CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

02/27/04

Good morning. It’s Friday, February 27, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing. 

Fox takes the night on Wednesday with another big win, this time posting an overall 6.3/16 A18-49 rating according to Nielsen Media Research.  That was good enough to solidly beat ABC 5.2/13, NBC 4.0/10, CBS 3.1/8, WB 1.9/5 and UPN 2.5/7. At 8pm Fox began the half hour wtih That 70’s Show (5.8/16),ahead of ABC’s My Wife & Kids (3.8/11).  At 830p American Idol dominated the time period with a 10.3/26, and the next closest competitor was NBC with the second half hour of a repeat ep of The Apprentice with an 8 share.  At 9p ABC pulled out in front with the first hour of the 2-hour final episode of The Bachelorette scoring a 5.7/14, leaving Fox in #2 with a 4.6/11 for The O.C.  CBS’ pair of sitcoms 9-10p earned it a 4.1/10.  At 10p The Bachelorette strikes again, posting a 6.5/17 for the hour, beating Law & Order: SVU’s 5.3/14.

New in Development and Casting:

• CBS is reportedly chatting wtih Ricki Lake about a starring in an untitled drama pilot about a widowed mom with two small boys who runs the bar the cops hang out in.  Diedrich Bader joins the cast of CBS’ comedy pilot Center of the Universe (Tannenbaum Co./Warner Bros. TV/CBS Prods) which stars John Goodman.  And Constance Zimmer has been added to the cast of Cooking Lessons (Tannenbaum Co/Warner Bros. TV) in a supporting role. Cooking Lessons is a dramedy about a woman food critic.
• UPN has cast Christina Vidal in Beck and Call (Shephard-Robin Co./Warner Bros. TV), drama pilot set in the NY fashion industry.
• ABC has added Ellen Pompeo to the cast of its untitled Shonda Rhimes project (Touchstone), a drama pilot that focuses on surgical residents at a San Francisco hospital.  And Samaire Armstrong will join the cast of ABC’s 111 Gramercy Park (Tannenbaum/Warner Bros.), one of the nanny’s working for the well heeled.
• Sources: BaselineFT.com, Variety and Hollywood Reporter

You may remember UK journalist Martin Bashir, the man who interviewed Michael Jackson, and before that Princess Di, both very revealing interviews.  Seems he’s coming across the pond to work with ABC, and has been given a $1 million contract, according to the UK’s The Guardian.  The paper also reports that Bashir is likely to take up his duties at ABC upon the departure of Barbara Walters at ABC News’ 20/20.  Nothing official yet from ABC.

Luxury Television Network, the latest in home shopping channels is coming in 4th qtr 2004, catering to the well-to-dos, headed by Robert Quish as CEO, according to Hollywood Reporter.  No CZ diamonds for this network — only the real goods will do.  And its not all shopping – original programs that focus on the design houses, and up close and personal looks at the designers themselves. Other programs will use a variety of brands in a single theme – i.e. weddings, new homes, new baby, etc.  LTVN, (or the Product Placement channel), and is in the process of lining up both the high end brands as well as carriage deals.

It seems there has always been some confusion in Washington about what is real and what is not.  Here’s a rule of thumb — primetime dramas and comedies are NOT real.  I know Vice President Potato-with-an-E thought Murphy Brown was real, and we all chalked that up to his being not the savviest of TV viewers.  But now Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rep. John McHugh have also become confused, albeit with humor, and have written a letter to Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman.  Yep, the character on West Wing played by Bradley Whitford.   According to the AP, the letter is in opposition to a scene that aired this past Wednesday night when an Aide talked about the potential closing of Fort Drum, a real life military base.  The Clinton/McHugh letter asks Lyman not to allow “… such a recommendation doesn’t make it into another West Wing scene. It is important that all White House advisors have the most current information to respond to such flawed proposals.”  The letter went on to thank Lyman for his efforts in trying to save Social Security, and offered to meet to discuss the military base issue more thoroughly. 

Correction: The numbers in this item from yesterday provided to the TVB from TMS Media/CMR were wrong. Here then is the same item, a little less bleak in some areas, with the corrected figures:
        According to TMS Media/CMR data provided by the Television Bureau of Advertising, ad revenues for 2003 broadcast television as a whole finished up by 0.5% vs. 2002 ($42.4 billion vs. $42.1 billion).  The seven broadcast networks were up year to year (+3.2%) wtih $22.8billion, though the local stations in a combined average of both local and national spot in the top 100 markets were down (-5.4%) with $16.2b. The only hot spot was syndicated television which finished the year up over 2002 (+15.3%) with $3.4b.  In 4th Qtr 2003 alone, the combined broadcast networks/local bcst/ syndication brought in $11.9 billion, down from the previous year’s 4th qtr average of $12.1 billion, ending the quarter down (-2.2%). Local broadcast ad revenue in 2003 was $4.4 billion, down from 2002’s $5.1 billion.  The networks were up with $6.55b (+4.3%). Syndication was again a highlight in this trio with $9.24 million, up  from $8.23 million in 2002.  

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of Feb 9-15, 2004 ranked by HH Rtg
Wheel of Fortune (King World)                 9.6 AA  
Oprah (King World)                      8.0 AA / 8.1 GAA
Jeopardy (King World)                   7.6 AA
Seinfeld (Sony)                         6.7 AA / 8.3 GAA
Friends (Warner Bros.)                  6.2 AA / 7.4 GAA
Entertainment Tonight (Paramount)       6.0 AA / 6.2 GAA
Everybody Loves Raymond (King World)    5.8 AA / 6.6 GAA
Dr. Phil (King World)                   5.7 AA / 5.8 GAA
Judge Judy (Paramount)          5.3 AA / 7.9 GAA
Regis and Kelly (BVT)                   4.0 AA
That 70’s Show  (Carsey-Werner) 4.0 AA / 5.2 GAA
Source Nielsen Media Research

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of Feb 9-15, 2004 ranked by A18-49
Seinfeld (Sony)                         4.7 AA / 5.8 GAA
Friends (Warner Bros.)                  4.1 AA / 4.8 GAA
Oprah (King World)                      3.3 AA / 3.4 GAA
Everybody Loves Raymond (King World)    3.1 AA / 3.5 GAA
Wheel of Fortune (King World)           3.0 AA
That 70’s Show (Carsey-Werner)  2.8 AA / 3.4 GAA
Entertainment Tonight (Paramount)       2.6 AA / 2.7 GAA
Will & Grace (Warner Bros.)             2.3 AA / 2.8 GAA
Jeopardy (King World)                   2.2 AA
Dr. Phil (King World)                   2.2 AA / 2.2 GAA
Source Nielsen Media Research

MTV’s The Real World (Bunim-Murray Prods) is heading to Philadelphia, The City of Brotherly Love, for the production of its 15th season this spring. The series will premiere on MTV in the fall with 24 eps.  And for you Road Rules fans, the fun heads to Chile and Argentina in February as production begins for the 16 episodes which are scheduled to debut in May ’04.

Debby Beece, President/Programming, Oxygen announced that the network has acquired the exclusive rights to air the US premiere of last year’s feature film Whale Rider (Newmarket), from Sony Classic Pictures and will run the movie through February 2007.  Whale Rider will debut on Oxygen this Monday, March 1, 8p.  Whale Rider stars Keisha Castle-Hughes who is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, her first acting role.

Top 5 Broadcast Spanish Language Primetime Programs for the week of Feb 16-22, 2004
UNIV    Velo De Novia    (Tue 8p)               25.6 NHTI HH Rtg
UNIV    Velo De Novia    (Mon 8p)               23.2 NHTI HH Rtg
UNIV    Velo De Novia    (Wed 8p)       22.9 NHTI HH Rtg
UNIV    Bajo La Misma Piel (Tue 9p)     22.7 NHTI HH Rtg
UNIV    Amar Otra Vez  (Mon7 p)         21.5 NHTI HH Rtg
Source  Nielsen Media Research
Note  NHTI Ratings are based on 10.57 million Hispanic TV Homes

African American television homes in the US represent 12,870,000 households.  Here are the rankings for the week of  Feb 16-22, 2004 – highest rated primetime network programs in African American TV homes according to Nielsen Media Research
UPN     Girlfriends (Mon 9p)                    20.6 HH Rtg / 3.4m Total Viewers 2+
FOX     American Idol (Tue)                     19.6 HH Rtg / 3.6m Total Viewers 2+
UPN     Eve (Mon 830p)                          19.0 HH Rtg / 3.4m Total Viewers 2+
UPN     Half & Half (Mon 930p)                  18.9 HH Rtg / 3.0m Total Viewers 2+
UPN     America’s Next Top Model (Tue 9p)       17.6 HH Rtg / 3.2m Total Viewers 2+
UPN     The Parkers (Mon 8p)                    16.5 HH Rtg / 2.9m Total Viewers 2+
UPN     All of Us (Tue 8p)                      16.5 HH Rtg / 3.0m Total Viewers 2+
FOX     American Idol  (Wed)                    16.2 HH Rtg / 3.2m Total Viewers 2+
CBS     CSI (Thu 9p)                            15.4 HH Rtg / 2.7m Total Viewers 2+
ABC     My Wife & Kids (Wed 8p)                 15.1 HH Rtg / 2.6m Total Viewers 2+
Source Nielsen Media Research

Alan Grabelsky has been named VP/Production Management at Discovery Communications Inc.  He will report to Dara Altman, EVP/Business Affairs, Production Management and Program Financing & Distribution.  Alan will oversee staff at the Silver Springs headquarters as well as in LA and London, and a department which develops, maintains and directs standard policies and procedures for all aspects of production management.

Hallmark Channel‘s Art Director, Shari Dalconzo has been upped to VP/Print Design.  The announcement was made by David Snapp, SVP/Design Group for Hallmark Channel, to whom she will report.  Shari will be conceptualizing and executing print design solutions consistent with Hallmark Channel’s brand criteria.

John Wagner has been named Director/Midwest Ad Sales for Spike TV, based in Chicago. John hails from Starcom USA Chicago office where he has been for the past ten years, most recently as Media Director.   He joins Spike TV on March 22.

Correction:  The drama pilot which has cast David Cubitt is called Bounty Hunters (not The Catch) from Spelling Television for CBS.

Wednesday, February 25, 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

FOX     8.4/13  That 70’s Show 7.4/12, American Idol 13.2/20, The O.C. 6.6/10

NBC     8.3/13  The Apprentice [r] 5.4/9, West Wing 7.8/12, Law & Order 11.6/19

ABC     8.1/13  My Wife and Kids 6.8/11, It’s All Relative 5.3/8,The Bachelorette [finale] 9.1/14

CBS     7.3/11  60 Minutes 8.1/13 King of Queens 8.9/13, Raymond [r] 7.7/11, 48 Hours Investigates 5.6/9

WB      2.9/4   Smallville 3.1/5, Angel 2.7/4

UPN     2.2/3   Enterprise 2.2/4, Top Model [r] 2.1/3

A18-49  Fox 6.3/16, ABC 5.2/13, NBC 4.0/10, CBS 3.1/8, WB 1.9/5, UPN 1.4/4

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Friday Fun Fact:  The word “queue” is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.

The History Channel presents This Day in History: 
1933 – In Berlin, a fire destroys most of the Reichstag building, the German parliament. Chancellor Adolph Hitler issues widespread suspension of civil liberties, beginning Nazi takeover of the German government.

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question:  Who has a horse named Amigo?  It wasn’t the Cisco Kid, he rode Diablo; and it wasn’t his sidekick Pancho who rode Loco; it wasn’t the Lone Ranger (hi-ho Silver, away!) nor was it Tonto.  It was more current – CORDELL WALKER ON WALKER TEXAS RANGER.  Kudos to:  Steve Daniloff-WEWS; Dave Ware-WKMG/Orlando; Carl Mayer-Mindshare/NY; John Baldino-WNEP/Moosic PA; Terry Quan/LA; Paul Gilbert-Sony Pictures Television Int’l/Culver City.

A MESSAGE FROM 20TH TELEVISION

Today’s Trivia Question:   This character has been in literature for decades, and on television no less than three time in three separate series.  What is most interesting though, is the character’s name changes with each rendition, tho his bizarre characteristic remains the same.  I’ll give you the characters name in all three renditions – you give me the name of his show:  Peter Brady (1958), Dr. Daniel Westin (1975) and Darian Fawkes (2000).   (
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
02/26/04  5:01am
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2004

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Source:  2003 Simmons Spring Full Year Study.  Indexed to Total US.  Networks with 50+MM subs included. 

COURT TV:       Forensic Fridays
ABC             George Lopez, Married to the Kellys, Hope & Faith, Life with Bonnie, Super Millionaire
CBS             Joan of Arcadia, JAG, CSI: Miami (OTO)
FOX             Fox Special: “The Great American Celebrity Spelling Bee” [part 3]
NBC             Dateline NBC, Third Watch
PAX             MGM Night at the Movies: A Home of Our Own, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             Movie:  Mercury Rising
WB              Reba [r], Reba [r], Grounded for Life
TELE            Amor Descardo, El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV            Velo de Novia, Bajo la Misma Piel, Casos de la Vida Real