• #1 Original Series on Cable A18-49 and A25-54
• Beats The Closer +50% (A18-49) and +18% (A25-54)and Nip-Tuck +30% (A18-49) and +65% (A25-54)
• Finale delivers series high, breaking 3MM A25-54 LSD

SOURCE:Nielsen Media Research. Click here for the full source data.

Cynopsis

03.24.09

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, March 24, 2009, and this is your first early morning briefing. 

Tonight’s Premiere:
BET: College Hill at 10p

Tonight’s Finale:
Oxygen: Bad Girls Club at 10p

Fox has ordered up a second season of Kitchen Nightmares feature Gordon Ramsay’s visits and fixes of restaurants in dire need of help.  Kitchen Nightmares is a co-production of Granada America and Optomen in association with A. Smith & Co.
 
Coinciding with the NBA season tip-off in fall 2009, Cartoon Network is developing a short form series called My Dad’s a Pro, about children of NBA players and the lifestyle that goes along with that notoriety.  This is the first of several programming initiatives being developed by Cartoon with the NBA.  The first episode of My Dad’s a Pro will air this fall.

Get our your calendars, here are dates/times for NFL Kick-Off Weekend and Thanksgiving:

Thurs, September 10:  Tennessee at Pittsburgh on NBC at 830p

Sunday, September 13:  Chicago at Green Bay on NBC at 830p

Monday, September 14:  Buffalo at New England on ESPN at 7p; and San Diego at Oakland on ESPN at 10:15p

Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 26:  Green Bay at Detroit on Fox at 1230p; Oakland at Dallas on CBS at 4:15p and NY Giants at Denver on NFL Network at 8:20p

More from the NFL:

• The league has extended its agreement with DirecTV to carry the NFL Sunday Ticket exclusively thru the 2014 NFL season.  The deal also extends the reach of NFL Sunday Ticket to broadband, a service that is set to launch no later than 2012. 
• The NFL will offer fans by 2012 a Red Zone Channel that will carry live action cut-ins of all Sunday afternoon games starting at 1p and continuing thru the end of the 4p game.  The Red Zone Channel will be made available to cable, telco and satellite systems, wireless devices and the internet.  

Three more series will be joining the schedule on DirecTV‘s 101 Network.   The Nine, Smith and Eyes are all finding an afterlife on 101 Network, as a result of a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic TV Distribution.  All three series were cancelled off the networks which new episodes still in the can.  Smith joins the schedule on April 8 at 10p; The Nine debuts on May 27 at 10p; and Eyes returns to TV on Wednesday nights at 9p beginning in July, airing in the lead-in position to The Nine. Another series coming to 101 Network reports Variety is Friday Night Lights in a deal with Universal Media Studios and Imagine TV, a deal that may also include an order for a two new 13 episode seasons.

Televisa Networks and Telemundo have signed a joint venture agreement to launch the Telemundo channel, to be distributed throughout Mexico and Latin America.  The agreements are part of the Strategic Alliance announced between the two parties back in March 2008, which strives to distribute Telemundo’s original content in Mexico on a variety of platforms, including television.  The new channel will feature many of Telemundo’s best known programs including Al Rojo Vivo, Levantate and El Cuerpo del Deseo, among others

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE from ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES

Digital Rights Group has picked up the format distribution rights to the new entertainment game series Sell Me the Answer. Produced by Thumbs Up and fronted by star Gethin Jones, Sell Me the Answer has already been told to UK network Sky1 which has ordered 50 episodes of the one hour show.  The game is simple – contestants are asked question and if they don’t know the answer they can enter into negotiations with a group of traders to find someone who does know the answer and then buy the answer from them.  Clearly the traders initiative is to earn as much as possible, whether they really know the answers or not.  Therein lies the game.

AETN International will air seasons 2 thru 4 of Criss Angel Mindfreak on AXN Beyond, the spin-off channel from AXN Asia.

Alchemy Reality latest unscripted series has been picked up by The Travel Channel and given a 12-episode order.  Worldwide Tribe gives viewers an in depth look into the world of tattooing thru the eyes of tattoo artists Chris Nunes, Ami James and apprentice Yoji Harada.  Production has already begun and shooting takes place around the world including Nepal, Japan, Polynesia and the US, as well as other locales far and wide. Worldwide Tribe is produced by Alchemy Reality and Love Hate Productions.

BBC Worldwide teams up with Animal Planet on two “event” specials: The Great Rift will air next year and Madagascar in 2011.  The Great Rift is positioned as a three hour television event, cameras take viewers from one end of the Great Rift, thousands of miles to the other, from the mountains of Kilimanjaro to the Red Sea, to the Serengeti and the to the rain forests.   Madagascar, an island lost to civilization for 65 million years, is presented as a two hour special.  This island knows well to conservationists, is listed as one of the top global biodiversity priorities with its extraordinary landscapes, bizarre creatures and strange vegetation.  

Sci Fi Channel has ordered three 4-hour movies from RHI Entertainment:

• Alice is a “re-imagining” of Lewis Carroll’s classic story Alice in Wonderland.  Set to air in 2009, Alice is written and directed by Nick Willing and is a co-production between Reunion Pictures and Studio Eight with RHI Entertainment.
• Riverworld is based on the novels by Philip Jose Farmer and is the story of a combat photojournalist who awakes in a mysterious world where all those who once lived on Earth have been reborn.  Riverworld is a back door pilot for Sci Fi, and is produced by Reunion Pictures with RHI Entertainment.
• The Phantom – also a backdoor pilot for Sci Fi – is based on the superhero story of the comics, books and movies.  Scheduled to air in 2010, Phantom is from Muse Entertainment with RHI Entertainment.

Additionally, NBC has ordered two 4-hour movies from RHI Entertainment, both scheduled to air this summer:

• Meteor stars Christopher Lloyd and Marla Sokoloff as scientists who discover two massive rocks that have collided in space, and the debris from that collision in on course to crash directly into the Earth.  Other cast members include Billy Campbell, Jason Alexander and Stacy Keach.  Meteor is produced by RHI Entertainment in association with Larry Levinson Productions.
• The Storm will air on July 19 and 26th, and features Treat Williams, James Van Der Beek, Teri Polo, David James Elliott, John Larroquette and Luke Perry among others.  The Storm begins when a man-made weather event goes hideously wrong. The Storm is from RHI Entertainment in association with Larry Levinson Productions.

CYNOPSIS DIGITAL – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced on Monday that he was pulling an amendment to the nation’s copyright law that had drawn the ire of free speech advocates from around the globe. Originally scheduled to go into effect later this week, the law would have implemented a “three strikes” policy that required ISPs to disconnect users after three notices of copyright infringement. Critics complained that the measure failed to clearly define an “infringer” and placed the impetus on the user to defend themselves rather than placing the burden of proof on the Internet Service Provider. The New Zealand government plans to re-examine the issue and re-introduce legislation later this year.  Full edition: CYN DIGITAL.

CYNOPSIS KIDS – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  UK-based Walker Productions, a unit of kid’s publisher the Walker Books, partners with Ireland’s JAM Media and author/illustrator Polly Dunbar to develop a TV series based on Dunbar’s preschool picture book series Tilly and Friends.  The US editions are published by Candlewick Press, part of the Walker group, and publishers in France, Germany, Norway and Japan have all signed up to Tilly and Friends, with more deals to be announced this year.  Full edition: CYN KIDS .

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES

Friday – A18-49 Analysis:  College Basketball was the top scorer on Friday night among A18-49 according to fast national ratings from Nielsen.  CBS‘ NCAA Tourney coverage led every half hour of primetime, posting an overall 3.0/10 for the night, with a high at 9p and at 10p, both earning a 3.2/10 rating.  Elsewhere, Dollhouse on Fox delivered a 1.5/5, 3rd in the time period after sports and SuperNanny (1.6/5).  And Friday Night Lights for you fans out there, came in fifth during the 9p hour with a 1.2/4, behind WWE Smackdown’s 9p ratings (1.3/4).

Live + Same Day Household Ratings: Friday, March 20, 2009 (March Sweep Day 16) time period averages. Source: NTI Galaxy, as dated.  Live+SD

CBS 5.2/10      NCAA Basketball Tournament (7-930p) 4.5/9; NCAA Basketball Tournament (930-11p) 5.6/11

ABC 3.7/7       Wife Swap 3.2/6, Supernanny 3.5/6, 20/20 4.5/8

NBC 3.1/5       Howie Do It 2.5/5, Howie Do It [r] 2.4/4, Friday Night Lights 2.5/4, Dateline  4.2/8

FOX 2.5/4       Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles 2.3/4, Dollhouse 2.6/5

MNT 2.1/4       WWE Friday Night Smackdown 2.1/4

UNIV 2.1/4      Cuidado con el Angel 2.2/4, Manana es para Siempre 2.5/4, La Rosa de Guadalupe 1.7/3

CW  1.1/2       Everybody Hates Chris 1.1/2, The Game 1.2/2, America’s Next Top Model [r] 1.0/2

TELE 0.6/1      Dona Barbara 0.5/1, El Rostro de Analia 0.6/1, Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso 0.7/1, El Cartel 0.6/1

ION 0.5/1       Movie: Tango & Cash (630p) 0.3/1; Movie: Tango & Cash   0/5/1

A18-49:  CBS 3.0/10, UNIV 1.8/6, ABC 1.6/5, Fox 1.4/5, NBC 1.3/4, MNT 1.2/4, CW 0.7/2, TELE 0.4/1, ION 0.3/1

Sony Pictures Entertainment is uniting its domestic and international television divisions as part of its strategy to produce and distribute content on a worldwide basis, and will be headed by Steve Mosko, President/Sony Pictures Television.  Michael Grindon will remain President/International Television and will continue to manage those operations, reporting to Steve.  The strategic move, according to Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures, is to “allow us to be more united in pursuit of the opportunities presented by this new age of internationalization.”

TV Networks Distribution, a division of NBC Universal will undergo a Field Sales reorganization.  Effective immediately, Bridget Farley, VP/West-Midwest; Heather McCallion, VP/East; and Bruce Levinson, VP/Southwest, have expanded their responsibilities. In addition, Corinne Harradine, Director/West Region, will relocate from NBC Universal’s office in Burbank, Calif. to Atlanta, Ga. The announcement was made by Mary Murano, EVP/TV Networks Distribution

• Bridget will manage the West and Midwest regions and continue to manage key accounts, including Mediacom, Suddenlink and Wide Open West.
• Heather will manage the Eastern region from Maine to Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and will handle several key accounts, including Armstrong, RCN and Atlantic Broadband.
• Bruce, based at KXAS/Dallas, will manage the Southwest region and continue to manage the key accounts of National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) and Cable One.
• Corinne, in Atlanta, handles New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona, and will now also take on additional territory including Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia.

 
Two recent executive move announcements at WNET.Org:  Robert Clauser appointed VP/CFO and Treasurer at WNET.ORG; and Charlene Shapiro joins as VP/Human Resources.

Media Storm named Russell Zingale Managing Director, reporting to Media Storm’s co-founders and managing partners, Craig Woerz and Tim Williams.  Based in the agency’s South Norwalk, CT, office, Russell will work with the managing partners to build Media Storm’s new business efforts, and maintain strong client relationships.

Following the merger with Research International, TNS announced its new Senior Global Management Team, responsible for overseeing the development and success of the newly merged business alongside Bob Meyers as Chairman and Pedro Ros as CEO, who will have day-to-day management of the combined business.

• Mike Gettle joins as CFO/COO, and he will also be part of the integration committee responsible for TNS’ merger into the larger Kantar group. Supporting Mike is David Errington in his new role as Global Commercial Director for TNS.
• Jamie Hall will head up the ALM region as CEO Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa (ALM). Jamie will be closely supported by Heather Payne as TNS Regional Director for Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. Heather will also take responsibility for the company’s International Research Centre and the combined operations of Hong Kong and Singapore.
• In the US, David Kieselstein will be CEO North America. David will be working with Bridget Armstrong who will become EVP/US Consumer Sector Head. 
• In Europe, Judith Passingham retains her role as CEO Europe and Denis Delmas is Deputy Managing Director Europe. Denis will also have responsibility for Global Marketing Communications
• Kirk Ward moves from his position as Global Product Development Director at Research International to become Offer Development and Integration Director at TNS. 
• Stephen Factor retains his role as the Global Head of the Consumer Sector and will be responsible for the TNS Global Account Program.
• Jordi Ferrer becomes Strategy and Corporate Development Director.  
• Research International’s former Group Human Resources Director Catherine Connolly will now become Global Head of Human Resources for the merged business.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM INSTITUTE FOR MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

This day in History: 1988 – Former national security aides Oliver L. North and John M. Poindexter and businessmen Richard V. Secord and Albert Hakim pleaded innocent to Iran-Contra charges.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:    This California site, #367 in the Landmark Registry, is known as The Queen Anne Cottage.  What was it better known as on television?  MR. ROURKE’S VICTORIAN HOME ON FANTASY ISLAND.  Kudos to: Howell Edwards-Peachtree Settlement Funding/Boynton Beach; Alex Leff-ABC Family/NY; Abbott Wool-Telamerica Media/NY; Michael O’Gara-NYC; Robb Gray, Jr.-Apex Media/Tucson; Kyle Brawner-KDAF/Dallas; Kathy Alexander-SpotPlus/Dallas; Dory Melman Petsrillo-Petry Media Corp/Dallas; Sandy Pierce Pine-American Idol/Los Angeles; Donovan Jacobs-Overture Films/Beverly Hills; Darlene Lieblich Tipton-Fox Cable Networks/Los Angeles; Dennis Aimino-KABC/Los Angeles

Today’s Trivia Question:  On his series, this character only wore turtlenecks and when they did the reunion show, we learned he later went on to become a fashion designer.  Who is he?  (Email
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
03.24.09

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A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM CTAM

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JOB OPENING: DVLPMT EXEC: Creative/aggressive for PT rsrch & dvlpmnt. Exp’d in shaping raw ideas into breakout formats. Knwldgbl of cable TV programming with experience in creating shows. Resumes:
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT –  TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2009

ABC: President Obama Press Conference, Dancing with the Stars, Primetime: What would you do?
AZTECA: Los Que Callamos Las Mujeres Edicion Especial, Los 25 Mas, Al Extremo
CBS: President Obama Press Conference, NCIS, The Mentalist
CW: The Reaper, 90210 [r]
FOX: President Obama Press Conference, House
ION: Boston Legal, Boston Legal, Boston Legal
MNT: Street Patrol, Street Patrol, Jail, Jail [r]
NBC: President Obama Press Conference, Biggest Loser: Couples
PBS: Nova, Frontline, Independent Lens
TELE: Dona Barbara, El Rostro de Analia, Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso, El Cartel
UNIV: Cuidado con el Angel, Manana es para Siempre, Aqui y Ahora

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