The week that was
Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/12/2002 8:00:00 PM
THE BUSINESS OF SHOW
In syndication, ET Weekend was the top weekly hour (ending April 28) for its 21st straight week, up 17% to a 3.5 Nielsen. Rookie off-net The Practice came in second, up 8% to a 2.8. Big news among strips was that for the first time, Crossing Over with John Edward beat Texas Justice, regaining the top spot among all first-run rookies that it lost back in January when Justice debuted in the national spotlight. Crossing Over was up 11% to a 2.0. Texas was second, up 6% to a 1.9. Among the court shows, Judge Judy was tops, up 9% to a 5.8. In second place was Judge Joe Brown, which recorded a double-digit gain. ...
Diageo Guinness UDV North America executive VP Guy Smith, after pointedly telling an Upfront Summit crowd in New York that NBC had "reneged on our agreement" to run its liquor ads, revealed that it's going ahead with a campaign that will channel $1 billion in ad spending across five years and scores of outlets, through what it calls its own Diageo Unwired National Network. …
American Movie Classics is increasing its advertising load but spinning off a splinter digital service AMC Hollywood Classics that will be commercial-free. (The flagship channel takes 8 minutes of ads per hour.) The new ad-free diginet will feature films from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. It launches in late 2002. …
The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy is calling on the FCC to retain radio-ownership rules that promote diversity among station owners and points of view expressed over the airwaves. "Something would be lost in the shift from many small broadcasters to a few big broadcasters," the advocacy office told the FCC. "That 'something' is viewpoint diversity." …
Satellite TV company DirecTV is expanding its local TV-signal offerings to Buffalo and Oklahoma City, bringing the total number of cities to which it offers local TV service to 46. DirecTV plans to add service in Hartford, Conn., Las Vegas and Providence, R.I., by mid-July and to expand to 51 markets by the end of the year.
WHO'S HAPPENING
Veteran talk-show producer Marlaine Selip has signed as executive producer of Phil Donahue's upcoming MSNBC show. Selip and Donahue worked together on his syndicated talk show, where Selip was a producer; she's also worked on several other talk shows. …
In Washington, NAB Executive Vice President Chuck Sherman is grabbing the position of president of the NAB Education Foundation and twinningit with the position of special assistant to NAB President Eddie Fritts. …
Michael Fleming can't get away from games. The former CEO of Sony's Game Show Network has been tapped by game developer NTN as chairman of Buzztime, a unit that is trying sell operators games in their digital set-tops.
THE WORLD, CONSOLIDATED
Viacom last week got the FCC's go-ahead for its $650 million purchase of KCAL(TV) Los Angeles from Young Broadcasting. The deal will give Viacom a duopoly in L.A., where the company also owns KCBS-TV. Viacom also owns seven radio stations there and must sell one of them within six months.…
The National Hispanic Media Coalition and others charged in a lawsuit last week that the FCC 'sreasons for granting NBC an extra six months to sell a third station it owns in Los Angeles were either racist or irrelevant. NBC acquired KVEA(TV) and KWHY-TV when it purchased Spanish-language network Telemundo in April. The net already owned KNBC(TV). Owners in big markets are limited to two stations, and the FCC typically allows six months for divestitures when mergers violate ownership limits. NBC, however, received 12 months on grounds that the Telemundo stations' Spanish-language focus deserved special treatment.
STAY ALERT!
A media industry council charged with ensuring the reliability of mass communication during a terrorist attack or other catastrophe will have its first meeting May 17.
More than 40 executives from broadcast, cable, satellite and related industries have signed on to the Media Security and Reliability Council , which formed in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Dennis FitzSimons, president of Tribune Co., chairs the council and FCC Chairman Michael Powell will show up for the session.
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