Good morning. It's
Monday, March 8, 2004,
and this is your first early morning
briefing.
Last week had some serious ups and downs for Martha Stewart.
Earlier in the week her show is nominated for a half dozen Emmy's.
By week's end, she learns she may be looking at prison time. The
latter raises several questions about the future of the Martha Stewart
Show. Will King World continue with the syndicated show or pull it
before the end of the current season? Will stations pull her show, citing
various unusual circumstances to void their clearance contracts.
And will the Food Network continue with her show (which it did air over
the weekend). The Viacom owned WCBS in New York has already answered that
question by pulling the show effective today, and some reports indicate
others in the Viacom group will follow. Meanwhile the Food Network
is evaluating the situation, and while they do that, From Martha's
Kitchen will continue to air as scheduled.
Midnight tonight is the expiration of a current restraining order
requiring Echostar's DISH Network to carry 15 O&O Viacom
stations. The restraining order was imposed by a federal judge
as a result of an anti-trust suit filed by DISH following Viacom demands
over retransmission fees for the stations, as well as must carry for the
Viacom owned Nickelodeon Games & Sports Channel (aka Nick GAS). If
the two cannot come to terms by midnight, DISH will remove the 15
O&Os from its line-up as well as other Viacom owned networks
including Nickelodeon, MTV, VH1, BET, TV Land, and Comedy Central.
Viacom ran crawl on those networks advising viewers DISH may pull the
networks on Monday night, ran over the weekend. The decision by
DISH will not effect CBS affiliates not owned by Viacom.
NBC's second season of Last Comic Standing, an unscripted
contest featuring stand up comics vying for top dog status, has come
across a little controversy. The show uses four celebrity judges,
including this time around Drew Carey and Brett Butler (Grace Under
Fire). Carey has been very vocal in what he views as a "crooked and
dishonest" turn of events. According to Carey, during the
semifinal round held in Las Vegas designed to weed the top 20 down to the
top 10, Carey's choices and fellow judge Brett Butler's choices were not
taken into account. Rather Carey submits, the shows exec prods,
including Barry Katz who is also the manager of two of the Top 10
finalists, made the final choices. "It was like somebody at
NBC cast the show ahead of the event in Vegas. And they had 1,100 in the
audience (for the semifinals competition) who saw how blatantly it was
cast. If this happened on 'Survivor' or any other reality TV show, it
would be a major scandal." On her website, Brett Butler
chimes in with this statement: "As panel judges, we can say
that (a) we were both surprised and disappointed at the results and (b)
we had NOTHING to do with them." NBC provided this statement:
"The casting decisions were made by NBC and NBC Studios in
consultation with talent scouts and we appreciate their valuable input.
Now that the 10 participants have been selected, the program will begin.
As was the case last season, during the show, the comic elimination
decisions will now be made by audiences who watch the comics perform
without any input from NBC, NBC Studios or anyone else associated with
the program." So the judges "input" is just that,
and it's not final. I wonder if the audience knew that.
How's this for bad timing. A Nashville television station,
WTVZ aired the Hillary Swank movie Quiet Days in Hollywood a week
ago Sunday, in a slighted less edited form than the station had
intended. As a result, 8,000 viewers of the movie, according to
Broadcasting & Cable, had a full frontal unclothed view of Ms.
Swank as well as listen to some pretty strong language you don't usually
get on broadcast television. The Sinclair station has issued a
formal apology pointing to human error in running the wrong
version. That's not quite good enough for Nashville City Councilman
Jason Alexander, apparently one of the 8000, who has filed a formal
complaint with the FCC. Ultimately the FCC which could peg WTVZ
with the first fines under the new regulations which call for $500,000
for each individual violation.
Premiering Tonight: Univision: Mariana de la
Noche (Mariana of the Night) at 8pm
New in Development and Casting:
ABC has cast Willie Garson in Plan B (Universal), a comedy
pilot starring Carolina Rhea. The drama pilot Lost (Bad Robot/Touchstone)
has added Maggie Grace to the cast that already includes Dominic
Monaghan, Ian Somerhalder, Jorge Garcia and Evangeline Lilly, about a
group of castaways on a deserted island. The network's drama
project Desperate Housewives (Touchstone) has added Michael Riley Burke
to the extended ensemble cast. And That's My Rodney (Touchstone)
starring stand up comic Rodney Carrington, has added Matthew Josten and
Oliver Davis to the cast which also includes Jennifer Aspen. In the
John Stamos pilot project (Brad Grey/20th), Madchen Amik has been added
to the cast.
CBS has pushed back its drama pilot Nice Guys (Shoe Money
Prods/Silver Pictures/Warner Bros. TV) to midseason after a request from
the show's producers who are having some trouble casting the leads.
The show was also being reworked with the addition of producer Shaun
Cassidy. Also at CBS, the network is continuing negotiations with Gary
Sinise to lead the cast of CSI: New York, according to
Variety. Elsewhere at CBS, Monica Potter has been added to
the growing cast of its drama pilot The Amazing Westerbergs (Sony/CBS
Prods) which also include Chris O'Donnell, Jay Harrington and Kathleen
Rose Perkins. And Michael Rooker has been cast as an FBI agent in
the drama pilot Numbers (Scott Free/Paramount) about an MIT math whiz
hired by the FBI.
Fox has cast Peter Facinelli in its Untitled Katherine Bigelo
project (Imagine/20th) about a undercover officer (Rachel Nichols) posing
as a high school student. Facinelli will play Nichol's boss.
NBC has signed Julie Bowen for its new comedy pilot The
Friendlys (NBC Studios) about a family which inherits a candy factor from
a dead relative. Dave Foley, Billy Gardell and Ana Gasteyer had
been cast earlier.
UPN has added Kate Levering to its drama pilot Kevin Hill
(Icon/Touchstone) which also stars Taye Diggs, Jon Seda and Patrick Breen
about a 30-something single guy who suddenly finds himself the guardian
of his infant niece.
WB's drama project Rocky Point has been pushed back to
midseason 2005 as the production waits for exec prod John Stockwell to
come on board this summer as director. WB has cast Jon Tenney and Kevin
Wheatly to its comedy project Joint Custody (Warner Bros. TV) which stars
Kate Walsh, according to Hollywood Reporter about two teenage
siblings who spend the week with easy going mom, and the weekends with a
much stricter dad.
Sci Fi Channel's new Thursday night schedule: Mad Mad
House, Scare Tactics, and Tripping the Rift, are finding younger viewers,
bolstering that night by 194% among P18-34 vs. 2003 time period averages
for the night. Unscripted drama Mad Mad House found 1.57 million
total viewers; the premiere of the second season of Scare Tactics held
the lead-in with 1.576m total viewers, and Tripping the Rift topped both
by jumping to a 2.1m total viewers.
In a deal that was engineered by The WB along with TBS/TNT a
couple years back, the first of the trilogy Lord of the Rings will
air on the WB in High-Def in November. Then each of the next
two succeeding Novembers, the remaining two films of the group will air.
The network also has the rights to air the films during the 2006-07
season.
Weekend Box Office Estimates -
March 5-7, 2004 Passion of the Christ
(Newmarket)
$51.4 million - 2 wk total $212.0m
Starsky & Hutch (Warner
Bros.)
$29.1 million - opening weekend
Hidalgo
(Disney)
$19.6 million - opening weekend
50 First Dates
(Sony)
$7.7 million - 4 wk total $99.4m
Twisted
(Paramount)
$5.20 million - 2 wk total $16.4m
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (Disney) $4.0 million - 3 wk total
$21.8m
LOTR (New
Line)
$3.2 million - 12 wk & 11 Oscar total $368.3m
Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights
(Lions) $2.9 million - 2
wk total 10.0m
Miracle
(Disney)
$2.6 million - 5 wk total $59.9m
Monster
(NewMarket)
$2.3 million - 11 wk total $30.2m Source: Box Office Mojo
The sweeps are finally over, whew, but Thursday night remains
a powerhouse. NBC won the night with an 8.1/21
A18-49 according to Nielsen Media Research, not far ahead of
CBS' 7.2/18, which in turn was followed distantly by ABC 2.7/7, UPN
1.9/5, FOX 1.5/4, WB 1.2/3. At 8pm the Survivor All Stars on CBS
owned the hour with a 8.7/23. NBC began with a viewer's choice repeat of
Friends (7.2/20) and an original ep of Will & Grace (7.0/18).
As is typical, Survivor climbed from the first half hour to the second,
8.1/22 up to an 9.4/24. At 9p the tables turned, this time
advantage Apprentice with an original over a repeat of CSI on CBS.
The Apprentice on NBC delivered a strong 9.9/24 over CSI's 7.4/18.
At 10p, the NBC News Special: Princess Diana: The Secret Tapes (part 1,
[part 2 is next Thursday]) won the 10p hour with a7.2/19 over CBS' repeat
of Without a Trace (5.3/14). ABC's Primetime was third with a
3.6/10.
NBC led on Friday night among A18-49 with a
combination of a 2-hour Dateline (which included the day & date
Martha Stewart news) and Third Watch. According to Nielsen Media
Research, NBC earned a 3.0/10 for the night, followed by ABC
2.7/9, Fox 2.1/7, CBS 2.0/7, WB 1.5/5, UPN 0.8/2. At 8pm the ABC
TGIF sitcoms posted a 2.7/9, in front by a share point over CBS and NBC
(tied at 2.2/8). At 9p NBC leaned out in front with a 2.8/9, followed
closely by the continuing ABC TGIF sitcoms (2.6/8). Fox stepped up to #3
for the hour with a 2.2/7, ahead of CBS' repeat of JAG (1.7/5).
WB's premiere of its newest sitcom The Help earned a 1.4/4, holding its
lead-in share. AT 10p, NBC's Third Watch led with a 3.9/13,
followed by 20/20 which led with day & date info on Martha Stewart,
and earned a 2.8/9. 48 Hours followed with a 2.3/7.
Fox's hold on Saturday night continues beyond the sweep
with a 3.0/10 A18-49 rating for the night according to Nielsen
Media Research. NBC was second with a 2.0/7, followed by ABC
1.8/6 and CBS 1.7/6. At 8pm Fox averaged a 2.8/10 for back to back
Cops, well ahead of #2 CBS with Star Search (2.0/7). ABC and NBC
tied wtih a 5 share for the hour. At 9p Fox again led with a
3.1/10; ABC a distant #2 with a 1.8/6 for the second hour of its 3-hour
movie; and CBS and NBC tied with a 5 share. At 10p NBC won the hour
with a repeat of L&O: SVU earning a 2.9/7 ahead of the final hour of
Frequency on ABC (2.3/7) and The District on CBS (1.4/4).
Steve Shaw has been upped to EVP/Human Resources of
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. The announcement was made by MGM
Sr. EVP/Secretary William A. Jones, to whom Steve reports. Shaw
will continue to oversee all aspects of Human Resources administration,
including policy development and administration, organizational
development, recruitment, affirmative action, employee relations,
training, compensation, benefits and recordkeeping. He previously
was senior vice president, human resources.
Starz Encore Group LLC has upped Ann Ivancie to
VP/Marketing Campaign Management. Ann will manage national
promotions, corporate and point-of-sale campaign development as well as
custom campaign management for Starz affiliates. Miles McNamee,
SVP/Affiliate Marketing, announced her promotion.
Clarification:
Regarding the distribution rights for Comedy Central's South Park to
Tribune and Debmar, it is Debmar who controls the distribution rights and
will oversee the distribution of the show. Debmar will distribute
to the Top 30 US TV markets, while Tribune will take care of the rest of
the markets as well as oversee ad sales.
Thursday, March 4, 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
13.2/21Survivor:
All Stars 13.7/21, CSI [r] 14.5/22, Without a Trace [r]
11.5/19
NBC 11.9/18 Friends
[r]11.2/18, Will & Grace 10.3/16, The Apprentice 12.9/19, NBC
Special: Princess Diana; The Secret Tapes Part 1 11.9/19 ABC 5.2/8Extreme
Makeover 4.3/7, Extreme Makeover 5.1/8, Primetime 6.2/10
UPN 3.3/5 WWE
Smackdown 3.3/5
FOX 2.7/4 Tru
Calling [r] 3.0/5 , Tru Calling [r] 2.4/4
WB 2.0/3 Steve
Harvey's Big Time [r] 2.3/4, All About the Andersons [r] 1.7/3, JKE [r]
2.0/3 A18-49
NBC 8.1/21, CBS 7.2/18, ABC 2.7/7, UPN 1.9/5, FOX
1.5/4, WB 1.2/3
Friday, March 5, 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 6.7/12 Dateline
NBC 6.3/11, Third Watch 7.4/13 CBS
5.8/10Joan
of Arcadia [r] 6.0/11, JAG [r] 5.7/10, 48 Hours Investigates 5.8/10
ABC 5.1/9 George
Lopez [r] 4.7/8, Married to the Kellys 4.3/8, Hope & Faith 5.0/9,
Life with Bonnie 4.5/8, 20/20 6.1/11
FOX 3.2/6 Fox
Special: Test the Nation 2 3.2/6
WB 2.6/4 Reba
[r] 2.8/5, Reba [r] 2.9/5, Grounded for Life 2.3/4, The Help
[premiere]
2.3/4
UPN 1.5/3 Movie:
Operation Condor 1.5/3 A18-49
NBC 3.0/10, ABC 2.7/9, Fox 2.1/7, CBS 2.0/7, WB
1.5/5, UPN 0.8/2
Saturday, March 6, 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
5.1/9 Star
Search 5.0/9, Hack [r] 5.2/9, The District [r] 5.2/10
FOX 4.9/9 Cops
4.8/8, Cops [r] 4.9/9, AMW 5.1/9
NBC 3.8/7 Tracy
Morgan 2.6/5, Whoopi [r] 2.9/5, Frasier [r] 3.2/6, Happy Family [r]
2.7/5, L&O: SVU [r] 5.7/10 ABC 3.5/7 Movie:
Frequency 3.5/7 A18-49
Fox 3.0/10, NBC 2.0/7, ABC 1.8/6, CBS 1.7/6
A MESSAGE FROM
WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION
MOVIES WORK ON
CABLE!
ON DEADLY
GROUND Starring Steven Seagal
FX's #1 Program of the week!
FX's #1 Movie of the week!
Available exclusively
from
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Source: NHI Explorer,
2/23/04-2/29/04. Mon,
8-10PM.
Program rank ties Cops. HH Cvg Rtg.
The
History ChannelpresentsThis Day in History: 1917 - In Russia, the February Revolution begins in
St. Petersburg with riots and strikes stemming from food shortages. This
first chapter in the Russian Revolution leads to the abdication of Czar
Nicholas III a week later. (This paroxysm is known as the February
Revolution because Russia then still used the Julian calendar, which
was thirteen days behind the Gregorian calendar.)
Answer to yesterday's Trivia
Question:What was the name of this duo's
segment on an NBC show that coined the phrase "Shyeeeeah!
Rriiigggghhhhttt!!!!!"? WAYNE'S WORLD! Kudos to:
Melissa Booth-Wonder Group/Cincinnati; Sarit Rus-WPHL/Philadelphia; Steve
Karmazin-ABC NewsOne/NY; Donna Smera-Food Network/NY; Jennifer
Nolan-Starcom Worldwide/Chicago; Christina Mejia-KCEN/Waco; Ashley
Green-Spot y Mas/Dallas; Dustin Lee-Steele & Assoc; Jake Guswa-Warner
Bros./LA; Jamie Vernhes-Cox Media/LA; Wendell Foster-ABC/Burbank; Sari
Scharf-MGM/LA; Erica Beesemyer-Carsey Werner Mandabach/Studio City; Amy
Sutton-YTV/Toronto; Zoe Zakhem-Warner Bros. Canada/Toronto.
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makes spot cable as easy to buy as broadcast. With 55 markets already
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Today's Trivia Question: If you combine the sounds from a
hyena's howl, a dog's growl, a violin G-string and a camel's bleat, what
will you get?(
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
03/08/04 5:37am
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WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2004
COURT TV RETAINS 95% OF ITS AUDIENCE THROUGH COMMERCIAL BREAKS!
NOW THAT'S GREAT ROI… RETURN ON INVESTIGATION, THAT IS!
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 I-Zone, Forensic Files, The Investigators
ABC 20/20 (OTO); ABC Premiere Event: Judas
CBS Yes, Dear [r], Still Standing [r], Raymond [r], Two and a Half Men [r], CSI: Miami [r]
FOX That 70s Show [r], That 70s Show [r], Forever Eden
NBC Fear Factor, NBC Movie: Behind the Camera: Charlie's Angels PAX AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN The Parkers [r], Eve [r], Girlfriends [r], Half & Half [r]
WB 7th Heaven [r], Everwood [r],
TELE Amor Descardo,El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV Mariana de la Noche [p], Bajo la Misma Piel, Cristina
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