News Shorts

Strong start for 'That '80's Show'
Eighties nostalgia is alive and well, as the debut of Fox's "That '80s Show" was the night's highest-rated program. The spinoff from the network's "That
'70s Show" drew a 6.2 adult 18-49 rating, which led Fox to a solid win for the night. Fox averaged a 5.5 in the demo for the night. NBC had a 5.0, ABC a 3.9 and CBS a 2.9, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings. NBC's special, "The Bush White House: Inside the Real West Wing" did well enough to come
in second with a 4.7 for the hour, just above a 4.5 for ABC's "My Wife & Kids" and "According to Jim" duo. A repeat of NBC's "The West Wing" at 9 p.m. and CBS's film "A Perfect Murder" allowed "Bernie Mac" to surge into first with a 5.7 among adults 18-49. ABC's "The Job" continues to suffer, as it came in last with just a 3.3 at 9:30 p.m. Even in repeats, NBC's "Law & Order" easily won the 10 p.m. hour. The average household rating and share for Wednesday night were: NBC 10.2/16, CBS 7.4/12, Fox 6.7/10 and ABC 6.2/10. On Tuesday night, Fox took 18-49s with new episodes of "That '70s Show" and "24," which got a boost from a rerun of ABC's "NYPD Blue." "That '70s Show" topped competitors with a 6.1 adult 18-49 rating at 8 p.m. "Undeclared" dropped 26 percent of that lead-in audience but still came in second for its time period. ABC's "The Chair" fell back down to earth with a 3.8 for the 8 p.m. hour in adults 18-49, a 24 percent slide from its debut last week. NBC's "Instyle: Celebrity Weddings" pulled in respectable numbers but still came in last with a 3.4. Fox won the night with a 4.9 among adults 18-49. NBC came in second at 4.5, CBS at 4.0 and ABC at 3.4, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. At 9 p.m. Fox's "24" had a slight boost to a 4.6 in adults 18-49 and came in second to NBC's team of "Frasier" and "Scrubs," which drew a 6.1 for the hour. ABC's "Philly" floundered as a repeat, which allowed CBS's "Judging Amy" an easy win at 10 p.m. The average household rating and share for Tuesday night were: CBS 10.3/16, NBC 7.6/12, ABC 6.0/9 and Fox 5.7/9.

Fortune writer: Levin was forced to step down
Was Gerald Levin's sudden decision to retire as CEO of AOL Time Warner a matter of his own volition? The official answer is yes, but a report in this week's Fortune magazine casts doubt on that version of events. Writer Carol Loomis claims that Francis "Fay" Vincent, an AOL Time Warner director and close friend of Levin, told at least one person, "Jerry was forced from the company." Loomis says Vincent's comment found its way to her "in a way that lent the report great credibility," but her attempts to get him to confirm or deny it were in vain. Both Levin and Richard Parsons, AOL Time Warner's CEO designate, have continued to insist that Levin's choice was his own, though neither would unequivocally deny that Vincent made the remark attributed to him. But Loomis who, as a Fortune writer, is an employee of AOL Time Warner, says she is unconvinced by their protestations. "I believe that Vincent said those things, that he was not making them up, and that Levin was in some way forced out or, at a minimum, pushed."

Lifetime exec will head up UPN
Is the network that offers such testosterone-drenched material as "WWF Smackdown!" and "Enterprise" hoping to get in touch with its feminine side? It might appear that way now that former Lifetime Network programming executive Dawn Tarnofsky-Ostroff has been named president of UPN Entertainment. She fills the spot vacated by Tom Nunan, who resigned in June of last year. Tarnofsky-Ostroff will report directly to CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves, who assumed oversight of UPN at the beginning of this month after sending erstwhile network boss Dean Valentine on his way. She will be responsible for all creative aspects of UPN's operations, including development, current programming, specials, movies and miniseries. The appointment is effective Feb. 11. Tarnofsky-Ostroff previously served as executive vice president of entertainment for Lifetime since August 1999. She started at Lifetime in October 1996 as senior vice president of programming and production. Prior to that she worked on such programs as "King of the Hill," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The Practice" while operating as senior vice president of creative affairs at 20th Century Fox Television.

Moses, Jesus, Rudy: A biopic for Hizzoner
The former mayor of New York is soon to join the ranks of icons such as Jesus, Moses and Julius Caesar, with a TV movie about his life in the works. Five Mile River Films, the film company known for its epic TNT productions, has just bought the screen rights to Andrew Kirtzman's biography, "Rudy Giuliani: Emperor of the City," for an undisclosed amount. The project is in its very beginning stages with a host network yet to be determined and with actors yet to be cast. There is, however, already talk of Robert Duvall playing the role of Giuliani. Also in the making is a four-hour miniseries on the life of Adolf Hitler, a film that was sold to CBS six weeks before Sept. 11. Despite the difficulties CBS may encounter attracting sponsors to a program with such sensitive subject matter, the network is planning to start production this fall and is targeting the 2002-2003 season for an airdate.

Russians lose lone indie TV station
Performing its own version of media conglomeration, the Russian government on Tuesday shut down the country's last independent TV station, TV-6, temporarily reassigning the license to its NTV network. The move was generally viewed as a swipe at media tycoon Boris Berezovsky, major shareholder of TV-6 and a prominent critic of President Vladamir Putin. Berezovsky is currently in London evading various criminal charges he claims are purely political. Employees of the network say they will fight on and hope to regain the license at an auction on March 27 with a new lineup of investors, but they remain skeptical that the government will allow it. Russian press ministry head Mikhail Lesin disagrees, insisting TV-6 and NTV will eventually return to private hands. Public outcry has been muted since the news broke, a reversal of the outrage manifested last April when thousands took to the streets to protest the seizure of NTV, formerly owned by Vladimir Gusinsky, also a vocal Putin detractor.

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