CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

02/26/04

Good morning. It’s Thursday, February 26, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing. 

On the heat of another American Idol, Fox won the night on Tuesday among A18-49 posting an overall 7.8/20 according to Nielsen Media Research.  ABC was #2 for the night with a 3.7/10, ahead of NBC 3.7/9, CBS 2.7/7, UPN 2.6/6, and WB 1.9/5.  At 8pm American Idol drew a enormous 11.1/29 (13.3/35 W18-34), besting the competition four times over with #2 ABC and CBS tied with a 7 share, NBC and WB a 5 share, and UPN a 4 share. Things picked up for everyone else at 9p though Fox was still in front with 24’s 4.6/11.  ABC’s sitcom hour delivered a 3.9/10 with UPN’s Top Model ranking third with a 3.8/9.  Top Model also excelled in the other key demos, leading the time period among A18-34 (4.3/12 #1), W18-49 (5.1/12), W18-34 (6.2/16).  At 10p NBC found the top of the line, winning the hour with L&O:SVU 5.7/15, while ABC’s Super Millionaire earned a 4.4/12.

Putting their money where their mouth is, the Clear Channel Communications Inc. has decided to suspend Howard Stern as part of its ‘zero tolerence’ policy on indecency. The news of the cancellation came on the heals of an interview Stern did with Rick Salomon, Paris Hilton’s extra curricular activity on tape.  The action also follows by one day Clear Channels decision to drop Bubba the Love Sponge from four of its Florida stations including WXTB-FM. Six Clear Channel radio stations carried the show, in Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Rochester and Louisville.  Clear Channel said it would suspend Stern until such time as it was “assured that his show will conform to acceptable standards of responsible broadcasting.” Clear Channel will also amend contracts with all of their on-air personalities holding them personally and financially responsible for any indecent comments and fines resulting from those comments, as well as saying that any DJ found in violation of the FCC indecency laws will no longer work for Clear Channel.

According to TMS Media/CMR data provided by the Television Bureau of Advertising, ad revenues for 2003 broadcast television as a whole finished down by 4% vs. 2002 ($40.4 billion vs. $42.1 billion).  The seven broadcast networks were down year to year(-5.6%) as were the local stations in a combined average of both local and national spot in the top 100 markets (-5.4%). The only hot spot was syndicated television which finished the year up over 2002 (+15.3%).  In 4th Qtr 2003 alone, the broadcast networks brought in $9.9 billion, down from the previous year’s 4th qtr average of $12.1 billion. Local broadcast ad revenue in 2003 was $4.4 billion, down from 2002’s $5.1 billion.  Syndication was again the only highlight in this trio with $9.24 million, up  from $8.23 million in 2002.   For the 2003 year, Broadcast Network raked up $20.8 billion (down from $22.0b in ’02), Local Broadcast $16.2b (down from $17.2b in ’02) and syndication $3.4b (up from $2.9b in ’02).

Lifetime has ordered up a second season of 18 eps of its freshman series Wild Card (Fireworks Ent) starring Joely Fisher.  Wild Card airs on Saturday nights at 9pm.  During its first 18 episodes this season, Wild Card averaged 2.1 million viewers and scored strong marks in the female demos, Lifetime’s core audience.

New in Development and Casting:

• HBO has cast Chloe Sevigny in its drama pilot Big Love (Playtone) as one of the three wives of a polygamist.
• Laura Leighton and Garcelle Beauvais join Tim Daly in ABC‘s drama pilot Eyes (Warner Bros./McNamara Paper Products) set in a risk management corporation.   In ABC’s Steven Bochco pilot Blind Justice, Marisol Nichols has been cast.  In the net’s NYC drama about three nannies, 111 Grammercy Park (Warner Bros./Tannenbaum Co.), Elizabeth Mitchell, Milo Ventimiglia, Travis Schuldt and Izabella Miko have been cast.   Ricardo Chivira  and Jamie Denton join Teri Hatcher in ABC’s Desperate Housewives (Touchstone).  And ABC has added David Cubitt to its drama pilot The Catch (Touchstone/Bad Robot) that set in the world of bounty hunters. TR Knight has been cast in the untitled Shonda Rhimes project (Touchstone), a drama that follows the lives of the surgical staff at a San Francisco hospital.  And turning to one of its comedy projects, ABC has added Kali Rocha, Rocky Carroll and Sarah Shahi to the cast of Plan B (Universal) which stars Caroline Rhea.
• Fox‘s serial drama pilot Oahu (think Hotel Hawaiian style) has added Rob Estes as a managing partner of the hotel.  And comedy pilot Lucky Us has added Randall Park as the gay neighbor, joining Chyler Leigh.  And April Matson has joined the cast of The Quints (20th, Imagine) from Mark Reisman about a set of 15 year old quintuplets.
• CBS‘s drama pilot Sudbury (Warner Bros./Fortis Films) has added Kat Dennings in the small screen project that follows the same lines as the big screen film Practical Magic about a group of sibling witches.

ABC has also ordered up additional episodes of a slew of its current Touchstone properties – Hope & Faith, According to Jim, Less than Perfect, 8 Simple Rules and My Wife & Kids.

Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ is estimated to have taken in between $15 and $20 million in its first day.  The film is now estimated to bring in close to $60 million by the end of its first weekend.

PBS will launch PBS HD on Monday, March 1, a 24/7 channel fully programmed with High Def/Widescreen programming content.  It will be available from local PBS stations who have already transitioned to digital, as well as via local cable systems who have agreed to transmit the digital feed of the local PBS station.  Current 236 PBS stations are digital.

Jim Zerwekh has been named VP/GM of Tribune owned KWGN in Denver.  Jim makes the moves from WBZL where he has been VP/GM for the past four years.  Jim’s first day at KWGN will be a week from Monday, March 8, so be sure to give him a call in his new digs.  No word yet on Jim’s successor in Miami.

Bill Margol has been named VP/production for the Travel Channel.  The announcement was made by Rick Rodriguez, EVP/GM, to whom Bill will report.  He will lead the network’s production staff and is responsible for the management, direction and delivery of the Travel Channel’s production efforts.  In addition, Margol will work with development and programming to create new ideas for programming while overseeing internal and external producers, editors and directors in the execution of those projects.

Valerie Masterson has joined The WB Network as VP/Human Resources, reporting to John D. Maatta, EVP and General Counsel.  Valerie will oversee HR including recruitment, records management and employee relations.  She also strategizes with senior management on initiatives such as diversity, career progression, employee retention and budget guidelines. She is also the liaison between the network and Warner Bros.

Cyma Zarghami, President/Nickelodeon announced the promotion of Marjorie Cohn to the newly created position of EVP/Development & Original Programming, Nickelodeon.  In this new role, Marjorie will supervise development and production on the network’s animated and live action programming, while continuing to oversee Nickelodeon’s creative teams on both the East and West Coasts. She reports to Zarghami. 

Tuesday, February 24, 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

CBS     7.9/12  Navy NCIS 8.2/12, The Guardian 7.4/11, Judging Amy 8.2/13

NBC     6.9/11  Whoopi 5.0/8, Happy Family 4.0/6, Frasier 6.9/10, Scrubs 5.5/8, Law & Order: SVU 9.9/16

ABC     6.5/10  8 Simple Rules 5.1/8, I’m with Her 4.2/6, According to Jim 6.2/9, Less than Perfect 5.9/9,
                Super Millionaire 8.7/14

FOX     5.5/9   American Idol 14.9/23, 24 6.8/10

UPN     3.5/5   One on One 2.0/3, All of Us 2.5/4, Top Model 4.8/7

WB      3.3/5   Gilmore Girls 3.6/5, One Tree Hill 3.0/5

A18-49  Fox 7.8/20, ABC 3.7/10, NBC 3.7/9, CBS 2.7/7, UPN 2.6/6, and WB 1.9/5

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

The History Channel presents This Day in History: 
1993 – A bomb explodes under New York’s World Trade Center. Six die, a thousand are injured. Seven men are ultimately convicted of the crime, each serving a 240-year prison sentence.

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question:  Bob Johnson had this unnamed role during the show’s 1966-73 run on CBS, and again later when the show made a comeback in 1988-90.  His voice began each episode, and without it, there was no plot (tho some would argue there still was no plot), no target, no cool stuff, no intrigue.  What was this show? MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.  Kudos to:   Dick Cox-DCA Television/CT; Dennis Degan-NBC Today Show/NY; Stuart Elliott-The New York Times/NY; Adriano Schmid-Discovery Latin America/Miami; Al Kuenn-MediaChoice/Phoenix; Robert Cass-Chicago Reader/Chicago; Patty Kan-WRDZ AM 1300/Chicago; Burton Cooley-Rick Johnson & Co/Albuquerque; Scott Tallal-INSITE Media Research/Malibu; Jake Guswa-Warner Bros./LA; Miguel Mouchess-20th Century Fox Film Corp./LA; Sakena Patterson-Fox Cable Nets/LA; and internationally from John Vandervelde-dcfmedia/Toronto; Ian Dickerson-ntl Broadcast/UK; and Chris Kealey-Nelvana/Toronto. Reminder — You can only appear in the Kudos list once during the week!

A MESSAGE FROM 20TH TELEVISION

Today’s Trivia Question:   Who has a horse named Amigo?   (
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
02/25/04  5:24am
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2004

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The Investigation Channel
Source: 2003 MRI Doublebase. Indexed to Total US Includes “Full Attention” to all TV programs available. Networks with 50+MM subs included.

COURT TV:       Hollywood Justice, Hollywood at Large, Forensic Files, Body of Evidence 
ABC             The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose (OTO), Extreme Makeover, Super Millionaire
CBS             Survivor: All-Stars, CSI, Without a Trace
FOX             My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance [r], My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance [r-finale]
NBC             Friends, Will & Grace, The Apprentice, ER
PAX             AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             WWE Smackdown!
WB              Steve Harvey’s Big Time, All About the Andersons [r], The Surreal Life [r],
TELE            Amor Descardo, El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV            Premio Lo Nuestro 2004 (Especial)