Morning Report - News from May 4, 1999

POP/ROCK

Streisand Sets Ticketmaster Record: A few isolated seats were still available Monday for Barbra Streisand’s New Year’s Eve concert at the 13,000-capacity MGM Grand Garden arena in Las Vegas, but the box-office receipts for the tickets sold on Sunday, the day they went on sale, constituted the largest single-event gross in Ticketmaster’s history, according to officials of the ticket retailer. The company did not release a total, but prices for the concert, which could be the singer’s final U.S. appearance, range from $500 to $2,500. Streisand’s fee, by some estimates, could be as high as $15 million.

Watching Woodstock: Woodstock ‘99--the three-day concert in Rome, N.Y., featuring a stellar lineup including Aerosmith, Sheryl Crow, Jewel, Korn, Alanis Morissette, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and the Red Hot Chili Peppers--will be carried on pay-per-view with more than 60 straight hours airing from July 23 through 25. Organizers are hoping to attract 35 million households, which would make the concert the highest-grossing pay-per-view event of all time (Woodstock’s 1994 edition holds the current record with revenues exceeding $9 million). The suggested viewing price will be $30 per day, or $60 for all three days.

Kids’ Music Fest: Monica and 98 Degrees will headline the “All That” Music & More Festival, a 40-city concert tour billed as the first-ever kids’ music festival, with scheduled Southland stops July 25 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre and July 26 and 27 at Universal Amphitheatre. The tour, mounted by cable’s Nickelodeon, will be hosted by cast members of the network’s popular series “All That” and will feature an additional schedule of rotating bands, including Tatyana Ali, No Authority and B*Witched.

TELEVISION

Kids’ Choices: Speaking of “All That,” the series joined another Nickelodeon entity, “The Rugrats,” in taking double honors at the cable channel’s 12th annual Kids’ Choice Awards Saturday. “All That” was named favorite TV show, and its star, Kel Mitchell, won for favorite actor; “Rugrats” projects took honors for favorite movie and favorite TV cartoon. A record 6.2 million kids voted for this year’s awards over the Internet, at Burger King restaurants and at Florida’s Universal Studios. Other winners included Drew Barrymore (movie actress), Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen (TV actress), Adam Sandler (movie actor), ‘N Sync (musical group), Will Smith (singer), the Backstreet Boys (favorite song, for “Everybody”), Michael Jordan (male athlete) and Tara Lipinski (female athlete). In addition, former “Home Improvement” star Jonathan Taylor Thomas was this year’s designee for the Kids’ Choice Hall of Fame.

Gumbel Announcement Expected: CBS News is expected to announce today that Bryant Gumbel will return to morning duty as the anchor of “CBS This Morning” when the New York-based show moves to its street-level site in the General Motors building later this year. A former “Today” executive producer, Steve Friedman, who worked closely with Gumbel when the two were at the NBC morning show, is expected to be named to run “CBS This Morning.”

Taking In the ‘View’: After a four-month search, ABC’s “The View” has named 26-year-old California native Lisa Ling as a co-host, filling the spot left open by Debbie Mantenopolous’ departure. Ling, who joined the program on Monday, has been a correspondent for “Channel One News,” seen in schools across the country and hosted the syndicated teen show “Scratch.”

MOVIES

‘Eyes’ Rates an R: Stanley Kubrick’s final film, “Eyes Wide Shut,” has officially received an R rating from the Motion Picture Assn. of America, halting speculation that the movie might have garnered a more restrictive designation because of its sex scenes by married stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

PERFORMING ARTS

Berle Performance Canceled: The Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts has canceled Milton Berle’s scheduled May 22 show to allow the comedian more time to recover from a mild stroke he suffered in January. Berle’s agent said that doctors have advised Berle “to take it easy for the next three months” but that he is expected “back on the stage by early next season.” The Cerritos performance, which was to have celebrated Berle’s 90th birthday, is expected to be rescheduled for next season.

QUICK TAKES

“Noah’s Ark” opened its two-night voyage on NBC with epic ratings, attracting an estimated 34 million viewers on Sunday. That’s easily the biggest audience for any network movie this season. . . . CBS has signed celebrated 13-year-old Welsh soprano Charlotte Church to record “Joan’s Theme” for its miniseries “Joan of Arc,” airing May 16 and 18. . . . “Dead Broke,” a new film starring Paul Sorvino, will debut on the Internet Wednesday at https://www.ifilm.net. The black comedy, directed by Edward Vilga, is the first of four films that the independent filmmakers’ group iFilm Network will premiere on the Internet. . . . Actor Greg Kinnear (“As Good as It Gets”) wed his longtime girlfriend, British model-turned-writer Helen Labdon, on Saturday in Sussex, England. It is the first marriage for each. . . . Country singer Johnny PayCheck, 60, was released from an Atlanta hospital Saturday after five months of treatment for lung and asthma problems. “He sounds great and says he feels great,” his manager said Monday.