or


20/20
Air Date: Friday, February 20, 2009
Time Slot: 10:00 PM-11:00 PM EST on ABC
Episode Title: "N/A"
[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]

BRIAN ROSS INVESTIGATES THE SECRET WORLD INSIDE THE BERNIE MADOFF SCANDAL, ON "20/20," FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20 Plus: "Sopranos'" Actor Lillo Brancato Speaks for the First Time Since Being Sentenced to 10 Years in Jail Following the Murder of a New York Police Officer And: Diane Sawyer Updates Last Week's Report, "A Hidden America: Children of the Mountain," Which Received Enormous Reaction from Viewers ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross takes viewers inside the secret world of Bernie Madoff, the financial advisor accused of running the biggest financial scam in history � a decades-long Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors who included movie stars and business moguls, the rich and famous, of $50 billion. How did Madoff fool his investors? Where did the billions of dollars go? With exclusive interviews and never-before-seen videos, Ross follows the man, the money and the angry investors who lost face and fortune. Ross also reports on how the scandal has rocked the Jewish community in the wealthy, high-society enclave of Palm Beach, and has exposed anti-Semitic feelings. The exclusive report airs on "20/20," FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. Plus: In 1993, as his young face lit up the screen in "A Bronx Tale," then 16-year old Lillo Brancato looked like a teenager on the brink of showbiz greatness. But 16 years later Brancato, who appeared in the "Sopranos," is in jail for an attempted robbery that ended with the death of a New York police officer. In his first interview since being sentenced to 10 years in prison, he speaks candidly to Chris Connelly from Riker's Island about his drug use and the crime that killed his career. And: In response to the enormous reaction to Diane Sawyer's report last Friday, "A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains," "20/20" will update the latest on the families profiled, as well as look at possible poverty solutions from local to state levels. "20/20" is anchored by Elizabeth Vargas and John Stossel. David Sloan is executive producer. ABC News Media Relations: Alyssa Ziegler Apple (212) 456-1624 -- ABC -- February 19, 2009 IN AN UNPRECEDENTED MORNING TELEVISION EVENT, U2 TO PERFORM LIVE ON ABC's "GOOD MORNING AMERICA," FRIDAY, MARCH 6 In an unprecedented morning television event, ABC's "Good Morning America" is thrilled to announce it will host U2's first live morning show performance, Friday, March 6. The "GMA" performance will coincide with the highly anticipated release of U2's 12th studio album, "No Line on the Horizon," on Tuesday, March 3. The Emmy Award-winning "Good Morning America" is co-anchored by Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts. Chris Cuomo is the news anchor and Sam Champion is the weather anchor. The morning news program airs live Monday through Friday from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m., ET on the ABC Television Network. Karen Rhee is the senior entertainment producer. Jim Murphy is the senior executive producer and Tom Cibrowski is the executive producer. ** Please note: media interested in covering this event will need to credential in advance. Space is limited and not all media requesting credentials will be allowed admittance. More information on the performance will be made available closer to the date. ABC News Media Relations: Bridgette Maney � bridgette.maney@abc.com -- ABC -- OSCAR.COM AND SPRINT ALLOW FANS TO PREDICT OSCAR WINNERS IN A NEW INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE The exclusive "Oscars� Live Challenge" Application Offers Chat, Trivia, Polls and a Leaderboard That Tracks Fans' Predictions on Sprint Phones and Oscar.com BURBANK, Calif. and OVERLAND PARK, Kan. � Feb. 19, 2009 � Oscar.com, the official guide to the 81st Academy Awards, and Sprint today announced an exclusive new application to make Oscar Night� a truly interactive experience for movie lovers. "Oscars Live Challenge" offers movie fans a chance to test their skills at choosing the Oscar winners. Before and during Oscar Night, Sprint customers and visitors to Oscar.com can make their predictions on this year's nominations. On Oscar Night, fans can also answer trivia questions and participate in up-to-the-second opinion polls. Additionally, they can chat together about this year's winners and see how they score with an immediate real-time community leaderboard. "Oscars Live Challenge" is available now on 49 Sprint handsets, including the popular Samsung Instinct. The application is available at no charge with any Sprint data plan. To download the application via the Sprint Digital Lounge, visit www.sprint.com/digitallounge. The 81st Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009 at the Kodak Theatre in the Hollywood and Highland Center�. It will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST). ABOUT OSCAR.COM Oscar.com, the official site of the Academy Awards�, is a joint production of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Disney-ABC TV Group's digital media team. Oscar.com provides movie fans with exclusive Oscar coverage, featuring nominee biographies, style and fashion news, and original video commentary. ABOUT SPRINT NEXTEL Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving nearly 51 million customers at the end of the third quarter 2008; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com. Media Contacts: Karen Hobson, ABC, (818) 569-7789 Aaron Radelet, Sprint, (703) 433-8246 -- ABC -- February 19, 2009 TWO PREMIERE EVENTS FOR ABC' "THE VIEW": ENTERTAINER TOM JONES PERFORMS LIVE, FEB. 24; CO-HOSTS JUDGE THEIR FIRST-EVER "MUTT DOG SHOW," LIVE, FEB. 26 New "Bank on �The View'" with tips and advice on shopping and saving m$ney, live, Feb. 23 Next week, ABC's "The View" will unveil two premiere events. Entertainer Tom Jones makes his first appearance on the popular talk show, live, Tuesday, Feb. 24 and performs two of his hit songs. On Thursday, Feb. 26, the co-hosts will judge their first-ever "Mutt Dog Show," live. Guests featured FEB. 23-27 (11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, ET) will include Jane Fonda ("33 Variations"), comedian Jeff Foxworthy, Rob Lowe (ABC's "Brothers & Sisters"), Jason Mesnick (ABC's "The Bachelor") and musical guest Labelle. A new installment of "Bank on �The View'" will provide tips and advice on ways to shop and save m$ney, live, Thursday, Feb. 23. "The View" features Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd. It's the original forum in which real women discuss everyday issues and share their no-holds-barred opinions and engage in colorful conversations. Since its launch, "The View" has received 24 Daytime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Talk Show. The show has received numerous nominations, including eleven consecutive nominations for Outstanding Daytime Talk Show and Outstanding Talk Show Host. Visit "The View" on the Web at abc.com/theview. The program is broadcast in HDTV with 5.1-channel surround sound and is currently in its 12th season on ABC. "The View" is now available to watch online daily at 4:00 p.m., ET / 1:00 p.m., PT on the ABC Digital Full Episode Player at ABC.com. Scheduled guests for the week of Feb. 23-27 are as follows (subject to change): MONDAY, FEB. 23 � Jane Fonda ("33 Variations"); "Bank on �The View'" with tips and advice on ways to shop and save money. TUESDAY, FEB. 24 � Musical guest Tom Jones marks his first appearance on "The View." WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25 � Jeff Foxworthy; musical guest Labelle. THURSDAY, FEB. 26 � "Day of Hot Topics"; "The View" co-hosts judge their first-ever "Mutt Dog Show." FRIDAY, FEB. 27 � Rob Lowe (ABC's "Brothers & Sisters"); Jason Mesnick (ABC's "The Bachelor"); co-host Joy Behar's Month-in-ReVIEW." ABC Daytime Media Relations: Karl T. Nilsson (212) 456-7955, Karl.T.Nilsson@abc.com -- ABC -- February 19, 2009 SCHEDULED GUESTS ON ABC'S "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE," FEBRUARY 22-27 "Jimmy Kimmel Live" airs every weeknight (12:05-1:05 a.m., ET), following "Nightline" and features a diverse lineup of guests that include celebrities, athletes, musical acts, comedians and human interest subjects, along with comedy bits and a house band. Following are the episodes scheduled to air the week of February 22-27 (subject to change): February 22 Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Academy Awards� special February 23 1. Musical group Jonas Brothers ("Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience") 2. Musical guest Darius Rucker February 24 1. Actor Don Rickles February 25 1. Actor Rob Lowe ("Brothers & Sisters") 2. Reality personality Khloe Kardashian ("Keeping up with the Kardashians") 3. Musical guest The Living Things February 26 1. Actress Calista Flockhart ("Brothers & Sisters") 2. Actor John Michael Higgins ("Fired Up!") 3. Stand-up comedienne Nick DiPaolo Jimmy Kimmel and Jill Leiderman serve as executive producers and Jason Schrift and Douglas DeLuca serve as co-executive producers. Emmy Award-winning "Jimmy Kimmel Live" is shot live in front of a studio audience and produced by Jackhole Industries in association with ABC Studios. (CLOSED- CAPTIONED) Enjoy "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on the web at www.abc.com. Each episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" will be available on ABC.com the day after airing on the network for users to watch online Artwork is available on www.abcmedianet.com. ABC Media Relations: Edwin Escobar (818) 460-7758 -- ABC -- February 19, 2009 Quick Take for Wednesday, February 18, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings) With its Best Young Adult Results on the Night in 4 Weeks, ABC Holds No. 2 To Fox and Posts its 3rd Straight Week of Year-to-Year Wednesday Increases Repeat "Lost" Beats Original "Knight Rider" in Viewers and Adults 18-49 from 8-9pm Qualifying as Wednesday's No. 1 Scripted TV Show for the 5th Straight Week in Adults 18-49, "Lost" Defeats Fox's "Idol"-Fueled "Lie to Me" by a Best-Yet 21% Hitting Season Highs, "Lost" Marks the Series' Highest Young Adult Numbers Since Last April and Marks its Strongest Ratings with Key Men in Nearly 1 Year "Life on Mars" Pulls its Best Numbers Since its Premiere in the Time Period Wednesday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.) With its top numbers on the night in 4 weeks (since 1/21/09), ABC finished No. 2 to an "Idol"-boosted Fox on Wednesday night among Adults 18-49 (3.0/8) and Adults 18-34 (2.7/8). � ABC's Wednesday night results were up sharply year to year, jumping by 2.1 million viewers (7.5 million vs. 5.4 million) and by 50% in Adults 18-49 (3.0/8 vs. 2.0/5) over the year-ago night (2/20/08). In fact it was ABC's 3rd straight week to register year-to-year young adult growth on Wednesday, finishing up or even with the year-ago night for 5 weeks in a row. "Lost" (8:00-9:00 p.m.) In the 8 o'clock hour, ABC's repeat of the prior week's "Lost" episode defeated NBC's original installment of "Knight Rider" in both Total Viewers (5.6 million vs. 5.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.9/5 vs. 1.5/4), holding an impressive 27% advantage over the NBC drama in the key young adult sales demo. "Lost" (9:00-10:00 p.m.) Self-starter "Lost" shot up from its lead-in by 5.7 million viewers and by 168% in young adults to dominate the 9 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49, beating Fox's "Idol"-fueled "Lie to Me" by a best-yet 21% (5.1/12 vs. 4.2/10). Additionally, "Lost" established itself as Wednesday's No. 1 scripted TV show for the 5th straight week in the key young adult sales demo. The fifth-year ABC drama also won its time slot in the other key Adult demos, leading its nearest competitors by 30% in Adults 18-34 (4.8/13 vs. 3.7/10 � Fox's "Lie to Me") and by 10% in Adults 25-54 (5.4/12 vs. 4.9/11 � CBS' "Criminal Minds"). In fact, "Lost" registered as Wednesday's No. 1 scripted TV program across all key Adult, Men and young Women demographics. � Achieving season highs, "Lost" marked the series' highest young adult ratings (AD18-49/AD18-34) since last April (since 4/24/08) and its top Men 18-34 and Men 18-49 numbers in nearly 1 year (since 2/28/08 and 3/6/08, respectively). "Life on Mars" (10:00-11:00 p.m.) Opposite originals of CBS' "C.S.I.: NY" and NBC's "Law & Order," "Life on Mars" took second in the 10 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49 (2.1/6-tie) and ranked No. 1 with Adults 18-34 (1.7/5-tie). The freshman ABC drama won the hour among Men 18-34 (1.5/5). � "Life on Mars" turned in best-since-premiere numbers in the time period with Total Viewers (5.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.1/6). Episodic Photography: Click here for last night's Lost episode photography A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 30% currently, from 23% at the same point in 2008. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen. Source: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings), 2/18/09. Contacts: Jeff Lindsey (818) 460-5095 / Pons Rongavilla (818) 460-5615 / Susan Sewell (212) 456-1508 -- ABC -- END

Share |