Among total viewers, the proportion's similar, with Winfrey's averaging 146,000 last month to McGraw's 69,000. (In May 2010, "Dr. Phil" averaged 109,000 viewers to "Oprah's" 180,000.)
So we know there's an audience to be had at 4. Is "Dr. Phil" the guy to claim it?
I don't have a dog in this hunt. I can handle "Oprah" in small doses (I like the behind-the-scenes series on OWN more than the talk show itself), while even five minutes with "Dr. Phil" makes me want to hurl objects at my TV screen.
Fans of both have never been forced to choose, but if you've watched only"Oprah" until now, will you stick around at 4 for "Dr. Phil"? I'd like to hear from you.
* It's official: Effective June 6,
it'll be "The CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley."
Pelley, 53, a "60 Minutes" correspondent who's been with "CBS News" since 1989 and began his journalism career at the Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal as a 15-year-old copyboy (back when they still called them that), yesterday was named anchor and managing editor of the newscast Katie Couric is leaving.
* Fox's "Bones" - which stars
David Boreanaz, son of retired 6ABC weatherguy Dave Roberts - has been renewed for a seventh season.
* CNN's Anderson Cooper
wasn't happy - justifiably so, it turns out - about my characterization of one of his shows in a column Monday about what I consider the overcoverage of Donald Trump's obsession with the president's birth certificate (and my not entirely serious suggestion that NBC offer "reality" shows to all the would-be presidential candidates).
Here's what I wrote:
"Last Wednesday night, as tornadoes were tearing through the South, killing hundreds of people, CNN's Anderson Cooper spent his third consecutive evening on the 'birther' issue, asking why his show's investigation, coupled with the release of the president's 'long-form' birth certificate, hadn't changed hearts and minds."
In an email, Cooper notes that he led the broadcast with breaking news about the storm.
"At the time, I believe the official death toll was around 25. We led the broadcast with the information, and the pictures we had, and checked in on air with our weather man. Later on in the broadcast, as we learned more, we updated viewers, and interviewed the mayor of Birmingham as well as a cameraman who had videotaped one of the tornadoes as it touched down. I understand your desire to make a point in a column, but I find it sad that you need to do that by misleading your readers."
Since I tuned in to "Anderson Cooper 360" that night only after seeing multiple Twitter reports of what sounded like unusually devastating tornadoes, I did miss the top of the hour. And looking for that news - which I eventually found on the Weather Channel - I was frustrated by the continued focus on those who still didn't believe any of the proofs offered of President Obama's birthplace.
A check of the transcript shows Cooper did lead with the tornado, though the "birther" issue consumed a considerable amount of time. He then returned to the tornadoes, finishing up with an interview advancing the royal wedding.
Checking the transcript, something I've done in the past but failed to do this time, would probably have led me to word that paragraph differently, and I'm sorry for not doing that.
* For the first time since 1992,
Nielsen is predicting a drop in the number of U.S. households with TV sets, estimating that in 2012 there will be 114.7 million, down from 115.9 million.
Nielsen notes the last decline came after adjusting for results from the 1990 census (this report reflects 2010's).
Other possible factors: the digital transition, the economy and "a small subset of younger, urban consumers [who] are going without paid TV subscriptions."
* The History Channel may be
looking less historic by the day, but where else could we find "Full Metal Jousting"?
One of several new series announced yesterday, it's described as "full-contact jousting, with two competitors on horses charging towards each other at 30 miles an hour . . . traditional armor replaced by state-of-the-art protective gear." *
Send email to graye@phillynews.com.
