ABC's 'Chair' in strong debut
Two nights after Fox beat it to the punch with "The Chamber," ABC unveiled "The Chair" to similarly promising results. The John McEnroe-hosted reality
entry tied CBS's "JAG" for the win in 18-49s with a 5.0 for the 8 p.m. hour. It also jumped 22 percent from its first half-hour, always a good sign. CBS's "First Monday" wasn't so lucky as it stayed put at a 3.9 among adults 18-49 for the admittedly difficult 9 p.m. hour, though it beat out Fox's "24," which struggled with a 3.8. NBC easily took the hour with "Frasier" and "Scrubs" combining for a 6.1. ABC's "NYPD Blue" posted a 5.2 for its hour in 18-49s, helping the network win in the demo for the night with a 4.7. CBS and NBC tied for second at 4.4 and Fox came in last at 4.0, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. NBC's "Imagine That" continued its dismal
performance, drawing a mere 2.6, about half the 4.9 a rerun of Fox's "That '70s Show" brought in among 18-49s. The household rating and share for Tuesday night were: CBS 10.7/17, ABC 7.5/12, NBC 6.9/11 and Fox 4.8/7. On Monday night, it appears that CBS’s strength may be slipping due to competition from NBC’s freshmen series “Fear Factor” and “Crossing Jordan.” Shooting up 23 percent from its first half-hour, “Factor” tied CBS’s combination of “King of Queens” and “Yes, Dear” for the 8 p.m. hour with a 5.4, adult 18-49 rating. At 10 p.m. “Crossing Jordan” proved even more effective, outdrawing CBS’s “Family Law” with a 5.4 to the legal drama’s 3.8. CBS still won the night among 18-49s with a 5.4. NBC and Fox tied at 5.0 and ABC lagged behind at 2.4, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. The 100th episode of “Ally McBeal” at 9 p.m. on Fox saw a respectable showing of 4.9 among 18-49s, but was still a far cry from the 6.4 it averaged during its first season. CBS won that hour easily with a 6.9, adult 18-49 rating, with its duo of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Becker.” The household rating and share for Monday night were: CBS 10.0/15, NBC 7.6/12, Fox 7.0/10, and ABC 5.6/9.

Rumor: Hearst will drop Talk at the end of March
Is Hearst planning to make fools of Tina Brown and Ron Galotti? The current rumor at Talk is that Hearst has made up its mind to withdraw its backing from the two-and-one-half-year-old magazine at the end of the year's first quarter, according to the New York Post's Keith Kelly. That means that, beginning in April, Miramax will be left alone to shoulder the considerable financial burden of publishing Talk--unless it can persuade another investor to come in and pick up Hearst's stake. A report last week that Talk has burned through $55 million since its launch won't help. Neither will a poll conducted this week by USA Today, in which three of six media analysts predicted that Talk won't survive the year.

Larry King re-ups with CNN for $7M/year
The closely-watched contract negotiations between Larry King and CNN are over. In the end, the lovably inane talk show host came away with between $6 million and $7 million a year for the next four years. That's better than the $5 million-plus he's said to be making now annually, and stock options in the deal mean that it could be worth far more still. King has also reportedly received seed money for a production deal that will allow him to develop programming for CNN. A report in the New York Post yesterday that King had equaled Katie Couric's $14 million-a-year deal with NBC turned out to be false--not surprising, considering the degree to which King's star has been eclipsed by that of Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly.

NBC Olympics spot is two ads in one
Who says technology hasn’t increased productivity? Thanks to NBC, you can now watch two commercials at once, perhaps without even realizing it. For the first time, the network has inserted a plug for another advertiser into one of its own promotions, according to The Wall Street Journal. In a new commercial promoting its coverage of the Winter Olympics, snowboarder Chris Klug races down a mountain, pursued by police. Attentive viewers will notice that Klug speeds past a billboard advertising the 20th anniversary re-release of the film "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial." Universal Studios, which owns the film, helped defray part of the $800,000 NBC spent to make the spot. NBC may repeat the practice in its promotions for new fall shows or sporting events.

Showtime and MTV to launch gay cable channel
Who would have thought, during the controversy over "Ellen" during the mid-'90s, that the show would end up less than ten years later in reruns on a gay-oriented cable channel? Viacom properties Showtime and MTV are ironing out the details to make that a reality in the near-future. The upcoming channel will launch as a new digital service available for a nominal fee of around $6 a month, though it will also feature a small amount of advertising. Programming will include movies from Viacom's library of over 2,500 movies from its Paramount vault, small independent films, old series like "Ellen," as well as new dramatic, comedic, reality and news programming fashioned for a gay audience. Advertisers and television executives who were once content to ignore gay viewers have become ever more willing to push forward gay material as they've awakened to the wealth and size of the gay market. Meanwhile, a company called MDC Entertainment is reportedly planning to launch its own digital cable channel early in 2003.

January 16, 2002 © 2002 Media Life

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