Originally posted by Marc Berman: My take on the whole Oprah announcement:
You won't find this on my résumé, but 12 years ago, I worked for three long months at King World, home of Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and The Oprah Winfrey Show (among others). I won't bore you with the details (it was not fun), but I do recall sitting in a meeting where a bevy of overpaid execs were ecstatic that Oprah was not stepping down from her top-rated podium. "Whew! No need to worry about our stock options now," laughed the head of the division. "We got her for two more years."
Now, after talking about leaving her top-rated syndicated talk show for the past 12 years, she will finally do so in 2011. Personally, all I can say is, good riddance. Don't get me wrong, I recognize Oprah's impact. Everything she touches turns to gold. But I am just plain sick and tired of hearing about her departure. Aren't you? And I know damn well—as you should, too—that she is not "retiring." There is no way that the egomaniac of the century is walking away from her daily exposure. She feeds from this. She lives by this. And she is not walking away. It ain't gonna happen.
My guess is Oprah will plop herself smack in the middle of OWN, the cable network she's creating in conjunction with Discovery Communications. And that, no doubt, will give the cable net a shot in the ratings arm. But what Oprah apparently does not know is that the cable platform is not daytime syndication, and there is no reason to believe she will attract an audience of the same magnitude. It's much easier to tune into Oprah on channel 7 in your local market from force of habit than find her on one of the higher channels.
Looking into my crystal ball, I can already see the headlines in 2012 or 2013 about Oprah's amazing return to daytime syndication, once she realizes her impact has diminished on cable. Just wait. You'll see.
As I always have said, there is only one Oprah. You can't duplicate her. And chances are Sony Pictures Television's Dr. Oz, who owes his success to Oprah, will inherit a large percentage of the Oprah time periods. But September 2011 is almost two years away. And for 20 long months, all we will be hearing about is Oprah departure. Personally, I can't stand it. Can you? -Marc Berman
I'm in complete agreement with you.
Sam here, people with Oprah's level of fame and money... what in the world will she do to fill that void? People get ucustomed to how people act around and to them... she'll never leave.
(Sidenote, its the internet so you can't trust anyone and what they post but I remember someone posting something like they were in a elevator with Oprah and she was visibly kind of angry that that person didn't recognize/acknowledge her. Probably not true but still... it kind of seems like something that might annoy her more so than others.)
So, when this happens... can we call you a bonafide psychic now Marc?
Originally posted by TV-aholic: First, the NFL is willing to offer to ALL customers, but for a price. That is why Time Warner Cable has not added it. They want too much money per subscriber AND want it on a basic tier.
I know. This is why the NFL's arrogance has cost them in this sense - their NFL Network is not on the same level as ESPN. And, it is why the MLB has learned from this mess and made their MLB Network available to all cable customers as well as NBA providing their NBA TV channel more expansively starting earlier this month.
quote:
Second, these ratings are not that there is interest in a Thursday night game, but not for a Network that you have to pay $4-$10 for a sports tier to get it, and you ONLY watch the 8 games it has as the only programming you watch on the Network.
The other issue is that if you're in the market your team is playing for that game, you do not need NFL Network - you can just watch its local broadcast affiliate feed instead. So not even the cities involved in these NFL Network games have that much incentive to try to order this channel.
quote:
I had the NFL Network the whole time until last month and I only watched about 5 of the games each season. NEVER watched anything else. There really isn't anything else it has to offer. THat is another reason why TWC and other cable companies have not caved in to the NFL to pay its demanded $$$$ on a wide open tier.
True. Those NFL Network games aren't exactly marquee matchups. Even the big teams of the NFL will most likely win either in a blowout (e.g. Dec. 17's Colts-Jaguars) or when there's not much on the line (e.g. Dec. 19's Cowboys-Saints, perhaps when the Saints have everything wrapped up in terms of NFC seeding.) The Giants-Broncos game on Thanksgiving evening will be broadcast on the CW affiliate in New York, WPIX-11.
So again, no NFL Network needed.
TV ratings data for the Academy Awards since 1953 now online! Check them out now!
Besides the index, CBS News wants to have a primetime presence to compete with 20/20 and Dateline, and there's really no incentive to move it. It fills a spot and CBS can focus on other timeslots.
quote:
Originally posted by TV-Fanatic:
For anyone who continuous moans about CBS needing to move 60 Minutes and why its a "winner" with bad demos, this is why and this is why CBS will never ever move it.
Originally posted by Marc Berman: My take on the whole Oprah announcement:
You won't find this on my résumé, but 12 years ago, I worked for three long months at King World, home of Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and The Oprah Winfrey Show (among others). I won't bore you with the details (it was not fun), but I do recall sitting in a meeting where a bevy of overpaid execs were ecstatic that Oprah was not stepping down from her top-rated podium. "Whew! No need to worry about our stock options now," laughed the head of the division. "We got her for two more years."
Now, after talking about leaving her top-rated syndicated talk show for the past 12 years, she will finally do so in 2011. Personally, all I can say is, good riddance. Don't get me wrong, I recognize Oprah's impact. Everything she touches turns to gold. But I am just plain sick and tired of hearing about her departure. Aren't you? And I know damn well—as you should, too—that she is not "retiring." There is no way that the egomaniac of the century is walking away from her daily exposure. She feeds from this. She lives by this. And she is not walking away. It ain't gonna happen.
My guess is Oprah will plop herself smack in the middle of OWN, the cable network she's creating in conjunction with Discovery Communications. And that, no doubt, will give the cable net a shot in the ratings arm. But what Oprah apparently does not know is that the cable platform is not daytime syndication, and there is no reason to believe she will attract an audience of the same magnitude. It's much easier to tune into Oprah on channel 7 in your local market from force of habit than find her on one of the higher channels.
Looking into my crystal ball, I can already see the headlines in 2012 or 2013 about Oprah's amazing return to daytime syndication, once she realizes her impact has diminished on cable. Just wait. You'll see.
As I always have said, there is only one Oprah. You can't duplicate her. And chances are Sony Pictures Television's Dr. Oz, who owes his success to Oprah, will inherit a large percentage of the Oprah time periods. But September 2011 is almost two years away. And for 20 long months, all we will be hearing about is Oprah departure. Personally, I can't stand it. Can you? -Marc Berman
Well put Marc. I listened to your podcast yesterday and it was spot on. What I'm about to say is a bit controversial, so apologies in advance.
I remember back in 2005 when the founder of Chicago-based Johnson Publishing (John H. Johnson)- the publisher of African-American-targeted magazines Ebony and Jet, died and Oprah did not attend his funeral - which I thought was very disrespectful. The two magazines covered her a lot and this is the way she pays them back?
Not only that, IMHO, I feel Oprah has not done enough to help African-Americans like myself and other minorities to break into the television and media businesses. She has contributed very little to Chicago's African-American community - to my knowledge, she has not done any interviews with the city's four black radio stations, at least in the last decade or so. Every time I happen to stumble on to her show on TV, I hardly see a minority face in the studio audience. So it wasn't surprising when her announcement was greeted with mostly yawns in the African-American community.
In addition, she hasn't done much to contribute to the local television and radio community either. You think you had a hard time trying to get an interview with Oprah? So has Robert Feder, Maureen Ryan, Phil Rosenthal, Steve Johnson, the late Allan Johnson, and other local TV critics and reporters during her tenure here. One thing that irritated me was when she threw her big party on Michigan Ave. last September, she only did interviews with the syndicated tabloid shows, NOT the local media who have been covering her over the years. She talks all this bullsh** about how much she loves Chicago and never really shows it.
I respect and appreciate all Oprah has done for the city I live in, but I wish she did a whole lot more - like acknowledge South Siders like me even existed. She's done nothing for us.
You're lucky you live in New York, Marc. We Chicagoans have to put up with the local media being her lapdogs for the next 18 months - the same media she's ignored over the years.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: T Dog,
Top 10 Markets (with Detroit, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Indianapolis & Ft. Myers-Naples) Final Household Ratings-Primetime Thursday, November 19
# 1 # 2 # 3 # 4 # 5
Time Net Program NY LA CHI PHI DAL
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:00 ABC FlashForward 4.5/ 7 4.7/ 8 6.6/11 6.7/10 4.9/ 9
9:00 ABC Grey's Anatomy 7.3/11 5.9/10 11.0/18 11.2/17 8.5/14
10:00 ABC Private Practice 5.7/ 9 4.4/ 8 6.7/11 7.1/12 5.6/10
8:00 CBS Survivor: Samoa 5.3/ 9 3.4/ 6 5.2/ 9 6.6/10 4.1/ 7
9:00 CBS CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 7.7/12 6.4/11 7.1/11 10.4/15 7.0/11
10:00 CBS The Mentalist 7.3/12 6.3/12 10.7/17 11.9/20 9.8/17
8:00 NBC Community 2.8/ 5 1.4/ 2 4.3/ 7 3.5/ 5 1.8/ 3
8:30 NBC Parks and Recreation 2.9/ 5 1.1/ 2 4.0/ 7 4.2/ 6 1.7/ 3
9:00 NBC The Office 4.3/ 7 3.0/ 5 4.1/ 7 5.1/ 7 2.1/ 3
9:30 NBC 30 Rock 4.2/ 7 2.1/ 4 4.7/ 8 4.9/ 7 2.4/ 4
10:00 NBC Jay Leno Show 2.9/ 5 2.9/ 6 3.4/ 5 2.4/ 4 2.7/ 4
8:00 FOX Bones 5.5/ 9 4.4/ 8 5.5/ 9 5.8/ 9 4.8/ 9
9:00 FOX Fringe 2.5/ 4 2.2/ 4 4.8/ 8 3.3/ 5 2.9/ 5
8:00 CW The Vampire Diaries 3.1/ 5 2.5/ 4 2.6/ 4 2.5/ 4 1.9/ 3
9:00 CW Supernatural 2.6/ 4 1.6/ 3 2.3/ 4 1.5/ 2 1.7/ 3
8:00 MNT 2009 World Magic Awards (S) 1.5/ 2 1.4/ 2 0.7/ 1 1.4/ 2 1.3/ 2
7:00 ION Ghost Whisperer (R) 0.7/ 1 0.3/ 0 0.5/ 1 0.2/ 0 0.5/ 1
8:00 ION Ghost Whisperer (R) 1.1/ 2 0.6/ 1 0.7/ 1 0.6/ 1 0.3/ 1
9:00 ION NCIS (R) 1.0/ 2 0.0/ 0 0.5/ 1 0.9/ 1 0.3/ 1
10:00 ION NCIS (R) 0.9/ 1 0.1/ 0 0.5/ 1 0.4/ 1 0.8/ 1
11:00 ION Criminal Minds (R) 1.5/ 3 0.1/ 0 0.5/ 1 0.6/ 1 0.8/ 2
# 6 # 7 # 8 # 9 #10
Time Net Program SF/OAK/SJ BOS ATL WSH DC HOU
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:00 ABC FlashForward 3.7/ 7 5.4/ 9 5.5/ 9 4.7/ 8 5.3/ 9
9:00 ABC Grey's Anatomy 4.8/10 10.2/17 11.5/17 8.0/13 6.9/11
10:00 ABC Private Practice 4.1/ 9 6.3/12 8.2/13 5.6/10 4.6/ 7
8:00 CBS Survivor: Samoa 4.3/ 8 6.5/11 4.4/ 7 3.0/ 5 3.9/ 6
9:00 CBS CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 7.9/16 8.0/14 6.6/10 5.4/ 9 6.8/11
10:00 CBS The Mentalist 8.1/18 8.6/17 7.5/12 7.6/13 8.9/14
8:00 NBC Community 1.8/ 4 2.2/ 4 1.6/ 3 3.7/ 6 3.5/ 6
8:30 NBC Parks and Recreation 2.0/ 4 2.7/ 5 0.8/ 1 2.7/ 5 3.7/ 6
9:00 NBC The Office 3.0/ 6 4.7/ 8 2.8/ 4 4.3/ 7 3.5/ 5
9:30 NBC 30 Rock 3.2/ 6 3.2/ 6 1.6/ 2 3.7/ 6 2.5/ 4
10:00 NBC Jay Leno Show 2.5/ 5 3.6/ 7 2.5/ 4 2.8/ 5 1.8/ 3
8:00 FOX Bones 5.2/10 4.7/ 8 7.6/12 6.6/11 3.6/ 6
9:00 FOX Fringe 3.5/ 7 3.4/ 6 4.2/ 6 4.6/ 8 2.3/ 4
8:00 CW The Vampire Diaries 1.6/ 3 2.8/ 5 2.1/ 3 1.7/ 3 2.3/ 4
9:00 CW Supernatural 1.1/ 2 1.6/ 3 1.5/ 2 1.4/ 2 1.0/ 2
8:00 MNT 2009 World Magic Awards (S) 0.8/ 2 1.5/ 2 1.0/ 2 1.6/ 3
7:00 ION Ghost Whisperer (R) 0.5/ 1 1.2/ 2 0.8/ 1 0.3/ 1 0.2/ 0
8:00 ION Ghost Whisperer (R) 0.6/ 1 0.5/ 1 0.8/ 1 1.1/ 2 0.5/ 1
9:00 ION NCIS (R) 0.7/ 1 0.8/ 1 0.6/ 1 0.5/ 1 1.0/ 1
10:00 ION NCIS (R) 0.9/ 2 0.4/ 1 0.5/ 1 0.7/ 1 0.8/ 1
11:00 ION Criminal Minds (R) 0.4/ 1 1.0/ 3 0.7/ 1 0.8/ 2 0.8/ 1
#11 #14 #15 #25 #64
Time Net Program DET TAM-StP MIN-StPl IND FtMy-Npl
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:00 ABC FlashForward 6.4/10 3.5/ 6^^ 4.8/ 8 5.9/ 9 4.4/ 7
9:00 ABC Grey's Anatomy 10.3/16 7.1/11^^ 9.6/16 10.8/16 6.6/10
10:00 ABC Private Practice 7.4/12 4.6/ 7^^ 7.2/12 6.9/11 4.0/ 7
8:00 CBS Survivor: Samoa 5.5/ 9 3.6/ 6 8.3/14 7.7/12 4.3/ 7
9:00 CBS CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 7.1/11 7.7/12 10.8/18 9.5/14 10.3/16
10:00 CBS The Mentalist 8.4/14 9.7/17 12.9/21 10.8/18 14.3/24
8:00 NBC Community -.-/--* 3.2/ 5 3.7/ 7 5.2/ 8 1.7/ 3
8:30 NBC Parks and Recreation 3.2/ 5 3.5/ 6 3.2/ 6 5.0/ 7 1.8/ 3
9:00 NBC The Office 7.1/11 3.1/ 5 5.9/10 6.8/10 2.8/ 4
9:30 NBC 30 Rock 6.2/ 9 2.8/ 4 5.1/ 8 6.0/ 9 3.1/ 5
10:00 NBC Jay Leno Show 5.4/ 9 3.6/ 6 3.7/ 6 4.0/ 6 2.4/ 4
8:00 FOX Bones 7.7/12 8.8/15 7.1/12 7.3/11 7.9/12
9:00 FOX Fringe 4.0/ 6 5.6/ 9 3.8/ 6 4.1/ 6 4.6/ 7
8:00 CW The Vampire Diaries 3.0/ 5 1.6/ 3 1.1/ 2 1.9/ 3 2.3/ 3
9:00 CW Supernatural 2.3/ 4 1.4/ 2 0.9/ 1 2.2/ 3 3.1/ 5
8:00 MNT 2009 World Magic Awards (S) 1.7/ 3 1.1/ 2 1.1/ 2 0.7/ 1 0.5/ 1
7:00 ION Ghost Whisperer (R) 0.5/ 1 0.6/ 1 0.5/ 1 0.3/ 1
8:00 ION Ghost Whisperer (R) 0.7/ 1 0.6/ 1 0.5/ 1 0.1/ 0
9:00 ION NCIS (R) 1.8/ 3 0.9/ 1 0.8/ 1 -.-/--
10:00 ION NCIS (R) 1.5/ 3 1.4/ 2 0.6/ 1 -.-/--
11:00 ION Criminal Minds (R) 0.9/ 2 1.5/ 3 0.5/ 1 0.4/ 1
* Due to Minds of Medicine (3.8/6), this NBC program didn't air on this date
^^ Combined rating of this market's two ABC affiliates
NFL Week 10
All Times Eastern
NFL Football (NFLN) simulcasts Miami Dolphins 24, Carolina Panthers 17