ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Summer Ratings Woes: The nation may have been setting off fireworks over the July 4 weekend, but the major networks fired nothing but duds, with last week’s prime-time viewing down even from its dismal showing the same time last year, based on results issued Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. The top-rated show, a Wednesday installment of ABC’s newsmagazine “20/20,� delivered just 12.6 million viewers, while numbers were also down for reruns of popular sitcoms, including CBS’ “Everybody Loves Raymond� and NBC’s “Frasier.� (Complete rankings will be published in Friday Calendar.)

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Getty Acquisition: Enhancing its position as an important repository of medieval art with the acquisition of a rare French Gothic work, the J. Paul Getty Museum has purchased an early 13th century illuminated manuscript known as the Avranches Psalter. The 344-page work, which contains nine illustrations inspired by the biblical Book of Psalms, was acquired from a private collection at an undisclosed cost. The manuscript--by a seminal medieval painter known as the Master of the Ingeborg Psalter--will go on view at the museum in February.

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Olney Named KCET Host: KCET’s “Life & Times Tonight� gets a pair of new hosts on Monday: popular KCRW-FM (89.9) radio host Warren Olney and Val Zavala, an 11-year KCET veteran who is the station’s vice president of news and public affairs. KCET said the pair will fill a void left by the January departure of news anchor Yolanda Nava. Meanwhile, the role of longtime hosts and interviewers Patt Morrison, Hugh Hewitt and Kerman Maddox is undetermined, but a station spokeswoman said talks are ongoing and “we want them to continue to contribute in commentary or other ways.� Olney, meanwhile, will continue to host his twice daily KCRW show, “Which Way, L.A.?�

QUICK TAKES

Limp Bizkit’s “Significant Other� is the nation’s No. 1 album for the second week, with 335,000 units sold. The rest of the Top 5 also remains unchanged: The Backstreet Boys claim No. 2, followed by Ricky Martin and the soundtracks to “Wild Wild West� and “Tarzan.� . . . Blues Traveler frontman John Popper underwent an angioplasty late last week to clear a blocked artery in his heart, the band’s record label has announced. Popper, 32, had checked into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center last Thursday after suffering chest pains. The announcement noted that he checked out of the hospital on Saturday but has postponed all public appearances this month. . . . Woodstock 99 has partnered with cable’s Independent Film Channel to present the first Woodstock Film Festival as part of this year’s 30th anniversary concert event, July 23-25 in Rome, N.Y. More than 40 independent films--including both old and new releases--will be shown in a converted airplane hangar.