Source: NHI 12/31/07-3/30/08, A18-49 (000). Ad-supported basic cable, excl sports, news, kids nets, sports prog on ent nets, breakouts & progs <5min. Movies=Tc, Series=Trackage.

Cynopsis

06/02/08

Good morning.  It’s Monday, June 2, 2008, and this is your first early morning briefing. 

A massive fire at the Universal Studios lot Sunday morning destroyed thousands of film reels and videos television shows, as well as the streetscape set from the clock tower square set from Back to the Future, the King Kong exhibit, two other streetscapes – one from NYC and the other from “New England” – were also destroyed.  Some of these streetscapes and exhibits were damaged in an arson fire set in 1990.  The cause of this fire is under investigation.  While the theme park was closed yesterday, as was Universal CityWalk, both are expected to be open today.  And the theatre from which the live MTV Networks Awards 2008 took place last night, the Gibson Amphitheatre, obviously was opened and the show went on as planned last evening.  As for the film reels and videos – there are duplicates of everything held at a different location, so all is not lost.

Tonight’s Premieres:
ABC: The Mole at 10p
MTV: Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods at 10p

UPFRONT UPDATE: Broadcast primetime upfront advertising wheeling and dealing started late last week as ABC reportedly signed agreements made with Starcom USA and Zenith. The two deals averaged in the +8-10% range on CPM rate increases for ABC. Meanwhile, FOX is apparently near closing a few deals, not too surprising as its the A18-49 season winner this year; and NBC is negotiating now with GroupM. Turner’s entertainment networks are also in the thick of things, hoping to close business early, rather than waiting until broadcast finishes its deals.  Also closing deals early are Hallmark Channel and Nickelodeon. USA Network is also poised for early deal-making.

Tonight TBS will debut a new 20-episode microseries called Commuter Confidential featuring four different female characters and their candid discussions as they commute to and from work together each day. Commuter Confidential is presented by Match.com and Revlon and each episode will air from June 2-27 within a branded commercial pod in Sex and the City at 11p. Following each episode, TBS will air commercials from Revlon and Match.com and the episodes will also air on the Commuter Confidential microsite at TBS.com.

Mexico’s TV Azteca acquired the rights to air the U.S. Hispanic version of Desperate Housewives – Amas de Casas Desesperadas starting June 9 on Canal 13, reported Variety. The series, produced by Disney Latin America which airs weekly on Univision currently, will be stripped by Azteca airing daily Monday-Friday much like a telenovela in primetime.

Integrated media and marketing services agency Carat will extend its Carat Exchange, a forum that was initially designed to cover topics only related to digital television. Carat Exchange will now be able to address a variety of topics pertaining to multiple media platforms and marketing such as search marketing, digital TV, mobile, social networking, print, television, radio, branded entertainment, multicultural marketing and more.

Weekend Box Office Estimates: May 30-June 1, 2008
Sex and the City (New Line)                     $55.7 million – opening weekend
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount) $46 million – 2 2k total $216.9m
The Strangers (Rogue Pictures)                 $20.7 million – opening weekend
Iron Man (Paramount)                              $14.0 million – 5 wk total $276.6m
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Buena Vista)  $13.0 million – 3 wk total $115.7m
What Happens in Vegas (Fox)                    $6.8 million – 3 wk total $66.1m
Baby Mama (Universal)                             $2.2 million – 6 wk total $56.1m
Speed Racer (Warner Bros.)                      $2.1 million – 4 wk total $40.6m
Made of Honor (Sony)                               $2.0 million – 5 wk total $43.0m
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Universal)         $1.0 million – 7 wk total $60.5m
Source: Box Office Mojo

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM TV GUIDE NETWORK

HBO has picked up the US adaptation of the BBC Two comedy series Sensitive Skin, with Kim Cattrall in the lead role, reports THR.  The series is written and exec produced by Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green.  Cattrall will also take an exec producer role. The story revolves around a middle-aged NY wife and mother, who begins to question her choices in life as well as her sexuality.

CYNOPSIS DIGITAL – TODAY’S TOP STORY:   An interesting battle of the bands is brewing over online copyright protection, outlining two very different stances artists are taking regarding the digital proliferation of their music online. On one end of the spectrum is the artist once again known as Prince. The Minnesota rocker – who is among the most aggressive in defending his licenses (suing web ventures and fans alike for unauthorized usage) – has ordered clips of his screeching rendition of Radiohead’s Creep from this year’s Coachella Music fest to be taken down from YouTube. On the other end is Radiohead. The band, which released its latest album In Rainbows online with optional pricing, would like to see the clips re-posted. (Apparently Radiohead owns the publishing rights while Prince owns live performance rights.) Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke to Prince, as quoted by the AP: “Tell him to unblock it. It’s our … song.”   Full edition: CYN DIGITAL. (Or to listen to the Cynopsis Digital Podcast click here or subscribe to it at iTunes here .)

CYNOPSIS KIDS – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  Australia’s ABC Kids commissions the kid-targeted reality series Escape from Scorpion Island.  In the series 16 British and Australian kids 11-14 are stranded on an island and must compete on teams in various challenges to be the first figure out a way to escape the island.  Seasons two and three (60×30) of Escape from Scorpion Island will be shot back-to-back in Australia July 26-August 16.  Season two will bow on ABC TV later this year, with season three slated for 2009.  Escape from Scorpion Island is an RDF Media/Freehand production for BBC and ABC TV.  The first season of the series, filmed in Brazil, was produced by UK based RDF for the BBC.  Full edition: CYN KIDS.

CYNOPSIS INTERNATIONAL – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  It definitely looks like Bulgaria’s CableTel and Eurocom Cable operators will be merging following an end of May deal with the latter acquiring CableTel.  The two have been negotiating since 2008 began on this agreement, which is now subject to regulatory approval.  The U.K.’s Ramford Alliance Ltd is backing CableTel with Warburg Pincus Private Equity behind Eurocom Cable. Full edition: CYN INTERNATIONAL. 

Thursday – A18-49 Analysis: ABC found its way to #1 Thursday night at 4.0/11 A18-49, according to final national ratings from Nielsen Media Research. FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance prevailed at 8p with a 3.4/11. ABC’s season finale of Lost ruled the remainder of the evening: at 9p the first hour posted a 4.7/13 followed by a 5.1/14 during 10p.

Live + Same Day Household Ratings: Thursday, May 29, 2008 time period averages. Source: NTI Galaxy, as dated. Live+SD.

ABC: 6.4/11         Lost [r] 4.5/8, Lost [f] 7.3/12

FOX: 6.0/10             So You Think You Can Dance 6.0/10

CBS: 5.0/8              The Big Bang Theory [r] 3.1/6, How I Met Your Mother [r] 3.2/5, CSI [r] 6.0/10, Without a Trace [r] 5.8/10

NBC: 2.8/5            The Office [r] 2.5/5, Last Comic Standing 2.9/5, The Office [r] 2.4/4 

UNIV: 2.1/4         Al Diablo con los Guapos 2.3/4, Fuego en la Sangre 2.3/4, Amas de Casa Desesperadas 1.5/3

CW: 1.1/2             Smallville [r] 1.2/2, Supernatural [r] 1.0/2

MNT: 0.9/1            My Thursday Night Movie: Hoosiers 0.9/1

TELE: 0.6/1           La Traicion 0.4/1, Victoria 0.7/1, Pecados Ajenos 0.7/1

A18-49: ABC 4.0/11, FOX 3.6/11, CBS 1.9/6, NBC 1.7/5, UNIV 1.7/5, CW 0.6/2, TELE 0.4/1, MNT 0.3/1

Kansas City-based Newport Television LLC hired Bill Sally as GM at WXXA-TV/Albany. Previously, Bill was GM at WFFF-WVNY/Burlington. In his new job, he replaces Sally Stamp.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM IFC.COM

This day in History:  1988 – The ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the film The Wizard of Oz were sold on this date to a mystery buyer at Christie’s, New York, for $165,000. This set a record for the largest sum paid for a movie prop.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:  Psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers was the second contestant to win the grand money prize by answering questions about boxing on which classic game show?  THE $64,000 QUESTION  Kudos to:  Anthony Salerno-MAXUS/NY; Jay Goldstein-Screenvision/NY; Bob Brewer-Opus 3 Artists/NY; MaryLee Valenti-The Nielsen Co./Oldsmar, FL; Candace Heathington/Houston; Peggy Dalland–KTTC/Rochester, MN; Jim Hall-True Media/Columbia, MO; Dorian Hannaway-CBS Late Night/LA; Mark Simmons-Toyota/Torrance, CA; Jim Gray-FrogLight Pdns/Missoula, MT; Darlene Lieblich Tipton-Fox Cable Networks/LA

Today’s Trivia Question:  Sharon, Chuck and twins Donna and Donald were the children on what early family sitcom which was mainly broadcast live?   (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
06.02.08

Cynopsis Ad Sales:
Mark Bohn- 203-583-1224 /

Classifieds – Trish Pihonak- 203-926-9878 /

Cynopsis website – Video Resumes, Extended Classified Ads, Archives, and the Cynopsis Daily Video

CableU – Know Networks Better. Pitch Smarter. Click here

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM PLANET GREEN

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

JOB OPENING: MGR, FIN. REPORTING & PLANNING/LIFETIME TV/NY: Manage & coordinate financial planning & reporting processes (monthly fin. close, annual budget, year-end audits) Apply at: http://www.mylifetime.com/about/jobs.html (6/7)

JOB OPENING: STANDARDS & PRACTICES EDITOR/ABC TV Netwk/LA: Review scripts/rough cuts; alt series, wk w/network & prod staff on loc; detailed/critical thinking/writing; JD & prod exp a plus. Apply www.disneycareers.com Req 158299  (6/7)

JOB OPENING: VP BUSINESS DEV/Fuse/NY:  Identify, research, evaluate & develop, new biz opps. to max revenue & brand awareness. 8-10 yrs exp creating new strategy for biz models in media. Rez to:
“VPBD” in sub (6/6)

JOB OPENING: DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR/NYC production company: Big ideas, excellent writing skills & superior organization a must. Network exp a plus. Please send resume, cover letter, and writing sample to
(6/6)

JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/Cablevision/West Nyack NY: Seeks AE for local ad sales.2+ yrs ad sales exp. pref cable tv, radio, e-media adv.  Valid NY DL.  See full posting and apply to www.cablevision.jobs req 6244BR (6/6)

JOB OPENING: SALES ASST/Cablevision/Oakland NJ:   2+ yrs exp in mrkt, adv or bus related field.  Assist  Sales team. Strong Excel and Powerpoint skills. See full posting and apply to www.cablevision.jobs req 6253BR (6/6)

JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/Cablevision/Norwalk, CT:  Seeks AE for local ad sales.2+ yrs ad sales exp. pref cable tv, radio, e-media adv.  Valid CT DL.  See full posting and apply to www.cablevision.jobs req 5057BR (6/6)

JOB OPENING: ASSOC RESEARCHER/WGBH/Boston: Assisting in Gathering and analyzing research. BA in Communications, Business or Marketing.   www.wgbh.org/careers Job Req # 4362 (6/6)

JOB OPENING: RESEARCH MGR/ION/NY: Great opp w/developing media brand, 4+ yrs media research exp, strong analytic skills & strategic thinking essential, proficient in Galaxy/N Power/Marketbreaks/MRI req’d.
(6/6)

JOB OPENING: FREELANCE COORD/USA Strategic Marketing(NYC): Support creation of client programs inc. sponsorships, finances, etc. 2+ yrs integrated mktg exp in TV or ad agency pref.Resumes to
  (6/6)

JOB OPENING: PR COORD/IFC/NYC: 1+ yrs exp in ent/film/agency PR team. Support IFC publicity efforts for brand, orig prog, events & campaigns. Degree pref. Strong Admin, org & comm skills a must. Res: www.cablevision.jobs ref #5924BR  (6/6)

JOB OPENING    MGR. CONSUMER MKTNG/ABC FAMILY: Develop mkting campaigns for TV properties.Exp. w/ agency/vendor mgmt and creative dev. Must be multi-tasker w/ BS/BA + 3-5 yrs ent. mktg. exp. www.disneycareers.com (REQ id 163030)  (6/5)

JOB OPENING  SR RESEARCH ANALYST/Fox Latin America Channels/NYC: Support Ad Sales, Programming, Marketing. 2+ years in managing quantitative and qualitative research. Email 
  (6/5)

JOB OPENING  ACCOUNT EXEC/Fuse/LA: Sell national on-air media. Incr exst’ing clnts, gen new biz. Prsnt new prgm’ing, brand pos, mktg opps. Excl. interpers’l/org skills/MS Excel & PP. Send Rez to:
“AELA” in sub (6/5)

JOB OPENING:  ASSOC PROD/Little Airplane Productions/NY: Oversee all aspects of animated pre-school series. Mng. artists workflow & deadlines. Multi-task w/ ease & extremely orgnzd. Animation exp a plus. 
  (6/5)

JOB OPENING:  PR MGR (AUDIO)/Simon & Schuster/NY: On-line publicity; work w/ media sites to feature audiobook content; mng dist of S&S dig. mktg assets; independent role. 5 yrs publicity/mktg  exp. Resume: www.simonsays.com/careers/ (6/4)

JOB OPENING:  RESEARCH MANAGER-AD SALES (NYC): 3+ yrs Media Research Exp. Know. Nielsen Rtgs & Software, Media Math, Rsrch Resources Req. Strong analytical skills, detail-oriented, flexibility. Contact:
(6/4)

JOB OPENING:  MGR MTV AD SALES RESEARCH: 4+ yrs media/cable exp. Strng analytic sk; prof Nielsen (Galaxy, N*Power, MRI, Marketbreaks, Simmons, StarMedia). Exp AudienceWatch, IAG, primary resrch a +.  Apply:  www.mtvncareers.com EOE  (6/4)

JOB OPENING: MGR. MKTNG  BS/BA 3-5yrs Entertainment Exp, vendor Mgmt, creative/strategic relationships builder, Visit  www.disneycareers.com (REQ id 163060)  (6/3)

JOB OPENING: SALES PLANNER, mid-town NYC: Excellent opp, Invision Inc., knwldg of sales plan’g product, pricing, demographics, inventory, relationship management. Must know DealMaker. Resume/salary history:  
  (6/3)

JOB OPENING: PRODUCERS & ASSOC. PRODUCERS/Scholastic/NY: Dvlp/prod interactive games for kids. Looking for creative & editorial talent  w/ strong project mgmt skills. Exp. software & kids media req’d. Res:
  (6/3)

JOB OPENING:  SALES COORD/Univision/NY: Highly motivated. Mng tasks/srvcng agencies/clients daily basis. Det. oriented/comm/PC & math skills.  1-2 Yrs Media Exp, Deal Maker exp a +, Spanish a +. EOE. Res: 
  (6/10)

JOB OPENING:  FREELANCE, SR MGR INT’L DIGITAL MEDIA/AETN/NY: Mobile & website proj mgmt. Manage digital distribution deals. Estab program strategies.  Editorial & Mobile/digital proj mgmt req’d. Apply: 
  (6/4)

SPRING AND SUMMER INTERNSHIPS – These positions are for credit only – nobody gets paid here. They are posted for free, and students work for school credit only. For more information on the specs for posting an Internship ad, email Trish at
.

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: OFFICE INTERNSHIP/Burbank: Duties: Gen. office work in pre/post  prod. for nat’l cable series, Knwlg of Word, Excel, have car, be eager. Duties: rsrch locations, transc. scripts. Great intro to TV.
  (6/6)

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: INT’L. DUBBING Co. INTERN/Miami: Join our int’l. language “team” and participate in the dubbing of your favorite TV shows and features. Bi-lingual a plus. Min. 20 hours per week.
  (6/6)

SUMMER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT INTERN/Food Network/NY/Unpaid/Summer: Research companies, innovations & new product development; business development coordination such as managing site operations. Apply at  www.Scrippsnetworks.com (6/6)

SUMMER INTERN CREDITS ONLY: PR INTERN/Priority PR/LA: Phones /outrch/ writg / editng / typng / resrch /reprtng / website updtes. Need strng comm skills & good attitude to asst boutique PR firm, begin ASAP & thru  summer. Res/Cvr: 
   (6/3)

SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED … Interested in posting your Video Resume?  Contact
for more information ….

E-mail 
for rates and specs for Job Openings. 

Interested in posting your Video Resume?  Contact
for more information ….

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

WHAT’S ON TONIGHT – Monday, June 2, 2008

ABC: The Bachelorette, The Mole [p ]
AZTECA: Ladrones, 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: Mama’s Family, Mama’s Family, Quantum Leap, Drew Carey Show, Drew Carey Show
MNT: Celebrity Expose [r], Celebrity Expose [r]
NBC: NHL Stanley Cup Finals Game #5 : Pittsburgh at Detroit
PBS: Antiques Roadshow [r], American Experience [r]
TELE: La Traicion, Victoria, Pecados Ajenos
UNIV: Al Diablo con los Guapos, Fuego en la Sangre, Cristina

All outgoing e-mails are scanned and sent out virus free.  Copyright Cynopsis 2008