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Though it has fallen mightily from its ratings heights of summer 2000, CBS's "Survivor" still pulls in big numbers for a cheap reality show that doesn't suffer from ever-escalating salary costs. Last night's finale of "Survivor: Africa" averaged a 11.4, adult 18-49 rating, for its two hours, which is down 27 percent from the Australian edition's 15.7 and half of the first's 22.6. Worse, NBC's "Friends" dominated the reality pioneer with a 12.7 to its 9.3 in the 18-49 demographic coveted by advertisers. "Survivor" recovered against the rest of NBC's schedule of "Will & Grace" and "Just Shoot Me" but was again clobbered at 10 p.m. as the "Survivor Africa Reunion" mustered up only a 8.6 to "ER's" 12.7. NBC won the night in 18-49s with a 10.9, while CBS came close at 10.4, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. CBS and Fox hobbled behind with a 1.9 and 2.0, respectively, as their offers of the "U.S. Figure Skating Championship" and "Family Guy" reruns were largely ignored. The household rating and share for Thursday night were: NBC 13.9/21, CBS 13.4/20, ABC 5.8/9 and Fox 2.8/4. On Wednesday, while hardly pulling in the spectacular numbers of last fall's Michael Jackson or Carol Burnett specials, ABC's "American Music Awards" performed well enough to win all but one of its half-hours in the highly-coveted adult 18-49 demographic, losing only to the second half of NBC's "Law & Order" at 10:30. The "AMAs" did have an easy time with a new "West Wing" at 9 p.m., amassing a 7.9 average among adults 18-49 for the hour, compared to "Wing's" 6.5. ABC came in first for the night with a 7.3, adult 18-49 rating, followed by NBC at 5.8, CBS at 3.8 and Fox at 3.6, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings. The Dick Clark-created music awards show faced mostly reruns on Fox, which only had a new episode of "Titus," and on CBS, which re-ran its "Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary Special" after a new "60 Minutes II." The household rating and share for Wednesday night were: NBC 10.8/17, ABC 9.9/16, CBS 7.8/12 and Fox 4.6/7.
Moonves: CBS won't take liquor dollars
Will NBC's decision to start taking liquor advertising inspire other networks to do likewise? Not CBS, according to CEO Leslie Moonves. Speaking to reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif., Moonves said the Viacom-owned network won't be lifting its liquor ban anytime soon. "We don't think it's the right thing to do," said Moonves. A new TV Guide poll shows that a majority of Americans agree, with 52 percent of respondents expressing disapproval of NBC's policy change, compared to only 34 percent who said they approve. But factors other than principle and public perception may underlie CBS’s stance. By accepting liquor commercials, the network would risk angering its beer advertisers. With no major pro-sports programming after this season, NBC doesn't have to worry about as much. CBS also has a good deal more family-oriented shows than NBC, which this week said it was content to pursue adult viewers and leave all-ages programming to the other networks.
Report: Talk has lost $55 million and counting
It's no secret that Talk magazine has lost quite a bit of money for its owners, Hearst Magazines and Miramax. The question is how much has it lost. According to a report in the New York Daily News, the figure has reached some $55 million. If that is so, it may help to explain why Hearst has reportedly been positioning itself to exit the venture--and why other big media players don't seem overly anxious to take over its stake. Among the potential investors that Talk editor Tina Brown and president Ron Galotti have courted are Time Inc., Hachette Filipacchi, American Media and Hollinger International, according to the Daily News. Hollinger told the paper it wasn't interested, while the others declined comment.
Internet Week, tech biz trade, logs off
Five months after the death of The Industry Standard, Internet Week, that other newsweekly of the internet economy, is closing its doors as well. CMP Media said yesterday that the technology trade's Jan. 7 issue will be its last. About 50 people, 32 of them in editorial, stand to lose their jobs. Internet Week started life in 1983 as Communications Week, changing its name four years ago as the dot.com sector boomed. With a circulation of 275,000, it was actually considerably larger than the Standard, although the latter made a good deal more noise when it went out.
Brill sells Content subscriber list to Mother Jones
Brill's Content didn't make much money for its owners while it lived, but now that it has departed, founder Steve Brill stands to pick up a few bucks by selling off the pieces. Brill has landed a deal to sell the magazine's subscription list to Mother Jones, the progressive political magazine, for the bargain price of about five bucks a head, according to the New York Post's Keith Kelly. That only adds up to about $375,000, as the magazine had only about 75,000 subscribers after switching from 10 times a year to quarterly publication. A magazine by, for, and about media people, Brill’s Content never found much of a following. Mother Jones, on the other hand, is on an upswing after winning a National Magazine Award for general excellence in May.
January 11, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
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