Stars Power ‘Millionaire’

The stars are clearly shining on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” which has exploded out of the starting gate for the May sweeps with record ratings for its episodes featuring celebrity contestants.

In fact, barring a miracle courtesy of “Jesus” or “Jason and the Argonauts”--high-profile miniseries upcoming on CBS and NBC, respectively--any suspense about who will win the sweeps, a four-week survey local stations use to determine advertising rates, could be over faster than you can say “final answer.”

ABC didn’t experience any ill effects from the disruption of service in more than 3% of U.S. homes Monday due to its dispute with Time Warner cable, as its first celebrity edition of “Millionaire” drew nearly 36 million viewers--the biggest audience yet for the program.

The quiz show hit exhibited no signs of slowing Tuesday, as ratings increased in the 48 major cities monitored nightly by Nielsen Media Research, though national estimates were delayed due to processing problems created by the Time Warner flap. Both nights, “Millionaire” has easily exceeded viewing of CBS, NBC and Fox combined in its time slot.

Through Wednesday, Drew Carey and Rosie O’Donnell have been the big winners on the celebrity shows, earning $500,000 each for their respective charities, the Ohio Library and For All Kids foundations.

Chef Emeril Lagasse garnered $125,000, while David Duchovny, Dana Carvey, Vanessa L. Williams and Kathie Lee Gifford each tallied $32,000--the minimum their charities were assured for appearing.

Because stars were guaranteed $32,000, the producers allowed them to help one another and play around with the answers reaching that level. After that, celebrities were supposed to be on their own.

Queen Latifah, ‘N Sync’s Lance Bass and Ray Romano are featured on tonight’s program. All told, the program will donate more than $2 million to charity, with each star getting a chance in the show’s “hot seat.”

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The celebrity editions have demonstrated that even with “Millionaire’s” huge ratings, the show can still raise those numbers to new heights with such stunts. In addition to this week’s shows, ABC will present a three-night “Tournament of Champions,” featuring previous winners, beginning May 21.

All told, ABC will air 18 hours of “Millionaire” during the sweeps, including a “behind-the-scenes” special scheduled opposite the season finale of “ER” on May 18.

That special addresses one of the few complaints ABC affiliates have had regarding the series--namely, ABC’s decision to air it at 8 or 9 p.m. doesn’t benefit stations as much as it would if the program played at 10 p.m., where it could funnel viewers into late local newscasts.

ABC has won the last two sweeps overall but finished behind NBC, whose arsenal includes “ER” and “Law & Order,” in terms of average ratings from 10:30 to 11 p.m.--the key half-hour leading directly into local news.

“Millionaire” has undoubtedly become what networks like to call “appointment viewing,” with people showing up at the ordained time and then flipping elsewhere once the program ends. On Monday, for example, the conclusion of ABC’s expensive miniseries “Arabian Nights” slipped through the evening and averaged 15.2 million viewers, a 15% decline compared to the opening night and less than half the audience that tuned in for the quiz show.

ABC still scored commanding victories Monday in the U.S.’ two largest TV markets, New York and Los Angeles, despite the fact that 21% and 7% of homes in those areas, respectively, were denied the network’s signal over Time Warner systems. ABC appeared more seriously damaged in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Houston, where roughly four in 10 of households receive ABC via Time Warner.

As for local ABC-owned outlet KABC-TV, officials said impact from the blackout was minimal, as the channel ranked first with most of its newscasts--the source from which TV stations derive the lion’s share of their revenue.

“It looked like a normal day,” KABC spokesman Bill Burton said regarding the ratings.