Cynopsis

10/28/08

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, October 28, 2008, and this is your first early morning briefing.   

Tonight’s Premiere:
Oxygen: Coolio’s Rules at 10p

Tonight’s Finales:
ABC Family: Greek at 9p
BET: Somebodies at 1030p

A&E Network renewed its scripted drama series The Cleaner for a second season. Starring Benjamin Bratt and produced by CBS Paramount Television in association with Once A Frog Productions, the series will begin production on 13 new episodes scheduled to debut in 2009.

To highlight November as National Adoption Month, the Hallmark Channel will re-introduce season two of its original series Adoption on the network’s website at www.hallmarkchannel.com . The first four episodes will be posted on the site then two more episodes will be streamed each week over five weeks with 14 episodes in all. The series Adoption first premiered on the network in 2002.

ABC will not air the 30-minute Barack Obama special this Wednesday, keeping Pushing Daisies in its normal time slot instead, according to THR. The Obama campaign bought half-hours on CBS, NBC and FOX at 8p on Wednesday paying $1 million per network.

AMC’s incredible season two finale of Mad Men on Sunday night at 10p racked up 1.75 million total viewers and a 1.4 HH rating, based on Fast Nationals Coverage Area Ratings. The last episode also tallied 2.9 million total viewers over three airings at 10p, 11p and 1a.

MSG Plus opens a new original action sports series The Transit Chapters this Saturday at 530p. Over six 30m episodes the series will document emerging sports such as skateboarding, courier bike racing to freestyle soccer taking place throughout New York City. The series is produced by MSG in collaboration with 360 Productions and Aura360 with Red Bull North America as co-executive producer and Bruno Musso as producer.

Cities of the Underworld on History debuted last Sunday at 9p by amassing 1.3 million total viewers and a 1.0 HH rating as well as 756,000 A25-54 and 691,000 A18-49 viewers.

Retro Television Network (RTN) will add a weekly, live-to-tape show called Daytime to its schedule beginning December 1. The show partners with Southern Living Magazine highlighting travel, food, fashion and entertainment along with special celebrity guests. Dave Nemeth will host the show and local stations will have the opportunity to insert local content segments.

Super Tuesday Election Night Coverage: PBS will open its coverage November 4 with The NewsHour anchored by Jim Lehrer starting at 9p ET until midnight ET or until a president-elect is determined. The PBS news team will join Lehrer with Judy Woodruff reporting live from the Obama headquarters in Chicago; Ray Suarez reporting live from the McCain headquarters in Phoenix; Gwen Ifill will speak with political analysts Amy Walter and Stuart Rothenberg; Margaret Warner will lead a panel of historians; Jeffrey Brown speaks with NPR correspondents from key battleground states; Kwame Holman offers up a look at election day polling activities via video; and regular political analysts David Brooks and Mark Shields will be with Lehrer in-studio.

Azteca America released a statement over the weekend confirming it and its affiliate sales groups Una Vez Mas and McGraw Hill are continuing business as usual for its station operations and ad sales, following Friday’s news that Interep filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Interep owns the subsidiary Azteca America Spot Television Sales, Inc. serving local sales for many Azteca America affiliates including those stations in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago and Texas.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM FUSE

Starz Media continues its foray into original production by announcing a new drama series Spartacus, offering a different take on the legendary hero and Roman gladiators. Production begins early next year in New Zealand with plans to premiere on Starz and its various channels later in 2009. Starz Media’s Starz Productions produces with Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Joshua Donen as executive producers.

ABC Family adds the pilot Perfect 10 to its fall production slate. Perfect 10, going into production in Los Angeles, is a one-hour drama about the competitive world of gymnastics following a group of teen Olympic wannabes. Holly Sorensen is the creator/writer and will also executive produce along with Adam Cohen, Cara Tapper and Joanna Vernetti. Prodco, Inc. will produce the series.

LIN TV is rolling out an interactive TV test involving a few hundred viewers next month which will possibly offer a bridge between television and the web. LIN TV is teaming with Boston-based Backchannelmedia and launching the test on its WTNH-WCTX/Hartford-New Haven duopoly and potentially later on its 29-station group if the trial does well. The technology created by Backchannel involves a small icon appearing on the bottom-right corner of TV screens that are hooked to a special set-top box. Viewers can click on this icon with their remotes giving them more information on programming content sent to a personalized website or “consumer portal” which can later be accessed on their own time. The product is also currently being tested on WCVB/Boston and WMUR/Manchester both owned by Hearst-Argyle as well as on WJAR/Providence owned by Media General.

The Bob & Tom Show, the live morning radio show airing on more than 150 radio stations nationwide, will soon come to television. Tribune Broadcasting’s WGN America will premiere the show, hosted by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold starting November 3 and airing Monday-Friday at 1a. Bob and Tom are known for their comedy, guest interviews and entertaining banter.

Casting Call: Talented dancers take note: FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance, from 19 Entertainment, Ltd. and Dick Clark Productions, opens a contestant search for season five November 13 in New York City. Series producers will be on hand at the Mark Morris Dance Center, 3 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217 with registration beginning at 8a. Audition dates in Denver, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami and Seattle will be added soon. Dancers traveling to auditions should plan on staying in the designated cities for at least two days following their audition in case of a callback. Participants must be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents of the U.S., have a valid Employment Authorization Card for the U.S. or be in the process of obtaining one. For up-to-date information on So You Think You Can Dance auditions, visit fox.com/dance.

CYNOPSIS DIGITAL – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  After fellow cable operators scrapped plans to enter the mobile business Cox Communications confirmed plans to launch its own 3G cell phone network by next year. Cox will bundle mobile with digital cable, high-speed internet and phone service for customers in its own footprint and contract with Sprint to handle calls outside of Cox’s wired base. The cable TV MSO has already invested more than $500 million in wireless spectrum within its cable markets including New Orleans, San Diego, Omaha, Las Vegas, Kansas, New Mexico and Atlanta. Full edition: CYN DIGITAL.

CYNOPSIS KIDS – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  Beyond Productions heads into production on the new kid’s TV series Crime Scene Detective (52×15 or 26×30).  Based on publisher Dorling Kindersley‘s book of the same name, the show features dramatized Fantasy Mysteries and At Home Crime Scenes that can be solved using real forensic science skills, while giving viewers the chance to take part as well.   Beyond has pre-sold the series to Super RTL, Seven Network Australia and Television Ontario.  The series begins shooting this month and is slated for delivery beginning mid 2009.  Beyond Distribution represents Crime Scene Detective, with worldwide rights available.  Full edition: C YN KIDS.

CYNOPSIS INTERNATIONAL – TODAY’S TOP STORY:  TVBox, a new U.K.-based SVOD service, is making its debut following an agreement between Universal Pictures and Top Up TV to launch the new service within Top Up TV’s Anytime package.  This first brand extension of NBC Universal’s PictureBox SVOD service for features will offer over 55,000 episodes from current and library TV shows.    Full edition: CYN INTERNATIONAL.

Friday – A18-49 Analysis:  CBS claimed another Friday night win with 2.1/7 A18-49, according to final national ratings from Nielsen Media Research. CBS scared up the top rating at 8p with Ghost Whisperer and a 2.6/9. UNIV’s Fuego en La Sangre secured #1 with 2.2/7 during 9p while ABC’s SuperNanny and NBC’s Don’t Forget the Lyrics! tied for second at 1.6/5. Through 10p, CBS’ Numb3rs dialed in the right numbers with 2.3/7; ABC’s 20/20 came next at 2.1/7; and NBC’s Life in third at 1.6/5. 

Live + Same Day Household Ratings: Friday, October 24, 2008  time period averages. Source: NTI Galaxy, as dated. Live+SD.

CBS: 5.3/9         Ghost Whisperer 6.3/11, The Ex List 3.5/6, Numb3rs 6.0/10

NBC: 3.8/7          Deal or No Deal 4.0/7, Crusoe 3.7/6, Life 3.6/6

ABC: 3.7/7          Wife Swap 2.7/5, SuperNanny 3.4/6, 20/20 5.0/9

FOX: 3.5/6           Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? 3.6/6, Don’t Forget the Lyrics! 3.4/6

UNIV: 2.2/4         Cuidado con el Angel 2.4/4, Fuego en la Sangre 2.5/4, La Rosa de Guadalupe 1.6/3

MNT: 2.1/4         WWE Friday Night Smackdown 2.1/4

CW: 1.0/2           Everybody Hates Chris 1.1/2, The Game 1.2/2, America’s Next Top Model [r] 0.9/1

TELE: 0.6/1         Dona Barbara 0.5/1, El Rostro de Analia 0.7/1, Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso 0.8/1, Letra y Musica 0.4/1

A18-49: CBS 2.1/7, UNIV 2.0/6, ABC 1.7/5, FOX 1.4/5, NBC 1.4/5, MNT 1.2/4, CW 0.6/2, TELE 0.4/1

Doug Ray was upgraded to EVP with Carat to head the Procter & Gamble account in North America. Doug will also manage communications planning and takes the place of Martin Cass who was upped last week to President, Carat US.

John Caldwell was named President of National Geographic Digital Media (NGDM) where he will supervise all National Geographic Ventures digital media and business efforts encompassing operations of Nationalgeographic.com and its digital extensions.

Career Sports & Entertainment tapped Jim Donofrio to open and head its New York City office. Jim is charged with leading sales and business development activities.

Nina Lederman joins Lifetime Networks as SVP/Series Programming and Development. Nina, who has been a programming executive and producer of comedies, dramas and specials for various networks, will supervise the development of all scripted programming for Lifetime Television. Based in Los Angeles, Nina will report to JoAnn Alfano, EVP/Entertainment, Lifetime Networks.

KTBC/Austin, part of the Fox Television Stations group, appointed Mark Rodman as VP/GM. Mark begins his new position immediately and will manage the station’s business and daily operations while reporting to Jack Abernethy, CEO, Fox Television Stations.

Tribe Pictures hired Brian Iglesias as the first employee under the company’s Tribe Executive Producer Training Program. Brian joins after thirteen years as a decorated officer in the Marine Corps where he was tapped to produce a series of videos for the Marine’s “Combat Hunter” program.

Mind Share North America elevated Melanie Jones, a Certified Public Accountant as CFO starting immediately. Previously, Melanie served as Controller since 2005 and in her new capacity she will work with the firm’s senior leadership team to strengthen and execute Mindshare’s financial goals for North America in addition to managing all corporate accounting and finance functions. Other duties include managing the annual budget and forecasts and offering financial strategy.

Freddy P. James advanced to SVP/Program Development and Production with HGTV while Jillian St. Charles moves into Freddy’s former position as VP/Site Director with HGTV.com. In his new role, Freddy will work in tandem with HGTV President Jim Samples with regard to strategic and creative direction involving programming content including seeking new opportunities and genres and managing development and production of new series and specials. Jillian will supervise the user content experience on HGTV.com and report to Jody Jones, SVP/SN Digital. Both Freddy and Jillian are based on HGTV headquarters in Knoxville.

Kathy Bacon Dunne, Principal opened Well Dunne! Talent Agency a boutique shop concentrating on voice talent, music production, graphics, production entities and episodic TV series.

Alan Ett Creative Group named Peter Isacksen as President where he will spearhead marketing and development for newdance, the new division spotlighting creative concepts for key partnerships that combines brands and companies with proprietary intellectual property.

Laura Staro moves into the position of VP/TLC Research with TLC. Laura will head the network’s research initiatives involved with programming, scheduling, development, marketing and consumer trends. Based in Silver Spring, MD, Laura will report to Eileen O’Neill, President/GM, TLC.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM CABLE U

This day in History:  Born on this day: Dr. Jonas Salk (1914), Dennis Franz (1944), Bruce Jenner (1949), Bill Gates (1955), Julia Roberts (1967)

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:  On the series Friends, what was Ugly Naked Guy’s apartment number?  3B (It became Ross’s apartment later in the series) Kudos to: Alex Leff-ABC Family/NY; Stacey Kaufman-Zenith Optimedia Direct/NY; Eric Alonso-The Hollywood Judge/Glendale, CA; Sarah Tanya-Insight Production Company Ltd./Toronto

Today’s Trivia Question: Who played Murphy Brown’s 93rd and last secretary?   (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
10.28.08

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JOB OPENING: AE NATIONAL AD SALES/Comcast: Represent assigned ntwrks (E!, Style, G4, Versus) to customers; develop & maintain new & existing business. Nat’l ad sales exp. req’d. Apply: www.ecentralmetrics.com/url/?u=198871295-298 (11/4)

JOB OPENING: DIR MKT/RLTV/MD: Dev & execute affiliate mkt and media plans, set ROI and benchmarks, dev cross-plat partnerships and mkt alliances, 10+ yrs exper w/strong bus skills. Resume:
(11/4)

JOB OPENING: SR. COUNSEL/HIT Entertainment/NYC: Mid-level atty to draft and negotiate contracts & lic agreements. Exp kids ent, lic and/or branded products. Res:
(11/4)

JOB OPENING: ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/Rainbow Advertising Sales Corp/ Bronx NY: 3 yrs min exp major market tv, radio sales exp at ad agency level. See full posting and apply to www.cablevision.jobs req id 6841BR (11/1)

JOB OPENING: PROD/DIRECTOR /Cablevision/Norwalk, CT: Min. 2 yrs exp all aspects of vid.prod. Writing/shooting/non linear editing. Must know AVID/ Final Cut Pro. See full posting and apply to www.cablevision.jobs req id 7053BR (11/1)

JOB OPENING: ONLINE MKTG SUPERVISOR/iN DEMAND/NYC: Savvy marketer wanted with online expertise to maximize web strategies. Deg + 3 years exp. Apply:
(11/1)

JOB OPENING: DIR BRDBND VID/Lifetime/LA/: webst brdbnd vid prod; dev/prod webisde/vid cncpts/prog cntnt; mnge wrkflw vid creat/delvry. 5+ yrs vid prod; FinalCutPro; vid fr wbste; comprsn;stdrds; fld prdcng. Res:
(11/1)

JOB OPENING: EXEC SEC/IFC/NYC: Provide high level admin support to SVP of Orig Prog & Sr. staff. Highly org,detail orient prof w/2-4admin exp. Degree + related industry a +. rez: www.cablevision.jobs ref #7452BR (11/1)

JOB OPENING: SR GRAPHICS DESIGNER/Sundance/NYC: Design, concept &exec of branded ent& tent pole campaigns for off-air &Brdcst & Dig platforms.7+ yrs design/BC exp. Excel software skills. rez: www.cablevision.jobs ref #7258BR (11/1)

JOB OPENING: SUPRV-PROGRAM INVENT/Rainbow/LI: Resp for Orig Program Invent for AMC/IFC/WE/Sundance. Related exp a must. Data Analysis, database & PM nec. rez: www.cablevision.jobs ref #7366BR (11/1)

JOB OPENING: SR SALES COORDINATOR/TBS/TNT/truTV  Chicago: Support Nat’l sales teams. 2-4 yrs experience necessary. Analytical thinker. Send resumes:
(10/31)

JOB OPENING: CINEMA MEDIA BUYER/ICON Int’l/Stamford CT(across from Metro North): 5yrs+ nat’l movie buying exp w/major ad firm. Strong math/negotiating/comm. skills, detailed & comp. proficient. Res/sal req:
  (10/31)

JOB OPENING: TV RESEARCH FREELANCER/ABC Burbank: Min 1 year exp in TV research, exp w/ Nielsen analysis, primary research exp, strong written & analytical skills, BA/BS req or equiv exp, www.disneycareers.com (search Req ID-181968) (10/30)

JOB OPENING: DIR CREATIVE SRVCS: Oversee dvlp mktg solutions presentations. Coord staff/props/video. Trends/tech/creative resources knwlg. Exc strategic thinking/creative exec/writing skills. Rez:
“DCS” in sub (10/30)

JOB OPENING: VP MKTG SOL: Lead new dept & set creative vision for MSG sales initiatives. Bring “The MSG Exp” to life. Exp Brand/Creative Strategist. Exc lead./comm./creative/proj mngmt skills. Rez:
“VPMS” in sub (10/30)

JOB OPENING: DIR STRATEGIC PLANNING/NY: Min 5 yrs exp., generate selling estimates, preposts and ratings analysis. Send resumes to
(10/30)

JOB OPENING: MGR/ANIMATION PROD & DVLPMNT/Marvel Studios: Dvlpmnt, prod/mktg with day-to-day coord of assets, schedules & vendors. Exp animation prod req’d. Resume:
(10/29)

JOB OPENING: SCHDL’ING COORD long-term temp/USA SLEUTH UNI HD/NY: Assist in all aspects of scheduling USA Network program services; min 1 yr program scheduling department exp. Send resumes:
(10/29)

INTERNSHIPS – These positions are for credit only – nobody gets paid here. These ads are always posted for free , and students work for school credit only. For more information on the specs for posting an Internship ad, email Trish at
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FALL INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: NYC based entertainment PR agency seeks fall 2008 intern. Please contact:
(10/31)

SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED … Interested in posting your Video Resume? Contact
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SITUATION WANTED: Freelance event planner/mktg director with 8+ yrs of experience in the entertainment/media industry. Available starting 1/1/09 to help w/ event plan’g, proposal writing or mktg prgrm dvlpmnt.
(11/4)

SITUATION WANTED: MKTG MGR: 13 years experience developing and implementing successful & innovative marketing plans that increase brand equity and sales. Email:
; Web: http://www.linkedin.com/in/scottkitchen (10/30)

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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT –  Tuesday, October 28, 2008

ABC: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown [r], Dancing with the Stars (Results), Eli Stone
AZTECA: Camino a la Fama, Los 25 Mas, Al Extremo
CBS: NCIS, The Mentalist, Without a Trace
CW: 90210, Privileged
FOX: House, Fringe
ION: Boston Legal, NCIS, Boston Legal
MNT: Street Patrol [r], Street Patrol [r], Jail [r], Jail [r]
NBC: The Biggest Loser, Law & Order: SVU
PBS: Nova, Frontline, Independent Lens
TELE: Dona Barbara, El Rostro de Analia, Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso
UNIV: Cuidado con El Angel, Fuego en la Sangre, Aqui y Ahora

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