Daily Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

The CW’s sophomore season premiere of Gossip Girl Monday night at 8p posted a 2.3/7 among A18-34; 3.2/10 with W18-34; 1.7/5 with A18-49 viewers; and a 2.3/6 among W18-49 viewers. Following at 9p, The CW opened the sixth season of One Tree Hill at 2.3/7 with A18-34 viewers; a 3.3/9 with W18-34; a 1.6/4 with A18-49; and a 2.3/5 among W18-49 viewers. (Cynopsis 9/3)

Steven Bochco’s “Raising the Bar” debuted Monday at 10 p.m. Eastern time and was viewed by 7.7 million viewers, a record for a premiere on an ad-supported cable network. The episode, which was presented commercial-free, attracted 2.8 million 18- to 49-year-olds and 3.5 million 25- to 54-year-olds, according to data from Nielsen Cable Fast Nationals. The Hollywood Reporter (9/2)

The results of CBS-owned TV.com’s Most Anticipated New Shows user-generated poll are also in and Fox is the big winner. J.J. Abram’s latest show Fringe won for most anticipated drama while Family Guy spin off The Cleveland Show won for most anticipated comedy. (Cynopsis 9/3)

Fringe

Bravo will debut season two of Top Design tonight at 10p and the series will show off a new on-air look in hi-def, new production company, Magical Elves (Project Runway and Top Chef), and a new host with model/designer, India Hicks. (Cynopsis 9/3)

This Friday night, CBS College Sports Network will kick off the first of eight high school football games shown in primetime nationally with MaxPreps High School Football Presented by Burger King. The eight games will feature the country’s top high school football teams in action from this Friday through November 7. The eight games will also be streamed online at www.cbssports.com/cbscollegesports . (Cynopsis 9/3)

David Letterman says he wants to stick with CBS’ “Late Show” through his contract, as rival Jay Leno prepares to surrender the NBC “Tonight” reins next year. “I would like to go beyond 2010, not much beyond.” But if the network wants to “make a change, I’m fine with that, too.” (Iwantmedia 9/3, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080903/ap_on_en_tv/tv_david_letterman 9/3)

With the start of the 2008-09 NFL season on tap for this weekend, the league still is trying to work out a carriage deal with ESPN under which the NFL Network would take over the slot of ESPN Classic. No matter how the deal eventually gets worked out — if at all — it shows just how much the once-mighty NFL needs the reach and influence of ESPN, according to this report. The New York Times (9/2)

Liberty Media will spin off Liberty Entertainment into a separate entity that will hold $2 billion in debt incurred in the company’s April investment in DirecTV, freeing the parent company to focus on other objectives. Liberty owns 50% of DirecTV, among interests in other outfits. (Iwantmedia 9/3, http://www.smartmoney.com/breaking-news/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20080903-000553-0935 9/3)

Here’s a benefit of digital video recorders that their creators probably never would have guessed: They are helping folks improve their relationships. So says a survey commissioned by NDS, a maker of DVR software, in which 81% called it a must-have device and 79% said that using a DVR improved their relationships because they fight less with their significant other about what to watch on TV. Multichannel News (9/2)

Cox Communications is ratcheting up its on-demand video options by offering key speeches from the Democratic and Republican national conventions in its FreeZone section through Nov. 5. The cable provider introduced a similar extended-replay service in connection with the Summer Olympics in Beijing. American City Business Journals/Phoenix (9/2)

Verizon Communications is arguing before the FCC that being forced to carry the signals of Class A low-power TV stations, which the FCC says will foster more diversity, actually could hinder programming choices by forcing other channels off the TV dial. The commission is currently only requiring that cable providers carry the low-power stations in some circumstances. Broadcasting & Cable (9/2)

The initial results are in for Nielsen and Integrated Media Measurement Inc.’s (IMMI) new electronic Out-Of-Home TV viewing ratings system measuring usage on campuses, in hotels, at work as well as bars and restaurants. In the month of July, FOX’s House and ESPN’s Home Run Derby generated the most out-of-home viewing among primetime broadcast and cable respectively, both attracting 570,000 out-of-home viewers. The special/sports event with the highest number of out-of-home viewers was the Olympics Opening Ceremony on NBC, with 1.1 million viewers. (Cynopsis 9/3)