Word: abc
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...hopes everybody at ABC, which is giving a full week of prime time to Wouk's sweeping story of the events leading up to America's entry into World War II. When the show concludes on Sunday, Feb. 13, network executives pray, enough people will have been hooked to push the ratings close to-or, who knows, even past-those of the champion miniseries, Roots. "I think it will be the highest-rated program of the season," predicts George Keramidas, ABC's vice president of TV research, "and among the highest-rated mini-series of all time...
...flip on a video game? Or just decide to read Jane Austen? Of course it is. The bottom of the rating charts is Uttered with such failed mini-series as King, The French Atlantic Affair, MacArthur and Beggarman Thief. "Obviously The Winds of War is a high risk," says ABC President Fred Pierce. "But most things that lead to success are risky...
...research and write The Winds of War, and its sequel, War and Remembrance, and he jealously guarded the results of his labor. For years he had no trouble resisting the persistent blandishments of film and TV executives. Finally, in 1977, under the ministrations of Barry Diller, a former ABC executive who had become chairman of Paramount, an extraordinary offer won him over. ABC paid Wouk an estimated $1.5 million, gave him approval of director and producer and, to meet his desire for a high-toned context, allowed him some say over commercials (he wanted none for such things as toilet...
...true. The historical scenes, some of them scrupulously copied from old newsreels, are vivid and acute, while the fictional scenes sometimes look stiff and awkward. But those moments pass and the story takes over, building up momentum as it approaches its tragic conclusion, hour after hour after hour. Meanwhile, ABC hopes for a happier ending of its own. Having taken its gamble, the network must wait for the results, day after day after day. - By Gerald Clarke. Reported by Elaine Dutka/New York and Denise Worrell/ Los Angeles
...come a riot of options for the home viewer and a daunting challenge for the three commercial networks. Since the late 1940s, the networks have held a virtual monopoly on the viewer's prime time. Now that hammer lock may be breaking. In the next few years ABC, CBS and NBC will be vying-with one another and with some increasingly confident adversaries-for the lion's share of $16.7 billion and more in annual advertising revenue...