CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

01/16/04

Good morning. It’s Friday, January 16, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing. 

Tight race on Wednesday night – the ultimate winner by a single share point was ABC with a 4.5/12 A18-49 according to Nielsen Media Research.  Fox was #2 at 4.5/11, followed by NBC behind by just three tenths of a rating point 4.2/11, and then CBS 3.5/9, WB 2.0/5, UPN 1.5/4.  At 8pm Fox owned both half hours: That 70’s Show 4.6/13, and the season finale of Simple Life  a 5.5/14.  The closest anyone else came during the hour was ABC at 8-830p with a 3.7/10 for My Wife & Kids.  Simple Life also led in the 18-34 demo: Women 6.7/18 and Men 5.9/19.  ABC’s premiere of The Bachelorette won the 9pm hour with a 5.6/13, with Fox and CBS tied at a 10 share, NBC a 9 share.   At 10p NBC’s Law & Order won the hour with a 5.3/14, with ABC’s Celebrity Mole Yucatan close behind with a 4.5/12, and CBS’ 48 Hours drew a 3.5/9.

Upcoming Premieres:

• CBS:  Star Search, Saturday January 17 at 8p
• CMT:  Cowboy U 2004, an 8 part reality series testing 8 greenhorns on whether they have what it takes to be a real cowboy, kicks off tonight at 9pm.
• ABC:  NYPD Blue returns February 10 at 10pm.  Also midseason sitcom The Big House debuts on Friday, April 2 at 830p.

It’s January and that means it’s time for a Presidential State of the Union Address.  Schedule the speech into your TV viewing on Tuesday, January 20 beginning at 9p, immediately followed by the Democratic Response.  As always, expect the Big 4 to carry live coverage (Fox will provide the President with an American Idol lead-in), along with the 24/7 cable news networks. WB, UPN and PAX will air regular programming.

Should have seen this one coming – CNBC will be repurposing NBC’s The Apprentice beginning January 22 at 9pm. Episode #2 will air the following night, January 23, to get CNBC viewers up to speed.  Thereafter the show will air on Thursdays at 10p following Dennis Miller.

In the days just prior to NATPE, Buena Vista has announced clearances for its new talk series The Tony Danza Show in 45% of the country including WABC/NY, WPVI/Philadelphia, KGO/San Francisco, WDIV/Detroit, WTSP/Tampa, WPLG/Miami, WFTV/Orlando, KGTV/San Diego, WCNC/Charlotte, WTMJ/Milwaukee, WSYX/Columbus, and WLOS/Greenville.  The Tony Danza Show kicks off in the Fall 2004 (Terms: cash +). 

Universal Television‘s new offering at NATPE, syndicated strip series Home Delivery (terms: cash +), has secured a primary launch group with 26 station of the Tribune Station group, amounting to 40% of the country, including WPIX/NY, KTLA/LA and WGN/Chicago.  Tribune Entertainment will be handling the barter sales for the program.  

King World will not renew Hollywood Squares for another season, according to Broadcasting & Cable.

Cable net Lifetime has picked up two freshman series for a second season – Merge hosted by Lisa Rinna and Head 2 Toe hosted by Tanika Ray.  Both shows return to schedule on Friday, April 9 with Head 2 Toe airing at 6:30PM and Merge at 7p.

According to Variety, UPN has cancelled its freshman series Jake 2.0.  With that comes news of a new reality pickup called The Player (working title) wherein 8 singles living together try to ‘play’ each other in the relationship arena.  UPN has ordered 8 one hour eps.

TV One is set to launch at 12:00:01AM on Monday, January 19, targeting the African American viewer.  The program lineup includes a variety of off-net series, movies, music, issues, culture and politics. Joining the primetime lineup on Monday is the television version of the popular radio event program, The Tom Joyner Morning Show.  The Morning Show airs 20x per year and features major musical talent in what is basically a live free radio concert.  The morning show will be taped, and air as The Tom Joyner Sky Show on TV One.  The premiere episode is from Dallas with musical guest R&B Al Greed and comic Tommy Davidson.  After its inaugural air on Monday the 19th, the show will air on Sunday nights at 8p and 11p.

In Development:

• ABC has ordered a pilot for a new and as yet untitled project from David E. Kelley Prods, created and to be written by Jason Katims (Boston Public). Described as Wedding Planner meets Six Feet Under, the project is about three sisters who inherit the family-owned wedding planning business.   Additionally, the network has ordered three projects to pilot – 43 minutes, 111 Grammercy Park, and Eyes, all dramas. 
• NBC has ordered a pilot for the Rob Reiner unscripted comedy improv project about a newlywed couple who are both therapists, living with his family who are also a bunch of therapists.
• CBS is expected to announce at TCA this weekend that they are developing a third installment of CSI, based in NYC..
• MTV has announced its development slate which includes seven new projects, many featuring various celebrities including Cameron Diaz, Hilary Duff, Frankie Muniz, Andy Dick, Foxy Brown and Orlando Jones.  The slate includes: Cameron Diaz goes globetrotting to various exotic locations, highlighting environmental issues; a Hilary Duff reality development deal; Foxy Brown in Foxy’s Family, a day in the life of running a record label and living with family (MTV describes this project as Good Times meets Making the Band); Frankie Muniz will hijack high school kids and take them to bring ultimate fantasies to life; animated series Chico & Guapo, a pair of Latino janitors looking to break into the music world, with many of the shows voices supplied by Orlando Jones.  And receiving a pilot order is The Assistant, an insiders look at the life of Andy Dick from the perspective of his assistant.

TCA:

• ABC will be looking at new strategies in developing and launching drama series this season, including ordering just 4 eps to try out a new project before giving it a longer commitment.  Coming up on the drama front for ABC is the Stephen King written Kingdom Hospital which will air for 13 weeks beginning on February 25.  As yet unscheduled midseason replacement drama The D.A will get just four outings and Karen Sisco will return for another go with four new episodes in a new time period.  The network is also deep in negotiations to bring NYPD Blue and The Practice back for another season. And a casting note:  David Spade has joined the cast of 8 Simple Rules as Cate’s unruly nephew CJ.

College Television Network, acquired by Viacom’s MTV in October 2002, has been MTV-d. The end result is a new name:  mtvU, and a strategy that will attempt to reach college students no matter where they are, through programming, news, student life features, events, pro-social initiatives – reaching out on air, on line and on campus (visiting VJs). Network GM Stephen Friedman also announced the net’s first music initiative: The Cut, focusing on the new and upcomers in the music industry.  Those artists whose new works with the The Cut stamp of approval will also have exclusive music downloads available at mtvU.com.  mtvU is available to over 720 colleges across the country with a combined enrollment of 5.5 million.

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of Dec 29- Jan 4, 2003 ranked by HH Rtg
Wheel of Fortune (King World)           8.9 AA  
Jeopardy (King World)                   7.4 AA
Oprah (King World)                      6.3 AA / 6.4 GAA
Seinfeld (Sony)                         5.8 AA / 7.3 GAA
Friends (Warner Bros.)                  5.6 AA / 6.8 GAA
Entertainment Tonight (Paramount)       5.2 AA / 5.3 GAA
Everybody Loves Raymond (King World)    5.1 AA / 5.8 GAA
Dr. Phil (King World)                   4.7 AA / 4.7 GAA
Judge Judy (Paramount)          4.7 AA / 6.7 GAA
Who Wants to be a Millionaire(BVT)          3.7 AA
Source Nielsen Media Research

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of Dec 29- Jan 4, 2003 ranked by A18-49
Seinfeld (Sony)                         3.9 AA / 4.7 GAA
Friends (Warner Bros.)                  3.9 AA / 4.7 GAA
Everybody Loves Raymond (King World)    2.9 AA / 3.3 GAA
Wheel of Fortune (King World)           2.7 AA
Oprah (King World)                      2.7 AA / 2.8 GAA
That 70’s Show (Carsey-Werner)  2.6 AA / 3.2  AA
Entertainment Tonight (Paramount)       2.3 AA / 2.4 GAA
Jeopardy (King World)                   2.3 AA
Will & Grace (Warner Bros.)             2.1 AA / 2.3 GAA
Dr. Phil (King World)                   1.9 AA / 1.9 GAA
Source Nielsen Media Research

Top 5 Broadcast Spanish Language Primetime Programs for the week of Jan 5 – 11, 2003
UNIV    Velo De Novia    (Wed 8p)         23.2 NHTI HH Rtg
UNIV    Velo De Novia   (Mon 8p)           23.0 NHTI HH Rtg
UNIV    Velo De Novia    (Tue 8p)           21.8 NHTI HH Rtg
UNIV    Velo De Novia    (Thu 8p)           21.8 NHTI HH Rtg
UNIV    Velo De Novia    (Fri 8p)             21.7 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  Jan 5 – 11, 2003 – highest rated primetime network programs in African American TV homes according to Nielsen Media Research
FOX     FOX NFC Playoff -SU PST GM(S)  21.1 HH Rtg
ABC     My Wife and Kids (Wed 8p)            18.1 HH Rtg
UPN     Half and Half (Mon 930p)                 17.7 HH Rtg
UPN     Girlfriends (Mon 9p)                         16.7 HH Rtg
FOX     Bernie Mac  (Sun 9p)                       16.5 HH Rtg
UPN     Eve (Mon 830p)                                15.8 HH Rtg
CBS     AFC Divisional Playoff  (Sat 815p)   15.6 HH Rtg
CBS     CSI (Thu 9p)                                     15.1 HH Rtg
FOX     FOX NFC Playoff  (Sat 830p)           14.8 HH Rtg
FOX     Simpsons (Sun 830p)                       13.6 HH Rtg
Source Nielsen Media Research

TeleFutura has completed its acquisition of full-power television station KFTL/Sacramento from Family Stations Inc. Call letters for the station will immediately change to KTFK.  The station is now one of 31 O&O Telefutura Television Group stations, and will look to compliment the Univision station already in the market.  The Sacramento DMA is the #13 ranked Hispanic market with 202,640 Hispanic homes.  In the Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto market, Hispanics represents 21.5% of the total population , having grown by 60% since 1990 according to the US Census.

Casting Call:  NBC is in the process of holding open calls for Last Comic Standing, for those of you who think their funny.  For city dates and times, check out NBC’s reality casting page (for this and several other NBC reality shows).

Evan Shapiro has been named SVP/Network Marketing for the Independent Film Channel.  Making the move from marketing and branding guru at Court TV, Evan’s position at IFC will have him working with the IFC exec mgmt team to strategically promote and further brand the multi-tiered IFC’s interests to consumer and trade audiences. He will report to Ed Carroll, EVP/GM of IFC.   Knock ’em dead, Evan!

Steven Males has been appointed VP/Affiliate Marketing for the Univision Networks, effective immediately. Steven will oversee strategic marketing of the Univision, TeleFutura and Galavision networks to the cable and satellite industries to broaden coverage and increase viewership. Based in New York, Males will report to Tim Krass, EVP/Affiliate Relations.

FX has named John Landgraf as President/Entertainment. John will oversee development and production of FX’s original programming slate , reporting to Peter Liguori, President/CEO of FX.

Wednesday, January 14, 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     7.7/12  Cold Case [r] 8.3/13, King of Queens 8.3/12, Becker 7.5/11, 48 Hours Investigates 7.0/12

NBC     8.6/14  The Apprentice [r] 6.3/10, West Wing 8.1/12, Law & Order 11.4/19

Fox     6.0/9   That 70’s Show 5.9/9, The Simple Life 7.1/11, The O.C.  5.6/8

ABC     6.6/10  My Wife & Kids [r] 6.2/10, It’s All Relative 5.0/8, The Bachelorette [p] 8.0/12, Celebrity Mole: Yucatan 6.0/10

UPN     2.5/4   Enterprise 2.7/4, America’s Next Top Model [r] 2.2/3

WB      3.1/4   Smallville 3.4/5, Angel 2.7/4

A18-49  ABC 4.5/12, Fox 4.5/11, NBC 4.2/11, CBS 3.5/9, WB 2.0/5, UPN 1.5/4

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Friday Fun Fact: Edwin S. Porter’s innovative film The Life of an American Fireman in 1902 was the first film to use editing to tell a story from two points of view, and to intercut between two places and courses of action.

The History Channel presents This Day in History: 
1957 – Little Richard recorded “Lucille.”

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question:  What character wrote a book called An American Journal: The Suburban Years? MR. BELVEDERE.  Kudos to:  Scott Pesner-NMA Ent & Mktg/NY; Kevin Flanagan-Horizon Media/NY; Roger Lyons-WBZ/Boston; Ron Salcedo-Zimmerman Partners/NY; Tiffany Clark-KHOU/Houston; Bart Sciarabba-NCC/Chicago; Jo Gillett-Gambaru Prods/Dallas; Jennifer Erskine-Waterman Entertainment/Montecito; Frank Hagan-Termite Art Prods/Studio City; Karen Oberhofer-IMP/Seattle; Jim Murphy-San Francisco.

Today’s Trivia Question:   Who’s office was located at 123 Main Street (on W Street at the corner of 34th Street)? (
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
01/16/04  5:31am
Free Subscriptions to Cynopsis: email

Archived Editions Check out any previous copy of Cynopsis, or search via keywords at  www.Cynopsis.com
Click
to subscribe to Cynopsis Kids! and put Kids! in the subject line.
Cynopsis Ad Sales 203-526-8978
Press Release Fax: 203-381-9318

Copyright Cynthia Turner 2004

CYNOPSIS CLASSIFIEDS

JOB OPENING:  DIRECTOR, AD SALES MKTG, Outdoor Life Network, CT-Create/dev strategic promos and sponsorable events to drive ad sales revenue. 5-10 yrs cable/brdcast exp in ad sales support role reqd. Resume/salary:
  (1/23)

JOB OPENING:  FIELD MARKETING COORDINATOR/Outdoor Life Network, CT 2-3 yrs cable sales/mktg exp; Resp for selling mktg campaigns, systems training, coord promo events & attending trade shows. Email resume/salary to
  (1/23)

JOB OPENING:  ACCOUNT MANAGER, AFFILIATE SALES/Outdoor Life Network, Stamford, CT. 5+yrs cable ind sales/mktg exper; Highly motivated, goal oriented ind. w/strong pres/analytical skills. Email resume/salary to
  (1/23)

JOB OPENING:  RESEARCH MANAGER, ABC-TV, 3+yrs research exp. Proficient on Nielsen systems, experience with program estimates.Writing skills necessary. Reply:
  (1/23)

JOB OPENING:  MARKETING MGR/CONSUMER-TBS/Atlanta. Work w/Mktg Dir & sr. staff to develop/manage/implement strategies & execution for various mktg initiatives and on/off air elements. Apply at: www.turnerjobs.com, Job #16918. EOE.  (1/22)

JOB OPENING:  SR MGR/CONSUMER MKTG, ORIGINAL SERIES-TBS/Atlanta.  Dev./execute strategies for multiple orig. series launches & cons. mktg initiatives w/variety of on/off-air elements. Apply at: www.turnerjobs.com, Job #17861. EOE  (1/22)

JOB OPENING:  ACCOUNT MANAGER, TechTV NY  Min. 3 yrs exp.  Selling TV/Web inventory to agencies/clients; see accounts from proposal through post analysis; Media, Marketing, Internet, TV previous exp. req’d.  Resume:
  (1/21)

JOB OPENING:  ON-LINE AD OPERATIONS COORDINATOR, TechTV, NY– Minimum 2 yrs exp,.  Responsible for implementing advertising insertion orders and creative, posting and scheduling of  web campaigns.  Send resume to
  (1/21)

JOB OPENING:  ANALYST/PROGRAMMING & AFFILIATE RESEARCH, Lifetime Television, NYC. Strong analytic, writing, presentation skills; Nielsen software exp a +. Pls send inquiries/salary req.to:
, subj. Analyst.  (1/20)

JOB OPENING:  RESEARCH ANALYST, Fox Sports/ New York.  2+ yrs TV exp pref; exp w/Prism system and Microsoft a +, prep single day and O&O single day schedules, various research reports & analysis.  Email
(1/20)

JOB OPENING:  ASSISTANT, Fox Bcsting Group/NY. 1-2 yrs sales exp pref. Must be detailed oriented, resourceful, good comm. skills, team player, reliable, self starter. Computer skills a must. Email
  (1/20)

JOB OPENING:  DIR., PGM RSCH, NYC. Provide info/insight for pgm dvlopmt, strategic planning, ntwk positioning, sched & acq decisions. 10+ yrs exp in TV rsch w/ focus on pgm rsch. Email
or fax 212-907-9402  (1/20)

JOB OPENING:  SR. ANALYST, AD SALES RESEARCH, Noggin/The N/Nick, NY.  Min 2 years audience/ad sales research exp. Demonstrated knowledge of TV industry and Nielsen ratings.  Youth market exp. a plus. Reply: www.mtvncareers.com (1/17)

JOB OPENING:  MANAGER, AUDIENCE RESEARCH, Spike TV/NY. 5 yrs media/mktg research exp. Expert on Nielsen systems, ability to do estimates/projections of programs. Reply: www.mtvncareers.com (1/17)

JOB OPENING:  SR. ANALYST, AUDIENCE RESEARCH, Spike TV/NY. Min 2 yrs research exp. Demonstrated strong understanding/experience with ratings and number Analysis. Reply: www.mtvncareers.com (1/17)

JOB OPENING:  RESEARCH ANALYST, Spike TV/NY. Strong analytical and writing skills. Must have knowledge of MS Excel. 1-2 yrs research exp. Prefer Nielsen software exp. Reply: www.mtvncareers.com (1/17)

JOB OPENING:  SALES OPS COORD/Outdoor Life Network, Stamford, CT- Maint business ops procedures for Ad Sales computer systems including Inventory and Contract maint utilizing BMS/DealMaker/Excel. Resume/salary
  (1/17)

SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED —

SITUATION WANTED: NYC ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER/ILLUSTRATOR seeks Full-Time or Freelance work. Experienced in Advertising, 3D, Character & Story Design and Development. Email:
  (1/21)

SITUATION WANTED:  Experienced WRITER/EDITOR with four-year degree seeks creative position within Research, Public Relations &/or Marketing. New York-based but will travel – contact Darren at
for resume and references (1/21)

SITUATION WANTED:  MAY ’03 COLLEGE GRAD with experience in CASTING, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND TELEVISION PRODUCTION. Strong interest in casting, public relations and children’s television, NY. Email:
(1/20)

SITUATION WANTED:  INTERNSHIP – NY.  University of Michigan/ Sports Management Major seeks internship for Summer 2004. Motivated, knowledgeable, and ready to help in any way possible. Resume available.
(1/17)

SITUATION WANTED:  MEDIA PLANNING/Los Angeles Full Time/Freelance; 10+ yrs exp. Experience  general market and Hispanics. Works independently or manages staff. Large and small agency exp.
(1/17)

E-mail
for rates and specs for Job Openings. Your ad will be read by 63,760+ Cynopsis & Cynopsis Kids! readers every day. No wonder Cynopsis ads get results.

Are you looking for a job? Post your Situation Wanted Ad here — Email
for specs.

WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2004

COURT TV:       Forensic Fridays
ABC             George Lopez [r], Married to the Kellys [r], Hope & Faith [r], Life with Bonnie [r], 20/20
CBS             Joan of Arcadia, JAG, The Handler
FOX             Totally Outrageous Behavior, World’s Craziest Videos, Boston Public
NBC             Dateline, Ed, Third Watch
PAX             MGM Night at the Movies: Life of Crime,  Diagnosis Murder
UPN             Movie: Gossip
WB              Reba, What I Like About You, Grounded for Life, Like Family
TELE            Amor Descardo, El Alma Herida, Laura: Casos Resueltos
UNIV            Velo de Novia, Te Amare en Silencio, Casos de la Vida Real

A MESSAGE FROM THE HISTORY CHANNEL