Ratings war begins

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Sep 21, 2006 | by Scott D. Pierce Deseret Morning News

It's this year's battle of the network stars. ABC has turned Thursdays at 8 p.m. into a TV war zone by moving megahit "Grey's Anatomy" from its Sunday-night time slot to do battle with ratings juggernaut "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

"CSI" executive producer Carol Mendelsohn compared it to a football game. "It's like two really great football teams. You know, the Washington Redskins want to play the Dallas Cowboys," she said. "It's exciting."

NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly was more blunt, explaining why he beat a strategic retreat and moved "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" out of the time slot after ABC announced "Anatomy" was moving in.

"We moved it because it was a war zone," he said. "You've got to be practical. And going against two juggernauts was just not going to be a healthy environment for any new show, no matter how much we believed in it."

When it comes to network battles, none is bigger this fall than "CSI" vs. "Gray's Anatomy." Thursday nights are huge for the broadcast networks -- it's a night when the movie studios spend a lot of money advertising their weekend releases. The network with the highest ratings gets the biggest share of that money.

From the mid-'80s through the early part of the 21st century, NBC dominated the night. But then CBS took a chance by putting "Survivor" on Thursdays. And then "CSI." And then "Without a Trace," which dethroned "ER" as king of the ratings hill.

CBS had become so dominant that network executives thought nothing of moving "Trace" to Sundays this fall, expecting its new series "Shark" to continue to handle "ER."

Now ABC is taking a page out of CBS's book and taking a chance with "Grey's Anatomy." And network executives can't even agree on who's the favorite in this fight.

"Who would have thought that 'CSI' would be the underdog?" asked CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler, wisely trying to spin the story before the competition begins.

"In terms of 'CSI,' I heard Nina was playing the rope-a-dope," ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson said with a smile. "It's kind of funny. I mean, 'CSI' and CBS have dominated that night, so I think they are the champions without question. And we're coming on with a strong contender and hope to do some business there."

Business being what commercial television is all about.

"Certainly, 'CSI' and 'Survivor' are incredibly strong competition," McPherson continued. "We think the cornerstone for us Thursdays is 'Grey's."'

ABC's Thursday lineup is all new -- "Six Degrees" premieres tonight at 9 (see 'Six Degrees' is just OK); "Ugly Betty" premieres next Thursday (Sept. 28) at 7 p.m.

The stars and producers of "Grey's Anatomy" are sort of in the eye of this storm. "I really haven't thought about it," said Ellen Pompeo, who stars as Meredith on "Grey's Anatomy."

"We're just going to keep doing the same show we've been doing," said "Grey's Anatomy" creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes, who's notorious for being closed-mouthed about upcoming plot developments and demanding the same from everyone involved with the show. "We'll have some surprises, but we always have surprises."

"We've got a great season planned," Mendelsohn said. And, at first glance, "CSI" has a few stunts going as it fights to stave off the "Anatomy" challenge. Part 1 of the season premiere (tonight at 8 on Ch. 2) features a murder at Cirque du Soleil and Grammy-winner John Mayer performing a couple of songs; Part 2 features Danny Bonaduce as an ex-rock star/murder victim and Sean Young as his ex- wife.

Another upcoming episode features the acting debut of Kevin Federline (Mr. Britney Spears) ... although how that's supposed to help ratings is anybody's guess.

They do seem to be feeling at least a bit of heat over at "CSI."

"ABC moving that show opposite us, I think, was the biggest motivator we could have had. ... Hey, we don't want to relinquish the throne that easily," said series star Marg Helgenberger. "I think 'CSI' has always been underestimated from Day 1 by everyone but the fans. Our network has underestimated us. The critics have underestimated us. But the fans have not.

"And I remember when we first started off and we really started gaining steam that we were referred to as the little engine that could. Remember those days? All of a sudden we are a monster (hit), and now we're back to being the underdog. Go figure."

Actually, not much of anybody really considers "CSI" the underdog in this battle. Conventional wisdom is that the show will, as Tassler said, get "dinged a little bit by 'Grey's."' But she's right when she points out that "as we know from the past, two big hit shows ... can occupy the same time period."

Don't be surprised if "CSI" wins among households and total viewers, but takes a hit among younger viewers. And don't be surprised if "CSI" and "Grey's Anatomy" turn out to be two of the most-recorded shows on television this season -- a lot of viewers will watch one and tape or Tivo the other.

And whatever rivalry there might be between the two shows, it's not personal.