More WWE News: Chinese Commentator, JBL's Replacement, Kofi Kingston, More

Posted by Ashish on 12.20.2007

More Thursday WWE news!

- WWE is looking for a Chinese commentator that can speak Madarin Chinese and English. They want someone who is between the ages of 20 and 50, male or female.

- Kofi Kingston is listed as the #4 search on Yahoo right now.

- A decision regarding who will place JBL on the WWE commentator team should be made by tomorrow by Vince McMahon. There is apparently a very short list of people that Kevin Dunn considered to be good from the recent tryouts. Michael Hayes is one of the people being considered. The main thing working against Hayes is that he is also the head writer of Smackdown, so having him be a commentator as well may be too much. [WrestlingObserver.com]

- NBC Universal sent out the following press release today.

NBC UNIVERSAL ENTERTAINMENT CABLE IS THE NUMBER ONE ENTERTAINMENT CABLE GROUP IN PRIME FOR 2007

NBC Universal Nets Deliver Growth Among Key Demos for a Fourth Straight Year

BURBANK, Calif. - December 20, 2007 - The NBC Universal Entertainment Cable Networks, USA Network, SCI FI Channel and Bravo, have all delivered record-breaking ratings results in 2007, making NBC Universal Cable the number one entertainment cable group in average primetime viewership among key demos (excluding Oxygen which was acquired by the group in late November 2007). The NBC Universal Entertainment Cable Group set the pace in 2007, averaging 712,000 adults 18-49 and 736,000 adults 25-54 in primetime through December 9 to top all other cable entertainment groups*. The announcement was made by Jeff Gaspin, President and Chief Operating Officer, Universal Television Group.

"NBC Universal Cable has some of the strongest brands in television and we are experiencing great momentum," said Gaspin. "Whether it's USA essentially being the fifth broadcast network, SCI FI's record-breaking mini-series or Bravo's growing upscale audience, we are providing advertisers with more and more opportunities to reach consumers through first-rate content."

The NBCU Entertainment Cable Group generated increases versus its 2006 results, growing by +5.4% among P18-49 and increasing by +4.2% among P25-54 in primetime. The group has now delivered year-to-year 18-49 and 25-54 gains during all four years since the NBC/Universal merger created the group in 2004.

For the 2007 year through December 9, the NBC Universal Entertainment Cable Group is averaging 736,000 adult 25-54 viewers in primetime, up +4.2% versus the 2006 average of 707,000 and #1 among ad-supported entertainment cable groups ahead of #2 Turner (683,000).

Among the year's highlights:

In a record-breaking year, USA continues its dominance as the #1 ad-supported basic cable channel with its best ratings performance ever. USA has significantly narrowed, and often eliminated, the ratings gap between itself and its nearest broadcast competition. With new episodes of "Monk" on Fridays at 9pm, USA was #1 in all of television in both P25-54 and P18-49. New episodes of "Psych" made USA #2 in all of television in P25-54 and P18-49, behind only ABC. "Burn Notice" made USA the #2 television network in all of television on Thursdays at 10pm during its run in both P25-54 and P18-49, behind only CBS. USA out-delivered ABC for 2007 on Mondays from 9-11pm among M18-49 by +38% and M25-54 by +18% for 2007 with "WWE Monday Night Raw," which was just renewed for an additional two years. Also, USA will have five of the top ten scripted dramas in both demos while no other network had more than two.

For the second consecutive year, USA was the #1 cable network in P25-54, P18-49 and P18-34, and was also the #1 ad-supported cable network among total viewers and households. 2007 was also USA's best year ever with 1.2 million in P18-49, 1.2 million in P25-54, 558,000 in P18-34 and 2.67 million total viewers in primetime.

SCI FI Channel celebrates record-breaking growth in 2007, and highest ranking ever at #4 among Adults 25-54 for Q4 among entertainment cable following only USA, TBS and TNT. Driven by double-digit increases among younger and female viewers, SCI FI was up 21% among Adults18-34 year-to-year and 35% among women 18-34. SCI FI continues to increase viewership year-to-year, ending 2007 with a boost of 6% in P25-54s and 8% in P18-49s.

SCI FI Channel's "Tin Man" miniseries made ratings history - becoming the top entertainment telecast in ad-supported basic cable in over two years and the most-watched program in SCI FI history, surpassing the success of the Channel's previous Emmy-winning events, Steven Spielberg Presents "Taken" and Frank Herbert's "Dune." Tin Man part 1 became the #1 ad-supported entertainment telecast among Adults 25-54 on basic cable in over two years. During its three-night primetime run (December 2-4 at 9-11pm), "Tin Man" averaged a 3.6 HH rating/3.4 million HHs, delivering 5.3 million total viewers (P2+), more than 2.9 million viewers P25-54 and 2.7 million viewers P18-49. "Ghost Hunters" continued to grow in its third season setting series highs in all key demos - and was the #1 show in cable in its time period during the fall season. "Eureka" solidified its position as SCI FI's top summer series, averaging 1.3 million P18-49s and 1.4 million P25-54s in season two, and as a testament to SCI FI's growing appeal with younger viewers, Eureka saw an increase of 8% among Adults 18-34, and 7% among Women 18 - 49.

For the second consecutive year, Bravo achieved its best year, quarter, month and week ever, both on-air and online in 2007, according to Nielsen Media Research and Omniture. With nine consecutive quarters of year-to-year growth, the network set ratings records in every key demographic and among total viewers, growing its adult 18-49 audience and total viewers by 35 and 32%, respectively, since 2005 and nine percent in 2007 alone. Additionally, Bravo's Digital suite of assets (BravoTV.com, TelevisionWithoutPity.com, OutzoneTV.com, getTrio.com, BrillianButCancelled.com) achieved an impressive cumulative growth of 120% year-over-year in page views across all properties, while Bravo's wireless website (WAP) exploded 135 percent in monthly page views vs. 2006.

In a year marked with firsts highlighted by a record 10 Emmy-nominations and four wins, including "Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List" Bravo increased its 8-11p.m., adults 18-49 primetime viewership by 35% (330,000 vs. 244,000) and 32% among total viewers (596,000 vs. 450,000) since 2005. Also for the second year in a row, Bravo dominated the Wednesday 10 p.m. time-period among ad-supported cable networks in A18-49 (averaging a 1.15 coverage rating) with the Emmy-nominated "Top Chef" franchise, "Shear Genius," "Top Design" and multiple Emmy-nominated "Project Runway."

* Source: Nielsen Galaxy Explorer: 12/26/05-12/31/06; 1/1/07-12/9/07, Most Current Data stream: Live + 7 day through 11/25/07, blended with Live + Same Day through 12/9/07; P18-49 and P25-54 average impressions; Includes general entertainment ad supported cable networks that air in more than 50% of the Prime day part; Sports and News Channels excluded.