(December
27th, 2007 - Editor) The
television networks are battling for the attention of the viewers on
New Year's Eve. But veteran TV Host Dick Clark continues to command
the time slot, and the personal admiration of this editor, with his
live special, the 36th annual edition of Dick Clark's New Year's
Rockin' Eve, Hoping to draw away at least a few viewers is Carson
Daily on NBC and Spike Fierstein on FOX, each with their own special
that will feature a long list of musical guests and their own
countdown to the New Year. No mater which one you watch, the night
will be made much better by the list of quality entertainment being
offered.
ABC will once again
present Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, hosted by Clark and
co-hasted by Ryan Seacrest and Fergie. This year, the special gets
underway during primetime, with a one hour segment airing between 10pm
and 11pm Eastern time, then takes a half hour break to allow for local
news before continuing at 11:30pm Eastern tine through 2:05am Eastern
time. Country Music star Carrie Underwood, TV & Recording star
Miley Cyrus and teen sensations The Jonas Brothers will perform from
Times Square in New York City, while from the West coast, co-host
Fergie will perform, along with Akon, Natasha Bedingfield, Sean
Kingston, Plain White T's, Taylor Swift and will.i.am. Making a
special appearance in the show's first hour will be "Dancing with
the Stars" judge Carrie Ann Inaba, whose new show, "Dance
War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann," debuts in early January.
NBC plans their own
musical special titled New Year's Eve With Carson Daly. Alicia Keys
will Join fellow Grammy Award Winner Lenny Kravitz in the star-studded
special. Keys new album As I Am recently debuted at #1. The singer
will treat viewers with two songs from the already platinum selling
disc. She is slated for a rooftop performance from Rockefeller Center.
Fellow Grammy Award winner Lenny Kravitz, who has a new album set for
release in February 2008, will perform two songs live in Times Square.
The special will air live on Monday, December 31 at 11:35 p.m. (ET).
"Today" correspondent Tiki Barber and "MSNBC"
anchor Amy Robach will help Carson's coverage of the celebration with
live reports from the heart of Times Square among the hundreds of
thousands of spectators.
The FOX Network will
also be live with a music special that will kick off at 11:00pm
Eastern time and continue through 12:30am Eastern. Cat Deeley will
host the show from the rooftop of Planet Hollywood in Los Angeles, and
talk show host Spike Feresten will report from the heart of Times
Square. Pop vocalist Mariah Carrey will open the event with the
premiere of the song "Shake It Off". Following that will be
performances by American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, Idol finalist
Blake Lewis and pop/rock band Lifehouse.
Pop/punk band Fall Out Boy’s concert performance of "Thnks
fr th Mmrs" will world premiere during the event. In addition, So
You Think You Can Dance winner Sabra Johnson and finalists Dominic
Sandoval & Hok Konishi will perform.
The special will also
feature live remotes from three cities hosting the Bowl Championship
Series (BCS): New Orleans; Miami; and Glendale, AZ, plus Dallas, the
site of the 2008 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic. Chris Myers, FOX
Sports Allstate Sugar Bowl and Allstate BCS National Championship Game
correspondent, will report live from New Orleans where the University
of Georgia will take on the University of Hawaii in the Allstate Sugar
Bowl on January 1st and Ohio State will play LSU in the Allstate
National Championship game on January 7th. FOX sports correspondent
Jeanne Zelasko will report from Dallas, where he will give viewers an
insider look at the Cotton Bowl clash between the University of
Missouri and the University of Arkansas on January 1st. Zelasko will
also profile the FedEx Orange Bowl battle between the University of
Kansas and Virginia Tech on January 3rd. Finally, Laura Okmin will
kick off the countdown to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, AZ
where the University of Oklahoma will face the University of West
Virginia on January 2nd.
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NBC Sports will present
broadcast coverage of the NHL Winter Classic between the Buffalo
Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins, the first U.S. outdoor game in NHL
history, New Year's Day beginning at 1 p.m. ET from Ralph Wilson
Stadium in Buffalo, N.Y. Bob Costas will host NBC's coverage from
Buffalo, joined by Mike "Doc" Emrick (play-by-play), Eddie
Olczyk (analyst), Mike Milbury (studio analyst) and Darren Pang
(inside-the glass reporter).
The NHL Winter Classic features several of the game's greatest
young stars, including Sydney Crosby and Sabres goaltender Ryan
Miller. Attendance at the contest is expected to surpass the NHL
single-game record, set Nov. 22, 2003 when the Montreal Canadiens and
Edmonton Oilers drew 57,167 to The Heritage Classic at Commonwealth
Stadium in Edmonton, the only outdoor game in NHL history. Ralph
Wilson Stadium capacity exceeds 73,000 and tickets to the game sold
out within several hours of going on sale.
During the regular
season, NBC will be able to select from up to four games on Sunday
afternoons. Thirteen days prior to the scheduled games (on Mondays),
NBC, in conjunction with the NHL, will select one of those games as
the "Game of the Week" to be broadcast during the NBC
window. The other games will remain available to the teams' regional
carrier but will not be televised during NBC's broadcast window.
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NBC's hit weight loss
series "The Biggest Loser" is working with MSN to present
online "'The Biggest Loser' Million Pound Match-Up," an
exciting challenge to America to lose one million pounds during the
course of the show's season, beginning with "The Biggest Loser:
Couples" premiere on Tuesday, January 1 (8-10 p.m. ET).
For the first time ever in the history of the "The Biggest
Loser," teams of two, including a mother and son, husband and
wife, best friends, brothers, a divorced couple and former football
teammates, will compete against each other rather than individuals,
heightening the emotion and tension in the competition. And just like
this season's contestants, viewers at home will also be encouraged to
team up with a partner to lose weight with "'The Biggest Loser'
Million Pound Match-Up," presented by MSN, which helps kick off
the fifth season premiere on New Year's Day.
In keeping with the theme of "The Biggest Loser:
Couples," The Million Pound Match-Up will offer viewers at home
the ability to team up with a partner and build a support system that
will help in their quest to lose weight. Participants will be able to
sign up for the challenge to lose a million pounds beginning December
18th on BiggestLoser.MSN.com. The full site launches on January 1st
and will feature a groundbreaking social networking community.
Utilizing technology provided by Microsoft's Windows Live Spaces,
viewers will be able to match up with a weight loss partner in their
area and discuss their journey in a supportive virtual community.
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NBC was the first among
the late night talk show to announce that they had called hosts Jay
leno and Conan O'Brien back to their Los Angeles and New York sets to
begin production on daily versions of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
and Late Night With Conan O'Brien. On December 17th, the network
issued a release saying, in part, that after two months of repeats,
both late night shows would be returning to the air with new shows in
the new year. The late night shows suspended production due to the
strike by the Writers Guild of America on November 5.
"During the 1988
writers strike, Johnny Carson reluctantly returned to 'The Tonight
Show' without his writers after two months. Both Jay and Conan have
supported their writers during the first two months of this WGA strike
and will continue to support them. However, there are hundreds of
people who will be able to return to work as a result of Jay's and
Conan's decision," said Rick Ludwin, Executive Vice President,
Late Night & Primetime Series.
In a separate statement released on the same day,
Tonight Show host Jay Leno added "This has been a very difficult
six weeks for everybody affected by the writers strike. I was, like
most people, hoping for a quick resolution when this began. I remained
positive during the talks and while they were still at the table
discussing a solution "The Tonight Show" remained dark in
support of our writing staff. Now that the talks have broken down and
there are no further negotiations scheduled I feel it's my
responsibility to get my 100 non-writing staff members, who were laid
off, back to work. We fully support our writers and I think they
understand my decision."
In yet another press release, Conan O'Brien offered "For
the past seven weeks of the writers' strike, I have been and continue
to be an ardent supporter of the WGA and their cause. My career in
television started as a WGA member and my subsequent career as a
performer has only been possible because of the creativity and
integrity of my writing staff. Since the strike began, I have stayed
off the air in support of the striking writers while, at the same
time, doing everything I could to take care of the 80 non-writing
staff members on Late Night. Unfortunately, now with the New Year upon
us, I am left with a difficult decision. Either go back to work and
keep my staff employed or stay dark and allow 80 people, many of whom
have worked for me for fourteen years, to lose their jobs. If my show
were entirely scripted I would have no choice. But the truth is that
shows like mine are hybrids, with both written and non-written
content. An unwritten version of Late Night, though not desirable, is
possible – and no one has to be fired. So, it is only after a great
deal of thought that I have decided to go back on the air on January
2nd. I will make clear, on the program, my support for the writers and
I'll do the best version of Late Night I can under the circumstances.
Of course, my show will not be as good. In fact, in moments it may
very well be terrible. My sincerest hope is that all of my writers are
back soon, working under a contract that provides them everything they
deserve."
-
Editor -
