Thursday, June 14, 2012

Today in TV History:
The Gong Show, the precursor to current America’s Got Talent, debuted on NBC in daytime in 1976. It also aired in first-run syndication (from 1976 to 1980) and was revived in 1988-89. Also on this day was the final episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in 1997.

In Today’s Issue

NETWORK
-Wednesday Metered Market Ratings
-Fox Completes Upfront Selling
-Jeanne Tripplehorn Heads to Criminal Minds

CABLE
-Showtime Axes Weeds

SYNDICATION
-Bethenny Dips in Day Two
-TVS Introduces Inside Science Vignettes

DIGITAL
-Clean Break on FUEL TV and Yahoo! Screen

SCHEDULE BOX
-On the Air Tonight

TRIVIA CHALLENGE
-Mr. Mooney, Is That You?
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NETWORK

Metered Market Wednesday Ratings
Fading So You Think You Can Dance Still Dominates

Wednesday 6/13/12
Metered Market Results

Household
Rating/Share
Fox 4.8/ 8
CBS 3.9/ 7
ABC 3.0/ 5
NBC 2.4/ 4
CW 0.7/ 1

-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – Wednesday 6/15/11
CBS: – 5, ABC: – 9, Fox: -11, CW: -12, NBC: -59

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-Winners:
So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
Nothing…65 percent of the line-up was encore telecasts.

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Ratings Breakdown:
Two-hours of perennial summer entry So You Think You Can Dance led Fox to Tuesday overnight victory. And a win among adults 18-49 is also a given, but year-to-year all five networks were down in the overnights. So You Think You Can Dance scored a 4.8 rating/8 share from 8-10 p.m., which finished first in each of the four half-hours and dipped by 11 percent from one year earlier as follows:

So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 4.5/ 8 (#1)
8:30 p.m.: 5.0/ 9 (#1)
9:00 p.m.: 4.8/ 8 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 4.8/ 8 (#1)

In week three news, Dogs in the City on CBS equaled its week-ago overnight delivery with a second-place 3.9/ 7 at 10 p.m. Last week, that translated into 5.15 million viewers and a 0.9 rating/3 share among adults 18-49, based on the Live Plus Same Day results. So, you can expect an older skew. Next on the Eye net were encore telecasts of Criminal Minds (#2: 3.8/ 6) and CSI (#1: 3.9/ 7) from 9-11 p.m.

ABC had an equal mix of originals and repeats last night with its line-up of encores of The Middle (#3: 3.2/ 6), Suburgatory (#3: 2.5/ 4) and Modern Family (#3: 3.3/ 5) from 8-9:30 p.m., and a 90-minute installment of recent entry Duets (#2: 3.1/ 6 from 9:30-11 p.m.). Needless to say, viewers are not necessarily hungry for more singing competitions. It just never ends.

NBC, which aired game seven of The Stanley Cup Finals on the year-ago evening (hence the steep erosion) filled the night with repeats of Betty White’s Off Their Rockers (#4: 3.0/ 6), which returns in midseason, Up All Night (#4: 1.6/ 3) and two episodes of tired Law & Order: SVU (9 p.m.: #4, 2.1/ 4; 10 p.m.: #3, 2.7/ 5). While I never recommend judging a show based on a repeat, notice the 47 percent drop from Up All Night out of Betty White’s Off Their Rockers. This is yet another low-rated single camera comedy on NBC that no one is watching. Did the network really need to renew it?

Last, of course, were back-to-back repeats of America’s Next Top Model: All Stars at a 0.7/ 1 from 8-10 p.m. Moving Top Model into the Friday 8 p.m. anchor spot next season could, and should, be the ultimate kiss of death.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

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OTHER NETWORK ITEMS

Fox Completes Upfront Selling
Fox, the No. 1 network among adults 18-49, has wrapped up the current upfront selling season with a reported $1.95 billion in ad sales commitments for 2012-13, which was on par with one year earlier. Eighty percent of its inventory moved, with CPM (cost per thousand viewers) increases of an estimated 8 to 9 percent. Comparably, CBS and ABC booked in the vicinity of $2.65 billion and $2.40 billion, respectively, with CPM gains for the Eye net at 8 to 9 percent and ABC 6 to 7 percent. Similarly, CBS sold about 78 percent of its inventory, with more available time to advertisers in the “scatter” market (which runs closer to the actual air-date).

NBC, at press time, is still writing business. Last week, The CW was the first network to conclude business, with a reported amount similar to the $400 to $420 million it secured last year and CPM hikes of 6.5 to 7.5 percent. With the economy still sluggish, the networks should, no doubt, be satisfied to do business similar to last year.

Jeanne Tripplehorn Heads to Criminal Minds
Former Big Love star Jeanne Tripplehorn will join the cast of veteran Criminal Minds on CBS in the upcoming eighth season. The 49-year-old Emmy-nominated actress will replace Paget Brewster, who exited the show at the end of this season. Criminal Minds will remain in the Wednesday 9 p.m. hour next season out of Survivor and into CSI.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data
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SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE AT TV MEDIA INSIGHTS

Contact Joel Spicola at joel@tvmediainsights.com or 720/323-4055 for more information.

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CABLE

Showtime Axes Weeds
Showtime has swung the axe on long-running dark comedy Weeds, which will conclude after eight seasons. “There were two shows, Weeds and Dexter, that really got Showtime taken seriously for cutting-edge original programming,” said Showtime entertainment president David Nevins. “How they get brought home is really important. TV fans love nothing better to complain about how shows end and we really want to end this one the right way.”

Weeds’ farewell season begins Sunday, July 1 at 10 p.m. ET, leading into the new season of Episodes. Thirteen final episodes will bring the series total to 102.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data
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SYNDICATION

Bethenny Dips in Day Two
The positive news is more growth from both the lead-in and year-ago time period averages. But day two the six-week, six market test of Bethenny, the new daytime talk show from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution hosted by reality star Bethenny Frankel, dropped considerably.

Based on the weighted overnights, Bethenny averaged a 1.1 rating/4 share on Tuesday (out of a 1.0/ 4 for the lead-in and a 0.8/ 3 for the June 2011 time period). Comparably, Bethenny dipped by 27 percent from its Monday opener (1.5/ 5). WTXF in Philadelphia was the top-rated of the six with a 2.0/ 7 (out of a 2.3/ 8 for Wendy Williams), while WNYW in New York slipped to a 1.3/ 4 (which matched the rating of lead-in Wendy Williams). KTTV in Los Angeles (0.9/ 3 to 0.4/ 1), KDFW in Dallas (1.8/ 5 to 1.2/ 4) and KMSP in Minneapolis (1.0/ 5 to 0.6/ 3) also lost steam. Stayed tuned for overnight results in day three.

For Monday’s opening results, click on the following: http://tinyurl.com/82u72vu

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TVS Introduces Inside Science Vignettes
Distributor The Television Syndication Company (TVS) has announced Inside Science, a new syndicated television news service featuring 90-second news segments covering the latest developments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The high definition vignettes, which are tied to seasonal and breaking events, are designed to fit into local television newscasts. Two segments per week will be available for broadcast, Internet and mobile. For more information, contact Lisa Romine at The Television Syndication Company at lisa@tvsco.com.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data
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DIGITAL

Clean Break on FUEL TV and Yahoo! Screen
FUEL TV and Yahoo Screen have introduced a new TV and web series called Clean Break, which is produced by brand studio Content & Co. in partnership with Schick Hydro. Airing Wednesdays at 11 p.m. ET on FUEL TV (effective yesterday with the first of six episodes) or via 21 exclusive web series produced on Yahoo! Screen, Clean Break follows three adventure seekers, a crew of legendary water sportsmen and 10 days of adventure in some of Hawaii’s most beautiful and remote locations.

For more information visit www.schickhydro.com, www.facebook.com/HydroExperience or Twitter.com/HydroExperience.
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SCHEDULE BOX
On the Air Tonight

Thursday, June 14

ABC
8:00 p.m. Jimmy Kimmel Live
8:30 p.m. NBA Countdown
9:00 p.m. NBA Finals, Game 2

CBS
8:00 p.m. The Big Bang Theory (R)
8:30 p.m. 2 Broke Girls (R)
9:00 p.m. Person of Interest (R)
10:00 p.m. The Mentalist (R)

NBC
8:00 p.m. The Office (R)
8:30 p.m. Parks and Recreation (R)
9:00 p.m. Saving Hope
10:00 p.m. Rock Center With Brian Williams

Fox
8:00 p.m. Take Me Out
9:00 p.m. The Choice

CW
8:00 p.m. Breaking Pointe
9:00 p.m. The Vampire Diaries (R)

Of Note on Cable:
-Burn Notice (USA, 9 p.m.): season premiere
-Suits (USA, 10 p.m.): season premiere
-The Pauly D Project (MTV, 10:30 p.m.): season finale
-Tattoo School (TLC, 10:30 p.m.): season finale
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TRIVIA CHALLENGE
Mr. Mooney, Is That You?

Gale Gordon is remembered, of course, for his co-starring roles opposite Lucille Ball on The Lucy Show, Here’s Lucy and short-lived Life With Lucy. But he also appeared as a regular in five other primetime series. Which of the following was not one of them?

a) Dennis the Menace
b) Our Miss Brooks
c) Pete and Gladys
d) Private Secretary
e) Sally

The answer to yesterday’s question…

If you were a fan of the original Dallas, you will enjoy seeing a number of cameos from former cast members on the new version on TNT. But which one of the following original characters is the only one still alive that could resurface?

a) Willard “Digger” Barnes
b) Julie Grey
c) Nicholas Pearce
d) Kristin Shepherd
e) Jenna Wade

Answer: e) Jenna Wade, who was Bobby’s love interest played initially by Francine Tacker for two episodes in 1980 and by Priscilla Presley from 1983 to 1988. As for the rest, according to Bob Ingersoll:

-Willard “Digger” Barnes passed away of alcohol poisoning just after admitting from his death bed that Pam wasn’t his daughter and that he had murdered Hutch McKinney, Pam’s biological father
-Julie Grey, J.R.’s secretary, fell off a roof to her death.
-Nicholas Pearce also fell to his death, but from a balcony during a fight with J.R. in the 10th season finale.
-Kristin Shepherd overdosed on pills, fell into the Southfork pool from a balcony and hit her head, where she died.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKaaHLjOXPg

Todays Trivia All-Stars:
Steve Albright, Gerry Bixenspan, Tom Condosta, Mark Cosenza, Dee Davis, Andy Ehlen, John Ferlazzo (2x), Ed Griffis, Michelle Harrington, Bob Ingersoll, David Jackino, Cliff Jackson, Tom Kilgallon, Synda Kollman, Paul Lewis, Rick Locke, Anne Moynihan, Barbara Oates, Stephen Phillips, Gordon Purcell, Joe Rubi