CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

10/18/04

Good morning. It’s Monday, October 18, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing.

CBS once again redefines Must See TV Thursday with a win among A18-49 scoring a 7.9/20, ahead of NBC’s 7.2/19 in the national demo ratings according to Nielsen Media Research.  At 8pm Survivor racked up a 7.0/19, well ahead of its #2 competitor, Joey (5.8/16) and Will & Grace (5.8/15) on NBC.  At 9p CSI dominated the hour with a 10.4/25, in front of NBC’s The Apprentice (7.7/19).  Only ER on NBC won its hour at 10p with a 8.2/21 over Without a Trace’s 6.4/16 on CBS.  The game on Fox didn’t do as well against such stiff competition, delivering a 2.8/8. ABC’s newcomer Life as We Know It at 9p shied away from its audience with a slight 1.8/4.

Fridays continue to be a mild night of the week for viewing audiences – the highest rated show of the night was Medical Investigation on NBC with a 3.5/11.  NBC won overall for the night posting a soft 2.9/9 A18-49 according to Nielsen Media Research, with ABC following with a 2.4/8.  CBS earned a 2.3/7, Fox 1.8/6, WB 1.3/4 and UPN 1.0/3.  During the 8pm hour CBS and NBC tied, each earning an 8 share, quickly followed by ABC’s 7 share for its sitcom hour. At 9p NBC picked up a bit with a 2.9/9 for Third Watch, two share points ahead of its closest competitors on ABC and CBS. NBC’s Medical Investigation won the 10p hour, followed by ABC’s 20/20 2.9/9 and dr. vegas on CBS with a 2.3/7.  The game on Fox from 8-11pm averaged a 1.8/6.

According to fast national ratings from Nielsen Media Research (time period avgs only), Fox led Saturday night with Game #4 of the American League Series earning a 4.5/14 A18-49.  NBC followed with its wall to wall NASCAR coverage scoring a 3.0/9.  ABC’s 2-hour Growing Pains reunion special (2.4/8) and a repeat of Desperate Housewives delivered a soft 2.5/8.  CBS’s night began with repeats of Survivor (1.5/5) and Cold Case (1.9/6), and ended with a slightly stronger 48 Hours’ 2.4/7.

None of this should come as a big surprise:  LAX will slide over to Wednesdays as of October 27 at 8pm, displacing Hawaii for the November sweep.  Hawaii officially goes on hiatus. The $25 Million Hoax (Reveille) mentioned here last week, gets yeoman’s duty on Mondays at 10p opposite MNF and CSI Miami for the Nov sweep, kicking off on November 8. Things won’t be all bright and breezy for LAX on Wednesdays either where it goes up against Lost on ABC.

Fox will not bring back Bernie Mac Show right away as originally planned for first of November.  Fox plans to announce how they will fill the time period shortly, according to Variety. Mac’s hectic schedule has left him wiped out (Mr. 3000, Ocean’s 12, Guess Who as well as production of Bernie Mac Show).  Mac will take a four week break before returning to the series.

Casting / Development / Production:

• Production for a new reality show for ABC called The Scholar is expected to get underway before year’s end. Exec produced by Steve Martin, Joan Stein, Jonathan Murray (Simple Life), Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, the show will focus on 15 high school kids who would likely not have a chance at a college education.  They will compete on various levels including academics and community service, with the ultimate winner getting a full college education at the school of their  choice. 
• HBO is in negotiations with Brad Garrett for a comedy project developed by Garrett. According to Hollywood Reporter, there is thus far no deal, but talks have only just begun.
• Just when you think their 15 minutes are over and you need never hear from them or about them again …. they’re back. Kato Kaelin and The Apprentice’s Omarosa have signed on to be a pair of profilers in Court TV‘s series House of Clues. Court TV has just given the show an additional 6 ep order, and in the new group of eps, the show will increase its celebrity participation, per Hollywood Reporter. The premise of the show is simple – the profilers go into an empty house and by looking through the homeowner’s stuff, try to figure out who the owner is and what they’re all about. Sort of like going through a medicine cabinet, but on a larger scale. 
• Showtime has given a script commitment for a drama based on the younger days of King Henry VIII and his first introduction to Anne Boleyn, who’s head he would later remove. Showtime is working with writer Michael Hirst, Working Title Films and Reveille, per Variety.
• Executive Producer Jason Goldberg (Punk’d) has developed a new series for MTV based on the UK show My New Best Friend.  The MTV version is called You’ve Got a Friend and it kicks off on October 24. The show enlists a willing contestant who is paid $15k to participate.  The contestant then tells all of his/her secrets and most embarrassing moments to their new ‘best friend’ who then repeats much of what he’s told to all of the contestant’s friends, family, co-workers.  The contestant keeps the money if they keep their cool. The contestant doesn’t know how long this will go on for, but generally the cut off is 48 hours.  During that time, whatever the ‘friend’ wants the contestant to do, he/she does.

Weekend Box Office Estimates: October 15-17, 2004
Shark Tale (DreamWorks)         $22.1 million – 3 wk total $118.8m
Friday Night Lights (Universal)         $13.1 million – 2 wk total $38.7
Team America: World Police (Paramount) $12.3 million – opening weekend
Shall We Dance (Miramax)                $11.6 million – opening weekend
Ladder 49 (Buena Vista)                 $8.6 million – 3 wk total $53.8m
Taxi (Fox)                              $7.7 million – 2 wk total $23.7m
The Forgotten (Sony)                    $6.0 million – 4 wk total $57.2m
Raise Your Voice (New Line)             $3.0 million – 2 wk total $8.1m
Motorcycle Diaries (Focus)              $1.7 million – 4 wk total $5.7m
Sky Captain … (Paramount)             $1.3 million – 5 wk total $35.99m
Source: Box Office Mojo

2004-05 Season major Nielsen Media Research Sweep Dates:  May Sweep – April 28 to May 25, 2005, dates are definite. April sweep dates have not been finalized.

A Cynopsis Question for You:  Setting aside the politics in question, do you “agree” or “disagree” with Sinclair Broadcasting’s Group decision to air the anti-Kerry film Stolen Honor? 
, your responses in tomorrow’s edition.

Pierre Salinger, 79, died of a heart attack on Saturday.  A well regarded journalist and former press secretary to both John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, he will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.  Salinger was the recipient of numerous journalism prizes including the George Polk Award for his 1981 story that the US was negotiating with Iran to free the American hostiges.  In the 1990’s he again became the focus of attention when he claimed the stories on two major airline crashes were incorrect – he said the 1998 of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie was tied to the Drug Enforcement Agency; and that TWA Flight 800 over Long Island in 1996 was actually unintentionally shot down by a Navy missile. Salinger has been living in France since George W. Bush was elected president four years ago, disagreeing with American electoral policities and said that if Bush won the election, he would leave the country.

As announced by Regis Philbin on Friday’s episode of Live with Regis & Kelly, VP/Programming Mary Kellogg has left Buena Vista Television.  Back in August BVT announced the hiring of Gwynne Thomas as EVP/Programming overseeing current programming as well as development and production. Kellogg had been reporting to Thomas.

If you’re wondering where Michael Weiser went after he left Modern Entertainment, he has created his own distribution/production company called Pinnacle Entertainment.  Pinnacle’s first  official step is the distribution of a 16-movie package, already cleared on stations in NY, Philadelphia and Boston.Pinnacle has picked up the syndication rights from pay TV networks including Showtime, HBO and Starz, and will also produce low budget films for cable networks.  Weiser’s company will focus on the larger markets and station groups, while it has commissioned 321 Prods to distribute to smaller markets.

Thursday, October 14, 2004. National 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     14.2/22 Survivor 11.6/18, CSI 18.1/17, Without a Trace 12.7/20

NBC     10.1/16 Joey 8.7/14, Will & Grace 8.5/13, The Apprentice 10.4/15, ER 11.2/18

FOX     5.8/9   National League Championship Game #2  5.8/9 (8-11P AVG) [game ended at 11:50pm]

ABC     4.1/6   Extreme Makeover 4.8/8, Life as We Know It 3.1/5, Primetime Live 4.3/7

UPN     3.5/5   WWE Smackdown 3.5/5

WB      1.5/2   Blue Collar TV 2.2/4, Drew Carey’s Green Screen 1.8/3, Charmed [r] 1.0/1

A18-49  CBS 7.9/20, NBC 7.2/19, Fox 2.6/7, ABC 2.0/5, UPN 1.8/5, WB 1.0/3

Friday, October 15, 2004. National 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     6.2/11  Dateline 6.5/12, Third Watch 5.8/10, Medical Investigation 6.3/11

CBS     6.2/11  Joan of Arcadia 6.1/11, JAG 6.7/12, dr. vegas 5.7/10

ABC     4.8/8   8 Simple Rules 4.2/8, Complete Savages 3.7/7, Hope & Faith 4.3/7, Less than Perfect 3.9/7, 20/20 6.3/11

FOX     3.2/6   MLB: American League Championship Series, Game #3 3.2/6 (8-11p avg)

WB      2.1/4   What I Like About You 1.7/3, Grounded for Life 1.6/3, Reba 2.7/5, Reba [r] 2.4/4

UPN     1.5/3   Star Trek 1.7/3, Top Model [r] 1.3/2

A18-49  NBC 2.9/9, ABC 2.4/8, CBS 2.3/7, Fox 1.8/6, WB 1.3/4, UPN 1.0/3

Saturday, October 16, 2004. Fast National 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

FOX     7.9/14  MLB:  American League Series, Game #4      7.9/14 (8-11pm avg)

NBC     4.9/9   NASCAR 4.9/9

ABC     4.7/9   Growing Pains reunion, Desperate Housewives [r]

CBS     4.3/8   Survivor [r], Cold Case [r], 48 Hours

A18-49  Fox  4.5/14, NBC 3.0/9, ABC 2.5/8, CBS 1.9/6

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Source: NTI Explorer, 10/4-10/10/04, A18-34 US 000.  Rankers exclude Movies. Smallville=M-F 7p, Charmed=M-F 6p, Gilmore=SS 3p, 7^th Hvn=M-F 6p. 

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1867:  The American flag flies over Alaska for the first time, marking formal possession of the territory by the United States.  Russia found the territory unprofitable and its efforts to maintain a presence there expensive.  Accordingly, Alaska’s 591,000 square miles of territory were sold to the United States for $7 million.  At roughly the same time, New York City bought most of what would become Central Park for a little more than $5 million.

Answer to Friday’s Trivia Question:  Before Omar Shariff was given the role of Nicky Arnstein in the film Funny Girl, the role was offered to two others. One was David Janssen, but that didn’t work out.  Who was the film originally offered to? FRANK SINATRA.  Both Sinatra and Streisand wanted top billing, and because they couldn’t both be listed first, Sinatra bowed out.  Kudos to:  Corey Lambert-Mediaedge:cia/NY; Amy Honig-Mediacom/NY; Pamela Mapua-GSD&M/Austin; Lorrie Shilling-Centennial CO; David Scott Jones-Marleigh Ent/LA; John Mazur-XETV, XUPN/LA.

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:  Death Valley Days was hosted by two gentlemen – one was Stanley Andrews.  Who was the other man who was often seen riding a horse, and who’s fame is probably stronger today than back in his Death Valley Days?  (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

Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis
10/18/04  5:41am

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JOB OPENING: CREATIVE SERVICES DIR/Evansville. 3-5 yrs exp, handle promo/prod/ops of new digital/HDTV facility. Resumes to Lyle Schulze, GM. WAZE/WB19, 1277 N. St. Joseph Ave., Evansville, IN 47720 EOE or email  lschulze
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A MESSAGE FROM CYNOPSIS AD SALES

WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2004:

ABC             The Benefactor, ABC Monday Night Football: Tampa at St. Louis
CBS             Still Standing, Listen Up, Raymond, 2-1/2 Men, CSI Miami
FOX             MLB:  ALCS Game #5 NY at Boston or NLCS Game #5 St. Louis at Houston
NBC             Fear Factor, Las Vegas, LAX
PAX             Model Citizens, World Cup Comedy, Sue Thomas F.B.Eye
UPN             One on One, Half and Half, Girlfriends, Second time Around
WB              7th Heaven, Everwood [r]
TELE            Prisonera, Gitanas, Te Voy a Ensenar a Querer
UNIV            Rubi, Amarte es mi Pecado, Cristina