Broadcasting & Cable back issues from March 2005:
Where to be and what to watch ...(B&C Week)(television broadcasting industry)
Mar 07, 2005; ... Monday, March 7 They've been leading parallel lives in the hype lane for the past couple of months. Now it's time for the dueling premieres: the Sylvester Stallone/Mark Burnett-produced boxing reality series The Contender (NBC, 9:30 p.m. ET) versus Kirstie Alley's self-mocking ...
Grumpy old news guys.(The Robins Report)(Dan Rather)
Mar 07, 2005; ... Last week. Walter Cronkite, Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Andy Rooney and Don Hewitt paid tribute to Dan Rather in a manner all too typical of the CBS News culture. In a New Yorker profile pegged to his March 9 departure from CBS Evening News. Rather's fellow CBS senior citizens, in their ...
Martha Stewart gets 3 Emmy nods, Lucci none.(Fast Track)(Susan Lucci)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... ABC's All My Children leads the competition with 18 Daytime Emmy Award nominations. But for a change, Susan Lucci won't get a chance to lose; she wasn't nominated. The most buzz came from the three Emmy nominations that went to Martha Stewart for her cancelled King World show, ...
Bye, bye Blue.(Fast Track)(television program ratings)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... ABC's NYPD Blue went out on top. After a dozen years, the critically acclaimed Stephen Bochco drama's last episode won its time period with a 5.2/13 in the key 18-49 demo, beating usual winner Law & Order: ...
Powell, Stern on same page.(Michael Powell)(Ted Stevens )(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... FCC Chairman Michael Powell told Fox News Channel Thursday that he thinks extending indecency regulation to cable, satellite and satellite radio, as Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) would like to do, is probably unconstitutional. Powell said he believes ...
Big Apple boost.(Fast Track)(television programs ratings)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... Start spreadin' the news: Ratings for some syndicated shows in the February sweeps came up huge--more than 30% boosts--in New York, according to the new local people meter (LPM) ratings system now in place there. Although the vast majority of syndicated shows were flat or down, ...
Tower of Babel, on demand: ad buyers are eager to exploit VOD advertising possibilities, but how?(Money Talks)
Mar 07, 2005; ... Cable systems have never made it easy for advertisers. Until recently, the process of ordering and verifying a local spot in a big city meant a mountain of paperwork and dealing with several cable operators. A new ad campaign for Comcast's local ad sales is almost an apology: Spot cable ...
The B&C: week of February 25-March 3.(News & Comment)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
Mar 07, 2005 ... <Pre> THE B&C WEEK OF FEBRUARY 25-MARCH 3 THE B&C 10 WEEK YTD 1.3%-2.0% BROADCAST TV GROUPS WEEK YTD 1.3%-3.6% CABLE OPERATORS WEEK YTD -1.6% -0.9% RADIO WEEK YTD 0.0%-1.4% ...
TiVo tumbles.(News & Comment)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... -9.4% Wasn't it great when TiVo rallied on rumors that Apple was planning to acquire the company? Well, never mind. Apple hasn't ...
Judge makes suit against Penn & Teller vanish.(Viacom Inc. cases)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... Even though one half of Penn & Teller doesn't talk, the duo has just struck a blow for freedom of speech. A federal judge last week threw out a lawsuit, filed by a group that advocates the teaching of creationism in Cobb County, Ga., public schools, against Viacom, which produces Penn & ...
Disney: prim, or just wily?(Walt Disney Studios)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... The entire cable industry vowed to fight Congress following Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens' recent call to impose broadcast indecency restrictions on cable nets. Well, almost the entire cable industry, anyway. A Disney executive tells B&C that, as the owner of ABC Family, ESPN as well as the ABC ...
Better 'late' HD than never.(Flash!)(Late Show with David Letterman)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... Letterman, Letterman everywhere. He kept popping up on the Flash! radar last week, from CBS uber-boss Les Moonves' contention in a Playboy magazine interview that his man would beat Jay Leno in the late-night ratings if Nielsen could just tally guys watching in sports bars and frat houses, ...
Sweeps finale: Fox is first, ABC's on second, CBS slides into third.(News & Comment)(American Broadcasting Companies Inc.)
Mar 07, 2005; ... CBS ended February sweeps running repeats of some of its top-performing shows. The network decided to save fresh episodes of CSI, CSI: Miami and Everybody Loves Raymond until later in the season, betting Fox would place first no matter what the network aired against it. "This ...
'Fat' is a fit: showtime chief talks about the promise of Kirstie Alley's new comedy for the network.(Showtime Networks Inc.)(Matthew C. Blank speaks about 'Fat Actress')(Interview)
Mar 07, 2005; ... At Showtime's Los Angeles high-rise headquarters last week, staffers scurried to ready the premium pay cable channel for its invitation-only, red-carpet Hollywood premiere of the new Kirstie Alley comedy, Fat Actress. The series' seven episodes begin airing March 7 at 10 p.m. ET, and the ...
File-sharers hail rights "Magna Carta".(Washington Watch)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... Consumer activists and makers of digital recorders warned the Supreme Court that TV programmers and Hollywood are using the switch to digital technology as an excuse to trample longstanding home-recording rights. In briefs to the high court, Intel, the Consumer Electronics ...
Microsoft helps cable lobbying.(Washington Watch)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... Microsoft has given cable operators a big helping hand in their fight to postpone a looming government restriction that would hamper their deployment of low-cost set-top boxes for digital TV. Microsoft has told the FCC it supports the cable industry's request to delay, until at ...
Cable under attack: programmers could be forced to tone down content.(News & Comment)
Mar 07, 2005; ... A showdown is brewing between Congress and the cable industry now that two top lawmakers are vowing to bring the industry under the same indecency restrictions as broadcasters. "I think we can put restrictions on cable, and I intend to tell them that," Senate Commerce Committee ...
FCC spares 'Private Ryan'.(Federal Communications Commission, 'Saving Private Ryan')(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... ABC stations that aired the uncut version of World War II movie Saving Private Ryan won't be punished by the FCC. The network's Veterans Day broadcast stirred up a hubbub when scores of affiliates questioned whether the movie's profanity and violence would lead to FCC fines. No ...
'Buster' ban: no second thoughts.(Postcards from Buster)(television program)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... PBS President Pat Mitchell said she has no regrets over nixing an episode of Postcards from Buster that featured the cartoon bunny's visit to a family headed, presumably, by a lesbian couple. "I wouldn't inject PBS stations into a culture war they did not start and cannot stop," ...
Ratings: 2/14-20/05.(Syndication)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
Mar 07, 2005 ... <Pre> RATINGS 2/14-20/05 Nielsen Media Research Top 25 Shows HOUSEHOLDS PROGRAM AAGAA 1 Wheel of Fortune 9.7NA 2 Oprah Winfrey Show8.2 8.4 3 Jeopardy! 8.0NA 4 Everybody ...
Make a date: dating shows face tough challenges.(elimiDate)
Mar 07, 2005; ... Telepictures is still in the matchmaking game, at least for another season. The syndication arm of Warner Bros. has just renewed elimiDate, its half-hour reality/comedy strip that sets single people up on dates with four suitors. Three are eliminated during the course of each episode. ...
Danza in progress.(The Tony Danza Show)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... The Tony Danza Show, the low-rated freshman strip from Buena Vista, found a better time slot in Chicago for next fall. The show moves from 1:40 a.m. on ABC's WLS to noon on WMAQ. Danza also found a daytime slot in Los Angeles, moving from overnights. Winning daytime clearances is a ...
ET, Oprah get Oscar bounce.(Entertainment Tonight, The Oprah Winfrey Show)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... Entertainment Tonight and The Oprah Winfrey Show scored big with the Oscars, recording impressive ratings on the day after the show. Both catered to a big appetite for news from Sunday night's ceremony. Paramount's ET pulled in a 7.9 household rating/12 share, according to Nielsen's ...
Affair returns.(Twentieth Television)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... Twentieth Television says it will launch its revival of A Current Affair March 26 on Fox stations, covering 40% of the country. Show runner Peter Brennan ...
KMAX reaches out to Hispanic viewers.(Station To Station)
Mar 07, 2005; ... KMAX Sacramento, Calif., is dipping into Spanish-language broadcasting. For five hours each morning, the Viacom-owned UPN station interprets its successful morning show, Good Day Sacramento, for the market's Hispanic population, via the Secondary Audio Program (SAP) feed. KMAX ...
Hoopla! WLKY Louisville, Ky., latest to air NCAA on broadcast, digital.(News & Comment)(National College Athletics Association)
Mar 07, 2005; ... At last, basketball fans in Louisville, Ky., get a say in what they see during March Madness. When the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament tips off March 17, local CBS affiliate WLKY will carry several games rather than the single regional feed CBS traditionally supplies. To up the ante, WLKY ...
At a glance.(Market Eye)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
Mar 07, 2005 ... <Pre> The Market DMA Rank 26 Population 2,960,000 TV homes 1,026,000 Income Per Capita$18,023 TV Revenue Rank 16 TV Revenue $322,700,000 Commercial TV Stations Rank * Ch. Affil. Owner ...
Sea of change: San Diego sees shakeups, stays course.(Market Eye)
Mar 07, 2005; ... San Diego is best-known for sun and surf, but the local TV scene is shifting faster than the tide. Since November sweeps, three well-known anchors have found new TV homes. Market vet Michael Tuck, main anchor at CBS affiliate KFMB, defected to independent KUSI to host a new 11 p.m. ...
KSWB does mornings.(Market Eye)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005; ... With help from sister station KTLA, Tribune Broadcasting's KSWB San Diego is now a player in the local-morning-news battle. On March 7, KSWB debuted its WB Morning News, a two-hour simulcast of KTLA's popular morning act, broadcast from 7 to 9 a.m. KSWB localizes the program by cutting ...
The demos.(Market Eye)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
Mar 07, 2005 ... <Pre> THE DEMOS SHARE OF WHO POPULATION INDEX * White65% 115 Black 7% 59 Hispanic origin 24% 180 Asian 5% ...
What a teen wants: how TV chases an elusive demo.(Cover Story)
Mar 07, 2005; ... A Pacific breeze blows across the Manhattan Beach set of The O.C., where calm has descended after the cast and crew scatter for lunch. But the teen drama's creator, Josh Schwartz, is pacing outside his office, staring at photos of women's clothing. At 28 years of age and dressed in a ...
What "Voice of God"? CBS Evening News is less anchor-dominated than it seems.(News Analysis)
Mar 07, 2005; ... With Dan Rather leaving the CBS Evening News on March 9, what format will eventually replace the show? On-the-record comments emanating from Black Rock are few. However, CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves dropped a confusing set of clues when he briefed reporters in January. Moonves ...
Top syndicated shows.(SNTA Media Planning Guide)(Illustration)
Mar 07, 2005 ... <Pre> Top 50 Shows Aug. 30, 2004-Feb. 13, 2005 Households PROGRAM AAGAA 1 Wheel of Fortune 9.0 NA 2 Jeopardy!7.1 NA 3 Oprah Winfrey Show 7.6 7.7 4 Everybody Loves Raymond ...
For syndicators, Burg is the man with a plan: he aims efforts at ad execs who map strategy, not just buyers.(SNTA Media Planning Guide)(Mitch Burg)(advertising executives)(Biography)
Mar 07, 2005; ... When syndicators felt like their product was getting short shrift in an ever-changing media world, they went out and found lifelong media planner and buyer Mitch Burg to do their selling for them. According to those who hired him as president of the Syndicated Network Television ...
The secret success of syndication: top sales execs make their best pitches.(executives)(Panel Discussion)
Mar 07, 2005 ... Viewers of syndicated television can see four of comedy's biggest hits--The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond---every night of the week, at least once. It is home to TV's biggest star, Oprah Winfrey. Episodes of Law & Order will rerun forever. And Wheel of Fortune has ...
Buyers' guide: how to reach the major syndicators and their showcase offerings.(SNTA Media Planning Guide)(Directory)
Mar 07, 2005 ... Buena Vista Television www.tvplex.com PROGRAMS: Ebert & Roeper Home Improvement Live With Regis and Kelly Movies from Disney, Hollywood Pictures, Touchstone and Miramax The Tony Danza Show ...
With NHL frozen out, baseball, basketball score big: why St. Louis isn't so blue about losing its Blues.(Sports Special)(National Hockey League)
Mar 07, 2005; ... In St. Louis, there will be no playoff games for the National Hockey League's Blues this spring--but the baseball-crazed city will be perfectly content watching their National League baseball champion Cardinals play exhibition games. In Philadelphia, the NHL's Flyers are grounded, but the ...
Icing the trucks: NHL's lost season has chilling effect on the production side.(Sports Special)(National Hockey League)(Interview)
Mar 07, 2005; ... When the National Hockey League hung up its skates on the 2005 season, it left more than just hockey fans hurting. Freelance camera operators, the crews that work in the production trucks handling instant replays and graphics--and even the truck vendors themselves--felt the pinch. ...
Storming the weather: new tracking devices safeguard reporters, improve news stories.(Technology)(WeatherData Inc. introduces Storm Hawk Reporter)
Mar 07, 2005; ... A new PDA from WeatherData could revolutionize the way reporters collect weather information and send it back to stations. Known as the Storm Hawk Reporter, the PDA uses a combination of Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking and advanced National Weather Service reporting systems. It ...
Idol nixes JVC, returns to Sony.(American Idol)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... American Idol's experiment with first-generation HDV technology came to an abrupt halt as Idol producers returned to the Sony DSR PD-150 standard-definition carncorder. The problem? The single-chip JVC HDV camcorder could not deliver quality video and audio images. "We've gone ...
WNET emergency system.(Geospatially-Aware Urban Approaches for Responding to Disasters)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... WNET New York gave a live demonstration of its emergency-responder system to government officials last week. The GUARD system (Geospatially-Aware Urban Approaches for Responding to ...
Harmonic acquires BTL.(Broadcast Technology Ltd.)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... Harmonic has paid about $8 million to acquire UK-based Broadcast Technology Ltd. and will integrate it into Harmonic's Convergent Systems Division. Harmonic's headend and edge-server systems already fully support BTL receivers, decoders and other products. Says Dr ....
The master builder: sports vet launches Nat Geo and delivers ad, ratings success.(Laureen Ong)(National Geographic Channel)(Biography)
Mar 07, 2005; ... National Geographic Channel President Laureen Ong spent 15 years working in sports TV. There was just one problem: She hated sports. "I used to joke that it must have been my punishment for a previous life," she says. "It was a business for me. I liked what I was doing at the time, but it ...
Insight Communications.(Insight Communications Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... At Insight Communications: KEVIN DOWELL, VP, advertising sales, Insight Media, New York, promoted to senior VP; SCOTT COOLEY, senior VP, employee relations and development, Fishers, Ind., ...
Time Warner Cable.(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... At Time Warner Cable, Stamford, Conn.: MELINDA C. WITMER, VP/chief counsel, programming, named VP, ...
ACME Television.(promotions)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... JAMIE MCDOWELL, VP/director, promotion, ACME Television, Albuquerque, N.M., named creative services director, ...
Comcast.(appointments)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... GREG DUDKIN, VP, technical operations, Greater Chicago ...
Daystar Television Network.(appointment at Comcast system)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... DAVID TROXEL, VP, affiliate relations, Daystar Television Network, ...
The History Channel/VP.(appointment at A and E Television Networks)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... DR. LIBBY HAIGHT O'CONNELL, VP, historical alliances, and historian-in-residence, The History Channel/VP, community ...
Univision Communications.(promotions)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... At Univision Communications: ALINA FALCON, SVP/operating manager, TeleFutura, Miami, promoted to EVP/operating manager, Univision Network, Miami; BERT MEDINA, VP/GM, Univision WGBO Joliet, Ill., ...
Nickelodeon Australia.(promotions)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... CATHERINE NERAUER, GM, Nickelodeon Australia, promoted to ...
VH1.(promotions)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... SANDY ALOUETE, senior director, music and talent, VH1, ...
Cartoon Network Enterprises.(promotions)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... LISA M. WEGER, VP, Latin America consumer products, off-channel commerce group, Cartoon Network, ...
Nickelodeon Television.(promotions)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... BROWN JOHNSON, EVE Nick Jr., promoted to executive creative ...
UPN.(appointment at United Paramount Network)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... JENNIFER ORME, consultant, America's Next Top Model, UPN, Los ...
Sony Pictures Television.(appointments)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... CHRIS VAN AMBURG, television packaging, William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, ...
Fox News Channel.(promotions)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... At Fox News Channel, New York: DAVID BROWN, senior producer, The O'Reilly Factor, promoted to senior producer, weekend prime time program ruing; HOLLY CERELLI, senior ...
ABC News.(appointments)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... LIZ MARLANTES, national political reporter, The Christian Science Monitor, ...
Jones Media America.(appointments)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... DAVE SIMON, senior account executive, Continental TV Sales, Chicago, ...
Datebook.
Mar 07, 2005 ... THIS WEEK MARCH 8 THE JOHN A. REISENBACH FOUNDATION 13TH ANNUAL GALA TRIBUTE FOR A SAFER AND BETTER NEW YORK The Harmonie Club, New York. Contact: Ronny Venable 212-935-1840 or ronnyvenable@aol.com MARCH 9 THE SOCIETY OF ...
The prime time race.(Illustration)
Mar 07, 2005 ... <Pre> THE PRIME TIME RACE Top 10 Basic Cable Shows Feb. 21-27 Total Household (in millions) PROGRAM DATENETHNS 1. WWE Raw 10p 2/21 SPIK3.7 2. SpongeBob SqrPants 9:30a2/26 NICK3.5 2. Monk...
Nielsen ratings: Feb. 21-27.(Illustration)
Mar 07, 2005; ... <Pre> NIELSEN FEB. 21-27 RATINGS abc Week 23 MONDAY 5.9/9 8:00 60. Extreme Makeover Home Ed: 8:30 How'd They Do That? 5.2/8 9:00 44. The Bachelorette6.0/9 9:30 10:00 35 ....
More on Martha.(Martha Stewart's new syndicated daily hour lifestyle show gets clearance)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... Martha Stewart's new syndicated daily hour lifestyle/talker has been cleared in 85% of the country for fall, according to NBC Universal. In addition to the already announced clearances on NBC-owned stations (almost 40% of the country), the show has been cleared on ...
FCC asks high court to ignore activists.(Federal Communications Commission)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... A variety of industry and activist groups have asked the Supreme Court to overrule a lower-court decision that would force the FCC to rewrite most of its broadcast-ownership rules. Last week, the FCC asked the high court to ignore them all. Although the FCC has its own ...
'CSI target of non-complaint.(Crime Scene Investigation)(Brief Article)
Mar 07, 2005 ... Speakspeak.org--a Web site launched one month ago to fight back against the FCC's indecency crackdown has set up an online form on its opening page for surfers to submit a letter of "non-complaint" to the commission to counter a Parents Television Council's complaint against CSI: Crime ...