CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

02/12/04

Good morning. It’s Thursday, February 12, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing. 

Once again Fox‘s American Idol helped the net dominate the night in all key demos on Tuesday night, including A18-49 with a 7.7/19 according to Nielsen Media Research.  NBC was second for the evening with a 4.9/12, followed by ABC 3.4/9, CBS 2.6/7, UPN 2.3/6, WB 1.7/4.  At 8pm American Idol drew an 11.9/28 (13.6/35 W18-34), nearly tripling the demo share of its nearest competitor, NBC’s supersized Friends/Will & Grace (3.8/10 for the 8-9p hour).  At 9pm NBC’s Will & Grace/Scrubs picked up the pace to 5.5/13 for the hour, with Fox’s The OC following with 4.3/10. UPN’s Top Model drew a 3.4/8 A18-49, but led the Teen 12-17 demo with a 3.9/12, and was behind NBC by a single share point among W18-34 (6.5/16).  At 10p Law & Order SVU led with a 5.5/14, with the return of NYPD Blue on ABC ranking #2 (4.1/11).

After Michael Eisner‘s quiet rejection of merger talks with Comcast Cable on Monday, Comcast’s CEO Brian Roberts took the unsolicited bid to buy the Walt Disney Company public.  Roberts wrote Eisner a letter which began this way:  “Dear Michael: I am writing following our conversation earlier this week in which I proposed that we enter into discussions to merge Disney and Comcast to create a premier entertainment and communications company. It is unfortunate that you are not willing to do so. Given this, the only way for us to proceed is to make a public proposal directly to you and your Board.”  The Disney Board did meet yesterday and has asked its bank advisors to examine the deal.  The deal is an all-stock purchase, $54.1 billion in stock, combined with an assumption of Disney debt, brings the value of the deal to $66 billion.  If it goes through, the #1 cable MSO would become the largest media company in the world, a merger which the FCC says would receive ‘ruthless and rigourous scrutiny,’ The potential merger could also reopen the discussions with Pixar.  In a conference call with Disney investors yesterday, Eisner only said: “The board met this morning, asked management and the company’s advisers for an in-depth analysis of the proposal to enable the board to respond appropriately.”  Shares of Disney on the NYSE were up $3.52 yesterday to $27.60, and Comcast was down $2.70 to $31.23 on NASDAQ.

The NAB has announced plans to hold a summit this spring on the topic of responsible programming, or preventing indecency on television. That announcement followed the letter sent by FCC Commissioner Michael Powell to the NAB, NCTA and to each of the broadcast networks asking them to ‘clean up their act’,  self-govern and to utilize responsible programming standards. NAB President/CEO Eddie Fritts responded to Powell’s letter with his own, stating in part , “Even before the recent incidents, our members were engaged in extensive discussions about indecent programming and what role NAB should play in the growing debate over broadcast programming.”  In 1951 the NAB issued its own programming Code of Ethics:  1) Shows will not sympathize with evil; 2) Shows will not degrade honesty, goodness and innocence; 3) Figures exercising lawful authority should not be ridiculed; 4) Law breakers must not go unpunished.  I don’t think this is what Powell, or anyone else, has in mind.

Envelope please …  And the Oscar sponsors are [hush falls over the crowd] …. Procter & Gamble, MasterCard, America Online, Washington Mutual, Allstate, McDonald’s, Pepsi, Cadillac, Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, Schwab and JCPenney. [applause]   The 76th Annual Academy Awards will be held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on February 29, airing on ABC, with your host Billy Crystal.

Development and Casting Update:

• CBS has ordered two more sitcom pilots – one starring comedian Andrew Kennedy (Sony Pictures TV) wherein Kennedy is the father of a newly combined family living in Connecticut and a world away from his own family abroad; and the other is Washington Street (Warner Bros. TV) is set in an apartment building with all of its resident personalities, and the self appointed building mom.  In casting at CBS, Marc Donato has joined the cast of The Clubhouse, playing the bat boy for the NY Yankees.
• WB has ordered six episodes of a reality series from Mike Fleiss’ Next Entertainment called Big Man on Campus, a dating show set on a college campus, says Variety.  Fleiss is also the mastermind behind ABC’s The Bachelor, and WB’s High School Reunion. And in casting at the WB, Lost in Space has brought in Jayne Brook (The District) as Maureen Robinson, mother and wife.
• Showtime has given a script commitment for a drama series called A Fragile Kind of Violence from writer/director Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down).  The project is described in Variety as a modern day Brideshead Revisted set in NYC.
• NBC has brought in Frank John Hughes for its drama pilot Hub as an airport security officer.

Cable network SiTV is set to launch on February 25, targeting the Hispanic television community and has these new shows to its programming lineup:  Urban Jungle is Survivor in LA; a daily variety show called The Drop; I Can’t Believe Its Cinema redubs old Mexican movies and cuts them down to 30m; The Rub is a talk show with its primary topic being relationships.

Lifetime will add Laverne & Shirley (distributed by Paramount) to its daytime comedy block as of March 8, airing at 11a and 12n.   The block also includes The Nanny, Mad About You, Golden Girls and Designing Women.  In 2005 Will & Grace joins the Lifetime schedule. 

Buena Vista Television has announced The Tony Danza Show is now cleared in 65% of the country.  The Tony Danza Show debuts in Fall 2004.

Marisa Fermin has been named EVP/Business Affairs and Development at Twentieth Television.  The announcement was made by Bob Cook, President & COO.  Marisa will assume responsibility for business and legal affairs, and new business development matters.

Tuesday, February 10, 2004. Fast Affiliate 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     10.5/16 American Idol 14.7/22, 24 6.4/10

CBS     8.0/12  Navy NCIS 8.4/13, The Guardian 7.3/11, Judging Amy 8.4/14

NBC     7.6/12  Supersized Tues: Friends (8-840p), Will & Grace (840-920p), Scrubs (920-10p), Law & Order: SVU 9.1/15

ABC     5.8/9   8 Simple Rules 5.1/8, I’m with Her 3.8/6, According to Jim 5.5/9, Less than Perfect 5.5/8, NYPD Blue 7.3/12

UPN     3.3/5   One on One 1.9/3, All of Us 2.2/3, Top Model 4.5/7

WB      3.1/5   Gilmore Girls 3.3/5, One Tree Hill 2.9/4

A18-49  Fox 7.7/19, NBC 4.9/12, ABC 3.4/9, CBS 2.6/7, UPN 2.3/6, WB 1.7/4

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Source:  NTI, Galaxy Explorer, 9/22/03-2/9/04. (Ties Best Rtg= 9/22/03 & 11/17/03)

The History Channel presents This Day in History: 
1989 – Tiny Tim declared himself a New York City mayoral candidate. He didn’t win.

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question: This guy’s home address was 2354 Pacific Coast Highway, an address referred to as a ‘colony’, not a neighborhood, and where his house cost just $7k.  Who lives there and what’s with the colony thing?  JIM ROCKFORD (ROCKFORD FILES) LIVED IN THE PARADISE COVE TRAILER COLONY, A PARKING LOT NEXT TO A RESTAURANT.   Kudos to:  Jim Devitt-WLTZ/Columbus GA; Paul Ward-TV Land/NY; Lee Childs-WTWC/Tallahassee; Jim Mason-Comcast Spotlight/Pittsburgh; Nick Byer-Starz Encore/Englewood; Alan Rosenfeld-Southeast Media Group/Telluride; Tracy Austin-104 KRBE/Houston; Allan Kuenn-MediaChoice/Phoenix; Peter Keir-Horizon Media/LA; Chris Corr Jr.-KMEX-KFTR/LA; JoAnn Stevenson-KOLO/Reno; Kevin Davis-Premier Retail Networks/LA; and internationally from Ken Dubow-Modern Ent/Berlin; Caroline Godin-Ellis Ent/Toronto.

Today’s Trivia Question:   Why is there no Channel 1 in the US?   (
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.)

Later — Cyn

Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis
02/12/04  5:31am
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2004

COURT TV INVESTIGATES…

COURT TV:       Hollywood Justice, Hollywood at Large, Forensic Files, Body of Evidence
ABC             Extreme Makeover, Extreme Makes, Primetime Thursday
CBS             Survivor All Stars, CSI, Without a Trace
FOX             Tru Calling, Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance [r]
NBC             Friends (8-842p); The Apprentice (842-9p); ER
PAX             AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             WWE Smackdown
WB              Steve Harvey, All About the Andersons, The Surreal Life [r]
TELE            Amor Descardo, El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV            Velo de Novia, Te Amare en Silencio, Aqui y Ahora