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BROADCAST/CABLE by Marauder

BROADCAST/CABLE

Bravo surged last Tuesday night as The Real Housewives of Orange County debuted season four at 10p with 1.37 million A18-49 viewers and 1.87 million total viewers. This episode drew in 51% more A18-49 viewers compared to the season three premiere on November 6, 2007 (1.37 million vs. 909,000) and Tuesday’s episode was the highest-rated Real Housewives franchise season premiere ever with both A18-49 and total viewers. Bravo also scored big viewer numbers with The Real Housewives of Atlanta: Watch What Happens Reunion Special at 9p, driving in 2.05 million A18-49 viewers and 2.81 total viewers. (Cynopsis 12/1)

Final estimates for the November Sweep will be out today and available tomorrow (delayed because of the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend), yet the early expectation is ABC will secure its fourth consecutive November sweep among A18-49 by a small margin. CBS should win among A25-54 and with total viewers while NBC will be in third place followed by FOX and The CW. However, all of the broadcast networks are expected to be down an estimated -9% in viewership compared to the same period in 2007, due in part to losing viewers to heavy political coverage on the cable networks earlier in November. (Cynopsis 12/1)

Only 5 million fans of Rosie O’Donnell tuned into her NBC variety show last Wednesday night — prompting Ro to pull the plug on “Rosie Live.” “There will b no more,” O’Donnell wrote on her blog. “No ratings. Bad reviews.” She ended her blog post with, “Still — a thrill 4 me.” (Iwantmedia 12/1, http://extratv.warnerbros.com/2008/11/rosie_live_canned.php 11/30)

With some exceptions, cable stocks are expected to continue to outperform market forecasts, according to this article. The theory is that when the economy turns south, people don’t stop watching television, using their computer or talking on the telephone, which is good news for triple-play-toting cable providers. The Wall Street Journal (11/29)

NBC has an unnamed procedural drama in its development pipeline from writer Frank Spotnitz with actress Gabrielle Union in the lead, reports Variety. The plot is about a detective (Union) who must move quickly to save a person’s life before it is too late. (Cynopsis 12/1)

While the broadcast networks are scaling back new pilot orders and opting to repurpose more content, their cable TV brethren aggressively are developing a record number of new programming projects, according to this report. Take a look at HBO, for instance: The pay-cabler has 20 comedies and dramas in the hopper. Variety (11/26)

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