Warner Bros. Movies Make Basic Better

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
Nominated for 4 Golden Globe Awards

Best Picture – Drama
Best Director – GEORGE CLOONEY
Best Actor – DAVID STRATHAIRN
Best Screenplay – GEORGE CLOONEY & GRANT HESLOV

Available exclusively from Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution

CYNTHIA TURNER’S
Cynopsis

12/16/05

Good morning.  It’s Friday, December 16, 2005, and this is your first early morning briefing. For those of you in New York City – no transit strike today.

MTV Networks cut its staff by 100 yesterday within the MTV Music Group which is comprised of MTV, VH1 and CMT.  Departments affected include production, human resources, and research; those left untouched are sales, programming and marketing. While no official comment has been made by the Viacom-owned unit, several reports indicate the reason goes to MTV’s plan to move more heavily into the digital arena, on multiple platforms and to that end may be shifting some of its resources.  No other cuts are anticipated.

* MORE GOOD STUFF *Bravo will launch its new competition reality series called Top Chef on March 15 at 10p with host Katie Lee Joel.  The show features 12 chef wannabes all competing for $100,000 in seed money to build their cheffing careers, as well as be featured in a top culinary magazine, among other prizes. Shot in San Francisco, Bravo has ordered 10 one-hour episodes.

WB will give you a quick reminder of Beauty and the Geek with a nightly airing of the first season.  The reminders start on January 2nd, with episodes airing at 9pm (one exception is Friday, January 6, when the WB will air the final two episodes back to back beginning at 8p).  The new season kicks off on Thursday, January 12 at 9p.

Time Warner Cable announced what its Family Choice tier will look like when it kicks off in first quarter 2005.  The Tier will be made up of 15 channels including Science Channel, DIY Network, FitTV, Food Network, HGTV, La Familia, The Weather Channel, C-Span2, C-Span 3 and Headline News, as well as kid-target channels Boomerang, Discovery Kids, Disney Channel, Toon Disney, Nick Games & Sports. ….. C-Span??

Starting January 23, if you’re not in front of a TV set from 7a-9a ET, you can catch ABC’s Good Morning America Radio Show program on XM Satellite Radio, from 8a-12n on XM Channel 155. Expanded from the 2-hour TV program, the radio show will be four hours long, airing Monday-Saturday, and Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts will be joined by radio personality Hilarie Barsky.  The program will combine news and interviews from the morning TV news program, with original content that will expand on topics discussed in the TV program.  XM Satellite Radio is subscribed to by approx five million listeners.

Nielsen Media Research has signed The Weather Channel as the first network and Starcom MediaVest Group as the first media services company to a new offering of detail in audience information based on Nielsen’s National People Meter sample.  Both Weather Channel and Starcom will have access to the entire database of national viewing information — with commercial minutes identified.  The Weather Channel will utilize this information as a value-added service for its clients.  Within Starcom MediaVest Group this agreement includes access for Starcom, MediaVest, Starlink, GM Planworks and Tapestry.

Cingular Video‘s new mobile phone on-demand service gets a decent shot in the arm with the addition of clips from HBO’s The Sopranos among other shows, and downloadable ringtones from Sex and the City, Six Feet Under and Rome. The service launches in early 2006, but as of today Cingular customers can download so-called Mob Lingo from The Sopranos, and Curb-isms from Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Clarification : The return of NFL Football to NBC kicks off its six year deal next September. Here’s the clarification – Costas will not be calling the game, tho he’ll be doing the in-studio show before hand.  The in-studio show, Football Night in America, will be be produced by David Neal and Sam Flood.

* NEW ORDERS / CASTING / DEVELOPMENT / PRODUCTION *CBS and Paramount Network TV have signed a deal with filmmaker Jon Turtletaub and his Junction Entertainment shingle to create three new projects scripts, and assuming one or more will be picked up for pilot, Turtletaub may sign on to direct the pilot. The three projects are: Suspect Behavior written by Daniel Cerone, is a procedural crime drama that tracks the perp’s motives. Drama project Jericho is written by Stephen Chbosky about a small midwest town after a nuclear attack. And finally, an untitled comedy project is in development with writer Michael Glouberman about a married couple – one is cop, and the other a fire fighter.

* EXECUTIVE MOVES *NBC ups Jeff Zucker from President/NBCU TV Group to CEO, and Randy Falco has been named President/COO of the newly-integrated NBC Universal Television Group. Additionally, Beth Comstock has been appointed to the newly created position of President/NBCU Digital Media and Market Development.  In making these executive moves, NBC Univ TV Group partners for the first time Zucker, Falco, Dick Ebersol and Jay Ireland, and thereby integrates content, sales & distribution, local stations and operations into a single unit. 

• Jeff will report in to Bob Wright, Vice Chairman/GE and Chairman and CEO/NBC Universal. He will oversee the entire television group, with primary focus on content creation. The network’s entertainment division, entertainment cable channels, television studio, network news division, MSNBC and CNBC will continue to report to him, with Sports and Olympics added as well.
• Randy‘s responsibilities include NBCU’s O&O station group, worldwide television distribution and international channels. He will continue to lead the Telemundo network, business development, network operations, sales and cable distribution. He will report to Jeff.
• Beth will report to Bob Wright and she will oversee digital media, strategic marketing, television research, television advertising and promotion and communications.

Maria Grasso has been named SVP/Series Development at Lifetime.  Maria will oversee the development of all scripted programming for Lifetime Television. Based in Los Angeles, she will report to Susanne Daniels, President.

FBC MEDIA, the London-based international media and entertainment group, has named Anmar J. Kawash to the newly-created position of Group COO.  Anmar will oversee the company’s internal growth and global expansion as it moves into a new round of acquisitions consolidating its presence not only in the UK, but also in Italy, India and the United States.

High Noon Entertainment has upped four employees to VP and expanded the duties of the fifth in a move that bolsters the company’s operational and development capabilities.  Dana Eller Kopper was promoted to VP/Production, Pamela Healey was promoted to VP/Development, Graham Clarke, Jennifer Darrow and Tom Giesen all were promoted to VP/Programming for the company.  Dana is now charged with overseeing all of the productions under the High Noon Entertainment banner, which currently produces 17 series.  Pamela will oversee development of all new concepts for broadcast and cable networks and provide strategic guidance for future projects within the company and will relocate to head the Los Angeles office.  Graham will continue to focus his efforts on the management of various productions. Jennifer will continue to serve as Executive Producer on several series and Tom will continue to provide guidance for the series Food Network Challenge and several high-profile specials. 
 
BBC AMERICA has announced the appointment of Andrew Jackson as the new VP/Creative Services for the channel.  Previously he was Director/On-Air for FX where he created campaigns for Nip/Tuck, The Shield, Rescue Me and Over There.
 
Lauren Ruotolo has been named Director/Consumer Promotion & Marketing at TV Guide Magazine.  In her new position, Lauren will develop and execute the planning of existing branded events like the TV Guide Emmy after-party. Additionally, she will look to other industry events for future marketing opportunities like this one.  She will also continue to explore other more traditional marketing and promotional programs.
 * RATINGS *Broadcast Daytime Ratings Rankings – Women 18-49, week of December 5-11, 2005:
General Hospital         2.1/12
Young & Restless         2.0/13
All My Children          1.9/11
One Life to Live                 1.9/11
Days of Our Lives       1.8/12
Bold & Beautiful         1.7/10
Price is Right 2                 1.5/10
As the World Turns      1.5/9
The View                 1.4/10
Price is Right 1                 1.3/9
Guiding Light            1.3/7
Passions                 1.3/7
Source: Nielsen’s Galaxy Explorer, NTI as dated

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of Nov 28-Dec 4, 2005 ranked by HH Rtg
Wheel of Fortune (King World)                  8.8 AA
Oprah (King World)                                    7.7 AA / 7.9 GAA
Jeopardy (King World)                                6.8 AA
Everybody Loves Raymond (King World)  6.7 AA / 8.8 GAA
Seinfeld (Sony)                                           5.7 AA / 7.1 GAA
Entertainment Tonight (Paramount)          5.5 AA / 5.7 GAA
Dr. Phil (King World)                                  5.3 AA / 5.3 GAA
Friends (Warner Bros.)                              5.2 AA / 6.7 GAA
Judge Judy (Paramount)                            5.1 AA / 7.9 GAA
That ’70s Show (Carsey-Werner)  4.5 AA / 5.8 GAA
Source: Nielsen Media Research

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of Nov 28-Dec 4, 2005  ranked by A18-49
Everybody Loves Raymond (King World)  3.8 AA / 4.9 GAA
Seinfeld (Sony)                                           3.8 AA / 4.7 GAA
Friends (Warner Bros.)                              3.6 AA / 4.6 GAA
Oprah (King World)                                    3.2 AA / 3.2 GAA
That ’70s Show (Carsey-Werner)              3.1 AA / 4.0 GAA
Wheel of Fortune (King World)                  2.6 AA
Entertainment Tonight (Paramount)          2.3 AA / 2.3 GAA
Jeopardy (King World)                                2.0 AA
King of Queens (Sony Pictures TV)       2.0 AA / 2.5 GAA
Dr. Phil (King World)                                  1.9 AA / 2.0 GAA
Source: Nielsen Media Research

IAG Research’s Top Ten Most Recalled New Ads and Top Ten Most Liked New Ads for new campaigns airing during the period of November 7-December 4, 2005.   The list is ranked by viewers’ ability to recall the new ads (or how much they like them) and their associated products and brands. The Recall Score is the percentage of TV viewers who can recall within 24 hours the brand of an ad they were exposed to during the normal course of viewing TV.  The Likeability Score is the percentage of TV viewers who report to like “a lot” an ad they were exposed to during the normal course of viewing TV (among those recalling the brand of the ad).  For example, with a Likeability Index of 193, the top ranked Coca-Cola spot has proven to be nearly twice more liked than the average new commercial during the past four-week period. The scores are then indexed against the mean score for all ads during the time period to create the Recall Index; 100 is Average. For example, with a Recall Index of 216, the top-ranked eBay spot was more than twice as memorable as the average new ad during the four week period.

Top Ten Most Liked New Ads:
193 – COCA COLA: Polar bear family watches penguins dance to Beach Boys, baby bear falls down hill, penguins give them Coke
157 – SONY PLAYSTATION: Jak-X Combat Racing–man tries to fix car, gets jacked up by game character, hits AC button & blows up house    
157 – K MART: Teen couple about to kiss, dad turns on holiday lights, boy falls over
146 – DHL: Mail slot too small, deliveryman takes apart mail slot, employees say he’s good, super good
146 – McDONALD’S: World Children’s Day–boy with mom at doctors office, boy wants to get home for a date        
145- ONDCP: AboveTheInfluence.com–friends dress boy in room, when stop making decisions for yourself
144 – ONDCP: AboveTheInfluence.com–woman interprets for teenager who has his fist stuck in his mouth
144 – TOYS R US: Two employees rush into store, find plate of empty cookies and milk, he came
142 – MICROSOFT XBOX: Xbox 360–people all over the city play with water balloons
141 – ST. JUDE: Children’s Research Hospital–Morgan Freeman, children playing in background, Marlo Thomas, please help
Source: IAG Research ( www.iagr.net)

Top Ten Most Recalled New Ads:
216 – eBAY: it–boy in gym throws and sidesteps ‘it’ dodgeballs; whatever it is, you can get it on eBay
215 – St. JUDE: Antonio Banderas, Sara Jessica Parker, Robin Williams, Morgan Freeman; Ray Romano       
209 – ST. JUDE: Antonio Banderas talks about how one cell can grow into one parent’s worst fear 
209 – COCA COLA: Polar bear family watches penguins dance, baby bear falls down hill, penguins give them Coke
205 – TOYS R US: Gift Card–employees dance in front of customers; Simon said freeze; two guys walk on their hands
203 – eBAY: Holiday–father assembles it-shaped red toy on Christmas morning; son asks where does this piece go?
202 – VICTORIA’S SECRET: Holiday–models in lingerie; give me Victoria’s Secret
198 – OLIVE GARDEN: Four Cheese Tortellini–group of women at dinner; their only rule is everyone must order something different
198 – HALLS: 3 little pigs inside house tease wolf outside about not being able to huff and puff, wolf pulls out Halls
192 – THQ: WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006–man looks at hands, I’ve got this far I can do it
Source: IAG Research ( www.iagr.net)

Wednesday — A18-49 Analysis:   CBS won the night on Wednesday earning a 4.2/12 A18-49, according to final numbers from Nielsen Media Research.  ABC was a distant #2 with a 2.7/8, followed by Fox 2.6/7, NBC 2.3/6, WB and UPN 1.2/3.  At 8p Fox’s That ’70s Show delivered a 2.8/9 for the first half hour, but ABC’s Freddie pulled out the 830p half hour with a 3.0/9. At 9p Criminal Minds took over with a 4.7/12 for CBS, and held that lead into the 10p hour with CSI: NY’s 5.5/15.

FINAL HOUSEHOLD RATINGS: Wednesday, December 14, 2005, for all Networks – program averages. Source: Nielsen Media Research. 

CBS     8.5/14   Still Standing 4.6/8, Yes Dear 5.1/8, Criminal Minds 9.9/16, CSI: NY  10.8/18

ABC     4.7/8    George Lopez 4.7/8 Freddie 5.0/8, Lost [r] 5.3/8, Alias 3.8/6

NBC     5.1/8    E-Ring [r] 4.7/8, The Apprentice Martha Stewart 4.0/6, Law & Order [r] 6.5/11

Fox     3.8/6    That ’70s Show 3.9/6, Stacked 3.0/5, Trading Spouses 4.2/7

UPN     1.9/3    America’s Next Top Model Special Reunion 2.2/4, Everybody Hates Chris [r] 2.0/3, Love Inc. [r] 1.4/2

WB      1.8/3    Holiday Special: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas 3.1/5, Twins [r] 1.6/3, Related [r] 1.1/2

A18-49:  CBS 4.2/12, ABC 2.7/8, Fox 2.6/7, NBC 2.3/6, WB and UPN 1.2/3

Friday Fun Fact:  A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why.

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1773: Under cover of darkness and disguised as native Americans, brewer/patriot Samuel Adams leads a group of Massachusetts colonists aboard three British ships moored in Boston Harbor, dumping their cargos of tea overboard.  The “Boston Tea Party” was an escalation of protests against British taxation policies, which favored metropolitan interests over those of the colonies.  It led directly to the blockade and occupation of Boston, and from there to the colonies’ declaration of independence from Britain.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question: Alex Hitchens is a doctor of what?    DATING AND LOVE in the movie HITCH    Kudos to: Tom Culligan-Fox Station Sales; Lisa Tisdale-Time Warner Cable; Sandra Marano-BBC Worldwide Americas/NY; Justin Sivin Baldwin/NY; Heather Floore-KTVD/Denver; Kathy Alexander-Spot Plus/Dallas; Judy Margolis-The Ad Place/Dallas;  Lorrie Shilling-Centenniel CO; Jack Keough-GRP Productions/Hollywood; Julia Sen-G4 Media/LA; Mike Lightner-Telerep/LA; Andy Fiedler-Tom Lynch Company/Beverly Hills; Coleen Raymann-Buena Vista TV/Burbank

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

T hank G od I t’s S moking G un ^® F riday!

What do you get when you mix maracas,
drums, wedding bells, and a dash of soul?
Two possibilities: a really freaky band or
a really funny The Smoking Gun Year-end Special .
Everybody’ll be there  Don Henley, Matthew McConaughey,
Liza Minnelli, James Brown and more!
Catch it on Court TV ^®

Today’s Trivia Question: If you “Leave the Driving to Us,” who exactly are you leaving it to? (
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
12.16.05 – 5:04a
Ad Sales – Barbara Shapiro – 203-583-1224 /

Classifieds – Trish Pihonak – 203.381-9096 /

If you’d rather listen than read, you can sign up for the Cynopsis: In Your Ear podcast available for download each morning by 630a at www.cynopsis.com or via iTunes 4.9 listed in the podcast directory under “News”  as well as under Yahoo Podcast http://podcasts.yahoo.com/.

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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  Friday, December 16, 2005

ABC              A Charlie Brown Christmas [r], Hope and Faith [r], Hot Properties, 20/20
CBS              Ghost Whisperer, Close to Home, Numb3rs
FOX              The Bernie Mac Show, The Bernie Mac Show [r], Family Guy [r], Malcolm in the Middle
NBC              Dateline NBC,  Law & Order: CI [r]
i                America’s Most Talented Kid, Cave In
UPN              Friday Night Smackdown
WB               What I Like About You [r], Holiday Special: A Scooby Doo Christmas [r], Reba [r], Twins [r]
TELE             El Cuerpo del Deseo, Corazon Partido, Decisiones- Casos Extraordinarios, Decisiones
UNIV             Contra Viento  y Marea, Alborada, Cristina