Good morning. It's
Thursday, February 26, 2004,
and this is your first early morning
briefing.
On the heat of another American Idol, Fox won the night on
Tuesday among A18-49 posting an overall 7.8/20
according to Nielsen Media Research. ABC was #2 for the
night with a 3.7/10, ahead of NBC 3.7/9, CBS 2.7/7, UPN 2.6/6, and WB
1.9/5. At 8pm American Idol drew a enormous 11.1/29 (13.3/35
W18-34), besting the competition four times over with #2 ABC and CBS tied
with a 7 share, NBC and WB a 5 share, and UPN a 4 share. Things picked up
for everyone else at 9p though Fox was still in front with 24's
4.6/11. ABC's sitcom hour delivered a 3.9/10 with UPN's Top Model
ranking third with a 3.8/9. Top Model also excelled in the other
key demos, leading the time period among A18-34 (4.3/12 #1), W18-49
(5.1/12), W18-34 (6.2/16). At 10p NBC found the top of the line,
winning the hour with L&O:SVU 5.7/15, while ABC's Super Millionaire
earned a 4.4/12.
Putting their money where their mouth is, the Clear Channel
Communications Inc. has decided to suspend Howard Stern as
part of its 'zero tolerence' policy on indecency. The news of the
cancellation came on the heals of an interview Stern did with Rick
Salomon, Paris Hilton's extra curricular activity on tape. The
action also follows by one day Clear Channels decision to drop Bubba the
Love Sponge from four of its Florida stations including WXTB-FM. Six
Clear Channel radio stations carried the show, in Orlando, Ft.
Lauderdale, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Rochester and Louisville. Clear
Channel said it would suspend Stern until such time as it was
"assured that his show will conform to acceptable standards of
responsible broadcasting." Clear Channel will also amend contracts
with all of their on-air personalities holding them personally and
financially responsible for any indecent comments and fines resulting
from those comments, as well as saying that any DJ found in violation of
the FCC indecency laws will no longer work for Clear Channel.
According to TMS Media/CMR data provided by the Television Bureau of
Advertising, ad revenues for 2003 broadcast television as a whole
finished down by 4% vs. 2002 ($40.4 billion vs. $42.1
billion). The seven broadcast networks were down year to
year(-5.6%) as were the local stations in a combined average of both
local and national spot in the top 100 markets (-5.4%). The only hot spot
was syndicated television which finished the year up over 2002
(+15.3%). In 4th Qtr 2003 alone, the broadcast networks brought in
$9.9 billion, down from the previous year's 4th qtr average of $12.1
billion. Local broadcast ad revenue in 2003 was $4.4 billion, down from
2002's $5.1 billion. Syndication was again the only highlight in
this trio with $9.24 million, up from $8.23 million in
2002. For the 2003 year, Broadcast Network raked up $20.8
billion (down from $22.0b in '02), Local Broadcast $16.2b (down from
$17.2b in '02) and syndication $3.4b (up from $2.9b in '02).
Lifetime has ordered up a second season of 18 eps of its
freshman series Wild Card (Fireworks Ent) starring Joely
Fisher. Wild Card airs on Saturday nights at 9pm. During its
first 18 episodes this season, Wild Card averaged 2.1 million viewers and
scored strong marks in the female demos, Lifetime's core audience.
New in Development and Casting:
HBO has cast Chloe Sevigny in its drama pilot Big Love
(Playtone) as one of the three wives of a polygamist.
Laura Leighton and Garcelle Beauvais join Tim Daly in ABC's
drama pilot Eyes (Warner Bros./McNamara Paper Products) set in a risk
management corporation. In ABC's Steven Bochco pilot Blind
Justice, Marisol Nichols has been cast. In the net's NYC drama
about three nannies, 111 Grammercy Park (Warner Bros./Tannenbaum Co.),
Elizabeth Mitchell, Milo Ventimiglia, Travis Schuldt and Izabella Miko
have been cast. Ricardo Chivira and Jamie Denton join
Teri Hatcher in ABC's Desperate Housewives (Touchstone). And ABC
has added David Cubitt to its drama pilot The Catch (Touchstone/Bad
Robot) that set in the world of bounty hunters. TR Knight has been cast
in the untitled Shonda Rhimes project (Touchstone), a drama that follows
the lives of the surgical staff at a San Francisco hospital. And
turning to one of its comedy projects, ABC has added Kali Rocha, Rocky
Carroll and Sarah Shahi to the cast of Plan B (Universal) which stars
Caroline Rhea.
Fox's serial drama pilot Oahu (think Hotel Hawaiian style) has
added Rob Estes as a managing partner of the hotel. And comedy
pilot Lucky Us has added Randall Park as the gay neighbor, joining Chyler
Leigh. And April Matson has joined the cast of The Quints (20th,
Imagine) from Mark Reisman about a set of 15 year old quintuplets.
CBS's drama pilot Sudbury (Warner Bros./Fortis Films) has
added Kat Dennings in the small screen project that follows the same
lines as the big screen film Practical Magic about a group of sibling
witches.
ABC has also ordered up additional episodes of a
slew of its current Touchstone properties - Hope & Faith, According
to Jim, Less than Perfect, 8 Simple Rules and My Wife &
Kids.
Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ is estimated to have taken in
between $15 and $20 million in its first day. The film is now
estimated to bring in close to $60 million by the end of its first
weekend.
PBS will launch PBS HD on Monday, March 1, a 24/7
channel fully programmed with High Def/Widescreen programming
content. It will be available from local PBS stations who have
already transitioned to digital, as well as via local cable systems who
have agreed to transmit the digital feed of the local PBS station.
Current 236 PBS stations are digital.
Jim Zerwekh has been named VP/GM of Tribune owned KWGN
in Denver. Jim makes the moves from WBZL where he has been
VP/GM for the past four years. Jim's first day at KWGN will be a
week from Monday, March 8, so be sure to give him a call in his new
digs. No word yet on Jim's successor in Miami.
Bill Margol has been named VP/production for the Travel
Channel. The announcement was made by Rick Rodriguez, EVP/GM,
to whom Bill will report. He will lead the network’s production
staff and is responsible for the management, direction and delivery of
the Travel Channel's production efforts. In addition, Margol will
work with development and programming to create new ideas for programming
while overseeing internal and external producers, editors and directors
in the execution of those projects.
Valerie Masterson has joined The WB Network as VP/Human
Resources, reporting to John D. Maatta, EVP and General
Counsel. Valerie will oversee HR including recruitment, records
management and employee relations. She also strategizes with senior
management on initiatives such as diversity, career progression, employee
retention and budget guidelines. She is also the liaison between the
network and Warner Bros.
Cyma Zarghami, President/Nickelodeon announced the promotion of
Marjorie Cohn to the newly created position of EVP/Development
& Original Programming, Nickelodeon. In this new role,
Marjorie will supervise development and production on the network’s
animated and live action programming, while continuing to oversee
Nickelodeon’s creative teams on both the East and West Coasts. She
reports to Zarghami.
Tuesday, February 24, 2004. Fast
Affiliate 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
7.9/12 Navy
NCIS 8.2/12, The Guardian 7.4/11, Judging Amy 8.2/13
NBC 6.9/11 Whoopi
5.0/8, Happy Family 4.0/6, Frasier 6.9/10, Scrubs 5.5/8, Law &
Order: SVU 9.9/16 ABC 6.5/10 8
Simple Rules 5.1/8, I'm with Her 4.2/6, According to Jim 6.2/9, Less than
Perfect 5.9/9,
Super
Millionaire 8.7/14
FOX 5.5/9 American
Idol 14.9/23, 24 6.8/10
UPN 3.5/5 One
on One 2.0/3, All of Us 2.5/4, Top Model 4.8/7
WB 3.3/5 Gilmore
Girls 3.6/5, One Tree Hill 3.0/5 A18-49
Fox 7.8/20, ABC 3.7/10, NBC 3.7/9, CBS 2.7/7, UPN
2.6/6, and WB 1.9/5
A MESSAGE FROM
WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION
MARCH
MADNESS Upcoming Warner Bros.
Releases
March 5 - Starksy &
Hutch Starring Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson,
Snoop Dogg and Vince Vaughn
March 12 -
Spartan Starring Val Kilmer, Derek Luke
and William H. Macy
March 19 - Taking
Lives Starring Angelina Jolie, Ethan
Hawke
and Kiefer Sutherland
March 19 - Scooby-Doo
2 Starring Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah
Michelle Gellar,
Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini
Available exclusively
from
Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution
The
History ChannelpresentsThis Day in History: 1993 - A bomb explodes under New York's World Trade
Center. Six die, a thousand are injured. Seven men are ultimately
convicted of the crime, each serving a 240-year prison
sentence.
Answer to yesterday's Trivia
Question:Bob Johnson had this unnamed role
during the show's 1966-73 run on CBS, and again later when the show made
a comeback in 1988-90. His voice began each episode, and without
it, there was no plot (tho some would argue there still was no plot), no
target, no cool stuff, no intrigue. What was this show? MISSION
IMPOSSIBLE. Kudos to: Dick Cox-DCA Television/CT;
Dennis Degan-NBC Today Show/NY; Stuart Elliott-The New York Times/NY;
Adriano Schmid-Discovery Latin America/Miami; Al
Kuenn-MediaChoice/Phoenix; Robert Cass-Chicago Reader/Chicago; Patty
Kan-WRDZ AM 1300/Chicago; Burton Cooley-Rick Johnson &
Co/Albuquerque; Scott Tallal-INSITE Media Research/Malibu; Jake
Guswa-Warner Bros./LA; Miguel Mouchess-20th Century Fox Film Corp./LA;
Sakena Patterson-Fox Cable Nets/LA; and internationally from John
Vandervelde-dcfmedia/Toronto; Ian Dickerson-ntl Broadcast/UK; and Chris
Kealey-Nelvana/Toronto. Reminder -- You can only appear in the Kudos
list once during the week!
A MESSAGE FROM 20TH
TELEVISION
DIRECTV
Ad Sales Available exclusively from 20th
Television
Starting March 1,
2004 Contact Bob Riordan
212-556-8534
Today's Trivia
Question: Who has a horse named Amigo?
(
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
02/25/04 5:24am
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CYNOPSIS CLASSIFIEDS JOB
OPENING:LOCAL RESEARCH ASSOC
DIRECTOR/ABC Burbank. 4+ yrs exp in
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Resumes:(3/4)
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JOB OPENING:AD SALES RESEARCH ANALYST/ Galavision/ NY: 2-3 yrs experience; Proficient Knowledge of National Nielsen products; strong analytical skills required. Email ~ specify research (3/3)
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JOB OPENING:AD SLS RESEARCH MGR/Discovery Nets-NY: 6+yrs exp in research at Cbl/Bdcst net. Exp w/all Nielsen systems, MRI, MMR and solid comm/analytical skills req. Prior mgrl exp a must. Apply: (2/26)
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SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED --
SITUATION WANTED: PRODUCER/DEVELOPMENT EXEC - LA. Seasoned vet in biography and reality genres looking for new opportunities to create good TV. I think TV should enlighten not dumb down! Please contact (3/2)
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SITUATION WANTED:NY/LA, TV DEVELOPMENT/CASTING DIR., Kid & Tweens TV. Have 15 yrs exp. Excellent organizational, interpersonal and communication skills (Very energetic & enthusiastic). Email: (2/28)
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WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2004 INVESTIGATE COURT TV'S ADVERTISING ENVIRONMENT
OUR A25-54 VIEWERS PAY FULL ATTENTION TO TV PROGRAMS
RANK #4 AMONG CABLE NETWORKS
Court TV The Investigation Channel Source: 2003 MRI Doublebase. Indexed to Total US Includes "Full Attention" to all TV programs available. Networks with 50+MM subs included.
COURT TV:Hollywood Justice, Hollywood at Large, Forensic Files, Body of Evidence
ABC The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose (OTO), Extreme Makeover, Super Millionaire CBS Survivor: All-Stars, CSI, Without a Trace
FOX My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance [r], My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance [r-finale]
NBC Friends, Will & Grace, The Apprentice, ER
PAX AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN WWE Smackdown!
WB Steve Harvey's Big Time, All About the Andersons [r], The Surreal Life [r],
TELE Amor Descardo,El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV Premio Lo Nuestro 2004 (Especial)
