Ann Curry Gears Up to Take Another Dive on 'Today'

Despite the fact that it included the much-anticipated reunion of the Spice Girls -- Grumpy, Dopey, Sneezy, Bashful and Posh -- the annual undies show copped only 7.5 million viewers at 10 p.m. on CBS.

Two hours earlier on the same network, the bajillionth run of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" logged nearly twice that crowd -- 14.6 million.

Rudolph also clocked twice as many 18-to-49-year-olds as did "TVSFS." Which is a mercy for the Spice Girls, who, I'm sure with the best of intentions, performed while dressed as the Andrews Sisters. Not only does no one look good in those hats, but, coming to the stage, as they did, after nearly an hour of rail-thin 18-year-old models trotting around in thongs and wings, the Spice Girls looked not only long in the tooth, but like Clydesdales.

On a happier note, the knickers parade did attract about 700,000 more viewers than last year, though it was a fraction of the crowd of more than 12 million who turned out to watch the very first "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" on broadcast TV, ABC to be exact, back in '01.

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And speaking of knickers, those of the Parents Television Council were all bunched up by news that CBS planned to broadcast some series currently telecast on its pay-cable cousin Showtime if the Hollywood writers' strike continues much longer.

CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves told reporters attending this week's UBS Global Media & Communications Conference in New York that Showtime's "Dexter," starring Michael C. Hall as a Miami police forensics expert who is also a serial killer of bad guys, probably would hit CBS first because it is a good fit with CBS's several highly rated crime dramas. The program would be edited for CBS, he told reporters, who said so in their news stories.

Another Showtime series that might make its way to the CBS lineup is "Weeds," a campy look at a suburban mom who sells pot to pay the mortgage. It also would be edited for CBS, according to the news reports.

"CBS' plan is purely based on corporate greed, not what's good for families or in the public interest," PTC President Tim Winter said in a statement sent yesterday to the news media.

"These Showtime programs contain some of the most explicit content on television, period. Yet CBS has no qualms about putting shows that make heroes of serial killers and revel in sick, graphic violence or those that condone drug use and glorify drug dealers in front of millions of children and families on broadcast television," Winter continued.

Just think what he'd have had to say had Moonves mentioned he might put Showtime's series "Californication" on the broadcast network. The mind reels.

Even so, Winter managed to work up a good head of steam:

"Despite that CBS and Viacom are now 'separate,' CBS is funneling in super-raunchy Viacom-owned premium cable content onto the CBS broadcast network. This proves the two corporations continue to serve one master and their embryo-split was just form over substance. It is also another powerful example of why the rules concerning media consolidation must not be loosened."

He's referring to the fact that back in 2005, Viacom was split into two companies, Viacom and CBS, both under Sumner Redstone. Only thing is, CBS has had Showtime under its aegis since the split -- it was the only cable network given to CBS in the split.

PTC eventually figured out its mistake and reportedly issued a new statement, still outraged about the Showtime programming that might make its way to CBS but no longer ranting about corporate collusion.

At any rate, CBS responded to the PTC caterwauling by saying the Showtime programming "will be edited to meet all network television broadcast standards, similar to the way theatrical movies have been edited for broadcast for many years."

The CBS spokesman suggested the version of "Sex and the City" that's airing in syndication would be a good comparison, and noted that Showtime already produces an edited-for-"free TV" version of most of its original series programming.