Theo came to Cincinnati Monday with his handler, puppeteer Peter Linz, and Between The Lions head writer Norman Stiles, to promote their series, which airs weekdays at 11:30 a.m. (Channels 14, 54) and 4:30 p.m. (Channels 48, 16).

        Producers are completing a second season of 25 shows, which premiere April 2. Celebrity guests will include Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Roma Downey, Al Roker and Jasmine Guy. The young target audience (ages 4-7) also will be introduced to Shakespeare by lion librarians Theo and Cleo.

        “We really do think we've made Shakespeare accessible to kids. I think they'll know who Shakespeare is by the end of the show,” says Mr. Stiles, a former Sesame Street head writer.

        Mr. Stiles says research has shown that older children “think the show is cool,” which helps expose Between the Lions to younger children in a home. “It held their attention better than Pokemon,” he says.

        University of Kansas research last summer revealed that kindergartners who watched the show had a greater knowledge of word sounds than children who did not watch it.

        Radio ratings: WLW-AM (700) completed a sweep of the 2000 radio ratings by winning the fall quarter (September-December).

        The talk and sports station was helped by the presidential election and recount, which gave listeners plenty to talk about. “It was the story that galvanized talk radio,” says Darryl Parks, AM operations director for Clear Channel here.

        Country music station WUBE-FM (105.1) was second with listeners age 12 and older, while urban contemporary WIZF-FM (100.9) jumped into third place. WIZF-FM was No. 8 in summer and last winter.

        WEBN-FM (102.7), which won the fall quarter a year ago, fell to fourth. Its new competition, WAQZ-FM (97.3), moved up from No. 21 a year ago to No. 15. (Fall Arbitron ratings do not include any boost WAQZ-FM, also known as Channel Z, has received from adding Howard Stern's morning show on Jan. 4.)

        Jazz station WNOP-AM (740), which rarely had enough listeners to show up in the Arbitron list, was tied for last place with five other stations. WNOP-AM changed to all-Catholic programming Jan. 1.

        Here is the ranking and audience share (percentage of listeners) for listeners age 12 and older for fall (September-December):

        1. WLW-AM, 9.2; 2. WUBE-FM, 7.4; 3. WIZF-FM, 6.6; 4. WEBN-FM, 6.5; 5. WRRM-FM, 6.3; 6. WKFS-FM, 6.0; 7. WMOJ-FM, 5.3; 8. WOFX-FM, 4.9; 9. WKRC-AM, 4.8; 10. WGRR-FM, 4.7;

        11. WKRQ-FM, 3.7; 12. WVMX-FM, 3.6; 13. WYGY-FM, 3.2; 14. WSAI-AM, 2.8; 15. WAQZ-FM, 2.5; 16. WHKO-FM, 1.0; 17. WCKY-AM, 0.9; 18. WCIN-AM, 0.8; 19. (tie) WNLT-FM, WPFB-FM, 0.7;

        21. WCVG-AM, 0.6; 22. (tie) WDBZ-AM, WMMX-FM, 0.5; 24. (tie) WNOP-AM, WLQT-FM, WSCH-FM, WTUE-FM, WFCJ-FM, WGTZ-FM, 0.4.

        Burying Dr. Laura: Dr. Laura Schlessinger's daytime Dr. Laura show, which has been canceled by Paramount Television, has been moved by WCPO-TV to 12:35 a.m. weekdays.

        The talk show, hosted by the popular radio personality, will remain on Channel 9's schedule into early September.

        Dr. Laura, plagued by criticism by gays for her remarks about homosexuality, never matched the popularity of her nationally syndicated Clear Channel radio show (9 a.m.-noon weekdays, WKRC-AM, 550). Procter & Gamble and most major national advertisers refused to sponsor the show.

        Jeopardy! reruns from last season — sold as “daytime Jeopardy!,” have been added to Channel 9's weekday schedule at 10 a.m. Monday.

        Curtis Court has been moved from 12:35 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

        Bill Fee, Channel 9 general manager, had planned to move the syndicated HouseCalls show from 1:05 a.m. to daytime, but the series ceased production Friday.

        Talk show highlights: Howie Mandel on Live with Regis (9 a.m., Channel 9); Julie Andrews on The View (11 a.m., Channel 9); Drew Carey on Rosie O'Donnell (3 p.m., Channel 5); Oprah Winfrey updates past guests (4 p.m., Channel 9).

        All that Jazz: Here are my Top 10 favorite songs in order of appearance from tonight's seventh episode of Ken Burns' Jazz (9 p.m., Channels 48, 54, 16),a film called “Dedicated to Chaos” (1940-45):

        “Bird Gets the Worm,” Charlie Parker, 1947; “Dizzy Atmosphere,” Charlie Parker and the Dizzy Gillespie Sextet, 1945; “Now's the Time,” Charlie Parker's Reboppers, 1945; “In the Mood,” Glenn Miller Band, 1944; “Take the A Train,” Duke Ellington, 1941; “Bird of Paradise,” Charlie Parker Quintet, 1947; “Sweet Georgia Brown,” Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, 1950s; “Summertime,” Artie Shaw, 1945; “Solitude,” Billie Holiday, 1941; “American Patrol,” Glenn Miller Band, 1944

        A complete Jazz music list is posted at Enquirer.com

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