Fox

Two networks — Fox and ABC — were interested in moving the upfront market late this week, according to media-buying executives. The major networks have been putting in long nights over the last several days to firm up their pricing. Media buyers say Fox is initially asking 14% increases on the cost-per-thousand viewers. That comes with the understanding of Fox’s goal: to get at least 11% to 12% closing price increases.

The two-hour premiere of So You Think You Can Dance delivered Fox an easy ratings win on Thursday night against a broadcast slate rife with reruns. Dance averaged a 3.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 9.1 million viewers overall. That was up 7% compared to last season’s debut for the highest-rated premiere in three years and the most-watched debut in four years.

The upfront advertising market got rolling Thursday night as Fox cut deals with many of the major agencies, according to multiple sources in the market. The sources said Fox got price increases on the low end of double digits.

For the first time in five years, the season finale of Fox’s smash American Idol grew compared to the previous year among adults 18-49. The show also hit a season high among total viewers as Scott McCreery beat out Lauren Alaina in the all-teenager final on the final night of the regular season. Idol averaged an 8.9 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., up 9% over last year and the first time since 2006 that the show has seen year-to-year growth for its season ender. The show also drew 28.2 million total viewers, a season high.

On one of the most competitive nights on broadcast in recent memory, unscripted shows ruled the evening, with ABC, Fox and NBC programs all earning strong ratings. Fox rose to No. 1 on the night on the strength of American Idol, the night’s highest-rated show with a 6.2 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m. That was down 7% from a 6.7 for last year’s penultimate episode.

For the seventh consecutive year, Fox has closed the season as the top-rated broadcast network among the ad-coveted 18-49 demographic, while CBS was the most-watched network for the eighth time in nine years.

Lisa Edelstein — whose long-term contract as Dr. Cuddy expires this month — has opted not to return for the show’s eighth and likely final season.

After the network announced Monday that it will cut back America’s Most Wanted to just four two-hour specials next season, the show’s creator, John Walsh, is talking to Twentieth Television, the network’s studio arm, about possible new outlets for the show.

Fox’s biggest bets for fall are two projects already in the works: Simon Cowell’s new singing contest, The X Factor, to inherit American Idol‘s time slots; and Terra Nova, an ambitious time-travel dinosaur adventure from Steven Spielberg that will likely follow House on Mondays.

Despite the rage of fans, Tuesday night’s Fox massacre is meeting with approval from a number of top talent reps. Their view: The elimination of a raft of bubble shows including Lie to Me, The Chicago Code, Human Target, Breaking In and Traffic Light came from a position of strength.

The group owner’s CEO Perry Sook says nothing has changed in negotiations over the network’s hard-line stance on sharing station retrans revenue.

The network adds new series, including J.J. Abrams’ drama Alcatraz, comedy The New Girl and Bones spinoff The Finder. Human Target, The Chicago Code, Breaking In, Traffic Light and Lie to Me are canceled.

The pickup comes on the heels of renewals for Family Guy and its spinoff The Cleveland Show.

American Idol saw a bump while The Office slid after last week’s exit of Steve Carell on the second Thursday of the May sweeps last night. Idol averaged a 6.1 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., up 7% from last week and leading Fox to an easy victory on the night, 88% ahead of second-place CBS.

Gus Johnson, noted for his play-by-play calls of college basketball for CBS, is in discussions with Fox, sources say. He could play ‘a significant role’ in Fox’s college football coverage, which will soon include the Pac-12.

Despite a dip from last week, American Idol led Fox to a big ratings victory last night, as the network dominated the rather lackluster competition on the other Big Three networks. Fox averaged a 5.4 adults 18-49 rating and 15 share in primetime, nearly double No. 2 CBS’s 2.8/7.

After protracted negotiations, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ board of governors approved the deal Wednesday night with ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.

Fox has renewed its forensic drama series Bones for a seventh season, with a formal announcement expected to come as soon as today. The news comes after another round of down-to-the-wire negotiations between host network Fox and its sister studio 20th TV.

Following Casey Abrams’ Wednesday night performance of Maroon 5’s Harder to Breathe, the American Idol judge commented that Abrams brings out jealousy in others because “You’re so f—ing great.”

In dozens of markets, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC are found on the digital subchannels of full-power stations. The Big Four-D2 affiliations work for the networks and they work for the stations, which might otherwise fill subchannels with second-tier broadcast networks like CW or MNT or one of the myriad start-up networks like ThisTV, LATV, RTN or TheCoolNetwork.

How much will ABC dance away with this spring? Can CBS ride the Hawaii 5-0 wave? Can the new bosses turn around NBC? Here’s a handy guide to what the big names in TV have going for them, and what baggage they carry.

Several station representatives come away from the meeting of Fox affiliates dismayed over the network’s continuing hard-line stance on retrans sharing. One manager said Fox repeated that it would no longer try to negotiate with the affiliate board, and reiterated that individual stations would have to agree to Fox’s price tag or risk losing their affiliation. “It sounded like a threat to me.”

Hopefully, the broadcast networks and their affiliates will use their various meetings at the NAB Show next week to reach some understanding on the contentious issue of retrans sharing. But if the networks and affiliates can’t get their act together soon, they should hire a “statesman” whom everyone respects to mediate, to remind both sides of their mutual interests and get them working together against cable and satellite and not against each other. But who? Who is this statesman or stateswoman who could save broadcasting from itself? I nominate NAB President Gordon Smith.

Steve Waldman, the FCC’s point man of saving local jounalism, might actually do some good by calling for full First Amendment rights for broadcasters. He can start by condemning the fines that the FCC imposed a couple of weeks ago on New Jersey’s tiny WMGM and Fox O&O KMSP Minneapolis for running VNRs. The fines are an affront to the free speech rights of all broadcasters. Waldman should say so and call on Congress to get out of the business of regulating TV and radio content.

American Idol dipped a bit from last week but it still dominated, lifting Fox to an easy victory last night. Idol averaged a 7.5 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., down 5% from the previous week. Fox still managed to better the combined total of the other Big Five networks for the night, however, and Idol more than doubled the rating for the evening’s No. 2 show, CBS’s Criminal Minds, which averaged a 3.4.

News Corp. and Time Warner Cable are trading blows again. This time it’s over an iPad app Time Warner Cable launched this month that allows its subscribers to watch live television in their homes on the Apple device. News Corp., parent of several cable networks including FX, sent a letter to Time Warner Cable telling the pay TV distributor to stop streaming its channels on the iPad, representatives of both companies confirmed.

An FCC source says that the government has exhausted its requests for extensions on the filing deadline for asking the Supreme Court to review the Fox profanity decision, but also says that the Solicitor General, with which the FCC has been consulting, still hasn’t decided whether to appeal.

Can one ever have enough leverage — particularly if you’re at a station negotiating with a network bent on grabbing a slice of your retransmission consent revenue? Here are some creative ideas on different ways to make Fox listen to reason.

Last night’s NCAA regional semifinals, airing on CBS and TBS, scored big gains over last year, when the tourney aired only on CBS and the games were regionalized. Still, that wasn’t nearly enough to lift CBS to a win on the night. Fox’s American Idol rebounded from last week’s season low to average a 6.2 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., up 9 percent week to week.

American Idol dominated the mostly original ratings competition last night, boosting Fox to an easy win on an evening where it more than tripled runner-up CBS’s average.

Marc Fauci jumps from WLNE Providence to WFXT Dedham, MA, part of the Boston DMA. His new title is vice president and general sales manager.

Though CBS had its regular lineup in place, it wasn’t the network’s strongest night. The 9 p.m. drama NCIS: Los Angeles tied a series low with a 3.2 rating, and NCIS, the night’s highest-rated show with a 3.8 at 8 p.m., was flat to its last original episode despite facing a rerun of Glee, Fox’s top scripted show.

Charlie Sheen sat down last Thursday with Mike Darnell, president of alternative entertainment for Fox, David Hill, president of Fox Sports, and Peter Rice, chariman of entertainment for the Fox Networks Group. During the meeting, which lasted more than an hour, the group brainstormed about various possible projects for Sheen, including a late night show.