Day 92: WGA's Strike; ION Touts Its Ratings for RHI and Drew Carey; 5 More RTN Affiliates

Monday, February 04, 2008

Day 92: WGA's Strike; ION Touts Its Ratings for RHI and Drew Carey; 5 More RTN Affiliates

Today is day 92 of the strike. Rumors are swirling that this will be resolved very soon. An announcement could come as soon as this week! I bet nothing will come officially until Wednesday or Thursday at the earliest (as right now the main stories are the high-rated Super Bowl and Super Tuesday primaries). If the strike does end this week, production on many shows could be back up and running by the end of the month or early March for sure and we could start getting new episodes of our favorite scripted shows by the end of March or early April! Good news indeed!
Don't forget to tune in to the new CBS sitcom Welcome to the Captain premiereing tonight at 8:30pm, and then an hour later at 9:30pm it is the season premiere of Old Christine!

The RHI mini-series Journey to the Center of the Earth starring Ricky Schroder (NYPD Blue, Silver Spoons), Victoria Pratt (Day Break) and the legendary Peter Fonda, garnered significant ratings success with its Sunday, January 27 debut on ION Television. According to Nielsen Media Research data, the two-hour original television movie, a dynamic new adaptation of the classic tale by Jules Verne executive produced by Robert Halmi, Sr. and Robert Halmi, Jr., was seen in more than 1.1 million households and attracted over 1.6 million total viewers. The mini-series is the fifth original production from RHI Entertainment to air on ION, also generated the highest delivery among key demographics of RHI content on ION since its start. The Sunday night RHI Movie Weekend block has shown continued growth versus the fourth quarter, boosting households by 112 percent and more than doubling in every demographic category. RHI programming airs on ION Fri-Sun from 7-11pm.
Meanwhile, ION Television saw a ratings boost on Monday, January 28, as The Drew Carey Show delivered a 0.6 HH rating, doubling its four-week average of 0.3 HH since its launch on New Year's Day. In its 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. timeslot, the Emmy-nominated series captured 622,000 households (close to 1 million total viewers), and delivered a 73 percent increase in adults 25-54 and a 141 percent increase in women 25-54 in comparison to its average performance since its launch. After somewhat a slow start, hopefully it can keep this up as ION will add Baywatch right after it starting March 3.

Retro Television Network has announced that it will partner with White Knight Broadcasting to bring RTN programming to Shreveport, Louisiana (KSHV-DT) and Baton Rouge, Louisiana (KZUP-CA). The network will launch late this year in both markets. Also, under the terms of the agreement, RTN programming will also air an additional four to seven hours a day on Shreveport's My Network affiliate, KSHV.
In addition, they will launch an RTN affiliate in Wichita/Hutchinson, Kansas. The network will begin airing in the second quarter of this year on KGPT, a Great Plains Television Network station.
Finally, they will launch RTN affiliates in two South Dakota markets, Sioux Falls and Rapid City. In Sioux Falls, the network will begin airing in March on KAUN, a station owned by J.F. Broadcasting that currently airs ION Television. In Rapid City, RTN programming will launch this summer on a digital stream of KOTA, the local ABC affiliate that is owned by Duhamel Broadcasting.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Sunday, August 9

Last Man Standing - "Yours, Wine, and Ours" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After a chat with Bonnie, Mike struggles to balance his need for "me time" and finding common hobbies with Vanessa.

Duncanville - "Witch Day" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The town celebrates its annual Witch Day, which involves pronouncing a mortified Duncan the "town virgin" for the big ceremony; Annie and Jack steal a dead woman's chili recipe.

The Simpsons - "Warrin' Priests" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Bode, a young charismatic new preacher, comes to town and shakes things up at church, Reverend Lovejoy investigates his mysterious past.

Bless the Harts - "Cremains of the Day" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Violet, David and Leonard take Wayne on a ghost hunt to cure his fear of ghosts; Jenny and Betty honor Jenny's late father on his favorite holiday.

Bob's Burgers - "Three Girls and a Little Wharfy" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Louise skeptically joins Jessica and fifth-grader Megan in their search for Wharfy, a mythical sea monster; Bob takes an online master class by a world-renowned chef.

Family Guy - "Absolutely Babulous" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Stewie receives a participation medal in his school's toddler games, he begins to question everything he has ever won; Peter causes a fight between Lois' parents and must repair the damage he caused.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 3)

Friday, August 7

Joel McHale (Community/The Great Indoors) - Joel guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Laura Benanti (The Detour/Go On) - Laura is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Josh Gad (Avenue 5/1600 Penn/Back to You) - Josh appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Tony Shalhoub (We Are Men/Wings) - Tony is a guest on a repeat of A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Regina King (227) - Regina appears on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Julie Bowen (Modern Family) - Julie is a guest on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Lena Waithe (Master of None) - Lena appears on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Eva Marcille (Born Again Virgin) - Eva guest hosts a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
Kim Fields (Living Single/The Facts of Life/Baby, I'm Back) - Kim is a guest on a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
Sofia Vergara (Modern Family/The Knights of Prosperity/Hot Properties) - Sofia appears on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry is a guest on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Dennis Quaid (Merry Happy Whatever) - Dennis talks about his new podcast The Dennissance on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Holly Robinson Peete (Hangin' Mr. Cooper/For Your Love) - Holly is a guest on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Christopher Meloni (Surviving Jack/The Fanelli Boys) - Christopher talks about Hulu's Maxxx on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Raven-Symoné (Raven's Home/That's So Raven/Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/The Cosby Show) - Raven-Symoné talks about her new album The Reintroduction on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.