Say it ain't so! The Martha Stewart Show will go off the air following broadcasting season in April, after suffering from bad ratings on the Hallmark Channel. According to the NY Post, the channel has informed Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia that it no longer makes financial sense to produce the show in its current form. more ›

Despite the pornography controversy, the dropped sponsorships, and the angry parents MTV's Skins skidded off the road in its second outing last night. Without a special Jersey Shore as a lead in the show's ratings dropped 52 percent last night from 3.3 million to 1.6 million (with big drops in the key 18-34 demo). Even a plea for understanding on MTV News from creator Bryan Elsley didn't seem to help. Which leads us to wonder, if MTV makes a controversial show and nobody watches...is it still controversial? more ›

Chinese food is as beloved as Christmas Day in New York, so we're feeling a bit snubbed that we only have two restaurants in this top ten list of America's best Chinese restaurants. And while we could maybe be content losing the #1 spot to somewhere in San Francisco, we have to play fourth-fiddle to Yang Ming Restaurant in Bryn Mawr, PA. Foodie Ed Schoenfeld complained to the Post, "We have some wonderful restaurants in New York that were left off. It's simply wrong—not that there can't be great Chinese restaurants in Tennessee or Alabama but come on..." more ›

The Late Night Drama that started nearly a year ago has come as full circle as it's going to, with Conan O'Brien back on television as a host. He returned with self-mockery, and high ratings last night—drawing more viewers than both Jay Leno and David Letterman. more ›

After an inauspicious debut, the new CNN duo of Eliot Spitzer and Kathleen Parker is definitely trailblazing—if you consider it trailblazing to help bury Larry King. According to TV Newser, "Last night’s “Parker-Spitzer” saw the lowest numbers yet for the program and the show did little to help the one that followed on the schedule — “Larry King Live” which had its worst numbers in more than 10 years. In its sixth outing, “Parker-Spitzer” drew 311,000 Total Viewers and 86,000 A25-54 viewers. That’s lower than the previous low for the time period set by Campbell Brown earlier this year... At 9pmET, “Larry King Live” put up its lowest A25-54 demo viewership since July 2000." more ›

The reviews were terrible and the ratings are more of the same: Media Decoder reports, "The political discussion program, featuring the hosts Kathleen Parker, the conservative columnist, and Eliot Spitzer, the one-time governor of New York, fizzled badly in its initial outing Monday, attracting only 454,000 total viewers." more ›

Remember when NBC fired Conan O'Brien for not getting good ratings, moving Leno back to his old post at The Tonight Show? Then most of America got on Team Coco while Leno prepped for his comeback and O'Brien took his show on the road? Well the numbers are in, and Leno is not only getting lower ratings than O'Brien did, but he's not beating Letterman either (they're tied). Probably should have seen this coming when O'Brien joined Twitter and within hours had double the amount of Leno's followers. [via WWTDD] more ›

According to a new survey from AskMen.com, New York City ranked #1 in the world for the best city to live in if you're a guy. The survey rated 29 cities according to cost of living, weather, jobs, dating, leisure activities and air quality, and New York beat out Melbourne, Tokyo and London. Website editor in chief James Bassil told Reuters, "We're positioning the best cities that you can live in say, for a year, somewhere exotic, with cultural options, and job opportunities as well, and also entertainment as a man, which includes clubs and fresh air options." more ›

According to a Marist Poll, New Yorkers may like Bloomberg more than they let on. The survey [PDF] says, "a plurality of registered voters citywide—38%—say Bloomberg has been the best mayor for New York City in three decades," and 56% of New Yorkers think he is doing well in office (down from his January 69% ratings). So what were the criteria? more ›

It's no surprise why TV news divisions love winter weather events like Snowmageddon/Snowpocalypse 2010—keep hyping it, viewers keep tuning to see what will unfold! Storm Field, weather man (and son of Dr. Frank!) tells the NY Times, "There was a point — I think this goes back 20 years or more — when you had consultants coming in, telling stations weather was something important and you should move it up in the show.... I had these moments where I thought they wouldn’t be happy if I didn’t get on the air like Crazy Eddie and scream, ‘It’s coming, it’s coming, white death from the sky.’" Wait, like this infamous AccuWeather.com guy? more ›

A new poll rated Mayor Bloomberg's job approval at 60 percent, down from 70 percent last year and the lowest it's been since 2005. After eight years, has the tender love affair between New Yorkers and their mayor turned to tepid mutual appreciation? Even if it has, "a lot of politicians would kill for that kind of number," observed pollster Maurice Carroll. more ›

The Jersey Shore cast is taking advantage of their instant fame and cashing in wherever they can. We already know they're making $10,000 per public appearance, but now they're asking for that same amount per episode for the second season (they received a few hundred per episode the first season). According to the NY Post, they're arguing the cast of The Hills, which rates lower, get $100,000 per episode. They're sticking together, saying if they don't get what they want, none of them will return. Snooki also mentioned she's looking to hire a bodyguard, noting: "When we try to go to TGI Friday's or Applebee's, we can't eat because people go crazy." (Just think of all the buffalo wings they'll be able to get with the new pay increase!) And if you're planning to check out Pauly D tonight at Sutton Place, don't expect the rest of the cast to be there — they've been invited to P. Diddy's son's birthday party. more ›

A new Siena poll shows that Governor Paterson's rating have improved a little bit. Apparently 36% have a favorable view of him, up from 27% in the spring. However, 65% of voters surveyed would rather vote for someone else in the 2010 election. Voters will prefer Andrew Cuomo—but in a matchup vs. Rick Lazio, Paterson finally beats him, 42% to 39%. Guess that reinvention plan can't come soon enough! more ›

John McCain may have been more involved during his appearance on SNL, but his running mate Sarah Palin is still stealing his thunder. While she got the show its highest ratings in 14 years (15 million viewers), McCain's appearance only drew 12 million. Overall, however, the Daily News reports that Saturday's show had its "second highest audience in Nielsen's sample of major markets in 11 years" (whatever that means), and "Saturday's telecast was up 73% when compared to a year ago." Perhaps an Obama appearance would have delivered SNL its highest ratings ever, but he chose to spread the wealth with his network-spanning informercial. Meanwhile, NBC points out though McCain can take a joke, the Palin ones can bother him, which might "explain... 'frosty' chemistry between Tina Fey and McCain." Good thing they didn't refer to that prank call. more ›

No word on how (and if) Sarah Palin's appearance on Saturday Night Live will help out the Republican's campaign, but it certainly helped out Lorne & Co. Word is that the show saw its highest household ratings in more than 14 years (to be more specific: since March 12, 1994, when Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan hosted). To put it in a more recent perspective, ABC reports that the ratings were up 47% compared to the October 4th episode. Somewhere, Marky Mark is crediting himself for this. Meanwhile, in the D.C./Northern Virginia market, Obama aired a new television spot during Saturday's episode, targeting women and focuses on "McCain's position on women's compensation, health care, Social Security and abortion rights." McCain told a Virginia crowd on Saturday that he thought Palin and Fey were "separated at birth." more ›

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was unsparing in his criticism of radio ratings measuring company Arbitron, which just rolled out new measuring devices. Cuomo's statement reads, "Arbitron's decision to release its unreliable and unaccredited radio ratings system is an affront to racial and ethnic minorities in New York and around the country... Arbitron's unwillingness to defend the validity of their system on its merits proves it places its own economic incentives over the interests of minority broadcasting," and warns radio broadcasters and advertisers against using the devices. The NY Times reports the AG's office doesn't think the new system "adequately account[s] for young African-Americans and Hispanics, people who do not speak English, and cellphone-only households" and will sue Arbitron later this week. more ›

And the winner is. . .Despite having ancient looking graphics that can be seen from across the street, a set that looks like it is from a station in Iowa, and a love of sprinkling kicker stories throughout the newscast, WABC’s Eyewitness News and the station overall is yet again at the top of the ratings among the big three for February. more ›

Considering that most smokers pick up the nasty habit during their impressionable adolescent years, it makes sense to put off exposing the tykes to the temptation until they're old enough to poison themselves. Riding that puff of thought, the State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines wrote an open letter earlier this month to film makers this week asking them to refrain from including smoking scenes in G, PG, and PG-13 rated movies. more ›

Terrible 2 No More If you were to compare WCBS today with WCBS a year ago, you would definitely notice that something has changed. Sure, the graphics and music have changed, but that isn’t really it: What happened is that the station has finally gotten a clearer focus - not just because the station went HD. It's in the quality of the product they put on air and what CBS has been covering. It was... more ›