Good morning. It's
Tuesday, April 20, 2004,
and this is your first early morning
briefing.
Fox is ready to let you know what they have planned this summer.
You'll notice a battery of new series, both scripted and un-, as well as
continuing in the thus far successful strategy of airing a new ep and a
repeat, all in one week. The summer schedule looks like this (with
premiere dates in brackets): North Shore [6/14] will air Mondays at 8pm,
followed by Mark Burnett's The Casino [6/14]. On Tuesdays, Bernie
Mac begins the night, followed by a repeat of new sitcom Method & Red
(orig airs on Wed.); and The Jury (Levinson & Fontana)[6/8] airs at
9pm. On Wednesdays, That 70's Show [r], new sitcom The Quintuplets
[6/16], The Simple Life 2 [6/16 - in its first week, this show will
premiere at 8p, a second airing at 9p, thereafter it will air only at 9p]
and Method & Red [6/16]. On Thursday nights, look for a Totally
Outrageous Behavior, followed by World's Craziest Videos, and a repeat at
9p of Burnett's The Casino. Friday is repeat night with North Shore
and The Jury. On Saturdays, the usual (if it ain't broke ...) Cops,
Cops and AMW. And Sunday nights will be Oliver Beene, King of the
Hill, Simpsons, Quintuplets [r], Malcolm in the Middle, Arrested
Development. For those of us attending Fox's Upfront Presentation
next month, Gail Berman warns it won't be your average upfront with an
array of new series, some tape of each new show, and the traditional
parade of stars. The deal this year is to make sure you're all
aware of the network's 12-month launch schedule, its move away from the
September-May programming season and how that will play out.
A coalition of broadcasters that included Fox Entertainment Group
Inc., Viacom Inc., Directors Guild of America, The Writers Guild, Screen
Actors Guild, The First Amendment Project, Radio One, Inc., Margaret Cho,
Penn & Teller, The Creative Coalition, among others, are mad as hell
and they're not going to take it any more. The coalition is
petitioning the FCC to change is profanity ruling, and says the
Commission has now reached beyond its constitutional borders. The
result according to the petition is a standard of indecency which does
not apply "contemporary community standards," but rather is
attempting to change the standard. NBC also filed its own
petition saying the FCC "created a sweeping new definition"
of acceptable community standards and the definition of profanity. NBC's
petition is in part reaction to the FCC's decision it violated the
indecency/profanity law when Bono shouted his profane utterance at the
live Golden Globe Awards. Historically such events were considered
to be 'isolated', and something that will occasionally occur in a live
event. (Remember the streaker at the Oscars?). Both
petitions also argue the FCC's new standard of indecency is decidedly
vague, which as NBC points out in its petition, "encourage[s] a
'play-it-safe' attitude by broadcasters in the exercise of their
editorial judgment -- a chilling effect that cannot be squared with the
public interest or the Constitution." In fact, radio
broadcasters are now pulling some classic rock and roll songs off their
playlists, and some broadcasters are editing documentaries to remove any
hint of profane or indecency, and advertisers are quashing some of their
ads. The FCC says it will review any and all petitions, though
there is no deadline for a response. If the FCC dismisses the
petitions, the alternative is to go to court.
Isn't there something wonderfully ironic that C-Span and BookTV
are now considering instituting a 5-second delay because of foul
language used by call-in viewers. According to the New York
Times, for the past 25+ years, the network has managed to deal with
foul language by simply ignoring the caller and moving on to the next
one. Now in this age of ohmygosh, somebody might say a bad word,
C-Span has to take a more assertive stance.
And meanwhile, on the same topic, Attorney John Thompson (the
original complainant behind Howard Stern's radio show which resulted in
huge fines) has filed another complaint with the FCC, this time
against CBS' 60 Minutes. According to Broadcasting and
Cable, it appears there was an utterance during the broadcast by
singer Mary J. Blige in which she used the 's' word under her
breath. Thompson likens this utterance to the Bono/Golden Globe
incident, suggesting all such utterances, context aside, are
actionable.
That being the case, what happens then during a sporting events when an
athlete is seen cursing, though not heard? Case in point - Tiger Woods at
a recent golf championship clearly was unhappy with a shot and clearly
uttered something that appeared to be obvious, though without audio, is
it actionable? Are we spending entirely too much time on this
stuff?
Oh wait, we're not quite done yet. Congressman Joe Barton
(R-Texas), Chairman of the House Commerce Committee, suggests
cable ought to be on standby since its the next great frontier for
the Congress to focus on. During a breakfast meeting at the NAB
conference in Las Vegas, Barton suggests cable will be in the hot seat if
it can't demonstrate an ability to self-regulate, which he predicts it
won't be able to accomplish on its own.
Now we're done. At least for this morning.
Season Finales: Whoopi and Happy Family, NBC
8-9pm
New in Casting / Development / Production
Joining the cast of Fox's North Shore (20th) is James
Remar, in the role of Vincent, boss, replacing Rob Estes.
CBS' as yet untitled Staley Long project (Paramount Network
TV) has added Josh Randall to the cast which is headed by Ricki Lake and
Kirstie Alley. Randall will be the love interest of Ricki Lake's
character.
NBC's Beverly Hills SUV (NBC Studios) has signed Aron Kader to
the cast, which also features Henry Winkler and Jeffrey Nordling.
An Apprentice spinoff? In early early discussions at NBC,
says Hollywood Reporter, in which cameras will follow out boy Bill around
for an entire year as he oversees the building of the new Chicago Trump
International Hotel and Tower.
Still think you could've won the Sportscaster job on ESPN's Dream
Job contest? Well you chance is coming. ESPN has
announced a second season will kick off in January 2005.
Stuart Scott will once again host, and the format will be similar -
nationwide search, culling down to the top few and ultimately one winner.
This year's series delivered on average more than a million viewers each
week. ESPN's Dream Job will be produced by Original Ent/Jumbolaya
Prods/Blond/Endeavor. If interested, check out espn.com, keyword
Dream Word as of June 1.
Perhaps you've been following TLC's Trading Space Home Free
series/competition wherein the winner after several room makeovers will
win by having their mortgage paid off. Left standing are the Yellow
Team and the Blue Team, and this Sunday on TLC at 8pm, Trading Spaces
will announce the winner in a live broadcast.
Mediacom Communications Corporation announced an affiliation and
carriage agreement with Starz Encore Group LLC to be launched in
May. The new deal, carried through Mediacom's subsidiaries,
would add a Starz! HD (HDTV) service to Mediacom's digital cable service
with 20 Starz movie channels. Starz! HD consists of Starz on Demand
and first run movies.
TV Land will bid farewell to NBC's Friends on May 6, the
night of the grand finale, with a two pronged salute. From 6-9pm
the classic tv net will air Before They Were Friends, featuring each of
the cast members on various sitcoms long before they came together for
Friends. Then at 9pm - this is the brilliant part - for the
entire hour that the Friends finale is airing, TV Land will be
closed. Instead of regularly scheduled programming, viewers tuning
in to TV Land will be treated to a room full of TV Land staffers -
purportedly watching the Friends finale -- periodically addressing the
camera to remind viewers that the Friends finale is on and that we really
aren't airing anything so there's no point staying tuned. Worth
tuning in just to see what's going on, albeit briefly. During the
finale of Seinfeld lo those many years ago, TV Land shut down for that
hour as well, airing nothing except a door with a sign that said they
were closed and would be back after Seinfeld.
ESPN announced yesterday for the second year in a row, it will
telecast live nighttime events from the Winter X Games IX,
January 29-February 1, 2005 from Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado. The
Winter X Games feature extreme athletes from around the world competing
for titles and prizes in extreme sports including, Moto X, Ski, Snowboard
and Snowmobile. This is the fourth time that the Winter X-Games have been
held in Aspen/Snowmass, and as previously announced the games will be
held there through Winter X-Games XI, 2007.
As a whole, Sunday night was not the most stellar, but it
certainly was one of the more universally competitive we've seen in a
while. NBC won the night by a share point with a 3.6/10
A18-49 rating over Fox' 3.4/9, ABC 3.2/9, CBS 2.6/7, WB 1.3/4,
according to Nielsen Media Research. At 7pm Fox led with a
2.8/10, a share point ahead of ABC's AFV 2.5/9. CBS quickly
followed with a 7 share, NBC with a 6, WB a 3. At 8pm Fox continued
to lead with a double run of Simpsons 4.2/12 and ABC's Extreme Makeover:
Home Edition pulling in a 3.7/10 (winning the hour handily among all key
female demos including W18-49 with a 4.6/12). At 9pm NBC's Law
& Order: CI led with a 4.6/11, followed again by the evening's
perennial bridesmaid, ABC with a 3.7/9 for Alias. WB's 9pm airing
of High School Reunion found an audience among the teen crowed delivering
a 2.3/7 for the hour, tied #2 with ABC and behind Fox, and building on
the Charmed lead-in. At 10p NBC's Crossing Jordan was the highest
rated hour of the night with a 5.1/13. Who was #2? You guessed it -
ABC with a 3.0/8 for The Practice, in a tie with CBS' final hour of the
movie Along Came a Spider.
Tribune Broadcasting named Roger Bare as VP/General
Manager of KHWB WB39 in Houston. Whoo-Whoo! Give
Roger a call and congratulate him! Roger has been with the station
for 11 years, most recently as GSM.. He is succeeding Tom
Ehlmann, who by the way has been sent north to WGN/Chicago as
VP/GM -- another good move by Tribune! Nicely done,
Tom!
Jack Harvey was named SVP/Advertising Strategy, a
newly-created position, at TV Guide Consumer Electronics, a
division of Gemstar-TV Guide International. Jack will be based in
Bedford, MA and report to Doug Macrae, President/TV Guide Consumer
Electronics.
Urban Television Network Corporation named Edward C. Maddox as
President. Edward is also the Founder, President and CEO of
Powerhouse Corp, Inc., a multi-ethnic PR firm.
Robert C. Bateman will succeed David D. Hillard as CFO
at Fisher Communications. David has retired after
working with the company since 1979. Robert was upped to this new
position after serving as VP/ Finance since 2003.
Ben Sherwood was named Executive Producer of ABC News'
Good Morning America. Ben will report to Phyllis McGrady,
SVP/ABC News. He previously worked with ABC News in 1989 as an
associate producer before travelling over to NBC News for 5
years.
Mellynda Hartel has been named VP/Director of Sales for
FOX's O&Os KSAZ - KUTP / Phoenix and the Regional Sports
Net Arizona. Mellynda steps into the seat previously held by new
VP/GM, Pat Nevin who was promoted earlier this week. She will
oversee all sales activity for the three properties in Phoenix.
Andy Alexander has been named VP/Programming & Research
for KDFW and KDFI/Dallas. Andy adds the programming
responsibilities to his current position as VP/Research for the two
stations and Fox Sports Net Southwest.
Sunday, April 18, 2004. Fast
Affiliate Household Ratings
for all Networks.
Fast affiliate numbers which reflect time period
data, not program data, and can change slightly once the finals come in,
particularly for LIVE programming (i.e. Football). Source Nielsen
Media Research. Time Period Averages Only. [p] = Premiere; [o] =
Original; [r] = Repeat NBC
7.2/12 Dateline
(7-9p) 5.5/10, Law & Order: CI 8.8/13, Crossing Jordan
9.0/15
CBS
7.2/1260
Minutes 7.3/14, Cold Case 8.3/14, Movie: Along Came a Spider
6.5/10
ABC
5.4/9 America's
Funniest Home Videos 4.9/9, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 5.7/9, Alias
5.2/8, The Practice 6.0/10
FOX 4.4/7 King
of the King 3.6/7, King of the Hill [r] 4.0/7, Simpsons [r] 5.4/9,
Simpsons 5.4/9, 24 4.0/6
WB 2./0/3 High
School Reunion [r] 1.3/3, Charmed 2.5/4, High School Reunion 2.1/3 A18-49
NBC 3.6/10, FOX 3.4/9, ABC 3.2/9, CBS 2.6/7, WB
1.3/4
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please be sure to include with your answer your name, company, city
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Later -- Cyn
Cynthia Turner's Cynopsis
04/20/04 5:19am
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WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2004
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WB Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill
TELE Prisonera,El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Casos de la Vida Real: Edicion Especial
