Married to the Media: February Sweeps: Good Ratings in the "House"

amp160February sweeps are much revered in my house Theyamp8217re an excuse to cocoon and ignore the harsh Chicago winter that Iamp8217m always sick of by this point in the year Theyamp8217re a Valentine delight and a birthday present for my hubby and me Theyamp8217re also a honorary nod to my longgone dad the king of TV fans born smack in the middle of sweeps Feb 15amp160amp160As we headed into sweeps this year I expected to be more disappointed than delighted The WGA strike was still raging and it seemed like there would be little on TV to get excited about I even started to consider even look forward to spending my time on other recreational pursuits But as we sit today with a bit more than a week of sweeps to go I have to say that these sweeps are all right The nets both cable and broadcast patched together a fun month of programming that captured and held audiences and kept us tuning in amp160Fox scored the onetwo punch that Iamp8217m sure will win them this sweeps by carrying the Super Bowl on Feb 3 followed directly by one of three remaining House episodes that they had been saving for the sweeps kickoff The best House episode so far this season aired Feb 5 House battled both the weekly mysterious disease and a devotion to religion which he considers a amp8220symptom of irrational belief and groundless hopeamp8221 We learn much about House Wilson and his new team in this episode and the case and patients were compelling Catch it if you didnamp8217t the next time it reruns or onlineamp160amp160Iamp8217m not a big fan of American Idol but that returned for February sweeps too and it has managed each week to land at No 1 and 2 in the prime time ratings with its Tuesday and Wednesday night shows With House airing after the Tuesday Idol and The Moment of Truth airing in Idolamp8217s Wednesday leadout spot Fox had four of the top five shows in the week of Feb 4 amp160Lost came back during sweeps and each week we find our heads getting more spun around by this twisty story Weamp8217re now flashing forward in time learning that several of our longstranded amp8220Losteesamp8221 have become the amp8220Oceanic Sixamp8221 a splinter group that managed to get off the island How did they do it Why do their lives seem even more messed up once off the island than they ever were on it And how the bleep did that polar bear skeleton wearing the Dharma collar end up in the desert amp160Those are just some of the questions as we slide further into the rabbit hole each week with Lost How smart was ABC to move Lost to Thursdays into the primo spot vacated by the outoffreshepisodes hit Greyamp8217s Anatomy Lost landed in the No 7 slot in the prime time weekly ratings the week of Feb 4 with an 88 household rating a 14 share and 15292000 total viewers according to Nielsenamp160amp160Numb3rs a CBS show I used to watch on Fridays if I couldnamp8217t find anything else took up residence in my heart this sweeps largely because they had new episodes when no one else did I could look forward to a few brand new episodes and because I was discovering in more depth a show I watched only sporadically before even the occasional rerun felt amp8220newamp8221 to me amp160Some of my other favorite shows like Law and Order SVU and Greyamp8217s Anatomy ran out of episodes before sweeps began Having watched those shows faithfully Iamp8217d seen even the reruns more than once so their spots in the schedule were the time I used for other pursuits amp160I found I played on the computer more Iamp8217m already a fan of YouTube and yes I went there more often But I was still watching what I watched before which is primarily regurgitated professional content from the nets montages of scenes of my fave shows set to music are my guilty pleasure goofy usergenerated content like amp8220Ruby the XRated Parrotamp8221 hilarious trust me and footage of Springsteen concerts amp160There may come a day when viewing on my computer surpasses my viewing on TV but that day isnamp8217t here yet Iamp8217ve yet to find a usergenerated amp8220seriesamp8221 that rivals what the nets offer in terms of writing casting content or production quality I also prefer sitting on my couch in front of my 50amp8221 HD widescreen with my fire nearby to sitting in my freezing cold home computer room watching stuff on a 12amp8221 grainy desktop screen amp160Itamp8217s true Iamp8217m not part of the demo that supposedly is migrating to the computer screen in droves but even among that age group I donamp8217t see programs like amp8220lonelygirl15amp8221 and amp8220Chad Vaderamp8221 reaching the popularity of a Greyamp8217s or a House anytime soon amp160Spurred on by a digital class I took at work I also opened an account on FaceBook Not yet a popular place for boomers like myself to connect I expect Iamp8217ll use it mostly to keep in touch with my 20something nieces I have yet to figure out why I should care each time a amp8220friendamp8221 goes to a movie buys a new shirt runs a halfmile or takes a movie quiz but I am looking forward to learning more about this new form of keeping up with those we do care about amp160I also found myself reading more Having access to the everpresent media agency amp8220buckets of magazinesamp8221 my coffee table had been buckling under the weight of the scores of periodicals Cold weather plus the strike netted chunks of reading time allowing me to sort through them all Iamp8217ve perfected Cooking Light made my life Real Simple and my look InStyle and bettered my Life Oprahstyle Iamp8217ve even had time to get through all the great Vanity Fair articles so goodamp8230 yet so long Itamp8217s always a challenge to find time to read them in just one sitting Iamp8217ve even begun and finished a book or twoamp160amp160The strike is now over and our shows will soon be back many by midApril and most in time for May sweeps But this strikealtered February sweeps brought us many good things It brought good TV in the form of repeats of old favorites and a smattering of fresh shows It also freed up time to explore new entertainment choices and to devote to longneglected old ones Iamp8217ve struck a balance between the two that I hope I can maintain even when good weather and new episodes return in the spring

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Married to the Media: February Sweeps: Good Ratings in the "House"

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MAREN YESKA

The Care Economy No One Built -- And the Leader Who Did. Wellthy's Lindsay Jurist-Rosner - By Jack Myers

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Married to the Media: February Sweeps: Good Ratings in the "House"

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MAREN YESKA

The Care Economy No One Built -- And the Leader Who Did. Wellthy's Lindsay Jurist-Rosner - By Jack Myers

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