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So far, so good for Fox and its new reality effort "The Chamber," which won both of its half-hours last night at 8 p.m. following two reruns of "The Simpsons." The high-pressure show didn't break a sweat in keeping 83 percent of its lead-in and building 11 percent on its first half-hour. The show's real test will come when it switches to its permanent Friday 8 p.m. timeslot, which has proven merciless for even the most promising of shows. But even with that debut, CBS was still the victor in 18-49s, as its "People's Choice Awards" won three of its half-hours starting at 9 p.m. CBS came in with a 4.8, adult 18-49 rating, Fox a 4.6, ABC a 4.3 and NBC a 3.2, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. ABC corralled a respectable 3.9 among 18-49s from a repeat of the Brendan Fraser film "George of the Jungle" and finished the night with another strong showing of "The Practice," which pulled in a 6.0 for its hour. The household rating and share for Sunday night were: CBS 10.6/16, ABC 6.9/11, NBC 6.6/10 and Fox 5.5/8. Over the weekend, ABC lucked out with another stunner of a football game on Saturday, as the back-and-forth between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets led the network to a solid win for the night, more than doubling the 18-49 rating of its closest competitor, Fox. ABC finished with a 8.0, adult 18-49 rating, Fox had a 3.0, NBC a 2.4 and CBS a 2.1. Fox and CBS worked with their regular schedules while NBC relied on the Kevin Costner movie "The Bodyguard." The household rating and share for Saturday night were: ABC 11.9/20, CBS 6.0/10, Fox 5.1/9 and 4.1/7. NBC cleared another formidable win on Friday night with its team of "Providence," "Dateline" and "Law and Order: SVU." It outpaced competitors with a 4.4, adult 18-49 rating. Fox trailed with a 2.4 and CBS and ABC tied at 2.3. CBS again saw its "Ellen" lose audience from a repeat of a Monday night champ, this time "Everybody Loves Raymond," as it came in last in 18-49s. The household rating and share for Friday night were: NBC 10.0/17, CBS 5.3/9, ABC 4.6/8 and Fox 3.4/6.
ABC's Braun: We screwed up this season
Speaking yesterday at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif., ABC executives said what everybody already knows: that they blew it this year. With Stu Bloomberg gone, it fell to Lloyd Braun, now sole chairman of ABC Entertainment Television, to own up to the mistakes that have left the network in last place this season among viewers ages 18 to 49. High on the list was the decision to schedule "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" four nights a week last season, a move whose wisdom many commentators openly questioned at the time. "We have paid a heavy price this season for that," Braun said of the strategy, alluding to the 24 percent drop in overall ratings that the network has suffered. "Clearly, we are in the midst of a very disappointing season." The only answer to ABC's ills is to develop some hot new dramatic and comedic series. That's the job of Susan Lyne, who last week was named president of ABC Entertainment. She had been in charge of movies and miniseries.
Schultz steps down as Initiative CEO
Lou Schultz, chairman and CEO of Initiative Media Worldwide for the last two years, is set to resign. With Initiative having a tough time drumming up new business, Schultz reportedly faced pressure to step down from the higher-ups at the Interpublic Group of Cos., of which it is a part. The final straw may have come just recently when Initiative lost one of its most important clients, Disney, to Starcom. The company has not named a successor.
Strap in for 'The Chamber' vs. 'The Chair'
Timing is apparently more important than originality for ABC and Fox, who have been racing to get their new, and strikingly similar, reality/quiz shows in front of viewers. ABC's "The Chair" was to debut ahead of the competition this Tuesday, but Fox rearranged last night's line-up in order to premiere "The Chamber" first. The two shows share some obvious similarities. On "The Chair," hosted by John McEnroe, players answer questions while strapped into a device that monitors their heart rates. Right answers earn them money, while wrong answers, or a surging heart rate, shrink their winnings. Fox's "The Chamber" goes further by blasting hurricane-strength winds and furnace-like blasts at players as they answer questions. "The Chair's" producer, Touchdown Productions, has sued Fox and producer Dick Clark Productions for copyright infringement. A second "preview" of "The Chamber" will replace "The X-Files" at 9 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20, before settling in at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 25, pushing "Dark Angel" to 9 p.m. On ABC, "The Chair" will replace the ailing "Dharma & Greg" and "Spin City" for its initial run starting this Tuesday.
Mother Fang whacks Examiner editor
Editing the country's most laughed-at newspaper is a thankless job, but it’s one that David Burgin doesn't have to worry about anymore after getting fired late last week from the San Francisco Examiner. Burgin joined the Examiner more than a year ago, taking over a month after Hearst Corp. handed over control of the paper to the Fang family. On Thursday, family matriarch Florence Fang reportedly called Burgin and read him a letter letting him know he was being dismissed. Zoran Basich, the paper's editorial page editor, will replace him. In October, Fang fired the Examiner's publisher, who happened to be her son, Ted Fang. The Fangs run the paper with the help of a $66 million "subsidy" from former owner Hearst, which would have faced far stiffer opposition to its acquisition of the San Francisco Chronicle if the smaller daily had gone out of business.
Judge: OK to serve Osama papers over TV
Osama bin Laden has more reason than ever now to stay in his cave: The next time he gets close enough to civilization to pick up a paper or catch a glimpse of TV, he may find himself with a summons. Manhattan District Court Judge Harold Baer has ruled that two families of World Trade Center victims may use Afghan and Pakistani newspapers and TV outlets to alert bin Laden, who is suspected of masterminding the attacks, that they are suing him for damages. This is the first time TV has been allowed as a means to notify an accused person of the case against him. In 1999 a judge allowed plaintiffs to sue bin Laden through newspaper ads. Ordinarily the defendant must be informed through the mail or in person, but an exception is made for extenuating circumstances. The families are looking to obtain hundred of millions of dollars from bin Laden, his Al-Qaeda network and the Taliban.
January 14, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
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