Culture Clips: TV

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• Four times a year, television networks roll out their most tantalizing fare for "sweeps" week—a seven-day period in which Nielsen viewers fill out detailed TV-watching diaries. The May 2008 sweeps, however, failed to produce the results the networks always hope for: more viewers. Pick your poison as to why, compared to May 2007, the number of viewers was down close to 20% for the networks: lousy programming, the writers strike, the Internet, cable and satellite choices or all of the above. Specifically, ABC lost 24% of its audience; the CW slipped 21%, CBS dropped 20%, and NBC fell 19%. Thanks to the ratings juggernaut known as American Idol, Fox suffered the smallest overall decline in viewers, 15%. [Source: medialifemagazine.com, 5/5/08 stats]
• Miley Cyrus' recent photo scandals may be influencing some of her young fans to look elsewhere for entertainment. Since her revealing photos were published in Vanity Fair and online, the most recent new episode of Hannah Montana drew 14% fewer viewers than the previous new episode, according to Nielsen. And when the latest episode is compared to the first fresh Hannah Montana show of the year (which aired in January), the drop is steeper: 26%. Wizards of Waverly Place has replaced Hannah Montana as Disney Channel's highest-rated show (though it's worth noting the swap had already occurred before the immodest images were seen). [Sources: Nielsen Media Research; hollywood.com, 5/7/08; entertainmentwise.com, 5/8/08 stats, c&e]

Quote

"The message of Hannah Montana, the show, is: You can be an ordinary kid and become famous—and still be an ordinary kid. The message of Miley Cyrus, the life, is: You can become famous if you're are born into the right family and are willing to sacrifice any semblance of normalcy for your career." —Slate columnist Meghan O'Rourke. "What's most interesting about the scandal that erupted last week is that it's an example of the real dilemmas a 15-year-old celebrity has to navigate—one that will never make it into the plotlines of Hannah Montana," O'Rourke adds. "The squeaky-clean teen image that everyone keeps talking about was precisely that: an image created, managed, and assiduously maintained by Miley and her parents, at great cost to the product herself." [Slate, 5/5/08]

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