Source: NTI, Galaxy Explorer, Cov Rtg. 9/27/04-2/13/05. Gilmore = M-F 5p. Tie #1 A18-34 w/ Smallville M-F 7p, Whose Line M-F 1030p. Excludes Movies and Specials. 10+ T/C.

CYNTHIA TURNER’S
Cynopsis

02/ 14/05

Good morning. It’s Monday, February 14 , 2005, and this is your first early morning briefing.

It is very rare indeed you’ll see share points brought out beyond the decimal point in Cynopsis, but Thursday night the decimal is warranted.  CBS won the night with a 6.7/17.2 A18-49 rating in the final numbers from Nielsen Media Research, while NBC delivered a 6.7/17.1 – a single tenth of a share point separates the two.  And, if that’s not enough, look further down the line to Fox and ABC – there the difference is just two tenths of a share point.  Thursday night in the sweeps – nothing better.   A special repeat airing of CSI at 8pm earned a 4.8/13 for the hour; NBC’s Joey delivered a 4.6/13, while will & Grace upped the rating to a 5.3/13.  CSI at 9p out-delivered the others markedly with a 9.2/22 over The Apprentice  7.2/17.  At 10p ER outpaced Without a Trace, 7.9/20 vs. 6.1/16. On Fox the hot commodity was The O.C. with a 3.7/10; Point Pleasant brought down the evening’s average with a 1.7/4.

A competitive tight evening on Friday, though only a single hour made it into a double digit demo share delivery.  ABC led with a 2.8/8 A18-49 for the night according to fast affiliate numbers from Nielsen Media Research, followed by NBC 2.5/7, CBS 2.3/7, Fox 2.1/6, WB 1.6/5, UPN 0.7/2.  A three way tie at 8pm among ABC, NBC and Fox, each earning a 2.3/7 for the hour.  At 9p ABC’s sitcoms Hope & Faith and Less Than Perfect was in front with a 2.9/9 for the hour, with NBC’s Third Watch ranking #2 with a 2.6/8.  And at 10p, ABC’s 20/20 broke into double digits with the first half hour of 20/20 (3.6/10), while CBS’ newcomer NUMB3RS caught the second half hour (3.3/10). Both averaged a 9 share for the 10p hour, while NBC had a 2.5/7 for Medical Investigation.

Fox won the night on Saturday, as is its usual ranking, but not with its usual lineup.  Saturday night on Fox was all NASCAR 2005, delivering a 3.7/12 A18-49 rating according to fast affiliate numbers from Nielsen Media Research.  NBC was #2 for the night with a 2.4/8, followed by a tied ABC and CBS at 2.0/6.

Just one week out of the gate and it seems NBC isn’t happy with its Tuesday 8p hour – Most Outrageous TV Moments this week will be replaced by a repeat of Sunday night’s Law & Order: Criminal Intent ep featuring the return of Chris Noth as Detective Mike Logan.

Tonight’s Premiere:
UPN:  Cuts at 830

Casting / Development / Production:

• WB Network has ordered up 7th Heaven (Spelling Television) for a 10th season pick-up.  7th Heaven is WB’s most watched series in total viewer and younger demos, ranked #1 among A18-49 of all WB series, and is the longest running drama on the WB and in television history (last two longest running family dramas were Waltons and Little House, each going for 9 seasons).
• WB‘s untitled Tom Fontana and Julie Martin pilot (Warner Bros. TV/HIP), an ensemble drama which takes place in a small NYC college, has cast Ernest Waddell and Penn Badgely.
• CBS has ordered up four more episodes of its Friday night freshman series NUMB3RS (Paramount Network TV), giving it a total count thus far of 12.
• CBS drama pilot Threshold (Paramount Network TV) about a team responding to an alien threat, has cast Charles Dutton.
• ABC has ordered two more eps of 8 Simple Rules (Touchstone TV) for a total this season of 24.
• Casting for ABC‘s pilot drama Evidence (Warner Bros. TV/John Wells Prods) has tapped Martin Landau and Orlando Jones to star in the procedural drama about two homicide detectives.
• New projects on Lifetime’s development slate:
  • The Debi Gutierrez Project is a half hour comedy about a stand up comic/full time mom who becomes a life coach, providing her brand of no-nonsense advice
  • Dirty is a 30m comedy about a woman obsessed with having it all, and doing whatever it takes to get there, including attempting murder on her husband which he survives, creating additional problems for her.
  • Thicker than Water is also a comedy from exec prod Carol Leifer, a semi-autobiographical project about a single TV writer living in LA trying to get a job after a wildly successful series (Seinfeld), pitching ideas to exec produces several years her junior.
  • Comedy project Tripping the Prom Queen is based on the non-fiction book from Susan Shapiro Barash about women who will do whatever it takes to get whatever they want.
  • Female Astronauts is a working title for this one hour, limited scripted drama series from Lions Gate Television. The action takes place aboard the International Space Station where three astronauts are in need of immediate rescue, as well as on earth at NASA and the private space sector to put together a team to travel into space and bring home the stranded astronauts.
  • The Gumm Sisters is a 60m scripted drama project about three plus-sized sisters who rely on each other for support no matter who life throws at them.
• UPN has ordered two comedy project pilots: Friends in the AM (Touchstone TV) focuses on three women, all friends and all co-hosts of a morning talk show program, and all very direct.  20 Things to do Before You’re 30 (Touchstone TV) is about a group of four friends who compile and begin to execute a list of things they want to accomplish before they collective turn 30.  The project is based on a UK series of the same name.
• Director Barry Levinson is on board with CBS pilot project 3 Lbs. (Paramount Network TV), a medical drama.
• Chyler Leigh joins Sean Faris and Alexa Davalos in Fox‘s drama pilot Reunion (Warner Bros. TV/Class IV Prods), a project which follows six high school graduates over the course of 20 years until they all reassemble for their class’ 20th reunion. 

At the World Economic Forum last month in Switzerland, CNN’s EVP/Chief News Exec Eason Jordan said it was his belief that several of the journalists killed in Iraq by U.S. Military were targeted.  Immediately thereafter Jordan started back peddling, saying what he meant was some journalists were killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, vs. those killed because there were mistakenly identified as the enemy.  Whatever he really meant then, he was particularly clear Friday when he put in his resignation from CNN, in hopes of quashing any further scandal.  In an internal memo to staff, Jordan said: “I never meant to imply U.S. forces acted with ill intent when U.S. forces accidentally killed journalists, and I apologize to anyone who thought I said or believed otherwise.”

Chuck Dolan, Chairman of Cablevision, and a group of Cablevision stockholders, have reached a tentative agreement to acquire Voom HD from Cablevision Systems Corp.  Following approval by the Cablevision Board, the deal would mean the new ownership would take over the Voom liabilities, and Cablevision would not have to shoulder the costs of shutting down the service.   Dolan etc., would form a new and privately held company that would own Voom. The deal would include Voom’s current 26,000 subscriber base, 21 hi-def channels, satellite leasing capacity (Cablevision sold the satellite to Echostar for $200 million), and various spectrum licenses.  More as the deal solidifies.

Discovery Channel‘s long term Greatest American project calls on anyone and everyone to nominate up to five candidates who they feel are truly the Greatest American every lived, from any walk of life.  The initial nominations end this Wednesday, the 16th. To place your votes, go to AOL keyword Greatest American, or http://tv.channel.aol.com/greatestamerican. The top 100 nominees will launch the first of seven one-hour specials beginning this summer, and hosted by Today’s Matt Lauer, beginning with a biography on each of the nominees.  You’ll then be asked to vote again (think American Idol, only different) to help whittle the nominees down to a final choice.  So, who do you think is the greatest American ever lived?  Not as easy as you think, eh?

Weekend Box Office Estimates: February 11-13, 2005
Hitch (Sony)                               $45.3 million – opening weekend
Boogeyman (ScreenGems)           $10.8 million – 2 wk total $33.3m
Are We There Yet? (Sony)                 $8.5 million – 4 wk total $61.5m
Million Dollar Baby (Warner Bros.)      $7.6 million – 9 wk total $45.1m
Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (Buena Vista)    $6.0 million – opening weekend
The Wedding Date (Universal)             $5.6 million – 2 wk total $19.5m
Hide and Seek (Fox)                       $5.6 million – 3 wk total $43.6m
Sideways (Fox Searchlight)               $4.7 million – 17 wk total $53.1m
The Aviator (Miramax)                     $4.6 million – 9 wk total $82.3m
Meet the Fockers (Universal)             $3.4 million – 8 wk total $269.9m
Source: Box Office Mojo

ABC/ESPN Account Executive Tim Nesvig, 30 year old son of Jon Nesvig, President of Fox Sales, and his mother Hanneke Nesvig, passed away last Wednesday after losing his battle against cancer. Tim leaves behind his parents, and his two sisters, Mieke and Carrie.  Speaking of his son, Jon said, “Tim fought his disease with the most positive of attitudes one can imagine. He was a very brave young man indeed.”  The family is memorializing their son and brother with the Tim Nesvig Fellowship for Lymphoma Research. The family asks that those who wish to honor Tim, please make donations to The Tim Nesvig Fellowship for Lymphoma Research, City of Hope Cancer Center c/o Kathleen Kane, 1055 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1200, Los Angeles, CA 90017. The fellowship will be under the direction of Dr. Stephen Forman, Chairman of the Division of Hematology & Bone Marrow Transplantation at the City of Hope Cancer Center.  The family held a private service, and is also planning a more public memorial in New York some time in the next few weeks.

Discovery Networks has named David Abraham as EVP/GM of TLC, based in Silver Spring, MD, and filling the position left open by Roger Marmet last month.  David makes the move to Maryland from Discovery Networks, UK, and at TLC will oversee all programming, production, development and operations for the network. 

Robyn Lattaker-Johnson has joined BET as VP/Programming Development, a new position charged with creating new programming ideas, show pilots and other on-screen offerings.  Prior to her arrival at BET, Lattaker-Johnson was the Director of Development for Alternative Programming and Production at Sci Fi Channel. 

Thursday, February 10, 2005. FINAL Ratings for all Networks – program averages.  Source: Nielsen Media Research.  [p] = Premiere; [r] = Repeat

CBS     13.6/21 CSI [r] 10.8/17, CSI 17.2/26, Without a Trace 12.8/21

NBC     9.6/15   Joey 7.4/12, Will & Grace 7.6/12, The Apprentice 9.9/15, ER 11.5/19

ABC     5.8/9    Extreme Makeover 5.5/8, Primetime Live 6.3/10

FOX     3.9/6    The O.C. 5.1/8, Point Pleasant 2.6/4

UPN     3.5/5    WWE Smackdown 3.5/5

WB      1.3/2    WB Movie: Sugar & Spice 1.3/2

A18-49  CBS 6.7/17.2, NBC 6.7/17.1, Fox 2.7/7.0, ABC 2.7/6.8, UPN 1.8/5, WB .6/2

Friday, February 11, 2005. Fast Affiliate Ratings for all Networks – time period averages.  Source: Nielsen Media Research.  [p] = Premiere; [r] = Repeat

CBS     6.2/11   Joan of Arcadia 5.1/9, JAG 6.4/11, NUMB3RS 7.2/12

NBC     6.2/11   Dateline 6.9/12, Third Watch 6.2/10, Medical Investigation 5.5/9

ABC     5.7/10   8 Simple Rules 5.1/9, 8 Simple Rules [r] 5.0/8, Hope & Faith 5.7/10, Less Than Perfect 5.4/9, 20/20 6.6/11

FOX     3.0/5    Bernie Mac 3.4/6, Bernie Mac 3.4/6, Johnny Zero 2.6/4

WB      2.3/4    What I Like About You  2.1/4, Scooby Doo Valentine 1.9/3, Reba 3.1/5, Blue Collar TV 2.1/4

UPN     1.3/2    Star Trek Enterprise 1.7/3, Road to Stardom 0.8/1

A18-49  ABC 2.8/8, NBC 2.5/7, CBS 2.3/7, Fox 2.1/6, WB 1.6/5, UPN 0.7/2

Saturday, February 12, 2005. Fast Affiliate Ratings for all Networks – time period averages.  Source: Nielsen Media Research.  [p] = Premiere; [r] = Repeat

NBC     6.3/11   L&O 6.0/11, L&O: CI 6.0/11, L&O: SVU 7.1/13

FOX     5.1/9    NASCAR 2005 5.1/9

CBS     4.4/8    Wickedly Perfect 3.3/6, CSI [r] 5.0/9, 48 Hours 4.9/9

ABC     3.6/6    Charlie Brown Valentine 3.6/7, Winnie the Pooh Valentine 3.1/6, Happy Days Reunion [r] 3.7/7

A18-49  Fox 3.7/12, NBC 2.4/8, ABC and CBS 2.0/6

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1967 – Aretha Franklin records her hit classic, “Respect”; the song becomes famous with Franklin’s rousing rendition in “The Blues Brothers”
 
Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:  In an episode of I Dream of Jeannie, the cast travels to Hollywood.  While there, they run into a handful of cast members from another hit primetime series.  Was it Adam-12, Bonanza, Get Smart or Laugh-In?   LAUGH-IN. Say goodnight, Dick.  Kudos to: Randy Ingram-WNDY/Indianapolis; Scott Collins-NBC Universal/NY; Jim Ryan-A&E/NY; Charles Lore/NY; Mitt Dawson-Fox Sports Net/Houston; Malachy Wienges-Sedona Bcsting Co/Sedona; Audrey Sargent-KOCB/Oklahoma City; Susan Nessanbaum Goldberg-SoapNet/Burbank; Dave Harding-Creative Differences/Studio City; Randy Warner-Special Looks Ent/LA; Eddie Land-Pacific Television Ctr/LA; and Ken Dubow-Modern Ent/Berlin.

A MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

Today’s Trivia Question: What primetime character had a particular fondness for Jellybabies? (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.)

Later — Cyn
02.14.05  5:18am

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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT: FEBRUARY 14, 2005:  February sweep 2/3/05 – 3/2/05

ABC              EM:HE How’d They Do That?, The Bachelorette, Supernanny
CBS              Still Standing, Listen Up, Raymond, 2-1/2 Men, CSI: Miami
FOX              Trading Spouses, 24
NBC              Fear Factor, Las Vegas, Medium
PAX              AFV, AFV, Mary Higgins Clark Movie: Haven’t We Met Before?
UPN              One on One, Cuts [p], Girlfriends, Half and Half
WB               7th Heaven, Everwood
TELE             La Mujer en el Espejo, Gitanas, Te Voy a Ensenar a Querer
UNIV             Rubi, Amor Real, Cristina