Good morning. It's
Wednesday, March 10, 2004,
and this is your first early morning
briefing.
The Sunday night fifth season 9p return of the The Sopranos
delivered 12.1 million viewers for the premium channel, earning a
6.2/15 A18-49 rating within the HBO universe. Compared to broadcast
television for the same hour, Law & Order: CI was the only bcst net
to out-deliver The Sopranos with 15 million viewers (and a 5.1/12 A18-49
national demo rating).
Premiering Tonight: Game Over at 8pm on UPN,
followed by the return of The Mullets.
Despite Viacom's decision to pull Martha Stewart Living off its
CBS and UPN affiliates, King World is stepping up. A brief,
but important statement from King World yesterday: "King World
Productions will continue to distribute Martha Stewart Living to local
stations that want to continue to broadcast the program."
New in Development/Production/Casting:
CBS is in final negotiations with Peter MacNicol to join the
cast of Numbers (Scott Free/Paramount) about an MIT math whiz and the
FBI, working together on various cases, from Ridley Scott. The cast
also includes David Krumholtz and Michael Rooker.
NBC's The Men's Room (NBC Studios) with John Cho has added
Scott Cohen to the cast. And in the network's untitled Heisler and Heline
project (NBC Studios), Jennifer Finnegan will join Josh Cooke.
ABC's romantic drama project DeMarco Affairs (David E.
Kelley/20th) starring Selma Blair has added Sabrina Lloyd and Lindsey
Sloane to the lineup. Elsewhere, in the drama project Surgeons
(Touchstone) Patrick Dempsey joins the growing lineup of TR Knight, Ellen
Pompeo, Paul Adelstein and Chandra Wilson. In the untitled Joel
Stein project (Acme Prods/Warner Bros. TV), Sheryl Lee Ralph has been
cast. And in the net's drama project Lost (Bad Robot/Touchstone)
about a group stuck on a deserted island, Matthew Fox, Harold Perrineau,
Malcolm David Kelley, Naveen Andrews and Josh Halloway have been added.
For the net's historic drama series Empire (Storyline/Touchstone) set in
44 B.C., Vince Regan has been cast as Marc Antony. Brad Rowe has
been cast in the untitled Jessica Simpson project (Ted
Harbert/Touchstone).
Fox's comedy pilot The Robinson Brothers (Original/20th) has
cast Jay Baruchel. The pilot centers around three brothers living in an
apartment building that feels much more like a college dorm.
Christina Hendricks has been added to the cast of UPN's Kevin
Hill (Icon/Touchstone)
Source: Variety, BaselineFT.com, Hollywood Reporter
J Lo has signed a development deal with Fox whereby the
network gets first look at any new production coming out of Nuyorican
Prods, Jennifer Lopez' production company. That includes series,
specials, TV movies, scripted or unscripted, bcst or cable. Working with
Fox on this particular deal is Regency TV. The deal does not
include feature films or current projects.
GSN (fka Game Show Network) has acquired the cable rights to off
net series Average Joe and Average Joe Hawaii (plus a
third if a third is produced) and Dog Eat Dog. Each of the
series is likely to show up on GSN this spring, according to Hollywood
Reporter.
The Senate Commerce Committee has voted to approve the bill that
would increase fines on indecency violations on television and
radio, though not to the extent the House Energy and Commerce Committee
bill. The Senate approved fines that would start with $275,000 for
the first violation, which then escalates with each succeeding violation:
$375,000 for the second, $500,000 for the third, with a limit set at $3
million for violations in a single day. Another addition to the
Senate bill which may make it tougher to get through, is a provision
blocks the FCC media ownership deregulation for 12 months, rolling back
the regulations to the June 1, 2003 when the ownership cap was
still at 35%, and there was a limit to the number of stations a single
owner could have in a single market. The differences between the
two proposals will need to be negotiated out before the bill goes to the
President.
Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among
Total Viewers for
the week ofMarch 1-7, 2004:
Primetime
(000) Total
Day
(000) USA 2472 NICK/NAN 1875
NICK/NAN 2456 TNT 1252
TBS 2231 CARTOON 1117
TNT 2095 TBS 1089
LIFETIME 1567 USA 1064
CARTOON 1535 LIFETIME 954
ESPN 1504 FOXNEWS 802
DISCOVERY 1435 ESPN 653
FOXNEWS 1320 HISTORY 646
HISTORY 1164 DISCOVERY 640 Source Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data.
All ratings based on Total U.S. Television Universe of 108,400,000
homes
Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings
among A18-49 for
the week ofMarch 1-7, 2004: Primetime
(000) Total
Day
(000) TBS 1200 TBS 643
USA 1039 TNT 626
TNT 966 NICK/NAN 535
DISCOVERY 848 USA 482
ESPN 722 LIFETIME 456
TLC 665 ESPN 388
LIFETIME 642 DISCOVERY 378
MTV 584 TLC 376
NICK/NAN 582 CARTOON 311
SCIFI 540 FX 294 Source Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data.
All ratings based on Total U.S. Television Universe of 108,400,000
homes.
News Viewer Index for the week of
March 1-7, 2004
in Total Viewers
Total Day Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News Viewers
1.716 (000) Total Viewers. (+3% vs. previous week). Of the cable news
viewership, Fox News had 47% of the viewing, CNN 29%, MSNBC 13%; and
Headline News 11%. Primetime Total Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Headline Cable News
Viewers 2.760 (0000) Total Viewers (+3% vs. previous week). Of the
primetime cable news viewership, Fox News had 48%, CNN 32%, MSNBC 12% and
Headline News 8%. Source Nielsen Media Research
Joan Van Ark will join the cat of CBS' daytime serial The
Young and the Restless beginning April 6. She will play Gloria
Fisher, mother of Michael Baldwin.
NBA TV has signed a carriage deal with Comcast on
the digital tier, and NBA TV will provide Comcast subscribers with VOD
programming. The total subscriber base wtih the Comcast carriage
brings NBA TV up to approx 10 million homes.
CBS takes Monday night among A18-49 according to
Nielsen Media Research with a 4.9/13, ahead of NBC 4.6/12,
ABC 2.6/7, Fox 3.0/8, UPN 1.6/4, WB 1.4/4. At 8pm NBC's Fear Factor
was the big winner with a 6.5/18 with CBS ranking #2 for the hour with
just 50% of the demo share of Fox earning a 3.2/9. ABC's OTO airing
of 20/20 with Elizabeth Vargas at 8pm delivered a 2.6/7, behind Fox's
double run of That 70's Show. At 9pm CBS jumped out in front with a
5.8/15 for Raymond/Two & A Half Men, both reruns. The first
hour of the NBC movie Behind the Camera: Charlie's Angels found 3.9/10
rating, following with a 3.3/9 at 10p. CBS' CSI Miami led the 10p
hour with a 5.5/14. ABC's movie Judas delivered a 2.6/7 from
9-11p.
Robert Pastorelli, perhaps best known as Eldin Bernecky,
Housepainter on Murphy Brown, has died at the age of 49. The
cause of death has not yet been determined. Pastorelli was found at
his home Monday afternoon by his personal assistant. Pastorelli was also
seen in Sister Act 2, and Michael (1996), and he filled the role of
Luther Billis in the miniseries remake of South Pacific in 2001 with
Glenn Close. Pastorelli was currently working on Be Cool, the
sequel to Get Shorty, currently in production.
Gary Cozen, VP/GM of KDKA/Pittsburgh resigned
yesterday. Gary has been with the station for the past 11 years, according to TV Week. Station department heads will now report to Viacom TV Station Group President Fred Reynolds and EVP/COO Dennis Swanson.
Discovery Communications, Inc.'s Founder John S. Hendricks recommended to the Discovery's shareholders at their meeting on March 8 that they separate the twin position of Chairman/CEO as of June 17, 2004, the 20th anniversary of the network. On that date, Hendricks will remain as Chairman, and Judith A. McHale, current President/COO, will become CEO.
HBO has announced two uppings - Jennifer Bowen to VP/Sales and Heather McVicar to VP/Marketing. Jennifer and Heather have been involved every step of the way in this expansion. Jennifer joined HBO as a sales associate in 1995, was promoted to sales manager in 1997, and has served as director of sales since 2000. Heather also joined HBO in 1995, as an executive assistant, was promoted to manager of marketing in 1998, and has served as director of marketing since 2001.
Derek Medina has been upped to VP/News Planning and Business Affairs/ABC News. Derek is responsible for negotiating talent, production and acquisition agreements for ABC News and managing the business affairs budget. In addition to his business affairs responsibilities, he will also oversee staffing, operations and finance initiatives throughout the division. He reports to Amy Entelis, SVP/Business Affairs and Talent & Recruitment, and Dan Renaldo, SVP/Finance, Operations and Business Development.
Monday, March 8, 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 CBS 9.2/15 Yes, Dear [r] 7.0/11, Still Standing [r] 7.2/11, Raymond [r] 10.8/17, Two and a Half Men [r] 9.9/15,
CSI: Miami [r] 10.2/17 NBC 6.5/10 Fear Factor 8.5/13,NBC Movie: Behind the Camera: Charlie's Angels 5.4/9
ABC 6.5/10 20/20 7.0/11, ABC Premiere Event: Judas 6.2/10
FOX 4.0/6 That 70s Show [r] 4.0/6, That 70s Show [r] 4.2/6, Forever Eden 3.9/6
WB 2.6/4 7th Heaven [r] 2.8/4, Everwood [r] 2.3/4
UPN 2.5/4 The Parkers [r] 2.5/4, Eve [r] 2.8/4, Girlfriends [r] 2.6/4, Half & Half [r] 2.3/4 A18-49 CBS 4.9/13, NBC 4.6/12, ABC 2.6/7, Fox 3.0/8, UPN 1.6/4, WB 1.4/4
A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION
COLD CASE
The Season's #1 New Drama!
Primetime's #1 Program for the Night!
#1 in its Time Period!
A Top 5 Drama for the Week!
COLD CASE Available exclusively from
Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution
Source: NTI Explorer, 3/7/04 or as noted. Sunday 8-9p. US Rating. Ranks based on HH.
The History ChannelpresentsThis Day in History: 1969 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassin, James Earl Ray is convicted of King's murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. Ray's well-known hatred of black people notwithstanding, he recanted his guilty plea three days later, claiming he had been set up by a gun dealer in Montreal.
Answer to yesterday's Trivia Question:Where will you find Damon Stern's House? On Discovery Channel's the DaMON STERn's HOUSE (must-see TV in the Turner house), next door to SiMON STERn's GARAGE. Kudos to: Amy Roth-TEG Standards Practices/Atlanta; Alex Clift-Fox News Channel/NY; Richard Zartarian-US News & World Report/NY; Dana Stein-OMD/NY; Adam Leston-Petry/Chicago; Jennifer Pollard-Warner Bros./Chicago; Amanda Kilman-Oklahoma City; David McDermott/Venice CA.
A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST SPOTLIGHT Comcast Spotlight makes spot cable as easy to buy as broadcast. With 55 markets already interconnected, and more on the way, buying individual or multiple markets is a breeze. It's as easy as one phone call, one tape and one invoice. Comcast Spotlight - Spot cable finally delivers. For more information click here.
Today's Trivia Question: On what former primetime drama series will you find a pigeon named Luther the Bird? (
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
03/10/04 5:31AM
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WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2004
COURT TV RETAINS 96% OF ITS A25-54 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 Take, Forensic Files, Psychic Detectives, Special: Adults Only (part 3)
ABC My Wife and Kids, My Wife and Kids [r], Extreme Makeover, Kingdom Hospital
CBS 60 Minutes II, The King of Queens [r], Yes Dear [r], 48 Hours Investigates
FOX That 70s Show, American Idol, Cracking Up
NBC The Apprentice [r], Law & Order [r], Law & Order [r]
PAX AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN Game Over [p], The Mullets, Enterprise [r]
WB Smallville [r], Smallville [r]
TELE Amor Descardo,El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Don Francisco Presenta
