Source: NTI Galaxy Explorer, 11/4-3/24/05.  US Rtg & 000.

CYNTHIA TURNER’S
Cynopsis

04/01/05

Good morning.  It’s Friday, April 1, 2005, and this is your first early morning briefing.

The official word:  Ted Koppel is leaving ABC News when his contract expires on December 4, 2004.  Koppel has been at ABC News for 42 years, the last 25 as anchor of Nightline.  Also making his departure is Tom Bettag, Koppel’s long time exec prod. David Westin, President of ABC News said in an email to staff yesterday he has had “ongoing conversations [with Ted and Tom] for almost five years seeking to ensure Nightline’s continuity and to create an orderly transition.  All of us are optimistic that both goals can and will be achieved.”  He did not say specifically how or if Nightline would continue sans Koppel. 

There is no doubt in any one’s mind that Cablevision must be pretty ticked off that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in NYC accepted the $720 million bid from the New York Jets for property on New York’s west side where it intends to build a new 75,000 seat stadium.  The expected cost to build the stadium, with retractable roof, is in the $1.7 billion range.  Cablevision, who owns Madison Square Garden located nearby, has been bidding against the Jets for the property, believing the stadium would draw patrons away from MSG.  Cablevision had put its own $760 million bid in for the property, and intended to build apartments, office and a school.  As a result of a new stadium, New York is looking to be the host city for the Summer Olympic Games in 2012. The IOC will decide on the location for the 2012 games in July.  Additionally, the NFL has said if the stadium goes forward, NYC will get the Super Bowl in 2010. A fight is expected to be launched in the courts from Cablevision, and there are still more approvals needed from two more state agencies.

Fox has ordered another season of Malcolm in the Middle (Regency TV).  That will be the show’s 7th season, and according to Linwood Boomer, creator/exec prod., it will also likely be its last.

ABC’s General Hospital celebrates 42 years on the air today.  In this business where sometimes shows don’t make it to Episode 4 much less Decade 4, that’s pretty significant and deserves a little recognition.

This item has been rumored for so long, it seems like old news …. Noah Wyle will leave as a regular of ER at the end of the season, returning as a recurring character in four episodes next season.

Season Finale:
NBC:  ER on May 19

Nick-at-Nite has ordered 13 episodes of a new reality series called HiJinks (Banyan Prods), per Variety.  The premise is standard hidden camera jokes-on-you style, with the added ‘twist’ that it will be parents (often celebrity parents) playing pranks on their offspring.  Leila Spitani will host.  Segments already produced include Susan Sarandon, Gilbert Gottfried and Vivica Fox.  The show is looking at a summer premiere.

CBS:

• Untitled Marsh McCall Project (Warner Bros. TV/Jerry Bruckheimer Films) project has cast Katherine Waterston as one of the three siblings all gathering to support their father who has just been left by their mother.  Waterston joins Jonathan Silverman and Reid Scott.

FOX:

• Fox has officially passed on its pilot project The Other Mall (Regency) with David Hornsby and Lance Krall. The show was set in an aging midwest mall, recently bought by a large corporation who installs a young go-getter (Hornsby) to run the show and deal with all the bizarre store owners.  A pilot presentation had been produced, but a pilot order was not given.

NBC:

• Early Bird (NBC Universal TV/3 Arts Ent) has cast Renee Taylor as one of the regulars in this comedy set in a retirement community where the lead character, a young writers (Timm Sharp), decides to hang out after being fired from his job. 
• Four Kings (Warner Bros. TV /KoMut), a comedy about four lifelong friends conquering NYC, has added Seth Green to the cast along with Kiele Sanchez, who join Jonah Lotan and Todd Grinnell.

UPN:

• The Show with AJ Calloway (Sony Pictures TV/Handprint Ent) has signed Kel Mitchell to join Calloway in this Larry Sanders-type comedy where real BET personality Calloway is the host of a fictitious late night talk show, and Mitchell is his producer.

WB:

• Bow (Touchstone TV) has added three to join Bow Wow in this comedy about a coming of age rap star – Joey Lawrence as his agent, Kim Fields as his mom and Charles Duckworth as best friend and one man entourage.

Broadcast stations are so dependent on auto advertising that car spots are often stacked upon one another like planes over LaGuardia. So complained Steve Sturm, Vice President, North America planning for Toyota Motor Sales who told TvB Conference attendees at New York’s Javits Center on Thursday that car companies will eventually tire of getting stuck in pods with other such spots. Noting that 80% of a local market’s car ads air in the last two weeks of the month, he noted that a New York station recently ran 10 car spots out of 18 ads. “Is this the best way for us to deliver our message and stand out?” Sturm wondered. Also at TvB, media buyers warned stations against pitching by knocking local cable, saying broadcasters must sell their strengths instead. At a panel, Peggy Green, Zenith USA’s President/Broadcast, drew heavy applause when she said her agency is not using the “Fusion” data modeling reports from cable spot firm NCC. “Right now we really need to be convinced,” she said.  — Andrew Grossman, Editor/Cynopsis

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of March 14-20, 2005 ranked by HH Rtg
Wheel of Fortune (King World)                  9.0 AA
Jeopardy (King World)                                7.6 AA
Everybody Loves Raymond (King World)  6.6 AA / 8.6 GAA
Seinfeld (Sony)                                           6.2 AA / 7.8 GAA
Oprah (King World)                                    6.1 AA / 6.1 GAA
Judge Judy (Paramount)                            5.1 AA / 7.8 GAA
Friends (Warner Bros.)                              5.0 AA / 6.3 GAA
Dr. Phil (King World)                                  4.8 AA / 4.9 GAA
Entertainment Tonight (Paramount)          4.5 AA / 4.6 GAA
Regis & Kelly (Buena Vista)                      3.5 AA
Judge Joe (20th)                                        3.5 AA / 5.1 AA
Source Nielsen Media Research

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of March 14-20, 2005 ranked by A18-49
Seinfeld (Sony)                                           4.1 AA / 5.1 GAA
Everybody Loves Raymond (King World)  3.9 AA / 5.0 GAA
Friends (Warner Bros.)                              3.4 AA / 4.2 GAA
Wheel of Fortune (King World)                  2.4 AA
Oprah (King World)                                    2.2 AA / 2.3 GAA
That 70’s Show (Carsey-Werner)              2.2 AA / 2.7 GAA
Jeopardy (King World)                                2.0 AA
Judge Judy (Paramount)                            1.9 AA / 2.9 GAA
Malcolm/Middle (20th)                                 1.9 AA / 2.3 GAA
King of the Hill (20th)                                   1.9 AA / 2.3 GAA
Source Nielsen Media Research

For those of you traveling to San Francisco for The National Show, you may want to take an umbrella.  The weather will be party cloudy Friday and Saturday in the mid 60s, and shifting to rain on Sunday and Monday in the mid 50s. Back to party cloudy on Tuesday.  Okay, I’m no slick meteorologist, I just read what The Weather Channel tells me, but do you get this stuff from the other guys you read? I think not.  Safe travels to all.

While this edition does not hold a single April Fools joke, for those who love a clever scam and love baseball, you should always be reminded of The Curious Case of Sidd Finch.  Here’s an article into today’s NYTimes by Alan Schwarz to refresh your memory:  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/sports/baseball/01finch.html

Betty Cohen has been named President/CEO of Lifetime Entertainment Services.  The announcement came late yesterday from Anne Sweeney, Co-chairman Media Networks, The Walt Disney Company and President, Disney-ABC Television Group, and by John Conomikes, Director, The Hearst Corporation and member of the Lifetime Management Committee.  Betty takes over her new post on April 26, and will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of network, including advertising sales, affiliate sales, research, programming, strategic planning and operations. She will oversee Lifetime Television; Lifetime Movie Network; Lifetime Real Women; Lifetime Radio for Women; Lifetime Home Entertainment, and Lifetime Online. Lifetime Entertainment Services is a 50/50 joint venture of The Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company.

Clare Alter will join DLT Entertainment‘s US office as VP/Cable and Home Video Sales.  The announcement was made by DLT’s Vice President Don Taffner Jr.  Clare will be responsible for driving the sale of DLT’s catalogue of programs and formats to cable networks and will also handle home video, DVD and video on demand sales.  Great get for DLT.

Larry Kramer has been named President, CBS Digital Media.  Larry founded Dow Jones’ MarketWatch, Inc (fka CBS MarketWatch), and will now oversee all developing new media operations for CBS, including CBS.com, CBS SportsLine.com, CBSNews.com and UPN.com, among others, as well as a new sales operation that will serve them.  He reports directly to Leslie Moonves, Chairman, CBS and Co-President/Co-Chief Operating Officer, Viacom.

Ellis Entertainment has named Lynn Valiquette its new Sales Director for Ellis Releasing.  She will be joining the team led by Caroline Godin, who has been promoted to Head of Sales.  The announcements were made today by President Stephen Ellis. Lynn will oversee sales in all media to French and Spanish-speaking territories, Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa.  Caroline Grodin will continue to sell directly to English-speaking territories and multi-territory clients.

CBS Paramount International Television has upped Jennifer Weingroff to VP/Communications, reporting to John Wentworth, Executive Vice President, Communications, Paramount Television.  Jennifer, working with Armando Nunez, Jr., President of the division, will handle series’ consumer publicity internationally and trade communications.

The Los Angeles office of Universal McCann has named Michele Siravo as SVP/Group Director on Sony Home Entertainment and GSN.  The announcement was made by Karen Bloore, EVP/Managing Director, Universal McCann Entertainment Group, to whom Michele will report.

Wednesday – A18-49 Analysis:  Fox led on Wednesday with an overall 5.5/14 A18-49, according to final numbers from Nielsen Media Research.  ABC was a close #2 with a 4.7/12.  At 8p an original episode of ABC’s Lost delivered a 6.5/18; Fox was #2 with an average 10 share for the hour.  UPN’s America’s Next Top Model  earned a 2.5/7 A18-49, but kicked it up to a 4.3/12 among W18-34, placing it at #2 for the hour behind ABC. At 9p American Idol was in front for the first half hour with a resounding 10.6/26, tho dipped to an 11 share for the second outing of Life on a Stick.  Alias on ABC  tied Fox for the second half hour with a 4.4/11. Law & Order won the 10p hour for NBC with a 4.3/12, while a repeat of CSI: NY tied in share with the premiere of ABC’s Eyes, each delivering a 9 share.

FINAL HOUSEHOLD RATINGS:  Wednesday, March 30, 2005, for all Networks – time period averages.  Source: Nielsen Media Research. 

ABC     7.7/12   Lost 10.7/17, Alias 6.7/10, Eyes [p] 5.6/9

FOX     7.6/12   That 70’s Show 4.8/8, Simple Life 4.8/7, American Idol 14.8/22, Life on a Stick 6.1/9

NBC     6.5/10   American Dreams 4.0/6, West Wing 6.5/10, Law & Order 9.1/15

CBS     6.3/10   60 Minutes 6.5/10, King of Queens 6.0/9, Yes Dear 6.4/10, CSI: NY [r] 6.3/10

UPN     2.8/4    Top Model 4.0/6, Kevin Hill [r] 1.6/2

WB      1.8/3    Smallville [r] 1.9/3, Smallville [r] 1.8/3

A18-49                Fox 5.5/14, ABC 4.7/12, NBC 3.1/8, CBS 2.8/7, UPN 1.7/3, WB 1.3/3

Friday Fun Fact:  The world’s tallest mountains, the Himalayas, are also the fastest growing.  I know, sounds like an April Fools joke, but not so. Their growth, about half an inch a year, is caused by the pressure exerted by two of Earth’s continental plates (the Eurasian plate and the Indo-Australian plate) pushing against one another.

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1957- The BBC profiles the Swiss spaghetti harvest. In a follow-up story, it acknowledges the story was an April Fools gag. Some viewers are not amused.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question: The local newspaper, known in part as the Courier Press, had a motto which read You Do It, We’ll Print It.  What show were you watching if you read this paper?  MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN.  Kudos to:  David Parnes-Tangarey Prods/Boca Raton; Corinne Waldheim-SOAPnet/NY; Matt Deprey-Discovery Health & FitTV/Silver Spring; Amy Pecorino-Judge Hatchett/NY; Kathy Alexander-Spot Plus y Mas/Dallas; Steven Chupnick-SRC Unlimited/Lawndale CA.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

Today’s Trivia Question:   Who is Fred the Baker? (click here with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: Only the second four correct answers from each time zone will be mentioned; and once you’ve been mentioned in any of the Cynopsis editions, you can’t be mentioned again that calendar week.)

Later — Cyn
04.01.05 5:21am

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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  APRIL 1, 2005:

ABC              8 Simple Rules, 8 Simple Rules, Hope & Faith, Less than Perfect, 20/20
CBS              Joan of Arcadia, JAG, NUMB3RS
FOX              Bernie Mac, Malcolm, Arrested Development, Arrested Development
NBC              Dateline (8-10p), L&O: Trial by Jury
PAX              America’s Talented, MGM Movie: Dominick and Eugene
UPN              Star Trek Enterprise, Top Model [r]
WB               What I Like About You [r], What I Like About You [r], Reba [r], Reba [r]
TELE             La Mujer en el Espejo, Los Platedos, La Ley del Silencio
UNIV             Apuesta por un Amor, La Madrastra, Hospital el Paisa, La Escuelita