CBS takes HHs with sitcom repeats and '48 Hours'
NBC's Monday night lineup of reality series propelled the network to the top in adults 18-49, but CBS's block of sitcoms proved unbeatable in households. NBC led off with "Fear Factor," which earned a 3.9  in the demo at 8:30 p.m., and followed with "Dog Eat Dog," which scored a 5.1 at 9:30 p.m. Overall, NBC finished with a 3.8 in adults, with CBS trailing with a 3.0. ABC's repeat of the movie "Sling Blade" did a 2.8 for the evening, while Fox's repeats of "Boston Public" and "Ally McBeal" did a 1.4. Competition was especially tight at 10 p.m., where ABC's "Sling Blade," CBS's "48 Hours," and NBC's "Crossing Jordan" all tied with a 3.2. In households, CBS's Monday comedy block and its "48 Hours" follow-up led the evening from start to finish with a 6.9 rating and 12 share. NBC placed second with a 5.6/10, while ABC did a 4.7/8 and Fox drew a 2.2/4. At 8 p.m., CBS's repeat of "Everybody Loves Raymond" topped the evening's ratings with a 7.9/14, beating out NBC's "Dog Eat Dog" and its 5.7/10. At 10 p.m., "48 Hours" kept up the streak with a 7.1/12, jumping to a 7.7/14 in its second half hour.

Fox rounds up 18-49s on Saturday and Sunday
Fox's lineup was tops with adults 18-49 this weekend, while CBS strung together another win in households on Sunday night. On Saturday, Fox led the way in with a 2.2 rating in adults, while NBC did a 1.5 rating and ABC and CBS tied with 1.3. Fox did it with back-to-back episodes of "Cops," pulling a 2.0 average, and "America's Most Wanted" at 9 p.m., pulling the ratings high of the night at 2.4. Fox also eked out a household win with a 4.0/9 over NBC's 4.0/8. NBC's Meryl Streep movie "Music of the Heart" averaged a 3.9 in households, while ABC's Bond flick "For Your Eyes Only" gained some viewers at 10 p.m. to finish with a 3.5. On Sunday night, CBS took households with a 5.6 rating over NBC's 4.9, Fox's 3.9, and ABC's 3.3. For the Eye network, "60 Minutes" jumped out of the gate at 7:00 p.m. with a 7.3, trumping NBC's "Dateline," which pulled a 3.7. CBS continued to dominate at 8 p.m. with "Touched By an Angel," but its repeat of the movie "Mama Flora's Family," with a 4.8 average, fell behind strong showings from NBC's "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" (6.2) and "Crime and Punishment" (5.8). Fox took Sunday night in adults with a 2.5, as compared to NBC's 2.2, CBS's 2.1 and ABC's 1.8. Fox's win was led by a 3.7 rating for "The Simpsons" at 8 p.m. and a 3.0 for "Malcolm in the Middle" at 8:30 p.m.

Messier's exit opens the door for Barry Diller
Will Barry Diller be the beneficiary of Jean-Marie Messier’s fall from power? That’s the question being asked now that Messier has finally relented to pressure and stepped down as the chairman of Paris-based media conglomerate Vivendi Universal. Diller has been nominally in charge of Vivendi Universal’s entertainment businesses since the company engulfed his USA Networks last December. Now the speculation is that he may push to spin off the company’s film, television and theme park businesses into a separate publicly-traded entity that might also include Universal Music Group. Diller is also chairman of USA Interactive, which owns or controls the Home Shopping Network, Ticketmaster and Expedia.

Connie pulls ho-hum #s in first week on CNN 
Connie Chung's new CNN show occasioned a good deal of ink spillage, but it didn't make much of a dent in Fox News's ratings in its first week out. In something of a letdown for CNN, "Connie Chung Tonight" couldn't boost the network's performance in adults 25-54, either. The nightly news-and-interviews hour drew 259,000 viewers in that demo, down eight percent from "Live From..." the week before. Still, Chung's premiere week did improve CNN's average rating in the 8 p.m. timeslot over the first half of the year. Chung's show averaged a 0.8 rating for the week, with 649,000 households and 773,000 viewers. At Fox News, "The O'Reilly Factor" raked in viewers despite the host's absence two nights out of the week. "O'Reilly" drew a 1.7 rating, with 1.33 million households and 1.72 million viewers. In adults 25-54, Fox far outpaced CNN, with 493,000 viewers. Rounding out the cable news ratings, MSNBC's "The News with Brian Williams" did a 0.4 rating, with 313,000 homes and 391,000 viewers.

Will Kelly ditch 'All My Children' for Reege?  
Kelly Ripa, who pulls double duty for ABC as co-host on "Live with Regis & Kelly" and as a longtime star of the soap "All My Children," will soon have to decide whether to devote herself full-time to her morning gig. With ratings for "Live" jumping, especially among younger women, there's speculation that Ripa won't feel compelled to return to the soap opera where she's played Hayley Santos for more than 14 years. Ripa is currently in negotiations for a new "All My Children" contract, with her current one running out this fall. Most days Ripa commutes between tapings at the two studios in Manhattan. Giving up her soap spot would open her schedule for more primetime appearances, such as her guest-star turn on the NBC drama "Ed" last season. Ratings for "Live" have been up since Ripa took over for former co-host Kathie Lee Gifford.

Place your client at the feet of ancient wisdom
Buddha: Visionary. Sage. Godhead. Out-of-home venue? Officials in the Chinese city of Leshan have decided to turn the city's world-famous Buddha statue into an advertising vehicle, according to a report in The Week. Plans call for a gigantic billboard to be placed between the feet of the statue, which, at 230 feet, is the tallest of its kind in the world. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which in 1996 designated the statue a protected World Heritage site, opposes the plan for some reason or other. The Great Buddha of Leshan was carved into a hillside 1,300 years ago.

July 2, 2002© 2002 Media Life


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