Good morning. It’s Thursday, February 5, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing. 

Once again, Fox‘s American Idol carried the network to an easy win on Tuesday night according to Nielsen Media Research.  Among A18-49 Fox delivered a handsome 9.0/22, trouncing NBC 4.0/10, CBS 3.0/8, ABC 2.5/6, UPN 2.1/5 and WB 1.8/5.  At 8pm American Idol cranked out a 13.1/33 (with a 15.7/42 in the young W18-34 demo), swamping the competition. Survivor  All Stars repeat on CBS was #2 at 3.0/8.   At 9p Fox was still in front with an original episode of ’24’ delivering a solid 4.9/12, followed by NBC’s Frasier/Scrubs duo (4.1/10) and then America’s Next Top Model on UPN 3.4/8.  Top Model also delivered also delivered top ratings in the P12-17 demo (4.1/12) and a very strong #1 showing in the W18-34 (6.0/15) demo.   At 10p NBC’s Law & Order SVU worked its magic, averaging a 5.5/15 for the hour, ahead of CBS’ Judging Amy (2.9/8) and ABC’s Line of Fire (2.1/6).

At the AdAge Madison + Vine conference in Beverly Hills, keynote speaker John Hayes, Chief Marketing Officer for American Express announced AMEX will launch a new internet based show starring Jerry Seinfeld and Superman.  Called Webisodes, the five minute installments will feature both a live action Seinfeld and an animated Superman.  Once they launch, the webisodes can be viewed only on AmericanExpress.com.  Hayes also mentioned ten years ago 80% of his advertising budget went to television; today only about 35% goes to television, the larger stake is put into emerging technologies and into the ‘world of content and channel integration.”

This weekend is the Pro Bowl on ESPN and the NFL is not taking any chances.  JC Chasez was scheduled to sing Blowin’ Me Up (With Her Love) at halftime, but the NFL has had a change of heart, explaining they thought the performance was going to be a little over the top and they were a little nervous about the choreography.  JC may end up singing the national anthem instead.  And filling halftime – a Hawaiian themed entertainment event celebrating the 25 years of the Pro Bowl.

And the official word from ESPN‘s Mark Shapiro, EVP/Programming & Production, on renewing their hit series Playmakers, which by the way did little to endear ESPN to the folks at the NFL:  “We have decided that PLAYMAKERS will not resume production.  Many considerations went into to this decision, not the least of which was the reaction from a longtime and valued partner.  We are proud of the show on many levels — it was a creative and critical success, and we are appreciative that viewers clearly embraced this new genre on our network&so much so that we are actively engaged in pursuing our next drama.”

In recent days, okay since Sunday around 9:15pm, the level of sensitivity of what is and is not seen on television has risen by a remarkable degree.  There are those that will argue the sensitivity has always been there, just not as loud.  I will argue differently based on this – last week a repeat airing of NBC’s ER included a moment where in the flurry of the emergency room  activity to repair an older woman, her bra was cut off and her breasts exposed, albeit briefly, on primetime television.  No flurry of ohmigods, no editorials, no FCC investigation (swift or otherwise). And that was a repeat.  Now another episode of ER is due to air tonight and the same thing is scheduled to happen, also within the context of medicine and healing, and now after we all saw Janet Jackson’s breast, there is question whether where or not we should see any more.  Some NBC affiliates are wondering whether they will air the episode at all, even though they’ve done it before (last week) and despite the scene airing between 1030p and 11pm ET, long after the “children’s viewing hours.”  Fear not then, NBC has decided to air this particular episode 2 second shorter and breast-less.  The frames containing the potentially offensive body parts will be editing out, much to the consternation of exec prod John Wells who said “She’s 80 years old…To think there is anything salacious there is absurd.” Said NBC: “We have unfortunately concluded that the atmosphere created by this week’s events has made it too difficult for many of our affiliates to air this shot.”   I’m not saying what NBC is doing, or how its affiliates are reacting, is a good thing or a bad thing. Just remarkable how one week ago this wasn’t a problem.

Casting Notes:

• Six Feet Under’s Eric Balfour has been cast in the NBC pilot Pearl City (which has been renamed Hawaii) along with Ivan Sergei.  Production begins this month in Hawaii.  Also at NBC, the cast for The Office continues to grow with the addition of BJ Novak (Punk’d) who plays an office intern opposite Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, and Steve Carell.
• WB‘s new pilot based on an old series, The Robinsons: Lost in Space, has hired greenhorn Adrianne Palicki, according to Variety, to play Judy, the elder sister.

Zone Vision’s Reality TV network has acquired Arrest & Trial from Universal Domestic Television, LAPD: Life on the Beat from MGM, and a broad ranging. brand specific, package of programs from Twentieth Television including Rescue 911, America’s Most Wanted: Final Justice, Trauma Center, and Emergency Call.  Collectively, the three syndication deals adds up to more than 500 hours of programming. Reality TV originally launched abroad in 1999 and is now seen in more than 120 territories, most recently in the UK.  The network launched here in the US last December on DISH Network.

Also coming to DISH, EchoStar announced its DISH Network will add TV Colombia to its Spanish-language, DISH Latino programming packages effective February 11th.  TV Colombia is an alliance of RCN Television and CityTV from Casa Editorial El Tiempo, and will be available on channel 841 nationwide in the DISH Latino, DISH Latino Dos and DISH Latino Max programming packages.  The new 24/7 channel offers more than 13 hours of live, original programming daily, including news, novellas and live programming from Colombia. The channel also includes one live soccer game every weekend from the Colombian National Soccer Tournament.

Beginning production this month is a new project from Patrick-Ian Polk called Noah’s Arc.  Self described as a cross between S*x and the City, Queer As Folk and Waiting to Exhale, Noah’s Arc is a show about four African American gay men living in Los Angeles.  Polk points to the recent run of gay themed programs, and that none seem to feature African American gay men or lesbians.  This program seeks to reverse that trend.  The cast of Noah’s Arc is made up of Darryl Stephens, Jensen Atwood, Rodney Chester, Christian Vincent and Doug Spearman, not all of whom are gay.

Nielsen Media Research and the folks at Tivo have come to an agreement whereby they will jointly provide DVR data to the television industry.  The data will be culled from a group of opt-in Tivo users, that will be made up of five to ten thousand participants.  The service is expected to be made available to Nielsen subscribers by year’s end.

Columbia Pictures has made it official:  Samantha = Nicole Kidman; Darren = Will Ferrell; Director and writer – Nora Ephron; producing = Red Wagon Partners.  Personally I would have preferred Reese Witherspoon, but not my call.

Jay C Rosenthal, who most recently was the Local Sales Manager at WOFL in Orlando, died on January 29 after a long illness.  He was 59. Jay C began his career with Dancer Fitzgerald in New York and through his career worked in sales and sales management at Group W, Blair, Petry and Seltel, among others. He is survived by his wife Wendy, and two children, Catie and Mathew. A Memorial Services is planned in Florida on February 8 at Woodlawn Cemetery, 400 Woodlawn Cemetery Road, Gotham, Florida at 2pm.

Carolyn Strauss has been upped to President/HBO Entertainment, and Sheila Nevins has been upped to President/HBO Documentary and Family.  Both were EVPs of Original Programming.  The announcement was made by Chris Albrecht, Chairman/CEO.

Eddy Ruiz is joining A&E Mundo and The History Channel Latin America in the new position of SVP/Sales & Marketing and will manage all areas related to sales as well as the complete complement of marketing functions for both A&E Mundo and The History Channel. Eddy will also be responsible for coordination of affiliate sales and marketing with HBO Latin America Group, which distributes the channels throughout Spanish speaking Latin America and Brazil.

Tuesday, February 3, 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     7.0/11  Survivor: All Stars [r] (OTO) 5.8/9, Navy NCIS (OTO) 7.3/11, Judging Amy 8.0/13

FOX     12.1/18 American Idol 16.9/25, 24  7.4/11

NBC     7.3/11  Whoopi 5.1/8, Happy Family 4.4/6, Frasier 8.1/12, Scrubs 6.4/10, L&O: SVU 9.8/16

ABC     4.7/7   According to Jim [r] (OTO) 5.1/8, I’m with Her [r] 4.3/6, According to Jim [r] 5.2/8, Less than Perfect [r] 5.3/8,  Line of Fire 4.0/7

WB      3.1/5   Gilmore Girls 3.3/5, One Tree Hill 2.8/4

UPN     3.2/5   One on One [r] 1.6/2, All of Us [r] 1.6/2, Top Model 4.7/7

A18-49  Fox 9.0/22, NBC 4.0/10, CBS 3.0/8, ABC 2.5/6, UPN 2.1/5, WB 1.8/5

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE TELEVISION

Source:NHI, Explorer 1/24/04 vs. 12/30/02-1/26/03.  Wk=1/19/04-1/25/04.  TP: Sat 5p-6p. Cvg Rating.

The History Channel presents This Day in History: 
1974 – Patty Hearst, the 19-year-old daughter of newspaper magnate Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped from her apartment in Berkeley, California.

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question: Whose mansion is located at 380 S. San Rafael Avenue in Pasadena?  BRUCE WAYNE (aka Batman).  Kudos to: Melody Lang-Adelphia Media Services/Orlando; Jim Devitt-WLTZ/Columbus; Robert Hargreaves-PBS/Alexandria; Corinne Anne Waldheim-Brand Development Research/New York; Tiffany Clark-KHOU/Houston; Drew Borcherding-KGUN/Tucson; Robert Ray-HD Net/Dallas; Marion Hartley-Woodhart Adv/Mobile; Megan Crossland-Nestle USA/LA; Jerrie Bryant-New Dominion Pictures/Burbank; Jake Guswa-Warner Bros/Burbank; Mark Corte-Turner Broadcasting/LA; and Ian Dickerson-NTL/UK.

Today’s Trivia Question:  What was the name of the moose who hung on the wall at Cheers, though he only was hung there during the times when Sam Malone owned the bar? (
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
02/05/04
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2004

COURT TV:       Hollywood Justice, Hollywood at Large, Forensic Files, Body of Evidence, The Investigators
ABC             Extreme Makeover, Extreme Makeover, Primetime Thursday
CBS             Survivor All Stars; CSI; Without a Trace
FOX             Tru Calling, My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance [r]
NBC             Friends, The Apprentice (8:44-10p); 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