Cynopsis

02.06.09

Good morning. It’s Friday, February 6, 2009, and this is your first early morning briefing.  

Tonight’s Premieres:
Animal Planet: Jockeys at 9p
Travel Channel: Most Haunted at 10p
 
Sunday’s Premieres:
Discovery Channel: Science of Sex Appeal at 8p
MTV: Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory at 9p; The CollegeHumor Show at 930p; Nitro Circus at 10p; How’s Your News at 1030p
Travel Channel: Mark & Olly: Living with the Machigenga at 10p

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant yesterday threw out the request by SAG president Alan Rosenberg and three guild members for a temporary restraining order intending to nullify the SAG national board majority’s written assent from January 26, 2009 which ousted executive director Doug Allen. Judge Chalfant denied the order saying the Plaintiffs had no chance of success based on their claims. SAG Interim National Executive Director David White said, “I’m pleased that we can put this matter behind us and dedicate our complete focus to the needs of Screen Actors Guild members. There’s a lot of work ahead of us.” SAG is meeting jointly with AFTRA tomorrow to discuss commercial contracts negotiations and will hold a board meeting on Sunday. Both SAG meetings this weekend will be video-conferenced in Los Angeles and New York.

TBS is increasing its licensing agreement involving Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns times eight as the original 10-episode run will be expanded to 80 total episodes. The series, owned by Perry and distributed by Debmar-Mercury is a spin-off of TBS’ successful Tyler Perry’s House of Payne series with new episodes scheduled to premiere next Wednesday. 

HBO renewed its polygamy ensemble drama Big Love for a fourth season. Production begins later this year and new episodes will debut in 2010. Big Love is about Utah businessman Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) who balances three wives and eight kids in three homes plus his home improvement retail business. Fans will be able to catch up with the current storyline, as HBO will air the first three episodes of season three back-to-back tonight starting at 8p. BIG LOVE is produced by HBO Entertainment in association with Playtone and Anima Sola Productions.

Following the DTV delay bill officially passing the House this week, Nielsen reports more than 5.8 million or 5.1% of U.S. households remain completely unready for the transition that has not been put off until June 12, 2009.

Public television stations will serve up a new cooking show called Dinner is Served featuring Chef Patrice Olivon.  In the 26-part, half-hour series created specifically for public television by Fresh TV in collaboration with KQED/San Francisco, Chef Patrice demonstrates how to prepare an elegant three-course meal on a budget. Accompanying the television series is an online component at chefpatrice.tv with recipes and information on Chef Patrice’s personal appearances.

here! premiered the British dramedy series Sugar Rush starting today and the subscriber video on-demand channel will make available each episode for a month and every two weeks two new episodes will premiere. Sugar Rush is a ten-episode coming-of-age series about 15-year Kim who moves to Brighton with her dysfunctional family and develops a crush on her new best friend, Sugar.

HBO Sports tapped broadcast talent Joe Buck to host a new sports talk show premiering this May. The new series will air quarterly and be a live town hall-type format. Buck will continue to be a play-by-play
commentator for FOX Sports on its NFL and MLB packages.

Former talk show host and documentary film producer/author Ricki Lake will help improve the ladies from Rock of Love Bus with Bret Michaels and Real Chance of Love in a new edition of Charm School 3 with Ricki Lake. Opening this summer, season three of Charm School will teach the participating ladies self-improvement through charitable good works led by Lake as “headmistress” and the school’s new deans TV personality, Alani “La La” Vazquez and radio host Stryker. The series is produced by 51 Minds.

Casting Call: The CW along with 25/7 Productions and Doron Ofir Casting is seeking groups of friends to spend a memorable summer on Martha’s Vineyard for a new docu-soap series. Friends age 19 to 28 who are year-round locals of the vineyard or returning summer vacationers are encouraged to apply. The casting team will be in Boston from February 16 to March 2. Apply online by sending an email to www.marthasvineyardcasting.com .
 

CYNOPSIS DIGITAL – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  Despite devoting more time and resources to the problem studios are losing the piracy war as broadband connections proliferate and video sharing sites multiply, reports the NYTimes. The logistics of stemming piracy continue to frustrate the industry as many of the most popular streaming sites operate oversees and are able to shift locations at the drop of a hat. A geo targeted map that tracks where people are connecting from at any given time put together by P2P site The Pirate Bay reveals just how global the problem is; China was responsible for more than 25% of the connections as of yesterday, followed by Taiwan (8.6%,) the U.S. (7.5%) and Spain (7.7%).  Full edition: CYN DIGITAL.

CYNOPSIS KIDS – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  Nickelodeon rolls out a series of iPhone and iTouch applications this week based on its series SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer and iCarly.  Nick will also launch extensions of its online gaming sites, Shockwave.com and AddictingGames.com, on the iPhone, including streaming mobile video applications and games.  Nickelodeon launched a mini-application, The SpongeBob Tickler, developed with Mobui, on January 20, and this week introduces SpongeBob SquarePants Atlantis Treasures, published by THQ.   Full edition: CYN KIDS.

Wednesday – A18-49 Analysis:  FOX was head of the pack Wednesday night at 7.3/19 A18-49, according to final national ratings from Nielsen Media Research. American Idol on FOX was definitely in charge at 8p with 9.9/27 while UNIV’s Cuidado con el Angel placed second with 2.0/5. During 9p, ABC’s Lost and FOX’s new Lie To Me tied for first at 4.7/12 followed once again by UNIV and Fuego en la Sangre at 2.5/6. NBC’s Law & Order won the 10p hour with 2.4/6 and ABC’s Life on Mars moved into the second spot with 2.0/5.

Live + Same Day Household Ratings: Wednesday, February 4, 2009 time period averages. Source: NTI Galaxy, as dated. Live+SD.

FOX: 11.3/18      American Idol 14.8/23, Lie To Me 7.7/12

CBS: 5.1/8           Criminal Minds [r] 5.6/9, Katie Couric: Grammy Special 4.5/7, CSI: NY [r] 5.1/9

NBC: 4.4/7           Knight Rider 3.3/5, Life 4.3/7, Law & Order 5.7/10

ABC: 4.3/7           Lost [r] 3.0/5, Lost 6.3/10, Life on Mars 3.6/6

UNIV: 2.5/4         Cuidado con el Angel 2.5/4, Fuego en la Sangre 2.8/4, Don Francisco Presenta 2.0/3

CW: 0.7/1           Privileged [r] 0.7/1, 90210 [r] 0.8/1

MNT: 0.7/1          World’s Funniest Moments [r] 0.9/1, Under One Roof [r] 0.5/1, Under One Roof 2 [r] 0.5/1

TELE: 0.7/1         Dona Barbara 0.6/1, El Rostro de Analia W 0.7/1, Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso 0.8/1, Cartel W 0.7/1

A18-49: FOX 7.3/19, ABC 2.8/7, UNIV 2.0/5, CBS 1.9/5, NBC 1.9/5, TELE 0.6/2, CW 0.4/1, MNT 0.3/1

Yeshpal Sharma joins Asian media and entertainment company STAR, a wholly-owned subsidiary of News Corporation, as VP/Distribution and Advertising Sales for the U.K. and continental Europe. Yeshpal will manage STAR’s operations in the designated region with the goal to increase advertising sales and distribution of the Indian and Chinese language television services. Yeshpal will report to David Wisnia, SVP/Distribution and Sales and Head of North American and European offices for STAR.

Victoria Lowell advanced to SVP/Marketing and Operations with Animal Planet Media where she will continue to lead branding and marketing initiatives for Animal Planet as well as planning the network’s strategic direction, working closely with President/GM Marjorie Kaplan, to whom she reports. Victoria is based at the network’s office in Silver Spring, MD.

Horizon Media hired Mediavest Group’s Anne Judge as Associate Media Director in the out-of-home group based in New York. Additionally, Horizon Media added Paula Hutchinson as Associate Media Director for the Los Angeles-based out-of-home group.

Petry Holding, Inc. added two top-level positions: Alexander Brown was appointed President/CEO of the company and Richard Intrator was recruited as Chief Strategic Officer. Both joined December 1, 2008 and will work in tandem to develop new domestic and global businesses. Val Napolitano, Petry Media President/CEO will continue to oversee national spot advertising functions, reporting to Alexander Brown.

Air America Media realigned its internal sales force to streamline the company’s radio, online and video platforms. Heading the department is Scott Elberg as Chief Revenue Officer who has been with Air America since 2005. Additionally, Air America hired Lory George as Director/Digital Sales and Terry Howard as Account Manager to join the experienced sales team comprised of Angela Loftus, VP/Sponsorship Sales and Joe Kenavan, VP/Director of National and Network Sales.

Pamela Russo is the new GM of TMZ where she is responsible for increasing the strength of the TMZ brand across multiple platforms such as TMZ.com and the TMZ television program.

Canadian media company Astral Television Networks tagged Gail Rivett as VP/Consumer Marketing, effective immediately. In her new position, Gail will lead marketing, interactive, customer care and research units for The Movie Network, HBO Canada, Mpix, Family Channel and Playhouse Disney channels. Furthermore, Gail is charged with expanding Movie Entertainment magazine, the monthly sister publication for The Movie Network and its multiplex channels.

Stone & Company Entertainment is growing its operations by establishing a New York office managed by Sarah-Jane Cohen who is also Executive Producer of Stone’s series Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style on Bravo. Sarah-Jane is also working on a new pilot she created with Scott Stone for Style Network. Previously, Sarah-Jane was EVP of BBC Productions in New York.

Friday Fun Fact:   The U.S. Capitol has 365 steps from the basement to the top of the dome – one for each day of the year.

This day in History:  Born on this day: Babe Ruth (1895), Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911), Zsa Zsa Gabor (1919), Tom Brokaw (1940), Bob Marley (1945), Natalie Cole (1950)

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question: SEINFELD question – The Soup Nazi episode: What kind of soup does Elaine try to get Kramer while he guards her armoire on the street?  MULLIGATAWNY Kudos to: Scott Jenkins-Tribune Media Services/Queensbury, NY; Mara Anastas-Simon & Schuster/NY; Matthew Nicholson-IMG Media/ETZ; Tom Wetzel-MMSI/Warwick, RI; Molly Devereux-FOX Broadcasting Co./Chicago; Bill Goodfriend-Charter Media/St. Louis; Craig Waldschmidt-Tower Media/Chicago; Dan Radman-Prometheus/Chicago; Lorrie Shilling-DIRECTV/El Segundo, CA; Patrick Wiegers/LA; Sandi Bourbeau-TVN Entertainment/Sherman Oaks, CA; Cynthia Gibson-KBCI/KBCI/Boise, ID; Mark Lysakowski-Halifax Films/Toronto; Stephen S. Kelley/Toronto

Today’s Trivia Question:  On the sitcom The Big Bang Theory, Penny is employed at what chain restaurant? (Email
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
02.06.09

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JOB OPENING: DIR, FINANCE/Embassy Row TV/NY: All aspects accting & financial reptg. CPA pref, BA & 10+ yrs exp. Entertainment exp. req, TV pref. Apply: www.sonypicturesjobs.com (2/13)

JOB OPENING: DIR. AD SALES RES /A&E TV-NY: Dvlp strategies & day-to-day for Ad Sls. BA/BS & 8 yrs media rsrch & mgmt exp. Knowl Nielsen/prime rsrch. Resume: www.aetn.com/careers.html (2/13)

JOB OPENING: CUST SVC REP/LA, CA/Baseline Inc: Filtering & monitoring client requests in multiple databases. 2+ yrs exp. Exp using or creating internal tracking databases. Deep understanding of ind. Send res to:
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JOB OPENING: UNIT PUBLICIST/DKC/NYC: to work on location during prod of nationally synd TV show to ensure proper execution of all publicity efforts. 5+yrs exp w/ TV a must & health/wellness a plus. Resume:
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JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE (Universal Sports/NYC): 5-7 yrs exp @ sports network/website co., 3 yrs. Sports or digital sales exp req’d. Knwlg effective/creative pckgng strat a must. Res:
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SPRING INTERNSHIP/CREDITS ONLY: Exposure to business side of television. Work on program decisions, marketing & sales opportunities for client TV stations. COX REPs-NY-Strong comm..& math skills required, Contact
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SPRING INTERNSHIP/CREDITS ONLY: Keith Sherman & Associates seeks an intern willing to help with day-to-day activities doing PR for the theater and other events and outlets. Please send your resume and cover letter to
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SPRING/SUMMER INTERNSHIP/CREDITS ONLY: EMI Music Publishing’s Film/TV division is looking for interns. The ability to work 3-5 days per week and an interest in audio digitization is preferred. Send your resume and availability to
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SITUATION WANTED: DEVELOPMENT/PRODUCTION EXEC. with studio and network background with great success in kids, family and teen arena seeks staff post or consultancy. www.tgcentertainment.com   (2/13)

SITUATION WANTED: NASHVILLE BASED FIELD PRODUCER-Network, Cable,EPK, New Media. Ent.,Doc, News, Music, Reality, Docu-Soap, Social Issue/Ent. Video Journalist. Willing to travel and work as a local in NY, Dallas, Atlanta.
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SITUATION WANTED: VIRTUAL CASTING Network, Major Cable, New Media credits.Booking – Casting – Research – Writing. Doc, News, Ent, Music – Celebs – Reality -Real People – Real Stories –
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SITUATION WANTED: TV PROMO WRITER-PRODUCER L.A.- Multiple Emmy and Promax Award winner. 19+ years freelance for studios and networks. Large market station management experience. Freelance or full-time. Contact
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SITUATION WANTED: TV PROGRAM EXECUTIVE/15 + yrs exp, Creative, great work ethic, knwldgbl, sense of humor, can relocate. See www.linkedin.com/in/joepauly. Looking for next great opp in cable or brdcst TV. Contact
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SITUATION WANTED: EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/Animator/Editor, LA- Meg Barbour – seeks work in top design studio. 5+ years experience as producer, motion graphic designer, editor, project manager, web 2.0 consultant.
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SITUATION WANTED: BUS AFFAIRS/EXEC PROD/DEVELOPMENT (NYC). Many years expnc in docs/reality ent. Sold progs to all cable nets. Develop/pitch/prod/negotiate. Orig commissions, co-pros, acquisitions. FT/PT/Freelance.
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SITUATION WANTED: SYNDICATION SALES PROFESSIONAL. After six years working for a major radio program syndication company, I’m ready to make the leap to television program syndication sales.I’m a seasoned pro with over 20-yrs sales experience. E-mail:
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT –  FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2009

ABC: Wife Swap, Supernanny, 20/20
AZTECA: Lo Que Callamos Las Mujeres Edicion Especial, Extranormal de Impacto, Box Azteca
CBS: Ghost Whisperer, Flashpoint, Numb3rs
CW: Everybody Hates Chris, The Game [r], 13-Fear is Real
FOX: Cops, Cops [r], America’s Most Wanted
ION: Movie: The Temptations [7p]
MNT: WWE Smackdown
NBC: Howie Do It, Howie Do It [r], Friday Night Lights, Dateline
PBS: Washington Week, Now on PBS, Bill Moyers’ Journal, Nova
TELE: Dona Barbara, El Rostro de Analia, Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso
UNIV: Cuidado con el Angel, Fuego en la Sangre, La Rosa de Guadalupe

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