CYNTHIA TURNER’S
Cynopsis

03/24/05

Good morning.  It’s Thursday, March 24, 2005, and this is your first early morning briefing.

A glitch in the process at American Idol on Tuesday night forced the network into a do-over, which aired last night, preempting the premiere of Life on a Stick, which will now air tonight.  On Tuesday the voting numbers were displayed incorrectly. You’d have to imagine Fox is not pleased to be having its premiere of a new sitcom airing opposite the NCAA Championship games, as well as opposite NBC’s premiere of The Office (which is nicely huddled inside an evening of all original series), although the new series’ leadin is still the best Fox has to offer.

The Independent Task Force on Television Measurement (formed last April) led by former Congresswoman Cardiss Collins, released its 62-page opinion report to Nielsen Media Research yesterday on the company’s minority television audience measuring methods.  According to the report, their “recommendations on sampling techniques address the issue of measuring intra-diversity in African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian-American and other ethnic communities in LPM cities.  We also provide suggestions on training of the field staff, diversity and improved communication with field employees, clients, minority communities and the general public.”  The report recommends several areas and specific initiatives Nielsen can take to more accurately represent the viewing markets, and particularly the ethnic audiences.  The report also says Nielsen’s reported undercounting is merely a reflection of a more prominent television industry issue.  “Beyond the issue of minority measurement that the task force examined, the continued inadequate representation of persons of color on television or in positions of authority remains a significant problem within this industry.  This is a much broader issue than Nielsen alone, one that affects advertisers, broadcasters, cable operators, producers, syndicators and others in the world of media.” The Task Force’s full report – recommended reading – is available on www.everyonecounts.tv.

The bubble has burst for NBC’s Third Watch (Warner Bros. TV/John Wells Prods), officially now off the schedule for next season. The show will return after L&O: Trial By Jury completes its run, to finish up its sixth season and air is series finale.

Tonight’s Premiere:
FOX     Life on a Stick at 930p
NBC     The Office at 930p

Joining the Fox line-up on May 30 is a new reality show titled Hell’s Kitchen, with at least 11 eps on order. The contestants are wannabe restauranteurs all in a race to create the next LA hot spot.  The show is from Granada Entertainment/A. Smith & Co., and feature the hosting talents of London chef Gordon Ramsay.  The series is based on a UK show of the same name.

ABC:

• Neighbors (Touchstone TV) has added Melinda McGraw to the growing cast which already includes Lenny Clarke and Brian Benben as the feuding neighbors, and Ann Cusak and McGraw as their wives, who do get along.
• Joint Custody (20th) a comedy with Nick D’Agosto starring as a young man returning home from college to find his parents have divorced, has cast Kurt Fuller as the father, opposite Marilu Henner as the mom.

CBS:

• Untitled Jerry Bruckheimer/Marsh McCall project (Warner Bros. TV/Bruckheimer Films) has cast Jonathan Silverman as one of the three siblings who come together to help out their eccentric father after their mother leaves him.
• Untitled Yuspa-Goldsmith comedy project (Sony Pictures TV/Paramount Network TV) has signed Darren Ritchie to star opposite Tiffani Amber Thiessen as a young couple who are dealing with being new parents.
• Untitled Diamond-Weissman comedy project (20th/Paramount Network TV/Ratner Ent) about a sports agent and his wife, a magazine editor, working to juggle their jobs and their family, has added John Leguizamo to the cast, as the husband/father. 
• Quantico (Touchstone TV/Mark Gordon Co.) has signed Richard Shepard to direct the pilot.  Starring in the project are Mandy Patinkin, Shemar Moore, Thomas Gibson, Lola Glaudini, and Matthew Gubler. The story is about an FBI unit focused on behavioral analysis.

FOX:

• Kitchen Confidential (20th/New Line/Darren Star), about a bad boy chef working in a high end NYC eatery, has added Jaime King as the restaurant hostess.  Starring as the chef is Bradley Cooper, who is joined by John Francis Daley, Owain Yeoman and Nicholas Brendon.

NBC:

• All In (Warner Bros. TV/Is or Isn’t It Ent) which stars Janeane Garofalo as a professional poker player and full time single mom, has added Geoff Pierson as Garofalo’s father.
• Thick & Thin (NBC Universal/Broadway Video) has added Martin Mull to the cast, which is led by Jessica Capshaw as a woman who was seriously overweight and is now dealing with her new thinner body.
• Filmore Middle (NBC Universal) has signed Sarah Alexander to join the cast which includes Justin Bartha.  The focus is on the disillusioned teachers at a rundown middle school.
• Notorious (NBC Universal) adds Danielle Nicolet as the best friend to Tori Spelling’s character.  The plot is semi-autobiographical for Spelling about her days immediately following BH 90210.  Loni Anderson plays Spelling’s mother.
• Untitled David Flebotte project (NBC Universal/Wolf Films) about an Italian family who own a deli in the North End of Boston, has cast Michael Weaver.  Cast also includes Vincent Pastore, and James Burrows is directing the pilot.

Superstation WGN plans to launch its first original series this season, Ultimate Arena Paintball debuts on April 2 at 8pm. The show originates from a variety of arenas across the country, and features the games of he World Paintball League (who knew?) which is comprised of 24 professional teams in three conferences. The coverage also includes the Ultimate Arena Paintball League, which is made of 216 AAA, AA and A level teams.  Superstation WGN has ordered five episodes for this spring; and an additional five eps featuring exhibition games are schedule for October.  Beginning in November 2005, Superstation WGN will air 26 regular season episodes.

Program Partners has cleared more than 70% of the country with its off-Canadian TV-network procedural drama series Da Vinci’s Inquest, which comes to syndication Fall 2005 (terms: straight barter).  Clearances include WCBS/NY; KCBS/LA; KYW/Philly; KPIX/San Francisco; WBZ/Boston, WSB/Atlanta among others. The show, now in its 7th season, focuses on Dominic Da Vinci (Nicholas Campbell) as a controversial coroner who “speaks for the dead to protect the living.”  The show is produced by Haddock Entertainment and Barna-Alper Productions.

E-Poll has promoted Stephen Anspach to SVP/Operations and Mary Ann Farrell to SVP/Research. Stephen directs all aspects of technology including innovation, strategy and development.  In addition, Stephen now heads up E-Poll operations where he will be in charge of all knowledge management and business intelligence efforts.  Mary Ann oversees the research department, developing research approaches that provide clients with higher levels of flexibility, consumer targeting and customization. 

Joanne Burns has been upped to EVP/Sales Marketing, Research and New Media at Twentieth Television.  Joanne will oversee all first-run and off-net program research activities, be heavily involved in the development and creation of program sales marketing initiatives and identify new media opportunities on behalf of the company.  Couldn’t happen to a smarter gal.

Michael Colleran has been named Pres/GM of Viacom’s KYW and WPSG in Philadelphia.  He makes the move from the Viacom tripoly in Miami/West Palm. Michael has been with KYW before, as GSM in the early and mid 1990’s.  In his new post, he succeeds Peter Dunn who was recently named President of Viacom Stations Spot Sales.

Jess Aguirre has been upped to SVP/Research for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel.  The announcement was made today by David Kenin, EVP/Programming, to whom Jess reports. He will be based in the LA office and oversee all research activities, design and execute all pre-launch development research, develops state-of-the-art market research techniques to more effectively develop, brand, promote, schedule and distribute both channels. 

Also at Hallmark, Scott Anderson has been upped to SVP/Programming and Acquisitions for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel, also reporting to David Kenin, EVP/Programming. Scott is responsible for overseeing and managing all acquisitions, planning and negotiations and will work out of the LA office.

Laura Galieote has been elevated to VP/Finance and Accounting for Buena Vista Television (BVTV), it was announced today by Tom Malanga, SVP/Finance for BVTV to whom she will continue to report.

Qtopia Media named Andy Sich as its New York Account Manager.  He will oversee new business developments, marketing and gay/lesbian promotions.  Andy was previously at SunnySpot Productions Inc..  He will be based in New York and report to David Morganlander, Qtopia Media’s President.

Fox Filmed Entertainment (FFE) announced Matthew Glotzer has been appointed to the newly created post of VP/Digital Media. In his new role, he will be responsible for developing content distribution opportunities across a wide range of new and emerging technology platforms, as well as actively pursuing long-term initiatives with major IT, consumer electronics and telecommunications companies.  Matthew reports to Digital Media President, Peter Levinsohn and will work closely with the Fox Filmed Entertainment Group’s strategic planning, engineering, content protection and distribution groups.

Tuesday – A18-49 Analysis:   Fox led by a wide margin on Tuesday night according to final numbers from Nielsen Media Research.  Among A18-49, Fox delivered an overall 9.2/24, followed by CBS 3.5/9, ABC 3.0/8, NBC 2.7/7, WB 1.0/3, UPN .7/2.  At 8p American Idol delivered a 11.6/31 as the show attempted to whittle down the remaining contestants to 11.  CBS’ NCIS was #2 with a 3.2/8.  At 9p House on Fox was a clear winner, posting a 6.8/17, with CBS’ Amazing Race the closest competitor with a 4.6/11.  Rodney returned to the ABC schedule at 930p and delivered a 3.0/8, down a share point from its According to Jim lead-in.  A repeat of Law & Order SVU led at 10p with a 3.9/11, though ABC’s new 10p drama Blind Justice was nipping at NBC’s heels with a 3.6/10. Judging Amy followed with a 2.7/7.

FINAL HOUSEHOLD Ratings:  Tuesday, March 22, 2005, for all Networks – program averages.  Source: Nielsen Media Research. 

FOX     13.1/20  American Idol 15.9/24, House 10.4/16

CBS     8.1/13   NCIS  9.4/14, Amazing Race 7.8/12, Judging Amy 7.0/12

ABC     5.3/8    My Wife & Kids [r] 4.1/6, George Lopez [r] 4.0/6, According to Jim 6.1/9, Rodney 5.1/8, Blind Justice 6.3/11

NBC     4.7/7    Will & Grace [r] (8-845p) 3.3/5, Scrubs [r] (8:45-9:20p) 3.2/5,  Scrubs [r] (9:20-10p) 3.7/6, Law & Order: SVU [r] 7.3/12

WB      1.7/3    Gilmore Girls [r] 2.0/3, The Starlet 1.4/2

UPN     1.4/2    All of Us [r] 1.5/2, Eve [r] 1.6/2, Veronica Mars [r]  1.3/2

A18-49                Fox 9.2/24, CBS 3.5/9, ABC 3.0/8, NBC 2.7/7, WB 1.0/3, UPN .7/2

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1989 – The Exxon oil-tanker Valdez runs aground in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Within a few days it spills 11 million gallons of oil into the sound. In January 204, a federal judge orders Exxon to pay $6.75 billion in punitive damages and interest to the 32,000 fisherman, landowners, municipalities, and small businessmen affected by the spill. Exxon Mobil vows to appeal.
 
Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:  What was the first western to be shown in color? BONANZA.  Kudos to:  Mark Hosbein-Time Warner; Melissa Montuori-NMA Ent & Mktg/NY; Gary Stein-Good Morning America/NY; Philip Marshall-Kismetic Prods/NY; David Hauptman-KUSA/Denver; Tom Chapman-WKRG/Mobile; Chuck Lomis-Starz Encore/Englewood; Larry Chase-Chase Media Mktg/Boise; Lou Zaccheo-Video from Video/LA; Adina Montgomery-Tribune Media Net/LA; Jean Horton Garner-OjaiMedia.net/Ojai; Jason Rosenberg-Pulse Now.com.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

Today’s Trivia Question:  The exterior shots of these two primetime detective series were actually the Century Plaza Towers at 2029 and 2049 Century Park East off Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City.  What are the two series that used this location as their detective offices?  (click here with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: Only the second four correct answers from each time zone will be mentioned; and once you’ve been mentioned in any of the Cynopsis editions, you can’t be mentioned again that calendar week.)

Later — Cyn
03.24.05   5:12am

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Copyright Cynthia Turner 2005

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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  MARCH 24, 2005:

ABC              Jake in Progress, Jake in Progress, Extreme Makeover, Primetime Live
CBS              NCAA Basketball (12n-5p and 7p-12m)
FOX              The O.C., American Idol, Life on a Stick [p]
NBC              Joey, The Apprentice, The Office [p], ER
PAX              AFV, AFV, Diagnosis Murder, Diagnosis Murder
UPN              WWE Smackdown
WB               Blue Collar TV, Blue Collar TV [r], The Starlet [r]
TELE             La Mujer en el Espejo, Gitanas, La Ley del Silencio
UNIV             Apuesta por un Amor, La Madrastra, Joan Sebastian … La Trayectoria (OTO)