• by September 30, 2003

ABC Gets Touched By Something: CBS claims the franchise, but through the first week of the new primetime season it appears that ABC has been touched by an angel. The alphabet network was the only one of the Big 4 to post a significant ratings gain over premiere week 2002. While at least part of that surge was attributed to exceptionally high tune-in to the season premiere of "8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter," the ABC lynchpin series whose star John Ritter died just before the start of the new season, ABC got an even more surprising boost from "Hope and Faith," the new series starring daytime talk show hostess Kelly Ripa. Or maybe that shouldn't come as such a surprise. Ripa, who stars in Disney's long-running syndicated strip "Live With Regis and Kelly," may be benefiting from the same boost that helped accelerate "Reege" to the top of the heap when he hosted ABC's short-lived phenom "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire." If that proves to be the case, watch for other popular daytime talk hosts to make the transition to primetime. Watch for Oprah to replace Whoopi or Dr. Phil to replace Frasier.

It's been a while since there's been any real drama to the late night TV talk show wars. About the most interesting developments have been Jay Leno's hosting of has-been California gubernatorial candidates and David Letterman's disclosure that he's going to be a father. But now a new type of urban legend is suddenly popping up and it concerns celebrity appearances - and product plugs - taking place during the late shift. The first of these has zany and buxom actress Drew Barrymore appearing on NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and plugging - of all things - Kraft Singles. Unconfirmed reports have the Charlie's angel pocketing a hefty under-the-table fee. So it isn't surprising that a similar story has been circulating concerning the appearance of hunky actor Denzel Washington's appearance on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman." According to this story, Washington was describing working conditions while filming a new movie down in Mexico. Asked if he drank the water, Washington said he noticed the locals were drinking Coca-Cola and that he preferred Diet Coke. Again, the rumor has Washington reaping a sizeable paycheck for the mention. If these were true, one would have to wonder how and why the networks would allow it. If they were simply ambush marketing tactics it would seem to deprive them of potential advertising revenues. Then again, if the networks were to profit directly from these plugs, it would likely spark the kind of government scrutiny that would make the 1950s game show scandals look tame by comparison.

It's the price, stupid! That's what the majority of music buyer told the researchers at VH1, when the cable network asked them about a range of issues related to retail sales of recorded music. The poll found three out of four music buyers feel recordings are overpriced, a factor that appears to be contributing to piracy and illegal downloads of music tracks. One out of five of the respondents said they've downloaded music, while 11% said they've done so in the past six months. Among those respondents who said they've downloaded music from the Internet, 58% said retail prices breaks would make them more likely to purchase CDs. Interestingly, only 26% of those polled even know about Universal Music Group's plans to discount its retail prices. That's alarming, but what the Riff really wants to know is if VH1 has shared these results with sister unit Warner Bros.? Meanwhile, new research from InsightExpress suggests the major record labels may be missing the real point of downloading. The study of 500 people found an overwhelming majority of music downloaders (72%) believe peer-to-peer file-sharing sites expand their overall musical horizons and make them more, not less likely to purchase music. More than a third of downloaders claimed file-sharing has led them to purchase more music than they otherwise would have, while 11% said they are purchasing less.

How Free Music Downloads Impact Actual Purchases of Music

How Music Downloads Impact Actual Music Sales      % Of Downloaders 
Increased purchases of CDs/Tapes 50+%
15% 
Increased purchases of CDs/Tapes 25%                            11% 
Increased purchases of CDs/Tapes 5-10%                          11% 
No impact on purchases of CDs/Tapes
52% 
Decreased purchases of CDs/Tapes 5-25%                           4% 
Decreased purchases of CDs/Tapes 50+%                            7% 

Source: InsightExpress survey of 500 people conducted in September.

First the "X-Men," then "Spider-Man," then "The Hulk" and now it looks as if Marvel Enterprises next comic-to-screen bonanza might be one of the comic publisher's most seminal of characters, "Captain America." Okay, so Ben Affleck's version of "Daredevil" didn't do so hot at the box office, but at least the Riff thought it was cool, especially Colin Farrell as manic villain Bullseye, not to mention the sultry Jennifer Garner as DD's love/hate squeeze Electra. But we think the timing couldn't be better for a red-white-and-blue superhero who got his legs fighting Germans in World War II and who just might be reborn as an Al Qaeda fighter. Instead of doing battle with the nazi-mongering Red Skull, we'd love to see Cap' throw his mighty shield in the direction of Osama Bin Laden.