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MSNBC Juggles Post-Olbermann Lineup

NEW YORK — Keith Olbermann, MSNBC’s best-known
anchor and lightning rod, telecast his final show on the
network on Jan. 21, moving other anchors he helped groom
into more prominent primetime roles.

Last Monday (Jan. 24), The Last Word With Lawrence
O’Donnell moved into Countdown With Keith Olbermann’s
former 8 p.m. slot from 10
p.m. The Ed Show shifted
to 10 p.m. from 6 p.m. The
Rachel Maddow Show remains
at 9 p.m. O’Donnell
and Maddow were frequent
guests on Countdown before
getting their own shows.


The Kansas City Star reported
Friday 332,000 viewers
in the 25-to-54-year-old
demographic watched Last
Word on its first night, “less
than Olbermann one week
earlier.” The demo figure
ticked up to 359,000 the
next night, ahead of President
Obama’s State of The
Union address, then slipped
to 219,000 on Wednesday,
versus 248,000 for Countdown one week prior.

Olbermann declared on Countdown that it was his last
show. “MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their
contract,” the network said. “MSNBC thanks Keith for his
integral role in MSNBC’s success and we wish him well in
his future endeavors.”

— Jon Lafayette, Broadcasting & Cable

FCC: Throw Out Verizon, MetroPCS Suits

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission has
asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject
the challenges to its network-neutrality rules by Verizon Communications
and MetroPCS, saying both were premature.

Wireless carrier MetroPCS joined Verizon in challenging
the FCC’s Dec. 21 vote expanding and codifying its
network-neutrality guidelines.

Most of the new rules don’t apply to wireless broadband,
but the ones that do are too much for the companies.

Like Verizon, MetroPCS filed suit not against the new
regulations, but against what it said is a modification of the
wireless FCC license. Using that legal route, the case must
be heard in the same U.S. Appeals Court that found the
FCC’s defense of its regulatory authority over Internet access
wanting and threw out its finding against Comcast in
the BitTorrent Case.

MetroPCS also said the FCC’s decision exceeded its
authority, was arbitrary and capricious and an abuse of its
discretion, as well as being unconstitutional.

A senior FCC official, in an e-mail to Multichannel News,
said: “The rules that govern when and how parties may challenge
FCC orders are clear, and Verizon and MetroPCS filed too early when they challenged the Open Internet order.
Today, the FCC filed several motions with the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asking the court
to dismiss both companies’ challenges as premature.”

Records Fall for History’s Reality Duo

NEW YORK — Pawn Stars and American Pickers found audience
treasure on History Monday night (Jan. 24), with each
reality show securing audience records and leading the network
to cable’s best ratings performance for the evening.

Pawn Stars, about a family-run pawn shop in Las Vegas,
drew a network-record 7 million total viewers and 3.7 million
adults 18-49 during its 10:30 p.m. episode, according
to History officials.

A 10 p.m. episode averaged 6.7 million watchers and 3.4
million in the advertiser-coveted demo, History said.

American Pickers, in which antique “pickers” troll small
towns and back roads to salvage rare collectibles and good
junk, averaged a series record 6.2 million total viewers and
2.6 million adults 18-49, the AETN-owned network said.

History was the most watched cable network for the night
among total viewers, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49.

Starz Brings 2.8M to ‘Spartacus’ Prequel

ENGLEWOOD, COLO. — Almost 3 million entered the arena for
Starz’s prequel to its Spartacus franchise.

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena collected some 2.8 million
viewers over airings from Jan. 21-23, according to Nielsen
data.

The Jan. 21 premiere of the six-episode prequel, which
Starz commissioned after Spartacus: Blood and Sand’s
lead Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
in March, drew 1.1 million at 10 p.m., before tacking
on another 753,000 in the hour immediately after. The
debut was up 66% from the 659,000 who tuned in the pilot
of Blood and Sand in January 2010 (659,000) and jumped
70% based on combined viewing basis, to 1.85 million.

The premium network recently named Liam McIntyre to
step into the lead role of Blood and Sand, with production
on the sophomore campaign set to begin this spring.

C-SPAN’s Mike Michaelson Dies at 86

WASHINGTON — Mike Michaelson,
an early leader at
C-SPAN, died at age 86, the
public-affairs network said.

Michaelson was C-SPAN’s
first executive vice president,
from 1981 to 1993.
He had spent three decades
in Congress, eventually as
superintendent of the House
Radio-TV Gallery. C-SPAN
founder Brian Lamb said
hiring Michaelson was an
“incredible coup” that helped
the network gain “an instant
boost of credibility.”