Good morning. It's
Thursday, March 11, 2004,
and this is your first early morning
briefing.
DISH Network subscriber? Check your dial -- all is well again in
Viacom world. Viacom and Echostar came to an agreement in
the wee hours, returning the CBS O&O affiliates as well as Viacom
owned cable nets MTV, Nick, VH1, Comedy Central, BET, and others, to the
lineup. With the return of these channels, also comes the promise
of additional Viacom networks as of this spring include Nicktoons, TV
Land, Spike TV and CMT.
Mark your calendars - The Practice will have its series finale on May
16. Come next season, many of these David E. Kelley characters
will move to another lawfirm, with a series deal already done for 22 new
eps. Which lawyers will get the boot and which will get a new job
come fall, is still to be determined.
New in Development/Production/Casting:
UPN has given a pilot presentation order for a project from
Blueprint Ent/Edmonds Entertainment originally called Summer of '77 and
now known as 2 Kings, about two teenage guys in NYC, one black and one
white, whose friendship develops and coincides with the inception of
hip-hop. Elsewhere at UPN, plans for a spin off of its successful series
One on One from Greenblatt-Janollari/Paramount has cast Shannon Elizabeth
and Marques Houston in the pilot episode (which will air as an ep of One
on One this season). Beck and Call (Shephard-Robin Co./Warner Bros.
TV) is set in the world of NYC Fashion and stars Christine Vidal, who
will now be joined by Vanessa Williams.
ABC's Blind Justice (Steve Bochco Prods/Paramount) has added
Rena Sofer, Reno Wilson and Frank Grillo to the cast which already
includes Ron Eldard and Marisol Nichols. Universal's pilot project
Plan B starring Caroline Rhea, has cast Steven Eckholdt as Rhea's
romantic foil.
WB has cast Gerald McRaney as the father in Miles to Go (Mark
Burnett/Warner Bros. TV) as the father. You'll recall this show is
the one reminiscent of Burnett's days as a nanny in Beverly
Hills. In the Dana & Julia Show (Happy Madison/Sony)
project, starring Dana Goodman and Julia Wolov, WB has added Randy Sklar
and Jason Sklar to the cast list. The untitled pilot project from
Robert Schimmel and Howard Stern (Michigan J Prods) has been pushed back
to midseason.NBC's comedy project D.O.T.S. (Pariah/NBC Studios)
has cast Stephen Dunham.
FOX's The Quints (Imagine/20th), a comedy that includes
teenage quintuplets, has added Ryan Pinkston to the cast which already
includes Andy Richter, April Matson and Rebecca Creskoff.
In CBS' dramedy Cooking Lessons (Tannenbaum Co/Warner Bros.
TV), Paula Marshall, Lindy Booth and Elizabeth Lackey join Constance
Zimmer
Source: BaselineFT.com, Variety, Hollywood Reporter
Coming to CBS later on this month is the return of the CBS
Miniseries Jesus, only this time it will be played without the
backstory -- just Part Two will air on March 28. The story picks up
covering the public life of Jesus and the crucifixion. The
miniseries originally aired in 2000 and delivered upwards of 21 million
viewers over two nights.
Bravo's newest improve comedy series Significant Others
made its primetime debut Tuesday night airing at 9pm and scaring up
703,000 total viewers, 440,000 A18-49, and 494,000 A25-54 building on its
8pm lead-in in that A25-54 demo by 30%. The 930p episode managed 689,000
viewers and held on to approx 95% of its lead-in audience.
FX's return of The Shield on drew 2.8 million viewers at
10pm, down a bit from the premiere eps of its first two seasons - Season
One 4.8 million; Season Two 4.4 million. With that said, 2.0
million were in the net's target demo of A18-49.
Comcast has signed off on new carriage deals for Rainbow
Media Network's AMC as well as three Fox cable networks
managed by Rainbow Media ( Fox Sports Net Florida, New England and
Bay Area).
Robert Johnson, former head of Black Entertainment Television, is
readying a new cable net for launch this fall -- a regional sports net
called Caroline Sports and Entertainment Television, or C-SET,
according to Broadcasting & Cable. In addition to
general entertainment programming, the net will include coverage of local
high school and college sports, as well as major franchises such as the
Carolina Bobcats and WNBA Sting, both clubs owned by Johnson.
Carriage deals thus far include a spot on the digital basic tier of Time
Warner which covers approx 60% of the North and South Carolina.
More information on the sudden death of 49 year old actor Robert
Pastorelli. His death is believed to be the result of a sudden
and massive heart attack. He was home when it happened, and shortly
thereafter was found by his assistant who found him slumped.
Despite her efforts to revive him, he was pronounced dead at the scene
once EMT arrived. Drug paraphernalia in the house is attributed to
doctor prescribed B-12 injections according to close friends and
neighbors. Pastorelli is survived by two small children, ages 6 and
4.
Canada's GVTC, The Global Village Theatre Channel, a speciality
channel licensed by the CRTC, is currently in the midst of negotiating
for carriage with the top 25 U.S. cable operators and the two U.S.
satellite services to launch the channel concurrently in the US and
Canada. both countries. While the digital net had the option to
launch three years ago, its President Andy Halmay opted to wait out the
tough economic. As it turned out, during the last three years, 47 new
digital nets launched in Canada and combined they lost more than $148
million. Now with plans to move forward in both bordering
countries, Halmay is projecting carriage of 10-12 million homes in the US
along by year's end. The net's lineup will include many Toronto
based original programs including regional theatre, off Broadway plays
and Canadian theatre, as well as original series and
documentaries.
Fox was on fire with American Idol and the premiere of Cracking Up
on Tuesday night, leaving the other networks in the proverbial
dust. Fox delivered a 9.3/24 A18-49 rating for the night
according to Nielsen Media Research, the remaining nets followed
as such - NBC 3.3/9, ABC 3.0/8, CBS 2.1/6, UPN 1.9/5, WB
1.2/3. The 90m American Idol earned a whopping 10.7/28;
Cracking Up premiered with a 5.2/13, and while the time period was more
competitive than the previous 90 minutes, it was still dominated by
Fox. At 930p ABC,NBC and UPN were all tied with an 8 share, though
only ABC had an original episode airing. CBS had a 6 share for the
final 30m of The Guardian, and WB's final 30m of a 2-hour Gilmore Girls
[r] earned a 3 share. At 10p with Fox out of the way, NBC jumped
ahead with a 3.8/10 for L&O: SVU, followed closely by an original
NYPD Blue on ABC (3.5/9); CBS' Judging Amy [r] earned a
2.1/6.
Michele Phillips has joined Piranha Productions, LLC as
VP/Client Accounts in Seattle. Michele is responsible for
servicing and developing Piranha's client accounts, identifying and
implementing new business strategies and providing creative solutions and
full production services to companies worldwide. She reports to
Wade Brewer, CEO/Managing Partner/Nicest Man on the
Planet.
Nationalgeographic.com, the National Geographic Society's website,
has hired Ted Ryan as VP/Advertising Sales. Ted will be
based in Washington and report to Chris McAndrews, SVP and General
Manager.
Warren Siddall has been named VP/Sales Development and
Marketing for the ABC Television Network. He will report
to Dan Longest, SVP/Integrated Marketing and Promotion. Warren will
be based in Manhattan.
Jerry Maglio was named
EVP/Marketing for Starz Encore Group LLC (Starz). He
will report to Starz President of Sales and Marketing Robert B.
Clasen. Jerry will be responsible for all consumer and
affiliate marketing and research.
Univision Radio hired Brian Reed as VP,
Director/Sales for its Los Angeles Radio cluster (KLVE, KSCA,
KRCD/KRCV KTNQ). Univision Radio is the leading
Spanish-language radio company in the U.S.. Brian will be responsible for
sales for all LA Univision Radio stations. He will be based in
LA.
Tuesday, March 9, 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 FOX 12.6/20American
Idol 14.5/22, Cracking Up [p] 7.1/11 CBS
6.6/11Navy
NCIS [r] 6.7/11, The Guardian 6.8/10, Judging Amy [r] 6.3/11 ABC 5.7/9 8
Simple Rules [r] 4.8/8, I'm with Her [r] 4.1/6, According to Jim 5.6/8,
Less than Perfect 5.6/9, NYPD Blue 7.2/12 NBC 5.2/8 Friends
[r] 5.1/8, Friends [r] 4.7/7,Scrubs [r] 3.9/6, Scrubs [r] 4.6/7, Law
& Order: Special Victims Unit [r] 6.5/11 UPN 3.0/5 One
on One [r] 2.1/3, All of Us [r] 2.2/3, America's Next Top Model
3.9/6 WB 2.2/3 Gilmore
Girls [r] 12.6/20 A18-49
Fox 9.3/24, NBC 3.3/9, ABC 3.0/8, CBS 2.1/6, UPN
1.9/5, WB 1.2/3
A MESSAGE FROM
WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION
MOVIES
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"ROCK STAR" Starring Mark Wahlberg & Jennifer
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VH1's
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HH, All Key Men and Adults!
VH1's #1 Program of the
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Source: NHI Explorer, 3/1/04-3/7/04. Sun,
8-10:30PM. Movie rank ties The Temptations w/HH & A25-54.
Ad-supported cable only. HH Cvg Rtg. The
History ChannelpresentsThis Day in History: 1955 - The doctor who discovered penicillin,
Alexander Fleming, dies at age 73. His discovery had come in 1929, the
result of experiments he began after World War One, when he saw many
soldiers die of infections.
Answer to yesterday's Trivia
Question:On what former primetime drama
series will you find a pigeon named Luther the Bird? ST.
ELSEWHERE, owned by Luther the Orderly. Kudos to: Diana
Leddy-NCC/NY; Amy Honig-Mediacom/NY; David Doan-J. Mitchell Mgmt/NY;
Tracy Pruzan-CNBC/NY; Kathy Carlson-Cuneo Adv/Minneapolis; Marge
Pistulka-Empower MediaMarketing/Naperville; Tim Rank-KDNL/St. Louis;
Robert Ray-HDNet/Dallas; Aaron Lug-Court TV/LA; Walter Wilkomm-KTLA/LA;
Cary Miller-Verance/LA; Brett Colbert-Warner Bros./Burbank.
Today's Trivia Question:
I was named after the hospital on whose steps I was abandoned as a
baby. I have some physical oddities as well as being surprisingly
swift of foot with great strength. When I get angry and holler,
it's more than a little frightening; and yet I'm surprisingly gentle and
sensitive person. Who a I?
(
to 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
03/11/04 4:14am
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CYNOPSIS CLASSIFIEDS JOB
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JOB OPENING: CREATIVE DIRECTOR: AMC On-Air Promotions & Branding. Must be "Movie Person." Strategic promo thinker. Major network exp. Killer reel. Res/reel: D.Platt RMCS 11 Penn Plaza 2fl NY,NY 10001 (3/11)
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WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2004
COURT TV RETAINS 96% OF ITS W25-54 AUDIENCE THROUGH COMMERCIAL BREAKS!
NOW THAT'S GREAT ROI RETURN ON INVESTIGATION!
Court TV The Investigation Channel Source: Nielsen Media Research Custom Analysis (NPower) Minute-by-Minute program minutes vs non-program minutes, November 2003. Mon-Sun 8p-11p.
COURT TV: The System, Forensic Files, Body of Evidence, The System
ABC Extreme Makeover: Home Edition [r], Extreme Makeover, Primetime Thursday
CBS Survivor: All Stars, CSI, Without a Trace
FOX Fox Special: The 35th NAACP Image Awards NBC Friends, Will & Grace,The Apprentice, NBC Special: Princess Diana; The Secret Tapes; Part II PAX AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN WWE Smackdown
WB The JK Experiment, The JK Experiment [r], The JK Experiment [r], The Help [r]
TELE Amor Descardo,El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Aqui y Ahora
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