CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

05/03/04

Good morning. It’s Monday, May 3, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing, from the NCTA Conference in New Orleans.

More fall out from Sinclair Broadcasting Group David Smith’s decision to preempt last Friday night’s ABC News Nightline in his ABC station markets.  You’ll recall last Friday ABC broadcast a 40m edition of Nightline wherein Ted Koppel read the names of the 700+ men and women who have been killed while serving in Iraq.  Senator John McCain called Sinclair’s decision to preempt the broadcast a “gross disservice to the public” and he want on to say, “It is in short, sir, unpatriotic.”  ABC News said it would make a special feed of the broadcast available to other television stations and radio outlets in those Sinclair preempted markets (St. Louis, Columbus, Springfield MA, Pensacola, Winston-Salem, Charleston WV, Asheville).  Koppel’s closing line on the Friday night broadcast:  “Our goal tonight was to elevate the fallen above the politics and the daily journalism; to let their names and faces remind us of what has always been true – when the American people fully understand the cause for which our troops are fighting, and when they accept that it is essential to our national welfare and security, no burden is too heavy, no cost is too high.”

Fox will go ahead with a second season of The Swan (FremantleMedia/Galan Entertainment), the net’s current Monday 9pm series.

May 11 is emerging as NBC U Day – the day NBC and Universal will announce how NBC Universal will shake out.  Ed Wilson resigned, then Universal’s Steve Rosenberg left.  That left the new outfit without a leader.  According to Variety today, the new name emerging (and by the way, what took them so long?) is Barry Wallach, currently EVP of NBC Enterprises.

Pass the D’oh!  Homer, Bart, Lisa and the rest of the gang that give voice to The Simpsons have inked a four-year agreement for an undisclosed sum and are heading back to work, and season 16, following a resolution of the month-long contract disputes between the voice over talent and Fox.  Cast members including; Nancy Cartwright/Bart, Julie Kavner/Marge, Yeardley Smith/Lisa, Dan Castellaneta/Homer, and Hank Azaria/Moe, Apu & others, and Harry Shearer/Mr. Burns were seeking a per episode salary boost to $360k, almost three times the $150k they had been making per ep in the previous seasons. 

NBC has ordered up a pilot for a new reality show which has tinges of the Beverly Hillbillies idea.  According to Variety, the unscripted project follows a family from coal mining country to Beverly Hills where they will be put up in a mansion for five days and find out what it’s like to live the high life. Aptly called The High Life, the project is from 10 by 10 Entertainment.  While you’re thinking this sounds a lot like the CBS project from a couple of years ago that has yet to see the light of day, producers say once the viewing public sees The High Life, any concerns that they’re making fun of the rural family will be gone.  In fact, this project is said to be more about the family who’ll stand up to their rich neighbors and say a bottle of water from an exotic land is just a bottle of water.  Although as Variety points out, that’s the same way the CBS project started in 2002.

A new 24-hour gaming network will be launched in the first months of 2005.  EdgeTV will provide all types of games to its audience with the help of the talent and literary agency, Creative Artists Agency (CAA).  CAA will aid with content acquisition and business development.  HotHouse Media will oversee and develop cable and satellite operator distribution agreements.  The network will provide international tournaments that will center around watching top games, playing through online games and on-air show tutorials and tips to live like the best.  EdgeTV hopes to produce and operate from within a casino as it enters final negotiations with a Las Vegas-based casino group.  The programs will be more than two-thirds original and one-third acquired.  Deals already made include coverage of US Chess Federation and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.  EdgeTV will also offer Video On Demand (VOD) and interactive services in addition to its 24-hour programming. The network is headquartered in LA, and the venture is led by Reagan Silber, Keith Richman and Charles Katz.  John B. Burns III serves as Vice Chairman and will guide the network’s development an programming.

Oxygen has made gains in its coverage as a result of a new carriage agreement with Comcast Communications.  The deal covers the Chicago area and will provide Oxygen with an additional 1.4 million households.  The 24/7 cable net will now be available in 52 million households across the country.

Elsewhere at Oxygen, the network is on a search to find the nation’s most outrageous and talented females.  Tying in with its original series Girls Behaving Badly, Oxygen is going on a five city talent search (Seattle, Atlanta, New York, Denver, Chicago) and is calling on its affiliate partners to participate.  Then, during the week of July 19, a series of special episodes, casting outtakes and the five guest pranksters will make their national television debut.

USA Network’s Nashville Star crowned the next big country music star on Saturday night and the winner is Brad Cotter – with his bib blue jeans and red baseball cap, winning a Sony Music Nashville contract.  His first single will be shipped to country radio stations today.

The Sundance Channel will launch a hosted Friday night movie this summer called Midnight Snack.  Host Bob Odenkirk will present a series of eccentric, over-the-top, bizzaro films including Blue Velvet, Sisters, Welcome to the Dollhouse, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, among others.  Also at Sundance, DOCday, the weekly feature of independent nonfiction films, which airs every Monday evening at 9pm, has added to its summer lineup with an array of topics including an unusual soccer match in Bhutan (The Other Final, airs Aug 23), a deliver of 1961 cars that never made it off the island of Cuba (Yank Tanks, July 12)and the story of three Americans held hostage in Colombia since their plane went down in February 2003 (Held Hostage in Colombia, Aug 2).

Turner and Echostar have come to agreement, signing a new affiliation deal that allows for continuing carriage of Turner’s core networks on the Echostar’s DISH Network system. The networks include TBS, TNT, CNN, Cartoon, Boomerang, TCM, Headline News, CNNf2, and CNN en Espanol.  The DISH Network serves 9.4 million satellite TV households.  Terms were not disclosed.

Reaching deep into the annals of classic television, Starz cable net Action will begin airing The Time Tunnel beginning June 4 at 11am. Time Tunnel stars James Darren, Lee Meriwether, Whit Bissell and Robert Colbert.

Weekend Box Office Estimates: April 30-May 2, 2004
Mean Girls (Paramount)          $25.0 million – opening weekend
Man on Fire (Fox)               $15.2 million – 2 wk total $44.5m
13 Going on 30 (Sony)           $10.0 million – 2 wk total $35.2m
Laws of Attraction (New Line)   $ 7.0 million – opening weekend
Godsend (Lions Gate)            $ 6.9 million – opening weekend
Envy (DreamWorks)               $ 6.1 million – opening weekend
Kill Bill Vol. 2 (Miramax)              $ 5.8 million – 3 wk total $52.6m
The Punisher (Lions Gate)       $ 3.4 million – 3 wk total $29.6m
Home on the Range (Disney)      $ 2.2 million – 5 wk total $45.5m
Scooby Doo 2 (Warner Bros.)     $ 2.1 million – 6 wk total $79.5m
Source: Box Office Mojo

It’s sweep time! NBC delivered on Thursday night as Friends continues its countdown to the series finale (May 6).  For the night, NBC earned a 10.1/26 A18-49 rating according to data from Nielsen Media Research.  CBS was #2 with a 7.3/19, followed distantly by Fox 1.9/5, UPN 1.7/4, ABC 1.4/4,  WB 0.8/2.  At 8pm the first episode of Friends earned a huge 10.8/31, with CBS’ Survivor All Stars pulling a 6.5/19 for the same half hour. At 830p, a repeat of Friends earned a 8.7/23, with CBS surviving at just a share point behind for its final half hour of Survivor with a 8.1/22.  NBC’s momentum pulls them through the 9p hour by a share point over CBS:  9.9/24 vs. 9.2/23.  And at 10p NBC held tough with a 10.7/27 for ER, pulling far away from CBS’ Without a Trace (5.6/14).

ABC and NBC tied on Friday night managing a slim 2.8/10 A18-49 rating according to Nielsen Media Research.  CBS and Fox also tied, each with a 2.0/7, followed by WB 1.3/5, and UPN 0.7/2.  AT 8pm ABC and NBC each posted a 2.4/9, which CBS and Fox each found a 1.9/7. WB’s combo of Reba and What I Like About You drew a 1.5/6, while the first hour of  UPN’s movie delivered a 0.6/2.  AT 9pm ABC and NBC tied again, each with a 10 share.  Fox moved ahead of CBS by a share point with a 7 sh in the demo. AT 10p NBC was in front  all by itself  with a 3.3/11 for Third Watch with a 3.3/11, followed by 20/20’s Adoption episode drawing a 2.9/9 and CBS’ CSI Miami [r] 2.4/8.

Fox once again scored on Saturday night with its standard Saturday night fare, delivering a 2.7/10 A18-49 according to Nielsen Media Research.  ABC and NBC was right behind Fox, each delivering a 2.5/9, followed by CBS 1.7/6.  At 8pm Fox won the hour with a 2.4/9, narrowly beating the first hour of NBC’s movie Twister (2.1/8). ABC and CBS each delivered a 7 share for the hour.  AT 9pm Fox again led with a 2.9/10, out delivering ABC and NBC, each tied at 2.6/9. CBS’ found a 1.5/5.  At 10p, the final hour of ABC’s movie Remember the Titans led with a 3.2/10, ahead of Law & Order SVU on NBC by a share point. The District at 10p delivered a 1.9/6.

Brooke Bowman was upped to Executive Director/Development at Buena Vista Productions (BVP).  She will oversee current and potential first-run syndication program and reality program development.  Brooke joined BVP as Director/Development in 2003.

Tricia Wilber was upped to SVP/Advertising Sales and Promotion at ABC Cable Networks Group, a Walt Disney Company division. She will report to Rich Ross, President, Disney Channel Worldwide and Paul Lee, newly named President, ABC Family.  Tricia started with the company in 1999.  She was promoted to VP of Business Development for the Group in 2001.

Christopher Pike has been named VP/GM of KDKA/Pittsburgh, a Viacom Inc. station.  Chris will step in where Gary Cozen left off following Gary’s resignation a few weeks ago.  Chris makes the move to Pittsburgh from WJLA/Washington DC.

Bruce Gersh has been upped to SVP/Business Development at ABC/Touchstone Television.  Bruce will be responsible for extending the ABC brand into a variety of arenas including DVD, publishing, online, music and merchandising.

Thursday, April 29, 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

NBC     14.0/22 Friends 15.1/25, Friends 12.9/20, Will & Grace [Part 1 of 2 season finale] 13.4/20, ER 14.4/23

CBS     13.1/21 Survivor: All Stars 11.9/19, CSI 16.2/24, Without a Trace 11.3/18

UPN     3.2/5   WWE Smackdown 3.2/5

ABC     3.1/5   Extreme Makeover: Home Edition [r] 3.5/6, Kingdom Hospital 2.3/3, Primetime Thursday 3.6/6

FOX     2.9/4   Tru Calling [season finale] 2.9/4

WB      1.8/3   Steve Harvey’s Big Time [season finale] 2.0/3, Steve Harvey’s Big Time [r] 1.9/3, JKE [season finale] 1.6/3, JKE 1.5/2

A18-49  NBC 10.1/26, CBS 7.3/19, FOX 1.9/5, UPN 1.7/4, ABC 1.4/4, WB 0.8/2

Friday, April 30, 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

NBC     6.4/12  Dateline NBC 6.3/12, Third Watch 6.6/12

CBS     6.0/11  Joan Of Arcadia 5.3/10, JAG 6.1/11, CSI: Miami [r]  6.6/12

ABC     5.2/10  George Lopez4.5/9, The Big House [season finale] 3.9/7, Hope & Faith 4.9/9, Hope & Faith [r] 4.9/9, 20/20 6.4/12

FOX     3.5/7   Fox Movie: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 3.5/7

WB      2.1/4   Reba 2.5/5, What I Like About You 2.2/4, Grounded for Life 1.8/3, Run of the House [season finale] 1.7/3

UPN     1.3/2   Movie: Driven 1.3/2

A18-49  ABC and NBC tied at 2.8/10, CBS and Fox tied at 2.0/7, WB 1.3/5, UPN 0.7/2

Saturday, May 1, 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     5.8/11  Price is Right 5.1/10, the District 5.5/10, The District  6.7/12

ABC     4.5/9   Movie: Remember the Titans 4.5/9

NBC     4.5/8   Movie: Twister 4.2/8, Law & Order: SVU  5.1/9

FOX     4.4/8   Cops 3.7/8, Cops [r] 4.2/8, AMW 4.8/9

A18-49  Fox 2.7/10, ABC and NBC 2.5/9,  CBS 1.7/6

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1968 – In Paris, the famous May ’68 uprisings begin as students riot at the Sorbonne. Five hundred students are arrested.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question: What was Miss Hathaway’s favorite hobby? BIRD WATCHING on The Beverly Hillbillies. Kudos to: Jim Wagner-Parsons School of Design/NY; Savanna Gibson-Talking TV/Hyattsville; Patti Graney-MPG/NY; Tracy Richardson-WKMG/Orlando; Jerry Harbin-Indianapolis Colts/Indy; Bev Ellinger-WAND/Decatur; Kathy Carlson-Cuneo Adv/Bloomington, MN; Jinaki Flint-Cox Media/New Orleans; Ken Kuhl-KOLO/Reno; Heidi Flydal-KFMB/San Diego; John Callari-Fox Station Sales/LA: George Riddell-Victory Studios/Seattle; Vicki McKee-CTV/Toronto; Monica Marcott-YES!TV/Anchorage.

A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST SPOTLIGHT

Comcast Spotlight now covers 72 DMAs, including 22 of the top 25, reaching over 30 million subscribers. And now, with a nationwide footprint of 55 interconnects, buying individual markets or multiple markets is a breeze. Comcast Spotlight – Spot cable finally delivers. For more information click here.

Today’s Trivia Question courtesy of Frank Hagan-Termite Art/LA:  What TV family lives at 31 Spooner Street? (click here to 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.)

THIS MESSAGE FROM HGTV

Source: Nielsen Media Research, AA (000), HHLDS, coverage AA%, HHLDS, M-Sun 8-11p, 3/30/98-4/25/04. Qualifications available upon request.

Later — Cyn

Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis
05/03/04  4:38am CT
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A MESSAGE FROM OUTDOOR LIFE NETWORK

OLN^® – Network For All Seasons

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Spring: NASCAR Outdoors – 75 million race fans for the taking.
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To find out more, call your OLN Representative today.

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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT: MONDAY, MAY 3, 2004

COURT TV:       The I-Zone, Forensic Files, The Investigators
ABC             ABC Monday Movie of the Week: Unbreakable
CBS             Yes Dear, Still Standing, Everybody Loves Raymond, Two and a Half Men, CSI: Miami
FOX             Bernie Mac Show, Bernie Mac Show, The Swan
NBC             Fear Factor, NBC Movie: 10.5 (Part 2)
PAX             AFV, AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             The Parkers, Eve, Girlfriends, Half & Half
WB              7th Heaven, Everwood
TELE            Prisonera, El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV            Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Cristina