Morning Report - News from Sept. 14, 2002

TELEVISION

Cronkite Regrets Early Retirement from CBS

More than 20 years after signing off the air for the last time, retired CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite still regrets giving up his career.

A longing to return to work is with him “always, every day,” the 85-year-old newsman said. But it hits him especially hard during major news events such as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: “When the big story is breaking, you want to be there. I knew that was going to happen, I just didn’t know it was going to happen over so many years.”

Cronkite, who now works on documentaries with his son’s company, Cronkite Productions, addressed the annual convention of the American Assn. of Retired Persons in San Diego on Thursday.

He left the evening news in 1981, he explained at the time, to spend more time with his grandchildren.

“I would have stayed quite a bit longer ... knowing what I know now, that I would still have plenty of years to grow up with the kids,” he said in an interview. “Not being on the air, that’s not important. But I’d like to be in the newsroom helping set the agenda.”

Audiences Tune In for Sept. 11 Coverage

Rather than shying away from difficult remembrances of last Sept. 11, viewers appeared to be drawn to them Wednesday night.

According to preliminary Nielsen Media Research ratings, ABC drew 10.8 million viewers during the 8 p.m. hour for a news special drawing on the recollections of World Trade Center survivors. That beat CBS, which had 9.8 million viewers for a program highlighting an exclusive interview in which President Bush reconstructed his actions a year ago. NBC had 8.9 million people tuning in for an hour focusing on air traffic controllers.

Overall, fewer people were watching Wednesday than on the previous week, when Fox alone had more than 22 million viewers for the “American Idol” finale.

Meanwhile, Fox News Channel averaged just more than 1 million viewers on Wednesday, vs. 922,000 for CNN and 316,000 for MSNBC--all three up over their August averages.

FX Won’t Renew Stern’s ‘Son of the Beach’

“Son of the Beach,” FX’s broad, raunchy “Baywatch” parody executive produced by radio personality Howard Stern, is heading for cancellation after three more episodes. Though FX has not made an official announcement, sources say the network won’t renew the series, seen Tuesday nights at 10.

Now in its third year, the show’s ratings haven’t much changed since its debut, despite extensive promotion on Stern’s nationally syndicated morning radio show. This year’s average of 983,000 viewers is slightly higher than its first season.

“Son of the Beach” may still get picked up by another cable outlet.

FX declined comment and calls to Stern’s agent, Don Buchwald, were not returned.

MUSIC

‘Golden’ Conductor to Exit Opera Australia

Opera Australia has effectively fired its high-profile music director, Simone Young, after less than two years in the orchestra pit. She is currently earning critical acclaim conducting the Los Angeles Opera’s “Girl of the Golden West.”

Young’s contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of 2003, the opera company announced Friday, because company finances could not keep up with Young’s artistic ambitions. The opera company’s chief executive, Adrian Collette, said that, while Opera Australia would still welcome Young as a guest conductor, “her future visions are not sustainable by Opera Australia in its current financial position.”

The conductor, whose turn at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion continues through Sept. 22, is said to have been surprised and upset when told several days ago of the decision. Though Young, 40, was not available for comment Friday, she said in a statement: “I have always said that if certain artistic developments could not be made, including an increase in the size of the orchestra and the chorus, and the maintenance of certain vocal standards, I would not continue as music director. This is a very sad position for the national opera company, and the arts in Australia.”

POP/ROCK

Cliff, Stewart Team for Peace Song

Eurythmics star Dave Stewart and reggae legend Jimmy Cliff have teamed up on a song, “Peace for One Day,” that they hope will played by radio stations worldwide on Sept. 21.

That date has been designated by the United Nations as the International Day of Peace, a notion conceived by British filmmaker Jeremy Gilley, another collaborator on the project. Last year, the General Assembly passed a resolution calling for 24 hours of cease-fires and nonviolence.

The tune, provided free to the stations and on the Internet, is to be upbeat rather than maudlin. “We’re not really making a single that we’re trying to get on the charts,” Stewart said. “It’s an idea to uplift people.”

QUICK TAKES

ABC’s “This Week” gets its new host, George Stephanopoulos, on Sunday, and the show is getting a new regular panelist as well. Michel Martin of ABC’s “Nightline” will join longtime contributor George F. Will at the show’s round table. Martin will remain a “Nightline” correspondent and the host of PBS’ “Life 360”.... Veteran jazz vocalist Al Jarreau underwent emergency back surgery at the USC Medical Center Thursday to relieve pressure on his spinal cord. His U.S. tour dates will be rescheduled.... Jude Law and his wife, actress Sadie Frost, became the parents of a third child, a son, in London Tuesday.... Tickets go on sale via Ticketmaster at noon Sunday for a Nov. 4 staged reading of “The World of Nick Adams,” a fund-raiser at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood for the launch of Paul Newman’s Painted Turtle Camp--a Lake Elizabeth, Calif., facility serving 3,500 ill children and their families. Joining Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward: Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Annette Bening, Warren Beatty, Brian Dennehy, Danny DeVito and Kevin Kline.... Fox is shooting a “Baywatch” reunion movie, featuring 15 former cast members, including Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff.... Comedian Jay Mohr will host an NBC series, “Funniest Person in America,” in which 10 comedians will live together and compete for a network development deal.

Elaine Dutka