Source: NSI, WRAP Sweeps, May 08All Mrkt Wghtd Avg,Ranked on W18-49 & W25-54 % DDiff vs 1/4 hr LI, Court: Cristina Ct, Div Ct, Jdg Alex, Jdg Young, Jdg Hatchett, Jdg Brown, Jdg Judy, M Lopez, Jury Duty, Mathis, P Court

Cynopsis

06/23/08

Good morning. It’s Monday, June 23, 2008, and this is your first early morning briefing.

NBC News will have former Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw moderate Meet the Press through the November presidential election. Brokaw will start next week saying he “volunteered for the job” to honor his friend and colleague Tim Russert who died of a heart attack June 13. The show will still be based in Washington, D.C. with Betsy Fischer as Executive Producer. According to NBC News President Steve Capus, Brokaw is only filling in temporarily but this interim period gives NBC more time to find a permanent replacement.

Late Friday, ABC announced it is appealing the FCC’s ruling and fines that center on a 2003 episode of NYPD Blue that, according to the FCC, violated indecency policies. ABC filed a brief Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, claiming the FCC’s ruling is “arbitrary and capricious, contrary to the Commission’s own standards and past decisions, and in violation of the First Amendment.” The FCC’s order dated February 19, fined 45 ABC stations, which included two ABC O&Os, that carried the program a total of $1.2 million+ which ABC paid in protest so it could appeal the FCC’s decision.

Continuing their ongoing arguments in front of the FCC, Comcast contends the NFL Network should be placed on a sports tier because of its higher license fees and limited number of games instead of on an expanded basic tier with more distribution. The NFL Network filed a formal complaint to the FCC last month saying Comcast was discriminating against the channel by putting it on a premium sports tier which costs customers more money while at the same time putting their own sports networks on an analog basic tier which does not cost extra.

This battle between Comcast and the NFL Network could become a mute point as ESPN and the NFL Network have been discussing ways they can partner. The talks reportedly are focused on how the two can combine resources and boost distribution, although the NFL Network has not commented directly on what was discussed.

Bravo’s season two premiere of Flipping Out last Tuesday (10p) drew in 511,000 A18-49 viewers and 672,000 total viewers.

IATV (formerly known as ImaginAsian) targeting Asian-Americans, is revamping its programming in order to become a viewing destination for Asian pop culture, reports Variety. Starting June 30, IATV will add purchased theatricals from Sony and MGM as well as Japanese anime series from Bandai Entertainment, to its primetime schedule. IATV will also debut a TV version of The Minisode Network, five-minutes segments of ’70s sitcoms that Sony runs on its Crackle online programming site. Streamlining its programming, IATV developed five themed nights starting on Mondays with “Good Movie Night” featuring titles such as Mississippi Masala and Eat Drink Man Woman; Tuesdays will be Chix Kix Flix centered on kung fu and action movies; Wednesdays will focus on anime and live action series; new series will fall on Thursday nights such as the original comedy Uncle Morty’s Dub Shack and the standup show Comedy Zen; and Fridays is reserved for retro movies with such titles as Buckaroo Bonzai and Flash Gordon. IATV will serve up its primetime starting at 7p with the magazine shows IALink at 7p and Pacific Fusion at 730p. 

George Carlin, the man behind the Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV comedy routine, died of heart failure yesterday at the age of 71, reports the AP. He went to the hospital yesterday afternoon complaining of chest pains, and passed away later on that evening.  Carlin first performed his Seven Words routine in Milwaukee in 1972, during which he spoke all seven words out loud, and was arrested for disturbing the peace. The routine aired on a NY radio station in 1978 and it resulted in a Supreme Court case which upheld the government’s authority to deliver sanctions on the station for using offensive language. Through his career, he won four Grammy Awards and was nominated five times for an Emmy Award, and most recently was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Weekend Box Office Estimates: June 20-22, 2008
Get Smart (Warner Bros.)                       $39.2 million – opening weekend
Kung Fu Panda (Paramount)                    $21.7 million – 3 wk total $155.6m
The Incredible Hulk (Universal)                $21.6 million – 2 wk total $96.5m
The Love Guru (Paramount)                     $14.0 million – opening weekend
The Happening (Fox)                               $10.0 million – 2 wk total $50.3m
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the      
Crystal Skull (Paramount)                        $8.4 million – 5 wk total $290.8m
You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (Sony)      $7.2 million – 3 wk total $84.1m
Sex and the City (New Line)                     $6.5 million – 4 wk total $132.4m
Iron Man (Paramount)                              $4.0 million – 8 wk total $304.8m
The Strangers (Rogue Pictures)                 $1.9 million – 4 wk total $49.6m
Source: Box Office Mojo

HBO picked up a second season helping of the drama In Treatment starring Gabriel Byrne as psychotherapist Paul Weston. The sophomore season pick-up for the show was expected but took time to hammer out as Byrne had only initially signed for a single season. For the new season, HBO ordered approximately 35 total episodes down from 43 half-hours from the first season, and may decide to schedule the show differently, opting to not strip it Monday-Friday. Production for the series will also move to New York City from Los Angeles to be closer to where Byrne lives. Casting has begun for a fresh crop of “patients” for Dr. Weston, although some from the first season may make brief appearances.

ESPN finalized plans for its anchor lineup when SportsCenter goes live from 6a-3p Monday-Friday starting August 11. The new anchor teams and time blocks include: Linda Cohn and Steve Berthiaume from 6-9a; Hannah Storm and Josh Elliott from 9a-noon; and Chris McKendry and Robert Flores from noon-3p. Sage Steele will also present SportsCenter Right Now updates every 20 minutes during 6a-noon each day and during the NFL season, Sage will stand in for Hannah Storm on Fridays who is set to co-host SportsCenter on Sunday mornings. SportsCenter goes live weekdays the same week as the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games opens.

The CW’s Smallville cast two new villains for season eight, per THR. Sam Witwer will play Doomsday alias Davis Bloome, a paramedic who is battling a growing darkness inside him and Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer, the acting CEO of LuthorCorp who was selected by Lex Luthor to replace him before disappearing last season.

British actor Lloyd Owen will take on the lead role in FOX’s new one-hour pilot Inseparable from ABC Studios and writer/executive producer Shaun Cassidy, which is based on an updated version of the Jekyll and Hyde story, according to THR. The casting for this pilot has now put this project in contention for midseason. Owen was last seen in CBS’ ill-fated series Viva Laughlin.

Casting Call: Casting will begin early next month for Janet Jackson’s untitled reality competition project from 25/7 Productions and Wright Crear Management. In this series, Janet will be mentor and help launch the career of a new talent. Auditions are open to males and females who are at least 16 years old and appear to be between 16 and 22 years old and have a genuine combo talent as a singer and dancer. Four live auditions will take place nationwide starting in Chicago July 1 with callbacks July 2; New York July 5 with callbacks July 6; Atlanta July 9 with callbacks July 10; and Los Angeles dates TBD. More information can be found at www.prodigycasting.com or by calling Luli at 323-203-1318.

CYNOPSIS DIGITAL – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  While the digital world continues to wait for the Beatles catalog to be made available online, gamers may end up getting first crack at the songs through their Guitar Hero and Rock Band consoles. Representatives are talks with both Activision and MTV Games about licensing Beatles songs for the popular games, reports the Financial Times. Of course Beatles business arm Apple Corps. and master recordings owners EMI would have to give their blessings. Full edition: CYN DIGITAL.

CYNOPSIS KIDS – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  On Friday morning Cookie Jar Entertainment and DIC Entertainment announced they had inked a deal to merge two companies.  The deal would see Cookie Jar pay US $31.5 million for all of the issued and outstanding equity in DIC in a deal valued at some US $87.6 million.  Bringing these companies together would establish a kids animation library of 6,000 half-hours of programming, and give Cookie Jar access to merchandising and licensing rights to such brands as American Greetings’ (AG) Strawberry Shortcake, as well as Inspector Gadget, Horseland and Mommy & Me among others.  Under the proposed deal DIC will be a subsidiary of privately held Cookie Jar.  DIC’s Chairman and CEO Andy Heyward will enter into a new employment and non-competition deal with DIC. If approved the merger would also include DIC’s subsidiary Copyright Promotions, a Europe-based licensing agency, and DIC’s one-third interest in KidsCo, the international kid’s TV channel, which also includes NBC Universal and Corus Entertainment as partners. Fast-forward an hour or two after the initial announcement – AG said it had obtained a temporary retraining order blocking the proposed the sale of DIC, explaining that it had not agreed to the deal, a right AG says it has under its long-term agreement with DIC.  AG explained its concerned the sale, would “cause irreparable damage” to its Strawberry Shortcake brand.  Full edition: CYN KIDS.

CYNOPSIS INTERNATIONAL – TODAY’S TOP STORY: Fox Sports International (FSI) has appointed IMG Sports Media to handle its international distribution for programming such as the Bowl Championship Series, Cotton Bowl and Big Ten and the Pac 10 football and basketball games and Fuel TV and Fox Soccer Channel content. IMG takes over the sales duties for the 3,000+ content hours from FSI’s London-based division as of July 1. FSI does not hold international rights for some of its programming, per THR.   Full edition: CYN INTERNATIONAL.

Thursday – A18-49 Analysis: FOX landed in first place Thursday night at 2.5/8 A18-49, according to final national ratings from Nielsen Media Research. At 8p, a tie occurred between FOX’s Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader? and UNIV’s Al Diablo con los Guapos at 1.9/7 each. FOX twirled ahead of the pack during 9p as So You Think You Can Dance clinched a winning 3.1/9. Lastly, CBS won the 10p hour with Swingtown at 2.1/6.

Live + Same Day Household Ratings: Thursday, June 19, 2008 time period averages. Source: NTI Galaxy, as dated. Live+SD.

FOX: 5.2/9             Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? 5.1/10, So You Think You Can Dance 5.3/9

CBS: 4.1/7            How I Met Your Mother [r] 2.7/5, Rules of Engagement [r] 2.8/5, CSI [r] 5.2/9, Swingtown 4.2/8

NBC: 2.9/5            The Office [r] 2.4/5, Last Comic Standing 3.0/5, Fear Itself 3.1/6

ABC: 2.3/4           Ugly Betty [r] 2.2/4, Grey’s Anatomy [r] 2.4/4

UNIV: 2.1/4         Al Diablo con los Guapos 2.4/5, Fuego en la Sangre 2.3/4, Amas de Casa Desesperadas 1.6/3

CW: 1.4/3             Smallville [r] 1.5/3, Supernatural [r] 1.3/2

MNT: 1.3/2            My Thursday Night Movie: Texas Rangers 1.3/2

TELE: 0.7/1           La Traicion 0.5/1, Victoria 0.8/1, Pecados Ajenos 0.7/1

A18-49: FOX 2.5/8, CBS 1.8/6, NBC 1.7/6, UNIV 1.7/6, ABC 0.9/3, CW 0.7/2, MNT 0.5/2, TELE 0.5/2

John Weiser reupped as President/Distribution at Sony Pictures Television (SPT) where he supervises all domestic sales operations for the company as well as distribution of SPT properties to the Spanish language networks serving the U.S. markets. John also oversees personnel and operations of regional offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Atlanta. John will continue to report to Steve Mosko, President, SPT.

Cynopsis Media tapped Meghan Brennan for the newly-created position of Director of Marketing where she will develop and implement brand, consumer and trade marketing campaigns, initiate strategic partnerships as well as manage publicity efforts for all four daily Cynopsis editions, as well as The Cynopsis Foundation. Before spending year within the non-profit sector at Volunteers of America, where she established their Corporate Programs division, Meghan was the Partnership and Promotions Manager at WWE, amongst other projects overseeing the annual Wrestlemania Fan Axxess Tours and all media partnerships.   In her new position, Meghan will report directly to Cynthia Turner, President/CEO, Cynopsis Media.  You can reach Meghan at

. Welcome, Meghan!

Hearst Magazines Digital Media hired Chris Carter as National Sales Director from Weather.com and promoted Rose Mills to Midwest Director of Hearst Magazines Digital Media. She was previously Midwest Director at CosmoGIRL!. Additionally, Dave Woodruff, Group Advertising Director based in Detroit for Hearst Integrated Media will now handle sales for Digital Media in Detroit.

E-Poll Market Research elevated Shannon Audino to Senior Director/Client Development. She has been with the company since October 2006.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM NATPE LATVFest

This day in History: 1955 – Walt Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, the first animated feature filmed in CinemaScope, opened in theaters.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question: From the sci-fi series, Mutant X, which member of the Mutant X team possesses both human and feline DNA giving her the strength, speed and cunning of a jungle cat? SHALIMAR FOX Kudos to: Gloria L. Price-CBS News/NY; Gerry Bixenspan-TV Marketing/NY; Ed Chang-HRP/NY; Melissa Spring-Equity Media Holdings Corporation/Little Rock, AR; Paul Blutter-General American Group, Inc./Northridge, CA; Henry Urick-Incentive Plus Network/Castaic, CA; Lorrie Shilling-DIRECTV/El Segundo, CA; Nancy Dixon Welch-Eclipse Television & Sports Marketing, LLC/Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Today’s Trivia Question: On a short-lived ’70s TV series Bruce Lee played the martial arts instructor of the title character in several episodes. What was the name of this show?  (Email
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
06.23.08

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JOB OPENING: TV STATION TRAFFIC MGR/KUTV CBS Affiliate/Salt Lake City: Wide Orbit experience preferred, multi-tasker, manage all traffic functions, detail a must, resume to
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JOB OPENING: DIR OF DEVELOPMENT/TV documentary production/Chicago: Seasoned writer, producer & researcher. Extensive industry knwldg, creativity, interpersonal skills & leadership a must. Resumes:
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JOB OPENING: TRAINING DIR, AD SLS/Fox/NY: Work with P&P, Research, Sales Mgmt & Sales Coordination to meet best practices & system needs. BA/BS, 5+ yrs exp in sales support or P&P. www.foxcareers.com. (FNG12399) (6/28)

JOB OPENING: SHOW RUNNER, AP, PA/ATLAS MEDIA: Medical mystery series Show-Runner (strg managerial/editorial skills, excellent writing) Prod, AP’s, PA’s for a variety of shows (Medical, Clip Show) APPLY:
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JOB OPENING: ASST TV BUYERS (2) & ASST MEDIA PLANNERS (2)/NYC: Established media services company. Recent college grads pref’d. F/T & benefits. Resumes to:
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JOB OPENING: PROD. TECHNICIAN/Cablevision/Fishkill, NY: Min. 2 yrs exp in TV prod. Shoot/edit video for commercials/promos. Must know AVID/ Final Cut Pro. See full posting and apply to www.cablevision.jobs req id 6339BR (6/27)

JOB OPENING: SR MGR/DIR, BRAND MKTG/MUSIC CHOICE/NY: Lead brand dvlpmnt/mktg strategy for new prods targeting 12-24. Integ. of relationships; analysis/proj mgmt exp a must. BA 8+ yrs consumer mktg (12-24 demo)
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JOB OPENING: EDITOR, ENTERTAINMENT, GOSSIP & POP CULTURE/MTV/NYC: 3+ rs editorial &writing exp, Strg knwldge of online pubs & blogging. knwldge of VH1/TV depts. EOE/M/F/D/AAP. Apply www.mtvncareers.com (6/25)

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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT – Monday, June 23, 2008

ABC: The Bachelorette,The Mole
AZTECA: Camino a la Justica, Historias Engarzadas, Bellezas Indomables
CBS: The Big Bang Theory [r], How I Met Your Mother [r], Two and a Half Men [r], Rules of Engagement [r], CSI: Miami [r]
CW: Gossip Girl [r], One Tree Hill [r]
FOX: Bones [r], House [r]
ION: Quantum Leap, The Dead Zone, ER
MNT: Celebrity Expose [r], Celebrity Expose [r]
NBC: American Gladiators, Nashville Star
PBS: Antiques Roadshow [r], American Experience [r], Emile Norman: By His Own Design
TELE: La Traicion, Victoria, Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso
UNIV: Al Diablo con los Guapos, Fuego on la Sangre, Cristina

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