CBS turned less of its schedule over to reruns during the week before Christmas and was rewarded with an easy prime-time ratings victory, according to Nielsen Media Research. New episodes of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" were the only two programs with more than 20 million viewers. ABC, which had two prime-time NFL games, won among the 18-to-49-year-old age demographic craved by advertisers for the first time this season. The holidays weren't too kind to singer Mariah Carey. Her CBS television special, "A Home for the Holidays," finished a dismal 75th place in the ratings, adding to a bad year for the singer. For the week, CBS averaged 11.9 million viewers in prime-time (8.0 rating, 14 share), ABC had 10.6 million (6.8, 12), NBC had 8.7 million (5.9, 10), Fox had 6.6 million (4.1, 7), UPN had 3.9 million (2.4, 4), the WB had 3.5 million (2.3, 4) and Pax TV had 1.2 million (0.9, 1). In the evening news ratings race, NBC's "Nightly News" won with an average audience of 11.2 million (7.9 rating, 16 share). ABC's "World News Tonight" had 10 million (7.2, 14) and the "CBS Evening News" had 9.2 million (6.7, 13). A ratings point represents 1,055,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 105.5 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. For the week of Dec. 17-23, the top 10 shows, their networks and ratings were "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 15.0; "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 14.2; NFL Monday Night Football: St. Louis at New Orleans, ABC, 12.9; "Yes, Dear," CBS, 11.6; "Survivor," CBS, 11.3; "King of Queens," CBS, 10.8; "Law and Order," NBC, 10.8; "NFL Monday Showcase," ABC, 10.2; "Judging Amy," CBS, 9.9; "Friends," NBC, 9.8. -- The Associated Press
The Yankee Group has released its review of the most significant wireless/mobile technology events of 2001. "This has been a difficult year, and 2002 isn't looking much better," they said. "We believe, however, that things will start to improve for the wireless industry by the latter part of 2002." The most significant technology-related events of 2001, according to the release, relate to the expansion and launch of next-generation networks around the world: cdma2000 and wideband CDMA in Asia; GPRS in Europe; and GPRS in North America. In 2002, operators will launch more networks. Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, and Leap Wireless recently started selling cdma2000-enabled wireless phones. On a major scale, Sprint PCS will officially launch the new technology in mid-2002. David Berndt, director of the Yankee Group's Wireless/Mobile Technologies practice, said, "If the CDMA operators can succeed in providing exciting new applications and data services, they will place their GPRS-oriented competitors on the defensive. CDMA operators can leverage cdma2000's one-year lead time (with its Korean launch in 2000)." On the device front in 2001, Denso, Mitsubishi, and Philips pulled out of the North American wireless phone market. In addition, Ericsson and Sony combined their handset divisions. Berndt believes that "the wireless phone market has too many competitors, and that 2002 will witness more market exits or partnerships. We've also seen too many handset problems. In an effort to launch phones ahead of their competitors, quality control corners have been cut resulting in subsequent recalls.'' Overall, wireless-oriented companies will have difficulty managing over the next 18 months. But everyone should recognize that things will be anything but boring. Those companies that can respond best to the needs of the market will be the survivors.
Go to Nytimes.com and you can read The New York Times by clicking links to the stories you want to read. But now the Times offers an electronic edition of the paper that is an exact replica of the print version. Working with NewsStand, a tech provider in Austin, TX, the Times offers readers the opportunity to download an electronic version of the paper that looks just like the printed one, from the original masthead to articles, photos and even advertising. It is so much like the printed version that the Times is selling it the same way, by single copy and subscription. A seven-day subscription costs $6.70 per week, same as the paper version, according to Tony Usnik, a company spokesman. The edition allows the Times to be read in this format anywhere in the world. It also enables the Times to sell two subscriptions to individual subscribers, if they want both versions. The electronic version is only available to readers with high speed Internet access. The size of the download, from 3 to 20 Mb, necessitates a high-speed connection, Usnik says. Readers connect to the electronic edition via the Net but can sign off the Net after they download it. As of Dec. 21, the Times had sold 2,300 subscriptions and 3,000 single copies, Usnik says. The Audio Bureau of Circulations will count copies of the electronic edition as paid circulation. Advertisers will get the extra audience, but they won't be charged an additional fee. The same ads that appear in the New York edition of the paper appear in the electronic edition. Thus, it is unlike Nytimes.com, which has its own advertisers, distinct from the paper's. NewsStand was unavailable for comment. The company also publishes electronic editions of many international newspapers, including The Press (New Zealand), The Sunday Times (South Africa), Internazionale (Italy) and Daily Express (UK). It also publishes an electronic edition of the Harvard Business Review.