Good morning. It’s Monday, January 3, 2011, and this is your first early morning briefing. As always, if you prefer to watch this morning’s news instead of reading it, click here . 

Jan 3 Premieres:
Golf Channel: Morning Drive at 7a
OWN: Anna & Kristina’s Grocery Bag at 3p; Cristina’s Big Bowl of Love at 330p; Trading Spaces at 4p; Best of Dr. Phil at 7p; Enough Already with Peter Walsh at 8p; In The Bedroom with Dr. Laura Berman at 10p
BBC America: The X-Files at 11a
Hallmark Channel: Petkeeping with Marc Morrone at 12p
ABC: The Bachelor at 8p
PBS: Antiques Roadshow at 8p
ABC Family: Pretty Little Liars at 8p; Greek at 9p
Comedy Central: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 9p; The Daily Show with Jon Stewart at 11p; The Colbert Report at 1130p
Univision:  Triunfo del Amor at 9p
HGTV: Cash & Cari at 10p
Investigation Discovery: Disappeared at 10p
TLC: The Opener at 10p
IFC: The Larry Sanders Show at 11p

Jan 3 Finales:
TNT: The Closer at 9p

As of December 21, the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved the sale of assets held by Michigan-based Johnson Broadcasting, Inc. (KNWS-TV in Houston) and Texas-based Johnson Broadcasting of Dallas, Inc. (KLDT-DT in Dallas) to Delaware-based Una Vez Mas Texas Holdings, LLC, an Alta Communications Portfolio Company. Una Vez Mas Texas Holdings, LLC paid $24.8 million for the two television stations. Both Johnson Broadcasting, Inc. and Johnson Broadcasting of Dallas are headed by Doug Johnson and following these transactions neither company owns additional broadcast interests. Una Vez Mas Texas Holdings, LLC currently owns 39 television stations nationwide.

On New Year’s Day, Universal Sports kicked off the film series, Nine Nights of Glory honoring Olympic documentary filmmaker Bud Greenspan. The film series includes nine different official Olympic films from Mr. Greenspan airing over consecutive nights at 9p. Tonight’s film is Lillehammer ’94 and the series concludes this Sunday with Torino ’06. Mr. Greenspan died on December 25 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Writer/producer, Aron Abrams was found dead in a hotel room in Hawaii on December 25. Mr. Abrams served as writer/producer on FOX’s King of the Hill series in addition to Everybody Hates Chris from 2005-2006. Mr. Abrams other recent credits include Grounded for Life and 3rd Rock From the Sun. An autopsy was scheduled for last Friday.

Top 10 Weekend Box Office Estimates: December 31, 2010-January 2, 2011
Little Fockers (Universal)                     $26.3 million  2 wk total $103.2m
True Grit (Paramount)                         $24.5 million  2 wk total $86.8m
Tron Legacy (Disney)                          $18.3 million  3 wk total $130.9m
Yogi Bear (Warner Bros.)                     $13.0 million  3 wk total $66.1m
Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn (20th Century Fox) $10.5 million  4 wk total $87.1m
Tangled (Disney)                                $10.0 million  6 wk total $168.0m
The Fighter (Paramount)                     $10.0 million  4 wk total $46.4m
Gulliver’s Travels (20th Century Fox)     $9.1 million  2 wk total $27.2m
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight)               $8.5 million  5 wk total $47.4m
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Co.) $7.6 million  6 wk total $22.8m
Source: Rentrak

Program Call: Cynopsis Media will be producing our annual NATPE Shopping Guide sent to all Cynopsis and Cynopsis Kids subscribers on Thursday, January 20, the week before NATPE 2011 in Miami.  If you would like to have your programming included, please send us 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.) as well as your company’s stand/booth location.  To be included in this free and highly-viewed special edition, please send your submission to [email protected] no later than Friday, January 14, 2011. A confirmation email will be sent following each submission from Lisa (if you don’t receive a confirmation email, please resubmit).

Last Friday, Comcast-owned cable networks, E! and The Style Network agreed to a short-term extension with Dish Network concerning their contract negotiations to avoid service disruptions for consumers. The former contract between the two entities expired December 31 at midnight, and with an extension in place both parties will continue negotiations to reach a new long-term agreement. However, Dish and Comcast remain at an impasse over the carriage of several regional sports networks including Comcast SportsNet California which was dropped by Dish on November 24.

Additionally on Friday, Time Warner Cable and Sinclair Broadcast Group agreed to a contract extension through January 14 over their retransmission-consent negotiations which affect 33 Sinclair stations in major markets such as Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee. Overall, the dispute between TWC and Sinclair involves 4 million subscribers in 21 markets.

Also late last week, Hearst Television entered a new carriage agreement with DIRECTV. The deal between the two companies was due to expire on December 31. Terms of the new deal were not disclosed.

Northwest Broadcasting, Inc., a privately-held company and owner of television stations in four markets, pulled its stations off of DIRECTV as their contract ended in an impasse on December 31. Northwest Broadcasting negotiated with DIRECTV for three months though an extension of the existing deal could not be hammered out. The impasse affects Northwest’s O&Os in Binghamton, NY, Medford, OR, Yakima and Spokane, WA, all FOX affiliates. Northwest states it will “continue to work with DIRECTV to negotiate a fair and equitable agreement based on current market conditions and it is our desire to resolve this issue at the earliest possible time in order to bring our stations back to DIRECTV.”

And no carriage deal was reached between Dish Network and Frontier Radio Management involving FOX affiliate WGXA/Macon, GA and its digital multicast ABC affiliate WGXA-D. Dish Network said on Saturday that Frontier declined an offer to extend the existing contract to keep both stations on Dish’s lineup.

Twentieth Century Fox passed on a script from Billy Ray (State of Play) centered on the former television series, 24, reports EW. The plot of the feature film was intended to be a conclusion of the storyline featuring CTU agent Jack Bauer with Kiefer Sutherland continuing in the lead role. Howard Gordon, executive producer on the television series was additionally attached to the film project as a producer. FOX concluded 24’s eight-year run last May.

Showtime finalized its cast for the pilot Homeland, cites THR. Canadian actor Diego Klattenhoff (Men in Trees) will play Marine colonel, Mike Faber who is the best friend of lead character Scott Brody played by Damian Lewis. Brody returns to the US after years in exile in Iraq and raises the suspicion of a CIA agent (Claire Danes) who surmises Brody may have anti-American, jihadist leanings. The cast also includes Mandy Patinkin as Danes’ boss and Laura Fraser who co-stars as Brody’s’ wife. Production on the pilot begins early in January with Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa serving as executive producers. Homeland is an adaptation of an Israeli television series, Prisoners of War and the script is written by the original creator, Gideon Raff along with Gordon and Gansa.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES – THE TELEVISION ACADEMY HONORS

Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among A18-49 for the week of: 12/20-12/26/10
Primetime    (000)        Total Pgm Day      (000)
ESPN              2261         ESPN                       839
USA               1359         ADSM*                     777
TBSC              1135        USA                         734
TNT                 945         TBSC                       705
NFLN               923         NAN*                       627
FAM                916         TNT                          601
HIST               774         NICK                        594
AEN                764         FAM                         515
FX                  732          FX                           458
DSNY              720         AEN                         450
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data. All ratings based on Total U.S. Television Universe of 115,900,000 homes
* = Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24 hour day. Primetime listing only includes those networks broadcasting more than 51% of the primetime hours (M-Su 8p-11p)

Top Ten Basic Cable Ad Supported Network Rankings among Total Viewers for the week of: 12/20-12/26/10    
Primetime    (000)      Total Pgm Day            (000)
ESPN             5240        NICK                            2360
USA               3232        DSNY                           1928
DSNY             2717        USA                             1698
FAM               2259        NAN*                           1640
TNT               2169        ESPN                            1623
TBSC             2149        ADSM*                         1403
NFLN             1959        TNT                              1382
HIST             1828        FAM                              1282
NAN              1805        TBSC                            1252
AEN              1473        TOON                            1201
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data.
All ratings based on Total U.S. Television Universe of 115,900,000 homes
* = Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24 hour day. Primetime listing only includes those networks broadcasting more than 51% of the primetime hours (M-Su 8p-11p)

Top 10 Cable Programs among A18-49 (000) for the week of: 12/20-12/26/10
ESPN   Bears/Vikings                                                8081
NFLN   2010  Cowboys vs. Cardinals                        3688
USA     WWE Entertainment 10p                                2621
ESPN   Monday Night Countdown                               2498
ESPN   Sportscenter 12/20 1145p                              2432
USA     WWE Entertainment 9p                                  2376
TBSC   24 Hours of A Christmas Story 12/25 10a        2369
ESPN   Utah/Boise State                                           2271
TBSC   24 Hours of A Christmas Story 12/24 8p          2266
DSNY   Toy Story 2                                                   2225
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research Data.
All ratings based on Total U.S. Television Universe of 115,900,000 homes

Top 10 Broadcast Programs among A18-49 rating/share and (000) for the week of 12/20-12/26/10
FOX    The OT                                                       4.2/13        5498
FOX    Simpsons Encore                                         2.7/8          3506
NBC    The Sing-Off                                               2.7/7          3541
FOX    Family Guy Encore                                       2.5/7          3264
CBS    Two and a Half Men                                     2.4/6          3108
NBC    Football Night in America Part 3                   2.4/7           3109
ABC    ABC Saturday Movie of the Week                  2.3/7          2977
NBC    SNL Special: Gilly Christmas                        2.3/7          3059
CBS    NCIS                                                         2.2/7           2887
FOX    The Cleveland Show Encore                         2.2/6           2874
NBC    Minute To Win It                                         2.2/7          2834
Source: Nielsen Media Research, Galaxy Explorer, Live + SD Data

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of 12/13-12/17/10 ranked in order by HH Rtg
Wheel of Fortune (CTD)                                   7.2 AA
Jeopardy (CTD)                                               6.1 AA
Two and a Half Men (WB)                                 6.0 AA / 8.3 GAA
Judge Judy (CTD)                                            4.4 AA / 7.1 GAA
Family Guy (2/T)                                             4.2 AA / 5.1 GAA
Oprah Winfrey Show (CTD)                               4.2 AA / 4.3 GAA
Entertainment Tonight (CTD)                            4.0 AA / 4.1 GAA
Inside Edition (CTD)                                         3.1 AA / 3.1 GAA
Live with Regis and Kelly (DAD)                        2.9 AA
My Wife and Kids (DAD)                                   2.9 AA / 3.6 GAA
Everybody Loves Raymond (CTD)                     2.9 AA / 3.7 GAA
Source: NSS Galaxy Explorer, Live+SD

Top 10 M-F Syndicated Strip Series for the week of 12/13-12/17/10 ranked in order by A18-49 Rtg
Two and a Half Men (WB)                                3.2 AA / 4.5 GAA
Family Guy (2/T)                                            2.9 AA / 3.4 GAA
How I Met Your Mother (2/T)                           1.8 AA / 2.5 GAA
Wheel of Fortune (CTD)                                   1.7 AA
Seinfeld (SPT)                                                 1.6 AA / 1.9 GAA
The Office (NBU)                                             1.6 AA / 1.9 GAA
Everybody Loves Raymond (CTD)                     1.5 AA / 1.9 GAA
Jeopardy (CTD)                                               1.4 AA
Entertainment Tonight (CTD)                            1.4 AA / 1.4 GAA
My Wife and Kids (DAD)                                   1.4 AA / 1.7 GAA
Source: NSS Galaxy Explorer, Live+SD

Wednesday A18-49 Analysis:  ABC and CBS shared the top slot Wednesday night at 1.6/5 each among A18-49, according to final national ratings from Nielsen. At 8p, ABC’s repeat comedies The Middle and Better With You averaged a winning 1.5/4 which was just a tenth of a rating point higher than Univision’s Eva Luna at 1.4/4 and CBS’ NCIS: Los Angeles repeat was a step behind in third at 1.3/4. During 9p, more encore comedies on ABC won as double Modern Family episodes averaged a 2.1/6, and a Criminal Minds rebroadcast on CBS was a close second place with 2.0/6. Then at 10p, NBC’s second Law & Order: SVU encore episode did best at 1.6/5 followed by CBS’ rerun of The Defenders at 1.4/4.

Live + Same Day Household Ratings: Wednesday, December 29, 2010  time period averages. Source: NTI Galaxy, as dated. Live+SD.

CBS: 4.7/8       NCIS: Los Angeles [r] 4.3/7, Criminal Minds [r] 5.6/10, The Defenders [r] 4.2/8

NBC: 3.4/6        Undercovers 2.8/5, Law & Order: SVU [r] 3.0/5, Law & Order: SVU [r] 4.4/8

ABC: 3.1/5         The Middle [r] 3.8/7, Better With You [r] 3.2/6, Modern Family [r] 3.7/6, Modern Family [r] 3.7/6, Cougar Town [r] 2.3/4, Cougar Town [r] 1.8/3

FOX: 2.4/4         Human Target [r] 2.4/4, Human Target [r] 2.3/4

UNIV: 1.8/3       Eva Luna 1.9/3, Don Francisco Presenta 1.5/3

ION: 1.1/2         Without a Trace 1.1/2, Without a Trace 1.0/2, Criminal Minds 1.3/2

CW: 0.8/1          Hellcats [r] 0.9/1, Hellcats [r] 0.8/1

TELE: 0.6/1        Aurora 0.6/1, Fantasma de Elena 0.5/1, Alguien Te Mira 0.5/1

TF: 0.5/1           Cine de Las Estrellas [r] 0.5/1, India 0.6/1

A18-49: ABC 1.6/5, CBS 1.6/5, UNIV 1.4/4, NBC 1.2/4, FOX 0.9/3, TF 0.5/2, CW 0.5/1, ION 0.4/1, TELE 0.4/1

  A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

 
This day in History:  1938 – The March of Dimes was established by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The organization fights poliomyelitis. The original name of the organization was the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.

Today’s Trivia Question:  You know who Agent 86 and 99 are, but who is code name Recruit 91?  Hint:  He appeared in just 6 episodes, was always just a bit stiff, and also made a “cameo” appearance in the 2008 movie.   (Email [email protected] 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
01.03.11

Cynopsis Ad Sales:
Mike Farina – VP/Business Development & Sales – 203-218-6480 / [email protected]
Classifieds – Trish Pihonak- 203-381-9096 / [email protected]

Member of Interactive Advertising Bureau (iab)

To subscribe to any Cynopsis edition(s) click here .
To unsubscribe , click the button at the very bottom of this email.

Cyn opsis CLASSIFIEDS – For More classifieds, visit the Cynopsis.com classifieds page here  .

JOB OPENING: SR DIR TRAFFIC SALES/NYC: Mng daily operations. Incl order approvals, EDI, backup for log duties, resolve billing issues, maint integrity & enforce best practice.10+ yrs exp traffic/sales ops. www.tvopportunities.com (1/8)

JOB OPENING: DIR DVLPMNT/2C MEDIA/LA or NYC: Creative, aggressive idea generator to oversee dev. Net or prod co dev exp a must w/demonstrated series picked up to air & casting exp a +. Res: [email protected] 2Cmedia.com (1/8)

JOB OPENING: WEB METRICS COORDINATOR/Lunchbox Studios/LA: Entry level, Execute tracking, reporting, analysis of website data to understand behavior of customers & site visitors. More info @ www.lbox.com Apply: [email protected] (1/6)

JOB OPENING:  DIRECT CLIENT SOLUTIONS/HGTV/Knoxville TN:  Develop innovative client offerings, working in collaboration with Ad Sales Mktg & Programming, to drive both ratings & revenue. Full info/ apply: www.scrippsnetworks.com (1/6)

JOB OPENING: SYNDICATION AE/Sony Pictures TV/Chicago: 38 Midwest markets. Heavy travel. Strong sales & TV background a must. Apply: www.sonypicscareers.com (1/6)

JOB OPENING: DIR PR/IFC tv/NY: 6+yr Agncy/Corp PR exp in TV/Cble indstry. Launch scrptd ent in media, execute premieres/screengs/pres junkets/film festvls. Creatve w/excllt comm skills/Media contcts. Rez: [email protected] (1/6)

JOB OPENING: TELEVISION AD SALES MANAGER/NYC: 10yrs+ TV Ad Agency or Sales exp. Minimum 5 yrs DRTV & Per Inquiry Sales Exp. Send resume & salary req’s to: [email protected] (1/5)

JOB OPENING: SALES ASSISTANT/AMC & WEtv/Chicago: 2+yr admin exp in sales envmt of Cble/Tv/Ent indstry. Assts VP & AEs w/daily sales & clients. Handls high call vol. Excllnt comp/comm/orgztnl skilz. Rez: www.cablevision.jobs/12945 (1/4)

JOB OPENING: MANAGER II RESEARCH/Discovery Communications/SS: Directs primary rsrch efforts; analyzes Nielsen data & other syndicated info dvlpmnt, prod, prgrm, schd, & mrktng strtgy. www.discovery.com (req 2997) (1/4)

JOB OPENING: DIGITAL ACCT EXEC/Discovery Communications/NY: AE w/5+ yrs digital ad sales exp a must to sell national advertising for Discovery’s Digital properties including web, mobile, VOD and podcasting. www.discovery.com (2795) (1/4)

INTERNSHIPS – These positions are for credit only – nobody gets paid here. These ads are always posted for free , and students work for school credit only. For more information on the specs for posting an Internship ad, email Trish at [email protected].

WINTER/SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: NEW MEDIA/DIGITAL MKTG INTERN/GSN/Santa Monica: Report to Sr Mgr. work closely w/ the designated dept execs in establishing a basic understanding of dept needs & functions. More info: corp.gsn.com (1/8)

WINTER/SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY : MKTG INTERN for Post-prod co. NYC: Work w/ VP, biz-dev; build database, mktg materials, web presence, mrkt research, brand & PR. MS Office, web savvy, skilled communicator. Apply: [email protected] (1/8)

WINTER/SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY:  START ASAP: RESEARCH INTERNS/TWO CATS PRODUCTIONS/NYC: Interns wanted to research and develop new TV show ideas. Please send resumes [email protected] (1/5)

WINTER/SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: Bynum Artist Management/LA: Looking for an unpaid intern to manage actor submissions. Approx. 3 to 4 hours/work day. Respond to [email protected] and include “Manager Intern” in subject line. (1/4)

SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED …  There is no charge for placing your Situation Wanted ad … for more information contact Trish Pihonak at [email protected]

SITUATION WANTED: EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT position film/TV (NY) 10 years experience: Interned for a President, Executive Assistant to SVP/VP/film director/celebrity [email protected] (1/4)

E-mail [email protected]  or call Trish Pihonak at 203.381.9096 for rates and specs for Job Openings.

Are you looking for a job? Post your Situation Wanted Ad here — Email [email protected]  for specs.
 

WHAT’S ON TONIGHT –  MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 2011

ABC:   The Bachelor [p ], Castle
AZTECA:  Cosas de la Vida, Al Extremo, La Loba
CBS: How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, Two and a Half Men, Mike & Molly, Hawaii Five-0
CW:  90210 [r], Gossip Girl [r]
FOX: House [r], Lie to Me [r]
ION:  Without a Trace, Criminal Minds, Criminal Minds
NBC:  Chuck [r], The Biggest Loser: Where Are They Now? [r]
PBS:   Antiques Roadshow, American Experience, Yellowstone: Land to Life
TELE:  Aurora, El Fantasma de Elena, Alguien Te Mira
UNIV:  Eva Luna, Triunfo del Amor [p ], Don Francisco Presenta

Cynopsis Media LLC
65 Lantern Road
Stratford, CT 06614
Ph: 203.381.9096
Fx: 203.386.8855

All outgoing e-mails are scanned and sent out virus free. Copyright Cynopsis 2011

To unsubscribe from future mailings, please click here.