CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

06/10/04

Good morning. It’s Thursday, June 10, 2004, Happy Birthday to my sister Claudia, and now on with your first early morning briefing.

Univision has filed suit in the Los Angeles Superior Court seeking to prevent Nielsen Media Research from rolling out its planned Local People Meter measurement service in LA on July 8. According to Hollywood Reporter, the suit alleges Nielsen has engaged in unfair, unlawful and deceptive business practices in that the service sample does not accurately reflect the DMA’s Hispanic population because statistically the service has “too few young Hispanic-Americans, too few large Hispanic-American households and too many Hispanic-American households that speak mostly or only English.”  The result as outlined in Univision’s suit, claims the service could potentially “damage a wide array of Hispanic-American businesses and individuals whose livelihoods will be adversely affected by the distorted picture.”  Thus far, Nielsen has not provided a public statement to the suit.

The FCC entered into a $1.76 million consent decree with Clear Channel Communications that wraps up the fines against the station group for obscene, indecent or profane material.  That $1.76 million payment is the largest ever paid by a broadcaster in FCC history. As part of that final decree and payment, Clear Channel admits it may have aired indecent material in violation of FCC rules, and also agrees to implement a Compliance Plan to prevent future violations.

Premiere:  Protagonistas VIP on Telemundo at 10p

The Olympics are coming! The Olympics are coming!   Okay, you knew that.  If you’re an Olympic nut like me (no, not a nut of Olympic proportions, you know what I mean), you’ll be happy to know that altogether NBC and the NBC Networks will be airing a total of 1,210 hours of coverage. The fun begins on August 13 from Athens when according to NBC their coverage “will average more than 70 hours per day.” Neat trick.  Here’s how their going to do it – NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo, Telemundo and an NBC High Def platform. Here’s how it breaks out:

• Telemundo alone will have 169.5 hours of programming in Spanish, over 18 days, with a particular focus on soccer, boxing and semi-fin and gold medal finals in baseball. Telemundo (along with MSNBC) will carrying opening soccer matches on August 11 and 12. Coverage airs from 1-8p.
• The NBC network schedule is divided into three dayparts: afternoon (12-430p), primetime (8-12m) and late night (12:35a-5am) for a total of 226 hours of coverage over 17 days beginning with the Opening Ceremony on the 13th at 8pm.  NBC’s primetime coverage will include gymnastics, swimming, diving, track and field.
• MSNBC will carry a total of 133.5 hours over 18 days, airing from 2a-7a and 10a-4p.
• CNBC will have 111 hours over 16 days, beginning Saturday, Aug. 14, 2004 airing from 5-8p
• Bravo will carry a total of 122 hours of Olympic coverage over 14 days, also beginning Saturday, Aug. 14, 2004 airing 5a-12n and 5-8p, 12m-1a.
• USA‘s 49 hours of Olympic coverage covers 14 days beginning at 8AM on Sunday the 15th, with live start-to-finish coverage of the women’s cycling road race through the streets of Athens.  USA will also provide live, all day, Grand Slam-style coverage of all the tennis gold medal finals during the weekend of August 21-22. Aside from these two highlights, coverage on USA will be from 7a-10a.
• HDTV – coverage is 24/7.

Showtime‘s unscripted series American Candidate (produced by RJ Cutler’s Actual Reality Pictures) which is set to launch on August 1 has named Montel Williams as its host.  The network has ordered ten episodes of the 60m program which sets its sights on choosing a candidate for President of the United States.

CanWest Global Communications announced its programming strategies for the upcoming season which includes simulcasts of The Simpsons and Malcolm in the Middle on Sunday nights.  According to Variety, new acquisitions for CanWest include Arrested Development, Crossing Jordan, The Jury, Joey, Jonny Zero, The Inside, LAX, North Shore, Listen Up, Still Standing , The Swan, 24, The Champ, Blind Justice (midseason), The Partner, Kelsey Grammer Show, and American Dad (also midseason).  Canadian reality series Train 48, Last Chance for Romance and The Temps are also coming to the net, as well as a second season of Wild Card.

TBS and American Express are teaming up on the Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman campaign webisodes, in a deal that will bring those webisodes to the little screen. The first one will air on June 15-19, airing in its entirety, following TBS’ launch week of S#x and the City. TBS will follow up with a 30-second sneak preview of the second webisode the week of June 20, directing viewing to the Amex website to see the full 4-minute presentation.

Fox debuted its newest drama series on Tuesday night, The Jury, averaging with two episodes a 1.4/4 for the evening among A18-49 according to fast affiliate ratings from Nielsen Media Research.  The highest demos came from women, W18-49 1.4/4 and W18-34 delivered a 1.4/5.  Also debuting on Tuesday night was NBC‘s second installment of Last Comic Standing airing from 8-10p and earning an overall 3.9/12 A18-49. Again women were its largest demo group posting a 4.6/14 among A18-49 and a 4.5/15 among W18-34.  WB‘s second week of its new series Summerland  proved a strong contender among teens (3.5/12), more particularly among W12-17 (5.5/18) where it was #1 in the time period.

According to Nielsen’s final ratings for Tuesday, ABC primetime average was a 4.5/14 A18-49 rating with a total of 10.9 million viewers, putting it on top for the night.  Among the male demos, the evening was ABC’s highest rated night in seven months, with a 5.7/21 among M18-34 and a 5.8/19 among M18-49. The NBA Finals Game #2 aired from 9-12:20am and had 16.1 million viewers, earning a 7.0/21 A18-49, and a 9.2/28 among M18-49 (the highest M18-49 rating for an NBA game since the finals in 2001).

Casting Call:  VH1’s From Fab to Flab is producing more episodes and they need more participants.  If you are committed to a 12 week diet, able to work out with a trainer 6 days a week, are no more than 40 lbs over your ideal weight, and are over 21, then you, or you & your spouse perhaps, are just what this show is looking for. For more information go to www.vh1.com. The next open call is on Wednesday 6/16 at Ballys Total Fitness, 1628 N. El Centro Ave., LA from 3-8p.

Harvey Saxer has been named General Sales Manager for Tribune owned KHWB/Houston. The announcement was made by GM Roger Bare.  Harvey hails from KRIV/KTXH where he was VP/GSM.  Additionally, John Gruber has been upped from Local Sales Coordinator to Research Director.

XY.tv, the network dedicated to Generation X and Generation Y, has named Beth St. Paul as VP/Affiliate Relations.  The announcement was made by Dennis Patton, COO, to whom she will report.  Beth will be responsible for all affiliate sales and marketing and key national accounts.

Bain Capital is close to finalizing an agreement to acquire Lowes Cineplex Entertainment Inc. in a deal valued at approx $1.5 billion.  The investor syndicate involved includes Bain as the leading investor, as well as The Carlyle Group and Spectrum Equity Partners. Current owners of Lowes is Onex Corp. and private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management.

Tuesday, June 8, 2004. Fast Affiliate 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

ABC     7.9/13  8 Simple Rules [r] 6.8/13, NBA Finals Game #2   8.1/14 (fast affiliate ratings are time period only, and these numbers will likely change once the final national numbers are available)

NBC     6.6/11  Last Comic Standing [2-hr premiere] 6.0/10;  L&O: SVU  [r] 7.7/13

CBS     5.3/9   Navy NCIS [r] 5.9/11, The Guardian [r] 4.7/8, Judging Amy [r] 5.2/9

FOX     2.9/5   The Jury [premiere] 2.8/5, The Jury 3.0/5

WB      2.4/4   Gilmore Girls [r] 2.0/4,  Summerland 2.4/4

UPN     1.6/3   One on One [r] 1.7/3, All of Us [r] 1.8/3, One on One [r] 1.7/3, Rock Me Baby [r] 1.3/2

A18-49  ABC 4.5/14, NBC 4.0/12, CBS 1.6/5, Fox 1.4/4, WB 1.3/4, UPN 1.0/3

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Source: NTI Explorer, 5/31/04-6/6/04 or as noted.  Sat 9-11pm. STD movie rank excludes specials.  Cvg Rating.

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1967 – Israel ends the dramatic Six-Day War, during which it seized the Sinai Peninsula in the south, the Golan Heights in the north, and united Jerusalem for the first time since 1948 by pushing Jordanian forces out of the city. Five hundred thousand displaced Palestinians flee to Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon.

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question:   Who stayed/lived at the Susan B. Anthony Hotel?  BOSOM BUDDIES girls – Hildegarde and Buffy among them.  Kudos to … after seven years of doing this, you’d think I’d get the hang of this trivia thing.  And yet, I still can never tell when a trivia question is a slam dunk or impossible.  This was a slam dunk and with hundreds of responses, kudos you all!

Today’s Trivia Question provided by Dick Cox-DCA Television/NY:  Who was the TV commentator when FDR’s body was marched to the Capitol? (click here 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
06/10/04  5:12am
Subscriptions to Cynopsis: email

Archived Editions Check out any previous copy of Cynopsis, or search via keywords at www.Cynopsis.com
Click here to subscribe to Cynopsis Kids! and put Kids! in the subject line.
Click here to subscribe to Cynopsis Multi-Cultural Edition and put MCE in the subject line.
Cynopsis Ad Sales 203-526-8978
Press Release Fax: 203-381-9318
All outgoing e-mails are scanned and sent out virus free.

Copyright Cynthia Turner 2004

CYNOPSIS CLASSIFIEDS

JOB OPENING:  SR. RESEARCH ANALYST, AD SALES RESEARCH-Comedy Central/NY. 2-3 yrs media/market research. Expert w/Nielsen & related systems. Strong analytical skills, exp w/ quant./qual. analysis. Apply: www.mtvncareers.com  (6/17)

JOB OPENING:  SUPERVISING PRODUCER, Discovery Health Channel, Silver Spring, MD. 5-6 yrs advertising and on-air promotions exp. as producer, live-action production exp. Apply online at http://corporate.discovery.com, Job #1394.  (6/17)

JOB OPENING:  New York based broadcast design shop seeks full time GRAPHICS / ANIMATION PRODUCER (5 yrs industry experience).  Excellent client skills a must. Resume and cover letter to producer:
  NO CALLS / FAXES  (6/17)

JOB OPENING:  MEDIA SUP/Arenas Entertainment, LA. Seeking candidate with 5+ years as media buyer/planner of Hisp TV & radio; excellent org/comm skills; Spanish speaker & Ent. exp. a +. Send resume to:
    (6/17)

JOB OPENING:  TRAFFIC COORD./Lifetime TV, NY. Resp incl placing comm’l spots onto pre-logs, scheduling of comm’l copy onto logs. More info: www.lifetimetv.com/about/jobs; email resume/cover ltr:
  (6/16)

JOB OPENING:  (3) CREATIVE DIRECTORS: IFC, We, & Fuse On-Air Promotions. Must be creative, strategic brand-builder, able to drive tune-in. Major network exp. & amazing reel req. Res/reel: D.Platt RMCS 11 Penn Plaza, 2fl NY, NY 10001  (6/16)

JOB OPENING:  Successful TV NY Music Company seeks VP/MANAGING DIRECTOR. Passionate, business side leader, great client mgr, driven & innovative. 3-5 yrs exp in dept/company mgmt. $90K-105K Email resume:
  (6/16)

JOB OPENING:  CONTROLLER/Mike Young Prods/LA. 5+ yrs TV and/or Film dist exp. Kwldge of distrib accting incl film amort, GAAP accting principals, general ledger maint., participation rpting. Email:
  (6/16)

JOB OPENING:  MGR LICENSING  & LIC. COORD/Mike Young Prods/LA. 2+ yrs exp in ent. Licensing; computer literate; exp with approval processes/style guides/deal memos/mktg. Good comm. Skills. Email:
  (6/16)

JOB OPENING:  ASSISTANT, BUSINESS & LEGAL AFFAIRS-Oxygen-NY: Admin. support to VP & Director.  Handle projects for Rights & Clearances team. Organized, detail oriented. Word/Excel. Min 2 yrs exp. Email resume:
    (6/15)

JOB OPENING:  SUPERVISING FIELD PRODUCER/AP’s/TURNING PRODUCERS(log-script-edit)/ DIRECTOR OF CASTING new synd. reality show from 20^th TV/ Banyan Prods, in Philly area. Email resume (MS word)/& cover ltr to
    (6/15)

JOB OPENING:  RESEARCH MGR- KVEA & KWHY Telemundo LA. 3+ yrs TV res. exp (Spanish lang pref). Skill w/ research tools incl Nielsen & solid computer skills. More info & apply: http://nbcjobs.com Job Opps, keyword: Research Manager  (6/12)

JOB OPENING:  TRAFFIC COORD., AMC/We, Jericho, NY. Compile daily logs for network, incl. strategic placement of promos/wraps/bumpers/tags/interstitial elements. Strong knwldg of film/tv mktplace.  Apply:
    (6/12)

JOB OPENING:  AFFILIATE SALES ASST/G4techTV-NY. Daily admin. support to VP & Account Execs. Proficient in Word, Excel & PowerPoint.  Good comm. skills & results oriented.  Min 2 yrs exp. Email resume & salary to
   (6/11)

JOB OPENING:  FREELANCE ONLINE PROJECT MANAGER, Nickelodeon. Production of behind the banner promo areas for advertisers. 3 yrs exp as online producer/project manager. Min 3 month position. Email: projectmanagernick
  (6/11)

JOB OPENING:  MGR, MEDIA RELATIONS, NBC Universal Cable/Englewood Cliffs NJ. Prep releases re: distrib, affil mktg, local ad sales, VOD, HDTV. Pitch execs for industry panels.3+ yrs cable pr exp. Email:
   (6/11)

JOB OPENING:  RESEARCH DIRECTOR, PGMING, HGTV/Knoxville. 8 yrs cable net, primary/secondary res. exp, strong analytical skills/strategic thinker, exc pres/writing. Exp: N-Power, Nielsen tools. Email:
  (6/15)

SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED —

SITUATION WANTED:  20+ yrs exp in Spot Buying as MGR IN TOP NY SHOPS now living in Fl. but in LA as Brd Mgr until end of July. I can reorg/open ANY Media dept.for you to be the BEST in the biz e-mail:
  (6/16)

SITUATION WANTED:  COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST/PUBLIC SPEAKING COACH: 15 years teaching Communication at the university level. Owned business for 5 years – skilled in public relations, promotions.
   (6/15)

SITUATION WANTED: Full time/part time PRODUCTION ASSISTANT position for film/television projects in NY. Experience in television; interned at MTV Networks, Nick GAS. Contact Jesse Menardat
  (6/15)

SITUATION WANTED:  PRODUCER – New York – Experienced producer; credits include years with ABC Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN; also p.r. experience in VNRs & SMTs. Email
  (6/15)

SITUATION WANTED:  ANIMATOR/PRODUCER of interstitials for kids. Focus on science. HBO Family currently broadcasting 40 of our interstitials. Samples at www.kristinharrisdesign.com
703-536-9594   (6/11)

SITUATION WANTED:  PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/CASTING DIRECTOR in NYC specializing in projects targeting Latinos in the U.S. Adaptations, promos, campaigns, documentaries production + postproduction
    (6/11)

E-mail
for rates and specs for Job Openings. Your ad will be read by 71,650+ Cynopsis & Cynopsis Kids! readers every day. No wonder Cynopsis ads get results.

Are you looking for a job? Post your Situation Wanted Ad here — Email
for specs.

WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2004

COURT TV:       The I-Zone, Forensic Files, Body of Evidence, The Investigators
ABC             My Wife & Kids, Hang Time, NBA Finals Game #3
CBS             Joan of Arcadia (OTO), CSI, Without a Trace
FOX             That 70’s Show, That 70’s Show, Tru Calling
NBC             Friends, Come to Papa, Will & Grace, Scrubs, ER
PAX             AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             WWE Smackdown
WB              Pepsi Smash, Summerland [r]
TELE            Prisonera, El Alma Herida, Protagonistas VIP [premiere]
UNIV            Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Aqui y Ahora