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NBC won among adults 18-49 last night, including a towering 13.8 for the 8 p.m. hour from a new episode and a rerun of "Friends." The repeat kept a rare 96 percent of its lead-in, compared to the 25 percent drops reruns of "Will & Grace" experience. NBC posted a 11.7 adult 18-49 rating for the night. ABC had a 5.0, CBS a 5.1 and Fox a 2.5, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings CBS's "Price Is Right 30th Anniversary Special" drew a large household pull of 10.3/16 at 8 p.m., but withered among adults 18-49, drawing a 3.9 for the hour. Over at ABC, the Stephen King three-part miniseries "Rose Red" concluded with a 7.7 adult 18-49 rating for its two hours, a 20 percent fall from Sunday's first installment, but only 7 percent from Monday's broadcast. CBS's "CSI" edged the horror miniseries at the 9 p.m. hour for a second place win, topping it with a 7.6 rating to "Rose's" 7.5. NBC still won the hour with a 9.3 in adults 18-49 from new episodes of "Will & Grace" and "Just Shoot Me." At 10 p.m. NBC's "ER" hauled in a 12.1 for the hour in adults 18-49, while the second hour of "Rose Red" captured an 8.0 and CBS's "The Agency" trailed with a 3.7. The average household rating and share for Thursday night were: NBC 15.0/23, CBS 11.2/17, ABC 8.0/12, and Fox 3.2/5. On Wednesday night, NBC returned to its regular dominance, easily winning 18-49s and households on the strength of "The West Wing" and "Law & Order." NBC logged a 6.4 adult 18-49 rating, Fox a 4.6, ABC a 4.2 and CBS a 2.1, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings. The only area of competition was the 8 p.m. hour, which ABC took with a 5.0 in adults 18-49 from "My Wife & Kids" and "According to Jim." The two comedies were up 12 percent from last week while the entire night's lineup edged up 8 percent from the previous week. Fox's "That '80s Show" fell 21 percent from its debut last week, which translated to a slide of 16 percent for all of Fox's comedies. NBC's "The West Wing" took the 9 p.m. hour with a 7.1 in adults 18-49, topping a 4.5 from Fox's "Bernie Mac" and "Titus." At 9:30 p.m. ABC's "The Job" reversed its recent slide, hopping up 13 percent from last week. Two repeats of CBS's "Becker" failed to draw audiences, coming in last with a 2.3 among adults 18-49. At 10 p.m. NBC's "Law & Order" clocked an 8.0 adult 18-49 rating, more than doubling the pull of ABC's "20/20 Downtown." The average household rating and share for Wednesday night were: NBC 11.1/18, ABC 6.7/11, CBS 6.0/10 and Fox 5.5/9.
Report: Sumner won't re-up Mel in 2003
Okay, so maybe they can’t get along. It turns out that at Viacom's top secret board meeting Wednesday, Chairman Sumner Redstone tipped his hand in what appeared to be a calculated power play, informing directors that he does not intend to renew Mel Karmazin’s contract when it expires in May 2003, according to a report in today's New York Times. The meeting, though a regularly scheduled one, was said to focus on healing the increasingly public rift between Redstone and his No. 2, which has been damaging the company's reputation on Wall Street. Redstone positioned the decision not to bring Karmazin back as a question of management style. He may have made the disclosure in hopes that Karmazin would resign or the Board of Directors would vote to fire him, but that didn't happen.
WSJ reporter's captors' identity puzzles police
Kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is thought to be still alive after persons claiming to be his captors said via email that they would give the U.S. "1 more day" to meet their demands. Meanwhile, the circumstances surrounding his abduction continue to puzzle authorities. While the messages sent to American news agencies have been crudely written and filled with misspellings and syntax errors, the kidnappers have shown a degree of sophistication in the way they have used email to avoid leaving a traceable trail. Investigators initially suspected the kidnapping was the work of an Islamist group with ties to al Qaeda, but the purported captors have largely portrayed themselves in their communications as Pakistani nationalists, calling themselves the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty. Several suspects have been taken into custody by Pakistani police, and another was found dead at his home yesterday of unknown causes, according to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn.
Official? Galotti gets GQ publisher job today
Score another one for the rumor mill. Condé Nast will confirm widespread speculation today by naming Talk magazine co-founder Ron Galotti publisher of GQ, according to the New York Daily News. He will replace Tom Florio, who was appointed publisher of Vogue on Monday. Most media-watchers agree that Galotti did a good job selling Talk, considering the challenges the magazine faced (and overlooking that Alex Kuczynski-gloating incident), although not good enough to keep Miramax from shuttering the title earlier this month. Talk editor Tina Brown is sticking around for now to run the book publishing unit.
Letterman marks 20 years in late night
To say that David Letterman is celebrating his 20th anniversary in late-night tonight is not exactly accurate. True, today marks exactly 20 years since the gap-toothed jokester first took to the air as host of NBC's "Late Night." But tonight's program will be no celebrity-studded retrospective, just a normal Friday night show, complete with "The CBS Mailbag," a Top 10 list and Regis Philbin, making his 61st guest appearance. It's more than eight years now since Letterman moved over to CBS and "The Late Show." He's still a relatively distant No. 2 to NBC's Jay Leno in the 11:30 p.m. race, but Letterman's ratings are up slightly this year to 4.36 million viewers on average, while Leno is averaging six million viewers, versus 6.3 million last season. Like his "Late Night" successor, Conan O'Brien, Letterman is in the midst of negotiating a new contract with his home network.
ABC picks pilots for the post-'Millionaire' era
ABC gambled and lost big with its incessant lineup of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire," wearing out the show's novelty faster than a pair of old Chucks. Now the mend is on, as the network has ordered 11 pilots, seven dramas and four comedies for next season. Nine come from Touchstone Television, which, like ABC, is a subsidiary of Disney. Dramas include "Paranormal Girl," an "Alias" of the supernatural; "The Oath," about doctors bucking orders from HMOs; "EIS," about investigators from the Centers for Disease Control; an untitled father-and-son "Indiana Jones"-inspired actioner; "Homeward Bound," about a woman who moves back home to restart her life; "Astronauts," centered on a set of candidates training to go to Mars; and an untitled project on a big-city mayor. Comedies looking to get on the air include "8 Simple Rules," from "Patch Adams" director Tom Shadyac, a show about an overprotective father's relationship with his daughters; an untitled comedy centered around three couples in their 30s; an untitled interracial comedy; and a comedy about a daughter who comes home to her parents with a daughter in tow. Two midseason comedies, "Dexter Prep" and "The Funkhausers," will now be considered for fall.
February 1, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
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