CBS's 'Bram & Alice' weathers and wins
The mostly glowing reviews for CBS’s series premiere of “Bram & Alice” may have provided a boost to the sitcom, which suffered against tough competition but emerged as the network’s highest-rated show on Sunday. ABC was the top-ranked network for the night in the adult 18-49 demographic on the strength of “The Practice.” And NBC was close behind with “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and its new “American Dreams” both winning their time slots. But “Bram & Alice” showed promise. The show’s 3.1 adult 18-49 rating was up 24 percent from the season premiere of “Becker,” which moved from CBS’s strong Monday sitcom block to the untested comedy lineup following “60 Minutes." Moreover, “Bram” provided a solid base for the movie “Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay,” which started out with a 3 rating but tumbled 10 percent by the end of primetime. Still, CBS ended the night in last place. ABC had a 4.2 adult 18-49 rating, NBC had a 4.1, Fox had a 3.4 and CBS had a 2.8, based on Nielsen overnights. CBS did rank No. 1 in households, though. The network had a 7.6 rating and 12 share, compared to NBC’s 7.3/12, Fox’s 6.2/10 and ABC’s 6.1/10. Meanwhile, Fox and CBS split wins on Saturday. Fox ranked No. 1 in the 18-49 demographic with two hours of “Cops.” The network had a 2.9 rating in the demo. NBC had a 2.5, ABC had a 2.3 and CBS had a 2.2. Among households, CBS had a 6.2/12 with its lineup of dramas, including “Touched by an Angel” and “The District.” Fox had a 4.6/9, ABC had a 4.1/8 with the movie “Air Force One,” and NBC had a 3.9/7.

Networks ignore Bush's Iraq speech 
He may have the power to redraw the map in the Middle East, but the President of the United States is apparently no match for "The King of Queens." ABC, CBS and NBC chose not to carry President Bush’s speech on Iraq live last night. All three networks stuck with their regularly scheduled primetime programming, saying that the White House did not formally ask them to broadcast the speech as it usually does. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said that was because the White House did not want to give the impression that the president was about to declare war on Iraq, which he did not. The speech did not contain any new information on the Iraq situation. Fox did carry the speech, as did Fox News Channel and MSNBC. Major League Baseball agreed to push the first pitch of last night’s National League Division Series game back to 8:27 from 8:20 p.m. to accommodate the switch. An NBC spokeswoman suggested that the unusual format for the speech, given in front of a politicized group in Cincinnati instead of in the Oval Office, did not have the feel of a traditional address to the nation. All three networks said that any news coming out of the speech would be covered in their regular news broadcasts.

Satellite merger hopefuls ask FCC for more time
Anxious to save their proposed merger from rejection by the Federal Communications Commission, EchoStar and DirecTV have asked FCC chairman Michael Powell to delay any decision on the deal until after Oct. 28, when the two plan to meet with the Justice Department. The initial proposal would probably have been rejected within the next week. EchoStar owns Dish Network and Hughes, a subsidiary of General Motors, owns DirecTV. The FCC and Justice Department will likely recommend against the deal, saying the merger would limit customers to one satellite company and one cable company in most areas. In rural areas where cable isn't available, it would eliminate choice altogether. To boost chances at recommendation, EchoStar may now consider options it had rejected in the past, such as allowing another company to resell its services or selling some of its spectrum. The proposed merger was announced in October 2001, and would give the combined company about 16 million subscribers.

New L.A. weekly: The Big Dick (maybe)
What to name your paper when you’re a cheeky 72-year-old former Los Angeles mayor with no newspaper experience and a lot of anger at the L.A. Times? If you’re lucky enough to be named Richard "Dick" Riordan, how about “The Big Dick”? That’s what the California businessman claims he will call his latest venture, a Westside weekly aimed at the richest families in town. Riordan, who has gone on the record with his many complaints about the Times, says he considered a few other names to tweak the Times parent company, but for now has decided on The Big Dick. He claims the paper, which has no publisher or editor yet, will sponsor a contest to come up with a logo.

Oops! Paper's 'Big Ass Boat' caption was wrong
Thanks to some unidentified smartass, Washington State University’s student newspaper is apologizing for a  big-ass mistake. A front-page story in the Oct. 4 edition of the Daily Evergreen honoring Filipino-American history stated that “Nuestra Senora de Buena Esperanza,” the name of the galleon on which the first Filipinos landed at Morro Bay, Calif., roughly translates to “The Big Ass Spanish Boat.” The actual translation, as any second-year Spanish student can tell, is “Our Lady of Good Hope.” The paper has apologized to the local Filipino-American, Spanish-speaking and Catholic communities, saying “October is Filipino-American History Month. Members of the Filipino-American Student Association of WSU will hold events to celebrate their history and culture all month. They should be able to celebrate without gross inaccuracies and poor coverage by the Evergreen.” The paper admitted that parts of the story were plagiarized from an inaccurate web site.

October 8, 2002 © 2002 Media Life

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