CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

08/03/04

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, August 3, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing.

Al Franken is headed to the Sundance Channel.  Beginning September 7, the network will package into a 60m strip series, highlights from Franken’s daily radio show from earlier that day.  The show will air nightly at 1130p, repeating twice during the overnight and early morning hours. The show is expected to air on Sundance through the Presidential Election, and depending on its success, beyond November.

HBO has ordered up a new series called Polygamy (Playtone Prods/HBO Original Programming).  Starring Bill Paxton as a Utah Polygamist, and his three wives, the series is expected to launch on HBO in 2005. 

ABC has picked up a script from Class IV Prods called Westside – set in Los Angeles, in the highly competitive, and often not quite ethical, real estate business, according to Variety. The script is penned by Silvio Horta.

Premiering Tonight:
UPN:  The Player at 9pm
National Geographic Channel:  Interpol Investigates at 9pm

KNBC and WNBC have nailed down their time periods for NBC Universal‘s syndicated launch this fall of The Jane Pauley Show.  KNBC will air the show immediately after Today, 10-11am.  In New York, WNBC will use The Ellen DeGeneres Show as the leadin to Pauley, airing the show at 11am.  There was a time a few months ago when NBC was rumored to slot Pauley in the Ellen time periods – though perhaps with Ellen’s ratings success this season, cooler programmers prevailed.  Elsewhere, Jane will be slated in early fringe time periods in 70% of NBCU’s clearance markets.  The Jane Pauley Show debuts on August 30 out of her NYC studio.

Viacom has acquired SportsLine.com, with a final merger date expected by year’s end.  Currently Viacom holds approx 38% of the outstanding shares of SportsLine.com common stock. SportsLine.com provides internet sports content and holds the official websites of the NFL, the PGA Tour and NCAA Sports, as well as the publisher of CBS Sportsline.com. Public stockholders will receive $1.75 per share at closing, subject to the SportsLine.com shareholder’s approval.

The next documentary due out in theatres starting this Friday is Robert Greenwald’s OutFoxed – Ruper Murdoch’s War on Journalism.  The film debuts in select markets – NY, LA, San Francisco and Washington DC, in its first weekend, spreading to other select cities in the weeks to follow, and is distributed by Cinema Libre Distribution.  Thus far, the film has been sold via VHS and DVD, and after two weeks on sale at Amazon.com, has been as a bestseller.  More info at www.outfoxed.org

Pat Summerall will step into the NFL broadcast booth at ESPN for four Sunday pre-season games starting August 12.  Summerall comes off the bench to fill in for Sportscaster Mike Patrick who will be undergoing heart bypass surgery. Summerall joins Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire and sideline reporter Suzy Kolber  for the games on August 12 (Atl vs. Baltimore); August 16 (Seattl4e v. Green Bay); August 21 (NY Jets vs. Indianapolis) and August 26 (Pittsburgh vs. Eagles).

Comedy Central has re-signed Dave Chappelle for a two year deal. The announcement came yesterday afternoon from Doug Herzog, President of the funny net.  The estimated numbers in this deal are mind blowing – $50 million for Chappelle which includes a film deal with Paramount, a large chunk of the DVD revenue (thus far the 1st season of his show has sold more than 1.5 million units) and a production deal for Pilot Boy Prods, Chappelle’s company.

Pow! To the Moon!  No, not Alice — TNT with From the Earth to the Moon, produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Tom hanks, Michael Bostik, Graham Yost and John Melfi.  Originally an HBO production, the maxi-series chronicles the extensive history of the Apollo Space program, including the first man walking on the moon. The series kicks off on Friday, October 1 at 9pmwith the first two episodes.

Casting Notice:  A new reality talk show Home Delivery (syndicated by NBC Universal) would like to hear from you.  Really.  This show is part talk show, part makeover show, and part reality show.  And no matter who you are or what your story is — happy story, moving or inspiring story, life changing story, hardship story, wishful-thinking-fingers-crossed-gee-wouldn’t-it-be-great-if story — whatever it is, they want to hear it and have an opportunity to make miracles happen. Have a story to tell? Call Aimee at 917-595-5388 or toll free at 1-866-4HD-SHOW.

How about the 11-yr old boy in Texas, attacked by a shark, and after watching Shark Week on Discovery Channel the evening before, knew where to hit the shark to make him let go!  A smart and brave little kid watching a smart series – as it turned out, a potentially lifesaving combination. And they say TV’s not good for you.

A little re-tooling at the Viacom Station Group, courtesy of Steve Mauldin, Pres/GM of the Southwest region – Bill Maples, VP/Sta Mgr of KTXA/Dallas will add KAUT/Oklahoma City to his area of influence. Sue Stuecheli, former VP/GM of KAUT, has been appointed to a new post –VP/Regional Controller for he station group. Gary Schneider, VP/GM of KEYE/Austin is moved to SVP/Sta Mgr of KTVT and KTXA duopoly in Dallas. Michael Reed steps in at KEYE/Austin as VP/GM filling the void left by Schneider.

Adam Stewart has been upped to SVP/NSM, Ad Sales for Discovery Networks, U.S.  The announcement was made by Joe Abruzzese, President/Ad Sales, to whom Adam reports. Adam will be the main ad sales liaison to various divisions within the company and leads the organization of the national sales managers and the division’s efforts in the advertising community. 

Erika Faust has joined Court TV as Senior Director/Business Development, in the Strategy and Business Development department.  She will be responsible for driving online revenue growth through new product introductions and online partnerships for Court TV’s websites courttv.com and crimelibrary.com, and through new online ad sales processes applicable to all Court TV sites. 

Friday, July 30, 2004. Fast National 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

NBC     4.1/8   Dateline NBC 4.1/8, Las Vegas 4.1/8

ABC     3.8/7   George Lopez 3.4/7, 8 Simple Rules 3.3/7, Hope and Faith 3.1/6, Life With Bonnie 2.7/5, 20/20 5.1/10

CBS     3.8/7   Joan of Arcadia 3.5/7, JAG 4.1/8, 48 Hours 3.9/7

UPN     2.1/4   Amish in the City [r] 2.1/4

FOX     1.8/4   The Bernie Mac Show 2.0/4, Method and Red 1.9/4, The Jury 1.7/3

WB      1.7/3   What I Like About You [r] 1.4/3, Grounded for Life [r] 1.5/3, Reba [r] 2.0/4, Blue Collar TV [r] 1.9/3

A18-49  ABC 1.8/7, NBC 1.7/6, CBS 1.5/5, UPN 1.2/4, FOX and WB 1.0/4

Saturday, July 31, 2004. Fast National 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     4.0/8   The Amazing Race 5 [r] 2.6/6, Big Brother 4.1/8, Cold Case [r] 5.3/11

FOX     4.0/8   Cops 3.6/8, Cops [r] 3.9/8, America’s Most Wanted 4.1/8

NBC     3.0/6   Movie: Talented Mr. Ripley 3.0/6

ABC     2.5/5   Movie: October Sky 2.6/5, Whose Line? 2.0/4,  Whose Line? [r] 2.3/5

A18-49  FOX 2.3/9, CBS 2.0/8, ABC 1.3/5, NBC 1.0/4

Sunday, August 1, 2004. Fast National 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     7.3/13  60 Minutes 7.6/16, Cold Case [r] 6.9/13, Movie: The Pilot’s Wife 7.3/13

NBC     4.3/8   Dateline NBC 3.2/6, Law & Order: Criminal Intent [r] 5.2/9, Crossing Jordan [r] 5.4/9

ABC     4.2/8   AFV [r] 3.5/7, AFV [r] 4.2/8, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 5.3/9, The Days 3.8/7

FOX     2.6/5   King of the Hill [r] 2.4/5,  Malcolm in the Middle [r] 2.3/5, The Simpsons [r] 3.4/6, Arrested Development [r] 2.5/5,           The Simple Life 2 [r] 2.9/5, Quintuplets [r] 2.1/4

WB      1.1/2   Steve Harvey [r] 1.3/3, Charmed [r] 1.3/2, Studio 7 [r] 0.8/1

A18-49  ABC 2.6/8, CBS 2.3/7, NBC 1.9/6, Fox 1.8/6, WB 0.6/2

A MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1492:  Christopher Columbus sets sail from the Spanish port of Palos.  His small fleet, which sighted land in the Bahamas on October 12, was the first European expedition to travel to the Americas since the Norse settlers of the tenth and eleventh centuries.  Columbus returned to Spain in March of the following year and would command a total of four expeditions to the New World, which he never doubted was the Far East.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question: Jack Richmond is the publisher of what magazine?  THE GATE on Suddenly Susan.  Kudos to:  Joe Pepitone-YES Network/NY; Bob Eisenstaedt-Granite Springs Prods/Tampa; Synda Kollman-NBC/NY; David Stern-Bard Entertainment/NY; Mark Meadors-Benefit Advisors/Little Rock; Walt Hammock-Showcase Cable Ad Sales/Houston; Kathy Carlson-Cuneo Adv/Bloomington MN; Berry Ellis-Superstation WGN/Chicago; Phil Olsman-Namslo Prods/LA; Sherry Hodge-Bungalow 3/North Hollywood; Susan Nussenbaum Goldberg-SoapNet/LA; Michael Lopez-DAS Entertainment/Silicon Valley.

Today’s Trivia Question:  What is the name of the first television series to be spun off from an internet website?  HINT:  It aired on a broadcast network. (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
08/03/04  5:21am
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A MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2004:

COURT TV:       Trace Evidence: From the Case Files of Dr. Henry Lee
ABC             Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, According to Jim, Less Than Perfect, NYPD 24/7
CBS             Navy NCIS, Big Brother 5, The Amazing Race 5
FOX             Trading Spouses, That 70’s Show, Quintuplets
NBC             Last Comic Standing, Last Comic Standing, Law & Order: SVU
PAX             AFV, Balderdash, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             All of Us, Eve, The Player [p]
WB              Gilmore Girls [r], Summerland
TELE            Prisonera, Gitanas, Protagonistas VIP
UNIV            Mariana de la Noche, Amarte es mi Pecado, Al Filo de la Ley