News Shorts

Strong Sunday debut for Fox's 'Oliver Beene'
After more than a couple of delays getting onto Fox’s lineup, “Oliver Beene” premiered Sunday to encouraging ratings. The sitcom, which has received mixed reviews, held onto 100 percent of “The Simpsons’” lead-in at 8:30 p.m. and ranked No. 1 in its time slot in the adult 18-49 demographic. With a 6.1 rating in the demo, “Oliver” beat its nearest competitor, the second half of NBC’s “American Dreams,” by more than 2 rating points. Meanwhile, CBS had some encouragement of its own with the debut of Clinton/Dole on “60 Minutes.” The show ranked No. 2 at 7 p.m. and, perhaps in anticipation of the point-counterpoint, its adult 18-49 rating went up 19 percent in its second half. More discouraging for CBS was the latest rating for “My Big Fat Greek Life,” which tied at No. 3 at 8:00 p.m. and trailed Fox’s “The Simpsons” by 3 rating points. Fox averaged a 4.8 for the night and had a 6.2 household rating and 10 share, based on Nielsen overnights. NBC had a 3.7 and a 6.7/11, ABC had a 3.1 and a 5.2/8 and CBS had a 2.9 and a 7.3/12.

Cablevision, YES await hearing on NJ bill
Today is a big day for Garden State Yankee fans as the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on a bill that would essentially force Cablevision to carry the YES Network. Supporters of the bill, which won approval in the state Assembly last Monday, hope to usher it through the Senate by the end of next week. One snag is that the state's Office of Legislative Services has repeatedly voiced doubts about the bill, saying it conflicts with federal antitrust law and possibly the Constitution. With the start of the baseball season on the way, YES, which holds TV rights to most Yankees games, is counting on the bill's passage to gain leverage against Cablevision, which has so far refused to negotiate a carriage agreement. But even if it becomes law, Cablevision is certain to challenge it in court. Meanwhile, some 3 million Cablevision households in the tri-state area are faced with the decision to switch to satellite service or go another season without the Yankees.

Mystro TV, AOL's top-secret answer to TiVo
The personal digital recording revolution has been slow to get underway. Now AOL Time Warner hopes to catalyze it with a TiVo-like device of its own. The company is among several satellite, cable and television suppliers trying to come up with next-generation digital video recorders, according to The New York Times. For two years AOL Time Warner’s Mystro TV has been overseen by the company’s top engineer, James A. Chiddix, and Time Warner Cable head Joseph J. Collins. Among the more network-friendly Mystro elements are greater network control over which shows can be rescheduled and an ability to add commercials. The company owns Turner Broadcasting and the WB, as well as Warner Bros. studio. AOL Time Warner was one of the main forces behind Hollywood adaption of the DVD format. Yet the Mystro concept reportedly has been met with skepticism, even within AOL – not a huge surprise, since the threat of TiVo, with fewer than 1 million subscribers, still hasn’t materialized. The company hopes to begin selling Mystro service, which will be offered to cable competitors, within two years.

Sohmer, ABC's top ad exec, in quick scoot
After just seven months at ABC, executive vice president of marketing, advertising and promotion Steve Sohmer has left. The former Pax and Sony suit, who started last August, reportedly had become sick of the job already, after a fourth-place network performance among adults 18-49 in the February sweeps. Sohmer brainstormed the “Better Night, Better Time” slogan for “The Practice’s” move to Monday, and helped promote ABC’s new comedies, all of which were renewed. But Sohmer, who helped launch “The Cosby Show” during an ‘80s stint at NBC, apparently didn’t agree with some of the network’s decisions and didn’t get along with some producers. Senior marketing executive Mike Benson, who ran the department until Sohmer was summoned from a summer vacation last year, will take over Sohmer’s duties on an interim basis. ABC did renew its agreement with programming consultant Fred Silverman, the former NBC president.

Guest host parade as Letterman recuperates
David Letterman isn’t quite ready to return to work, which means another week’s worth of guest hosts. The 55-year-old CBS funny man was sidelined by shingles last month, forcing him to take a three-day break during the last week of February. Bruce Willis, John McEnroe and Regis Philbin served as guest hosts during Letterman’s absence, and last week the show was on a scheduled hiatus. This week “The Late Show” returns with four new guest hosts and a surprise one to be named for Friday’s show. Whoopi Goldberg, Vince Vaughn, Elvis Costello and Will Ferrell will sub this week. Letterman’s doctor said last Friday that although his patient had improved, he still needed some rest. The host has had just one other significant absence during his 20-year late-night career, the five weeks he missed after emergency heart bypass surgery in 2000.

New study connects TV violence to aggression
It's getting increasingly hard to dispute the existence of a link between watching violent TV shows as a child and engaging in violent behavior as an adult. A study published in the March issue of the journal Developmental Psychology further strengthens that link by tracing the effects of viewing over a 15-year span. The study began in the late 1970s when a group of children ages 6 to 9 were interviewed about their favorite TV programs and viewing habits. Fifteen years later, researchers caught up with 329 subjects, by then in their early 20s. Those children who had been rated in the top 20 percent in terms of exposure to violent shows were more likely than others to have committed a crime or struck another adult in anger. Men in the top 20 percent were twice as likely to have shoved their wives during an argument, and women in the top 20 percent were twice as likely to have thrown something at their husbands. Children who said they identified strongly with violent TV characters or believed violent shows to be realistic were also more likely to commit acts of aggression as a young adult.

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