Fox wins TV season crown
Strike, DVRs cause record ratings drop
By RICK KISSELL
A dominant Fox is set to be crowned the winner of the 2007-08 television
season, one that the broadcast biz -- and perhaps even Fox -- would just as
soon forget.
The writers strike, along with the rising popularity of DVRs and the increased
availability of programming on multiple platforms, conspired to make this
season the lowest-rated on record for the broadcasters. There was also a dearth
of breakout hits, with no new show emerging as the biz's savior.
Of course, the broadcasters have been losing audience share to cable for years
-- but this season saw the most troubling year-to-year declines yet.
In a season when overall television usage among young adults was up slightly,
the top five English-language broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CW)
will finish down 10% in adults 18-49 rating (14.1 vs. 15.6). And their overall
audience average (41.5 million viewers) is off 7% from the 2006-07 campaign
(44.8 million), according to Nielsen.
By comparison, ad-supported cable saw a 9% increase in 18-49 rating (17.4 vs.
15.9) and 7% in total viewers (51.6 million vs. 48.1 million).
"The strike made this year an anomaly," said Fox Entertainment chairman Peter
Liguori. "But we all should look at what happened to those viewership levels
and be shocked into being more aggressive about our thinking. No one knows what
will happen with summer viewing and into the fall."
With just three days to be counted in the season (which ends tonight), Fox led
all networks with a 4.2 rating/11 share in adults 18-49, followed by ABC and
CBS (tied at 3.0/8), NBC (2.8/8), Spanish-language Univision (1.5/4) and CW
(1.1/3).
Fox, which benefited from airing the Super Bowl this season, is up 5% vs. last
season -- it's the only network showing gains. CBS, which had aired the Super
Bowl a year ago, is down the most (19%), while ABC and CW are off 14% and NBC
10%.
For the first time, Fox will also finish the season as the most-watched network
overall, with its 11.1 million viewers beating out traditional leader CBS (10.5
million). The Eye, which has won most weeks down the stretch, likely would have
captured its sixth straight total-viewers crown if not for the writers strike.
Working from a smaller base, MyNetwork made some strides in its second season,
rising 33% in 18-49 (0.4 vs. 0.3) and 36% in total viewers (1.13 million vs.
835,000).
The biggest story of the season, of course, was the three-month writers strike,
which sapped any momentum the nets were building in the fall. Auds were also
reluctant to return to hit shows in the spring, with virtually every top hit
posting ratings declines.
The rise in DVR playback was another big story, with the residents of one in
four homes now with the ability to watch programs on their own timetables.
One result is that hits in crowded timeslots like Thursday at 9 -- where
"Grey's Anatomy," "CSI" and "The Office" all toil -- typically see their
"live-plus 7" rating (all DVR playback within a week) shoot up by about 20% vs.
their averages reported in the next-day Nielsens.
For Fox, the 2007-08 season reps its fourth consecutive victory in the
advertiser-friendly demo of adults 18-49. The net has been remarkably
consistent in recent years, with this year's 4.2 rating a tick above the 4.1
rating it had maintained the previous three years.
It has also seen its overall primetime audience grow now with each of the last
four seasons.
"I feel proud of a group out there, from scheduling and planning to marketing
and programming, that did a solid job keeping the network vibrant and robust
amidst the strike," Liguori said. "You strip the Super Bowl away and 'American
Idol' away, and the network is still No. 1 by a good margin. That shows the
strength of our network across seven nights a week."
The performance and results editions of Fox's "American Idol" remained the
top-rated programs in both adults 18-49 and total viewers, even though the show
at long last began to show mortal-like signs of ratings erosion.
Fox's "House" is running neck and neck with ABC's "Desperate Housewives" as the
season's top-rated scripted program in 18-49.
It's also worth noting that the net prevailed for the season even without its
traditional second-half Monday anchor, "24" -- a casualty of the writers
strike.
Though Fox had its share of first-year bombs, it ended the season with the two
top-rated new programs in lie-detector reality show "Moment of Truth" and
sci-fi drama "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles."
ABC had a winning fall, thanks in part to some promising newcomers, but the
writers strike and the arrival of Fox's "American Idol" sapped much of its
momentum.
Despite ratings declines, the net's core vets, "Grey's Anatomy," "Desperate
Housewives," "Lost" and "Dancing With the Stars," remain top-10 fixtures. ABC
is returning all three of its frosh Wednesday hours in the fall ("Pushing
Daisies," "Private Practice" and "Dirty Sexy Money") as well as top new comedy
"Samantha Who."
At CBS, crime dramas and reality vet "Survivor" continue to gradually lose
ratings steam, but the net was buoyed by the strong performance of its Monday
comedy block.
"Two and a Half Men," which once again stands as TV's top-rated half-hour, was
up slightly vs. its year-ago average. Also contributing were solid laffers "How
I Met Your Mother" and "Rules of Engagement" as well as newbie "The Big Bang
Theory."
"Big Bang" is the only Eye rookie to return next fall. Vampire drama
"Moonlight," which generated more buzz than most new shows, was canceled after
so-so numbers in its run on Fridays.
NBC finished in fourth place for a fourth straight season, although it finished
within striking distance of both ABC and CBS. Top shows included "Heroes," "The
Office" and "Law & Order: SVU," while its best rookie success came with
Monday's light drama "Chuck," a show that was kept off the sked in the second
half of the season by the writers strike.
"The Office" was up slightly year to year despite moving to a tougher timeslot.
One of the Peacock's quieter weapons was weight-loss skein "The Biggest Loser,"
which delivered hefty ratings -- even when it opposed "American Idol" for the
first time.
CW had a rough sophomore season, with its year-to-year comps decimated by the
loss of vets "Gilmore Girls" and "Reba."
Net seemed to stabilize as the season went on, though, and ended well with its
Monday combo of rookie "Gossip Girl" and vet "One Tree Hill." In addition to
"Gossip Girl," the net also added another credible piece in comedic drama
"Reaper," but it continues to struggle in comedy, cutting "Aliens in America"
after its low-rated inaugural season.
* * *
Looking at the final full week of the season, Fox won for the 19th consecutive
week in adults 18-49 (3.5 rating/10 share), as "American Idol" had a strong
week. CBS won in total viewers for a fourth straight week (10.3 million).
Even during a frame that included season finales on other nets, "Idol" ruled
easily as its Wednesday results show (9.2/22 in 18-49, 24.86m) and Tuesday
performance show (9.0/25, 24.77m) were the top-rated programs.
Rounding out the top five in 18-49 were the season finale of ABC's "Desperate
Housewives" (6.2/16, 16.84m) and the penultimate segs of the season for ABC's
"Grey's Anatomy" (6.1/15, 15.55m) and Fox's "House" (5.9/14, 15.02m).
Also of note, CBS saw some year-to-year gains for the 43rd "Academy of Country
Music Awards" (2.9/8 in 18-49, 11.73m), which benefited by shifting from
Tuesday (where it faced "American Idol" a year ago) to its new night, Sunday.
NBC's "The Office" had a strong finale (4.2/10 in 18-49, 8.21m), up 7% in 18-49
vs. last year's season-ender.
And on cable, MTV's "The Hills" had a strong finish to its season (2.3/6,
3.78m), racking up a big 5.6/14 in women 18-34.
----- Original Message -----
From: ravenadal
Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 10:34 pm
Subject: [scifinoir2] A black hole
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
> How is it that Terrence Howard can play a legendary character on the
> New York stage but is stuck as the sidekick who's jealous of Robert
> Downey Jr.'s hardware in "Iron Man"?
>
> http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2008/05/17/a_black_hole/
>
> A black hole
>
> African-Americans are blazing creative trails in music, TV, and stage.
> In film, the choice is either bawdy and preachy or earnest but
> safe -
> with a void in between.
>
> By Wesley Morris, Globe Staff | May 18, 2008
>
> few weeks ago I got to see Terrence Howard and Anika Noni Rose play
> Brick and Maggie "the Cat" in Debbie Allen's Broadway production of
> "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." I went home depressed. Not because the show
> was bad, although, in its clanging way, it is. I was depressed because
> for all its shortcomings, the show was a big entertainment event that
> doesn't happen much in the movies: It had premium melodrama and black
> stars being starry. As a moviegoer, I hurt for that kind of glamour.
>
> I felt the same hangover leaving an exhilarating concert by Erykah
> Badu and the Roots earlier this month, and watching both "The Wire,"
> which just said goodbye to us and HBO, and the staggering acting in
> that production of "A Raisin in the Sun" ABC aired in February: Why
> isn't black life this interesting, vibrant, or complex at the movies?
> How is it that Terrence Howard can play a legendary character on the
> New York stage but is stuck as the sidekick who's jealous of Robert
> Downey Jr.'s hardware in "Iron Man"?
>
> When it comes to black America, the movies are stagnating. Well, when
> it comes to any nonwhite male subject matter at the movies, the
> pickings are slim. But there's such a wealth of black stars,
> producers, and directors that the scarcity of movies - big-
> ticket or
> small, serious or light - focused on the lives of black people, is
> surreal. There's a gaping entertainment void. It's not just the lack
> of quantity. It's the lack of variety. Despite the usual death notices
> posted for hip-hop, black popular music is alive and well.
>
> At the moment, black movies come in two flavors: uplift dramas and
> Tyler Perry. The first is represented by all those feel-good
> movies -
> "Akeelah and the Bee," "Stomp the Yard," "Pride," "The Great Debaters"
> - that, bless their hearts, wanted to empower us, but that nobody
> flocked to see. Message movies are a great notion but tricky as
> entertainment. The makers of these films have this noble but somewhat
> misguided idea that the average black moviegoer wants to feel like
> she's in school.
>
> Perry's megaplex successes suggest that the average black moviegoer
> wants to feel like she's in church. His movies have sermons. His
> movies have soap opera. And, increasingly, his movies have
> stars. In
> the past, I've said only somewhat jestingly that a Tyler Perry movie
> is where black actors go to get back in touch with their roots. (The
> prim, post-Nipplegate Janet Jackson who showed up in "Why Did I Get
> Married?" wasn't just making a movie, she was asking for forgiveness.)
> But now a Tyler Perry movie is where a black actor goes to act. Angela
> Bassett is the star of "Meet the Browns." "Daddy's Little Girls" had
> Gabrielle Union and Idris Elba. And the movie that Perry, who
> essentially works without Hollywood's help, is currently filming has
> Alfre Woodard, Sanaa Lathan, and the loveable Taraji P. Henson, that
> pregnant, hook-belting hooker from "Hustle & Flow."
>
> It doesn't do any good to discount the value of Tyler Perry, and he
> certainly can't be - should not be - ignored. Perry knows what an
> audience wants, and he delivers - with Woody Allen's regularity, too.
> These things tend to come in waves (remember the Wayans brothers'
> racial funhouses from a few years ago?). But Perry is more than a
> ripple. He is black movies right now. His style has inspired studio
> executives to look, wittingly or not, for movies with either Perry's
> clumsy farce (see last winter's "The Perfect Holiday" or "First
> Sunday" - on second thought: don't) or his ensemble comic-melodrama
> ("This Christmas").
>
> That's a problem. There's no art in these movies. There's no style.
> And Perry's success, through no fault of his own, limits what chances
> the studios are willing to take on black movies. Rickety ghetto
> comedies, prefab movie biographies, and feel-good historical dramas
> tailor-made for NAACP Image Award contention are one thing. But a
> serious, thoughtful act of filmmaking or some real Hollywood glamour
> is rare.
>
> Last year, Denzel Washington found himself at two extremes. He
> directed and starred in "The Great Debaters," a historical drama that
> used a feel-good formula to tell the somewhat-true story of a Texas
> debate team in the 1930s. It was meant to enlighten and inspire the
> young men and women in the audience. But it was his
> borderline-flamboyant performance as Harlem heroin lord Frank
> Lucas in
> Ridley Scott's "American Gangster" that they turned out for. The
> greasy fat content of the gangster movie was a lot more
> appealing to
> moviegoers than the nutritional value of the period drama. Scott's
> movie had a whiff of glamour amid the grit.
>
> "Dreamgirls" was blindingly glamorous and was a big fat hit. And we
> haven't seen anything like it since. The next big part for the movie's
> Oscar's winner, Jennifer Hudson, is as Sarah Jessica Parker's
> assistant in the "Sex & the City" movie. "Dreamgirls" had its flaws,
> but I've almost never had as much fun watching a movie with an
> audience as I did the two times I watched it in a theater.
> Suffice it
> to say that it's a long way down from there to, I don't know, "Welcome
> Home Roscoe Jenkins."
>
> If we can't have glamour, then what about some appreciable realism?
> The Frenchman Michel Gondry recently gave us the unmatched civic pride
> of "Dave Chappelle's Block Party." And Charles Burnett's
> black-and-white magic-realist snapshot of a Watts family,
> "Killer of
> Sheep," was the feel-good distribution story of last year, finally
> getting a theatrical release three decades after it was made.
> One of
> the very few films to approach the budgetless beauty of Burnett's
> movie was made last year and opens this summer. It's called "Ballast"
> (the writer-director, Lance Hammer, is white), and it's a three-hankie
> affair if for no other reason than that Hammer unspools his
> heartbreaking story with a style and absorbing command of the medium
> that you rarely see from new American filmmakers, regardless of their
> skin color.
>
> What a moment for a standstill, since the year's most fascinating
> black movie is currently playing out on the presidential campaign
> trail. It has melodrama, suspense, mystery, real characters, and,
> depending on where you stand, a vision. And yet it seems unthinkable
> that in 19 years so few directors have come forward to make a
> film on
> race in this country as complex as that or as incendiary as Spike
> Lee's "Do the Right Thing," except Lee himself and arguably Lars von
> Trier, the troublemaking Dane who in the last couple of years brought
> us "Dogville" and "Manderlay."
>
> It's equally strange that John Singleton never turned into the poet
> laureate of South Los Angeles, becoming instead a hacky B-movie
> director and producer. Success spoiled him. That version of August
> Wilson's "Fences" Singleton was attached to years ago never happened.
> Nor did the black filmmaking mini-movement of the early 1990s - the
> Hudlin brothers, Matty Rich, Ernest Dickerson, and Julie Dash were
> some of the names atop its crest - bear lasting fruit. It
> remains mini
> and operating on the farthest fringes of the movie business. And the
> moviemaking class structure seems designed to keep them there.
>
> Has complacency set in among the upper echelons of black
> Hollywood? Is
> there no more to struggle for? Is Tyler Perry that good a wonder drug?
> It's worth asking whether the movies in this moment could get angry
> enough to take on as calamitous an incident as, say, the Sean Bell
> shooting. Is it too much to expect more filmmakers to reflect the
> world as it is, to interpret its events the way people actually do?
> How can my barbershop be a more impassioned house of discourse than
> the movies? Or why should it be?
>
> Part of what's shocking about the TV version of Lorraine Hansberry's
> "A Raisin in the Sun" is how resoundingly it confirms the
> existence of
> social struggle missing from other movies. It remains set in the
> 1950s, but the intra-family identity struggles still are amazingly
> real. Yesterday feels very much like today. (The TV version of "Raisin
> in the Sun" is being released on video this week. See page N24.)
>
> Erykah Badu's kaleidoscopic latest record "New Amerykah, Part
> One (4th
> World War)" is also poised between yesterday and tomorrow. The album
> is part blaxploitation epic, part transcendent hip-hop self-therapy
> session. It's a gonzo, affectionate, agitated, paranoid, frequently
> funny, and possibly deranged portrait of black urbanism in transition,
> struggling with the space between revolution and relaxed resistance.
>
> Just as I was weeping for the lack of a current cinematic corollary
> during a first listen, a voice came on after one of the songs
> and read
> a version of Peter Finch's monologue from "Network." "I want you to
> get angry!" the voice says, and it may as well be talking to
> underserved and subdued movie audiences. It might sound far-fetched,
> but Badu should consider stepping behind the camera and restoring
> politics, vision, and cool back to black movies. They need her.
>
> Wesley Morris can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
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