By Lisa de Moraes
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
In these troubled times -- presidential race rancor, tanking economy -- viewers clung to their CBS procedural crime dramas, contributing mightily to the network's second consecutive win of the new TV season.
Here's a look at the week's hits and misses:
WINNERS
"CSI." The debut of Season 9 attracted television's largest prime-time audience of the season to date, 23.5 million viewers. It ranked No. 1 for the week and beat an original "Grey's Anatomy" among young viewers for the first time.
"Saturday Night Live." First of three prime-time election specials, featuring a presidential-debate spoof, logged nearly 11 million viewers, besting all regular "SNL" telecasts since January '01.
Presidential debate. Held on a Tuesday and in the midst of a nerve-rattling Wall Street free fall, the second John McCain-Barack Obama match drew about 66 million viewers, up 11 million from the first.
Fox News Channel. The second presidential debate and a collapsing Wall Street drove 3.4 million to FNC's prime time, making it the most-watched cable network for the second week this year. Other cable news networks also benefited: CNN was No. 5 for the week among cable nets, averaging 2.4 million (beating CW) and its debate coverage was the week's second-most-watched cable program. MSNBC finished the week No. 9 in cable prime time, with 1.6 million viewers.
"Life on Mars." ABC's time-travel series launch attracted 11.3 million people, neck and neck with CBS's new "Eleventh Hour" though that enjoyed a lead-in crowd nearly 10 million stronger. "Mars" is the season's top-rated drama launch among the 18-to-49-year-olds advertisers pay premiums to reach.
"Kath and Kim." New NBC sitcom triumphed over lousy press to win its time slot among 18-to-34-year-olds -- the new 18-to-49ers -- and logged 7.5 million viewers overall -- 350,000 more than its "My Name Is Earl" lead-in.
"The Daily Show." With guest Michelle Obama, Jon Stewart's Comedy Central series notched its biggest audience ever, nearly 3 million viewers. After which "The Colbert Report" brought in 2 million, its biggest haul yet.
"South Park" copped 3.7 million viewers in the Comedy Central cartoon's best fall-debut performance in nearly a decade.
"Gossip Girl." CW buys two more episodes, for a total of 24.
"Knight Rider." NBC buys four more scripts -- not as good as four more episodes, but it's something.
"I Survived a Japanese Game Show." ABC buys a second season for next summer. Don't ask why, just watch and God bless America.
"WWE Friday Night SmackDown" copped 3.4 million viewers, the biggest audience in MyNetwork TV's history.
LOSERS
CW Sunday. When the dust settled, the second outing of CW's Outsourced Sunday coughed up only 848,000 viewers, 22 percent below the netlet's lame Sunday lineup's draw last season.
"Heroes" hit a series low for the second consecutive week, according to Nielsen stats. That said, it's among the more DVR'd series and we won't know for a couple more weeks how many more people watched the episode up to a week later -- Nielsen's "Live + 7" being the new "Live."
NASCAR. ABC's Saturday "[Bank] 500" broadcast limped in with just 6 million viewers, the smallest prime-time NASCAR audience in at least eight years.
"Macy's Passport Celebrity Catwalk Challenge." NBC's Saturday infomercial-posing-as-programming, featuring The Stars of NBC Universal 2.0, fooled only 2 million people. That's 42 percent fewer viewers than a "Knight Rider" repeat scored in the same time slot the previous Saturday.
The week's 10 most watched programs: CBS's "CSI"; ABC's "Dancing With the Stars"; CBS's "NCIS," "Criminal Minds" and "CSI: NY"; ABC's "Desperate Housewives," "Dancing" results show and "Grey's Anatomy"; and CBS's "Two and a Half Men" and "CSI: Miami."
* * *
HBO Films President Colin Callender has left the building, ending months of speculation he would leave after not getting the gig to replace Chris Albrecht as top dog.
Ironically, Callender is leaving less than a month after racking up a record 13 Primetime Emmy wins with the "John Adams" miniseries and another three for "Recount."
Callender's impressive roster of projects also includes "Angels in America," "Elizabeth" and "Lackawanna Blues."
The Time Warner-owned pay-cable network said Callender "has decided to leave his post . . . to launch a new entertainment and content company, the details of which will be announced in 2009." Brrrrr!
In yesterday's announcement, Callender is quoted as saying, "This past year at HBO Films has been nothing less than extraordinary, and it's the perfect time for me to move on to a new challenge.
"My career has been shaped by one constant in this industry -- change," said the man who has been with HBO for 20 years.
Callender is the third high-ranking HBO exec to exit in recent months. At any other TV network this would barely be news. But this kind of turnover is unheard of at HBO, which has always been cultlike in the whole no-one-ever-leaves category. Seven months ago Carolyn Strauss was removed as president of the entertainment division, 10 months after her mentor, CEO Albrecht, was shown the door after being arrested on suspicion of smacking around his girlfriend in a Vegas casino parking lot.
Callender, like Albrecht, is being replaced from within the company. HBO said yesterday it is divvying up his job between his top lieutenants Kary Antholis and Len Amato; Antholis becomes president of HBO miniseries and Amato president of HBO Films.
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