ABC's 'Town' falls 24 percent in second outing
   ABC’s “My Kind of Town” is shaping up to be nobody’s kind of show.
   The second episode of the series posted just a 2.2 overnight rating among viewers 18-49 last night, down 24.1 percent versus last week’s season premiere.
   Last week ABC boosted the premiere of “Town” by airing an all-new episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” as its lead-in, pushing “Town” to a 2.9.
   Though “Town” suffered losses versus last week, ABC still finished first for the night among 8-49s on a quiet end-of-summer Sunday. The network averaged a 2.4 rating and posted a 7 share, followed by Fox at 2.2/7, NBC at 2.0/6, CBS at 1.9/6 and the WB at 0.6/2.
   At 7 p.m. ABC led with a 2.0 average rating for the first hour of its “Home Edition” repeat. CBS was second with a 1.8 for “60 Minutes” and Fox third with a 1.3 for repeats of “Malcolm in the Middle” (1.1) and “King of the Hill” (1.4).
   ABC jumped to a 3.1 at 8 p.m. for its second hour of “Home Edition,” the highest-rated hour of the night among 18-49s. Fox moved into second with a 2.6 average for repeats of “The Simpsons” (2.4) and “Family Guy” (2.7) and CBS and NBC tied for third at a 1.9, CBS for a repeat of “Cold Case” and NBC for “Dateline.”
   Fox took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 2.7 average for repeats of “Family Guy” (2.9) and “American Dad” (2.4). NBC was second with a 2.6 for a “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” rerun, while ABC slipped to third with its 2.2 average for “My Kind of Town.”
   ABC regained the lead at 10 p.m. with a 2.4 average for a repeat episode of “Desperate Housewives.” NBC was second with a 2.3 for a repeat of “Crossing Jordan” and CBS third with a 2.2 for the second hour of the miniseries “Living with the Dead.”
   CBS finished first for the night among households with a 5.9 average rating and a 10 share. NBC finished second at 4.9/9, ABC third at 4.0/7, Fox fourth at 3.0/5 and the WB fifth at 0.9/2.

ABC's Salt Lake City station rejects Sheehan ad
Is it appropriate to run an anti-Iraq war ad on TV? Salt Lake City's local ABC TV affiliate doesn’t think so. It has refused to run a spot featuring Cindy Sheehan, who led a protest outside President Bush's Texas ranch after her son's death in the war. Salt Lake City affiliates for NBC, CBS and Fox started running the ad Saturday. But an ad sales representative for KTVX, the ABC affiliate, refused the ad in an email to media buyers, stating that it was an "inappropriate commercial advertisement for Salt Lake City." Certainly Utah is more conservative than many parts of the country. Seventy percent of Utah residents voted for Bush in the 2004 election. In the ad, Sheehan begs Bush to meet with her and accuses him of lying about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and its ties to al-Qaeda. Local NBC-affiliate KSL said it ran the ad in the interest of free speech. 

SparkNet to Clear Channel: You shan't know Jack
Jack, the eclectic new format that imitates an iPod on shuffle, is the hottest thing on radio, and people are scrambling to take credit and prevent others from using it. SparkNet Communications filed suit against Clear Channel in San Diego federal court Thursday over alleged trademark infringement and cyber squatting. SparkNet claims that it is the owner and rights-holder for Jack, which boosts radio playlists from the traditional 250-300 songs to around 1,000 songs, then mixes them randomly. It has licensed the trademark to 15 U.S. stations, including several owned by Infinity. The company objects to Clear Channel’s San Diego station KMYI using the word Jack in its web domain name while offering what the suit calls a cheap imitation of the Jack FM product. The law firm of Newman & Newman LLP brought the suit on behalf of SparkNet, which also alleges unfair competition, trademark dilution and violation of business and professional codes.

Pax's revamped i ready for some college football
College football is coming to Paxson Communications’ i network. Through a partnership with college sports network CSTV, i will air “Football Nation on i” Saturdays at 6 p.m. starting Oct. 1 with a game between Alabama State and Southern. “Football Nation” also will feature profiles and related human interest stories. In other programming, ESPN is considering airing episodes of “The Contender” on its Spanish-language ESPN Deportes. The boxing reality show, which ESPN picked up from NBC, could fare well on ESPN Deportes, since boxing is one of the most popular sports among Hispanics. TLC has picked up a U.S. version of Britain’s “The Monastery,” where men live a monastic lifestyle with monks for 40 days and nights. No launch date has been set. And MTV2 has ordered a second season of the animated “Wonder Shozen,” set to launch during first quarter next year. The network also ordered seasons of “Final Fu,” a martial arts competition series, and “Rhythm and Reggaeton,” a music video series, as well as pilots of “Are You Game?” where contestants play live-action versions of video games and “Stupid Ways to Die,” which recreates deaths “Jackass” style.

Mets win! Judge says Cablevision can't block net
The Mets may not win the National League wild card, but they beat Cablevision. A New York State Supreme Court Judge dismissed a lawsuit last week from Cablevision, which sought to delay the launch of a new Mets-owned TV network. The Mets paid $54 million in June 2004 to buy back their TV rights from the cable giant, which will air 125 Mets games this season on MSG Network and Fox Sports New York. The squad then partnered with Comcast and Time Warner for a new network to begin broadcasting Mets games next season. Cablevision argued in the suit, filed last October, that the Mets breached their contract by creating the network before Nov. 1, 2005. Judge Helen Freedman granted the Mets' motion for a summary judgment against Cablevision, stating that it defied common sense for the Mets to delay their network after the $54 million payout.

The Donald's newest turf: Chinese 'Apprentice' 
How do you say “You’re fired” in Mandarin? Millions of Chinese TV viewers may learn Donald Trump’s catchphrase soon, as his NBC reality show “The Apprentice” is heading overseas. The South China Morning Post reported yesterday that Trump will executive produce the Chinese version of the show, though no launch date has been set. The new show will model itself on the American version, which features a pack of wannabe moguls competing for a job with the real estate icon. The paper also reported that the show’s host would be Pan Shiyi, a Beijing property mogul.