CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

10/05/04

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, October 5, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing.

ABC led the crowd on Sunday night with it premiere of Desperate Housewives an Boston Legal.  Overall for the night, ABC averaged a 5.5/15 A18-49 rating according to fast household ratings from Nielsen Media Research.  At 7pm, with NFL runover into primetime, the numbers for CBS  are not absolutely until the finals come out. ABC grabbed the ratings lead beginning at 8pm with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and held it for the rest of the evening.  At 8pm EM:HE earned a solid 5.7/15, ahead by five share points over #2 in the hour CBS. Desperate Housewives blew away all the others with a huge premiere rating of 8.7/21.  It’s nearest competition was from NBC’s Law & Order: Criminal Intent with a 3.5/8. Boston Legal debuted at 10p and held tough with a 5.0/13, though down 7 share points from its lead-in, still ahead of NBC’s Crossing Jordan (4.4/11).  CBS’ 9-11p movie averaged a 3.0/8. WB’s first official pickup of the season Jack & Bobby saw its strength in teen demos (1.8/5) and more specifically from the female teens (2.6/9).

Tonight’s Premieres:
PAX:  Second Verdict at 8pm
ABC:  Vice Presidential Debate at 9pm
CBS:  Vice Presidential Debate at 9pm
NBC:  Vice Presidential Debate at 9pm
PBS:  Vice Presidential Debate at 9pm

Fox‘s controversial series The Next Great Champ will get moved to Fox Sports Net, airing on Sunday nights beginning immediately.  According to a statement from Fox’s Gail Berman: “Next Great Champ is a compelling, well-produced series.  Unfortunately, despite its loyal core audience, the underlying boxing theme of the series has proved too narrow for us. …   It’s great we can keep it in the family on FSN … better suited to serve the boxing fan.”  It will be interesting to see Mark Burnett and DreamWorks take on the same sport when it debuts The Contender on NBC later on this season.

Mark your calendars – January 9 at 8pm – the two hour season premiere of 24 on Fox. That’s a change from January 10.

Casting / Development / Production:

• The Towers, a drama set in the Trump Tower, is reportedly in development at NBC, according to the Hollywood Reporter.  Apparently Donald Trump likes the limelight and wants to utilize his Manhattan centerpiece to brighten that light and broaden the Trump brand.
• Elsewhere at NBC, casting has expanded on Dick Wolf’s Law & Order: Trial by Jury with the addition of Amy Carlson as an ADA, and Kirk Acevedo as a cop and partner to Lenny Brisco (Jerry Orbach).
• Fox has ordered up a 22-episode drama called Prison Break (20th/Original TV) which follows the planning and execution of a prison break over the course of the full season. The project will be exec produced by Marty Adelstein and Dawn Parouse.
• ABC has given a script commitment to a sitcom project called Neighbors (Sony/State Street Pictures) about two African American families living next door to each other, per Hollywood Reporter.  The exec prod are George Tillman Jr. and Robert Teitel, the principles of State Street Pictures, who were also the guys behind the Barbershop films.
• Last Wednesday network executives got their first pitch of a new Bill Cosby exec prod comedy series from 20th/First Move Entertainment and writer Chris Case, a sitcom based on Cosby’s bestseller Congratulations! Now What?: A Book for Graduates. Yesterday Fox picked up the project.

New York Times Television has named CABLEready to handle the international sales for the seven medical reality series NYTT produced for TLC and Discovery Health in the US. The deal covers seven series – Trauma:  Life In The Er, Maternity Ward, First Days, Lifeline, Paramedics, Resident Life And Critical Hour, for a total of 195 episodes.

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. has singed a new 5-year distribution deal with BSkyB for WWE’s weekly programming, and pay-per-view specials.  The new distribution deal goes into effect January 2005.  BSkyB will carry all nine first run hours of WWE’s seven weekly programs:  WWE RAW, WWE SmackDown!, WWE Heat, WWE Velocity, WWE Bottom Line, and WWE After Burn on THE Sky Sports Channel; and WWE Experience on Sky One.  Additionally, BSkyB will carry six monthly specials, which will also be shown on Sky Sports. Finally, BSKYB will show eight annual events on Sky Box Office, including WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, Summerslam and Survivor Series.   

Fox TV Station group has petitioned the FCC to reject the two license challenges to its Wash. D.C. owned stations, WTTG, and its UPN affiliate WDCA.  The license challenges against Fox affiliate WTTG were made by the Parent’s Television Council, which claims that WTTG aired indecent content.  While noting it has not received any notification from the FCC about the challenges, Fox responds to the PTC challenges saying it has not demonstrated it has standing to object to a renewal application; the indecency complaint concerning a specific episode of the series Keen Eddie is fully without merit; and any delay in the FCC’s renewal of the WTTG license would prejudice the station.  Fox also claims that WTTG has maintained a ‘superlative record’ of serving its local community.  Fox also responded to the complaints filed by the United Church of Christ and Center for Digital Democracy against against Fox’s UPN affiliate in the market, WDCA, saying these too were without merit. Fox went on to say that the network has been airing five hours a week of its core educational programming, that is two hours more per week than is currently required by the FCC.  Speaking specifically about the two shows in question, Ace Lightning and Stargate Infinity, Fox said both shows are in full compliance with the Children’s Television Act and rules. 

The New York Interconnect is a partnership between Cablevision and Comcast, offering spot ad sales on 40 cable networks across the operators’ combined NY area subscriber systems (3.5m subs).  To highlight its partnership, NY Interconnect held its first-ever Fall Preview event at the end of last week, similar to cable and broadcast network upfront presentations/parties. The soiree was chock full of TV celebrities with the evening capped off by a performance by rocker Cyndi Lauper.  Cable networks represented at the upfront included MSG, Court TV, CNN, WE, ESPN, The Weather Channel, TNT, TV Land, Animal Planet, Spike TV, ABC Family, TLC, TBS, among others.

Eileen O’Neill has been named SVP/GM of Discovery Health Channel. She has been Acting GM since February 2004 as well as VP/Programming.  In her new position, she will serve as chief editorial executive, responsible for strategic development and execution of programming and production strategies.  She will also manage the overall direction of the network, and work with ad sales, marketing and affiliate sales to further develop the brand and create a unique environment for advertisers, operators and viewers. Eileen reports to Clark Bunting, EVP/Discovery U.S. Networks Group.

Kathleen Dore has stepped down from her position as President/Entertainment Services of Rainbow Media where she oversaw AMC, IFC, and WE, in favor of being named President/Television & Radio for Canada’s CanWest MediaWorks. In the newly created position at Mediaworks, she will oversee its’ Canadian broadcast TV, cable channels and radio stations.  She will report to Richard C (Rick) Camilleri, President of CanWest MediaWorks.

Mortimer B. Zuckerman, editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World Report announced that Bill Holiber has been upped to President and Publisher of the magazine.  In addition to his ad sales responsibilities, Bill will oversee the day-to-day operations of the magazine working with each department head on all aspects of planning, strategy, and budgeting.

Bill Hilary has been named President/CEO of BBC AMERICA, effective immediately. In that capacity, he will be responsible for the development and operations of BBC America, including bbcamerica.com and BBC America On Demand, and for any other digital channels and services associated with the future growth of the brand.  He will report to Jana Bennett, Director/Television, BBC, and Mark Young, President & CEO/BBC Worldwide Americas.

Phil Gonzales has been named VP/Communications, CBS Entertainment.  The announcement came from Gil Schwartz, EVP/Communications, CBS, and Chris Ender, SVP/Communications, CBS.  Phil reports directly to Ender and will oversee the Network’s publicity efforts on behalf of primetime series, specials, movies and mini-series as well as late night and daytime programming.  He will also serve as the department liaison to the trade press on program development activities.

Sunday, October 3, 2004. Fast National 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

ABC     8.9/15  AFV 4.9/8, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 8.3/13, Desperate Housewives 13.4/20, Boston Legal 9.0/15

CBS     8.8/14  NFL Runover 10.7/20, 60 Minutes 9.4/16, Cold Case 10.5/17, Movie: Suburban Madness  7.3/12

NBC     6.6/11  Dateline 5.9/11, American Dreams 4.9/8, L&O: CI 7.2/11, Crossing Jordan 8.4/14

FOX     3.6/6   King of the Hill 3.8/7, Simpsons [r] 3.8/7, Movie: Rush Hour 2   3.6/6

WB      1.9/3   Steve Harvey’s Big Time 1.4/2, Charmed 2.7/4, Jack & Bobby 1.6/2

A18-49  ABC 5.5/15, CBS 3.6/10, NBC 3.1/8, Fox 2.4/6, WB,1.2/3

A MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1947:  In the first ever televised White House address, President Harry S. Truman urges Americans to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and poultry on Sundays to help starving people in other countries.

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:    What is the name of the theme song for Mad About You? FINAL FRONTIER,  written by Paul Reiser and Dan Was, and sung by Andrew Gold.  Kudos to: Shannon Moran-CNN/NY; RT Harris-WFTX/Ft. Myers; Michael Bannon-Zimmerman & Partners/Ft. Lauderdale; Eric Unvert-Univision/NY;  Mark Edwards-KEZK/St. Louis; Megan Temple-WGN/Chicago; Laura DeLeon-KCBD/Lubbock; Adam Clay-KHOU/Houston; Lori Coro-Alkemi Ent/Hollywood; Evan Weinstein-The Amazing Race/LA; Jessica Fredrickson-CBS/LA; Martha Rothfarb-RPA/Santa Monica.
 

A MESSAGE FROM HALLMARK CHANNEL

Today’s Trivia Question:  Where would you unofficial find “More stars than there are in heaven”? Hint: This line harkens back to the old Hollywood studio days. (click
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.)

A MESSAGE FROM COURT TV

Later — Cyn

Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis
10/05/04  5:19am

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CYNOPSIS CLASSIFIEDS

JOB OPENING: CREATIVE SERVICES DIR-WAZE/Evansville. 3-5 yrs exp in top 100 mkt, to handle all promo/prod/ops of new digital/HDTV facility. Resumes/tape to Lyle Schulze, GM. WAZE, 1277 N. St. Joseph Ave., Evansville, IN 47720 EOE  (10/19)

JOB OPENING:  RESEARCH MGR/National Geographic Channel, Washington DC. 6-8 yrs net TV research exp; multi-tasker, org, solid comm skills, prof w/MS Office and TV research related software. Apply at: www.foxcareers.com
 (10/12)

JOB OPENING:  CLIENT SERVICE ASSOCIATE/Nielsen, NY. Service cable networks in the area of Nielsen national products. 3+ yrs research industry exp. Sales exp a must. National Cable exp a +. www.NielsenMedia.com (200402278-JL)  (10/12)

JOB OPENING: RESEARCH ANALYST, Screenvision NY (Cinema) Support ad sales, mktg & research mgmt in data collection/analyses. 2-4 yrs Bcst/cable research ideal. Knwldg of Nielsen & research tools. Resumes:
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JOB OPENING: SR. AD SALES RESEARCH ANALYST/Discovery Nets: Min 4 yrs research exp. at cbl/bcst net. Exp w/Nielsen & MRI. Strong comm & computer skills req. Resume & cover letter w/ sal reqs to
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JOB OPENING:  NEW BUSINESS ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, INVISION/NY. Looking for a motivated, dynamic salesperson to prospect and close new DealMaker clients. Salary plus commission. Please email resume to:
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JOB OPENING: SR. PRODUCER,A&E Television Networks/NYC. Produce Breakfast With The Arts series & other progs. BA/BS. 7+yrs TV prod exp a MUST, Min 5yrs long form, Min 3yrs mgmt & budgeting exp. Resume:
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JOB OPENING: SR.RESEARCH ANALYST, ABC Cable Networks Grp/Burbank. Audience analysis. Must be prof. w/Nielsen software and have 1-2 yrs media related exp; strong org & comm skills. Reply:
ref#CYNJPAP  (10/7)

JOB OPENING: RESEARCH COORDINATOR-ADMIN/FOX BROADCASTING, LA. 2-3 yrs w/network, cable net or agency, Nielsen ratings processing; office management. www.foxcareers.com (10/7)

JOB OPENING: SR.ANALYST/AD SALES RESEARCH, Lifetime Television, NY. Solid bcst or cable research exp. Analyze rtgs & pgm perf. Knwldg of research systems a must. Email salary req:
, re: Sr.Analyst/Research  (10/6)

JOB OPENING: ON-AIR PROMO WRITER/PRODUCER, Style/LA. Responsible for conceiving, writing and producing vast quantities of varied promos. Min 3 yrs TV on-air promotion or advertising exp. APPLY: www.eentertainment.com/careers (10/6)

JOB OPENING: SR RESEARCH ANALYST/LA Studio-Write local/national off-net/synd pgms. presentations fast-paced environment. Proficient Nielsen sftware,team player, strong org. skills. Email:
. RE: UCTC/30937BR    (10/6)

SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED —

SITUATION WANTED: MOTION PICT. CREATIVE ADVERTISING. Awesome individual looking to pursue career in Advertising at motion pict. studio. Love movies, love advertising, love advertising movies. 3 yrs agency exp.
(10/12)

SITUATION WANTED: NY, NY.  Seeking UNPRODUCED COPY/COMMERCIAL COPYWRITER for unpaid collaboration on 35mm spec commercials produced by award-winning NYU filmmakers. Please send resume and copy samples to
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SITUATION WANTED: NY TV SALES EXEC with 20 years proven track INCREASING REVENUE including business development. Sales management experience includes NBC, ABC,FOX and Cable TV.
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SITUATION WANTED: BROADCAST DESIGN & CREATIVE SERVICES MANAGER. Washington DC area.  Previous experience includes MTV Networks, VH1, Discovery.  Talented proven leadership to manage and inspire creative team.
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SITUATION WANTED: CASTING DIR/DEVELOPMENT EXEC-LA/NY Casting Dir. W/ over 12 yrs. Exp in Film and TV seeks talent/dev. position @ Prod. Co/Studio. Several projects in development. Extensive industry contacts.
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SITUATION WANTED:  VP POST/SUPERVISING PROD/MANAGING DIRECTOR/ NYC. Highly organized prof, personality +, seeks position in post, prod, network or cable. 14 yrs exp in Sports, Studio, Promos, Trailers, Cable, Live.
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A MESSAGE FROM CYNOPSIS AD SALES

WHAT’S ON TONIGHT:  TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2004:

ABC             My Wife & Kids, George Lopez, Vice Presidential Debate
CBS             NCIS, Vice Presidential Debate
FOX             Baseball Division Playoffs – Game #1
NBC             Last Comic Standing, Vice Presidential Debate
PAX             Second Verdict [p], Cold Turkey, Doc
UPN             All of Us, Eve, Veronica Mars
WB              Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill
TELE            Prisonera, Gitanas, Te Voy a Ensenar a Querer
UNIV            Rubi, Amarte es mi Pecado, Gloria ?de los Angeles? (OTO)