Good morning. It's
Wednesday, February 18, 2003,
and this is your first early morning
briefing.
NBC won Monday night among A18-49 according to
Nielsen Media Research by posting an overall 6.7/16 for the
night. CBS was second with a 5.7/14, followed by Fox 5.4/13, ABC
3.2/8, WB 1.9/4, UPN 1.6/4. At 8pm NBC's Fear Factor far and away
won the hour with an 8.4/21, nearly doubling #2 CBS' 4.2/11 for its
sitcom hour. Ranking third was Fox's part 1 of 2, Littlest Groom
with a 3.1/8. WB's 7th Heaven was next with a 2.0/5, narrowly
beating the first hour of ABC's Jurassic Park III (1.9/5) and UPN
1.8/4. At 9pm Fox's Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance takes center stage
with a 7.6/17 (a high of 9.2/22 among W18-34), ahead of CBS' Raymond
6.6/15 / Two and a Half Men 5.9/13 combo as well as NBC's Las Vegas
(5.5/13). WB and UPN each posted a 4 share. At 10p CSI: Miami led
the pack with a 6.7/16, but it was a highly competitive hour among the
big three: NBC 6.2/14, ABC 5.8/14.
Paramount Domestic Television has announced the slow roll out of
Dance 360, the urban dance show hosted by Kel Mitchell (Keenan
& Kel) and Fredro Starr (Moesha), has been cleared on the Viacom
owned UPN stations as well as on indy KCAL/Los Angeles, for fall
2004. Dance 360 is produced by Hat to the Back Productions, and
distributed by Paramount Domestic Television. Claude Brooks and
Ralph Farquhar are executive producers.
New in Development and Casting:
A thus far un-network-affiliated, unscripted project is being shopped
by the likes of Mark Burnett, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sylvester
Stallone on behalf of Dreamworks TV that dives into the world of
boxing and boxer wannabes, called The Contender. The show takes on
the nationwide search for the next superstar boxer. Networks are being
pitched the project this week.
ABC has cast Selma Blair as one of the three sisters in the
pilot formerly known as the Untitled Katims & Kelley Project (David
E. Kelley/20th) about sisters who inherit a wedding planning company on
Long Island. Also from ABC, Desperate Housewives (Touchstone TV)
has cast Teri Hatcher as one of the women living on the cul-de-sac. And
Jennifer Aspen has been cast as the wife in the Untitled Rodney
Carrington Project, wherein Carrington is a stand up comic (Touchstone
TV).
At CBS Christopher Lloyd has joined the pilot cast of The
Clubhouse (Icon/Spelling) which takes place in the Yankee clubhouse. Also
cast in this drama series are Marc Donato, Dean Cain, Mare Winningham,
Kirsten Storms, Dan Byrd and JD Pardo. Lloyd will play the role of
a retired baseball coach, according to Hollywood Reporter.
And Jay Harrington will join Chris O'Donnell in the pilot comedy project
The Amazing Westerbergs, says Variety.
NBC has signed Jeff Goldblum to star in the sitcom pilot My
11:30 (Nuance Prods/NBC Studios) about a businessman and his no-nonsense
therapist. Goldblum will play the patient.
At Fox, Robert Sean Leonard has been cast in the network's
thus far untitled drama pilot about a group of doctors working on
impossible cases, known only as the Untitled David Shore Project (Heel
& Toe Films/Universal). Leonard plays an oncologist.
AMC is looking at a pilot project from Matt Morchower and Dave
Kaufman's Varsity Entertainment called Director's Cut, a reality project
wherein a featured director is given $10k and 24 hours to create and
direct a scene of a real life, life altering event, i.e., birth, wedding
proposal, etc.
Comedy Central has ordered eight episodes of a new animated series
called Odd Todd, based in part on the life of Todd Rosenberg, a
laid off dot.com-er and the creator of somewhat autobiographical cartoon
shorts that can be seen on Rosenberg's website, oddtodd.com, according to
Daily Variety. Rosenberg will exec prod along
with David Stern.
Disney and The Jim Henson Company announced yesterday that
they had inked a binding purchase agreement whereby Disney will
acquire the Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House
properties from Henson. The deal includes all Muppet assets
including Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and Animal characters,
the Muppet film and TV library and all related copyrights and
trademarks. Similarly the deal includes Bear in the Big Blue House
characters, TV library, copyrights and trademarks. The agreement
does not include the Sesame Street characters (like Big Bird & Elmo),
which are owned by Sesame Workshop. The deal also contains a
non-exclusive production and consulting codicil under which Henson will
develop programs featuring the Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House for
Disney. Henson will retain all other assets of the company
including Jim Henson's Creature Shop and ownership and rights to all
other characters and entertainment properties in its film and TV library
(e.g. Fraggle Rock, Farscape, Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Storyteller and
The Hoobs). Henson also says it will actively pursue partnerships
and other strategic arrangements to exploit these and other existing and
new properties and to build their value over the long term.
As you know, scheduled to launch this month (2/25) is cable network
SiTV, an English language network for the
Latino and multi-cultural audience
between 18 and 34, with shows such as Urban Jungle (think Survivor
in LA), a daily variety show called The Drop; I Can't Believe Its Cinema
redubs old Mexican movies and cuts them down to 30m; The Rub is a talk
show with its primary topic being relationships. Also coming this
year (July 2004) is another English language network, Voy,
targeting close to the same audience tho looking for the slightly older
18-49 demo. Voy will also have a variety of programs, including
talk, variety and original series and documentaries, tho it plans to
steer clear of the more expensive sports, news and outside scripted
programming. Rather it will use its own resources to create
lifestyle driven programming. Voy Network is owned by Voy, a media
company which produces programming for the English speaking Latino market
in the US. Voy Network is headed up by CEO Andrew Thau, and is heavily in
carriage discussions with several MSOs. SiTV has already gained
carriage deals on Comcast, Time Warner and Cox.
The word of the day is "Reality." Though I think
we can all agree that's the wrong word. Not for the day, just for
the genre. The question is, where is the Reality in Reality TV?
Mark Burnett tells me he classifies his own shows as Unscripted
Dramas. And as far as the term Reality is concerned, like a lot of
topics, Mark has a very decided POV which he explains as it relates to
Survivor: "Reality? How can you call it reality?
First of all, the situation is contrived. This group of people didn't
just find themselves stranded on a deserted island. What is real is the
castaways' reactions as a result of their situation. That's what's real,
that's the story. Maybe it should be called a Situational
Drama." Maybe it should. Can we all agree then, since nobody
is buying the "reality" term anymore, that from now on we'll
follow Burnett's lead and call them U.D.'s. or even S.D.'s?
Agreed? Ok, let's move on.
WNBA President Val Ackerman announced Ann Sarnoff will join the
WNBA on February 23 as the league’s Chief Operating
Officer. Sarnoff, who will report to Ackerman, will be charged with
overseeing the business functions of the league, including its
advertising, broadcasting, marketing, merchandising, player programs and
communications activities. Ann makes the move to the WNBA from VH1
and CMT where she was COO.
John Fant has been named Director of Operations for TV
One, the entertainment network targeting African American adults that
launched in January 2004. John is responsible for the logistics and
quality control elements of TV One's signal transmission, including
reliable transmission to affiliates, traffic/log operations, on-air
programming technical quality, and management of the relationship with
and operation of the master control facility. Additionally,
SVP/Affiliates Sales and Marketing Bernard Bell announced Eric
Claytor has been named Affiliate Sales Account
Manager.
Elizabeth Tumulty has been upped to SVP/Affiliate Relations and
Communications for The WB, reporting to Ken Werner,
EVP/Distribution.
And it's official ... Richard Kaplan has been named President of
MSNBC, reporting to Neal Shapiro, President/NBC News. Erik
Sorenson, GM of MSNBC since 1998, will move over to NBC News working
with Shapiro on long term strategic projects.
Monday, February 16, 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
10.6/16 Yes
Dear 7.511, Still Standing 8.0/12, Raymond 12.4/18, Two and a Half Men
11.1/16, CSI Miami 12.3/19 NBC 8.7/13 Fear
Factor 10.6/16, Las Vegas 7.9/12, Average Joe: Hawaii 7.6/12
FOX7.1/11 The
Littlest Groom (part 1 of 2) 4.9/7, My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance
9.4/14
ABC 6.9/10 ABC
Movie: Jurassic Park III 4.7/7, Primetime Special Edition
11.2/17
WB 3.7/5 7th
Heaven 3.9/6, Everwood 3.5/5
UPN 2.6/4 The
Parkers 2.4/4, Eve 2.6/4, Girlfriends 2.8/4, Half and Half 2.6/4 A18-49
NBC 6.7/16, CBS 5.7/14, Fox 5.4/13, ABC 3.2/8, WB
1.9/4, UPN 1.6/4
A MESSAGE FROM
WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION
WARNER
BROS. FEATURES SCORE
TOP RANKS FOR THE WEEK!
SWITCHING GOALS #1 Movie on ABC Family (#2
Program)
LETHAL WEAPON 4 #2 Movie on TNT (#9 Program)
A KILLER AMONG
FRIENDS #3 Movie on LIFETIME (#3
Program)
YOU'VE GOT MAIL #4 Movie on TBS (#4 Program)
For movies that
perform
Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution
Source: NHI Explorer, 2/2/04-2/8/04. HH
Cvg Rtg. #1 Ranks ties Robin Hood:Men In Tights, One Fine Day, Down
Periscope. Excludes sports and specials.
The
History ChannelpresentsThis Day in History: 1929 - The winners of the first Academy Awards are
announced. "Wings" wins best picture, Emil Jannings best lead
actor, and Janet Gaynor best lead actress.
Answer to yesterday's Trivia
Question:Who was the Coward of Bitter
Creek, who was forced to spend the entire series wandering the old west
trying to disprove the false allegation? Need either the
character's name or the actor's. CAPTAIN JASON McCORD,
played by CHUCK CONNORS on BRANDED. Kudos to:
Steve Eisenberg-SL Inc./NY; Jeffrey Tuchman-Documania Films/NY; Julius
Picardi-PSP/NY; Alex Mullen-MTV Ad Sales/NY; Margaret Chunn-Carat
USA/Chicago; Patti Clements-KXRM KXTV/Colorado Springs; Ed
Worthington-KHWB/Houston; Mike Reitman-NEXTMedia/Dallas; Robert
Langer-Majestic Studios/Van Nuys; Karen Miller-Reality Central/LA; Arthur
Greenwald-Arthur Greenwald Prods/LA;: Scott Tallal-INSITE Media
Research/Malibu; Monica Marcott-YES TV/Anchorage; Jacquie Hood-Omni
TV/Toronto; and Iain Eggleton-XS TV Ltd/Auckland New Zealand.
Today's Trivia Question:
On what series could you potentially run into the Devil's Hole Gang, or
what was left of it?
(
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
02/18/04 5:29am
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Copyright Cynthia Turner 2004
CYNOPSIS CLASSIFIEDS JOB
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WHAT'S ON
TONIGHT: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2004 INVESTIGATE COURT TV'S
ADVERTISING ENVIRONMENT
OUR A18-49 VIEWERS ARE
"FAR ABOVE AVERAGE" FOR TV INVOLVEMENT
RANK #4 AMONG CABLE NETWORKS
COURT TV The
Investigation Channel Source: '03 Simmons Spring Full Year
Study. Indexed to Total US. Networks with 50+MM subs included.
Qual. avail upon request. COURT
TV:The
Take: Love Connection, Forensic Files, Psychic Detective, Dominick Dunne
ABC My
Wife & Kids, It's All Relative, The Bachelorette, Celebrity Mole:
Yucatan [finale]
CBS 60
Minutes II, King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond [r] (OTO), 48
Hours Investigates
FOX That
70's Show, American Idol, The O.C.
NBC The
Apprentice [r], The West Wing, Law & Order
PAX AFV,
Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN Enterprise,
Top Model [r]
WB Smallville,
Angel
TELE Amor
Descardo,El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV Velo
de Novia, Bajo la Misma Piel, Don Francisco Presenta
