CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

06/24/04

Good morning. It’s Thursday, June 24, 2004, and now on with your first early morning briefing.  (Back to the original font; seems to be the preferred.  Thanks for playing … )

Today’s Installment: Nielsen Media Research has invited the National Hispanic Media Coalition to a sit down. Alex Nogales who heads up the Coalition, has unofficially agreed.  The idea is to see if a handful of people on both sides of the table can come to some sort of understanding about the Local People Meters and its measurement of minority viewers.  Meanwhile in Broadcasting & Cable, Nogales has also said he, like Univision, would like to file suit against Nielsen, but the Coalition just doesn’t have the financial wherewithal to pull it off, not to mention the strong possibility of a counter suit which adds fuel to the financial fire.

Former President Bill Clinton seems to be doing rather well by everyone — the books has sold over 400,00 copies in its first day, a new non-fiction record which certainly has to please publisher Alfred A. Knopf who has since ordered up another 3/4 million copies; his one hour interview on 60 Minutes Sunday night drew that show’s highest household rating in three years (10.3/22);and his chat with Oprah on Tuesday gave that show a 9.5/22 in weight metered market overnight ratings, that show’s second highest rating of the year (second only to Oprah’s 50th birthday party).

Mark Burnett‘s new reality show in search of a rock star to become the new lead singer for Australian rock band INXS, has landed at CBS. The show will go on a worldwide search, and after weeding the contestants down to a final 12, they will go to Hollywood and live together in a house (a la Big Brother) as they compete to win a singing tour with INXS and appear on the group’s next album.  The show is looking at a Summer 2005 debut, airing twice weekly.  Elimination of contestants will be determined by viewers as well as judges and the INXS band members themselves.

Nip/Tuck made its second season debut Tuesday night on FX and delivered 3.8 million viewers.  Among the key adult demos, Nip/Tuck earned a 2.1/6 among A18-49 with 2.7 million viewers; and a 2.1/5 among A25-54 with 2.6 million viewers.  According to Nielsen Media Research, the show was the #1 most viewed program on basic cable Tuesday night among A18-49.

Elsewhere, Outback Jack made his debut on Tuesday night on TBS at 9pm.  The new reality show which takes mansion-expecting bachelorettes and drops them down in the middle of the outback with nary a hairdryer in sight, delivered 2.1 million viewers, and a 1.1/3 am

Bravo’s Blow Out third outing on Tuesday night drew in 526,000 A25-54, building on its lead-in (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy repeat) by 66% in the demo, not to mention a 9% increase over the show’s second outing a week prior. Among the A18-49 crowd, it averaged 498,000 viewers, up 27% over its premiere back on June 8.

Nick-at-Nite‘s rerun of the premiere ep of Fatherhood, also on Tuesday at 9p, found 2.9 million viewers, increasing its stock after the Sunday night premiere episode which found just 1.8 million. 

Where were you when the lights went out?  A&E and Sony Pictures TV is developing a mini-series based on the blackout that effected millions and millions in the US and Canada last August.  According to Variety, the network hopes to have the mini ready for next summer.

ABC‘s premiere of NYPD 24/7 on Tuesday night at 10p earned a 2.7/7 A18-49 according to Nielsen Media Research, third behind CBS’ final hour of AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Songs (3.5/9) and NBC’s L&O: SVU (3.1/8).  NBC’s Next Action Star at 8pm delivered a 2.1/7 A18-49 rating, behind CBS for the hour (2.6/9) and tied with ABC and Fox. Fox’s The Jury at 9pm earned a 1.6/5 A18-49 rating, up 14% from the last original airing, though ranking fourth in the time period.  WB’s Summerland at 9pm earned a 1.5/4 A18-49 rating, though won its time period among Teens 12-17 with a 2.7/9.

On Monday afternoon, a power outage as a result of a lightning strike, cut the audio on CNN for a full 24 minutes, 1:03-1:27pm, in the middle of a program about Iraq, terrorism, hosted by Jim Clancy and featuring various journalists from Dubai. Viewers could still see the show, they just couldn’t hear it (viewers were notified of the technical glitch with a video bug).  While many viewers changed channels, it should be noted that 121,000 stuck with CNN for the duration.  As the Washington Post points out, MSNBC during the same time frame, with full video and audio, racked up 139,000 viewers with MSNBC Live.

Soapography is a new series scheduled to make its debut on SOAPnet this August, airing on Saturday.  The network has ordered up twenty 30m episodes, each going up close and personal with two of daytime’s biggest stars.

Note to self:  Friday night. NBC. Dateline. 9p.  Be there.  It’s the real Law & Order – okay, no da-dums between scenes, no high drama interrogations, no throw ’em up against the wall and cuff ’ems. Rather, the real drama of a real case, the leads, the clues, the evidence.  This, the second of four installments, follows a Las Vegas Police case from the moment the call comes in until through its eventual conclusion.  This is real. This is good tv.

Toronto based Life Network has green lit a fourth season of its series Taking it Off (Anaid Prods), which follows ten participants as they work to meet their individual weight goals despite life’s temptations and obstacles. Production for season #4 begins this month, and is scheduled to premiere on air in January 2005. Life Network, which launched in 1995 and is currently owned by Alliance Atlantis is available to approx 6 million Canadian cable and satellite homes.

Great headline in today’s Wall Street Journal: “At Wimbledon, Even the Ads Whisper.”  Oh, and good story too.

The Weather Channel has announced Paul Iaffaldano will become EVP/GM of TWC Media Solutions, overseeing all advertising sales functions for The Weather Channel and weather.com.  Paul reports to Debora Wilson, President, TWC.  This appointment follows the resignation of Lyn Andrews, who been in that position for the past two years.

Starz Encore Group has upped Lauren Ruetz to Director/Media Strategy reporting to David Charmatz, SVP/Research, Analysis and Strategy.  Lauren will be responsible for developing and implementing Starz’ national, local and trade advertising strategies.  Additionally, three other additions to the staff have been announced:  Gery English as Senior Director/Brand Strategy;  Matt Emmons as Director/New Product Strategy; and Clif Watkins as Director/Affiliate Marketing.

The new Executive Team for boutique production company fox 21 has been formally announced. Brett Weitz joins as VP/Development, with Shaleen Desai serving as Director/Development and Marci Wiseman as Consultant/Business Affairs. The announcements were made by Jane Leisner, SVP.  fox 21 aims to deliver innovative programming to all the networks as well as create a haven to creators. The division is designed to help writers realize their “passion projects,” and ideas that might be considered too personal or unconventional for other studios.

Rick Rodriguez, EVP/GM of the Travel Channel has resigned effective July 31.  Rick and his family will be moving to California where he will pursue other television management opportunities.  With that said, he will remain with the network as a consultant through November 2004. No news yet on his successor.

Tuesday, June 22, 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

CBS     8.3/14  Special: AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Songs 8.3/14

NBC     5.0/8   Next Action Star 3.4/6, Last Comic Standing 5.4/9, L&O: SVU 6.2/10

ABC     3.9/7   8 Simple Rules [r] 4.0/7, I’m with Her [r] 3.2/6, According to Jim [r] 3.4/6, Less than Perfect [r] 3.3/5, NYPD 24/7 [premiere] 4.8/8

FOX     3.0/5   Bernie Mac Show 3.1/6, Method & Red [r] 3.0/5, The Jury 2.9/5

WB      2.1/4   Gilmore Girls [r] 1.7/3, Summerland 2.6/4

UPN     1.3/2   One on One [r] 1.3/2, All of Us [r] 1.4/2, Top Model: Cycle One [r] 1.3/2

A18-49  CBS 3.0/9, NBC 3.0/9, ABC 2.3/7, FOX 1.9/6, WB 1.3/4, UPN 0.7/2

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC TELEVISION DIVISION

Source: NTI Explorer, 6/14/04-6/20/04.  TP=Mon 9:30-10pm.  Based on HH Rating.

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1901 – The first major exhibit of the paintings of Pablo Picasso opens in Paris. The exhibition includes 75 canvases by the 19-year-old artist.

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question:  While according to the script the setting for this house was in Maine, the actual building was in Tarrytown NY, known as the Lyndhurst Estate.  When the series was revisited in the early 1990’s, much of the production was done at the Greystone Mansion in LA, which is also where Witches of Eastwick, parts of War & Remembrance and Winds of War were shot, not to mention a couple of Murder She Wrote episode.  What was the original show?  DARK SHADOWS.  Kudos to:  Annmarie McKee-Fitzgerald-MPICA/NJ; Rita Mullin-Discovery Health Channel/Silver Spring; Bob Greenberger-DC Comics/NYC; Matt Boxer-WXTV/NY; Jordy Luft-WNOL, WGNO/New Orleans; Julie Schlatter-KSHB/Kansas City; Jo Ann Gonzalez-KHWB/Houston; Dan Pawlak/Chicago; Robert Langer-Majestic Studios/LA; Jon Helmrich-IBC/LA; Linda Jofrey-Sony Pictures TV Research/Culver City; Micki Sackler-Fox Movie Channel/LA.

A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST SPOTLIGHT:

Comcast Spotlight works with our cable network partners to develop unique promotions for advertisers that leverage cable’s powerful brands. Through network associations or tune-in sponsorships, advertisers get customized, branded promotions that build upon viewer affinity for their favorite cable networks. Comcast Spotlight – Spot cable finally delivers. For more information click here.

Today’s Trivia Question:  On what show were characters attending Randolph Harrington College?  (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
06/24/04  5:19am
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2004

COURT TV:       The I-Zone, Forensic Files, Body of Evidence, The Investigators
ABC             Whose Line is it Anyway?, Whose Line is it Anyway?, Kingdom Hospital, Primetime Thursday
CBS             Without a Trace, CSI, Without a Trace
FOX             North Shore [r], Tru Calling
NBC             Friends [r], Come to Papa, Will & Grace, Scrubs, ER
PAX             AFV, AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             WWE Smackdown
WB              Pepsi Smash,  The Jamie Kennedy Experiment [r], The Jamie Kennedy Experiment [r]
TELE            Prisonera, El Alma Herida, Protagonistas VIP
UNIV            Mariana de la Noche, Amarte es mi Pecado, Aqui y Ahora