Source: NTI Galaxy Explorer, A18-49 Rtg, 4/25-5/1/05.  TP=Sat 8-11p.  TP Hist=Prior 4 Wk (3/28-4/24/05)

CYNTHIA TURNER’S
Cynopsis

05/06/05

Good morning.  It’s Friday, May 6, 2005, and this is your first early morning briefing.

Early yesterday morning, Fox, American Idol, FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment issued this statement, provided here in full:

         “We have concerns about the motives behind last night’s purported news special, as much of it was filled with rumor, speculation and assertions from a disqualified contestant who admitted during the special to telling lies.  Regardless, we are absolutely committed to the fairness of this competition.  We take any accusations of this nature very seriously, no matter their source, and we have already begun looking into them.

         “Despite documented procedures and multiple opportunities, as well as contractual requirements for contestants to raise any concerns, we were never notified or contacted by Mr. Clark or any other individual, nor presented any evidence concerning these claims.

         “Upon recently hearing rumors of Mr. Clark’s claims, we contacted him and requested that he detail his accusations to us.  That has yet to happen.

         “It should also be noted that the ultimate decision on which contestants move forward on “American Idol” has always been determined by the voting public.  We have gone to great lengths and great expense to create a voting system that is fair and reliable. Judges may offer opinions, but viewers vote using their own subjective criteria; and it is the voters who ultimately determine each season’s American Idol.”

Week #1 of the May Sweep: April 28 – May 4 according to Nielsen Media Research data:
A18-49:   Fox 4.3/12 (+8% vs. May 2004 sweep to date); ABC 3.9/11 +39%; CBS 3.8/10 +9%; NBC 3.4/9 -36%, WB 1.5/4 -6%, UPN 1.4/4 +27%
Total Viewers:  CBS 13.3 million (+7% vs. May 2004 sweep to date); Fox 10.1m +9%, ABC 9.9m +33%, NBC 9.88m -25%, WB 3.57m -7%, UPN 3.3m +17%

Tonight’s Finale:
NBC:  Third Watch at 9p [series finale]
ABC:  Hope & Faith at 9p

CBS has ordered a pilot of an unscripted hidden camera project from Pottle Productions, set to shoot in Las Vegas next month. Signed to host is actor/comedian and former SNL-er, Jon Lovitz.

20th Television has signed a development deal for seven figures with Austin Winsberg, the creator behind ABC’s series Jake in Progress.  He will be looking at development both comedies and drama for the studio.  20th didn’t sit still for long, and went out and signed yet another development deal with writer/producer Bobby Bowman for two years.  Bowman will be charged with developing half hour comedy projects and could also join up with a current series. 

ABC has replaced its new drama Eyes (Wednesdays at 10p) for the May sweep with an episode of Supernanny.  Frankly, the show was only scheduled to air once – next Wednesday. ABC had 13 episodes produced, and thus far only five have aired.

A veritable bevy of unscripted series coming to CBS this summer including the return of Big Brother, now in its sixth season.   In premiere order, we begin with:

• Fire Me…Please set to debut on June 7 at 9p. Each week the show features two new employees, both seeing who can get fired first, and before the 3pm deadline.
• Tommy Hilfiger hosted unscripted series The Cut, will kick off on on June 9, Thursdays at 8pm (tho in July it will be moved to a new time period as it makes room for the return of Big Brother).  The Cut is similar to Project Runway in that it features designers who would like to be known as the “trendsetters of tomorrow”.
• Big Brother premieres on July 7, and as in past seasons, Big Brother will air three times a week – Tuesdays at 9p, and Thursdays and Saturdays both at 8p. 
• Premiering on July 11 at 9p is Mark Burnett’s Rock Star: INXS, the rock star wannabe search looking for the next new band member to join INXS, travel with the group and cut a new album. It too will air multiple times a week – Mondays at 930p, Tuesdays at 10p and Wednesdays at 930p.

CHUM Television, owners of 12 local stations in Canada, have come to terms with the NFL to carry Monday Night Football games in Canada for one season, beginning this fall. CHUM’s first game will be the September 8 match-up between the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders, the season’s opening game.

Gay/lesbian TV network here! launches here! News today, a standard news program comprised of political stories, human interest and feature stories, all geared specifically for the gay/lesbian viewing audience.  Paul Colichman, CEO/Founder of here! says, “With news media taking an increasingly exclusionary slant on gay and lesbian events of the day, “here News” will do its part to report on the historic and pioneering work that continues to thrive in the gay and lesbian community.”  here! is now available in 40 million homes via satellite and standard cable carriage.

Nickelodeon and Verizon Wireless are launching Nick Mobile today, a wireless phone video channel that will include Nickelodeon content for Verizon Wireless’ V CAST wireless phones.  Nick Mobile will start with feature music videos (1-3min long) from Nick Jr. shows (e.g. Dora the Explorer, Blue’s Clues, The Backyardigans and LazyTown), and plans to add more Nick TV programming this summer.  V Cast VPak requires an additional fee to Verizon wireless customers, but no airtime charges are incurred to download or stream and watch the clips.

Telemundo‘s WWSI affiliate has inked a television advertising sales agreement with Comcast Spotlight to represent the TV station in the Philadelphia metro area.  Telemundo sales team will continue on to work with Comcast Spotlight on local and regional ad generation.

April 2005 Pay Channel Ratings
Total Day:  HBO 1.1, Cinemax 0.9, Starz 0.7, Showtime 0.5, Encore 0.4, TMC 0.3
Primetime: HBO 1.9, Cinemax 1.2, Starz 1.2, Showtime 0.8, Encore 0.7, TMC 0.5
Source: Nielsen Media Research – Galaxy Explorer: Pay networks ranked on HH coverage rating percentages for Total Day (M-Su 6a-6a) and Prime Time (M-Su 9p-11p), March 28 – April 27, 2005.  Subject to qualifications available upon request.

Sarita Smith has been upped to SVP/Research and Planning for Discovery Networks, US. She reports to Billy Campbell, President. Sarita oversees all research activities for Discovery’s US Networks, supporting programming, marketing, communications and affiliate sales divisions, and works with management to develop consumer-based strategies to grow Discovery’s U.S. audiences.  Smith also manages a team of research professionals who work across Discovery’s 14 networks.      

RL Public Relations + Marketing (RLPR), a leading national Hispanic public relations firm with offices in Los Angeles and New York, and Sportivo, its Latino sports arm, appointed Ana Lydia Ochoa as Account Supervisor.  She will be responsible for leading national consumer and community media relations for Sears Holding Corp. and local strategic communications initiatives for Telemundo.  She will report to Roxanna Lissa, founder and C.E.O. of RLPR.

Wednesday – A18-49 Analysis- May Sweep Day #7:  Fox was in front on Wednesday night, thus far one of the most competitive nights of the May sweep.  Fox delivered an overall 5.8/15 A18-49, according to final numbers from Nielsen Media Research, just a share point ahead of ABC’s 5.3/14.  CBS posted a 3.3/9, followed by NBC 3.0/8, UPN 1.8/5, WB 1.4/4.  At 8pm a new episode of LOST on ABC dominated with a 6.3/18, well ahead of #2 Fox with a 3.5/11 for the hour, and America’s Next Top Model on UPN with a 2.3/7 (among W18-49 Top Model delivered a 3.2/9, still #3 behind ABC and Fox). The CBS Dr. Phil Primetime Special featuring a one on one with Pat O’Brien delivered a modest 2.0/6. At 9p American Idol flew in with a 10.8/27, trouncing everyone. Alias (ABC) and Revelations (NBC) were tied with a 9 share for the hour. Stacked on Fox at 930p delivered a 5.1/12, virtually on par with last week’s performance. ABC’s Primetime Live Special: Fallen Idol at 10p won the time period handily with a 6.1/16 A18-49, ahead of CSI NY (4.4/11) and Law & Order (3.6/9).

FINAL HOUSEHOLD RATINGS:   Wednesday, May 4, 2005, for all Networks – program averages.  Source: Nielsen Media Research. 

ABC     8.3/14   Lost 10.3/17, Alias 5.7/9, Primetime Live: Fallen Idol 9.3/15

FOX     8.2/13   That 70’s Show 4.4/7, That 70’s Show [r] 5.2/8, American Idol 15.7/24, Stacked 7.4/11

CBS     7.4/12   Dr. Phil Primetime Special 5.3/9, Without a Trace 8.0/12, CSI New York  9.0/15

NBC     6.4/10   Dateline 5.2/9, Revelations 5.7/9, Law & Order 8.1/13

UPN     2.8/4    America’s Next Top Model 3.6/6, Kevin Hill 2.0/3

WB      2.3/4    Smallville 2.8/6, Jack & Bobby 1.7/3

A18-49                Fox 5.8/15, ABC 5.3/14, CBS 3.3/9, NBC 3.0/8, UPN 1.8/5, WB 1.4/4

Friday Fun Fact:  The bite of a leech is painless due to its own anesthetic.  Good to know.

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1994 – Queen Elizabeth II of England and President Francois Mitterand of France formally open the Channel Tunnel-a.k.a. the “Chunnel”-with elaborate celebrations on both sides of the Channel.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:  Christmas and Thanksgiving are the #1 and #2 days of the year where Americans consume the most food.  What is the third?  SUPER BOWL SUNDAY.  Of course!  Kudos to: Anthony Manupelli-WGBH NOVA Science Unit/Boston; Mark Altabe-Citigroup Globe Markets/NY; Gregory Chang-ImaginAsian Ent/NY; Marie Ostrosky-Emeril Live; Joe E. Dale-MeTV/Chicago; Loretta Norman-GSD&M/San Antonio; Burton Cooley-Jacobson Rost-Sheboygan; Roger Bare-KHWB/Houston; Mark Craig-Studio Talent Group/Huntington Beach; Wendell Foster-ABC/Burbank; Raf Gar-El Garcia Inc./LA; Mark Goodman-Goodymade/Oak Park; Kimberly Brown-Global Television/Toronto.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

Today’s not-necessarily-about-TV trivia question:  Where is Yorba Buena?  Hint: It’s here in the US, so I need a state/city location.  (click here 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
05.06.05  5:24am
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2005

ABC              AFV [r], Hope & Faith [f], 20/20
CBS              CSI: Miami [r], CSI [r], NUMB3RS
FOX              Movie: Rush Hour 2
NBC              Dateline, Third Watch [f], L&O: Trial by Jury
PAX              America’s Talented Kids, MGM Movie: Little Man Tate
UPN              Star Trek Enterprise, Top Model [r]
WB               What I Like About You, Reba [r], Reba, Living with Fran
TELE             La Mujer en el Espejo, Los Platedos, La Ley del Silencio
UNIV             Apuesta por un Amor, La Madrastra, Hospital el Paisa, Par de Ases