TCA: HBO executives look to future with old friends

"The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City" may be gone, but HBO is tapping those familiar wells as it searches for its next programming breakthrough.

The pay cable network announced today at the TV press tour in Beverly Hills that it has officially ordered pilots for three shows, from "Sex" star Sarah Jessica Parker, "Sopranos" Executive Producer Terence Winter as well as "The Wire" creator David Simon.

The proposed series fit well with HBO's programming strategy after the exit of longtime network architect Chris Albrecht. The plan seems to be to greenlight a greater number of shows than in the past, without fundamentally changing the notion of what an HBO series should be.

"We've had to be a little more proactive" in pursuing projects, Michael Lombardo, president of the network's programming group, told reporters. But "the kinds of things we've wanted haven't changed."

Parker will produce a half-hour comedy pilot called "Washingtonienne," based on Jessica Cutler's controversial book about her racy life as a political aide and blogger in Washington.

Winter is working on "Boardwalk Empire," a drama about Atlantic City in the 1920s.

And Simon, with his longtime writing partner Eric Overmyer, will produce "Treme," a drama about life in post-Katrina New Orleans. Simon is also an executive producer of "Generation Kill," the HBO Iraq drama premiering Sunday.

All three projects have been talked about previously, but HBO had not confirmed that the pilots would be made until now.

Network officials conceded that the three-month writers strike delayed their plans considerably. Lombardo said he'd hoped, for example, that new episodes of "Entourage" and the new vampire drama "True Blood" would be available by now. As it is, "True Blood" won't debut until Sept. 7.

Executives also confirmed that the long-awaited TV movie tied to "Deadwood" -- which was supposed to tie up loose ends left hanging after the series was abruptly canceled -- will not happen.

Richard Plepler, HBO's co-president, told reporters: "The likelihood of a 'Deadwood' movie happening is slim to none."

-- Scott Collins

(Photo Sarah Jessica Parker courtesy Peter Foley / EPA)

The battle of the Davids propelled Wednesday’s "American Idol" finale to one of the show’s best numbers ever, with 31.7 million viewers tuning in.

Rocker David Cook’s upset victory over the runner-up, teen crooner David Archuleta, capped a historic season for Fox, which amid the disruptions of the three-month writers strike became America’s most-watched network for the first time ever. It also notched its fourth straight season as No. 1 in adult viewers aged 18-49, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

The 2007-08 TV season officially ended Wednesday.

The high viewership for "Idol’s" Season 7 finale came as something of a surprise, because the show had seen lower-than-expected ratings this season. As recently as earlier this month, "Idol" retreated to some of its softest numbers in years.

But the match-up between Cook and Archuleta evidently proved irresistible. In fact, the two-hour episode was the third most-watched "Idol" finale, after the 2006 showdown between Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee (36.4 million) and the 2003 face-off between Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken (38.1 million).

Last year’s contest, between Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis, drew 30.7 million.

In Los Angeles, the "Idol" finale overlapped for about 45 minutes with a closely watched game between the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs on TNT. Yet both programs performed strongly in the local market, with "Idol" capturing 1.3 million area viewers vs. the Lakers’ 1.2 million.

The "Idol" finale was a welcome dash of good news for the broadcast TV industry, which has been brought low by the writers strike and ongoing viewer defections to cable.

Every network except Fox saw significant ratings declines this season, including CBS, which shed 16% of its average total viewers compared with last season. As a result, Fox snatched the crown for most-watched network away from the usual victor, CBS, with 11.1 million vs. 10.5 million (this data does not include the Wednesday results).

Among the ad-friendly demographic of viewers aged 18-49, Fox led the season while ABC and CBS, which both logged double-digit declines, tied for second.

Results for the May "sweep" period, which local stations use to help set ad rates and which also ended Wednesday, were even worse. Every network posted losses, even Fox, which slipped 7%. NBC shed nearly one-fifth of its audience compared with a year ago.

Against that backdrop, the "Idol" numbers assume even more importance, proving that broadcast TV can still deliver huge audiences with the right program.

-- Scott Collins

It was the kind of juicy investigative piece that journalists like to call a "holy [expletive]" story. But the public reaction has seemed more along the lines of, "Yeah ...so?"

Sunday's New York Times led with a 7,600-word story by reporter David Barstow that revealed how the Pentagon wrangled a posse of retired senior military commanders-turned-TV talking heads "in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage" of Bush administration war policy.

Well-sourced and carefully constructed, dealing with a topic of pressing national interest, the story looked destined to dominate the national conversation, the same way viewer outrage over ABC's Democratic debate did last week.

Instead the Pentagon story made minimal ripples. Why would that be?

'American Idol' finale ratings surprisingly high

The battle of the Davids propelled Wednesday’s "American Idol" finale to one of the show’s best numbers ever, with 31.7 million viewers tuning in.

Rocker David Cook’s upset victory over the runner-up, teen crooner David Archuleta, capped a historic season for Fox, which amid the disruptions of the three-month writers strike became America’s most-watched network for the first time ever. It also notched its fourth straight season as No. 1 in adult viewers aged 18-49, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

The 2007-08 TV season officially ended Wednesday.

The high viewership for "Idol’s" Season 7 finale came as something of a surprise, because the show had seen lower-than-expected ratings this season. As recently as earlier this month, "Idol" retreated to some of its softest numbers in years.

But the match-up between Cook and Archuleta evidently proved irresistible. In fact, the two-hour episode was the third most-watched "Idol" finale, after the 2006 showdown between Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee (36.4 million) and the 2003 face-off between Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken (38.1 million).

Last year’s contest, between Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis, drew 30.7 million.

In Los Angeles, the "Idol" finale overlapped for about 45 minutes with a closely watched game between the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs on TNT. Yet both programs performed strongly in the local market, with "Idol" capturing 1.3 million area viewers vs. the Lakers’ 1.2 million.

The "Idol" finale was a welcome dash of good news for the broadcast TV industry, which has been brought low by the writers strike and ongoing viewer defections to cable.

Every network except Fox saw significant ratings declines this season, including CBS, which shed 16% of its average total viewers compared with last season. As a result, Fox snatched the crown for most-watched network away from the usual victor, CBS, with 11.1 million vs. 10.5 million (this data does not include the Wednesday results).

Among the ad-friendly demographic of viewers aged 18-49, Fox led the season while ABC and CBS, which both logged double-digit declines, tied for second.

Results for the May "sweep" period, which local stations use to help set ad rates and which also ended Wednesday, were even worse. Every network posted losses, even Fox, which slipped 7%. NBC shed nearly one-fifth of its audience compared with a year ago.

Against that backdrop, the "Idol" numbers assume even more importance, proving that broadcast TV can still deliver huge audiences with the right program.

-- Scott Collins

It was the kind of juicy investigative piece that journalists like to call a "holy [expletive]" story. But the public reaction has seemed more along the lines of, "Yeah ...so?"

Sunday's New York Times led with a 7,600-word story by reporter David Barstow that revealed how the Pentagon wrangled a posse of retired senior military commanders-turned-TV talking heads "in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage" of Bush administration war policy.

Well-sourced and carefully constructed, dealing with a topic of pressing national interest, the story looked destined to dominate the national conversation, the same way viewer outrage over ABC's Democratic debate did last week.

Instead the Pentagon story made minimal ripples. Why would that be?

Why Pentagon talking heads piece in New York Times had no legs

It was the kind of juicy investigative piece that journalists like to call a "holy [expletive]" story. But the public reaction has seemed more along the lines of, "Yeah ...so?"

Sunday's New York Times led with a 7,600-word story by reporter David Barstow that revealed how the Pentagon wrangled a posse of retired senior military commanders-turned-TV talking heads "in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage" of Bush administration war policy.

Well-sourced and carefully constructed, dealing with a topic of pressing national interest, the story looked destined to dominate the national conversation, the same way viewer outrage over ABC's Democratic debate did last week.

Instead the Pentagon story made minimal ripples. Why would that be?