James Hibberd

Fox’s double punch of “American Idol” and an original episode of “House” readily dominated the Nielsen ratings Tuesday night.

“Idol” ruled the evening with an 11.0 preliminary rating among adults 18 to 49, slipping 7% from last week. With an 8.6 rating, “House” was up 23% since its last original airing three months ago, thanks to the “Idol” lead-in.

NBC was the runner-up, with “The Biggest Loser: Couples” down 11% because of heightened competition in the 9 p.m. hour from “House.” A repeat of “Law & Order: SVU” (2.9) won the 10 p.m. hour.

CBS came in third in the demo with repeats of “NCIS” (2.0) and “The Unit” (1.5) followed by “48 Hours Mystery” (2.4).

ABC came in fourth with two episodes of “Just for Laughs” (1.4 and 1.3), “According to Jim” (2.0), “Carpoolers” (1.3) and a repeat of “Boston Legal” (1.3).

The CW had a “Reaper” repeat (0.6) and “One Tree Hill” (1.3).

The conventioneers march into the Mandalay Bay exhibit hall, wide-eyed and excited.

They’re youthful, happy to be here and full of optimism about the future.

The conventioneers are, of course, not attending NATPE.

They’re going to the snow sports convention in the exhibit hall next door to the annual television trade show.

The snow sports event slogan is: “Poker … Strip Clubs … Snowboards … Is This Heaven?”

The NATPE slogan could be: “Media Consolidation … Writers Strike … DVR Penetration … Is This a Tax Writeoff?”

To lead off the proceedings, conference organizers choose NBC Universal President-CEO Jeff Zucker to give the keynote address.

This is sort of like choosing “The God Delusion” author Richard Dawkins to give your loved one’s eulogy. Sure, he might be right about everything … but kind of a downer, no?

“For many years, if there is one thing everyone could count on at an industry meeting like this, it was that if a head of a media company was up here, he or she would talk about how broadcast television has a strong and robust future in spite of all the challenges,” Mr. Zucker said. “It has been a great run. … I can’t come here with the usual cliches about the endurance of broadcasting in the form we have always known. We must acknowledge that a significant part of our industry is under incredible pressure and has to change.”

Here’s what was impressive about Zucker’s speech: By the conclusion of his tough-love rundown of the drastic changes required to overhaul broadcast television, you’re nearly convinced that the fourth-place network is actually ahead of its competitors in terms of bottom-line strategic thinking (which is, naturally, one reason Zucker gave it).

A key question asked of Zucker afterward is whether he would embrace such changes if NBC were not a perennial fourth-place finisher in recent years.

“Whether we’re in first place or fourth place, we have to change,” he said, which isn’t entirely the same as answering "yes."

Yet Zucker’s point is that the marketplace challenges exist regardless of NBC’s ratings. If the media can put aside its obsession with the broadcast network horse race for a second (always difficult for us to do), his call to re-examine the decades-old development and upfront processes is certainly reasonable.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with either process, mind you. They’re just byproducts of a wealthy industry that has long been able to drive the scenic route to its destination—a winding path that the industry finds increasingly cumbersome to take.

NBC’s “American Gladiators” topped the Nielsen ratings despite hitting a new low on Monday night.

“Gladiators” had a 3.7 national Nielsen rating among adults 18 to 49, down from last week’s 4.3. NBC noted the show’s time period was shifted to 10 p.m. in West Coast markets due to President Bush’s State of the Union address, impacting viewership.

NBC still managed to win the night, edging out second-place CBS, which aired comedy repeats. Fox aired a repeat of “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (2.2) for third place. ABC was fourth with “Dance War” (2.5) and a repeat. The CW didn’t air the president’s address, but still came in fifth.

File this under “surprising yet makes sense.”

NBC has bumped its new reality series “The Baby Borrowers” a mere 22 days before its scheduled Feb. 18 premiere, despite recently airing ads touting the show and sending screeners to critics (surprising).

Instead, NBC will debut "My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad” in “Borrowers’” previously scheduled Monday 8 p.m. slot, since “American Gladiators” is currently ruling the time period. The network figures having another sporty competition series like “My Dad” once "Gladiators" runs out of new episodes could continue its Monday night ratings momentum (makes sense).

Still, the question invariably becomes: Does the move signal a lack of network confidence in “Borrowers”? NBC says it still loves the show and will schedule a premiere at a future date.

The network also announced that game show “Amne$ia,” hosted by Dennis Miller, will debut Friday, Feb. 22, at 9 p.m. following the season finale of “1 vs. 100,” then shift to 8 p.m. the next week.

Broadcast networks aired a weekend lineup heavily populated by repeats and specials, as the impact of the writers strike on their primetime lineups becomes increasingly evident.

ABC easily won Sunday night, led by a two-hour “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (5.1 preliminary Nielsen rating among adults 18 to 49) and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (2.8).

Fox was second, led by a repeat of “Family Guy” (3.8), which outranked originals of “The Simpsons” (3.6) and “American Dad” (3.0) and its other repeats.

CBS came in third with “60 Minutes” (2.7), “Shark” (2.0) and the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie “The Russell Girl” (2.2).

NBC had “U.S. Men’s Championship Figure Skating” (0.8) and a “Guinness World Records: Top 100” special (2.2).

The CW aired “Life Is Wild” (0.4), “CW Now” (0.3) and repeats.

Fox won Saturday yet again with back-to-back episodes of “Cops” (1.9 and 2.3), followed by “America’s Most Wanted” (2.2). ABC edged out CBS for second place with its fifth airing of Julia Roberts starrer “Pretty Woman” (1.6). CBS was third with “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials 2008” (1.8) and back-to-back episodes of “48 Hours Mystery” (1.1 and 1.6). Fourth-place NBC aired “U.S. Women’s Championship Figure Skating” (0.9).

On Friday, NBC scored a narrow victory with “1 vs. 100” (2.3), “Friday Night Lights” (1.9) and “Las Vegas” (2.1). Fox was second with repeats. CBS was third with repeats and “Garth Brooks: Live in L.A.” (2.1). The CW was fourth with “Friday Night Smackdown” (1.4). ABC came in fifth with repeats and “20/20” (1.9).

The bandana is back.

Dan Cortese—best known from MTV Sports, “Melrose Place,” “Veronica’s Closet” and, now and forever, a series of 1990s Burger King commercials—is returning to prime time.

NBC has tapped the actor as host of its upcoming competition reality series “My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad.” The network notes that Cortese is a father and football coach, and therefore a perfect host for the show.

“My Dad,” from Mark Burnett Productions and Reveille, features fathers and their kids teaming up to complete stunt-driven challenges. Given that the similarly physically competitive “American Gladiators” is heating up NBC’s ratings, the network likely hopes to funnel some “Gladiator” interest into the new show.

The network is expected to announce a “My Dad” premiere date next week.

"It's way beyond my expectations," Fox's president of alternative entertainment Mike Darnell says of the lofty premiere ratings for "Moment of Truth.” "I cannot imagine a better retention of 'Idol.'"

Darnell is basking in the day-after Nielsen glow—and inflamed critic responses—for his latest headline-grabbing unscripted effort.

The show wasn’t sent to critics before the debut. It’s a tactic Darnell says he learned the hard way after sending out a preview copy of “Temptation Island” right before walking into the Television Critics Association press tour several years ago.

So now after every Fox reality premiere, Darnell gets the roller-coaster experience of reading his reviews and ratings on the same day.

“They thought ["Moment"] was everything from boring, to vile, to boring and vile,” he says. “But generally speaking, if you have a critically acclaimed reality show, it’s not a big hit. Then you have, like, ‘Amazing Race.’ Reviews have been great for ‘Kitchen Nightmares,’ and it does well, but it’s not a 25 [share]. I don’t think most critics would say they represent regular people. ["Moment"] did not get good reviews, and I would have thought I had done something wrong if it did.”

One common complaint from critics and viewers is that the show’s pace is too sluggish, particularly in the game’s early rounds.

“For every game show on television, somebody says it’s too slow,” Darnell says. “‘Deal or No Deal,’ for all its energy, can be slow. When opening those first 10 boxes, I feel like I’m gonna kill myself.”

That said, Darnell says the “Moment” pace will pick up.

“It’s always been a semi-issue with the show because you have the pauses between the revelation and [the lie detector result],” he says. “You gotta have that to watch the reaction of the friends and family. But we’re going to try to quicken the pace a little bit.”

The show’s promised “end of western civilization” drama will increase as well, Darnell says, particularly once the show shifts to the 8 p.m. hour in early March.

“We intentionally opened with a middle-of-the-road episode,” he says. “I didn’t want people from middle America to freak out coming out of ‘American Idol.’”

Darnell does not expect the show to retain its lofty premiere ratings height. But with a debut that strong, he figures there’s plenty of ratings acreage to burn.

“There’s no one who doesn’t think it will go down after ‘Idol,’” he says. “But if I lose 20% next week, great.”

For the third time this month, the season's highest-rated new series premiere record has been shattered: Fox’s provocative lie detector game show opened with a massive Nielsen rating thanks to an “American Idol” lead-in and plenty of viewer curiosity.

“Moment” was seen by 23 million viewers and scored a 10.2 preliminary rating among adults 18 to 49, retaining 94% of its “Idol” audience (10.8). That’s higher than previous record-setting freshman debuts this season by NBC’s “American Gladiators” (5.9) and Fox’s “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (7.6).

The "Moment" premiere is the largest retention ever of an “Idol” lead-in, and the highest-rated premiere on any network since last February's "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" (11.2) -- Fox's previous game show to debut in a post-"Idol" slot. Drop off between the first and second half hour of "Moment" was 13%, which is nominal considering the large influx of “Idol” viewers. The "Moment" rating could shift slightly in the nationals later today since there’s one minute of “Idol” bleed into the program.

The show was not sent for review to critics, but TV Guide’s Matt Roush had an early critique this morning: “Who with a brain or a soul could do anything but despise Fox's new bottom-of-the-reality-barrel time-waster.” Viewers posting on the blog were more intrigued, though several said the show’s pace needed to speed up.

Once again, an NBC unscripted effort held up best against “Idol.” Continuing its “Million Dollar Mission,” last night’s “Deal or No Deal” hit a 15-month high in this time period (3.7). The “MDM” (where suitcases containing $1,000,000 keep being added to the board until a contestant finally wins the top prize) has played like a sweeps stunt, only placed in January. The play has given a more serialized nature to the show that has boosted tune-in, not unlike Ken Jennings’ famed winning streak on “Jeopardy.”

NBC also had “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (2.2) and “Law & Order” (3.0).

Other competitors didn’t fare nearly as well against Fox’s duo.

Third-place CBS’s entire lineup hit series lows, including “Power of 10” (0.9), “Criminal Minds” (3.2) and “CSI: NY” (3.3, winning the 10 p.m. hour).

ABC’s “Wife Swap” also hit a series low (1.9), followed by “Supernanny” (2.7) and a season low “Cashmere Mafia” (2.0).

The CW aired “Crowned” (0.7) and a “Gossip Girl” repeat (0.5).

UPDATE: Fox's Mike Darnell on "Moment of Truth" ratings and critic reviews. "They thought it was everything from boring, to vile, to boring and vile. But generally speaking, if you have a critically acclaimed reality show, it's not a big hit..." More ...

Fox easily won Tuesday night across key measures in the preliminary Nielsen ratings, with “American Idol” (11.7 among adults 18 to 49) and a “House” repeat (5.1) scoring the highest returns.

“Idol” dipped 15% from last week’s two-hour premiere, which is a slightly better retention than last year.

NBC came in second place, with “The Biggest Loser: Couples” (3.7) rebounding 23% from last week thanks to having to face only an hour of “Idol” instead of two. At 10 p.m., “Law & Order: SVU” won the hour (4.6).

CBS placed third with repeats of “NCIS” (2.1) and “The Unit” (1.9) followed by “48 Hours Mystery” (2.0).

ABC was fourth with two “Just for Laughs” episodes (both 1.4), “According to Jim” (2.2), “Carpoolers” (1.7) and “Boston Legal” (2.2).

The CW aired a “Reaper” repeat (0.6) and “One Tree Hill” (1.3).

Monday: ‘Gladiators’ Ready?
NBC continued its Monday-night reign with unscripted power duo “American Gladiators” (4.3 preliminary Nielsen rating among adults 18 to 49) and “Deal or No Deal” (4.4, the highest-rated show of the night), followed by an original “Medium” (3.4). NBC also won in total viewers.

Despite dominating at 8 p.m., “Gladiators” was down another few ticks this week, which has to give NBC executives some pause. The series keeps winning hours, yet keeps losing (a slight number of) viewers. This is the third week for “Gladiators” in its Monday time period and you want to see ratings stabilization right … about … now. If the show holds its number next week, chances are “Gladiators” will at minimum enjoy a fair-sized run. If the show’s rating drops into the 3s, it’s worry time.

Speaking of which, second-place Fox’s “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (3.6) is in its second week in its 9 p.m. time period and continues to drop (down 14%). Fox points out that “Terminator” improved the slot by 70% compared to last year. Lead-in “Prison Break” was down slightly (3.1).

Fourth-place ABC’s “Dance War” (2.6) also continued to dip, followed by “Notes From the Underbelly” (1.6) and “October Road” (1.9).

In third place, CBS had comedy and “CSI: Miami” repeats, earning a 3.1 average for the night. In fifth, The CW had comedy repeats (0.7).

Sunday: You Know There’s a Writers Strike When…
CBS stocks its Sunday night schedule with a news special called “Global Warming: The Melting Polar Ice Caps” that in turn earns a mere 1.7 rating.

And you really know there’s a writers strike when that “Polar Ice Caps” special was the highest-rated non-sports programming for its time period.

“Ice Caps” beat everything at 7 p.m. except Fox’s presentation of the NFC Championship game, New York Giants at Green Bay Packers, which earned a massive 18.4 preliminary rating.

ABC was second for the evening with repeats and a two-hour “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (3.8). CBS was third with the news special, the season finale of “The Amazing Race” (3.1) and repeats. NBC was fourth with “Dateline” (1.2) and a movie. The CW had repeats, “CW Now” and an original “Life Is Wild” (0.2—and not canceled, remember?).

Saturday: Cops and Movies
Fox won easily with “Cops” (2.0 and 2.3) and “America’s Most Wanted” (2.4) over competing repeats and movies.

Friday: Immortal CBS Dramas
This deep into the writers strike, how is it CBS still manages to still have originals of its entire Friday night scripted lineup? The alternative crime dramas were the three highest-rated shows of the night: “Ghost Whisperer” (2.7), “Moonlight” (2.4) and “Numb3rs” (2.6).

Fox was second with repeats. NBC was third with “1 vs. 100” (1.8), “Friday Night Lights” (1.8) and “Las Vegas” (2.0). The CW was fourth with “Friday Night Smackdown” (1.5). ABC was fifth with repeats and “20/20” (1.8).

There are a couple of predictable takes floating around regarding the Directors Guild of America’s new contract agreement with studios.

The DGA accomplished in a few days what writers haven’t been able to do in months, goes one.

By being so stubborn, goes another, the writers have blown it because now the DGA has established the template for a new guild contract.

Here’s why both miss the point: The DGA negotiating team didn't simply breeze into talks and make a groundbreaking deal in a context-free vacuum. The directors stood on the shoulders of the WGA’s previous negotiating efforts and benefited from the strike. Directors are receiving a superior new-media deal to what they ever could have made before the Writers Guild of America chipped away at the studios’ enormous initial resistance to give talent meaningful slices of the digital market.

Yet writers will benefit from the DGA’s negotiating efforts, too—even if the current contract terms are not considered ideal.

The new-media contract talks have been like digging a ditch. The WGA dug out plenty of earth these past months, making gains into the studio’s stony positioning. Then the DGA took over the effort from where the writers left off and dug deeper. Now the WGA will go back in.

For the guilds, the only thing that matters is changing the studios’ list of what are considered acceptable terms. Whether that’s accomplished by a writer waving a picket sign or another guild haggling makes little difference.

For example: The WGA talks collapsed Dec. 7 after the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers demanded the writers take six deal points off the table. The most important of those points, according to a WGA statement at the time, was that payments for paid Internet downloads be based on a distributor’s gross revenue rather than the producer's claimed gross.

AMPTP president Nick Counter declared in December that these points were unacceptable and represented a “quixotic pursuit of radical demands” that betrayed “a fundamental misunderstanding of the economics of new media.”

Well, Internet downloads based on distributor's gross is in the DGA contract.

Another item among the WGA’s six rejected demands involved employing a third party to establish a fair market value for studio new-media deals. But the directors’ contract includes unprecedented access to studios’ deal data and the ability to challenge suspected sweetheart agreements, which sources say effectively addresses the WGA’s point.

So will writers readily accept the DGA contract?

Some already have. “ER” showrunner John Wells declares on ArtfulWriter today that the DGA agreement is “a good deal … a historic deal. We’ve won. The strike was necessary to win it and I can only assume our negotiating committee will be sitting down with the AMPTP by early next week to resolve these last, final issues.”

The WGA leadership will likely respond with less enthusiasm. They’ll wisely try to shovel out a little more, just as directors wisely refused to accept where the writers left off in December.

But thanks to the DGA, writers are firmly closer to a good deal now than they were a week ago.

Fox won its first in-season Thursday with regular series programming in 15 years last night, thanks to decreased competition and the promotional power of “American Idol.”

Fox’s regular Thursday night lineup of “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” (3.7 preliminary rating among adults 18 to 49) and “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” (3.4) hit season highs. The shows were promoted earlier this week during “Idol” and benefited from airing against mostly repeat programming.

NBC was second, starting with comedy repeats of “My Name Is Earl” (2.4) and “The Office” (2.2). At 9 p.m., “Celebrity Apprentice” (3.9) was the highest-rated show of the night, and at 10 p.m. the final original episode of “ER” (3.5) won the hour.

CBS had repeats of “Without a Trace” (1.8) and “CSI” (3.5) leading into an original “Without a Trace” (3.3).

On ABC, an original “Ugly Betty” (3.0) was followed by a repeat of “Grey’s Anatomy” (2.5) and an original “Big Shots” (a series-low 1.8).

The CW aired repeats of “Smallville” (1.1) and “Supernatural” (0.9).

The sixth season of USA Network’s country music competition series “Nashville Star” is moving to NBC for a summer run.

“Nashville” will air as part of an “All-American Summer” promotion, which includes the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing and the second season of “American Gladiators.” As previously reported, NBC plans to use the Americana theme to help unify its summer programming.

"These exciting new reality shows will be a vital part of 'NBC's All-American Summer' building up to the drama of the Beijing Olympics," said Craig Plestis, executive VP of alternative programming at NBC. "We are thrilled to feature the powerhouse 'Gladiators' this summer and it's a real coup to bring 'Nashville Star' to NBC."

With the writers strike shutting down production of scripted programming, USA Network series “Monk” and “Psych” also will get a run on NBC. The difference is that NBC will air originals of “Nashville,” but repeats of the other shows, which were produced earlier this season. Whether the NBC version of “Nashville” will receive a second airing on USA Network has yet to be determined.

NBC plans some changes for “Nashville.” A two-hour audition special will show the best and worst from the show’s casting process, as “American Idol” does. Duets and singing groups will be allowed to compete for the first time, and the audition age has been lowered to 16.

The series’ hosts have included Jewel, Wynonna Judd and LeAnn Rimes. For this round, a new host and judges will be announced.

The series joins “The Biggest Loser” and “The Office” as NBC titles affiliated with NBC Entertainment Co-Chair Ben Silverman, who is an executive producer on “Nashville” along with his former Reveille partners Howard T. Owens and Mark Koops, as well as Sallyann Salsano.

That was fast.

After only two nights of “American Idol,” Fox has moved into first place for the season.

Fox typically comes from behind to win the network ratings race sometime after “Idol” gets underway. But compared to the last three seasons, this is the earliest Fox has slipped into the lead. Fox leapt to a 3.4 average rating today among adults 18 to 49, with the other three major broadcast networks tied at 3.3.

Once Fox gets into an “Idol”-fueled lead, they’re considered almost impossible to overthrow. This year, with scripted-heavy competitors hindered by the writers strike and Fox airing the Super Bowl next month, the network’s eventual victory has been considered a foregone conclusion.

Earlier this season, Fox launched a reality-heavy fall lineup with fewer schedule-disrupting Major League Baseball games. Combined with the highest-rated World Series in three years, the schedule put the network in a better position to take the lead once "Idol" returned.

Fox pulled their current season-to-date victory numbers from the middle of the Nielsen week, and therefore the network standings could shift over the next few days. But claiming a first-place lead is still considered a safe bet at this point given the amount of "Idol" to come.

Last night, the second episode of “Idol” had a 12.6 rating, down slightly from Tuesday’s premiere, and off 19% from the second performance last year. The network nonetheless managed to outperform all its broadcast competitors combined by 27%.

For the second night in a row, NBC held up best under the “Idol” fire. “Deal or No Deal” (3.1) was down 14% compared to last week, yet up 41% compared to its run against “Idol” last year. “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (2.4) and “Law & Order” (3.6) were on par.

ABC came in third with “Wife Swap” (2.0) and “Supernanny (2.5), both taking about 30% hits from “Idol.” At 10 p.m., “Cashmere Mafia” continued to struggle (2.2).

CBS aired a series-low “Power of 10” (1.1) and part three of “Comanche Moon” (2.4).

The CW had “Crowned” (0.7) and a repeat of the “Gossip Girl” pilot (0.4).

The seventh-season premiere of Fox’s “American Idol” may have been its lowest-rated in four years, but Fox executives say they are pleased with its performance.

“I woke up thrilled this morning,” said Mike Darnell, president of alternative entertainment at Fox. “It’s unbelievable how big this show is in its seventh season. If you had told me in season two this would be the biggest thing in television by 12 million viewers in its seventh year, I would have said you were crazy.”

“Idol” fell from last year’s series-high premiere perch, yet once again was a ratings titan that easily blew away the competition Tuesday night, as well as all other network premieres from earlier this season.

“Idol” received a 13.8 rating among adults 18 to 49, according to national Nielsen data. That’s down 13% from last year’s 15.8 and down 10% from 2006’s 15.3. Among total viewers, “Idol” was seen by an average of 33.2 million, down 11% from last year.

Both the demo and the total-viewer figures are the lowest Tuesday-night "Idol" premiere standings since 2004.

“In the history of American television there has never been a show this dominant that the disparity between it and the next show is like 55%,” Darnell said. “I honestly believe this is the last of its kind. I don’t believe with DVRs and Internet and video games that you will ever see another show like this.”

Fox has devoted just as many resources to promoting “Idol” this season as in recent years, said Joe Earley, senior VP of marketing and communications at Fox. In fact, “Idol” received more on-air promotion than usual, since “24” was postponed due to the writers strike.

“The media spend was the same as it has