Source: NTI, Galaxy Explorer, 1/14/2005, US Rtg.  TP=8-8:30p.

CYNTHIA TURNER’S
Cyn opsis

01/21/05

Good morning. It’s Friday, January 21, 2005, and this is your first early morning briefing. 

Watch out Lost, there’s a new player back in town.  American Idol stole the usual Wednesday night 8pm win from ABC’s Lost, Fox’s 11.2/27 vs. ABC’s 7.4/18 A18-49 according to final numbers from Nielsen Media Research. Fox’s premiere of Point Pleasant immediately following, and buoyed by the huge lead-in delivered a solid sampling at 5.3/12.  Despite its success, however, ABC’s Alias won the hour with a 5.6/13.  WB’s Big Man on Campus had its season and perhaps even series finale at 9pm, drawing a very modest .8/2 A18-49, tho fared a little better among T12-17 with a 1.3/4. NBC’s Law & Order led the 10p hour with a 4.7/12, a share point ahead of ABC’s Wife Swap. A repeat of CSI NY drew a 3.8/10.

Casting / Development / Production

• Fox has ordered a one hour pilot from Spelling Television based in a Las Vegas all-in-one wedding chapel.  As yet untitled, the show focuses around the two owners of the chapel, a brother and sister team, their lives, and the folks who stop by for a no-muss no-fuss Vegas wedding.
• Chi McBride will join the cast of Fox‘s House for a five ep arc as a million who donates huge-o bucks to the hospital, is named Chairman, and decides House and his team of experts aren’t necessary.
• ABC is developing a project from Thruline Ent and Touchstone based on the autobiography I Love Everybody (And Other Atrocious Lies) by Laurie Notaro.  Notaro is described as a self-deprecating, underachieving columnist.
• Perhaps because viewers love their reality stars, Survivor winner Amber Bkrich and fiance Rob Marinaro (Boston Rob) will be contenders on the next edition of CBS’ Amazing Race which kicks off in March. And if that’s not enough, there may well be a TV wedding for the couple this May.

Cablevision Systems has sold VOOM to Echostar for $200 million.  The sale is conditional based on FCC approval.  During the transition period, Cablevision will continue to operate VOOM to its current subscriber base of 26,000.  Some reports suggest this is a ‘defeat’ for Cabelvision’s chairman Charles Dolan who attempted to bring the satellite service along for the past 10 years.  The satellite service has eaten up close to $500 million in its short life ($260 million just to build and launch the satellite), and the unit went thru $75 million in third qtr alone last year.

It’s been creeping up for quite a while now, and on Monday, it finally surpassed.  Good Morning America beat the Today Show on Monday, January 10 by 405,000 viewers, according to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research. For the full week of January 10-14, Today won with a total of 5.94 million viewers, ahead of GMA by just 253,000 viewers (GMA = 5.687 million).   Among A25-54, Today Show was ahead by just 252,000 viewers: 3.002 million for Today vs. 2.75 million for GMA.

Quick cable premiere ratings roundup:

• E!‘s coverage of the Golden Globes on Sunday night drew 6.98 million viewers, with 3.2 million tuning in for the countdown show; 4.1 million watching Star Jones on the red carpet, and 1.3 million checking out the post coverage show.
• Food Network debuted Iron Chef America on Sunday night and earned a 1.24 HH Rtg, up by 80% over 1st qtr 2004 time period average, and delivered a 1.03 A25-54 demo rating, but 164% over 1st qtr 2004 time period.
• Spike TV premiered its reality series

The Ultimate Fighter on Monday night at 11:07-12m and averaged a 1.4 HH rtg with a 1.5 rating in both key male demos, M18-49 and M18-34.  Both demos marked increases vs. previous year of 36% and 12% respectively. Overall, the show brought in1.7 million viewers.

• MTV‘s My Super Sweet 16 premiered on January 18 at 1030p and earned that network’s highest rated premiere among P12-34 in MTV history with a 3.4 rating.  The show averaged 5.92 million total viewers.

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of January 3-9, 2005 ranked by HH Rtg
Wheel of Fortune (King World)                  9.5 AA  
Oprah (King World)                        8.6 AA / 8.7 GAA
Jeopardy (King World)                           8.1 AA
Everybody Loves Raymond (King World)    7.8 AA / 10.1 GAA
Seinfeld (Sony)                            6.9 AA / 8.6 GAA
Friends (Warner Bros.)                    6.3 AA / 8.3 GAA
Entertainment Tonight (Paramount)       5.8 AA / 5.9 GAA
Dr. Phil (King World)                     5.6 AA / 5.6 GAA
Judge Judy (Paramount)           5.5 AA / 8.5 GAA
Inside Edition (King World)              3.9 AA / 4.0 GAA
Source Nielsen Media Research

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of January 3-9, 2005 ranked by A18-49
Seinfeld (Sony)                            4.5 AA / 5.5 GAA
Everybody Loves Raymond (King World)    4.5 AA / 5.8 GAA
Friends (Warner Bros.)                    4.3 AA / 5.5 GAA
Oprah (King World)                        3.4 AA / 3.5 GAA
Wheel of Fortune (King World)                  2.8 AA
Entertainment Tonight (Paramount)       2.5 AA / 2.5 GAA
That 70’s Show (Carsey-Werner)  2.4 AA / 2.9 GAA
Malcolm/Middle (20th)                     2.3 AA / 2.7 GAA
Jeopardy (King World)                     2.3 AA
Judge Judy (Paramount)           2.2 AA / 3.2 GAA
Dr. Phil (King World)                     2.2 AA / 2.2 GAA
Source Nielsen Media Research

Prepping for NATPE:

• National Lampoon, Inc. and Atlas Worldwide Syndications & Distributions‘ co-produced reality courtroom television series Eye for an Eye, has been picked up in 11 new markets for a Fall 2005 start.  Eye for an Eye stars Kato Kaelin and Extreme Akim, last week cleared Chicago, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Greenville, Jacksonville, Little Rock, Springfield, Spokane, South Bend, Burlington, and the Tri-Cities.  Atlas Worldwide will be in Booth #601 at NATPE.
• Program Partners will have a Suite at the Mandalay THEhotel, #4916 at NATPE.  Please disregard the previous location given in Wednesday’s NATPE listings guide.
• 20th has cleared its newest court show Judge Alex in 50% of the US for a Fall 2005 start, including WNYW/NY, KTTV/LA; WFLD/Chicago; WTXF/Philadelphia, WFXT/Boston.  20th will be located at the Mandalay Bay THEhotel on the third floor.
• GRB Entertainment has acquired the worldwide rights (excluding US) to the series The Surreal Life IV, currently airing on VH1, as well as Seasons 1, 2 and 3.  Recent Sales of the first three seasons include: Latin America/MTV: Seasons 2 and 3; UK/VH1: Season 3; Scandinavia/SBS: Seasons 1-3, Singapore/Media Corp: Seasons 1 & 2; and Israel/Jasmine TV: Seasons 1-3.
• Las Vegas Weather Report – for those of you traveling to Las Vegas for the NATPE convention next week, according to The Weather Channel’s website, Weather.com, daytime temps should average about 70 degrees during the day, mostly sunny (tho rain and cooler on Thursday), and dipping into the mid-40’s at night.  Safe travels.

Top 5 Broadcast Spanish Language Primetime Programs for the week of January 10-16, 2005**
UNIV Amor Real (M-Th 9p)                                     28.0 NHTI HH Rtg
UNIV    Rubi (M-F 8p)                                                 25.9 NHTI HH Rtg
UNIV    Cristina (Mon 10 pm)                                      21.4 NHTI HH Rtg
UNIV    Don Francisco Presenta (Wed 10p)               19.8 NHTI HH Rtg
UNIV    Aqui Y Ahora (Th 10p)                                   19.6 NHTI HH Rtg
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Note: NHTI Ratings are based on 10.57 million Hispanic TV Homes
** Please note that Nielsen Media’s rating parameters are listed for some shows that air Monday-Friday to include the 5 day average instead of listing each individual weekday.

Top 10 Broadcast English Language Primetime Programs in Hispanic TV Homes for the week of January 10-16, 2005
FOX     NFC Playoff (Sat 824p)                                  6.5 NHTI HH Rtg
CBS     CSI (Thu 9p)                                                   6.5 NHTI HH Rtg
ABC     Lost (Wed 8p)                                                 6.3 NHTI HH Rtg
FOX     NFC Playoff-Kick (Sat 819p)                           6.3 NHTI HH Rtg
ABC     Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Sun 8p)    6.0 NHTI HH Rtg
UPN     WWE Smackdown! (Thu 8p)                           6.0 NHTI HH Rtg
ABC     Desperate Housewives (Sun 9p)                     5.8 NHTI HH Rtg
ABC     George Lopez (Tue 830p)                               5.7 NHTI HH Rtg
CBS     Without a Trace (Thu 10p)                               5.5 NHTI HH Rtg
NBC     Golden Globe Awards (Sun 8p)                       5.5 NHTI HH Rtg
CBS     AFC Div. Playoff Post-Game (Sun 745p)         5.5 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 13,170,000 households. Here are the rankings for the week of January 10-16, 2005 – highest rated primetime network programs in African American TV homes according to Nielsen Media Research
FOX     NFC Playoffs (Sat 824p)                                      21.2 HH Rtg
CBS     AFC Division Playoff Post-Game (Sun 815p)     17.2 HH Rtg
FOX     NFC Playoff Kick (Sun 819p)                              17.0 HH Rtg
UPN     Girlfriends (Mon 9p)                                            14.9 HH Rtg
UPN     Eve (Tue 830p)                                                    14.8 HH Rtg
FOX     Bernie Mac (Fri 830p)                                           13.9 HH Rtg
UPN     Half and Half (Mon 830p)                                     13.9 HH Rtg
UPN     Second Time Around (Mon 930p)                        13.2 HH Rtg
CBS     CSI (Thu 9p)                                                         12.9 HH Rtg
ABC     Desperate Housewives (Sun 9p)                          12.7 HH Rtg
Source Nielsen Media Research

Lamont Bentley, an actor perhaps best known for his work on the UPN series Moehsa, passed away on Tuesday night after a car accident in LA.  He was returning from a screening for the indie short Shards.  The 31-year old actor played Moesha Mitchell’s best friend and neighbor, Hakeem Campbell, in addition to roles in such productions as South Central, The Sentinel, Courthouse, Family Matters, The Client, What About Your Friends, Equal Justice and Reasonable Doubts.

Atlas Media Corp. has named Suzanne Levy as Director/Programming.  She will be responsible for overseeing a growing portfolio of Atlas’ specials and series, as well as a variety of programming logistics, reporting to Cheryl Houser, SVP/Programming.

Rick Holzman has been named VP/Program Planning and Scheduling for Discovery Channel and Peter Lovering has been named VP/Production and Development, Discovery Channel for Discovery Networks, U.S. in London.  In his new role, Rick will oversee scheduling and acquisitions for the network and plan long-term programming strategies. Peter will be based in Discovery’s UK office and is charged witih seeking out potential production projects for the network and directing development efforts of UK-based independent producers.  Additionally, he manages the Discovery/BBC joint venture and develops new production talent in the U.K. 

Comedy Central has hired David Bernath as SVP/Programming, reporting to Michele Ganeless, EVP/GM.   David makes the move from VP/Programming for BBC American, and will join Comedy Central on January 31.  He will be based at the network’s New York headquarters.

Wednesday, January 19, 2005. FINAL Ratings for all Networks – program averages.   Source: Nielsen Media Research.
[p] = Premiere; [r] = Repeat

FOX     11.0/16  American Idol 15.2/22, Point Pleasant [p] 6.8/10

ABC     9.1/14   Lost 11.9/18, Alias 8.2/12, Wife Swap 6.8/11

NBC     6.8/10   SI: Swimsuit Model Search 2.9/4, West Wing 7.2/11, Law & Order 10.2/17

CBS     6.6/10   60 Minutes 5.6/8, King of Queens 7.8/11, Center of the Universe 6.2/9, CSI: NY 7.1/12

WB      1.7/3    Smallville 2.0/3, Big Man on Campus [f] 1.4/2

UPN     1.5/2    Road to Stardom 1.5/2, Kevin Hill 1.4/2

A18-49  Fox 8.2/20, ABC         5.8/14, CBS and NBC 3.1/7, WB 1.0/2, UPN .9/2

A MESSAGE FROM NEW LINE TELEVISION

Friday Fun Fact:  There are more than 10 million bricks in the Empire State Building.

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1990 – MTV’s “Unplugged” made its debut with Squeeze as the first performers. 

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question: He has asked all sorts of interesting questions, not the least of which:  Do bees be? Do bears bear? Do eggs get laid? Do ducks duck?  Who is responsible for these idiotic – or are they cerebrally enigmatic – questions? DAVID ADDISON on MOONLIGHTING.  Kudos to:  Gloria Price-CBS News/NY; Evan Kutner-WNBC/NY; Ted Leuci-IFC Companies/Jericho; Liz Ward-Ward Communications/NY; Bill Goodfriend-Charter Adv/St. Louis; Cary Minor-Showcase Cable Sales/Houston; Tom Giesen-High Noon Prods/Centennial CO; Russ Talley-Turner Bcsting/LA; Cheryl Brooks/LA; Karen Oberhofer-IMP/Seattle; Maddie Miyoshi-Ron Ziskin Prods/LA; Bob Brunner/LA.

A MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

Today’s Trivia Question:   What was the Flash-Matic?  (click here with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone with your answer.  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.)

A MESSAGE FROM AMC

Later — Cyn
01.21.05  5:03am

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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  JANUARY 21, 2005:

ABC              8 Simple Rules, Complete Savages, Hope & Faith, Less than Perfect, 20/20
CBS              Joan of Arcadia, JAG, CSI: Miami
FOX              Bernie Mac Show, Bernie Mac Show, Jonny Zero
NBC              Dateline, Third Watch, Medical Investigation
PAX              AFV, MGM Movie: Dances with Wolves (pt. 1)
UPN              Star Trek Enterprise, Star Trek Enterprise
WB               What I Like About You, Grounded for Life, Reba, Blue Collar TV
TELE             La Mujer en el Espejo, Gitanas, Te Voy a Ensenar a Querer
UNIV             Rubi, Amor Real, Hospital de Paisa, La Escuelita

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