Lando, Channel 4 Score in July Ratings

Channel 4 and Channel 2 both got some good news during the July sweeps, which is considered the least important of the four ratings periods during the year.

After all, summer viewing is lower and the networks generally don’t provide as much lead-in help in the summer while emphasizing reality programs in prime time.

But here’s the biggest news:

Channel 4 won every newscast time period.

However, Channel 2 narrowed the gap from a year ago at 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. The lead-in from NBC’s popular “America’s Got Talent” undoubtedly helped Channel 2 somewhat at 11 p.m., where it is only .7 of a point behind Channel 4 after being behind by 2.5 points a year ago. It is only .4 of a point behind Channel 4 at 6 a.m.

Interestingly, collective news viewership is up about 10 percent from a year ago.

The departure of Lisa Flynn from Channel 4’s 10 O’Clock News on sister station WNLO-TV had minimal impact as the station had virtually the same audience with temporary anchor Lia Lando as it had a year ago with Flynn.

And Channel 4 saw about a 25 percent increase to a 7.5 rating at 5:30 p.m. with Lando in Flynn’s old anchor seat. Channel 2 also saw a big gain at 5:30 p.m., going up more than 20 percent to a 6.3. The ratings at 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. should help Lando if she wants the job permanently.

However, it generally takes a few ratings periods outside of the summer to assess the impact of any anchor change after the initial sampling wears off.

As far as Channel 7, it remains deep in third place in every time period and was either steady, up slightly or down slightly in every newscast.

* The NFL Network, which remains unavailable to local Time Warner Cable subscribers, announced that Fox analyst and Lewiston-Porter graduate Daryl Johnston is on board as an in-studio analyst to its NFL Total Access program. Johnston, who became a Dallas Cowboys star after graduating from Syracuse University, makes his debut at 7 tonight. He also will contribute to other NFL Network shows and specials.

pergament@msn.com

Levin Is Tops in Editorializing

Channel 2 anchor Scott Levin as a spokesman for Tops?

Of course, that’s an absurd idea. A journalist can’t endorse any commercial enterprise.

But Levin sure sounded like he was up for the job Tuesday night after the station ran a very positive story about the success the supermarket has had with gas sales and its plans to expand the number of its stations in the area.

“Smart company, smart move,” said Levin.

Levin often is moved to editorialize at the end of a story. He probably was just saying what many viewers were thinking. But it would be smart of any anchor to avoid praising advertisers. That’s not his or her role.

* Maury Chaykin, a Brooklyn native who studied drama at the University at Buffalo and moved to Toronto to become one of Canada’s best actors, died Tuesday on his 61st birthday. His American TV roles included appearances on “CSI,” “Boston Legal” and “Entourage.” He played a producer on “Entourage,” Harvey Weingrad, that was widely believed to be based on another UB grad, Harvey Weinstein.

* On Tuesday, the stilltalkintv move from a Google blogspot home to wnymedia.net didn’t happen without a few glitches. Several readers told me that they received a 404 error message when they were re-directed to the new site. The blog is back to the old site for now. Hopefully the move to the new site will be resolved later today. Additionally, comments weren’t able to be posted on the new home and comments made to the old home weren’t transferred. That should be resolved soon, too.

Ironically, the glitches came on a day that I gave a mini-review of the revised Buffalo News website. Check that. My 26-year-old son, who lives out of town, gave it two thumbs down.

My son is not alone. I received a few emails that agreed that -- while the site looks better -- it is much more difficult to navigate to find what a reader is looking for as easily as it had been in the past.

* It usually isn’t surprising when the president of any network entertainment division resigns. It’s a tough, time-consuming, pressure-packed job. But Tuesday night’s announcement that ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson has called it quits after six years was a surprise because of the timing. In a few days, he was going to meet with the nation’s television critics in Los Angeles to discuss the new season that is two months away.

McPherson was often described as a volatile personality, so I suppose that makes the move less of a surprise in hindsight. He was always first class in my dealings with him and genuinely interested in what a critic in the relatively smaller market of Buffalo had to say or ask.

While the announcement of his departure noted that ABC fell into third place last season and has aging hits like “Desperate Housewives” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” McPherson also was behind the very successful launch of Wednesday night comedies “The Middle,” “Modern Family” (which is produced by Fox) and “Cougar Town.”

McPherson walked into a good situation six years ago when “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost” were developed by his predecessors, who were fired before they got on the air.

So that was a lesson about network politics. A couple of last year’s ABC dramas – “Flashforward” and “V” (which was renewed anyway) -- didn’t click. But “Castle” became a hit in its second season. In other words, McPherson seemed to have enough success last season to earn the right to finish out his contract. However, that’s not how things usually work in the pressurized network TV business.

pergament@msn.com

Talkin' About New News Look and My Old Blog

This is what I’m thinking:

* I love the new look of the Buffalo News website. However, I have a harder time finding what I’m looking for on the site than I did in the old format.

My 26-year-old son, who lives out of town and diligently reads the paper online, put in succinctly in a text sent to me last week: “The new Buffalonews.com format sucks. Everyone I know hates it…It is almost like it is their goal to stop having people read it online so they will buy the paper.”

Of course, the newspaper still makes an overwhelming share of its money from newspaper advertising and sales. Online revenue is minor now, though it is supposedly the future.

Since I left the paper on May 1, I can’t count the number of people who have told me that they now read it online and stopped buying it. I’ll just say it is a very scary number in the demographic that reads the newspaper. If the new format drives more people to buy the paper, then I’m all for it. However, one does wonder if the readers who have moved online can be brought back to the paper. That certainly won’t happen to readers like my son who live out of town.

One of the things that I haven’t been able to find in the new format is the former blog, “Talkin’ TV,” that inspired this blog, stilltalkinTV. It appears “Talkin’ TV” has been abandoned at least for now. I suspect the new format is a work in progress so perhaps things will change.

If online is really the future, one would think the newspaper would be adding new blogs and not cutting popular ones that deal with the most powerful medium in the country. But the Buffalo News seems to think that pop music is the most powerful entertainment medium in the country.

* It is time to mention a relatively new Time Warner annoyance. The fast forward feature in the DVR makes it easier to bypass commercials. However, it makes it harder to get to the exact spot a viewer wants because the technology often has a mind of its own and returns to the spot it wants to return to after the end of the commercials. I like the old way better because I could control where I wanted the DVR to land.

* NBC has officially confirmed what you read here weeks ago – that series lead Steve Carell is leaving “The Office” after this season. The show will go on -- it is one of NBC’s few demographic hits – but Carell’s shoes are big ones to fill.

* The Buffalo News smartly featured the return of AMC’s “Mad Men” in a TV Topics cover story Sunday. However, if a reader hadn’t seen the previous seasons, I suspect he or she wouldn’t know who the characters were because the writer assumed the story was only going to be read by the show's regular viewers. And there aren't that many of them.

*ESPN’s Adam Schefter is scheduled to attend the Buffalo Bills camp on Wednesday, Aug. 4 as part of the sports network’s feature of having Schefter and Chris Mortensen visit 32 training camps in 19 days.

* Fresh from his headline grabbing victory in a federal case in which a couple was convicted of extortion in a plot against him, John Stamos is a very busy actor. He just appeared on Sunday's episode of HBO’s “Entourage” and now comes words that he will guest as a dentist on “Glee” next season. His character may get involved with guidance counselor Emma (Jayma Mays), according to a Fox release.

* Martin Bashir is leaving ABC’s “Nightline” for NBC’s “Dateline.” I can’t see it having much of an impact on other show.

* If Terrell Owens signs with the Cincinnati Bengals, I suppose we should give VH-1 some credit. T.O.’s reality show follows another reality show by Cincinnati receiver Chad Ochocinco on the cable network every Sunday. Ochocinco’s dating show makes Owens’ show look like an Emmy winner.

pergament@msn.com

Lando a Full-Time Candidate to Replace Flynn

With only a few days until the end of the July sweeps period, the big question over at news leader Channel 4 and sister station CW23 is whether 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. anchor Lia Lando will stay aboard.

Lando was thought to be a temporary fill-in for Lisa Flynn after Flynn left the station to concentrate on raising her 7-year-old son Thomas.

There had been some speculation that Lando was just going to anchor during the July sweeps, which are the least important of the four month-long ratings periods in the year. After all, Lando lives in Rochester and has two young children so it wouldn’t be that easy to do the job permanently.

But when asked about Lando’s status Friday, Channel 4 News Director Joe Schlaerth said “she’s absolutely a candidate” for the full-time position and has told him she is willing to take the job.

As far as the Rochester complication, Schlaerth noted that reporter Tricia Cruz also lives there.

He added “there is no solid date” for filling the job, but expected the decision to be made before the new fall TV season.

Schlaerth said the position was just posted and advertised and Lando is “certainly not the only candidate.” “We’re getting interest from around the country,” he said.

Asked if Lando was the favorite, Schlaerth said “I wouldn’t want to categorize anyone as the favorite.”

One name that continues to be the subject of speculation is Emily Smith, a former WBEN radio reporter who now is an anchor of “Up to the Minute” on CBS. However, one of the big unknowns is whether Smith would be willing to leave a network job to return to anchor in her hometown.

Of course, we all know how long it can take Channel 4 to fill a position. The station has been looking to replace former sports reporter and anchor Robin Adams for several months.

This past weekend, news anchor Mylous Hairston also anchored the sports report. But with the Buffalo Bills training camp about to open, the University at Buffalo football team only a few weeks away from practicing and the Sabres camp not too far behind, the need for a third sports person is obvious. After all, Channel 4 sports director John Murphy is the voice of the Bills and anchor-reporter Paul Peck is the voice of the UB Bulls.

“The plan is to hire a third sports person,” said Schlaerth. Again.

* Did you catch Sunday night's episode of VH-1's "The T.O. Show" in which Terrell Owens walked the runway of a fashion show in New York City with a hideous wig on his head? Who says he isn't a good sport. The wig proved that bald is beautiful.

This past week, Owens also showed off his basketball skills in Spike TV's "Pros vs. Joes." One of his basketball teammates was quarterback Donovan McNabb, a Syracuse football legend who also played some hoops for the Orange. McNabb and Owens didn't exactly see eye to eye as Super Bowl teammates with the Philadelphia Eagles. But obviously they have repaired their relationship to some point or they wouldn't have been on the same reality show.

Owens still has skills as a wide receiver. So it's clear that his reputation as a potential troublemaker has slowed his return back to a NFL team even though he was a model citizen with the Bills last season and had a decent year considering the Bills' deficiencies at QB.

pergament@msn.com

It is a Slow Time for TV Sports

It is such a slow time for televised sports that I thought about taking a Saturday off.

Then I decided it was a perfect time for this blog to give seven illustrations of how slow it is in the TV sports business.

With apologies to the late Johnny Carson, it is so slowwww that:

* Channel 4’s John Murphy actually carried an item Thursday about the Buffalo Bills putting tight end Joe Klopfenstein on injured reserve. He explained that Joe (you think I’m going to type his last name again?) caught one pass last year in a game in the snow.

It is safe to say that most Bills fans didn’t realize Joe was on the team and certainly had no idea how to spell his last name.

* In its ever expanding quest to avoid talking about sports and fill time, WGR started a local Food Draft. On Friday morning, Jeremy White declared that pizza was No.1. I’d almost rather White and Howard Simon talked more about TV shows like "Lost" than food. Or talked about Joe K.

* Just about every day that I turn on one of the ESPN channels, the ESPYs is playing.

* I actually look forward to “The T.O. Show” on VH-1 each Sunday night.

* The amount of time it is taking Channel 4 to hire a third member of the sports staff doesn’t seem that foolish this month. (Channel 4's Mylous Hairston, via Facebook, reported this morning that he will anchor news and sports at 6, 10 and 11 today).

* At a bagel store Friday morning, I heard an enthusiastic cycling fan describe a recent stage of an event carried by Versus and make it sound better than a sudden death NFL playoff game. Then he turned to me and asked: “Did you see it?” I hadn’t. His description had to better than seeing it anyway.

* The 10 p.m. highlight show of the Empire State Games carried by Time Warner Cable seems like must-TV.

pergament@msn.com

NBC's Luke Russert Spars with House Heavyweight

Tim Russert’s son Luke did the late host of “Meet the Press” proud on Thursday, refusing to back down in a tough, contentious interview with 80-year-old Congressman Charles B. Rangel.

Rangel didn’t appear to realize who he was wrangling with when Luke asked him whether he feared losing his job over ethics violations that the former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee is facing.

“What are you talking about?” asked Rangel. “Are you just trying to make copy?”

The congressman then tried to intimidate Russert by noting his youth.

“You are young,” said Rangel. “I guess you do need to make a name for yourself.”

Of course, Russert’s name is pretty recognizable already because of his family tree.

Rangel continued by saying “basically, it’s a dumb question” and asking Russert who was his employer.

When Russert replied he worked for NBC and MSNBC, Rangel said “it doesn’t sound like NBC… asking these dumb questions.”

Actually, Russert was asking legitimate questions. Reportedly, Rangel apologized today and accepted any questions asked. And even if the questions were as dumb as Rangel thought they were, any journalist would know that some of the dumbest questions can led to the best answers and the biggest news.

NBC supported Russert’s line of questioning by playing the entire scene on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.

By the way, Rangel knew Luke’s father very well, having been a frequent guest on “Meet the Press.” Three years ago, Tim Russert interviewed the congressman on the program after Rangel wrote a book containing his memoirs.

pergament@msn.com

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38367462/ns/politics-capitol_hill/

"Mad Men" As Good as Advertised

“Who is Don Draper?”

If you have to ask, then you haven’t been following the Emmy-winning basic cable series “Mad Men” for the last three seasons.

And even if you do ask – as a journalist does in the opening scene of the fourth season premiere of the AMC series at 10 p.m. Sunday – don’t expect even the character played by the criminally handsome Jon Hamm to have an answer.

Unquestionably, “Mad Men” is a series admired by critics and award voters more than it has been by viewers.

And just beginning to watch this acclaimed series set in the Madison Avenue advertising industry in the 1960s will be a little like seeing the end of a commercial without knowing what product is being sold.

“Mad Men” writer-creator Matthew Weiner is repackaging the series in its fourth season, giving creative director Don Draper a bigger role in a new advertising company with the people he admired in his old one.

It is such a start-up project that the new firm -- Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce – doesn’t even have a table in its conference room and falsely claims to have a second floor of offices to impress its clients.

It isn’t always easy to be instantly impressed by “Mad Men,” which doesn’t have the same quick pace as most television programs and relies more heavily on atmospherics and character development than almost any TV show alive.

“Mad Men” unfolds like a novel one can’t put down every season, which makes it better when it is packaged on a DVD and viewers can watch the entire season in a night or two.

No question, Sunday’s opening episode is a page-turner, which is full of small moments that speak volumes about new business partnerships, dissolving marriages, advertising manipulation and how to play journalists.

Besides Hamm, the mesmerizing cast includes John Slattery as Draper’s politically-incorrect business partner; January Jones as Don’s drop-dead gorgeous and wronged wife, Betty; Vincent Kartheiser as an aiming-to-please account executive, Pete; Elisabeth Moss as Peggy, a copywriter who Don took under his wing and who is learning how to survive in a man’s world; Christina Hendricks as Joan, the sexy officer manager; and Jared Harris as Lane, the British advertising executive who ran the previous firm and joined the new one when his parent company kicked the feet out from under him.

Every character is richly drawn. However, it is Hamm’s portrayal of a brilliant, self-destructive and self-loathing man who has ruined his marriage and Slattery’s brilliantly-timed sarcastic humor that make the opener fly by as quickly as a 60-second commercial.

Rating: 4 stars out of 4

pergament@msn.com