News Shorts

ABC football scores but falls short of NBC
ABC got a much-needed ratings boost on Monday from the AFC-NFC Hall of Fame game, but it wasn't enough to beat NBC’s three hour lineup of summer reality shows. NBC averaged a 5 adult 18-49 rating and won every half-hour from 8:30 p.m. through 11 p.m. , with “Dog Eat Dog” getting the night’s highest rating. The show had a 5.6. ABC ranked No. 2 for most of the night with the football game, which aired in primetime in most of the country, and a movie that aired elsewhere. ABC had a 4.1 rating. The one-two punch of NBC and ABC left the other Big Four networks fighting it out for the remaining adult 18-49 audience. CBS remained competitive while Fox trailed with repeats of “Boston Public” and two episodes of the resurfacing “Titus.” CBS had a 3.1 rating, largely on the strength of an “Everybody Loves Raymond” repeat, while Fox had a 1.5. CBS did better among households with a 7.2 rating and 12 share, based on preliminary data. ABC had a 6.7/11, NBC had a 6.5/11 and Fox had a 2.6/4.

Fox slips past NBC for a sleepy Sunday win
The broadcast networks slumped through Sunday with only one summer reality show to boost viewership and settled for mediocre ratings for mostly repeats and movies. Fox came out ahead in the adult 18-49 demographic with a 2.7 rating that barely edged past NBC’s 2.6. ABC had a 1.7 to CBS’s 1.6, based on Nielsen overnight data. The highest ratings in the demo went to Fox’s block of sitcoms from 8 to 10 p.m., with “The Simpsons” and “Malcolm in the Middle” pulling in the strongest numbers. NBC remained competitive with “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and moved into first place with its “Crime & Punishment” reality show after Fox’s primetime lineup wound down at 10 p.m. ABC settled for third place most of the night with a Disney movie and repeats of “Alias” and “The Practice.” Meanwhile, CBS was hurt by “The Guardian” and the movie “Missing Pieces,” which were in last place for most of the night. CBS did better in households, though. NBC was No. 1 with a 5.6 rating and 10 share to CBS’s 5.4/10, Fox’s 3.5/6 and ABC’s 3.2/6.

Barron's top editor will also oversee SmartMoney
Edwin A. Finn Jr., president and editor in chief of Dow Jones Co.' s personal finance magazine Barron’s, has been tapped as the new chairman and editor in chief of rival title SmartMoney. After a brutal 2001 and a poor start to this year at SmartMoney, there has been a leadership shakeup at the Dow Jones-Hearst Corp. joint venture. Peter Finch, who had been the editor in chief of SmartMoney for the past 18 months, gets demoted to editor. Chris Lambiase, who was the CEO and president, is no longer CEO but hangs on as president and publishing director. Publisher Robert Fritze is leaving the company. For the first half of 2002, ad pages fell 27 percent at SmartMoney, compared with a decline of 33 percent for all of 2001. Ad revenue has fallen 21 percent to $20.5 million, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

Clear Channel settles feud, buys chief critic
Clear Channel has hit on a time-tested method of silencing a pesky critical voice: Buy it. The radio industry goliath has bought out industry trade magazine Inside Radio and merged it with M Street Journal, a radio trade of which it is part owner. The acquisition settled a series of lawsuits brought against Clear Channel by the magazine’s longtime publisher, Jerry Del Colliano. The publisher had irritated the radio group with several stories critical of the company, including reports that station managers and deejays had taken junkets funded by record companies - an industry no-no. In November 2000, Clear Channel filed a lawsuit charging Del Colliano with a “vicious and concerted campaign of coercion, public vilification and harassment.” Del Colliano countered in July 2001 with a $115 million suit charging that Clear Channel wanted to destroy his business.

Baldwin-Drudge spat may lead to lawsuit
Alec Baldwin delivered a rant on the Howard Stern radio show Monday that could land the Hollywood star turned "Hollywood Squares" star in court. Internet columnist Matt Drudge is mulling over slapping Baldwin with a slander suit for comments he made on the show, according to the New York Post. Among a slew of brash and outlandish statements, Baldwin, who will be splitting center-square duty with Ellen DeGeneres on the revamped game show, claimed that Drudge once made sexual advances toward him. "He said, 'Do you have any Tabasco sauce?... I want to drizzle it all over you,'" claimed Baldwin. Drudge, however, claims that the two have never met. Drudge says the comments are actionable as far as his lawyer is concerned, but has held off on filing suit as he doubted the actor was worth suing. "Does Alec have any cash left to collect damages?" Drudge said. Drudge's riposte was reported on the Post's Page Six, whose editor, Richard Johnson, has issued a standing challenge to fight Baldwin "anytime, anywhere."

'Jackass' regular Steve-O faces obscenity charge
"Jackass" is finished as a regular series on MTV, but its legacy of tasteful entertainment lives on. Series regular Steve-O is free on $150,000 bail after being arrested in California as a fugitive from justice. The performer, whose real name is Stephen Glover, allegedly fled charges of obscenity and second-degree battery brought against him in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, following a July 11 comedy show in which he exposed himself to the audience. The battery charge stems from a stunt that left a 19-year-old volunteer unconscious. Prior to his arrest, MTV was reportedly considering casting Steve-O and another "Jackass" regular, Chris Pontius, as hosts of a new spinoff series. "Jackass" ended last summer when host Johnny Knoxville, whose on-air repertoire included lighting himself on fire and forcing himself to vomit, announced that he no longer wished to do the show for some reason. Repeats still air on MTV.

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