Tuning In

Dave, Reege, Kelly chat

Associated Press

David Letterman, who infrequently appears on anyone’s show but his own, will make a guest appearance next month on “Live With Regis and Kelly.”

Mr. Letterman, host of CBS’ “Late Show,” will appear Nov. 8, representatives of the syndicated morning chat fest announced Tuesday.

“I think it’s nice that he visits our show once every 10 years,” co-host Regis Philbin told Associated Press by phone. “But I’m very pleased.”

Mr. Philbin and Mr. Letterman have long traded friendly barbs. Mr. Philbin subbed for Mr. Letterman in 2000 when the late-night host underwent heart bypass surgery and again in 2003 while Mr. Letterman recuperated from an eye infection.

’Santa’ Aiken to tour

“American Idol” alumnus Clay Aiken, the most commercially successful graduate of the Fox talent-show series, is planning a nationwide tour for five weeks this holiday season backed by a full orchestra, Reuters News Agency reports.

Mr. Aiken has already confirmed nine cities for his Joyful Noise Tour, which will support an as-yet-untitled Christmas album. The stops include a Dec. 9 show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York and a two-night stand (Dec. 17 and 18) at Atlanta’s Symphony Hall.

The holiday album will be Mr. Aiken’s second full-length release since finishing as runner-up to Ruben Studdard in the second season of “American Idol” in 2003. His RCA debut, “Measure of a Man,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in November 2003 and has sold 2.6 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Mr. Aiken’s first book, an inspirational tome titled “Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life,” will be published Nov. 16 by Random House.

Bad news for NBC

Minus “Friends” or any big breakout hits, NBC has stumbled out of the starting gate this TV season.

The once-proud peacock lost again last week in the only ratings battle it cares about: the 18-to-49-year-old demographic, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

That makes four losses in four weeks of the new TV season. It’s an unaccustomed spot for NBC, which had dominated this age group.

It’s still early, but NBC ranks third this fall behind CBS and a resurgent ABC among all viewers as well as the youthful demographic.

“They’ve lost some of their core properties, and now they have to struggle the way everyone has to struggle when they lose their core properties,” said Stacey Lynn Koerner, a television analyst for Initiative Media. The last episodes of “Friends” and “Frasier” aired in May.

Matt LeBlanc’s new “Joey” is the classic good-news-bad-news case for NBC.

With its 13.4 million viewers last week, it was television’s third-most-popular sitcom, behind “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Two and a Half Men.” It’s also the top-rated new sitcom.

Yet the “Joey” ratings are 34 percent off what “Friends” was doing at the same point last year. Combine that with a 14 percent drop for “The Apprentice” and longtime hit “ER” now losing its time slot to CBS’ “Without a Trace,” and you’ve got some problems on Thursday, traditionally television’s most profitable night.

Meanwhile, “Law & Order” is down 21 percent in the ratings now that it’s competing against CBS’ “CSI: NY.” Likewise, ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” the season’s biggest freshman hit, with 20.9 million viewers Sunday, has caused the ratings to fade for NBC’s “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”

NBC is down 8 percent from last year among all viewers and 10 percent among viewers 18 to 49, while ABC and CBS are up in both categories, Nielsen Media Research said.

Overall, in a week where baseball’s postseason boosted Fox, CBS averaged 12.9 million viewers (8.5 rating, 14 share), Fox had 11.8 million (7.7, 12), NBC 10.2 million (6.7, 11), ABC 10 million (6.5, 11), the WB 4 million (2.6, 4), UPN 3.7 million (2.5, 4) and Pax TV 490,000 (0.3, 1).

A ratings point represents 1,096,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 109.6 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of Oct. 11 through 17 the top five shows, their networks and viewerships were: “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 28.9 million; “CSI: Miami,” CBS, 21.9 million; “Desperate Housewives,” ABC, 20.9 million; “Without a Trace,” CBS, 19.4 million; and “Survivor: Vanuatu,” CBS, 19.2 million.

Compiled by Robyn-Denise Yourse from Web and wire reports.