Good morning. It’s Friday, June 25, 2004, and now on with your first early morning briefing.
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia yesterday voted 2 to 1 to send the FCC back to try again on its ownership rules that deal with the number of stations within a single market owned by a single ownership. While the Court is not necessarily arguing in favor of relaxing or tightening the ownership rules, they do find the justification for the rules to be inadequate, stating “The commission has not sufficiently justified its particular chosen numerical limits for local television ownership, local radio ownership and cross-ownership of media within local markets.” The ruling further stated that once the FCC has developed, again, its local ownership rules and the accompanying justification for those rules, they must take them back to the same court and the same panel of judges for their judgment. The court ruling left standing the FCC rules dealing with cross-ownership of stations and local newspapers, as well as the 39% national ownership cap.
Fox‘s Wednesday summer lineup won the night with a 3.3/11 A18-49 according to Nielsen Media Research, winning primarily on the strength of Simple Life 2. Quints at 830p drew a 2.7/9 and Method & Red a 3.0/9, a precipitous drop from Simple Life 2’s leading at 9pm of 4.7/14. Simple Life’s highest demo rating came from W18-34 who provided a healthy 6.4/20 for the half hour (Method & Red dropped to a 4.2/12 in that demo). Method & Red’s strongest demo performance was among P12-17 with a 3.4/13. NBC debuted T.H.E.M. on Wednesday night with two back to back half hours from 8-9p, earning a 2.7/9 for the hour among A18-49.
You know about ABC‘s upcoming series this fall Wife Swap (Michael Davies/RDF Media), scheduled to premiere on September 29. Now Fox will be getting into the same switcheroo mode with a show already in production called Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy (Rocket Science Labs), according to Variety. The show is expected to launch before summer is out. The only difference between this show and ABC’s is every now and again within the 10 episodes, it will be the Dads who change places. While all may be fair in love & war and producing new reality shows, this seems like dirty pool, as common as it may be, particularly in the reality genre (i.e., The Contender vs. The Next Great Champ; Survivor vs. I’m a Celebrity Get Me Outta Here; Extreme Makeover vs. The Swan).
Turner and Fox will share the broadcast/cable rights to 20th‘s feature film Cheaper by the Dozen, in a deal estimated to work out at approx 15% of the total domestic box office – which tallied at $138.6 million. The film arrives further at TBS in 2006, according to Variety.
Tom Freston, Co-President/COO, Viacom, was in Frankfurt, Germany yesterday to announce that Viacom has signed an agreement to purchase 75.8% ownership interest of Viva Media, the German music television network, for upwards of $370m. In a separate transaction, Viacom has agreed to acquire Time Warner’s 49% stake in VIVA PLUS, which is a joint venture between VIVA Fernsehen GmbH and Time Warner. “The acquisition of VIVA is a significant strategic initiative that would dramatically expand our position in Germany — the biggest multichannel TV ad market internationally and a key driver of MTV’s European growth plans” said Freston. Viacom is home to MTV Networks, CBS, Paramount, BET, Simon & Schuster, Showtime Networks, and Infinity Broadcasting.
Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of June 7 – 13, 2004 ranked by HH Rtg Wheel of Fortune (King World) 6.9 AA Oprah (King World) 6.0 AA / 6.1 GAA Jeopardy (King World) 5.8 AA Seinfeld (Sony) 5.0 AA / 6.0 GAA Friends (Warner Bros.) 4.7 AA / 5.6 GAA Everybody Loves Raymond (King World) 4.6 AA / 5.3 GAA Entertainment Tonight (Paramount) 4.6 AA / 4.7 GAA Judge Judy (Paramount) 4.4 AA / 6.6 GAA Dr. Phil (King World) 4.3 AA / 4.4 GAA Live with Regis & Kelly (Buena Vista) 3.4 AA Millionaire (BVT) 3.4 AA / 3.6 GAA Source Nielsen Media Research
Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of June 7 – 13, 2004 ranked by A18-49 Seinfeld (Sony) 3.4 AA / 4.1 GAA Friends (Warner Bros.) 3.3 AA / 3.7 GAA Everybody Loves Raymond (King World) 2.5 AA / 2.7 GAA Oprah (King World) 2.4 AA / 2.4 GAA That 70’s Show (Carsey-Werner) 2.1 AA / 2.7 GAA Wheel of Fortune (King World) 2.1 AA Entertainment Tonight (Paramount) 2.0 AA / 2.0 GAA Will & Grace (Warner Bros.) 1.8 AA / 2.1 GAA King of Queens (Sony) 1.7 AA / 1.9 GAA Dr. Phil (King World) 1.7 AA / 1.7 GAA Source Nielsen Media Research
Top 5 Broadcast Spanish Language Primetime Programs for the week of June 14 – 20, 2004 UNIV Mariana de la Noche (Thu 8p) 21.9 NHTI HH Rtg UNIV Mariana de la Noche (Mon 8p) 21.7 NHTI HH Rtg UNIV Mariana de la Noche (Wed 8p) 21.2 NHTI HH Rtg UNIV Mariana de la Noche (Tue 8p) 20.1 NHTI HH Rtg UNIV Mariana de la Noche (Fri 8p) 18.9 NHTI HH Rtg Source Nielsen Media Research Note NHTI Ratings are based on 10.57 million Hispanic TV Homes
Top 5 Broadcast English Language Primetime Programs in Hispanic TV Homes for the week of June 14 – 20, 2004 ABC NBA Finals – Game 5 (Tue 9p) 12.9 NHTI HH Rtg FOX Simple Life 2 (Wed 9p) 7.4 NHTI HH Rtg FOX Method and Red (Wed 930p) 7.2 NHTI HH Rtg UPN WWE Smackdown (Thu 8p) 7.0 NHTI HH Rtg FOX Simple Life 2 – Premiere (Wed 8p) 6.1 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 June 14 – 20, 2004 – highest rated primetime network programs in African American TV homes according to Nielsen Media Research ABC NBA Finals – Game 5 (Tue 9p) 29.9 HH Rtg UPN Half & Half (Mon 930p) 11.1 HH Rtg FOX Method and Red (Wed 930p) 10.8 HH Rtg CBS 60 Minutes (Sun 7p) 10.7 HH Rtg UPN Girlfriends (Mon 9p) 10.6 HH Rtg ABC NBA Hangtime Finals – Game 5 (Tue 830p) 10.5 HH Rtg FOX Bernie Mac (Tue 830p) 9.9 HH Rtg CBS Without a Trace (Thu 10p) 9.8 HH Rtg CBS CSI (Thu 9p) 9.6 HH Rtg UPN Eve (Mon 830p) 9.4 HH Rtg Source Nielsen Media Research
JoJo Conlan has joined L’Oreal USA as Director/Human Resources, reporting to Michael Pecce, VP/HR. JoJo makes the moves from Hearst-Argyle. Based in NYC, she is responsible for the REDKEN division, focusing on recruiting talent, Leadership Development & Training, Succession Planning and all other aspects of partnering with the business and brands.
Kevin Culbertson has been named GM of Total Living Network’s Las Vegas station, KEEN-17. The station is scheduled to launch next week – July 1, with family friendly programming. Kevin reports to Marvin Rhodes, TLN VP/Broadcasting, who is based at TLN headquarters in Chicago. Also, Shirley Hill has been named GM of TLN Chicago and Cable Relations, overseeing TLN in Chicago as well as TLN’s cable relations in Chicago, Rockford, San Francisco and Las Vegas.
Wednesday, June 23, 2004. Fast Affiliate Household 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 5.2/9 60 Minutes 5.8/11, The King of Queens 4.6/8, Still Standing 4.2/7, 48 Hours 5.4/9
FOX 4.2/8 That 70’s Show [r] 3.5/7, Quintuplets 3.4/6, Simple Life 2 5.8/10, Method & Red 4.0/7
ABC 3.3/6 My Wife and Kids [r] 3.8/7, My Wife and Kids [r] 4.1/8, Drew Carey Show 3.0/5, Drew Carey Show 3.1/5, Ultimate Love Test 2.7/5
WB 1.9/3 Movie: Love & Basketball 1.9/3
UPN 1.1/2 Star Trek: Enterprise [r] 1.0/2, Top Model: Cycle One [r] 1.2/2
A18-49 FOX 3.3/11, NBC 3.2/10, ABC 2.0/6, CBS 2.0/6, WB 1.1/4, UPN 0.6/2
A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC TELEVISION DIVISION
MOVIES WORK ON CABLE! COMING SOON:
July 2 BEFORE SUNSET Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy
July 16 A CINDERELLA STORY Hilary Duff & Chad Michael Murray
July 23 CATWOMAN Halle Berry, Sharon Stone & Benjamin Bratt
A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD Collin Farrell, Robin Wright Penn & Sissy Spacek
Available Exclusively From Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution Your #1 Source for Great Movies!
Friday Fun Fact: Robert Louis Stevenson said he had envisioned the entire story “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” in a dream and simply recorded it the way he saw it. Stevenson claimed to be able to dream plots for his stories at will.
The History Channel presents This Day in History: 1950 – The Korean War begins when armed forces from North Korea invade South Korea. The United States jumped to the defense of the latter, beginning a bloody and frustrating war that would last the next three years.
Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question:On what show were characters attending Randolph Harrington College? BOSTON COMMON. Kudos to: Gary Stein-Good Morning America/NY; Andrew Knopf-WWE/NY; Lewis Cosby-WMAK-DT/Knoxville; Joanna Rotchford-JRZ/Atlanta; Sam Lawson-UPN46/St. Louis; Heather Hargrave-Baton Rouge; Deirdre O’Connor-All -You/Chicago; John Ryan-KAZ/Phoenix; Wayne Goldstein-Sony Pictures TV Research/Culver City; Brian Coughlin-Tara Ridge Comm/Pacific Palisades; John Feria-Millennium Sales & Mktg/San Francisco; Daniel Dise-Grey Entertainment/Burbank; and Caroline Godin-Ellis Entertainment/Toronto.
Today’s Trivia Question: Okay, reach into the wayback machine and tell me on what show would characters frequent Bill’s Malt Shop? (click hereto 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 06/25/04 5:31am Subscriptions to Cynopsis: email
Archived Editions Check out any previous copy of Cynopsis, or search via keywords at www.Cynopsis.com Click here to subscribe toCynopsisKids! and put Kids! in the subject line. Click here to subscribe to Cynopsis Multi-Cultural Edition and put MCE in the subject line. Cynopsis Ad Sales 203-526-8978 Press Release Fax: 203-381-9318 All outgoing e-mails are scanned and sent out virus free.
Copyright Cynthia Turner 2004
CYNOPSIS CLASSIFIEDS
JOB OPENING: VP ADVERTISING SALES, NY. National Asian language cable network. 5+ yrs sales exp across multiple categories. Ethnic exp ideal, but not nec. Strong Client/Agency contacts req’d. Resume: (7/2)
JOB OPENING: RESEARCH MGR/World Wrestling Entertainment/Stamford, CT. 5+ yrs TV Rsch exp. Fluent w/ Nielsen (Explorer & Navigator), NPower and MRI. Strategic thinker w/strong comms, analytic, org skills. Apply: (7/2)
JOB OPENING: VP CONS MTKG, MTV/NY Min 10 yrs exp leading mktg function in ent based co. Innovative thinker, strong consumer knlge, ppl mgmt, brand building & intg mktg skills. EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply: www.mtvncareers.com (7/2)
JOB OPENING: DIR DEV, MUSIC & TAL, VH1/NY 3-5 yrs in TV dev &/or prod, strong contacts & neg skills, exp working w/prod companies & managing budgets.Must have A+ comm skills. EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply: www.mtvncareers.com (7/2)
JOB OPENING: VP PROGRAMMING & DEV, VH1/NY 2-3 yrs VP or Dir level in TV. Exp overseeing non- & scripted programming. Must have strong industry contacts & creative sensibility.EOE/M/F/D/AAP.Apply: www.mtvncareers.com (7/2)
JOB OPENING: DIR OF PROD, PROD DEV, MTV/NY 5 yrs production exp in Dir Level, Basic cable or Ntwk TV req’d. Exp managing FL Line Prod & other PM personnel. Strong Contacts A+.EOE/M/F/D/AAP.Apply: www.mtvncareers.com (7/2)
JOB OPENING: OFF-CHANNEL PROD MGR, MTV/NY Min 3 yrs in TV or event prod mgmt. Exp w/ vendor negotiations, budgets, prod & managing staff, & strong communication skills req’d.EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply: www.mtvncareers.com (7/2)
JOB OPENING: VP CONSUMER MTKG, MTV/NY Min 10 yrs exp leading mktg function in ent based co. Success as innovative thinker, strong consumer knlge, ppl mgmt, brand building & intg mktg skills.Apply: www.mtvncareers.com (7/2)
JOB OPENING: MGR LICENSING, MTV/NY 2 years experience in Consumer Products Licensing or related field, Excellent Communication Skills, College Degree. Apply: www.mtvncareers.com (7/2)
JOB OPENING: MANAGER RETAIL DEVELOPMENT, Nickelodeon, NY – develop/execute sales & promo opportunities. Must have retail knowledge. Min 3-5 yrs exp in sales/promo mktg. Qualified Candidates Apply: www.mtvncareers.com EOE/M/F/D/APP (7/2)
JOB OPENING: VP/GM, Nexstar Bcsting’s WTVW, Evansville. Successful track record in sales driven org, proven leader and promoter of teamwork; news ratings growth, focus on the bottom line, pgming exp. Email EOE (7/1)
JOB OPENING: NATIONAL SALES ASST/Equity Bcsting Corp. Rep Plus, NY. TV Sales exp pref; strong org. skills, computer & comm. skills, self-starter. High school grad or better. Resume/Cover letter:
. EOE (7/1)
JOB OPENING: DIV. MANAGER, AD SALES SUPPORT/Discovery Nets, NY: Manage business process & functional training for new/existing ad sales employees, training curriculum, documentation, supv resp as well. Contact:www.discovery.com (6/30)
JOB OPENING: ICM is seeking is seeking an ASSISTANT TO A NEWS/BROADCASTING AGENT in its NYC office. A bachelor’s degree and at least 3 years administrative experience are required. Please email resume to (6/30)
JOB OPENING: Chicago. DIRECTOR OF AFFILIATE RELATIONS. 5-10 yrs exp in programming &/or bcst station research & media buying/scheduling; manage internal & client relationships; strong supervisory, problem solving & com. skills. Reply to , subject CYN-022 (6/30)
JOB OPENING: SR.ANALYST/AD SALES RESEARCH, Lifetime Television, NY. Solid bcst or cable research exp. Analyze rtgs & pgm perf. Knwldg of research systems a must. Email salary req: , re: Sr.Analyst/Research (6/30)
JOB OPENING: ADMIN POSITION @ PVI, NYC. Virtual advertising company. Recent grad w/interest in sales/mkt, graphics or operations. 60% Admin duties/phones, 40% intern opportunities. email cover letter & resume to
(6/30)
JOB OPENING: TV PRODUCER,NYC,1-hr.clip-based primetime cable ent.special.Must have extensive exp: intving celebs,writing,graphics,creativity, working with skilled editor.Countdown exp.a plus.7/07 start,12 wk sked. Apply:
(6/26)
JOB OPENING: TRAFFIC COORD., AMC/We, Jericho, NY. Compile daily logs for network, incl. strategic placement of promos/wraps/bumpers/tags/interstitial elements. Strong knwldg of film/tv mktplace. Apply: (6/26)
JOB OPENING: REGIONAL SALES MGR/The WB 100+ Station Grp. 10yrs of Sales exp in local market/cable; manage sales activities of affiliate partners, dev/strat &relationships w/ agencies/ad clients. www.wbjobs.com /fax 818-977-0260 (6/26)
JOB OPENING: SR. RESEARCH MGR, ABC Cable Networks Grp/Burbank. Cable research analysis; ad sales exp pref. Prof. w/Nielsen sftwr; 3-5 yrs media related res. exp; strong org & comm skills. Reply: ref#CYN42908AP (6/26)
SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED —
SITUATION WANTED: Computer Savvy College Grad, with extensive experience in Production/Administration seeking ENTRY LEVEL TRAFFIC DEPT POSITION in NYC Media/Advertising firm. Eng_
(646)924-8285 (7/2)
SITUATION WANTED: Creative,Dynamic,Speaker/Writer, BA Engl/Bus/ Writing seeking POSITION IN TV/PUBLISHING in NYC. Please contact:
or call 845-461-3310 (7/1)
SITUATION WANTED: NYC Based. Creative and detail-oriented UW-Madison grad SEEKING JOB IN TELEVISION INDUSTRY. Experience in PROGRAMMING & SCHEDULING, ON-AIR PROMOTIONS, and EDITING. Contact Shane at
(6/30)
SITUATION WANTED: Organized,multi-tasker,with BA in Comm./film& strong industry work exp. (Casting/Production/Manager) looking for an ENTRY LEVEL POSITION in NYC.Contact
or call 631 764 8871 (6/29)
E-mail
for rates and specs for Job Openings. Your ad will be read by 71,650+ 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, JUNE 25, 2004
Court TV’s The Smoking Gun presents:
The Backstage Demands of Pop and Rock Stars
What Alternative Rock star has his concert promoters buy his underwear for him? Click here for answer Want more salacious dish?
THE SMOKING GUN TV Summer Television Special Tonight @ 11:30 E/P Click here for more information
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 [r], JAG [r], 48 Hours [r] FOX The Bernie Mac Show [r], Method & Red [r], The Jury [r] NBC Dateline NBC, Dateline NBC, Las Vegas [r] PAX Movie: Life Stinks, Diagnosis Murder UPN Movie: Lost Souls WB What I Like About You [r], Grounded for Life [r], Reba [r], Reba [r] TELE Prisonera,El Alma Herida, Protagonistas VIP UNIV Mariana de la Noche,Amarte es mi Pecado, La Escuelita VIP
Thursday April 23, 2026 IN THE NEWS Consumers bounce hourly as “couch commerce” reshapes the path to purchase, says MiQ’s From Funnel to Flexibility report, which focuses on the ways people watch, browse, and buy. “Couches have become the new storefronts as consumers move from screen to screen, almost in the […]
A Cynopsis Message From ITN Wednesday April 22, 2026 IN THE NEWS Peacock’s ad-free Premium Plus tier is coming to Roku Premium Subscriptions through a new deal between NBCUniversal and Roku. The top-tier plan remains ad-free except for live sports and includes offline downloads and access to geo-targeted local TV stations. It’s […]
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM PREMION Tuesday April 21, 2026 IN THE NEWS Midterm spending for the 2026 cycle is on track to top $10 billion – just 8% shy of the 2024 presidential cycle ($11.2 billion) and 16% higher than the 2022 midterms ($8.9 billion), according to Kinetiq’s The […]
