Good morning. It’s Monday, the first day of Summer, June 21, 2004, and now on with your first early morning briefing.
It just got a little more expensive to say bad stuff on television. Aligning itself with the rate of inflation, the FCC has increased the max rate for airing indecent material from $27,500 to $32,500, an 18% hike. Still in the works, however, is the move to increase those rates up to $275,000 per infraction. The reason for the increase now is federal law requires fines be adjusted for inflation every four years.
Robert Greenwald’s doc Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War has found a home on the Sundance Channel. A 60m version of the documentary will air on the cable net on September 6 in primetime, well before the Presidential elections. The film will also be seen in major market Cinema Libre theatres, the 90m version, beginning August 13, with the specific goal of airing the film in swing key states – Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan, which could ultimately win or lose the election for either Bush or Kerry. The film takes an up close look at the war in Iraq, the search for weapons of mass destruction and the whys and wherefores of the US involvement in taking down Saddam Hussein.
Trinity Broadcasting Network is launching its own search for a megastar called Gifted. Produced by TBN and Wright Entertainment, Gifted is set to launch in October.
Coming to ABC tomorrow night is a new documentary series called NYPD 24/7, airing at 10p. The doc follows the same format as Hopkins 24/7 and Boston 24/7, wherein cameras follow the NYPD, documenting every move – in the squad to out in the field, some times funny, often dangerous. NYPD 24/7 is narrated by Dennis Franz, and will air on seven consecutive Tuesday nights, beginning tomorrow.
The ultimate fate of cable network Trio will be decided by the end of the summer. In the meantime, GM Lauren Zalaznick is pitching for it to continue as a high cultural, pop TV, channel, according to Broadcasting & Cable. While Zalaznick was given the post of overseeing both Trio and Bravo when NBC and Vivendi Universal merged, though the fate of Trio remains uncertain. NBC could shut it down completely, or alternatively, they could blast it with money and try to make a serious go of it, gaining distribution, bulking up its programming slate, adding to its marketing efforts. Stay tuned.
Premiere: NBC – Who Wants to Marry My Dad? at 10p
Weekend Box Office Estimates: June 18-20, 2004 Dodgeball (Fox) $30.0 million – opening weekend The Terminal (DreamWorks) $18.7 million – opening weekend Harry Potter/Azkaban (Warner Bros.) $17.4 million – 3 wk total $190.3m Shrek 2 (DreamWorks) $13.6 million – 5 wk total $278.3m Garfield: The Movie (Fox) $11.0 million – 2 wk total $42.0m Stepford Wives (Paramount) $9.2 million – 2 wk total $39.5m The Chronicles of Riddick (Universal) $8.3 million – 2 wk total $41.3m Day After Tomorrow (Fox) $7.6 million – 4 wk total $166.8m Around the World in 80 Days (Disney) $6.8 million – opening weekend Troy (Warner Bros.) $1.7 million – 6 wk total $129.0m Source: Box Office Mojo
Comcast has reupped with the Discovery Networks and included in the deal is carriage for Discovery HD Theatre. Also included in the deal is a vast array of Discovery Networks programming made available for Comcast’s VOD efforts – including such favorites as Trading Spaces and Monster Garage.
Detective Ed Green, played by Jesse Martin, will be hanging around the squad room at Law & Order for probably the next few years. Martin is in the final phases of negotiating a multi-year deal with Wolf Films and NBC Universal. This fall, Detective Green gets a new partner, played by Dennis Farina.
Steve Balmer, CEO/Grey Worldwide North America announced the appointment of industry veteran, Tim Mellors as President & Chief Creative Officer/Grey Worldwide North America. Mellors and Balmer will work as partners, as they did in Grey’s London office in 1998, and as does Balmer, Mellors will report to Ed Meyer, Chairman, President & CEO/Grey Global Group. Previously, Mellors served as Chairman & Executive Creative Director/Grey Worldwide UK, which acquired his ad agency Mellors Reay in 1998.
David Hudson has been upped to VP/Production at TBS. The announcement was made by Sandra Dewey, SVP/Original Programming for TBS and TNT. David will oversee the TBS production team for the network’s original programming, reporting to Sandra. He is based in LA.
Dana Walden and Gary Newman, Presidents/Twentieth Century Fox Television have named Quan Phung as Head of Comedy. He will oversee all activities of the studio’s comedy development department with Directors Lynn Barrie, Amy Hartwick , Nicholas Weinstock and Manager Brad Bertner reporting to him.
Thursday, June 17, 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 8.0/14 CSI: Miami [r] 6.2/12, CSI [r] 9.1/16, Without A Trace [r] 8.5/14
The History Channel presents This Day in History: 1982 – After sixteen hours in labor, Princess Diana gives birth to her first child. Prince William was the first heir to the British throne to be born in a hospital.
Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question: Such a coincidence! When he was still living in Boston and hanging out at Cheers, Frasier told the group what his utterance was as a baby – what was it? NORM! Kudos to: Howard Konig-Cooper & Hayes/Coral Gables; Dave Ferber-KTTC & KWBR/Rochester MN.
A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST SPOTLIGHT:
Comcast Spotlight works with our cable network partners to develop unique promotions for advertisers that leverage cable’s powerful brands. Through network associations or tune-in sponsorships, advertisers get customized, branded promotions that build upon viewer affinity for their favorite cable networks. Comcast Spotlight – Spot cable finally delivers. For more information click here.
Today’s Trivia Question: At the beginning of every Jackie Gleason “Joe the Bartender” sketch, a saloon regular would enter the joint (as the camera POV) though the swinging doors, where he would see Joe the bartender singing “My Gal Sal.” After the customary greeting, Joe poured the regular a beer. Joe would always stick his finger in the beer to stop the head of foam from streaming over the top of the glass. What was the name of this regular customer? (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 06/21/04 5:20am Subscriptions to Cynopsis: email
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT: MONDAY, JUNE 21, 2004
Digging up dirt and bringing it to primetime has never been so much fun…
DON’T MISS
THE SMOKING GUN TV Summer Television Special
June 21st Part I & June 22nd Part II 10:30-11pm E/P
Only on Court TV: The Investigation Channel Click here for more information
COURT TV: The I-Zone, Forensic Files, Special: The Smoking Gun (OTO) ABC My Wife & kids, George Lopez, According to Jim, Hope & Faith, Weddings (OTO) CBS Still Standing, yes Dear, Raymond, Two & A Half Men, CSI: Miami FOX North Shore, The Casino NBC Fear Factor, For Love or Money, Who Wants to Marry My Dad? [premiere] PAX AFV, AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder UPN The Parkers, Eve, Girlfriends, Half and Half WB 7th Heaven [r], Summerland [r] TELE Prisonera,El Alma Herida, Protagonistas VIP UNIV Mariana de la Noche,Amarte es mi Pecado, La Escuelita VIP
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