THANKS TO TALENT, FOOTBALL, NBC’S GOT RATINGS
It was another week for NBC’s peacock to crow. The struggling network saw its America’s Got Talent rank first and second in the Nielsen ratings, with the two-hour Tuesday edition averaging 12 million viewers and the one-hour Wednesday edition 11.1 million. Moreover, its Sunday night preseason NFL telecast between the Saints and Raiders averaged 9.3 [...]
CBS WON’T BE PAYING FOR BIG “GETS” IN FUTURE, NEWS CHIEF SAYS
August 4, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
CBS News appeared to be the latest network outlet to take itself out of the bidding wars for big “gets.” Speaking to the Television Critics Association on Wednesday, CBS News President Jeff Fager said that the news division will no longer pay huge fees for pictures and home videos as a way to land exclusive [...]
NBC OWNS HALF OF TOP-TEN RATED SHOWS
Time was when NBC’s Thursday lineup alone would provide five contenders or more for Nielsen’s list of the top ten television shows of the week. These days, however, it is extraordinary when any five NBC shows land in the top-ten. But that’s what happened last week. Of course three shows were titled America’s Got Talent, [...]
A BAD WEEK FOR LEBRON IS GREAT FOR ABC
June 15, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
ABC’s telecasts of the NBA finals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat dominated the primetime ratings for the second week in a row among total viewers and those 18-49. Along with Monday’s The Bachelorette, the telecasts easily gave ABC the No. 1 spot on the Nielsen top ten list. But NBC’s talent shows, [...]
CURIOSITY FACTOR NOT EVIDENT IN PELLEY DEBUT
June 14, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
Ordinarily when a new anchor debuts on an evening newscast, the audience surges initially — if for no other reason than curiosity. When Katie Couric took over the anchor’s desk on the CBS Evening News in September 2006, she averaged 10.16 million viewers in her first week, far exceeding the competition. Nothing like that surge [...]
PELLEY MAKES LOW-KEY DEBUT ON CBS EVENING NEWS
June 7, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
Scott Pelley took over the anchor chair on the CBS Evening News Monday and relegated the story that most newspapers headlined and NBC led with — the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal — to No. 3 on his list of top stories, nine minutes into the newscast. “Good for Pelley and CBS News and their sense [...]
PELLEY SAYS HE HAS NEVER ANCHORED A NEWSCAST
May 23, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
CBS could be repeating with Scott Pelley the same mistake it made with Katie Couric – failing to recognize that a television anchor is principally a performer (or a “presenter” as he or she is called in most other countries), someone who can help convey with intonation, cadence, and sometimes with gesture the drama behind [...]
CBS HOPING TO REPLACE GOOD SHOWS WITH BETTER ONES
May 16, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
When CBS unveils its programming lineup later this week, $#*! My Dad Says, The Defenders and Mad Love will not be on it. All three shows got decent ratings — but decent isn’t good enough for CBS, the highest-rated of all the broadcast networks. The cancellations were first disclosed by Broadcasting and Cable magazine. The [...]
IT’S OFFICIAL: PELLEY WILL REPLACE COURIC
May 3, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
In an announcement that was as unsurprising as Katie Couric’s that she will step down as anchor of the CBS Evening News, CBS News said today (Tuesday) that 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley will replace her on June 6. He will continue to report for 60 Minutes. In a statement, CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager, [...]
NO RATINGS DROP EXPECTED AFTER COURIC’S DEPARTURE
April 28, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
Katie Couric’s departure from the anchor desk of the CBS Evening News and her expected replacement by Scott Pelley is not likely to have any significant effect on ratings for the newscast or, by extension, on sales, according to Broadcasting & Cable magazine. The trade publication quoted one unnamed media buyer as saying, “I don’t [...]