Good morning. It’s Monday, December 21, 2009, and this is your first early morning briefing.  As you know, Cynopsis editorial staff is now on our holiday break, returning on Monday, January 4, 2010.  Today’s email is an abbreviated version, designed in part to remind you this is the last edition you’ll receive this year.  Happy Holidays to all, and a wonderful and bright New Year! 

Tonight’s Finales:
NBC: The Sing-Off at 8p
TNT: The Closer at 9p

December 27 Premieres:
Discovery Channel: Everest: Beyond the Limit at 8p
FUEL TV: Tracking Eero at 830p
TLC: Life in the ER (wt) at 9p

December 29 Premieres:
FUEL TV: The Adventures of Danny and The Dingo at 8p
TLC: One Big Happy Family at 9p

December 29 Finale:
Syfy: Outer Space Astronauts at 9p

December 30 Premieres:
MTV: The Real World at 10p
TLC: The Imploders at 10p

January 1 Premieres:
National Geographic Channel: Dogtown at 10p
MSNBC: The Squeeze at 10p
VH1: Friday Night Alright at 11p

January 2 Premieres:
Animal Planet: Underdog to Wonderdog at 8p; It’s Me Or the Dog at 9p
The Style Network: How Do I Look? at 8p; What I Hate About Me? at 9p
BBC America: Demons at 10p

January 3 Premieres:
The Style Network: Giuliana & Bill at 9p
WE tv: Platinum Weddings at 9p
Food Network: Worst Cooks in America at 10p
Travel Channel: 101 Tastiest Places to Chowdown at 10p
VH1: Secrets of Aspen at 10p

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM TV GUIDE NETWORK ™

On Friday, Discovery Communications put forth a major shift within its organization to streamline content development, programming and operations by grouping networks together for a more efficient structure. The announcement included these several management and network changes:

• Discovery Channel and Science Channel will be grouped together under the oversight of 24-year Discovery veteran Clark Bunting as acting President/GM who continues to report to David Zaslav, President/CEO, Discovery Communications. Prior to this position Clark was President/GM of Emerging Networks and was formerly the GM of Discovery Channel. Debbie Myers will continue as GM/Science Channel, reporting to Clark Bunting. John Ford as President/GM of Discovery Channel is departing the company.
• The male-focused networks, Military Channel and HD Theater along with Investigation Discovery (ID) will be managed by Henry Schleiff as GM, reporting to David Zaslav. Henry joined the company in August 2009 where he has since developed new content for ID. 
• Planet Green will be grouped with other more female-targeted networks, Discovery Health and FitTV with Laura Michalchyshyn presiding as GM, reporting to David Zaslav. Laura was hired in February 2009 to lead Planet Green and in her new position will take on the added responsibility of supervising the transition of Discovery Health to becoming OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.
• Carole Tomko, the present GM of Discovery Health and FitTV will now assume the role as President of Discovery Studios, reporting to Peter Liguori, COO. Carole is charged with spearheading new growth opportunities for Discovery Studios’ business as well as managing the studio’s production of the series Curiosity: The Questions of Life.
• Eileen O’Neill will continue in her present role as President/GM of TLC and similarly, Marjorie Kaplan will continue to serve the company as President/GM of Animal Planet. Both report to David Zaslav.
• Other organizational changes include the company’s Government Relations/Public Policy and Standards and Practices unit, headed by Alexa Verveer as SVP will now report to David Leavy, EVP/Corporate Affairs and Global Communications. Furthermore, the Enterprise Operational Services group, led by David Kline as EVP will now fall under the oversight of Brad Singer, CFO.

A&E Network is set to launch the new original real-life series Paranormal Cops on January 19 at 1030p. The series, opening with an hour-long premiere episode followed by six half-hour episodes, follows a group of regular Chicago cops by day and at night they become paranormal investigators. Paranormal Cops is produced for A&E by North South Productions.

VH1 will debut a new edition of VH1 Storytellers: John Mayer on January 28 at 8p. The show highlights a taped live concert by Mayer earlier this month at Brooklyn’s Steiner Studios where he performed songs from his new album “Battle Studies” and gave fans a chance to hear what inspires his music. VH1 is also launching a new companion website at Storytellers.VH1.com, a destination for fans and artists to connect and where fans can relate what music inspires them through uploaded videos of themselves.

Actress Brittany Murphy, 32, died suddenly on Sunday from cardiac arrest after suffering a heart attack.  Murphy’s many films included notables Clueless, 8 Mile, Girl Interrupted and Don’t Say a Word.  She is survived by her husband, screenwriter Simon Monjack, to whom she was married in May 2007. The story was first announced by TMZ.com.

Top 10 Weekend Box Office Estimates: December 18-20, 2009
Avatar (20th Century)                             $73.0 million – opening weekend
The Princess and the Frog (Disney)            $12.2 million – 4 wk total $44.8m
The Blind Side (Warner Bros.)                    $10.0 million – 5 wk total $164.7m
Did You Hear About the Morgans? (Sony)    $7.0 million – opening weekend
Twilight Saga: The New Moon (Summit Entertainment) $4.4 million – 5 wk total $274.6m
Invictus (Warner Bros.)                             $4.1 million – 2 wk total $15.8m
Disney’s A Christmas Carol (Disney)             $3.4 million – 7 wk total $130.8m
Up In The Air (Paramount)                         $3.1 million – 3 wk total $8.1m
Brothers (Lionsgate)                                 $2.6 million – 3 wk total $22.1m
Old Dogs (Disney)                                     $2.3 million – 4 wk total $43.6m
Source: Rentrak

Program Call:   Cynopsis Media is producing our annual NATPE Shopping Guide sent to all Cynopsis subscribers on Thursday, January 21, the week before NATPE 2010.  If your company is exhibiting and you’d like to have your programming included, please send only the following info for your top 5 shows: title, availability date, number of episodes, length, type (i.e., movie, series, special, etc.), genre and your terms (barter, cash, etc.). and location (hotel suite or booth number). To be included in this free and highly-viewed special edition, please send details to lisa@cynopsis.com no later than Friday, January 15, 2010. A confirmation email will be sent following each submission.
 

Showtime is developing the independent film Sunshine Cleaning into a TV series, cites Variety. Megan Holley who penned the screenplay was tapped to adapt it for the small screen. The film was released last spring starring Amy Adams as Rose Lorkowski, a single mom who partners with her sister to start a business cleaning up horrible crime scenes.

Former homicide prosecutor, Pam Wechsler is developing a new criminal justice drama for Lifetime Television, per THR. The project is about a group of victim witness advocates with Sony Television and studio-based Apostle producing. Jim Serpico and Apostle’s Denis Leary are executive producing.

USA Network has ordered up a second season of White Collar.  The news was first announced by the show’s creator Jeff Eastin, on Twitter.  The season finale of White Collar drew 5.6 million viewers, thanks in part to a strong lead in – series finale of Monk. White Collar is produced by Fox TV Studios.

Thursday  A18-49 Analysis: CBS dominated Thursday night, coming in first with the A18-49 demo at 3.6/11, according to final national ratings from Nielsen. CBS’ Survivor: Samoa was the top winner at 8p with 3.9/12 and NBC’s SNL Special: Gilly Christmas came next at 3.0/9. CBS continued to lead through 9p with CSI at 3.5/10 with NBC’s SNL special staying put in second place at 3.2/9. At 10p, a new episode of The Mentalist on CBS won at 3.5/10 followed by NBC’s The Jay Leno Show in second place at 1.7/5.

Live + Same Day Household Ratings: Thursday, December 17, 2009 time period averages. Source: NTI Galaxy, as dated. Live+SD.

CBS: 8.9/15        Survivor: Samoa 7.3/12, CSI 9.5/15, The Mentalist 9.9/17

NBC: 4.3/7           SNL Special: Gilly Christmas 4.7/8, The Jay Leno Show 3.4/6

FOX: 3.0/5           Bones [r] 3.9/6, Fringe [r] 2.2/4

ABC: 2.7/4           Grey’s Anatomy [r] 2.8/5, Grey’s Anatomy [r] 2.9/5, Private Practice [r] 2.3/4

UNIV: 1.9/3        En Nombre Del Amor 2.0/3, Sortilegio 2.4/4, Nuestra Navidad 1.5/3

CW: 1.2/2           Vampire Diaries [r] 1.2/2, Vampire Diaries [r] 1.2/2

ION: 0.7/1          Ghost Whisperer [r] 0.6/1, NCIS [r] 0.7/1, NCIS [r] 0.8/1

TELE: 0.6/1         Mas Sabe El Diablo 0.7/1, Ninos Ricos 0.5/1, Victorinos 0.5/1

A18-49: CBS 3.6/11, NBC 2.7/8, UNIV 1.4/4, FOX 1.3/4, ABC 1.0/3, CW 0.8/2, TELE 0.5/1, ION 0.3/1

This day in History:  1913 – The “New York World” Sunday edition included a crossword puzzle as an added feature of the “Fun” supplement. It was the first crossword puzzle to be published.

No trivia question today — Cynopsis editorial staff is off now until Monday, January 4, 2010. 

Happy Holidays!

Later — Cyn
12.21.09

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JOB OPENING: SR. PRINT DESIGNER/Hallmark Channel/LA: Conceptualize, design & execute print platforms, min 5 yrs exp. see full posting & apply www.hallmarkchannel.com (1/8)

JOB OPENING:  SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYST/ElectricArtists/NY: Pt time. Evaluate, measure & communicate results of our social media mktg. Familiar w/social media measurement software Radian6, BuzzMetrics etc. howie@electricartists.com    (1/7)

JOB OPENING:  CONTENT SALES MGR (3)/Thought Equity Motion/NY, LA, CHI:  World leader in video licensing. Expert ideation, consultative & relationship sales exp. More info visit: thoughtequity.com; Resumes to: ssiino@thoughtequity.com (1/7)
 
JOB OPENING:  WRITER/PRODUCER, CREATIVE SERVICES/DIY/Knoxville, TN: Develop, write & produce on air promotions & special projects. 4 yrs+ TV Station/Cable Network experience req’d.  Apply online: www.scrippsnetworks.com    job #1252  (1/7)

JOB OPENING: VP – CONTENT DIST/NYC: 7+ yrs affiliate sales & mktg exp. Manage accounts, dev strat, optimize revenue. Strong deal-negotiating/analytical/written & oral comm. skills. EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply www.mtvnetworkscareers.com (1/6)

JOB OPENING: SALES EXEC/NYC: Sales Pro needed for 30 year old Entertainment Company. Cross-platform print and radio. Commission based. Unlimited opportunity to sell major known brand. Must have agency contacts. marla@fangoria.com (1/6)

JOB OPENING: VP CONSUMER MARKETING/ Nickelodeon/NYC: 10+yrs Consumer Mrktg exp from mrktg/agency or Ent/Media, Innovator, Ability to lead X-company efforts, Knwlg NICK brand, MBA A+ EOE/M/F/D/AAP Apply  www.mtvnetworkscareers.com (1/6) 

JOB OPENING:  ACCT EXEC/Plum TV/Boston: Strategic rep to generate rev for lifestyle mulitplat-media org focused on upscale market. 8+ yrs selling media, exp w/upscale market. Full posting plumtv.com (1/6)

JOB OPENING: NAT’L ACCT EXEC/Spotlight Houston: Aggressively prospect/sell to agencies & clients who focus efforts on selling products and srvcs through the purchase of advrtsng time. Cable, brdcst exp.  careers.teamcomcast.com (1/6)

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SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: DRIVEN INTERNS, Production office/PBS documentary film company:  Strong interest in bus. administrative aspects of prod. Tech-savvy, editing and good comm skills. Min 2-3 days per wk.  Resume:  ambrica.inter@gmail.com (1/6)

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SITUATION WANTED: COORDINATOR/RESEARCH/AP/EDUCATION MEDIA/NYC: 3+ yrs. exp . PBS, CNBC, Oprah, documentaries, kids media, production, research. Highly organized & detail-oriented. Seeking FT/PT/freelance. riny721@hotmail.com (1/8)

SITUATION WANTED:  FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION/CONGRATULATORY ADS: Award-Winning Creative Team with 12+ Years experience at HBO, A&E and MTV. Experts in this area. Ads as low as $1500. NY & LA. Contact: Herculean@me.com  (1/8)

SITUATION WANTED:   ADVERTISING, BRANDING & ILLUSTRATION (NYC): 20 years experience working concept through completion. Portfolio: www.baerdavis.com  Email: scott@baerdavis.com (1/7)

SITUATION WANTED: MEDIA SALES/MARKETING MANAGER/LA: 15+ years experience in educational, documentary, advertising media sales. True Closer!!!!!  vroom526@aol.com (1/6)

SITUATION WANTED: SEGMENT PRODUCER/LA: Established contacts in Disc/Hist genre, Experience w/ international shows & trade-outs, Interned at Discovery, Excellent writing & research skills. ihearttvdocs@gmail.com (1/6)

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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT –  MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2009

ABC:  I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown; Find My Family, Castle [r]
AZTECA: Lo Que Callamos Las Mujeres Edicion Especial, Extranormal de Impacto, Al Extremo
CBS: How I Met Your Mother, Accidentally on Purpose, Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, CSI Miami
CW:   One Tree Hill [r], Gossip Girl [r]
FOX:  House [r], Lie to Me [r]
ION:  Ghost Whisperer, Criminal Minds, Criminal Minds
NBC:  The Sing-off, Jay Leno Show
PBS: Antiques Roadshow, Great Performances [r]
TELE: Mas Sabe el Diablo, Ninos Ricos Padres Pobres, Victorinos
UNIV:  El Nombre del Amor, Sortilegio, Cristina

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