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'Survivor' marches out grandly
Primetime on Thursday answered two questions about reality shows: How long
can “Survivor” last and just how bad do these shows have to be for
viewers to turn away? Regarding the first, a tie at No. 1 for the
90-minute premiere of “Survivor: The Amazon,” the sixth version of the
show, proves the series will live on much longer than most people
expected. Outside of the first half-hour of “Friends,” “Survivor”
easily beat NBC and the other networks in the adult 18-49 rating. The show
averaged a 9.1 rating and improved from beginning to end by 40 percent. It
beat an extended block “Friends” and the beginning of “Will &
Grace” in its last half-hour by more than 1 rating point. CBS went on to
win the night with help from a 90-minute “CSI,” a blow to NBC during
the February sweeps. To answer the second question, viewer disinterest in
ABC’s “Are You Hot? The Search for America’s Sexiest People,” a
beauty competition knock-off of Fox’s “American Idol,” suggests
reality’s hold on viewers’ attention is tenuous. The show averaged a
3.9 adult 18-49 rating and kept ABC firmly in third place. CBS had a 9.8
adult 18-49 rating and a 15 rating and 23 share among households. NBC had
a 9.5 and a 13/20, ABC had a 3.4 and a 5.6/9 and Fox had a 1.6 and a
2.9/4. Ratings are based on Nielsen overnights.
The season finale of ABC’s “Celebrity Mole: Hawaii” helped the network to a No. 1 finish in the adult 18-49 demographic on Wednesday. For most of its run the reality show wasn’t much of a hit, but with a boost from lead-in “The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All,” the show won in its first half-hour at 10 p.m. with a 6.5 rating. It retained about 75 percent of “Bachelorette’s” rating but slumped 17 percent in its second half-hour, when NBC’s “Law & Order” moved up to No. 1. ABC averaged a 6.3 rating in the 18-49 demo, with “Bachelorette” winning its time slot by 69 percent over Fox, it’s nearest competitor. Fox had a 6.1 in the demo. A half-hour “American Idol” at 8:30 p.m. was the night’s top-rated show with a 9 rating. NBC had a 4.8. Although ranked No. 3 for much of primetime, its rating went up every half-hour until it hit No. 1 at 10:30 p.m. CBS trailed with a “Price is Right” special and newsmagazines. The network had a 2.7 rating. NBC ranked No. 1 in households with a 9.3 rating and 14 share, based on Nielsen overnights. ABC had an 8.8/14, Fox had a 7.8/12 and CBS had a 7.4/11.
MTV and BET get their war coverage on
CNN and MSNBC won't be the only abbreviations with a hand in covering the coming war. BET, which was criticized for dropping several news shows late last year, will host a town hall discussion with Secretary of State Colin Powell Thursday. Powell will speak with 120 high school students and answer questions submitted via BET.com in a special hosted by “60 Minutes” correspondent Ed Bradley. BET promises other coverage, too, with some help from fellow Viacom network CBS. Another Viacom net, MTV, which beefed up its political and international coverage after Sept. 11, will also air a special Thursday, called “MTV NewsNow Special Report.” Several other specials are being developed. A show called “Iraq 101” will explain the background behind the conflict. MTV News’ Gideon Yago will go to Kuwait to talk to U.S. Persian Gulf troops and young Kuwaitis. “True Life” will follow young soldiers prepping for war. And “What’s Going On” biographies of Powell and Iraqi president Saddam Hussein also will air.
'Joe
Millionaire': Appearances can be deceiving
Evan Marriott says Fox's misleading promos for
this week's penultimate installment of "Joe Millionaire" got him
booed at a New York Knicks game Wednesday. In an interview with Howard
Stern yesterday, Marriott, explaining why 30,000 basketball fans felt the
need to razz him, said, "Fox told everybody I was going to pick a
girl this Monday and I didn't." Geez, if viewers were that riled by
Fox’s little bait-and-switch, just imagine how the ladies of "Joe
Millionaire" must have reacted when they found out he was just a
construction worker. That revelation (presumably) comes on Monday's
finale. It isn't just promos that Fox has been using to fool viewers, says
Marriott. On several occasions, scenes have been edited to make it look
like Marriott ended up in bed with one of the women -- something he says
never happened. In one case, the pair was shown disappearing behind what
appeared to be a bedroom door but was actually just the entrance to a
foyer. "If it happened I would tell you, but he didn't,"
Marriott told Stern.
Conde Nast ditches
plans for new men's mag
Conde Nast has decided not to go ahead with development of
a new lifestyle magazine for guys in their 20s. The company has scrapped
plans for a late summer test of Fahrenheit, a spinoff of GQ’s
front-of-the-book trends and culture section, according to the New York
Post’s Keith Kelly. A launch could have made things quite awkward for
Details, which aims at the same audience and is published out of sister
company Fairchild. Conde Nast may yet expand its stable of titles this
year, through acquisition if not through growth. The company, which
recently launched Teen Vogue, is considered a likely buyer of Seventeen,
which Primedia recently announced plans to sell.
A.M. news ratings
up, especially for 'Early Show'
"The Early
Show" has managed substantial audience growth, but NBC’s
“Today” remains the leader among early morning news shows. Total
morning viewership incresaed by 690,000 people last week versus the same
time last year, fueled by interest in the Iraq situation and concerns
about the brutally cold weather. “Today” led the way with 6.34 million
viewers, 1.21 million more than ABC’s “Good Morning America” for the
week ending Feb. 7. The NBC show also outdrew “GMA” in adults 25-54
with a 2.8 and 19 share, compared to ABC’s 2.0/13. For the first time in
four years, CBS attracted more than 3 million viewers for four straight
weeks. “Early Show” still trails “GMA” by 1.21 million viewers,
but it’s up 11 percent versus the same week 2002. “Today” was up 5
percent and “GMA” 2 percent in total viewers.
February 14, 2003© 2003 Media Life
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