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Nov 26, 2003  •  Post A Comment

ESPN to Premiere Rodman Series Dec. 2

ESPN will premiere Dec. 2 at midnight its two-part documentary on Dennis Rodman’s basketball comeback. “The Season: Dennis Rodman on the Rebound,” will “capture the public and private sides of Dennis Rodman,” said Michael Antinoro, senior coordinating producer at ESPN Original Entertainment. “He is focused on his goal and still very passionate about playing, but he faces many of the same temptations. We wanted to present an honest and detailed look at what one former superstar goes through when trying to get back in the game.”

CBS begins casting ‘Survivor 9’: CBS has begun casting for a ninth edition of hit reality show “Survivor,” to air in fall 2004. The location has not been announced. Applications are available on www.cbs.com and are being accepted through Jan. 27. The current edition, “Survivor: Pearl Islands” concludes Sunday, Dec. 14, while the eight-edition “Survivor All Stars” is set to debut following the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.

ABC Gets Tuesday Demo Win: ABC just edged out NBC and Fox to win the second-to-last night of November sweeps in adults 18 to 49.

ABC’s comedies “8 Simple Rules” and “I’m With Her” combined to tie Fox’s “American Idol Christmas” special for first place from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday. ABC and Fox scored 4.1/12 in adults 18 to 49 for the hour, according to Nielsen Media Research fast affiliate data. ABC’s “According to Jim” and “Less Than Perfect” combined for a 4.6/12 in the 9 p.m. hour, beating out second place “24” (4.0/11) on Fox. NBC won the 10 p.m. hour with a 5.0/14 for “Law & Order: SVU.”

In total viewers, CBS’s “Navy NCIS” (12.9 million) won the 8 p.m. hour; “According to Jim”/”Less Than Perfect” (11.3 million) won the 9 p.m. hour; and “Law & Order: SVU” (13.1 million) won the 10 p.m. hour.

The WB, subbing in the movie “Never Been Kissed,” beat out UPN’s two-hour sitcom block for the night. From 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., The WB scored a 1.6/4 in adults 18 to 49 and 3.9 million viewers to UPN’s 1.2/3 and 3.2 million viewers.

For the night, ABC won in adults 18 to 49 with a 4.1/11, followed by NBC (4.0/11) and Fox (4.0/11), CBS (2.7/8), The WB (1.6/4) and UPN (1.2/3). In total viewers, CBS won the night with 11.8 million, followed by ABC (10.7 million), Fox (10.4 million), NBC (10.1 million), The WB (3.9 million) and UPN (3.2 million).

New Edition of ‘Average Joe’ Set for Jan. 5 Premiere: The second edition of NBC’s “Average Joe” will premiere Monday, Jan. 5, from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. “Average Joe: Hawaii” was taped before the first series aired, keeping the twists intact for participants. In the new show, a former Miss USA contestant and model arrives in Hawaii expecting to meet her fantasy men, but instead finds 18 average-looking guys. A few weeks into the show, hot guys join the average guys to compete for her affection and find out whether personality really does matter more than looks.

“As soon as we saw the first tapes of the original ‘Average Joe,’ we knew there was rich potential for a second helping of this twisted take on the dating show,” said NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker. “The fact that we taped both series before either hit the air allows for the surprise twists to hit the new participants with the same impact they had on the original show.”

‘Reagans’ Forum Webcast Planned: Showtime plans to webcast its forum on the controversial movie “The Reagans,” which it acquired after it was dropped by CBS. After the movie appears Nov. 30, viewers will be invited to submit questions via Sho.com Some of the questions may be incorporated into the panel discussion. Viewers will also be able to participate in an online poll.

Third-Quarter Ad Spending Rises: Ad spending rose 5.7 percent to $18.7 billion in the third quarter, Nielsen Monitor-Plus reported Wednesday. For the year, ad spending was up 3.3 percent through the end of September. Spending on network TV was up 3.4 percent to $4.1 billion, cable TV was up 8.9 percent to $4 billion, spot TV was up 5.9 percent to $4.6 billion, syndicated TV was up 4.4 percent to $719 million and Spanish-language TV was up 19.3 percent to $551 million.

CAB to Launch Online News Segments: The Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau is taking to the Internet to deliver its message. CAB TV on the Web, a series of bi-weekly online news and information segments, will launch Monday on the group’s members-only Web site. The first installment features CAB CEO Sean Cunningham talking about why 2004 should be cable’s year.