Wanda Sykes makes her late-night debut

Fox's new Saturday-night comedy show starring Wanda Sykes made its debut, and although it will be almost a week (yes, you read that right) until final numbers from Nielsen are available, there are some preliminary -- not really all that informative -- data to share.

In the 56 or so metered markets -- these are cities that have meters in which local ratings are measured and account for about 30% of the country -- "The Wanda Sykes Show" averaged a 2.2 rating and a 5 share. We're not going to waste a lot of space explaining what that translates to because one needs a degree from MIT to fully get it. Just under 30,000 homes have local meters, so a 2.2 rating would be the percentage of those homes. There is no demographic information available, and national ratings, which will be out on Thursday, will reveal much more about how Sykes did in her premiere.

But what we can tell you -- and what matters to Fox -- is that the 2.2 rating is 16% better than what "Mad TV" was averaging for Fox in the fourth quarter of last year. Sykes' rating was also 100% higher than Spike Feresten's show on Fox at the start of this year.

This is Sykes' second shot at a show on Fox. She had a short-lived sitcom on the network. She also had a variety show on Comedy Central and is a regular on CBS' "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

-- Joe Flint

Photo: Wanda Sykes. Credit: Jesse Grant / Getty Images

Yanks, Fox celebrate Series win

Although a Game 7 would have been sweet for Fox, the network ended up getting its biggest audience for the Fall Classic in five years.

Some 22.3 million people tuned in last night to watch the New York Yankees defeat the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6, according to Nielsen. That was up 30% from the Game 5 Monday night beat-down that the Phillies laid on the Yankees to push the Series back to New York for Wednesday night's match.

Game 6 was probably the difference between Fox and its parent News Corp. crying in their beer versus popping the champagne. The network will not lose money on the Series since it almost went the distance. Fox is amid a seven-year, $1.8-billion deal with Major League Baseball.

Overall, the Series averaged 19.4 million viewers per game, a 43% improvement over the 13.6 million that watched the Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays last fall. Among adults 18-49, the Series got a 6.2 rating. Each rating point in that demographic equals 1.3 million people.

For Fox, after years of disappointing ratings, a tight Series between two big-city teams was welcome relief. Now we'll see if those big numbers (for these days anyway) translate into bigger audiences for Fox' s entertainment lineup.

-- Joe Flint

Photo: Yanks celebrate their title. Credit: David J. Phillip/EPA

Phillies force a Game 6, which is good news for Fox

The defending champion Philadelphia Phillies jumped out to a commanding early lead over the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series and sent the audience fleeing. But viewers will likely return for Game 6 in New York Wednesday when the Yanks will be trying to win their first championship since 2000. 

With the series going at least six games, Fox would seem to be safe from losing money on baseball this season. A seventh game, however, would have Fox executives popping the champagne big time. News Corp.'s Fox has a seven-year, $1.8-billion deal with Major League Baseball.

A total of 17.1 million viewers tuned in Monday night, a drop of 25% from Sunday. Of course, Sunday's game also benefited from a huge lead-in from Fox's coverage of the Green Bay-Minnesota Vikings game, which attracted almost 30 million viewers. Furthermore, unlike Sunday, ESPN had a tight "Monday Night Football" match between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints that probably siphoned audience away from Fox once it became clear that the game was going to be a yawner.

For the first five games, the series has averaged 18.7 million viewers, and while the odds of it breaking the 20 million-average mark are long, it will be the most-watched series in five years and third-most-watched series of this decade -- unless for some  reason the bottom falls out on Wednesday.

-- Joe Flint

Photo: Chase Utley hits one of his two home runs while the Phillies' mascot cheers him on. Credit:  Andrew Mills / The Star-Ledger via US Presswire.

Another tight game means big numbers for Fox

Even if the New York Yankees wrap up the World Series tonight, there can be no argument that it has been one of the more compelling series as of late. Whether it's A-Rod getting beaned and then getting revenge two nights in a row, or the Philadelphia Phillies rallying only to fall short, as was the case last night, each game has been a nail-biter.

That's paying off for News Corp.'s Fox, which shells out $256 million a year for baseball. Last night's telecast got big numbers for the network, attracting 22.8 million viewers. That's almost 50% more than tuned into Game 4 a year ago between the Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays. It was the most-watched Game 4 since 2004, when the Red Sox clinched against the Cardinals and drew almost 30 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Fox did catch a break last night as there was no NFL football game on NBC.

Saturday's rain-delayed Game 3 broadcast still managed to lure 15.4 million viewers, and Fox is on pace to have its best series ratings in five years.

Fox also will likely have a pretty huge Sunday afternoon number from its coverage of Brett Favre's return to Green Bay as a Minnesota Viking.

-- Joe Flint

Photo: Alex Rodriguez rips one. Credit: Scott Rovak / U.S. Presswire

'Sherlock Holmes' to help out Fox's 'Family Guy'-Seth MacFarlane special

Less than a week after Microsoft bailed out of being the exclusive sponsor for Fox's upcoming special "Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show" over concerns about content, it looks like Warner Bros. has stepped up to the plate, planning to use the special to promote its Christmas release of "Sherlock Holmes" starring Robert Downey Jr.

A commercial in Fox's pregame broadcast before Game 3 of the World Series told viewers to tune in to the Nov. 8 special for a sneak peek of the movie.

The special features "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane and voice actress Alex Borstein in a variety of sketches, many of which incorporated plugs for Microsoft's Windows 7.

But the software giant, which worked closely with MacFarlane on the special, pulled out after the taping. Many of the bits featured MacFarlane's trademark raunchiness and tone, with jokes about deaf people, hygiene and the Holocaust.

A bit about Miley Cyrus may have been the one that sent Microsoft running for the exit, according to people close to the special. That particular bit, which featured MacFarlane and Borstein as household workers for Cyrus talking about the teen star and her relationship with her father, is not expected to make the final cut.

Microsoft, which has spent close to $5 million on commercials in "Family Guy" both on Fox and on TBS and Cartoon Network, which carry reruns of the show, said the material in the special "was not a fit" with the Windows brand.

Whether the special will feature promotions exclusively for "Sherlock Holmes" remains to be seen, but the movie certainly will have a prominent spot in the program.

-- Joe Flint 

Photo: Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein. Credit: Michael Becker / Fox

Related Posts:

Microsoft is shocked to find racy content in "Family Guy" special

Seth MacFarlane is too much for Microsoft, but "Two and a Half Men" and "South Park" are no problem

World Series Report: Fox's ratings still hot, A-Rod still not.

Another tight pitching duel between the Philadelphia Phillies and The New York Yankees meant another night of strong ratings for Fox as Game 2 of the World Series drew 18.9 million viewers.

While that's off from the 19.5 million that tuned in for Game 1, the drop is only 3% and Game 2 did almost 50% better than last year's Game 2 between the Phillies and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, which attracted only 12.8 million viewers. 

The Yanks evened up the series at a game apiece, which is also good news for Fox, as a four-game sweep would have been bad news to their bottom line. Now the network will have at least five games. Fox pays Major League Baseball about $256 million a year for the rights, and most of that goes for the World Series and one league championship series.

So far, this series is on track to be the most-watched since the 2004 battle between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. That series averaged 25.4 million viewers. While that may be out of reach, this match may top the 20.1-million average that the 2003 series posted. That series was the last one featuring the Yankees, who lost to the Florida Marlins.

Fox is not wasting the opportunity. In Game 1 it ran a major promotion for the return of Jack Bauer in "24," and in Game 3 the cast of "Glee" will sing the national anthem.

In Philadelphia, the game had a 42.5 rating while in New York, it had a 29.8 rating. The ratings represent the percentage of homes watching in a particular market. In other words, there's a lot more to do in New York on a Thursday night than in Philadelphia. Hey, just kidding guys. No hate mail.

Fox wasn't the only network with bragging rights Thursday night. The CW's "The Vampire Diaries" hit a series high in viewers with 4.2 million tuning in, and scored new highs with adults 18-34 and women 18-49.

Oh, and A-Rod still doesn't have a hit.

-- Joe Flint

Previous posts:

World Series off to strong start

Photo: Yankees celebrate. Credit: John G. Mabanglo

Game 1 of World Series is a ratings hit, even if A-Rod didn't get one

Alex Rodriguez went without a hit last night, but Game 1 of the World Series between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies scored a big number for Fox, drawing 19.5 million viewers, a 34% improvement over last year's Game 1  between the Phillies and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

The game, which was a pitchers' duel for the first seven innings until the Phillies broke it open, is the biggest opening-game audience since the Red Sox-Cardinals match of 2004, which attracted 23.2 million viewers.

For Fox, the strong start bodes well after a string of disappointing series. Last year's Phillies-Rays series drew an audience of only 13.6 million viewers. The most-watched World Series in recent years was that 2004 match, which saw the Red Sox grab their first championship since 1918. That series, which only went four games, had an average audience of 25.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Fox, which pays $256.5 million annually for its baseball deal, is hoping that the series goes at least six or seven games to maximize the advertising potential. The shorter the series, the less revenue (duh). 

In Philadelphia, the game had a 44.5 rating. The rating is the percentage of homes watching a particular program, so in other words almost 45% of all households in Philly were tuned into the game. In New York, Fox's broadcast got a 29.7 rating.

While baseball and Fox are feeling good about Wednesday night's numbers, our friends at the NFL pointed out that Sunday afternoon's game between the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys drew almost 28.5 million viewers.

-- Joe Flint

Photo: Phillies celebrate taking Game 1. Credit: Rich Pilling / MLB Photos via Getty Images

Microsoft is shocked to find racy content in 'Family Guy' special

Less than two weeks after announcing that it would be the sole sponsor of Fox's November 8 "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show," Microsoft has pulled out.

According to Variety's Mike Schneider, who broke the story, everything was humming along just fine until the folks at Microsoft went to the taping of the special last week and were shocked, shocked to find racy humor and tasteless jokes about deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest.

All this is par for the course for "Family Guy," a show which knows no taboos. Even the assassination of a president is fair game for "Family Guy" (anyone remember the JFK Pez dispenser joke?). "Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show" is a throwback to the old variety specials of TV's past. It features MacFarlane, who is the creator and a voice on the show, and Alex Borstein, who is also a voice on the show. In between skits and bits would be lots of plugs for Windows 7.

We found it a little hard to believe that Microsoft wasn't aware of what it was getting into when it agreed to sponsor the special. So we called to check if that was really possible. We got e-mailed this canned statement in response:

We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of “Family Guy,” but after reviewing an early version of the variety show it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand.  We continue to have a good partnership with FOX, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein and are working with them in other areas.  We continue to believe in the value of brand integrations and partnerships between brands, media companies and talent.
--Attributed to Microsoft Spokesperson

We followed up with an e-mail question about whether the company really had no idea just how raunchy the content gets on "Family Guy" and got this response:

I am not in the office on 10/26. Try my mobile phone at 425-XXX-XXXX if you need to reach me urgently.

Fear not, "Family Guy" fans. The special is still a go and Fox hopes to line up some new sponsors who actually know what they're getting into with MacFarlane.

What's really scary about all this is we're pretty sure we didn't leave our e-mail with Microsoft when we called seeking comment.

-- Joe Flint

Photo: Seth MacFarlane. Credit: Michael Buckner / Getty Images

Yanks and Angels fans have to wait.

So since the New York Yankees and California Anaheim Los Angeles Angels both took care of business pretty quickly in the American League Divisional Series, the league championship should be starting up Tuesday or Wednesday on Fox at the latest, right?

No. Try Friday.

Come again?

Yes, Yankees and Angels fans now have to wait five days to see their teams square off in what has potential to be a pretty amazing series.

As annoying as this is to baseball fans, from a business standpoint it has to be this way. For starters, the playoffs are scheduled way in advance and consider both the potential length of a series and the chance of bad weather delaying games. Second, the network has already been promoting this week's lineup of prime-time shows and doesn't want to yank "Glee" for baseball any sooner than necessary.

Furthermore, hotel and travel plans also don't happen overnight. Even if Fox could start the American League Championship Series now, the risk is then that the winner could be waiting as long as 10 days for its World Series opponent to be determined. Ideally, Major League Baseball would like both teams to come in with close to if not the same amount of rest before starting the series.

"All these factors make it difficult to change the schedule," says Matt Bourne of Major League Baseball.

Fine, the fan in me accepts all this. But can we please have one day game in the series? Is that asking too much?

-- Joe Flint

Photo: New York Yankees star Derek Jeter ripping a double against the Minnesota Twins. Credit: Brian J. Myers-US PRESSWIRE

Finally for Fox, a fall to remember

Normally, fall is the season Fox likes to forget. It struggles to launch shows, and its big guns -- "24" and "American Idol" don't come on until after January. If that's not enough, the network's commitment to carry baseball playoffs and the World Series often wreaks havoc with its schedule for all of October.

But this fall Fox's prime time is off to one of its best starts ever. It is poised to win the second week of the TV season in adults 18-49, and not only are some of its established shows showing strong staying power, new shows "Glee" and "The Cleveland Show" are keepers.

This season, Fox is up 7% in viewers, averaging 7.5 million viewers and 11% in adults 18-49 with a 3.1 rating (each rating point in that demographic equals 1.3 million people) on five nights of the week. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in particular have made big gains with younger viewers from a year ago, and Fox is also expecting Sunday night to be up in both categories compared to last season.

"I am a little surprised; fourth quarter is not their strength" says Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research for Horizon Media, a media buying agency whose clients include Geico. Adgate said one of the more impressive performances has been that of the veteran "House," which has been averaging 16.3 million viewers and a 6.4 in adults 18-49.

Not every night is firing on all cylinders for News Corp.'s Fox. Friday is a flat-out disaster as the new sitcom "Brothers" and the returning drama "Dollhouse" are struggling and likely will be gone in weeks. The audience for the night this season is just 2.4 million, a drop of about 54% compared to the same period last season. 

Of course, now baseball is coming around again, which means many shows will be preempted. The fear is always that whatever momentum is there could be slowed. 

But this fall the risk may be lessened as the network will likely have some pretty compelling games with the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers and Cardinals all in the postseason hunt.

At a hush hush gathering of Fox affiliates this past weekend in Jackson Hole, Wyo., new Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice was positive on the value of baseball to the network's fall lineup, according to people at the meeting.

That is a different attitude than some predecessors, who have often griped about how baseball disrupts the network's programming flow and attracts an older audience that doesn't stick around for Fox's shows.

There is some truth to that, but that won't stop Fox from making sure we get plenty of close-ups of the cast of "Glee" during the World Series. In fact, they already probably rehearsing to sing the national anthem at one of the games. Talk about synergy.

-- Joe Flint

Photo: "Glee's" Will (Matthew Morrison) and Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig). Credit: Fox.