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Even as most new reality shows are slumping, NBC used two 90-minute unscripted specials to win Monday in the adult 18-49 demographic. A special “Fear Factor” from Las Vegas was the night’s highest rated show with an 8 rating. The reality show ranked No. 1 in every half-hour in its time slot and improved its rating 48 percent from beginning to end. NBC’s newest “Meet My Folks,” this time with the kids choosing a guy for their mother, didn’t do nearly as well. That show averaged a 5.9 rating but had stiffer competition in CBS’s “CSI: Miami,” which ranked No. 1 at 10 p.m. Meanwhile, Fox’s “Married by America” is continuing to founder in the time slot vacated by “Joe Millionaire.” The reality show ranked No. 3 in its 9 p.m. time period. ABC was in last place for all of primetime with “Veritas: The Quest,” “The Practice” and “Miracles.” NBC had a 6.9 adult 18-49 rating and a 9 household rating and 14 share, based on Nielsen overnights. CBS had a 5.7 and an 11.1/17, Fox had a 3.6 and a 5.2/8 and ABC had a 2.2 and a 4.6/7.
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.
DirecTV makes play for Cablevision customers
The Cablevision-YES standoff is bad news if you’re a Yankees fan but good news if you’re DirecTV. The Hughes Corp.-owned satellite provider is wooing frustrated Cablevision customers with an offer of free installation of a two-room system from now until April 30. DirecTV is publicizing the offer with a radio spots, print ads and a 4 million piece direct-mail campaign. Unless they switch, Cablevision's 3 million customers have no way of watching most Yankees games, which air on the fledgling YES Network. Cablevision has so far resisted negotiating a carriage deal with YES, which has resorted to backing a New Jersey bill that, if passed, would force Cablevision to come to terms. On top of everything else, the two companies disagree about how many Cablevision customers fled to DirecTV when it offered a similar package last year. Cablevision says it was 30,000; YES says it was more like 100,000.
Coming to TNN: Howard Stern, the early years
It's like "Smallville," but with midgets and lesbians instead of super powers. That's right: TNN is talking with Howard Stern about developing a cartoon based on his high school years. The syndicated shock jock has reportedly agreed to voice the young Howard. In his broadcasts, Stern makes frequent references to growing up as a high school nerd. His target audience of males 18-34 is also the target for the new TNN, which has repositioned itself from a country-Western hub to the men’s network this year. TNN already has three animated adult shows scheduled for this season, one a revival of ‘90s cult favorite “Ren & Stimpy,” the others vehicles for Kelsey Grammer and Pamela Anderson. Other TNN staples include “Star Trek” episodes and WWE wrestling. Stern helped develop another cable show, FX’s canceled “Son of a Beach,” which he also produced.
Media bigs get worked
up over bias question
Which way does the mainstream
press tilt, right or left, and does it matter? That was the question posed
yesterday at a panel discussion sponsored by The Week magazine. On hand
was Eric Alterman, media columnist for The Nation, whose new book argues
that "the liberal media" is a myth perpetuated by conservatives.
"Seventy percent of Americans believe that Saddam Hussein was behind
9/11," said Alterman. "They don’t think that because the media
is liberal." Disagreeing with him at every turn was William McGowan,
whose own book looks at the way political correctness in matters of race
and gender distorts news reporting. Activist and writer Arianna Huffington
insisted that the question of bias is irrelevant, as are most mainstream
news organizations. "I would say the problem with the media is not
that they’re right or left but that they’re shallow, obsessive and
toxic," said Huffington, claiming that the attention lavished on
sensationalized figures like Gary Condit and JonBenet Ramsey keeps
important stories from getting the coverage they deserve. Finally, Janeane
Garofalo, a celebrity who has spoken out against going to war in Iraq,
focused on the plight of celebrities who’ve been ridiculed for speaking
out against going to war in Iraq.
Ohio voters say 'no,
thanks' to Jerry Springer
Ohio
voters aren’t exactly clamoring for Jerry Springer’s return to
politics. After Springer’s announcement that he may run for Senate, he
received the highest unfavorable rating in the 14-year history of the Ohio
Poll, conducted by the University of Cincinnati’s Institute for Policy
Research. Seventy-one percent of those surveyed had a poor opinion of his
potential candidacy. Fourteen percent didn’t know much about Springer,
and 2 percent did not know him at all. Only 13 percent gave him a
favorable rating. The talk show host scored even worse than Donald Trump,
who in 2000 received a 65 percent unfavorable rating. The poll found that
incumbent Republican Sen. George Voinovich was preferred by 77 percent to
16 percent over the Democratic Springer, a onetime mayor of Cincinnati.
Springer has not formally declared his candidacy. He made similar
rumblings about a run in 1999 but never entered the race.
March 11, 2003© 2003 Media Life
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