CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

05/11/04

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, May 11, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing.

Sunday night was all about CBS and Survivor.  For the full 7-11pm night, CBS averaged an 8.1/22 A18-49 rating according to Nielsen Media Research; its closest competitor being ABC with an all night Harry Potter movie delivering a 3.8/10.  At7pm ABC was in front with a 2.9/11, with CBS and Fox close behind, posting 2.3/9 and 2.0/8 respectively.  At 8pm the first hour of Survivor All Stars finale delivered an 8.7/24 (again with ABC and Fox nearly tied at 3.6/10 and 3.0/9 respectively).  The second and final hour of Survivor All Stars earned a 10.6/25 – though the $1 million winner wasn’t announced until after the start of the 10p hour. (Harry Potter holds tough with a 4.4/10). At 10p the winner announcement and reunion show earned a 10.9/26 (Potter a 4.1/10).  It will be interesting to know how many hits CBS gets on its website with people voting for who of the All Stars gets the second $1 million (announced Thursday at 8pm on another live episode).

Tonight’s Season Finales: One Tree Hill at 9 pm on WB

Twentieth Television announced the slow roll out syndication debut of a first run original strip series, Live Like A Star, on select Fox Television Stations group stations nationwide, beginning next month.  Each ½ hour show centers on a surprise visit from one of the show’s in-house celebrity experts in order to transform that person’s living space, style or plan an upcoming event. It is being produced by Wheeler/Sussman Productions in association with Twentieth Television.  The stations carrying the show have not been announced.

Preview to the Broadcast Upfront Presentations next week – CBS:

• News series receiving orders:  CSI New York, untitled project from Eric Schotz and Bill Paolantonio (reality show searching for next domestic goddess)
• Freshman Series Renewed for Next Season: Cold Case, Joan of Arcadia, Navy NCIS, Survivor, Two and a Half Men
• Returning this summer – Big Brother (Thur/Sat/Tue beginning July 6), Amazing Race (Tuesdays at 10p, July 6)
• New shows expected this summer:  The Will (Mike Fleiss)

Nielsen Media Research has hired with University of Southern California’s Tomas Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI), to review the findings of the National Latino Media Council’s Latino Television Study, which was originally conducted by Rincon & Assoc. That Rincon study created a ground swell of controversy as it questioned Nielsen’s measurement of Latino viewers, which in turn may be attributed to Nielsen’s decision to delay the launch of Local People Meters in NY.   TRPI’s review of those findings will take a closer look at Rincon’s methodology.  Particular areas of concern include Rincon’s telephone survey which was conducted in only four major US markets (NY, LA, San Antonio and Miami); it used only listed telephone numbers, and did not utilize any unlisted numbers or survey homes without telephone service; and the lack of participation among those called in the survey.   The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute is considered one of the leading organizations measuring the attitudes of the Latino population on a broad range of issues.

Don’t Count Me Out held two press conferences yesterday – one in LA and the other in Chicago.  Both are asking Nielsen to not introduce Local People Meters to the market, citing data from the Rincon survey that Nielsen will not adequately measure Hispanic and African American households. Don’t Count Us Out is building a coalition of high-profile leaders in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to put pressure on Nielsen to delay implementation of a system they allege doesn’t represent all Americans. “Nielsen’s failure to explain or correct their track record of undercounting minorities means that we cannot trust them to introduce this system in Chicago for their latest experiment. It is irresponsible for Nielsen to go forward with this rollout in Chicago until they’ve fixed the problem,” stated State Representative Frank Aguilar.

If you were a fan of PBS‘ Frontier House and 1800 House, you’ll be interested to know they will begin a new House on May 17 called Colonial House.  Set in the mid-1600’s, the show ‘players’ live as people did during the period.  The schedule (and you’ll check your local listings for times,etc.) is for the show to air on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Comcast finalized the acquisition of Vulcan Programming, Inc.’s TechTV.  Comcast’s plans to merge TechTV and its video game/gamer network, G4 will proceed as anticipated, and the new entity is called G4techTV.  EchoStar Communications Corporation will also have equity interest in the endeavor.  The two-channel, LA-based merger, G4techTV will become one on May 28 with a projected availability to 44 million cable and satellites customers.  Charles Hirschhorn is G4techTV’s new CEO.

Director Robert Altman and Gary Trudeau (Doonesbury) will gather again to produce a sequel to Tanner ’88 for The Sundance Channel.  The 3-ep limited series is scheduled to air prior to the November Presidential election, and will include original cast members Michael Murphy (who plays Presidential Candidate Jack Tanner), Pamela Reed, Cynthia Nixon (Tanner’s daughter) and Matt Malloy.

Canada’s CTV has picked up the Canadian broadcasting rights to Mark Burnett’s The Casino, expected to make its CTV debut on June 14.   Burnett’s other two major projects – Survivor and The Apprentice, air on Canada’s Global TV.

Buena Vista International Television (BVITV) has named Mark Endemano as VP/Finance for Europe, Middle East and Africa.  Mark will be responsible for BVITV’s financial operations in Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the producer group support.  He will be based in London and report to Tom Toumazis, SVP and Managing Director for the same regions. 

Julie Laughlin was upped to Co-Executive Producer of ABC’s Extreme Makeover.  She was the Senior Supervising Producer for the show.  She will continue to work with Executive Producers Chuck Bangert and Lou Gorfain.  Julie previously worked on Big Brother (CBS), The Family (ABC) and The Jerry Springer Show and Leeza. 

Ross Babbit was named Director of Programming at DIY-Do It Yourself Network.  He recently moved from The Early Show at ABC.  One of Ross’ 1st projects is the new series premiering in the fall, Grounds for Improvement. The show will center on a step-by-step how to model to change an awful yard into a delightful landscape.  He is based in Knoxville, TN.

Danny Rosett has been named President of United Artists.  UA is a specialty film division of MGM.  The position had been filled by Bingham Ray who stepped down in January, and Danny has been acting President since then.

Sunday, May 9, 2004. Fast Affiliate 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     11.6/20 60 Minutes 7.5/16, Survivor All Stars (8-10p) 12.8/21, Survivor Reunion 13.4/22

ABC     6.5/11  Movie: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone 6.5/11

NBC     6.1/11  Dateline (7-9p)  4.6/9, L&O: CI 7.3/11, Crossing Jordan 8.1/13

FOX     3.4/6   King of the Hill 2.4/5, King of the Hill 2.8/6, Simpsons 3.9/7, Simpsons 4.3/7, Malcolm 3.6/6, Malcolm 3.2/5

WB      1.4/3   High School Reunion [r] 0.9/2, Charmed 1.9/3, Charmed [r] 1.3/2

A18-49  CBS 8.1/22, ABC 3.8/10, NBC 2.6/7, FOX 2.5/7, WB 0.9/3

A MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1927 – At the Biltmore Hotel in Hollywood, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded. Douglas Fairbanks serves as the group’s first president.

Answer to Monday’s Trivia Question: What will the Papadalupapadipu plant do for you?  According to Balki (Perfect Strangers), if you’re a guy, it will CURE THE COMMON COLD. If you’re a girl, you’ll grow a moustache and two weeks later your cold will return.  Kudos to: Dave Ware-WKMG/Orlando; Joyce Hom-Viacom Sales/NY; Julie Taylor-USA Today/Atlanta; Lorna Nagy-TNSMI-CMR/West Chester; Kathy Carlson-Cuneo Adv/Bloomington MN; Melissa Woolery-Discovery Comm/Chicago; Matt Robinson-Echopoint Media/Indianapolis; Kathy Alexander-SpotPlus y Mas/Dallas; Richard Storrs-Creative Television Marketing/Burbank; Bryan Howard-Fox Television Studios/LA; Eric Wilson-MediaMania/Irvine; Jesse Dienstag-Hall & Partners/LA.

A MESSAGE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

Today’s Trivia Question:  Who was known for this often spoken line:  Who says I’m dumb? (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
05/11/04  5:19am
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2004

COURT TV:       Special: Safety Challenge, Forensic Files, The Investigators 
ABC             8 Simple Rules, 8 Simple Rules [r], According to Jim, Less Than Perfect, NYPD Blue
CBS             Navy NCIS, The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited, Judging Amy
FOX             American Idol, 24
NBC             Frasier, Frasier, Dateline NBC Special: Frasier Interviews, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
PAX             AFV, AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             One on One, All of Us, America’s Next Top Model: The Runway Ahead
WB              Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill [season finale]
TELE            Prisonera, El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV            Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Al Filo de la ley