News Shorts

'Big Brother’s' Krista sues CBS over knife to-do
The third season of “Big Brother” kicks off Wednesday, but CBS is still dealing with fallout from the last go-round. Krista Stegall, a contestant on “Big Brother 2,” is suing the network, saying the fellow contestant who held a knife to her throat on camera should never have made it into the cast. Justin Sebik was kicked off last summer’s “Big Brother” series after the incident, which occurred while the two were making out in the house’s kitchen. Sebik complained afterwards that he had obviously been joking, but a belated background search turned up several arrests for assault. In January of this year, he was arrested again for assaulting his girlfriend. Stegall’s lawyers say CBS was negligent in failing to weed Sebik out during the screening process.

Ad-supported cable surpasses 50 share mark
Ad-supported cable reached a ratings milestone last month, propelled by low ratings for summer repeats on broadcast. June 2002 marks the first time that ad-supported cable has taken greater than a 50 share in primetime on a full-month basis. Cable pulled a 54.0 aggregate household share in June, according to data by the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau. That figure is 15.6 share points better than the seven broadcast networks fared last month and a six point improvement on cable’s performance from the same month last year. Broadcast networks, meanwhile, saw their aggregate ratings succumb to the slow summer season. NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, WB, UPN and Pax fell by 2.1 million homes from last year, down 2.7 ratings points and 5 share points.

Clinton signs on for MTV’s AIDS special
Ten years after he went on MTV to rock the Gen-X vote, Bill Clinton is returning to the music network. Clinton will be one of several panelists at a forum called "Staying Alive: A Global Forum on HIV/AIDS," to be held in Barcelona, Spain on Thursday, July 11. MTV India VJ Cyrus Broacha will host the forum, which will air on MTV’s stations worldwide starting Friday, July 12. The discussion, which is being held in conjunction with the International AIDS Conference, aims to increase HIV awareness and education among youth worldwide. More than half of people age 15-24 across the world are under-informed about the causes and transmission of HIV/AIDS, according to a U.N. report released last week. As a panelist, Clinton will be joined by several international health officials in discussing the AIDS epidemic with a group of young adults from 25 countries. Not on the agenda is the former president’s choice of undergarments.

Thais still steamed over spoof newspaper ad
A newspaper ad that angered millions of Thais with its depiction of Thailand’s king as a hipster will be discontinued. The ad for Saint Jack’s restaurant, which featured a doctored photo of King Bhumibol Adulyadej with blonde streaks in his hair and an Adidas logo on his shirt, ran only twice in the Philadelphia City Paper, but it prompted a furious response from many Thai citizens, who revere their monarch with near-religious fervor. One letter writer expressed his ire thus: “It's like if I dig your beloved parents body from the grave. And I kick them like toys then I drag them through the very long road. Finally, I leave your parent's body for dogs and the dogs might not eat them cuz they are so terrible.” Protests were also lodged through official channels, including one from Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who asked the U.S. government to assist him in getting the ads halted.

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