CYNTHIA TURNER’S
Cynopsis

07/22/05

Good morning.  It’s Friday, July 22, 2005, and this is your first early morning briefing.

Yes, another Nielsen entry above the fold. Late this past Wednesday, the National Association of Broadcasters sent a letter penned by its President/CEO Eddie Fritts to Senator Conrad Burns author of the F.A.I.R. Ratings Bill, supporting s.1372. The letter reads in part:

“The MRC’s role … serves a critical function in ensuring that the best possible research is available to our industry. … We share your goal of ensuring MCR’s continued robust involvement in maintaining fair and reliable media measurement system. As a matter of principle, NAB generally prefers voluntary inter-industry cooperation to additional government involvement as a solution to these issues.  However, in the absence of voluntary resolution, we wish to voice our support for S. 1372 … [and] stand ready to work with you and your staff to ensure a transparent, effective and fair media ratings accreditation process.”

On July 18, another letter was sent to the Chairman and Vice Chair of the Committee of Commerce, Science and Transportation, this one opposing the F.A.I.R. Ratings Bill s. 1372. The letter comes from Charles W. Thurston, President of Comcast Spotlight and reads in part:

“While there has been a persistent effort by certain broadcasting companies — and organizations that they have funded — to portray this debate as affecting the public interest, the simple fact is that those companies are trying to hold back technological progress because it threatens their bottom line. In our view, the Local People Meter is the most accurate TV audience measurement system devised and deployed to date. … It is inconceivable that anyone could suggest that Nielsen’s local meter/diary system (which is being replaced by LPMs) is more accurate than LPM technology. … The effective functioning of the television advertising marketplace depends upon accurate data. However, the continuing effort by some in the broadcasting industry to impede technological progress – including this effort to use legislation to block the continued roll-out of LPMs – will harm viewers, advertisers, and programmers. We respectfully urge you to oppose this bill.”

The hearing on the F.A.I.R. Ratings Bill is set for next Wednesday, July 27 at 230p. 

FYI:  The official start to the 2005-06 television season is September 19.

Mark your calendars – here are UPN’s fall premiere dates:
9/9: WWE
9/19: One on One, All of Us, Girlfriends, Half & Half
9/21: America’s Next Top Model, Veronica Mars
9/22:  Everybody Hates Chris, Eve, Cuts, Love Inc.
9/27:  Sex Love & Secrets at 9p
Additionally, many of the network’s programs will be available in HDTV this upcoming season:  All of Monday and Thursday nights, as well as Sex Love & Secrets on Tuesdays, and Veronica Mars on Wednesdays.

WB premiere dates:
9/13:  Gilmore Girls, Supernatural
9/16:  What I Like About You, Twins, Reba, Living with Fran
9/19:  7th Heaven, Just Legal
9/25:  Charmed, Blue Collar TV
9/29:  Smallville, Everwood
10/5:  One Tree Hill, Related

In an effort to promote the fall premiere of Arrested Development, Fox has arranged for all of its O&O stations to air the show 1x, ten weeknights in a row beginning August 15, with all avails within the show going to the station except one, which will be used to promote the fall premiere.  According to Variety, most of those 35 local stations will air the show at midnight.  For its part, the network will air back to back eps of Arrested every Friday night starting July 29.  Arrested Development makes its fall debut on Monday, September 19 at 8p.

Next month CBS will kick off its promotional campaign for The NFL on CBS and will feature the music and members of the Dave Matthews Band as well as CBS Sports personalities and NFL players.  The campaign music will be the title song of band’s recent album Stand Up.  CBS’ first football game this season is scheduled for August 19 at 8p, Minnesota vs. NY Jets.

A&E debuted two new series on Wednesday night – Inked (9-10p) and Criss Angel: Mindfreak (10p).  Inked averaged 615,000 A18-49 impressions, and a median age of 33.6 years.  Criss Angel delivered 1.1 million A18-49 impressions, and a median age of 33.5 years – the youngest series premiere in A&E’s history.

While Spike TV may not longer be in the WWE business in the fall, that doesn’t mean it’s out of the wrestling business. Spike TV will add a new weekly series to the schedule this fall called Impact – a wrestling series from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. The show is looking at a Saturday morning time period starting in September. 

Will & Grace will air live several times next season, including its premiere episode.  That really means live – with separate performances for the east coast feed and the west coast feed, and you can expect network censors will be firmly in place … just in case.  Next season is expected to be the show’s last.

This year’s Primetime Emmy Awards are scheduled for September 18 on CBS, from 7-11p.  In year’s past, its typical for the other networks to lay low on that night, but this year the WB has decided to jump right into the fray.  WB has scheduled the broadcast premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers to air directly opposite the Emmys from 7-11p.

Broadcast Daytime Ratings Rankings – W18-49, week of July 11-17, 2005:
CBS:    Young & Restless         2.1/14
ABC:    All My Children          1.9/12
ABC:    General Hospital                 1.9/11
ABC:    One Life to Live                 1.9/11
CBS:    Bold & Beautiful                 1.7/10
NBC:    Days of Our Lives       1.7/10
CBS:    Price is Right 2                 1.5/10
CBS:    As the World Turns      1.4/8
ABC:    The View                 1.3/9
CBS:    Guiding Light            1.2/7
NBC:    Passions                  1.2/7
CBS:    Price is Right 1                 1.2/8
Source: Nielsen’s Galaxy Explorer, NTI as dated

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of July 4-10, 2005 ranked by HH Rtg
Wheel of Fortune (King World)                  7.4 AA
Jeopardy (King World)                                6.0 AA
Oprah (King World)                                    5.5 AA / 5.6 GAA
Everybody Loves Raymond (King World)  5.3 AA / 6.6 GAA
Seinfeld (Sony)                                           5.2 AA / 6.6 GAA
Judge Judy (Paramount)                            4.6 AA / 6.9 GAA
Friends (Warner Bros.)                              4.6 AA / 5.7 GAA
Dr. Phil (King World)                                  4.4 AA / 4.5 GAA
Entertainment Tonight (Paramount)          4.2 AA / 4.3 GAA
Regis & Kelly (Buena Vista)                       3.4 AA
Judge Joe (Paramount)                              3.1 AA / 4.4 GAA
Source Nielsen Media Research

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of July 4-10, 2005 ranked by A18-49
Seinfeld (Sony)                                           3.3 AA / 4.2 GAA
Friends (Warner Bros.)                              3.1 AA / 3.8 GAA
Everybody Loves Raymond (King World)  2.9 AA / 3.6 GAA
Oprah (King World)                                    2.2 AA / 2.2 GAA
Entertainment Tonight (Paramount)          1.8 AA / 1.8 GAA
King of the Hill (20th)                                   1.8 AA / 2.2 GAA
Wheel of Fortune (King World)                  1.8 AA
That 70’s Show (Carsey-Werner)              1.8 AA / 2.3 GAA
Dr. Phil (King World)                                  1.6 AA / 1.6 GAA
Judge Judy (Paramount)                            1.6 AA / 2.3 GAA
Jeopardy (King World)                                1.6 AA
Malcolm in the Middle (20th)                       1.6 AA / 1.8 GAA
King of Queens (Sony)                               1.6 AA / 2.1 GAA
Source Nielsen Media Research

Q Television Network is making its way to Maine by the end of this month.  The gay/lesbian-oriented 24/7 premium network will be offered on the Time Warner Cable system.  Time Warner will also provide Q Television subscribers with VOD content. Q debuted one year ago on September 5, 2004.

FremantleMedia has appointed Cecile Frot-Coutaz as its CEO/FremantleMedia North America (FMNA). Cecile is currently COO/Production and an executive producer on American Idol.  The appointment is effective immediately and she will report to Tony Cohen, CEO/Fremantle Media.

Fox Cable Networks has upped Jonathan Sarrow to VP/Affiliate Business Affairs, based in LA and reporting to Sean Riley, SVP/Affiliate Sales and Marketing.  Additionally, Scott Brown has been upped to VP/Business and Legal Affairs, Fox Cable Networks; and David Wisnia has been elevated to VP/Business and Legal Affairs.

Craig Borsari, joins Zuffa LLC, as VP/Operations.  Craig’s move from Fox Sports Net in LA takes effect this week.  His responsibilities include managing the day-to-day operations of the Las Vegas-based company that covers a spectrum of live event sports, television production and ancillary business development. Those areas will include Production, Marketing, Public Relations, Internet operations and Finance. 

Discovery Networks International named Melanie Honnor as VP/New Ventures for the Discovery New Media Group (DNMG). She will oversee the new media revenue generation in Europe and new distribution partnerships in the region for DNMG’s broadband, VOD and mobile products in addition to collaborating with colleagues in programming, marketing, and advertising and affiliate sales to fully integrate new media technologies.  Melanie was previously with Capital Radio Group. She will be based in London and report to Tanya Field, SVP of new media.

Wednesday–A18-49 Analysis:   Fox‘s newest unscripted competition series dominated the night on Wednesday – So You Think You Can Dance earned an overall 4.6/15 A18-49, according to final numbers from Nielsen Media Research.  The closest competitor was at 9p on ABC with a new original episode of Brat Camp pulling in a 3.7/11. CBS aired two original eps – The Cut with a 1.3/4 at 8p, and a half hour ep of Rock Star: INXS at 9p averaging a 1.6/5.  At 10p, all three networks aired repeats – CSI: NY led with a 2.9/8.

FINAL HOUSEHOLD RATINGS: Wednesday, July 20, 2005, for all Networks – program averages. Source: Nielsen Media Research. 

FOX    6.4/11   So You Think You Can Dance [p] 6.4/11

NBC    6.0/11   Outrageous TV Moments 5.7/11, Law & Order [r]  5.9/10, Law & Order [r] 6.4/11

ABC     4.4/8    Brat Camp [r] 4.1/8, Brat Camp 5.9/10 , Lost [r] 3.1/5

CBS     3.4/6    The Cut 2.5/5, Rock Star: INXS 2.4/4, The King of Queens [r] 2.5/4, CSI: NY [r] 5.3/9

UPN     1.2/2    Eve[r] 1.3/3, Eve [r] 1.2/2, Veronica Mars [r] 1.2/2

WB      1.1/2    One Tree Hill [r] .9/2, Smallville [r] 1.2/2

A18-49            Fox 4.6/15, ABC 2.5/8, NBC 2.3/7, CBS 1.9/6, WB and UPN .6/2    

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM BRAVO

Source: Nielsen Media Research. Galaxy Explorer. Finale: 7/19/05. 1,035,000 P2+. Rnkd on Tue 9-10p time slot v. all basic cable entertainment networks. Season 2 (6/7-7/19/05). Season 1 (6/8-7/13/04).

Friday Fun Fact:  In Florida, a woman can be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner.

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1975 -The House of Representatives joined the Senate in voting to restore the American citizenship of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Answer to Yesterday’s trivia question: In salute to James Doohan, what was Scotty’s full name on the original Star Trek series? MONTGOMERY SCOTT       Kudos to:  David Evans-Morgan Stanley/NY; Caren Greenaway-Bloomberg/NY; Jon May-WUTV/WNYO/Buffalo NY; Sharon Cauthen-WNYC Radio/NY; Jim Roche-Weigel Broadcasting/Chicago; Tricia Vinezeano-RPA/Chicago; Lorrie Shilling-AZN TV/Centennial CO; Les Stipp-GSD&M/Chicago;  Clyde Casselberry; Edward Moskowitz-ELM Ltd/Van Nuys CA; Eric Klein/Studio City CA; Laura Eubanks-Palisades Media Group/Santa Monica CA; Christian Huber-3 Ball Production/ Manhatten Beach CA; Sheldon Wiebe-Eclipse Magazine/Calgary AB Canada

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

Today’s Trivia Question:  Alas, no trivia question today.  Why?  Because Cynopsis is going on vacation, and won’t be back until a week from Monday.  Have a nice week!

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM HGTV

REMINDER — Cynopsis will be on vacation all next week (yippee!) returning, Monday, August 1st.

Later — Cyn
07.22.05  – 4:51am
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  Friday, July 22, 2005

ABC              8 Simple Rules [r], Hope & Faith [r], Less Than Perfect [r],  20/20
CBS              60 Minutes, JAG [r], Numb3rs [r]
FOX              Movie: Barbershop
NBC              Dateline, L&O: Trial by Jury [r]
PAX              America’s Talented Kids [r], A Rumor of Angels
UPN              Movie:  Devil’s Pond
WB               What I Like About You [r], Blue Collar TV [r], Reba [r], Living with Fran [r]
TELE             El Cuerpo del Deseo, Los Plateados, Decisiones
UNIV             Apuesta por un Amor, La Madrasta, Cristina