CBS tops ratings as Rather bids adieu
For one last night, Dan Rather was No. 1 in the ratings.
CBS was first in the preliminary Nielsen Media Research ratings among the three network evening newscasts on Wednesday, Rather’s last day as anchorman after 24 years in the job, followed by NBC and ABC.
About 8 million households tuned in to watch Rather, roughly 2 million more than his audience last week.
For several years, CBS has finished a distant third in the ratings. Back in the 1980s, Rather was the top-rated newscaster, before being eclipsed first by ABC’s Peter Jennings and then NBC’s Tom Brokaw.
Bob Schieffer, host of CBS’ “Face the Nation,” began his stint as Rather’s temporary replacement on Thursday night. The network expects him on the job for at least three months, until top executive Leslie Moonves settles on a replacement.
Plenty of eyes on ‘Blind’
Although it didn’t reach the heights of the “NYPD Blue” finale a week before, the latest cop show from Steven Bochco got off to a good start Tuesday on ABC.
“Blind Justice” premiered to an audience of about 12.4 million people in the 10 p.m. time slot occupied by “Blue” for most of the past 12 seasons.
That’s a sizable jump over the 10.1 million viewers “NYPD Blue” averaged this season, although not as strong as its March 1 finale, which drew 16.1 million viewers.
NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU” still topped “Blind Justice” in the time slot with 14.7 million viewers.
‘Jonny’ a real zero
Fox has pulled the plug on its new series ‘Jonny Zero’ starting tonight.
Through its first eight airings, the series has averaged only 3.6 million viewers per week. The only other Fox series with lower ratings this season was “The Complex: Malibu,” which averaged 2.5 million viewers for its six fall airings.
Fox will air repeats of “That ‘70s Show” in the 9 p.m. time period tonight and next Friday and on March 25 will broadcast the NAACP Image Awards.
‘Apprentice’ suit settled
A quadriplegic attorney has settled his lawsuit against producers of NBC’s “The Apprentice” after they agreed to make clear the program accepts applications from the disabled.
James Schottel Jr., whose federal lawsuit claimed the show’s online application was discriminatory in requiring “excellent physical” health of would-be contestants, said producers agreed to insert a sentence into the show’s rules encouraging people with disabilities to try out.
“It was never our intent to exclude from consideration persons with disabilities,” said Mark Burnett, who produces the show along with star Donald Trump. “Even before we learned of this lawsuit, our staff in New York had already interviewed three persons in wheelchairs.”