Apr 30 2009
The doctor treating KDKA-TV anchor Patrice King Brown, who's been off the air while recovering from achilles tendon surgery, did not clear her to return to work next week as she'd hoped.
Her new goal is to be back May 18, she said today.
If she makes it back on the air May 18, Brown will have missed all but the final three days of the May sweeps period.
She was absent during March sweeps, but that didn't seem to hurt KDKA too much. Although some time period ratings were down -- there were also several March Madness basketball pre-emptions -- the station was still No. 1 in every news time period except mornings.
Apr 30 2009
Tomorrow's column actually gives some praise to local stations for their improvement in sweeps reports over the 11 years that I've been watching them, but I was half-tempted to pull the column back after hearing this WTAE promo:
ANNOUNCER: "Find out if you can realize a hot body by freezing your butt off."
Apr 30 2009
Just a reminder: "Amazing Race" host Phil Keoghan is expected to ride his bike into Pittsburgh tomorrow as part of his cross-country trip, sponsored by locally-based GNC.
He posted a photo (pictured, left) to his Twitter page after he "hit some train tracks in Jackson Center, Ohio. and took a big spill."
Here's his schedule:
Friday, May 1:
12-2PM:
Meet and Greet with fans at the GNC store at 550 Wood Street in Downtown Pittsburgh.
10a.m.-7 p.m.
Open casting call for "The Amazing Race" at the Meadows Racetrack-Casino, Racetrack Road, Washington, Pa. Keoghan to appear 3-5 p.m.
Saturday, May 2 (MS RIDE)
8:00 - 9:30 AM
GNC, Robinson Town Center, 1545 Park Manor Blvd. MS Ride kicks off at 9:30 AM from the GNC store.
Apr 30 2009
In this busy world of audio-visual bombardment, it's easy to forget that there are some truly remarkable people creating quality, responsible media for children. Some of them are recipients of the Television Academy of Arts & Science's Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship, now in its fifth year.
The goal of the program is simple: "The scholarships are intended to support and encourage aspiring undergraduate and graduate students to pursue careers in children's media and further the values and principles of Fred Rogers' work."
On Tuesday, two previous recipients of the scholarship visited Family Communications Inc., the Oakland-based company Rogers founded, to show the work they've created and explain their goals.
It was the first time any winners of the Rogers scholarship have come to Pittsburgh but I suspect it won't be the last. FCI invited representatives of local colleges so they could encourage scholarship applications. This year there were 80 applications for three scholarships; winners will be announced May 8 and awarded June 7 at a Fred Rogers ice cream social in Los Angeles attended by Mr. McFeely (David Newell) and Joanne Rogers, Fred's widow.
Independent television producer Nancy Steingard, whose 2 Friends Entertainment is developing a live-action "Harriet the Spy" TV movie/backdoor pilot, helped establish and oversee the scholarship while on the ATAS board of governors. Her work with the scholarship program was inspired by her son, who at age 2, walked into a room while a loud, raucous commercial played on TV. He turned the set off.
"Mister Rogers said if you see something on TV that scares you, you should turn it off," the boy said.
"Television can be this remarkable tool," Steingard said, noting the need for more people to wield that tool with care. That's precisely what recipients of the scholarship are doing.
Animator Michelle Tessier (pictured, above) spent three years creating the six-minute animated movie "Camp Bean: All Things Woodsey," a charming short film that evinces many of Rogers' hallmarks: A simple story told quietly but with humor and grace.
Tessier was inspired to create the film after working at a camp for inner-city youth. In the movie (pictured, right), newcomer Dragonfly is welcomed by Sierra, who encourages him to look at the camp "with woodsey eyes" and adapt to the great outdoors.
Tessier explained the process of creating the film, the choices she made in casting and character design and her inspirations, which included Rogers, the old Charlie Brown animated specials and Bill Waterson ("Calvin & Hobbes").
After graduating from UCLA's film school, she went on to work for Nickelodeon's "Making Fiends" and now works at KidsWB.com, creating online animation in games for children.
Sabrina Connell, one of last year's scholarship recipients, graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Master of Arts in puppetry, which she's using to develop educational children's media for the Hatian Health Foundation. She was inspired by past trips to third world countries where she was children respond with enthusiasm for her puppets.
She described the cultural differences between the United States and Haiti and how that has affected her work. She's helping to establish local youth puppet clubs in Haiti to help pass along health information. She's also making public service announcements relating to the importance of hand-washing. (Lack of hand-washing is responsible for one-third of early childhood deaths in Haiti, Connell said.)
She next plans to study child development at Tufts University.
Seeing these artists and hearing about their goals and attempts to create quality media should warm the heart of any fan of Fred Rogers. They're the living proof that his work continues.
Apr 29 2009
I've become even more of a fan of ABC's "Better Off Ted" since its premiere and although the ratings are lousy, there's been chatter that the show may stand a chance at renewal.
The show got pre-empted tonight by "The Obama Show" so producers made a new Veridian Dynamics image spot for the occasion.
Apr 29 2009
Awhile back I asked readers for their thoughts on Twitter, a social media communication form I'm not wild about.
Nobody else seemed enthusiastic in responding to that blog post, but I decided to create a Twitter account to see who else might be tweeting locally. Unfortunately, I was an idiot about it. I called myself "RobOwenTV" and then signed on to follow tweets from WPXI and WPXI's Target 11 team. It didn't occur to me that they would see my login name so now they know I'm following them. This is how clueless I was about Twitter. I should have registered as something anonymous.
Then people started finding me and signing up to follow my tweets, which so far have numbered 0.
I found some comfort in my Twitter dislike in this Nielsen report on Twitter quitters: Turns out the service has a high churn rate with only 40 percent of the people who sign up sticking with the service. Nielsen figures that a retention rate of 40 percent will limit the site's ability to grow.
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"Battlestar Galactica" fans take note: A 90-miute panel discussion of the prequel series "Caprica" is available for download from Zune.com for $1.99.
***
In this week's Tuned In podcast, we discuss "American Idol," "Lie to Me," "Heroes," "Chuck" and backdoor pilots on "NCIS" and "Gossip Girl." Listen or subscribe at post-gazette.com/podcast.
Apr 29 2009
News this week that Fox will not air President Obama's prime-time address tonight at 8 was bound to provoke chatter on many fronts.
On the purely political front, some will say that this is just another example of conservative Fox being out to get Obama. Those who say that will only show their own ignorance but that won't stop them. The decision to stick with original programming -- in this case, the drama "Lie to Me" -- was made by Fox Broadcasting, which, as I have pointed out before, is a completely separate division of the conglomerate from Fox News Channel. The folks I know at FBC are as liberal as the folks at FNC are conservative.
No, the reason for Fox's decision is the same as most decisions in the entertainment business: Money. Networks that skip regular programming to televise the president lose up to $10 million. As reported in today's TV notes, this is the third time Obama has interrupted prime-time since January -- and this one falls in the midst of May sweeps.
Setting aside any ideological reasons for the switch, the question then becomes whether it's disrespectful to the office of the president to diss him as Fox is doing. Does it hurt the country that Obama won't be on Fox? Not when the Obama show is available on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, MSBNC, FNC, FBN, etc. But if Fox declines to air it this time, that gives other networks leeway to take a pass the next time.
Is it OK if, eventually, just PBS and the cable news nets carry it? Maybe, but PBS has less distribution than other broadcast networks.
In this modern media and political age, how much is a presidential appearance about informing the country and how much is it about managing his political message? Licensed television stations have an obligation to provide access to the former but not the latter.
Maybe the standard should be the type of presidential appearance. Should a news conference be held to a different standard than a presidential address? Probably not. A presidential address could be used as a political tool even more than a news conference.
I don't have the answer on this one, I just wanted to promote discussion of the topic. Sign in (or register to sigh in) and post your thoughts below.
Apr 28 2009
Steve Chenevey, a former Channel 11 reporer who's now an anchor at WTTG in Washington, D.C., had a cameo on Fox's "24" last night as -- big stretch -- a TV news reporter.
Chenevey passed along word of his cameo, which I'll admit I missed even though I watched the show. But you can watch it in this clip.
He said former WTAE weekend anchor, Shawn Yancy, also at WTTG in D.C., had a similar cameo on "24" last month.
I always thought Chenevey and Yancy did good work in Pittsburgh and I'm glad to see they've both advanced nicely in their news (and, it seems, their entertainment) careers.
Apr 27 2009
It seems so early for season finales. But that's what happens when shows aren't performing up to ratings snuff. Network executives put them to bed, tuck them in and wish them an early good night.
As in past years, I'll be posting reactions to season finales in the coming weeks. First up, the season (series?) finale of NBC's "Chuck," written by co-creator Chris Fedak and Allison Adler.
Chuck (Zachary Levi) asks Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) to go on vacation with him but she's leaving on a classified mission to work on the new Intersect with Bryce Larkin (Carnegie Mellon grad Matthew Bomer, who just had his own show, "White Collar," ordered to series by USA).
If that's not bad enough, evil entrepreneur Ted Roark (Chevy Chase) threatens to kill Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) on her wedding day if Chuck doesn't hand over Intersect components.
(Loved when Bruce Boxleitner called the Buy More guy with long hair an "Indian lesbian.")
There was a fun action scene -- Casey (Adam Baldwin) to the rescue -- set to the song "Mr. Roboto." The only better music cue was "Friday I'm in Love" during Ellie's wedding reception.
When the wedding came to pass midway through the episode, it was clear there was bound to be a twist. First a non-FULCRUM agent killed an imprisoned Roark, then Bryce was shot and killed, leaving Chuck to once again become the Intersect and then destroy the Intersect computer, which looked like my old Mac SE. This somehow gave Chuck super-spy talents, including mad martial arts skillz.
The upshot: Rather than a reluctant hero, Chuck made the choice to become a hero. The episode ended with a "To be continued..." after Chuck was shocked to discover, "I know Kung Fu!" Much as I enjoyed the fun first half of the episode, I was disappointed that the ending was predictable. It was an obvious that Chuck was likely to get re-Intersected. It also didn't live up to executive producer Josh Schwartz's boasts that this would change everything when really he just hit the re-set button.
Still, I think "Chuck" deserves renewal. It's creatively strong and the show has a rabid, engaged fan base. Why more people are not watching it is beyond me.
That said, producers have long known that "Chuck" would be on the bubble and might not be renewed. They opted for a cliffhanger ending -- albeit not a horrendous, life-hangs-by-a-thread cliffhanger -- even though they knew the show may be canceled, denying fans a sense of closure.
This isn't new. TV show producers have been playing this game of chicken for years. Do you think that's a smart move to try to prolong a series or a selfish act by producers that gambles with fans' expectations that their story will get an ending? Sign in (or register to sign in) to post your comments below.
Apr 27 2009
CBS is moving "Harper's Island" to 9 p.m. Saturday this week, which is essentially gutting it the way the characters on the show are murdered, I'm a little surprised. Ratings haven't been great but they haven't been as bad as some other prime-time series.
As part of the change, "CSI: NY" season finale will air at 10 p.m. May 14 in the "Harper's" spot.
CBS's release:
"HARPER'S ISLAND" MOVES TO SATURDAY, 9:00 PM, BEGINNING MAY 2
7-Day DVR Results Show Significant Audience Increases Among
Young Adult Viewers
Online Streaming Also Shows Strong Viewer Engagement
HARPER'S ISLAND, the Network's 13-week mystery event, will move to Saturday effective May 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) forming a two-hour block of original programming with 48 HOURS MYSTERY (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT).
The move to Saturday comes on the heels of the first extended DVR playback data for the HARPER'S ISLAND premiere on April 9, as well as strong online viewer engagement.
"The preliminary DVR and online streaming data suggest a passionate audience for HARPER'S outside its current Thursday time period borders," said Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President Prime Time, CBS Television. "This move gives us an opportunity to improve the time period on Thursday while experimenting with more original programming on Saturday, and continuing to serve an audience that is clearly engaged in the ongoing HARPER'S ISLAND story."
According to Nielsen live plus 7-day playback results versus live, the HARPER'S ISLAND premiere audience increased by +29% in adults 18-49 (3.1 from 2.4), +33% in adults 18-34 (2.0 from 1.5), +25% in adults 25-54 (4.0 from 3.2) and gained +1.64 million viewers (11.29m from 9.65m).
The premiere of HARPER'S ISLAND was also CBS.com's biggest online premiere ever, delivering more video streams (combined clips and episodes) than any previous show launch for the CBS Audience Network, and continues to be the fastest growing series in CBS.com's history.
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