- Kudos to CBS and “NCIS,” which tonight will air its 200th episode. The Navy/legal drama debuted in 2003, with actor Mark Harmon at the helm, who was best known for his work on NBC’s “St. Elsewhere,” and as a hunk-for-hire on such shows as “The West Wing.” “NCIS” has defied the approaching-a-decade malaise, delivering an average 22.7 million viewers for new episodes this season. 100 episodes is industry standard to reach syndication level. The record number of episodes in history television belongs to “Gunsmoke,” which ran for 20 seasons and 635 episodes.
- Super Bowl XLVI attracted a record 111.3 million total viewers, reports Media Life, to become the most-watched broadcast in television history. This is the third year running that the Super Bowl has set the record, held until 2010 by the series finale of "M*A*S*H" in 1983. It was also the highest-rated Super Bowl in 26 years, with an average 47.0 household rating and 71 share. The game took a 40.5 share among adults 18-49.
- The post-Super Bowl Season 2 premiere of “The Voice” on NBC took a 16.3 rating adult 18-49 rating, and 37.61 million viewers, reports TVByTheNumbers. This was NBC’s best rating for an entertainment telecast since the “Friends” finale in 2004, with a 24.9 share.
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ruled that NBC’s WMAQ-TV Chicago had a right to deny long-shot GOP presidential candidate Randall Terry a Super Bowl ad spot, reports Broadcasting & Cable. FCC ruled that while broadcasters must make ad time available to qualified candidates, WMAQ judged fairly that Terry was unqualified, given his showing at the polls. The ad reportedly contained graphic images of aborted fetuses, which Terry believed was behind the denial.
- Univision and Disney are in talks for a Latino-oriented 24-hour cable news channel, in English. As TVNewsCheck reports, neither company will confirm or discuss the project, but are likely to launch the channel in time for the November presidential election. The 2010 census revealed that U.S. born Latinos comprise nearly 60% of the growth among U.S. Hispanics over the last decade, and that an increasing number speak English as a first language.
Upfront TV: “Sons of Anarchy” Renewed | NBC Dooms “The Firm” | 20/20 Dominates 18-49
- Before Season 5 even airs, FX has renewed its biker drama “Sons of Anarchy” for a sixth season, reports TVByTheNumbers, and creator Kurt Sutter has been signed to a new three-year deal. “Sons of Anarchy” is expected to return in October of this year. The Season 4 premiere, which aired September 6 of 2011, was the most-watched program in FX history, with 6.5 million viewers.
- NBC has “effectively cancelled” the lawyer-in-trouble drama “The Firm,” reports Broadcasting & Cable. NBC has moved the series to the Saturdays 9 p.m. slot to “burn off” its remaining original episodes. “The Firm” was on Thursdays at 10 p.m. (a slot held for more than a decade by “E.R.”). NBC will premiere its new drama “Awake” beginning March 1, with repeats of “Grimm” running in the slot until then. “The Firm” drew a meager 0.8 rating with adults 18-49 in last Thursday’s airing.
- ABC finished #1 on Friday among adults 18-49; the network crowed in a press release that “it was the Net’s 4th straight Friday to deliver the #1 position against its network rivals.” ABC’s 20/20 took the night’s #1 position among that key young-adult demographic. Perhaps it was the subject matter: 20/20 featured an in-depth look at marriage and divorce, Hollywood style.
- More signs of struggle at the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN); “The Rosie Show” shed more staffers last week, to a total of 30 employees and contractors, and has moved taping to a smaller studio. As Crain’s Chicago Business describes, host O’Donnell is trying to “find the right formula to boost ratings,” which now average only 200,000 viewers, as opposed to its premier at 500,000. The show has done away with some fun-based elements like a game show segment, in favor of one-on-one interviews.
8% Rise in Network Primetime CPMs, Analyst Predicts
Pivotal Research Group, a New York-based equity research firm, is projecting 8% in cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) in network primetime. Analyst Brian Wieser expects this to be a boon for those broadcasters. RBR.com quoted Wieser as saying he expects “These seemingly favorable price increases to positively impact sentiment around ad-supported media stocks including CBS, Comcast, Walt Disney and News Corp.” Cable networks (including Time Warner, Discovery and AMC) will likely enjoy a “halo” effect.
In last year’s upfront market, broadcasters ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC saw CPM prices increase by 9% reported paidContent, while cable networks jumped 12%. So this is good, and perhaps unexpected news for the networks. If Internet video has reached a tipping point (with announcements like original content from Netflix and Hulu), it “doesn’t appear to be coming at the expense of traditional TV,” suggests paidContent.
While that 8% is a very educated guess, it is an imprecise one; advertisers may surprise the networks at the negotiating table—chiefly by not showing up, or by putting their ad dollars online. In a worst-case scenario Wieser believes that the rise could be as low as 5%.
Upfront TV: Fox Leads Again | Sports TV Ads Strong | Amanpour’s Double Duty | Lingerie Bowl IX
- Fox News continues its lead in news viewership, handily pulling in the most viewers for its coverage of Tuesday’s Florida Republican primary. As Broadcasting & Cable reports, the channel averaged 2.5 million total viewers from 8-11pm EST. CNN took second place with 1.09 million total viewers, and MSNBC third with 984,000. FNC also led among the adults 25-54 demographic, with 641,000 viewers to CNN’s 402,000 and MSNBC’s 245,000.
- Ratings took a sudden drop at ABC/Disney’s “Live! With Kelly.” For the week ending January 22, rating dropped 10% from the same week a year earlier, to a 2.7 household rating from a 3.0. “Was it the weak line-up of cohosts for the week?” asked Hollywood Reporter. Guest hosts included Seth Meyers, Mario Lopez and long-ago “Saturday Night Live” comic Dana Carvey. Disney countered that it was that long-time host Regis Philbin had announced he was leaving the show, that same week in 2010, so the weeks were not comparable.
- Sports TV advertising rose 5.9% in 2011, reports Media Life, to about $11 billion—about four times the pace of the overall media economy. One possible reason: consumers seeking lower-cost entertainment will stay home and watch the cable TV they pay for, rather than spend $10 a ticket to go to the movies.
- Veteran journalist Christiane Amanpour will return to CNN Worldwide with her signature show “Amanpour,” spearheading a new CNN International lineup, the network announced. This in addition to her duties as global affairs anchor for ABC News. How she will manage a daily show on CNN, while globetrotting for ABC, neither network has confirmed.
- The Lingerie Football League (LFL) will broadcast its Lingerie Bowl IX at 4pm EST. With the Super Bowl kickoff at about 6:30, sports fans can enjoy both, broadcaster MTV2 enthuses. The Philadelphia Passion and Los Angeles Temptation will play at Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena. With five expansion markets in 2011, and LFL Canada, Australia and Europe in the works, LFL claims to be the U.S.’s fastest-growing pro sports league with sell-out crowds and, of course, record internet traffic. No word yet on advertisers, but past supporters of LFL have included Hard Rock Café, Rawlings and Sony.
Wall Street Analyst: Big Media Will Protect Its Turf, Continue to Grow
YouTube, Apple and Netflix are not the inevitable future of media, says a Wells Fargo Securities analyst. As a Deadline New York story describes, Marci Ryicker, who covers broadcasting and pay TV for Wells Fargo, has charted diversified media for six months and writes that there is enough evidence to prove that diversified media is healthy, and that “MUST-HAVE content WILL be monetized, and that there is still significant growth in this business.” Ryvicker believes that CBS, News Corp and Time Warner will outperform the market and Disney and Viacom will keep pace.
One way in which those broadcasters and cable companies will compete is by making their content available in the mobile spaces of their choosing, for example, TV Everywhere. This mobile platform makes cable content available on mobile devices, but only to subscribers. That is one of the reasons big media will stay strong, believes Ryvicker: programmers are protecting long-term monetization by protecting their content. Consider Viacom’s back-and-forth suit with Google, aimed at keeping its content from being posted free to YouTube by third parties. This is why you’ll find no “South Park” episodes on YouTube any longer.
Ryvicker believes that Netflix is “not strong enough to significantly disrupt the current ecosystem,” even with original programming like its gangster drama “Lilyhammer.”
Upfront TV: Clear Channel Buys Seacrest | Priceline’s Motive for Murder | X Factor Axings
- Clear Channel will today announce its acquisition of a minority stake in Ryan Seacrest Productions. As the New York Times reports, this cements an already tight bond, as Seacrest, is a host, producer and spokesman for Clear Channel. No word yet as to the sum of Clear Channel’s investment in Seacrest, but he is expected to produce scripted and unscripted TV shows and other content. . Ryan Seacrest Productions currently produces “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” for E! and is producing new reality shows for Bravo and CMT.
- Why did Priceline.com kill off William Shatner and its “Priceline Negotiator” after 14 years? Priceline.com says launched the ad because the company is moving toward fixed-price discounts, whereas Shatner and the Negotiator had become to heavily identified with negotiating a price, reports Yahoo Finance.
- Former New York governor and CNN anchor Eliot Spizer will host “Countdown” this week, covering for an ailing Keith Olbermann, reports TVNewser. Spitzer will co-host “Countdown” with Bill Press for tonight’s Florida primary coverage. This will be Spitzer’s first hosting job since he left CNN in July, 2011. TVNewser speculates that this is a test-drive for a more permanent gig. Interestingly, CurrentTV took out a full-page ad in yesterday’s New York Times promoting its political coverage, with pictures of hosts Cenk Uygur and Jennifer Granholm—sams Olbermann, with whom the network has had fractious relations.
- Simon Cowell has canned “The X Factor” judges Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul as well as host Steve Jones, reports New York Daily News. Cowell produces the performance competition show for The Fox Network, and is purportedly miffed over lower-than-expected ratings. No word yet as to replacements, though Mariah Carey is a likely candidate; Cowell supposedly wanted Carey as a judge in Season One, but declined as she was pregnant at the time.
Upfront TV : CNN Patents Magic | Lowe’s Leaves “Muslims” | SAG Award Champions | “Office” To Return
- CNN wants to trademark its “Magic Wall,” the interactive touch screen that it introduced during the 2008 primaries. As TVNewser reports, the multi-touch display is now used by practically ever television news outlet and in sports broadcasting. ABC, ESPN and CNBC can keep their magic walls, they just can’t call them magic walls.
- Lowe’s has joined the list of advertisers jumping ship from TLC’s “All-American Muslim.” This after pressure from groups like the Florida Family Association which labeled the show "propaganda" that presents a "clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values." The show follows five Muslim families living in Dearborn, Michigan, and has become a “lightning rod,” as Lowe’s described it in a statement on Facebook. Despite the company’s “commitment to diversity and inclusion,” it called itself “sincerely sorry…we’ve managed to make some people very unhappy.”
- Rumors abound of a spinoff to “The Office,” with Dwight as the central character. But “The Office” is certain to be renewed rather than replaced. The TVByTheNumbers “Bubble Watch “ predicts that all of NBC’s comedies, even the lagging “Community,” will be renewed in 2012.
- HBO led the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night, taking five out of nine TV awards. “Boardwalk Empire” won for outstanding ensemble in a drama series, and lead actor Steve Buscemi for outstanding male actor in a drama series. Broadcast TV took only two awards—“Modern Family” (ABC) for outstanding ensemble in a comedy series, and Alec Baldwin (again) for outstanding male actor in a comedy series.
Sportsman Channel Reaches 31 Million Subscribers
Sportsman Channel, the hunting, shooting and fishing channel, has achieved 31 million subscribers across its distributors, reports Multichannel News. Sportsman Channel is carried on DirecTV, Dish Network, Verizon FIOS and Time Warner Cable, among numerous other distributors.
The channel is “The only national TV channel that is 100% devoted to 80 million Americans who hunt, shoot and fish,” said Sportsman Channel CEO Gavin Harvey. Sportsman is an InterMedia Outdoor Holdings property.
Total subscribers are now at 31.1 million according to Nielsen data. The channel offers more than 60 returning series and 29 new entries, all shot in HD, for a total of nearly 500 new episodes for Q4 2012. New titles include MeatEater with Steven Rinella and NRA's Guns & Gold, a reality show from the National Rifle Association.
Court Shows Topped Holiday Week Syndication Ratings
A tip for holiday-week marketing: syndicated court shows are a draw. Likely driven by at-home viewership looking for something new, court shows were a Christmas-to-New-Years champ, reports Broadcasting & Cable. Court shows typically air between 3pm and 6pm, game shows in the 7-8pm slot.
For the week ending January 1, every syndicated court show was up, with crusty Judge Judy leading the panel (as usual). Among the results:
- Judge Judy (CBS Television Distribution) took a 7.6 live plus same day national household rating, up 6% for the week. This was syndication's highest rating for the week.
- Judge Joe Brown (CTD) was up 10%;
- People’s Court gained 10%;
- Judge Mathis gained 12%.
These represented season highs for most of these shows, and the highest-rated week in 2011 for Judge Judy.
Talk shows were a mixed bag. Live! With Kelly (Disney-ABC) slipped 3% to a 2.9; viewers likely found two weeks of the “Aloha Hawaii Watch-to-Win Giveaway” tiresome, and the blizzard of guest hosts auditioning for Regis Philbin's job. Dr. Oz (Sony, and an Oprah Winfrey find) gained 12%, also for a 2.9. Dr. Phil (CTD) rose 4% for a 2.7, while Maury (NBCU) rose 4% for a 2.5 rating. Ellen was at a season low of 2.1, and Jerry Springer flat at 1.6.
Game shows were another mixed bag, with Wheel of Fortune (CTD) dropping 4%, but with a healthy 6.8. Jeapordy fell 3%, but to a strong 5.7. Both Family Feud and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire gained, with 7% and a 3.2 for Feud, and 4% and a 2.6 for Millionaire.
ION Acquires Rights to Psych, Monk and House | ABC News Moves Away from “Checkbook Journalism”
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ION Television has acquired the rights to Psych and Monk from Universal Cable Productions and House from Universal Media Studios. The deal allows IONTelevision to air all six, and future, seasons of Psych, the first broadcast network syndication for the detective series, and the entire eight seasons of Monk. House will come to the network two times per week for one year beginning fall 2012, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
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BTN will launch a multiplatform extension of the channel -- BTN2Go -- for the 2011 college football season, joining the growing roster of programmers offering full, authenticated, streaming services. The channel will feature a live, online simulcast of all BTN linear network programming, including more than 40 football games, over 100 men's basketball contests and hundreds of other events, reports MultiChannel News.
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After criticism for paying $200,000 Florida murder defendant, Casey Anthony, for photographs, ABC has announced it is all but eliminating the practice of so-called "checkbook journalism." The move was applauded by the Society for Professional Journalists. ABC says it will take an extraordinary circumstance for it to use the technique in the future, the kind of thing that comes around only once over the course of a year or two, reports Radio Business Report.
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Time Warner Cable's cable TV rolls shrank in the second quarter by 128,000 -- slightly more than Wall Street anticipated -- while the MSO saw a 35% surge in business services revenue and added 54,000 residential broadband customers, writes MultiChannel News.
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Netflix has reached a nonexclusive two-year deal with CBS to offer subscribers in Canada and Latin America a range of broadcast TV shows and episodes from Showtime Networks streamed over the Internet, Reuters reports.