CYNTHIA TURNER’S
Cynopsis

02/08/05

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, February 8, 2005, and this is your first early morning briefing.

Fox scored an overall 31.0 A18-49 rating for their Sunday night Super Bowl coverage from 7-11pm.  The big game itself delivered 86.05 million viewers according to time zone adjusted fast affiliate ratings supplied by Fox from Nielsen Media Research.  Demos for the game was a 33.2 A18-49 rating, and among male demos a 37.1 M18-49 and 32.6 M18-34.  The game ended at 1020p and the postgame delivered  a 21.6 A18-49 rating ending at 10:44p.  The Simpsons aired following the postgame and delivered an 11.2 A18-49 (23.1 millino viewers), followed by a special preview of the animated series American Dad (11:16-11:46pm) (15.1 million viewers) with a 7.5 A18-49 rating. Male demos for American Dad were a 9.6 M18-49 and 11.7 M18-34.  This year’s game with the New England Patriots is down in total viewership vs.the last few times the Patriots participated in the Super Bowl: 
2004 – 89.8 million (N.E. beat Carolina)
2002 – 86.8 million (N.E. beat St. Louis)
1997 – 87.8 million (N.E. lost to Green Bay)
1986 – 92.6 million (N.E. lost to Chicago)
The Simpsons/American Dad combo following the game and postgame, delivered an average of 19.2 million viewers, bettering the last time a scripted series followed the game (Alias in 2003 delivered 17.4 million).

Couple of programming updates at the WB – New to the schedule beginning Sunday, March 6 is The Starlet at 8pm (this was originally scheduled for March 8). Regular encore airings of The Starlet will be scheduled on Thursdays at 9p, from March 17 thru April 14.  Charmed will be temporarily moved to 7pm on Sundays as of March 6 with encore eps, and then return to its regular 8pm slot on April 10 with original eps, beginning with its 150th ep.  And as of March 24, Blue Collar TV will return to Thursday nights at 8pm.  Also, reported here yesterday, WB has ordered a pilot about a mermaid living on land in Miami, from Spelling TV.  This pilot thus far is untitled (yesterday’s item erroneously identified the pilot as Charmed, though it comes from the same exec prod Brad Kern).

And some midseason tweaking at NBC – American Dreams will move from Sundays to Wednesday nights at 8pm (vs. Lost on ABC).  The Contender will now have two preview airings (March 7 and 10) make its premiere on Sunday nights at 8pm starting March 13. Also, Law & Order: Trial by Jury will preview on March 3 at 10pand make its official premiere on March 4 at 10p.  The NBC sitcom project The Office will preview on March 24 at 930p following The Apprentice,  and then begin airing in its regular time period, Tuesdays at 930p, as of March 29.

Casting / Development / Production:

• ABC has ordered 6 episodes of a new reality show called Miracle Workers (Dreamworks TV/Renegade 83 Ent).  Take Extreme Makeover and apply it to personal health issues – this is people in dire health straits who are unable to pay for the medical care needed.
• Beau Bridges and Lou Gossett Jr. will join the cast of SciFi Channel’s Starget SG-1.  Bridges will play the new head of Stargate Command, General Hank Landry; Gossett will appear in a recurring role as a Jaffa leader. Production begins next month on both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, with premieres for each scheduled for this summer.
• Comedy Central has ordered 10 eps of an untitled 30m series starring comedian Carlos Mencia.  The series will be based on Mencia’s comedic POV. The series is scheduled tentatively to kick off this summer.
• Fox has ordered a comedy pilot called Pool Guys (Regency Television) from writers/exec prod Jennifer Konner and Alexandra Rushfield, described as Laverne & Shirley with Dudes. That is a pair of young guys who share an apartment and clean pools for a living, also share the ultimate dream of someday cleaning the pool at the Playboy Mansion.
• ABC and Touchstone has signed Kristin Davis to star in the drama pilot Soccer Moms.  This pilot had a cast-contingent restriction that has now been removed.  The project is about a pair of soccer moms, who in their spare time, become private detectives.
• Elsewhere at ABC, the net has opted not to go forward with its Jennifer Love Hewitt comedy project, In the Game, about a sports producer (Hewitt) who unwillingly becomes an on-air sports personality. Meanwhile, ABC has ordered up five other comedy pilots for consideration: Bobby Cannon will star Kevin Sorbo has an exiting pro football player; Sally about a middle aged woman who decides to ditch her husband, get a job and go out on her own; Crumbs about two estranged brothers who are forced to work together in running the family business; Neighbors about two guys who can’t stand each other, despite their wives and children becoming friends; and Joint Custody about a kid just graduated from college, comes home to find his parents have divorced while he was away at school.
• ABC Family has ordered 8 one hour eps of Beautiful People (Sony Pictures TV), per Variety.  The project is about three women, mother and her teen daughters, who have recently moved from a small western town to NYC.
• Fox’s 24 has added James Morrison to the cast in a recurring role as Bill Buchanan, a new member of the CTU anti-terrorist unit.
• ABC has added Brennan Elliot to its midseason drama series Blind Justice in a recurring role as a nightclub owner with a criminal past.
• Nick Chinlund has landed a recurring role in ABC’s Desperate Housewives as the detective investigating the death on Wisteria Lane.

ABC and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences have extended their agreement to keep the Academy Awards broadcast on the network for six more years through 2014.  The International rights are governed by a separate agreement with Buena Vista International which runs through 2010.

Court TV has picked up the exclusive TV rights to the film Unknown White Male which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival (Spectre Broadcast Ltd).  The film is about Doug Bruce and his experience of undergoing sudden and profound amnesia. Financial details were not disclosed, and a date for the TV premiere has not been set. 

NBC Sports together with USA Network will air 32 hours of the 2005 Dew Action Sports Tour.  NBC will air 22 hours of the tour coverage, with live coverage on Saturday and Sunday afternoons beginning June 11.  USA will air 10 hours of late night coverage (12m-1am) on Friday and Saturday nights, beginning June 10.  Sports included in the season long professional tour include skateboarding, BMC and freestyle motocross.

Sundance Channel has acquired the pay TV rights to the 8-part miniseries documentary The Staircase, directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade.  The Staircase follows the investigation into the cause of death of Nortel executive, Kathleen Peterson, wife of novelist Michael Peterson. The film will premiere as a special Sundance Channel DOCday series beginning on April 4, 2005, with two episodes airing back-to- back every Monday night at 9:00pm. 

The Portland Trail Blazers Television Network has signed with ABC Regional Sports Sales (a division of ABC National Television Sales) to act as its exclusive national sales representative for transactional spot advertising on both broadcast and cable television.   Other entities represented by ABC Regional Sports Sales and ABC National Television Sales are YES Network, Altitude Sports & Entertainment, Orioles Television Network, Royals Television Network, Diamondbacks Television Network, Devil Rays Television Network, and Major League Lacrosse. Preseason games for the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks also are represented by the ABC units.

Paxson Comm has pink slipped approx 50 employees, the bulk of whom come from the programming side and the West Palm Beach offices.  Those involved include Bill Scott, President/PAX TV Network; Barry Schulman, SVP/Programming; and Nancy Udell, SVP/Promotion and Advertising.  NBC owns a 32% stake in PAX TV but is not involved with its programming side and was not informed of the Pax decision prior to the announcement.  According to a statement from Paxson, the reason for the cuts was to bolster the company’s bottom line.

Pamela Thomas-Graham has been upped to Chairman/CNBC and Mark Hoffman has been named President/CNBC. The announcements were made by Bob Wright, Vice Chairman/GE and Chairman and CEO/NBC Universal; and Jeff Zucker, President/NBC Universal Television Group.  Pamela will be responsible for strategic planning for CNBC and for identifying major growth opportunities for the brand, including potential brand extensions. Mark Hoffman hails from WVIT/Hartford where he was President/GM, and in his new post will report to both Thomas-Graham and Jeff Zucker. He will oversee the day-to-day responsibility of CNBC’s network’s operations, programming and technology.

Meredith Broadcasting has named Paul Karpowicz its new President, a position open since the departure of Kevin O’Brien last year.  Karpowicz makes the move from LIN Television Group where he was VP/Television.  In his new post, he will report to Stephen M. Lacy, President/COO of Meredith.

Comedy Central has undergone a re-org of its marketing department.  As a result, two promotions to announce – Richard Loomis to SVP/Marketing and Brand Strategy; and Mitchel Fried to SVP/Promotional Marketing; both report to Michele Ganeless, EVP/GM. Richard will oversee the network’s consumer and trade marketing and advertising efforts.  Mitchel will be responsible for all integrated marketing and sponsorship opportunities to support the network’s advertising revenue.

Pryor & Associates has named Kristien Brada-Thompson to the position of VP/Publicist, and has upped Theo Dumont to Account Manager, in its LA office. Kristein joins Pryor after 10 years in the entertainment business, including posts at TOKYOPOP Inc., FMiTV Networks, Emap USA and Daily Variety.

Jana Winograde has been named EVP/Business Affairs, ABC Entertainment, reporting to Mark Pedowitz, EVP/ABC Entertainment Television Group & president, Touchstone Television.  Jana will oversee all aspects of Business Affairs for ABC Primetime, Daytime, Late-Night, Saturday morning programming, the ABC music division and theatrical post-production.

Sunday, February 6, 2005. Time Zone Adjusted Fast Affiliate Ratings for FOX (no shares, only rtgs) and fast affiliate ratings for all other Networks – time period averages.  Source: Nielsen Media Research.  [p] = Premiere; [r] = Repeat

FOX     38.0 (7-11p)    Super Bowl Patriots vs. Eagles (639-1020p) 41.1 HH Rtg
                          Super Bowl Postgame (10:20-10:44p) 25.5 HH Rtg
                          The Simpsons (10:44-11:16p) 13.0 HH Rtg
                          American Dad (11:16-11:46p) 8.7 HH Rtg

ABC     4.4/7    AFV [r] 2.5/4, EM: Home Edition [r] 3.8/6, EM: Home Edition [r] 5.0/7, Desperate Housewives [r] 6.2/10

CBS     4.4/7    News Special: Child Prodigies 3.3/4; Navy NCIS [r] 4.0/6, Cold Case [r] 5.0/7, Without a Trace [r] 5.4/9

NBC     4.2/6    Dateline 3.1/5, L&O: Criminal Intent [r] 3.8/6, Law & Order [r] 4.4/6, L&O: Criminal Intent [r] 5.5/9

WB      0.9/1    Summerland [r] 0.9/1, Summerland [r] 1.1/2, Summerland [r] 0.9/1

A18-49  Fox 31.0 rtg; ABC 2.5/5, NBC 1.5/3, CBS 1.4/3/ WB 0.4/1

A MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1926 – Walt Disney studio forms, creating the animation dynasty that has become a mainstay of U.S. popular culture.
 
Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:  What primetime television character says he’s allergic to microwaves because they ‘release space hamsters into my bloodstream”?  HOWLING MAD MURDOCK on THE A TEAM.  Kudos to: Karen Neal-TNT/Atlanta; Joy Leacock-Major Market News/NY; Marianne O’Leary-CBS/NY; Todd Sokolove-Hallmark Ent/NY; Stacey Cutshaw-KPLR/St. Louis; Mary Robinson-WFAA/Dallas; Brett Calvert-KSAT/San Antonio; Stan Justice-Litton Ent/Hermosa Beach; Jason Rosenberg-MVP Home Ent/LA; Andrea Polakovic-The Gary Group/Santa Monica; David Jones-Marleigh Ent/LA.

A MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

Today’s Trivia Question:   True or False: Barbara Billingsley was known for wearing a pearl necklace in every episode of Leave it to Beaver.  The reason she wore the necklace was to hide a tracheotomy scar she received in a choking incident as a small child.    (click here with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone with your answer. 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
02.08.05  5:18AM

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Copyright Cynthia Turner 2005

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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT: FEBRUARY 8, 2005:  February sweep 2/3/05 – 3/2/05

ABC              My Wife & Kids, George Lopez, According to Jim, Rodney, NYPD Blue
CBS              NCIS, The Amazing Race (9-11p)
FOX              American Idol, House
NBC              Most Outrageous TV Moments #1, #2, Scrubs, Committed, Law & Order: SVU
PAX              Young Blades, Early Edition, Cold Turkey
UPN              All of Us, Eve, Veronica Mars
WB               Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill
TELE             La Mujer en el Espejo, Gitanas, Te Voy a Ensenar a Querer
UNIV             Rubi, Amor Real, Jugando Al Amor