Good morning. It's
Wednesday, April 14, 2004,
and this is your first early morning
briefing.
The ever buoyantly optimistic Les Moonves is predicting
positive gains for this year's CBS upfront. He's looking
at double digit price increases from buyers, more money shifting from NBC
to CBS particularly on Thursday night thanks to NBC's loss of Friends and
ER's getting apparently a little long in the tooth in Les' view.
Buyers are doing their annual dance as well: making big hay over their
outrage of price hikes in the upfront market and threatening to move
dollars from broadcast to cable if they see big hikes. If that's the
case, Moonves promises to raise his rates in the scatter market, thereby
getting the bucks either now or later, but getting them - and predicting
getting perhaps the majority of the upfront ad dollars. None of
this is new - happens every year, and just like changing the clocks, its
a sure sign of spring.
New in Development / Casting / Production
NBC's comedy My 11:30 (Nuance Prods/NBC studios) starring Jeff
Goldblum is in final chats with Donna Murphy to co star
Fox's comedy series Sweden OH (Warner Bros. TV) has added
Olliver Jones in the lead position opposite Helena Mattson. The
story is about a teenage boy (Jones) in a small town, and the
introduction of a foreign exchange student (Mattson). Also added to the
lineup is Eric Jungmann as the best friend.
WB continues to expand the cast of Dark Shadows (John Wells
Prods/Warner Bros. TV) with the addition of Kelly Hu as the family doctor
who quickly becomes aware of Barnabas Collins status in life, or in
death, however you see vampires. WB's sketch comedy project Blue
Collar TV which already has a six ep commitment from the network has
added Heath Hyche to the lineup that already includes Jeff Foxworthy,
Larry the Cable Guy and Bill Engvall.
Cross City of Dreams (Bruckheimer/Warner Bros. TV) off your
development list for NBC. You'll remember this Jimmy Smits project
got an early greenlight for a fall 2004 start, and then was pushed back
to midseason. Now it's been pushed off the table, says
Variety.
Premiering Tonight: I'm Still Alive at 9pm on
UPN
Endemol will begin meeting with syndicators some time in
the next week or so to pitch their talk show starring restaurateur
Rocco DiSpirito who you'll remember from The Restaurant and The
Restaurant 2 which is scheduled to start again on Monday, April 19.
According to Variety, Rocco and Endemol have signed a deal to
develop a 60m strip series for fall 2005, picking up where Martha left
off. Endemol also has a game show coming to ABC this summer called
Deal or No Deal and has recently signed exec prod Scott St.
John.
here! TV, targeting the gay and lesbian community and currently
supplier of PPV content PPV, will in October launch a full scale 24/7
schedule of movies, original series, classic films and off net series
as well as other general entertainment content, available as SVOD and VOD
to cable operators on a revenue sharing basis. here! TV will
produce more than 200 hours of programming annually including these
original series: Dante's Cover, a gothic horror thriller; Weapons
of Mass Destruction, a spy thriller starring Int'l Martial Arts Star
Cynthia Rothrock, as the first lesbian action hero. Original films
slated for the new net include: Deadly Skies begins as a don't ask don't
tell military tale and ends with a deadly asteroid; The Sisterhood is a
female version of The Brotherhood; Too Cool for Christmas about a
teenager opting to spend Christmas with her teen boyfriend than with her
two dads; and Snowman's Pass about a female mountain climber and some
deadly criminals. here TV's PPV services are currently available in 22
million households nationwide, and is located in LA. For more
information, check out
www.heretv.com.
Dean Valentine, former UPN CEO/Prez and Walt Disney TV Prez, has
teamed up with entertainment execs Richard Cohen and Nicolas
Van Dyk to start First Family Entertainment. Dean will
be the Sr. Partner. The company will center on development and
production of family oriented, live action, direct-to-DVD/video
programming with $2-3 million budgets. First Family
Entertainment has signed an exclusive, worldwide multi-year distribution
agreement with MGM Home Entertainment. MGM will have
domestic and international distribution rights for the 4-5 long-form
family titles that they will produce each year. First Family will
delve into the African-American and Hispanic markets with MGM getting a
first glance at their feature and TV ventures.
Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among
Total Viewers for
the week of Apr 4-11, 2004 Primetime
(000) Total
Day
(000) NICK* 2346 NICK* 1956
NAN** 2019 NAN** 1398
TNT 1913 CARTOON 1212
USA 1911 TNT 1132
CARTOON 1651 USA 1056
TBS 1586 LIFETIME 951
LIFETIME 1581 FOXNEWS 933
ESPN 1535 TBS 858
FOXNEWS 1419 FX 704
FX 1366 ESPN 669 Source Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data.
All ratings based on Total U.S. Television Universe of 108,400,000
homes *Nickelodeon: M-Th 6:30a-9p; Fri 6:30a-10p; Sat 6a-10p; Sun
6a-9p
**Nick at Nite (NAN): S-Th 9p-6a; Fri-Sat 10p-6a
Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings
among A18-49 for
the week of Apr 4-11, 2004 Primetime
(000) Total
Day
(000) TNT 890 NAN** 642
FX 812 TNT 585
USA 808 USA 498
TBS 750 TBS 487
COMEDY 725 LIFETIME 464
MTV 721 NICK* 439
ESPN 682 FX 412
LIFETIME 658 ESPN 391
TLC 607 COMEDY 350
SPIKE 600 MTV 335 Source Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data.
All ratings based on Total U.S. Television Universe of 108,400,000
homes.
*Nickelodeon: M-Th 6:30a-9p; Fri 6:30a-10p; Sat 6a-10p; Sun
6a-9p
**Nick at Nite (NAN): S-Th 9p-6a; Fri-Sat 10p-6a
News Viewer Index for the week of
April 5-11, 2004
in Total Viewers
Total Day Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers
1.853 (000) Total Viewers. (+1% vs. previous week). Of the cable news
viewership, Fox News had 50% of the viewing, CNN 26%, MSNBC 13%; and
Headline News 11%. Primetime Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News
Viewers 2.763 (0000) Total Viewers (-6% vs. previous week). Of the
primetime cable news viewership, Fox News had 51%, CNN 29%, MSNBC 11% and
Headline News 9%. Source Nielsen Media Research
History Channel, now in 87 million cable homes, witnessed a
new ratings milestone with their airing of part 1 of Band of
Brothers last Sunday night (9p-10:25p). The first night of this
10-hour miniseries delivered a 3.7 HH Rtg and 4.6 million total
viewers. Among demos, BoB delivered 1.186 million impressions among
A25-54. The show immediately following, Mail Call, also enjoyed the
benefits of BoB by achieving its most watched episode to date with a 2.2
HH Rtg, and 2.7 million viewers.
A year ago January, the Houston Astros and the Rockets
filed a lawsuit against Fox Sports Net, asking the court to
rule in their favor so they can begin to assembling their plans of
launching their own regional sports network in October 2005. The
plan was to carry Rockets games in 2005 and Astros in 2006. The
problem was Fox Sports Net who has been airing the team games on FSN and
its predecessor for the past 20 years. Fox Sports Net countersued
the teams for breach of contract and for engaging in a 'sham conspiracy'
to defraud FSN. The Astros contract runs through 2009 with
FSN. The hitch is the Astros deal allows it to receive 'bonafide,
arm's length, written offer from a third party" for the broadcast
rights as of 2006. In this case, that third party would in fact be
itself, under the name of Houston Regional Sports Network. Part of the
deal with Houston Regional Sports Network was if the teams were amenable
to moving the games to HRSN, they would receive part ownership in the
network. FSN was given the opportunity to match the offer, and
declined. Yesterday a district court judge granted the teams'
request for Summary Judgement and ruled there were not enough facts in
dispute to warrant a trial by jury.
NBC delivered the goods on
Monday night with a strong showing from Fear Factor and the Miss
USA pageant, delivering an overall 5.2/13 A18-49 for the night
according to Nielsen Media Research. CBS was second overall
with a 3.8/10 followed by FOX 3.3/9, ABC 2.8/7, WB 1.6/4, UPN
1.1/3. AT 8pm NBC's Fear Factor: Miss USA earned a 5.8/16, doubling
the next best showing from CBS (3.0/8). At 9p NBC maintained its
hold with a 4.6/11, though CBS was hot on its heels with its second hour
of Two & a Half Men mini-marathon delivering a 3.9/10, and tied with
Fox's 3.8/10 for The Swan. NBC again owned the 10p hour with the
final hour of Miss USA and the crowning of the lovely Miss Missouri
delivering a 5.1/13, ahead of CBS's CSI Miami by a share point (4.7/12),
and the finale of ABC's Movie Air Force One (3.2/8).
AsianMedia Group LLC has named Peter Mathes as its
Chairman of the Board. Peter will manage overall operations
with an emphasis on the company's internal growth and strategic
acquisitions.
Dawn Ciccone has been named Associate Director/Cause Marketing
and Licensing for PBS. Dawn will be responsible for the
soon-to-be launched PBS KIDS Developmental Products (in the fall),
revenue generation and new business opportunities for PBS and its local
stations. She will report to Tracey L. Beeker, VP/PBS Strategic
Partnerships.
Adrien Seixas has been named National
Sales Manager for the Spanish Language Group of Equity
Broadcasting Corporation. Adrien will initially be based in New York
and eventually in LA.
Rosemarie Schwarz has been named VP/Morning News Operations
for Meredith Broadcasting, a newly minted position reporting
to Mark Berryhill, VP/News and Marketing. Rosemarie hails from
KTVU/San Francisco, and will be in charge of overseeing and expanding
morning news programs on the Meredith stations currently carrying AM
news.
Clarification:
Two things -- ABC has not given the official nod to 8 Simple Rules for
next season yet, though it is expected. Also, there was a letter
missing from the Badami African American Filmmakers website yesterday,
should have been:
www.africanamericanfilmmakers.com.
Monday, April 12, 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 8.4/13 Fear
Factor: Miss USA 8.6/14, NBC Special: Miss USA 2004 8.2/13 CBS
7.6/12 Two
& a Half Men [r] 6.7/11, Two & a Half Men [r] 6.9/11, Two & a
Half Men [r] 7.2/11, Two & a Half Men [r] 7.3/11, CSI: Miami
8.8/14 ABC 5.6/9 ABC
Monday Movie of the Week: Air Force One 5.6/9
FOX 4.9/8 Bernie
Mac Show 4.0/7, Bernie Mac Show 4.0/6, The Swan 5.8/9
WB 3.1/5 7th
Heaven [r] 2.9/5, Everwood 3.3/5
UPN 2.0/3 The
Parkers 1.8/3, Eve 1.9/3, Girlfriends [r] 2.3/3, Half & Half
2.2/3 A18-49
NBC 5.2/13, CBS 3.8/10, FOX 3.3/9, ABC 2.8/7, WB
1.6/4, UPN 1.1/3
A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION
Tune-in
Tonight!
THE O. C.
Kids living secret lives hidden from
their parents and parents living secret lives hidden from their
kids.
"It is totally
absorbing television." -The
Miami Herald
THE O. C. 9:00 PM on Fox
Available Exclusively
From
Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution
The
History ChannelpresentsThis Day in History: 1865 - President Abraham Lincoln is shot in Ford's
Theater in Washington, DC, by actor and Confederate-sympathizer John
Wilkes Booth. He died the following morning.
Answer to yesterday's Trivia
Question:This character's nickname was
used far more in the book and film than in the primetime series.
Nonetheless, who was Dago Red? FATHER MULCAHY at the 4077
M*A*S*H. Kudos to: Brad Joyce-WCVC-AM/Tallahassee; Steve
Woodward-Viacom Station Group/Atlanta; Robert Scott-Quintres Prods/NJ;
Ron Halper-Sony Television/NY; Ramona Ludwig-CatsRUs/St. Louis; Tom
Nankival-KWWL/Cedar Rapids; Keith Paxton-KDFI/Dallas; Sara
Nellermore-Viacom Station Sales/Minneapolis; Mike Kimmel-Actors
Network/Studio City; Bob Ramsey-KSWB/San Diego; Thomas Ruffner-Fox Movie
Channel/LA; Darlene Lieblich-Fox Cable Nets/LA.
A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST
SPOTLIGHT Comcast Spotlightnow covers 72 DMAs, including 22 of the top 25, reaching over 30 million
subscribers. And now, with a nationwide footprint of 55 interconnects,
buying individual markets or multiple markets is a breeze. Comcast
Spotlight - Spot cable finally delivers.
For more information click
here. Today's Trivia Question: What
does Angel the Vampire have tattooed on his right
shoulder?(click
hereto respond to the trivia question and
please be sure to include with your answer your name, company, city
and time zone. Only the second four correct responses from each time
zone will be listed in tomorrow's kudo list.)
Later -- Cyn
Cynthia Turner's Cynopsis
04/14/04 5:26am
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WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2004
COURT TV The Investigation Channel SPOT CHECK:
A18-49 Viewers' Ability to Remember Advertised Products
(#8 in cable)
+ YOUR SPOT = Great ROInvestigation
SPOT QUIZ: Who played Sgt. Bosco "Bad Attitude" Baracus on the
TV show The A-Team ? Click this spot to enter to Win Dinner for 2 Click here for source
COURT TV:Caught, I, Detective, Forensic Files, Psychic Detectives, The Investigators
ABC My Wife and Kids [r], The Big House, The Bachelor, Extreme Makeover
CBS 60 Minutes II, The King of Queens [r], The King of Queens [r] , 48 Hours
FOX American Idol, O.C.
NBC The Apprentice [r], Dateline NBC Special: Behind "The Apprentice", Law & Order
PAX AFV [pilot], Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN Enterprise [r], I'm Still Alive [p] WB Smallville, Angel
TELE Prisonera,El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Don Francisco Presenta
