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The thrilling, neck-and-neck NFC Championship game between the St. Louis Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles gave Fox the win in households and 18-49s last night. A 45-minute run-over, fueled in part by extensive post-game coverage, prolonged the big numbers for Fox. The network won the night with a 8.5 in adults 18-49, ABC had a 6.6, NBC a 3.4 and CBS a 2.9. For the 7 p.m. hour the playoff game drew a 13.2 adult 18-49 rating, while ABC's feature film "Mouse Hunt," CBS's "60 Minutes" and NBC's "Dateline" all came in below 2.8 for the hour. The end of the game, "The Simpsons" and the first half of "Malcolm in the Middle" took first with a combined 7.7 for the 8 p.m. hour. ABC's "Mouse Hunt" ratings hopped up to a 4.4 for the hour, eclipsing the 3.9 for NBC's "Weakest Link" and the 2.6 for CBS's "The Education of Max Bickford." ABC took the rest of the night on the strength of the first two hours of Stephen King's six-hour TV miniseries "Rose Red," which averaged a 9.7 among adults 18-49. The second half of "Malcolm in the Middle" and "The X-Files" trailed with a 4.8 in the demo. NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" took third with a 4.4 while CBS's TV movie "My Sister's Keeper" drew a 3.2 for its first hour but slipped past NBC's "Third Watch" in its second hour. The average household rating and share for Sunday night were: Fox 10.9/17, CBS 9.5/15, ABC 8.7/13, and NBC 6.6/10. Over the weekend, the venerable "Law & Order" franchise continued to chug along for NBC, as repeats of each "Law & Order" series--the original, "Criminal Intent," and "Special Victims Unit"--on Saturday came in a close second to new material on Fox. The regular lineup of "Cops" and "America's Most Wanted" on Fox secured a first-place 3.3 rating in adults 18-49 for the night. NBC had a 3.1, ABC a 2.3 and CBS a 2.2, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. ABC's presentation of the first James Bond flick, "Dr. No," failed to draw interest, as did CBS regulars "Touched By An Angel," "That's Life" and "The District." The average household ratings for Saturday night were: NBC 6.2/11, CBS 5.6/10, Fox 5.3/9 and ABC 4.8/9. On Friday night, NBC's regular schedule continued its dominance against new blood on rival networks. At 8 p.m., Fox's "The Chamber" fell 50 percent in 18-49s from its debut two weekends ago and came in third for the hour, behind NBC's "Providence" and ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos," which tied for first. ABC easily won the next hour with a repeat of its "Best Commercials You've Never Seen and Some You Have," whose 3.8 in adults 18-49 outdistanced the 3.1 from NBC's "Dateline NBC." CBS's new "First Monday" also fell substantially from its premiere numbers. It came in at third for the hour, at just a 2.3 among adults 18-49, only slightly higher than a repeat of "24" on Fox. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" notched the night's highest ratings, dominating its hour with a 5.7 adult 18-49 rating, more than CBS's "48 Hours" and ABC's "20/20" combined. The average household rating and share for Friday night were: NBC 8.8/15, ABC 6.0/10, CBS 5.6/10 and Fox 2.9/5.
WSJ reporter kidnapped by Pakistani group
A Wall Street Journal reporter who went missing last week in Karachi, Pakistan, has been kidnapped by a group that may have ties to Al-Qaeda. Daniel Pearl, a foreign correspondent for the Journal, disappeared last Tuesday after telling his wife he was going to meet the leader of an Islamic militant group. Yesterday, a number of American news organizations including The New York Times and The Washington Post received an email claiming that Pearl was kidnapped by a group calling itself the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty. The letter's authors accused Pearl of being a CIA agent and made demands including the repatriation of Pakistani nationals incarcerated in Cuba. Attached to the message were four photos of Pearl, including one in which a gun is pointed at his head. Pakistani officials have suggested that the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty may be part of Harkat Moujahedeen, a terrorist group that has been active in Kashmir and Afghanistan.
UPN shakeup continues in reorg
The power plays continue at Viacom, where UPN division heads have learned that they are to report to their counterparts and CBS. The restructuring, which affects those in charge of sales, marketing, scheduling and media relations, is by order of CBS President Les Moonves, who last month assumed control of UPN, squeezing out Dean Valentine, the network's chief executive. Moonves also found the network a new president of entertainment in the form of former Lifetime executive Dawn Tarnofsky-Ostroff, and renewed the contract of chief operating officer Adam Ware. Moonves has not yet said whether new layoffs are part of his reorganization plan, but cuts are expected.
'Philly' star Delaney picked up for DUI
"Philly" star Kim Delaney was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of drunk driving after an alert fellow motorist reported her to police on his cell phone. Deputies arrested Delaney, 40, in front of her Malibu, Calif., home after she reportedly refused to take a blood alcohol test. She was later served with a notice to appear in court and released. Delaney won an Emmy for her portrayal of detective Diane Russell on "NYPD Blue," which she left last year to star as a lawyer in "Philly."
Regis it ain't: 'Who Wants to Be a Playmate'
The producers of "The Real World" and Playboy are joining forces to take reality TV to where no network show has gone before: soft porn complete with blurred-out body parts. Starting this Thursday, Playboy will be holding auditions for a reality TV show tentatively called "Who Wants to Be a Playboy Playmate," a two-hour special depicting the Playmate selection process. The show will star a house full of 12 beautiful women, all eager to seem sexy and all ready to get naked. All 12 contestants will appear in the June issue of Playboy after cohabitating in a Los Angeles house for two weeks of photo-shoots and fun, according to the New York Post. One of the bodacious babes will be chosen to be July's Playmate. No deal has yet been sealed, but Playboy is aiming to air the show on one of the major networks in May of this year.
January 28, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
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