CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

01/15/04

Good morning. It’s Thursday, January 15, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing.  Shortly after this mailing will be the final and updated Cynopsis 2004 NATPE Program Guide in an Excel 4.0 worksheet for easy downloading, oh, and an update on the weather in Las Vegas.

Fox takes top dog bragging rights for Tuesday night thanks to those crazy LA girls.  For the night Fox drew a 4.7/12 A18-49 according to data from Nielsen Media Research.  NBC was second overall with a 4.1/11, followed by ABC 3.2/8, CBS 2.9/8, UPN 1.8/5, WB 1.4/4.  At 8pm Fox owned the majority of the A18-49 eyeballs with a 5.5/15, well away from ABC and CBS’ 9 share, and NBC’s 8 share.  UPN and WB each earned a 3 share for the hour.  At 9p Fox, NBC and ABC all tied with a 3.8/10 followed by CBS 2.7/7.  UPN’s debut of America’s Next Top Model was next with a 2.2/6, tho climbed up to #1 for the hour among W18-34 with a 3.8/10.  At 10p NBC’s L&O: SVU delivered a strong 5.5/15, again well ahead of CBS 2.8/8 and ABC 2.2/6.

Premiering Soon:
Spike:  10 Things Every Guy Should Experience, February 2 at 11pm

Upcoming Series Finale:
ABC:  10-8 will have its two-hour season finale on January 25 at 8pm.
NBC:  Friends will have its series farewell on May 6, beginning with a 1-hour clip show,and followed by the one hour finale.  Frasier will use the same technique when it winds up the following week, May 13.

Tribune Entertainment and the Sci Fi Channel have worked two deals bringing 110 eps of Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda and BeastMaster to cable.  Sci Fi has picked up Andromeda’s first four season, as well as this fall’s final fifth season (22 eps).  The first four seasons become available to Sci Fi in March 2004.  The original eps debuting this fall will air first on Sci Fi and then 7-10 days later get their first airing in broadcast syndication.  The deal also includes three seasons of BeastMaster (66 eps) which will air exclusively on Sci Fi beginning this year.

TCA:

• NBC will utilize the strength of the Summer Olympics (August 13-29) to jump starts its fall season a little early this early – late August and early September, approx 2-3 weeks earlier than the norm.  Wtih the advent of People Meters measuring demos every day of the year, NBC is looking at not following the calendar as stringently as tradition dictates, but debut shows when needed, premiering the new season when it makes the most sense.  Upcoming finales and premieres: Friends May 6, Frasier May 13; premiering in the upcoming months: Crossing Jordan returns in March airing on Sunday nights at 10p, Come to Papa premieres in March, The Restaurant (part deux) in April, and a miniseries disaster movie titled 10.5 will air during the May sweep (okay, he’s hasn’t crossed off sweeps altogether). Zucker also mentioned a special Queer Eye for the Straight Guy special is scheduled for February 1 – Super Bowl Sunday. 

Police in the NY region are still looking for actor Spalding Gray who’s been missing since Saturday night.  The family’s last contact with him was a phone call Gray made to his young son to tell him he loved him on Saturday evening. Gray had told his family he was going to a friend’s that evening; the friend he hadn’t seen Gray.  His wallet and credit cards were left at home.  Gray’s wife reported him missing on Sunday.

CNBC has announced the arrival of John McEnroe beginning this spring to its primetime schedule, airing nightly in his own as-yet-untitled talk show at 10pm. McEnroe, not exactly the shrinking violet, will lead an ensemble of opinionated chatters in what is expected to be a lively and unpredictable discussion on various topics of the day.

Cable network Oxygen will launch a new 26 market consumer ad campaign on Monday, January 19, featuring original music from Macy Gray and numerous celebrity appearances including, Ellen DeGeneres, Hillary Duff, Sarah McLachlan, LeAnn Rimes, Chita Rivera, and numerous others.  The campaign will appear on both broadcast and cable networks in New York, LA, Chicago, Atlanta.

New in Development:

• ABC has ordered six eps of a Deal or No Deal, from Endemol USA, according to Variety.  The quiz show which involves 100 audience members/contestants participating in various deals until one winner has the opportunity to deal for a potential $2 million jackpot.  The show is already a hit in several international arenas including Australia and Italy. 
• Elsewhere at ABC, the net has ordered up a pilot for a sitcom based on the life of comic Rodney Carrington (Touchstone), a reworked sitcom that was rolled over from last year’s development slate.  And Henry Cho, standup comic, has signed a deal to star in a sitcom also about his life (Touchstone TV).

The FCC’s Michael Powell is looking to up the ante on obscenity fines against broadcasters. The current fine is $27,500, and Chairman Powell wants to see that number increased to $275,000.  Last October the FCC came under fire when it determined that the use of the f-word in a speech given by Bono during NBC’s Golden Globe Awards was used as an adjective rather than a verb, and therefore not indecent.  Powell is also asking his fellow FCC Commissioners to overturn their ruling on the Bono incident. Powell’s proposal to increase the fines first needs the approval of Congress, and lawmakers are paying closer attention to the level of language on broadcast television.  House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich) is on board with Powell and plans to introduce legislation supporting the increase in fines next week. A hearing has been scheduled for January 28.

More golf.  This time on ABC and the biggies this season on ABC are Bob Hope Chrysler Classic next weekend; LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship March 27/28, Buick Classic June 12/13, British Open highlights begin July 15, The Tour Championship November 6/7, and 21 other events for a total of more than 100 hours.  Also joining Ian Baker Finch, Curtis Strange, Peter Alliss and Mike Tirico in the broadcast booth this year will be the captain of the 2004 Ryder Cup team, Hal Sutton.

It’s like waiting for the other shoe to drop – you know it’s coming, just a matter of when.  Well, when has come – A Minute with Stan Hooper has left the building.  Variety reports Fox has officially cancelled the short lived sitcom starring Norm McDonald.  Thirteen eps were produced, only six aired.  That means a cable network looking for a few good laughs (don’t say it!), could pick up the limited series and try to make hay of the unseen eps.

Warner Bros. unveiled plans to join in on all the video game fun by establishing a video game arm, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc. (WBIE).  WBIE will be responsible for ‘creating, managing and monetizing the Studio’s long-term interactive gaming goals and business objectives and leveraging the brand across all platforms (e.g. console, MMPOG, PC-based gaming and wireless options like N-Gage).’  WBIE will house Warner Bros. Games, a division that will focus game development, production and distribution under the Warner Bros. Games brand.   Jason Hall has been named SVP/WBIE, report to both Kevin Tsujihara, EVP/Corporate Business Development & Strategy, WBE, and Dan Romanelli, President/ Worldwide Consumer Products, Warner Bros.

Keith Olbermann on MSNBC:  “Everyone has now seen the tape of TV’s Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, feeding a chicken to a croc while cradling his infant son in his arms. Righteous indignation followed worldwide. And so did a 20% increase in ratings. So, if you have a baby you’d like me to dangle here on Countdown, send it in.”

Kelsey Grammar on stage as Max Bialystock?  Negotiations continue.  The current Bialystock & Bloom are around until April 14.

Barrington Broadcasting Company, headed by James Yager, has acquired three television stations:  WEYI/Flint from LIN Bcsting, and two stations from Chelsey Broadcasting, WHOI/Peoria, and KHQA/Quincy IL. Barker Capital LLC was the Acquisition Advisor to Barrington.  The financials were not released.

Steve Ronson has been upped to SVP/A&E Enterprises.  The announcement came from Whitney Goit, Senior EVP/A&E Television Networks (AETN). Steve will be responsible for both the International and Consumer Products divisions of A&E, focusing on long-term strategies and incremental growth opportunities for the two groups. 

Granada Prods Chief Executive Simon Shaps has announced the appointments of Paul Jackson and Stephen J. Davis to the top management positions at the newly formed U.S.-based production entity Granada America, combining the former Granada Entertainment USA, Granada USA New York, Carlton America and Carlton’s factual activities on the East Coast.  Stephen is currently President/CEO of Carlton America, and has been named President of Granada America.  Paul is currently Director/International Production and will be CEO of Granada America.

Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced the appointment of Blake Russell as VP/GM of KPOM & KFAA-TV/Fort Smith/Fayetteville/Springdale/Rogers, Arkansas.  Blake makes the move from Nexstar’s KTAL/Shreveport station where he has spent the past four years as Director of Ops/Marketing.

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Tuesday, January 13, 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     8.3/13  Navy NCIS 9.0/14, Guardian 7.6/12, Judging Amy 8.4/14

NBC     7.3/11  Tracy Morgan 4.8/8, Whoopi 5.8/9, Frasier 7.3/11, Happy Family 6.4/10, Law & Order SVU 9.6/16

Fox     6.3/10  Simple Life Reunion 7.1/11, 24   5.5/8

ABC     5.4/9   8 Simple Rules 6.8/11, I’m With Her 5.3/8, According to Jim 6.5/10, Less than Perfect 5.4/8, Line of Fire 4.3/7

UPN     2.8/4   One on One2.0/3, All of Us 2.4/3, Americas Top Model [p] 3.4/5

WB      2.7/4   Movie:  Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me  2.74

A18-49  Fox 4.7/12, NBC 4.1/11, ABC 3,.2/8, CBS 2.9/8, UPN 1.8/5, WB 1.4/4

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Source: NTI Explorer, 01/11/04 or as noted.  Sunday 8-9p.  US Rating.  Ranks based on HH.  Lead-in based on share. Excludes sports and specials. Key demos: 18-34/18-49/25-54.

The History Channel presents This Day in History: 
1908 – Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority became America’s first Greek-letter organization established by African-American college women.

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question:   In a typical episode of M*A*S*H, Hawkeye and Trapper John need to make a trade with a group of black marketers in exchange for some badly needed medication.  After some typical high jinks, the good doctors send off in a chopper their trade — which is also a particularly cherished item belonging to Henry Blake.  What was it? HIS ANTIQUE DESK HE HAD SHIPPED FROM HOME. (Col. Potter had the horse.)  Kudos to: Tim Murray-NCC/NY: RT Harris-WFTX/Ft. Myers; Rob Maffei-Outdoor Life Network/NY; Joe Santamaria-NBC/NY; John Kukla-KDFW/Dallas; Teresa Haines-Comcast Ad Sales/Grand Junction; Eric Turner-Eagle TV Sales/Dallas; Deirdre LaVerdiere-Lifetime/Chicago; Eddie Land-Pacific Television Ctr/LA; Lorie Furay-Initiative/LA; Sally Bialeck-Warner Bros./LA; Peter Hankwitz-Peter Hankwitz Prod & Mgmt/Sherman Oaks.

Today’s Trivia Question:   What character wrote a book called An American Journal: The Suburban Years? (
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
01/15/04  5:26am
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JOB OPENING:  MARKETING MGR/CONSUMER-TBS/Atlanta. Work w/Mktg Dir & sr. staff to develop/manage/implement strategies & execution for various mktg initiatives and on/off air elements. Apply at: www.turnerjobs.com, Job #16918. EOE.  (1/22)

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JOB OPENING:  ACCOUNT MANAGER, TechTV NY  Min. 3 yrs exp.  Selling TV/Web inventory to agencies/clients; see accounts from proposal through post analysis; Media, Marketing, Internet, TV previous exp. req’d.  Resume:
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JOB OPENING:  ON-LINE AD OPERATIONS COORDINATOR, TechTV, NY– Minimum 2 yrs exp,.  Responsible for implementing advertising insertion orders and creative, posting and scheduling of  web campaigns.  Send resume to
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JOB OPENING:  RESEARCH ANALYST, Fox Sports/ New York.  2+ yrs TV exp pref; exp w/Prism system and Microsoft a +, prep single day and O&O single day schedules, various research reports & analysis.  Email
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2004

COURT TV:       Hollywood Justice, Hollywood at Large, Forensic Files, Body of Evidence, The Investigators
ABC             Threat Matrix, Extreme Makeover[r], Primetime Thursday
CBS             CSI [r], CSI, Without a Trace
FOX             Tru Calling, The Simple Life Reunion [r]
NBC             Friends, The Apprentice, Will & Grace, ER
PAX             AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             WWE Smackdown
WB              Steve Harvey, All About the Andersons, JKX, Run of the House
TELE            Amor Descardo, El Alma Herida, Laura: Casos Resueltos
UNIV            Velo de Novia, Te Amaré en Silencio, Aquí y Ahora