CYNTHIA TURNER’S
Cynopsis

08/09/05

Good morning.  It’s Tuesday, August 9, 2005, and this is your first early morning briefing. Remember, if you’d rather listen than read, you can sign up for the Cynopsis: In Your Ear podcast available for download each morning by 630a at www.cynopsis.com or via iTunes 4.9, listed in the podcast directory under “News.”

All three evening news programs last night began their broadcast with Peter Jennings.  ABC News will continue with its title ABC News with Peter Jennings for the immediate future.  For the moment, ABC is not prepared to say who will take over the anchor chair permanently, and will continue with Charles Gibson and Elizabeth Vargas subbing.  Naturally there is plenty of speculation what will happen next.  Gibson’s moving permanently to the anchor chair would leave a critical void in the Good Morning America team, a team that is not-so-quietly sneaking up on NBC’s morning Today program. Vargas is certainly capable, albeit less experienced than Gibson and without Gibson’s long-term viewer relationship. Other names have been bandied about since it became known Jennings was ill; names including George Stephanopoulos and Bob Woodruff.   And this is not the only chair ABC News will need to fill – Ted Koppel’s will be up for grabs at year’s end as well.  For its part, ABC plans to not make any public moves for a little bit. 

Tonight’s Finale:
NBC:  I Want to be a Hilton at 9p

Tonight’s Premiere:
History:   Man, Moment, Machine at 10p

UPN has changed its premiere schedule to include a special 2-hour debut of the fifth season of America’s Next Top Model.  Originally scheduled to air on September 21st with a one hour ep, the show has been expanded to two hours, pushing the debut of Veronica Mars to the following week, 9/28, at 9p.

Are you ready for some football?  ABC and the Rolling Stones are.  ABC has signed the Stones to a season-long promotional campaign which will kick off with the NFL Opening Kickoff 2005 on September 8 at 8p.  Music and footage from the Stone’s A Bigger Bang world tour will be used that night and throughout the season for promotional pieces as well as in-game highlights adn tease packages.  The CD of the tour on Virgin Records is scheduled to be released on September 5.  The season’s opening game on 9/8 on ABC will feature the Patriots and the Raiders at Gillette Stadium.

David E. Kelley’s reality series The Law Firm on NBC has been pulled from the schedule after just two outings.  The Apprentice-type series never caught the viewers fancy – it’s latest airing last Thursday drew a 1.4/4 A18-49 rating. The show will continue to air on Bravo.  Look for repeats of Will & Grace and Scrubs to fill the Thursday 9p vacancy.

And a schedule change for Bravo.  It’s newest reality series, Situation: Comedy where writers compete to have their show made into a pilot for NBC.  The show debuted on Tuesday, July 26 with just 217,000 viewers, and beginning this week it will be moved to Fridays at 7p.

National Geographic Channel and Fox Networks Group will launch NGC HD network in early 2006. The timing of the new hi-def network coincides with the fifth anniversary of the National Geographic Channel, now in 55 million homes. As for programming on the new net, NGC is already producing virtually all of its lineup in HD, and will couple it with a slew of new acquisitions.  The network estimates 90% of its primetime schedule at launch will be available in hi-def.

Tonight the History Channel launches its new series Man, Moment, Machine at 10p.  The series explores the convergence of human drama, a critical moment and history making technologies and inventions, that collectively created our history – i.e., aviator Jimmy Doolittle and the B-25 Bomber that changed the course of World War II. The show is hosted by Hunter Ellis.

This Sunday, Showtime will debut its new 30m comedy series Barbershop, based on the hit film, set in a Chicago barbershop.  While none of the actors in the film are in the television series, all of the characters are represented.  Cast members include Omar Gooding (brother of Cuba Gooding Jr.) as Calvin (originally played in the film by Ice Cube); Toni Trucks as Terri.  The show premieres at 10p.

Suggested reading: Brody Mullins’ story in today’s Wall Street Journal about News Corp.’s working to block Nielsen Media Research’s Local People Meters by courting Washington democrats.  It’s worth a read.  It’s in the Media & Marketing section.

In development at Original Films:

• Snitch:  A reality show set in a NYC rock n roll club is making the rounds and according to Hollywood Reporter is gathering some interest from several cable networks. The show is about the goings on at the club from its employees and bookers to its musical guests.  Each episode would feature a musical performance.  Bands that have performed at the club in the past include its owners, Velvet Revolver and Cypress Hill.

In development at ABC:

• The Company (25C Prods/Sony Pictures Television), focuses on a pharmaceutical company, but is more a portrayal of the big money corporate world – the smart, the desperate and the golden parachuted. Thus far has received a script commitment from the network.  A put pilot commitment is expected, according to Variety. Exec producers of The Company are Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly.

Touchstone Television has signed a two year/7 figure development deal with Sheila Lawrence to create and development new projects for the studio, as well as serve as co-exec prod on Touchstone’s What About Brian? series set to debut on ABC midseason.

RCN Corporation and Starz Entertainment  Group have signed a long-term affiliate agreement whereby RCN will carry SEG premium movie channels and services, including all 13 Starz Ent Group’s movie channels thru 2009.  Additionally, RCN will provide its Starz customers Starz On Demand, at no additional charge.

John H. Johnson, Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.’s Founder/Publisher/Chairman, passed away at the age of 87 in Chicago.  He was the founder of global media and cosmetics empire which includes such publications as EBONY and JET magazines, Fashion Fair Cosmetics and EBONY Fashion Fair. Founded in 1942, JPC is recognized as the top African-American publishing company in the world. John has received numerous honors through his career, including The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Magazine Publisher’s Association Publisher of the Year Award, the Advertising Hall of Fame Award, the National Business Hall of Fame Award, the Greatest Minority Entrepreneur Award, the Horatio Alger Award and the NAACP Spingarn Award.  Howard University established the John H. Johnson School of Communications in John’s honor two years ago.  In addition, the John H. Johnson Delta Cultural and Entrepreneurial Learning Center in Arkansas City was dedicated this year.  Linda Johnson Rice, the company’s COO/CEO and John’s daughter, stated that her father “was in his office and alert and active until the end. He was the greatest salesman and CEO I have ever known, but he was also a father, friend and mentor with a great sense of humor who never stopped climbing mountains and dreaming dreams.”

Sesame Workshop has appointed Daniel Victor to EVP/International Strategy, overseeing international projects across divisions, including content and distribution, business development, public policy, and education and research. Daniel will also extend and execute strategic initiatives in those areas.  Sesame Workshop has also upped Dr. Lewis Bernstein to EVP/Research and Outreach.  Dr. Bernstein will provide the educational agenda and evaluate content for all Sesame Workshop productions and creative implementations.  He will also supervise all of the Workshop’s global outreach programs aimed at targeting under-served audiences with educational content.  Dr. Bernstein will report to Melvin Ming, COO.

Starz Entertainment Group LLC (SEG) announced that Gary Pfeiffer has joined the company as VP/Information Technology (IT) and will report to Bill Myers, EVP/CFO. Gary will oversee all IT functions for SEG including business systems and applications, help desk initiatives, client support services, all infrastructure and server operations and telephony. Gary will work out of the Englewood, Colo. office.
 
International Broadcast Communications, Inc. (IBC) has hired Bruce Rabinowitz as Director/Sales. Bruce will work to increase programming  sales and he will explore ancillary program distribution opportunities on behalf of IBC’s clients.  The announcement was made  by Jon Helmrich, Founder and President of IBC. 

Platinum Studios, an entertainment company that controls the world’s largest independent library of comic book characters, has named Brian Altounian as COO. As Platinum Studios continues to grow through recent partnerships with Gold Circle Films and The Shop as well as the recent acquisition of Hexagon Comics, Brian will be responsible for managing fiscal growth and staffing.

Friday — A18-49 Analysis:   NBC was in front on a very slow Friday night with an overall 1.8/7 A18-49 rating, according to Nielsen fast affiliate ratings.  At 8p and again at 9p, NBC led with a 1.7/7 and 2.2/8, respectively, for its two-hour Dateline. ABC turned the tide at 10p and was out in front with its broadcast of 20/20 earning a 2.3/8.  Fox’s four back-to-back eps of Arrested Development earned a mild 4 share for the night. Veronica Mars kicked off CBS’ Friday night schedule with a 0.9/4, and The Cut on CBS at 9p, one of the few non-news magazine original options for the night, drew a 1.1/4.

Fast Affiliate Ratings: Sunday, August 7,  2005, for all Networks – time period averages. Source: Nielsen Media Research. 

NBC     4.7/9   Dateline 5.0/10, Crossing Jordan [r] 4.0/8

ABC     3.3/7   8 Simple Rules [r] 2.6/6, Hope & Faith [r] 2.8/5, Less Than Perfect [r] 2.6/5,  20/20 4.7/9

CBS     2.6/5    Veronica Mars 2.5/5, The Cut 2.3/4,  Numb3rs [r] 3.0/6

UPN     2.2/4    Movie:  American Outlaws 2.2/4

FOX     1.7/3    Arrested Development  [2hrs] [r]1.7/3

WB      1.5/3    What I Like About You [r] 1.4/3, Blue Collar TV [r] 1.4/3, Reba [r] 1.7/3, Living with Fran [r] 1.6/3

A18-49            NBC 1.8/7, ABC 1.7/6, CBS, Fox, WB, UPN 1.0/4

Saturday — A18-49 Analysis: Fox won Saturday night with an overall 2.0/8 A18-49, according to fast affiliate ratings from Nielsen.  The first hour of Cops earned a  1.9/8, just a share point ahead of CBS’ original ep of Big Brother. At 9p, an original AMW on Fox delivered a  2.1/8, while ABC and CBS were tied for the hour with a 5 share.  At 10p, CBS pulled out in front with the second hour of 48 Hours Mystery earning a 2.0/7.

Fast Affiliate Ratings: Saturday, August 6,  2005, for all Networks – time period averages. Source: Nielsen Media Research. 

CBS     3.9/8    Big Brother 3.2/7,  48 Hours Mystery (9-11p) 4.2/8

FOX     3.4/7    Cops [r] 2.8/6, Cops [r] 3.6/8, America’s Most Wanted 3.6/7

ABC     3.0/6   Movie: Bandits 3.0/6

NBC     3.1/6   L&O Trial By Jury [r] 2.4/5,  L&O [r] 3.0/6, L&O Criminal Intent [r] 3.7/7

A18-49            Fox 2.0/8, CBS 1.7/6, ABC 1.2/5, NBC 1.0/4

Sunday — A18-49 Analysis:  CBS was in front on Sunday with an overall 2.5/7 A18-49, so says Nielsen Media Research‘s fast affiliate ratings, tho Fox, ABC and NBC were all pretty tightly clustered right behind CBS. At 7p AFHV prevailed with a 2.2/8, tho NBC’s first hour of Dateline was close behind with a 1.9/7. At 8p Fox jumped in front with a 2.8/9 for back-to-back Simpsons. Fox kept its lead at 9p with Family Guy and American Dad repeats earning a 2.9/8. And at 10p the final hour of CBS’ film Deep Impact led with a 3.3/9.

Fast Affiliate Ratings: Sunday, August 7,  2005, for all Networks – time period averages. Source: Nielsen Media Research. 

CBS     5.5/10  60 Minutes 5.6/11, Cold Case [r] 5.6/10, Movie: Deep Impact 5.5/9

NBC     5.4/9   Dateline 5.2/10,  L&O Criminal Intent [r] 6.1/10, Crossing Jordan [r] 5.0/8

ABC     4.0/7   AFHV [r] 4.0/8, Extreme Makeover [r] 3.9/7, Desperate Housewives [r] 4.1/7, Grey’s Anatomy [r] 3.9/7

FOX     3.3/6    Malcolm [r] 2.0/4, King/Hill [r] 2.5/5, The Simpsons [r] 3.5/6, The Simpsons [r] 4.0/7, Family Guy [r] 4.0/7, American Dad [r] 3.5/6

WB      1.2/2    Charmed [r] 1.1/2, Movie: Sugar & Spice 1.2/2

A18-49            CBS 2.5/7, Fox 2.4/7, ABC 2.3/7, NBC 2.1/6, WB 0.8/2

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1936- African American track star Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal of the 1936 Olympic Games, held in Berlin.  Adolf Hitler intended the Games to be a showcase for his grandiose vision of the German Third Reich.  Instead, they are remembered as much for the accomplishments of Owens.  Owens’ fourth medal, in the 4×100-meter relay, represented a new world record.  Earlier, Owens tied a world record in the 100 meters and broke world records in the 200 meters and broad jump.
 
Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question in salute to Peter Jennings:   What happened to Peter Jennings on February 1, 1965 at the age of 26?
He became anchor of Peter Jenning with the News, for the first time. The gig only lasted a couple of years.      Kudos to:  Mike Doyle-Time Warner Cable/Stamford CT; Maya Smith-McCulloch & Company/Roswell GA; Marie T. Molinet-Discovery/Miami; Adam Lubkin-WFOR/Miami; Robbie Gutierrez-KTVD/Denver; Pamela Mapua-GSD&M/Austin; Lorrie Shilling-AZN TV/Centennial CO; Megan Sullivan-KVUE/Austin; Susan Brandes-ABC Daytime/Burbank; Michele Anderson/LA; Lee Gallagher-The Ballpark Advertising Agency/Santa Monica CA; Nick Monroe-KGTV/San Diego.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

Today’s Trivia Question: U.S. Vice President Al Gore and this Oscar-winning actor were roommates at Harvard. Who is this actor? (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.)

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM SEPTEMBER FILMS

SEPTEMBER FILMS warmly thank our US licensees WE:WOMEN’S ENTERTAINMENT, EP’s David Green & Mary Pelloni, and all contributors & crew who have made Season #2 of our BRIDEZILLAS franchise such a huge ratings success.

Distributors SEPTEMBER INTERNATIONAL are proudly reporting similar results from all our other licensees worldwide.

www.septemberfilms.com

Later — Cyn
08.09.05  – 5:19am
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  Tuesday, August 9, 2005

ABC              My Wife and Kids [r], Rodney [r], According to Jim [r], Rodney [r], Boston Legal
CBS              NCIS [r], Big Brother,  Rock Star: INXS
FOX              Trading Spouses [r], House [r]
NBC              Meet Mister Mom , I Want To Be a Hilton, L&O: SVU [r]
PAX              Doc,  Diagnosis Murder, Early Edition
UPN              One on One, Eve [r], R U The Girl [r]
WB               Gilmore Girls [r], Gilmore Girls [r]
TELE             El Cuerpo del Desceo, Los Plateados, El Principe Azul
UNIV             Apuesta por un Amor, La Madrastra, Casos de la Vida Real