Remember the mesmerizing yule log video, a three-hour fireplace experience for the small screen, complete with crackling sounds and an endless loop of unburning wood? With this kitschy classic, all you needed was a pine-scented deodorizer and you had a high-tech, low-class holiday.
Now, in the age of niche marketing, comes the yule log substitute for the sippy-cup demographic.
Honestly, the PBS preschool block Sprout TV (on demand, online and on TV) has come up with the public- broadcasting equivalent of the fire log video. This is so crazy-brilliant, it just might work.
Sprout, locally on Comcast channel 119 and aimed at kids ages 2-5, has a solution for getting the kiddies to bed on Christmas Eve. From 4 p.m. Dec. 24 through 3 o’clock Christmas morning, Sprout will air its first “Snooze-A-Thon,” “an 11-hour, uninterrupted block showcasing popular nighttime host Nina (Michele Lepe) and her puppet sidekick Star (the sofa cushion with arms) from ‘The Good Night Show’ snoozing comfortably on the set.”
Insert joke here (user-generated content!) about PBS being regularly a snooze anyway.
The only aspect they don’t seem to have thought through is why the deal ends at 3 in the morning? What’s a toddler supposed to watch then?
The snooze-a-rama is intended to help overexcited kids wind down while checking for the sound of reindeer paws (hooves?) through the night. They can see that their TV friends are fast asleep and assume they should be, too. Note to self: Save to DVR for when the Ambien runs out.
ABC’s “Lost”
“Lost” will be found on Thursdays when it returns — finally — Jan. 31. The good news in ABC’s midseason lineup, announced Friday, is that the network has moved the serial drama out of the way of Fox ratings monster “American Idol.”
The bad news is, this bounces the rather challenging hour to its third time period in four years. “Lost” will take the “Grey’s Anatomy” slot in January. “Grey’s” is out of fresh episodes because of the writers strike; “Lost” has eight in the can.
It remains to be seen whether “Lost” will air an uninterrupted season of 16 episodes as planned. Or will it again frustrate fans’ enjoyment of the intricate story line by going away for several months after eight episodes? That depends on the strike ending sooner rather than later.
As the dial turns
Ginger Delgado, a solid reporter at KUSA-Channel 9 for 10 years (she won an Emmy for Columbine coverage), just finished her first sweeps as reporter and backup anchor for KWGN-Channel 2. She left KUSA when her part-time position was eliminated. After weighing offers from two local outlets, she went with Denver’s CW affiliate.
“She ups the ante,” said news director Carl Bilek.
She deserves the positive feedback.
Newest hire at Channel 2 is co-anchor and morning reporter Kellie MacMullen, Colorado native and CU-Boulder grad.
Channel 9 has hired Simone Wilkinson, a former Bloomberg News reporter, as a business reporter (joining Gregg Moss), scheduled to start in January.
Hitch-fest
HDNet Movies is running a 10-film Hitchcock marathon on New Year’s Eve starting with “Frenzy,” at 1:30 a.m., in the wee hours of Monday, Dec. 31 and running through “Rear Window and “Psycho” on Jan. 1.
Cable’s big year
Year-end reports reveal 2007 to be a landmark year for cable TV. Drawing viewers away from traditional broadcast television, cable this year delivered the best primetime numbers for 35 ad-supported cable networks, led by No. 1 USA Network with the most viewers in its history, at 2.7 million.
Jack Wakshlag, Turner’s chief research officer, called it a “transformative” year for cable.
Disney Channel’s “High School Musical 2” was the highest-rated movie in the history of cable — it drew more than 18 million viewers on the live-plus-seven-day measure used by Nielsen Media Research.
TNT’s series “The Closer,” the CNN/You Tube primary debate, and Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” were all cited as contributing to cable’s best-ever performance, in their various categories.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
