CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

11/15/04

Good morning. It’s Monday, November 15, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing.

CBS again won the Must See TV title on Thursday night with an 8.3/20 A18-49 rating according to national ratings from Nielsen Media Research. And once again, NBC was #2 for the night with a 7.5/18.  ABC and Fox tied at 2.6/6, followed by UPN 1.5/4 and WB 1.3/3.  ABC’s evening of potentially question per FCC standards airing of Saving Private Ryan delivered a 2.6/6.  It remains to be seen how the FCC will deem this film for future airings. At 8pm Survivor led with a 7.3/19 ahead of Joey’s 5.2/14 and Will & Grace’s 5.4/13.  The O.C. on Fox earned a 3.6/9, #3 for the hour. At 9pm CSI continues to trump The Apprentice, 10.8/25 vs. 7.8/18.  And as has been the usual thus far this season, while ER won the 10p hour with a 9.4/23, Without a Trace on CBS has gained strength vs. previous seasons, this evening posting a 6.8/17.  Note:  Reportedly the FCC has received complaints regarding Saving Private Ryan, but it has not yet been reported how many complaints or from whom. More on its as it becomes available.

NBC had a slight lead over ABC on Friday night, winning with a 2.9/9 A18-49 vs. 2.7/8 for ABC.  CBS was third with a 2.5/8, followed by Fox 1.5/5, WB 1.4/4, UPN 1.1/3 according to fast national ratings from Nielsen Media Research.  At 8pm NBC’s Dateline delivered a 2.6/8, besting ABC by two tenths of a rating point, and beating CBS by a share point. At 9pm Third Watch on NBC earned a 3.0/9, outpacing ABC’s 2.8/9, though Hope & Faith from 9-930p did beat NBC’s first half of Third Watch (2.9/8 vs. 2.8/8); NBC came back to beat ABC 930-10p 3.2/9 vs. 2.7/8.  All three networks programming the 10p hour were tied Friday night, each posting a 9 share, though NBC’s 3.1 demo rating bested the other two by again, two tenths.

Fox has been the perennial favorite on Saturday night in the A18-49 demo, despite airing the same programming week after week, with very little stunting.  This week, however, while they tied in demo share, it was a win by ABC in the rating: 3.0/9 A18-49 vs. Fox’s 2.9/9, according to fast affiliate ratings from Nielsen Media Research.  NBC’s airing of Men in Black and a repeat of Law & Order ordered up a 2.3/7; while CBS’ re-airing of the Dallas Reunion which ran off hte clock last Sunday night, and an original 48 Hours Mystery ponied up a 1.5/5.  At 8pm Fox posted one in the win column for Cops/Cops [r] with a 2.8/9, ahead of #2 ABC’s Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone (2.4/8).  Harry, however, congered up a win at both 9p (3.3/10) and again at 10p (3.4/10).  

Casting / Development / Production

• PAX has ordered a second season of Faith Under Fire. The series is hosted by Lee Strobel, exec prod by Jim Berger, and feature in-studio debates.
• Rene Auberjonois has joined the cast of David E. Kelley’s Boston Public (ABC, Sundays at 10p) as a regular.  In the role of Paul Lewiston, a member of the lawfirm, Rene has guested on the show several times.
• Telemundo is preparing to go into production in Miami on a “new” reality series called Nuevas Voces de America (New American Voices) for a February 2005 launch. Based on the idea of American Idol, the winner will receive a recording contract. The project is produced by Emilio Estefan and Estefan TV Prods, tho no word yet on judges or host. Check the Telemundo website for additional info on casting calls in LA, Miami and Puerto Rico later on this month.
• Fox TV has signed Victor Fresco to a three year overall deal, set to kickoff in June. Fresco’s credits include Life on a Stick, set to debut on Fox in January, as well as Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Mad About You, Fired Up, among others. Fresco comes off a 10 year deal at Paramount Network TV.
• Kwame Jackson returns to TV, this time not as a passive participant.  According to Broadcasting & Cable, CNN has hired the former Apprentice wannabe to host a pilot for a new project it describes as “Inside the Actor’s Studio for CEOs”, interviews with the Big Cheeses.
• ABC has ordered up a new extension for its Extreme Makeover series – this time the focus is weddings.  EM: Wedding Edition will air as an OTO special, and assuming success, would then go to series featuring extraordinary weddings for the most deserving, per Variety. Preproduction on the special begins now, and they have just seven days to get it cast, shot, edited and ready for air … just kidding. They only get seven days to build and furnish a house.  TV specials take much longer.  No air date yet.
• Gregg Henry appears in a guest star role in the pilot of Eyes (Warner Bros./McNamara Paper Products) which airs on ABC later on this season. Based on that performance and character development, he has been signed on as a regular to play the head of a competing company.  The series stars Tim Daly.
• A&E will move forward with a third season of MI-5, set to premiere on Saturday, January 8 at 10p.
• ABC Family’s comedy pilot Just a Phase has added three more cast members: James McCauley, Mitchel Federan and Seana Kofoed.  Federan will play the teenage boy in the show who is wondering about his s#xual identify; McCauley and Kofoed have been cast as his parents.

Cable network Fuse will launch a new programming block this afternoon called After School Special from 430-730p. The block includes the new series Video IQ, and two viewer favorites, Dedicate Live and Daily Download.  Video IQ, exec prod by Tad Low (Pop-Up Video on VH1), is a 30m interactive music video series wherein the viewer attempts to glean clues from the music video to identify a secret person, place or phrase. They send their guesses in via internet or text messaging. Video IQ will kick off the block each weekday at 430p. 

Weekend Box Office Estimates: November 12-14, 2004
The Incredibles (Buena Vista)           $51.0 million – 2 wk total $144.1m
The Polar Express (WB)          $23.5 million – opening weekend
After the Sunset (New Line)             $11.5 million – opening weekend
Bridget Jones:Edge of Reason (Universal) $8.9 million – opening weekend
Seek of Chucky (Focus)                  $8.8 million – opening weekend
Ray (Universal)                         $8.4 million – 3 wk total $52.5m
The Grudge (Sony)                       $7.1 million – 4 wk total $99.3m
Saw (Lions Gate)                        $6.4 million – 3 wk total $45.7m
Shall We Dance (Miramax)                $4.1 million – 5 wk total $48.7m
Alfie (Paramount)                       $2.8 million – 2 wk total $11.1m
Source: Box Office Mojo

If you’re a fan, you’ve been waiting for this information.  Columbia Pictures planned feature film based on Dan Brown’s best selling novel The Da Vinci Code has begun negotiations for its lead actor.  The film will be directed by Ron Howard and exec produced by Brian Grazer, so perhaps its no surprise their top choice to play the role of professor/hero Robert Langdon is Tom Hanks. 

Meredith Broadcasting has purchased the hard assets of Sinclair Bcsting‘s Kansas City WB affiliate KSMO for $26.8 million.  Included in the deal are the physical plant and tower, equipment, etc., – in fact it includes everything except the station’s FCC license. Meredith already owns a station in the market, and purchasing this station would run afoul of the current FCC duopoly guidelines, which are still pretty much up in the air.  Once the FCC determines if Meredith can move forward with the duopoly, it will likely pony up another $6.7 million for the broadcast license. Meanwhile, Meredith is also seeking a special waiver to purchase the station from the FCC under the failed-station clause, arguing if Meredith were not to purchase the station, it would likely go dark.

Dow Jones & Co. has agreed to purchase MarketWatch Inc., the company which owns the CBS.MarketWatch.com website, for $520 million, $18 a share.   Dow Jones reportedly outbid the likes of The New York Times, Viacom (which owns a 23% chunk of MarketWatch, as does Pearson Plc) and Yahoo for the online financial business site. The deal awaits shareholder approval, with expectations the deal will close in first qtr 2005.

Scott Koondel has been named EVP/Domestic Television Distribution, Paramount Domestic Television. The announcement was made by John Nogawski, President of the Division, to whom Scott reports.  In addition to the promotion, Scott has relocated from the NYC offices to Los Angeles. He will oversee all first run syndicated fare, as well as Paramount’s vast library of evergreen series including I Love Lucy and Andy Griffith, as well as all bcst and cable sales of theatrical releases distributed by Paramount Motion Picture Group.  Give him a holler and congratulation the man!

Thursday, November 11, 2004. FINAL National Ratings for all Networks – program averages.  Source Nielsen Media Research. Time Period Averages Only. [p] = Premiere; [o] = Original; [r] = Repeat

CBS     14.4/22 Survivor 12.0/18, CSI 18.2/27, Without a Trace 13.1/21

NBC     10.4/16 Joey 7.7/12, Will & Grace 8.1/12, The Apprentice 10.4/15, ER 12.8/20

ABC     5.1/8   Thursday Movie: Saving Private Ryan (to 11:20p) 5.1/8

FOX     4.0/6   The O.C.5.1/8, North Shore 2.8/4

UPN     3.3/5   WWE Smackdown 3.3/5

WB      2.1/3   WB Movie: Save the Last Dance 2.1/3

A18-49  CBS 8.3/20, NBC 7.5/18, ABC and Fox 2.6/6, UPN 1.5/4, WB 1.3/3

Friday, November 12, 2004. Fast National Ratings for all Networks – time period averages.  Source Nielsen Media Research. Time Period Averages Only. [p] = Premiere; [o] = Original; [r] = Repeat

CBS     6.6/11  Joan of Arcadia 6.0/10, JAG 6.9/12, CSI: NY [r] 6.8/12

NBC     6.5/11  Dateline 7.3/13, Third Watch 6.2/10, Medical Investigation 5.9/10

ABC     5.3/9   8 Simple Rules 5.0/9, Complete Savages 4.3/7, Hope & Faith 5.2/9, Less than Perfect 4.7/8, 20/20 6.4/11

WB      2.4/4   What I Like About You  2.0/4, Grounded for Life 2.2/4, Reba 3.0/5, Blue Collar TV 2.5/4

FOX     2.3/4   The Rebel Billionaire [r] 2.0/3, Renovate My Family 2.6/4

UPN     1.7/3   Star Trek 2.1/4, Top Model [r] 1.3/2

A18-49  NBC 2.9/9, ABC 2.7/8, CBS 2.5/8, Fox 1.5/5, WB 1.4/4, UPN 1.1/3

Saturday, November 13, 2004. Fast National Ratings for all Networks – time period averages.  Source Nielsen Media Research. Time Period Averages Only. [p] = Premiere; [o] = Original; [r] = Repeat

ABC     5.0/9   Movie:  Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone [r]  5.0/9

CBS     3.6/6   Dallas Reunion [r] 3.2/6, 48 Hours Mystery 4.3/8

NBC     4.6/8   Movie:  Men in Black [r] 3.8/7, Law & Order [r] 6.2/11

FOX     4.9/9   Cops 4.3/8, Cops [r] 4.8/9,  AMW  5.2/9

A18-49  ABC 3.0/9, Fox 2.9/9, NBC 2.3/7, CBS 1.5/5

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Source: NTI Explorer, Premiere-to-date 9/20-11/10/04 & 9/22-11/16/03, % US Rtg Gain.  Comedy=CS typecode.

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1971:  Intel releases the world’s first single-chip microprocessor, the 4004.  Although it was originally designed for a calculator manufactured by a defunct company known as Busicom, the chip was also used in the Pioneer 10 spacecraft.  Intel processors would go on to a far wider range of uses.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:   This one may show your age – if you were part of the Sing Along Gang or the Sing Along Kids, who were you singing along with? You were SINGING ALONG WITH MITCH MILLER.  Kudos to:  Scott Collins-Universal Television/NY; Ged Young/CBS/NY; Rob Maffei-OLN/NY; Dan Millbauer-US Army/Fayetteville; Mark Edwards-KEZK/St. Louis; Kent Kimberlain-Spotplus/Dallas; Kristin Staskowski-Marketron Int’l/Birmingham AL; Kitty DeLio-KCNC/Denver; Ron Nicolosi-North Hollywood; Joe Ruggiero-HGTV/LA; Evan Weinstein-The Amazing Race/LA; Gene Lavelle-Modern Ent/LA; and internationally from Ron Margaretten-Smart Media/Prague, Czech Republic; Mitch Altman-Toronto; Bill Irwin-POWER104 FM/Kelowna BC.

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:  In the last decade, UPN has aired two primetime series feature characters suffering from amnesia.  What are these two shows? (click
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.)

A MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

Later — Cyn
11.15.04   5:23am

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A MESSAGE FROM CYNOPSIS AD SALES

WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  NOVEMBER 15, 2004:

ABC             Life of Luxury, Monday Night Football
CBS             Still Standing, Listen Up, Raymond (200th episode), 2-1/2 Men, CSI: Miami
FOX             Trading Spouses, The Swan
NBC             Fear Factor, Las Vegas. $25 Million Hoax
PAX             Model Citizens, World Cup Comedy, Second Verdict
UPN             One on One, Half and Half, Girlfriends, Second Time Around
WB              7th Heaven, Everwood (fyi: tonight’s Everwood was directed by Jordan Levin, former WB Network head)
TELE            Prisionera, Gitanas, Te Voy a Ensenar a Querer
UNIV            Rubi, Amor Real, Cristina