News Shorts

CBS and Fox split Tuesday
With nearly all sitcoms on rerun last night, CBS’s dramas ruled the night in households, while Fox won among adults 18-49. At 8 p.m., a repeat of CBS’s “JAG” doubled the household rating and share of most of its competition, except for a new episode of Fox’s “That '70’s Show,” which won its half-hour among adults 18-49. A new episode of “That '0’s Show’s” lead-out, “Undeclared,” also won its half-hour in the demographic. At 9 p.m., all the dramas were new, and ABC’s “NYPD Blue” won its hour in both households and adults 18-49. CBS’s “The Guardian” placed second in households, while Fox’s “24” tied with NBC’s sitcoms for second place among adults 18-49. At 10 p.m., ABC’s “Philly” and CBS’s “Judging Amy” each took a half-hour among adults 18-49, but “Judging Amy” easily won the night in households. NBC’s “People Magazine’s 25 Most Intriguing People” was a distant third. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Tuesday night were: CBS 9.3/15 and 3.7, ABC 7.2/12 and 4.0, Fox 5.4/9 and 4.3, and NBC 5.2/9 and 3.3. On Monday, the Saints-Rams match up on “Monday Night Football” won households and adults 18-49 for ABC. Without adjusting for time zone differences, the game swept the last three of its four half-hours, earning a preliminary 12.8/20 household rating and share and 8.0, adult 18-49, rating. CBS’s “Everybody Loves Raymond” won the 9 p.m. half-hour and “King of Queens” won the 8 p.m. half-hour in both households and adults 18-49, while “The Ellen Show” won the 8:30 p.m. half-hour among adults 18-49. Fox, a frequent Monday winner in the demographic, trailed in fourth place with a special “Santa Baby!” and a repeat of “Ally McBeal.” The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Monday were: ABC 11.8/19 and 6.9, CBS 19.5/17 and 5.9, NBC 6.2/10 and 3.8, and Fox 3.5/5 and 2.4.

Talk talks to Conrad Black about investing
Will the Lord of Crossharbour swear fealty to the Queen of Buzz? Looking for an investor to take over Hearst's stake in Talk magazine, Tina Brown and Ron Galotti have found themselves in talks with ex-Canadian newspaper baron Conrad Black, according to the New York Post's Keith Kelly. After getting rid of his Canadian newspaper holdings and renouncing his Canadian citizenship, Black has once again been looking to establish himself in the New York media scene. The Hollinger chairman, who has tried in the past to buy the New York Daily News and the New York Observer, is one of the investors backing the New York Sun, a new conservative daily paper that will debut early next year. Hearst has more or less acknowledged that it plans to unload its half of Talk, and co-owner Harvey Weinstein is thought to be unwilling to sponsor the magazine alone.

Report: Geraldo wasn't where he said he was
Geraldo Rivera may not be the self-aggrandizing, opportunistic ass his critics make him out to be, but darned if he doesn't keep acting like it. In his latest contretemps, Rivera, who has been reporting from the field in Afghanistan for Fox News Channel, stands accused of falsifying his whereabouts during a report in which he paid homage to American soldiers killed by friendly fire. In his Dec. 6 broadcast, Rivera told viewers he was standing at the site near Kandahar where three GIs had been killed the day before by an errant bomb from a B-52. Calling the area "hallowed ground," Rivera, apparently overcome by emotion, recited the Lord's Prayer. According to a report in the Baltimore Sun, however, Rivera later admitted that he was hundreds of miles away from Kandahar on Dec. 6. He now claims that he mixed up the Kandahar incident with a similar episode that took place in Tora Bora--the only problem being that the Tora Bora incident occurred four days after the one in Kandahar and three days after Rivera's on-air prayer session.

Cartoonist accuses ex-lover of cyber-stalking
In a truly bizarre case, a political cartoonist for a Las Vegas newspaper has accused his former lover of using the internet to stalk him, ruin his reputation and disrupt his life. Jim Day, an editorial cartoonist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, carried on a seven-year extramarital affair with Robin Kelly, a topless dancer and former WWF wrestler who performs under the name Ruby Tuesday. After Day tried to end the affair, Kelly allegedly created a web site where she posted photos of Day’s house, cars and driver's license as well as pictures of the two of them engaging in fetishistic sex acts. She then allegedly sent postcards advertising the site to his friends and family members and left envelopes containing pictures of the two of them having sex around his neighborhood and at his children's school. Kelly was arrested Nov. 13. A judge will decide today whether there is enough evidence to try her on charges of stalking, witness intimidation, making annoying phone calls, and attempted extortion.

Broadcast viewership down, cable up in 2001
As 2001 draws to a close, year-end statistics are out, and the news for broadcast and syndication is not good. While broadcast viewership has been down 8 percent so far this year, according to Nielsen Media Research, basic cable's audience jumped 12 percent, from 36.33 million to 40.56 million. Some of the leap may in part be traced to huge audiences for cable news following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as CNN, Fox News and MSNBC soared 32, 94 and 41 percent, respectively, in primetime households from last year to this year. During daytime the view is even worse. With internet use up and fewer women staying at home, the pool of possible viewers continues to shrink. The appeal of such lurid material as "Jerry Springer" seems to be waning, as the show is down 19 percent from last year, according to Nielsen numbers for November sweeps. "Ricki" has fallen 24 percent; "Montel" and "Jenny" are both down 10 percent. "Rosie" has slipped 19 percent, and "Oprah" has slid 2 percent. Court shows have all dropped from 12 to 18 percent. Soaps decreased only 2 percent.

MTV's Daly to host late-night 'Last Call'
NBC is hoping to bring back young viewers to its late night with help from the man who faces a wall of jubilant screams every afternoon: Carson Daly. The MTV VJ's "Last Call with Carson Daly" will begin airing weeknights at 1:35 a.m. on Jan. 7. Each one-hour segment will feature one guest from the entertainment field, with chat segments and musical performances. Look for Carson pals Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock and Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray to lay it down. The latest "Later" offering will be taped in front of a studio audience at NBC's Studio 8-H in New York, also the home of "Saturday Night Live." Daly will stay on as host of MTV's daily afternoon countdown, "Total Request Live." Also at MTV, the network has signed a deal with former "Jackass" star Johnny Knoxville to appear in three TV specials and a feature film.

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