the first hour of the Edward Norton-Richard Gere movie "Primal Fear" on CBS with a 2.4 adult 18-49 rating. The CBS thriller enlarged its audience the next hour, nearly doubling the adult 18-49 viewership of ABC's "20/20." The average household rating and share for Friday night were: NBC 16.8/29, CBS 5.5/9, ABC 3.5/6, and Fox 3.1/5.
'The View' finds a new vista on A&E
Barbara, Star and the gang are making the leap to cable. Barbara Walters and Disney have struck a deal to put next-day repeats of "The View," ABC's panel-format daytime talk show, on A&E. Starting April 1, each installment of "The View" will get an original airing on ABC at 11 a.m. weekdays before rerunning the following day on A&E at 1 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. In the later slot, it will replace the "Law & Order" reruns that have been a staple of the network for nearly 10 years. A&E executives hope the female-skewing talk show will be a better lead-in for "Biography" than "L&O," which finishes its run on the network in September. Walters and Disney co-own "The View, and Disney owns part of A&E.
Ex-NBA star Williams surrenders to cops
Former NBA star Jayson Williams is expected to turn himself into authorities this morning to face manslaughter charges stemming from the shooting death of limousine driver Costas Christofi earlier this month. According to published reports, Williams, who joined NBC as a basketball commentator after retiring from the New Jersey Nets, was twirling a shotgun on his finger when it went off, striking Christofi in the chest and killing him on Feb. 14. He reportedly told police he was intoxicated at the time of the accident, which occurred in his New Jersey home. Williams' fondness for firearms has landed him in trouble before, including an incident two years ago in which he was charged with firing a semi-automatic gun in a stadium parking lot. If found guilty of causing Christofi's death through recklessness, Williams could face a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
CBS's 'Wolf Lake' headed to UPN
While it may not have drawn enough of a viewership to earn it a place at CBS, last fall's "Wolf Lake" may have a future at little sister network UPN. The Lou Diamond Philips supernatural thriller drew only 6.5 million viewers during its five-episode run last fall. Though a bit low for Big Three networks, such numbers would suit UPN just fine. Its recently canceled sci-fi series "Special Unit 2" managed to only scrape together 3.6 million viewers a week even after a lead-in from network anchor "Enterprise." Four completed episodes of "Wolf Lake" still have never aired. This is the second CBS series that will make its way onto UPN's schedule. It was announced just last Thursday that repeats of "The Amazing Race 2" will air on UPN Fridays starting in March.
Pat Robertson: Muslims want to destroy us
Nobody ever called Pat Robertson politically correct, but the "700 Club" host and former presidential candidate offended even more people than usual last week when he accused Muslims of wanting to "control, dominate and... destroy" followers of other faiths. During a discussion of the political views of American Muslims, the Christian Broadcasting Network founder offered the following opinion: "I have taken issue with our esteemed president in regard to his stand in saying Islam is a peaceful religion. It's just not. And the Koran makes it very clear, if you see an infidel, you are to kill him." Chatting with announcer Lee Webb, Robertson speculated that anti-western Muslims only move to the U.S. "to spread the doctrine of Islam," which, according to him, "is not a peaceful religion that wants to coexist. They want to coexist until they can control, dominate and then if need be destroy." A spokesman for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has called Robertson’s comments "truly outrageous." Robertson last came under fire in September when he agreed with fellow evangelist and "700 Club" guest Jerry Falwell that homosexuals, feminists and the ACLU were among the causes of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Next up: Reality TV, Red Cross-style
Born in purist frivolity, reality television has been steadily gaining in heft since last September. The newest evidence of this trend is a proposal that will soon make the rounds for a series following the efforts of American Red Cross workers as they respond to hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and the like. Pitching the one-hour series will be Brady Connell and James Jusko, the pair behind "No Boundaries," a new WB adventure series which is being underwritten by Ford in exchange for prominent placement of its SUVs. Other new reality shows now in development include "American Fighter Pilots," created by Ridley and Tony Scott, and "Profiles from the Front Line," produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Bertram van Munster.
February 25, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
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